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Appointments – Lian Butcher appointed as next EPA Chief Executive

Source: Environmental Protection Authority

Lian Butcher has been appointed as the next Chief Executive of the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA), effective 1 July 2026.
Ms Butcher joins the EPA from Greater Wellington Regional Council, where she has been Group Manager of the Environment Group, her second tenure with Greater Wellington.
Previously, she was Deputy Director-General, Partnerships and Engagement, at the Department of Conservation.
Announcing the appointment, EPA Board Chair Barry O’Neil says Lian Butcher is an accomplished and experienced leader who brings a proven ability to lead complex organisations and work collaboratively with agencies and stakeholders to achieve results.
“Lian has led major programmes of change and has a strong track record in building high-performing organisational cultures in the public sector,” he says.
“The EPA continues to evolve in its role as an environmental regulator.
“We are focused on innovation and strengthening our engagement with stakeholders. Lian is well placed, given her experience and leadership approach, to lead the organisation through this next phase,” says Barry O’Neil.
Originally from the United Kingdom, Ms Butcher holds a Master of Science in Fisheries and Shellfish Biology and a Bachelor of Science in Marine Biology from the University of North Wales.
She began her career with the Environment Agency in Wales in 2001, working on the European Union’s Habitats Directive, before moving to New Zealand in 2010 to join the Ministry for the Environment.
Lian Butcher will join the EPA in June to support a transition into the Chief Executive role, formally commencing on 1 July 2026.
She succeeds Dr Allan Freeth, who concludes nearly 11 years of service with the EPA in June.
Barry O’Neil says the EPA Board acknowledges Dr Freeth’s significant contribution to public service in New Zealand and his leadership of the EPA over this time.
This has included establishing new regulatory functions and implementing legislative changes, while ensuring decisions are grounded in robust, evidence-based processes. 
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Health and Education – From Intern to Psychologist: Fresh Minds helps careers begin

Source: ProCare

Fresh Minds is shaping the next generation of psychologists through hands‑on training and supportive pathways into practice. Just one year after joining the Fresh Mind’s Intern Hub, Tasha Francis has stepped into a full-time Psychologist role with ProCare Fresh Minds. Her journey demonstrates how the Hub is delivering tangible outcomes for Aotearoa’s mental health workforce.

ProCare Fresh Minds is New Zealand’s largest provider of primary mental health and wellbeing services. They provide trusted, quality and community-based services to a wide range of healthcare professionals and help support hundreds of thousands of people across New Zealand.

Tasha Francis says: “Fresh Minds played an essential role in shaping my development as a psychologist. Being part of a supportive team gave me the confidence to get involved, try new things, and apply my learning in real‑world settings. Working alongside other interns allowed me to share ideas and learn from others on a similar path, and clarify the direction I wanted to take my career.

“I’m excited to be continuing with Fresh Minds in a permanent Psychologist role, working across the Therapy Centres and spending one day a week supporting students in schools,” continues Francis.

Established in 2024, the Psychology Intern Hub is funded by Health New Zealand and delivered by Fresh Minds in partnership with Tāmaki Health. The programme offers internship placements for final‑year postgraduate Clinical and Health Psychology students across Aotearoa, providing the vital final step where academic learning is developed into applied professional competence. To date, nine interns have completed the programme and successfully finished their studies.

Dr Tania Wilson, General Manager at ProCare Fresh Minds, says: “Building a strong and sustainable mental health workforce is a strategic priority for Fresh Minds. The Psychology Intern Hub is a key part of that approach, providing meaningful, hands‑on training and strong clinical mentorship across a range of settings.

“Throughout her internship, Tasha demonstrated dedicated commitment to developing her skills and is an excellent team member. Most importantly client feedback has been positive,” notes Dr Wilson. “Seeing an intern transition into a full‑time psychologist within our workplace shows how this model creates clear pathways from training into employment, while strengthening the workforce needed to support communities across Aotearoa.”

As the programme begins its third year, Fresh Minds has seen increased demand for placements. Past interns have shared that the level of support available to them during their placement was excellent, and that they were able to develop a peer network of mental health professionals through the Hub. The Fresh Minds Psychology team cover a broad range of specialties, so interns have access to feedback and advice from fully qualified professionals from different psychological frame points.

Fresh Minds has welcomed three new interns for 2026 – two from the University of Waikato, and one from Victoria University of Wellington. The interns will spend the year working across a range of primary care settings while receiving supervision, mentorship, and practical workplace experience.

Providing placements is essential, but supporting interns into permanent roles goes one step further and creates a strong foundation for their careers. Mental health and wellbeing are critical components of primary care, and demand for these services continues to grow. The Psychology Intern Hub helps address training bottlenecks while contributing to national efforts to grow the mental health and addiction workforce.

Fresh Minds will continue to evolve the Psychology Intern Hub to ensure it remains a sustainable pipeline into the workforce and responds to the changing mental health needs of communities across Aotearoa.

 

Notes: 

Fresh Minds’ supervising Clinical Psychologist is Dr Amanda Willets, and Tāmaki Health's supervising Health Psychologist is Pam Low.

Fresh Minds is committed to grow its team of psychologists, nurses, and other allied health professionals, with experience in third wave talking therapies, including Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Dialectical Behavioural Therapy, and Acceptance & Commitment Therapy. Additionally, the organisation is passionate about delivering targeted talking therapies and is flexible in meeting interns’ needs in their university programmes. There are also opportunities for ongoing professional development relevant to the role of a psychologist working in our settings. For Psychology students currently enrolled in the post-graduate Clinical or Health Psychology programmes looking for internship opportunities for 2027, please contact Kay.McCabe@FreshMinds.co.nz or Amanda.Willetts@FreshMinds.co.nz

 

About ProCare Fresh Minds
ProCare Fresh Minds is a leading provider of primary mental health and wellbeing support in Aotearoa New Zealand. Fresh Minds provides psychology support services for individuals in-person and online and in a variety of settings including Fresh Minds centres, schools, workplaces, the community, and in General Practice. Fresh Minds is supported by comprehensive clinical governance, expertise and rigorous systems to ensure the support is of the highest quality. www.freshminds.co.nz

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Business – Fuel disruption hits business confidence before supplies, EMA survey

Source: EMA Media Release

New Zealand businesses are already changing behaviour in response to the global fuel disruption, not because fuel has run out, but because confidence is waning.
New survey evidence from the EMA shows employers are reacting to rising prices, volatility and uncertainty well ahead of any widespread disruption to physical fuel supplies, with many already anticipating reduced activity, delayed investment and slower hiring.
“Right now, businesses are reacting less to physical shortages and more to the loss of confidence caused by volatility, headline risk and rising costs,” says Alan McDonald, EMA Head of Advocacy and Strategy.
“That loss of confidence matters. It’s influencing decisions about staffing, production and investment today – even though in many cases the supply impacts themselves haven’t arrived yet.”
The EMA Fuel Disruption Survey found that while more than three-quarters of respondents say they are not yet experiencing difficulty securing fuel or petroleum products, expectations of disruption are building rapidly.
Over half of businesses anticipate impacts within the next one to three months, and most expect some form of operational effect as the situation evolves.
Cost pressure is already evident. Nearly three-quarters of surveyed businesses report being notified of rising non-fuel input costs, with many indicating they are likely to raise prices as a result. For employers, this is compounding existing inflation pressures and forcing difficult trade-offs.
“What’s coming through clearly is that businesses are preparing for disruption – pulling back, building in caution and reassessing plans. Some responses to members telling customers they may raise prices have been very blunt,” McDonald says.
“That anticipation alone is enough to slow economic activity. Firms need to trust what they’re seeing or hearing, or they stop making forward-looking decisions.”
McDonald says the survey underscores the importance of a steady, coordinated government response that reinforces confidence and enables businesses to plan.
“So far, I think we’re seeing that but in situations like this, confidence is an economic input,” he says.
“Clear communication about fuel resilience, contingency planning and policy settings can make a real difference. Businesses don’t expect the government to control global events, but they do need confidence that New Zealand is prepared and that policy responses will support stability.”
The EMA says the survey results would inform ongoing engagement with MBIE and other agencies, providing real-time insight into how employers are responding as conditions evolve.
“Employers aren’t waiting for disruption to be visible before they act,” McDonald says. “They’re acting now – and that makes having confidence critical.”
In addition, the EMA has developed the EMA Fuel Monitor – a regularly updated hub that brings together official government updates, EMA insights and media coverage to help members stay informed. The EMA Fuel Monitor is available here: https://dailyfuelmonitor.co.nz/
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Advocacy – Greenpeace to join the Global Sumud Flotilla to Gaza

Source: Greenpeace

Barcelona, Spain – Greenpeace has announced that its ship, the Arctic Sunrise, will join the upcoming Global Sumud Flotilla. Sailing alongside more than seventy vessels and over a thousand participants who seek to directly challenge Israel’s ongoing blockade of aid to Gaza – the Arctic Sunrise’s role will be to provide technical and operational maritime support so that the vessels safely transit across the Mediterranean before they complete the last 200 nautical miles to Gaza’s shores.
Eva Saldaña, Executive Director of Greenpeace Spain, says, “At this time of escalating war, triggered by US and Israeli militaries and cascading into a cycle of destruction and pain across the Middle East, we are honoured to answer the call to join the Sumud Flotilla with the Greenpeace ship, Arctic Sunrise.
“While world governments have lacked the courage and conviction to uphold international law and their obligation to prevent genocide in Gaza, the Sumud Flotilla has been a shining light of humanitarian solidarity and a symbol of hope in action.”
In response to a direct call from Palestinians in Gaza, the flotilla is set to sail from Barcelona, Spain, on April 12, 2026, with stops in Syracuse, Italy, and Lerapetra, Greece, en route to Gaza. A public solidarity gathering will be held on Saturday 11th.
Ghiwa Nakat, Executive Director of Greenpeace MENA, says, “The devastation inflicted on Gaza has become a dangerous doctrine of impunity, now spreading to Lebanon through relentless destruction and deepening human suffering. The Greenpeace ship is joining this people-led mission to demand safe, unhindered humanitarian access to Gaza and to challenge the illegal blockade that continues to devastate civilian life. We stand firmly against war crimes, deliberate starvation, ethnic cleansing, genocide, and ecocide. This flotilla is a call to governments around the world to end their silence, protect humanitarian action, and act with urgency and principle to uphold international law, human dignity, and justice.”
Susan Abdullah, Global Sumud Flotilla Steering Committee member, says, “Greenpeace’s history of defending the seas, confronting injustice and taking action in defence of life makes them a powerful addition to our 2026 spring mission. We sail together in the same direction, with a shared determination to help break Israel’s illegal siege of Gaza.”
The Sumud Flotilla last sailed in September 2025 with 42 boats and 462 people. Israeli forces illegally intercepted and forcibly boarded the flotilla, taking those on board into custody and transporting them to Israel. Israeli naval forces first boarded several flotilla boats about 70 nautical miles off the Gaza coast, cutting communications and jamming signals. Crew on the boats described tense encounters with unlit boats and drones shadowing the flotilla and reported that Israeli naval vessels had damaged their communications, disrupting distress signals and livestreams of the boarding.
The MY Arctic Sunrise has been part of the Greenpeace fleet since 1995 and has been on the front line of global campaigns from the Antarctic to the Arctic. Carrying up to 30 people, it is a 50.5-metre (166 ft) ice-classed vessel with a maximum speed of 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph).
Greenpeace has long condemned both the humanitarian and environmental crises caused by Israel’s genocide on Gaza. Our demands can be found here: https://www.greenpeace.org/international/press-release/79152/ceasefire-must-mark-the-beginning-of-real-peace-in-gaza/
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Coromandel and North Waikato move to open fire season

Source: Fire and Emergency New Zealand

Both the Coromandel and North Waikato zones will move into an open fire season from Tuesday 7 April at 9am, until further notice.
This means a permit is no longer required to light an open air fire in the area.
Fire and Emergency New Zealand Acting District Manager Mark Tinworth says recent rainfall across the region was key to the area’s fire indices falling below the levels required to stay in a restricted fire season.
“Alongside this, daylight saving ended on Sunday meaning longer nights and cooler day time temperatures have further reduced the likelihood of fire spreading.
“We appreciate the care people have taken during the restricted fire season. It’s been a team effort, but we would still ask that anyone planning to light a fire in the open ensures they do so safely and with consideration for others,” Mark Tinworth says.
For further fire safety information head to www.checkitsalright.nz.
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Events – North Island Firefighters compete in high-speed public event

Source: United Fire Brigades' Association

More than 140 firefighters from across Te Ika-a-Māui, the North Island, will converge on Havelock North this weekend to compete in one of the most physically demanding firefighter-sports events in the country – the UFBA North Island Firefighter Challenge.
For the first time ever, this event will be taking place on Friday 10 and Saturday 11 April in Havelock North. The event will see competitors from urban, rural, industrial, and defence force brigades race against each other and the clock in a simulation of real-life firefighting tasks.
Aotearoa New Zealand is protected by around 14,000 paid and volunteer firefighters, who train extensively to maintain the specialist skills needed to respond when the siren sounds. The UFBA Firefighter Challenge series gives the public a rare opportunity to see the level of fitness, endurance, and determination required to do the job.
Competitors, wearing full firefighting protective equipment and breathing apparatus, will climb a six-storey tower with a 19kg hose pack, hoist equipment, force a steel beam with a hammer, hit a target with a charged hose, and drag an 81kg mannequin to the finish line.
The event tests both physical and mental toughness, with competitors pushing themselves to their limits while showcasing the real-world demands of firefighting.
Many competitors have trained all year for the event. While some are seasoned competitors, others will be taking on the challenge for the first time, aiming to prove themselves and earn a place at the UFBA National Firefighter Challenge in May.
The UFBA Firefighter Challenge, adapted from a similar event in the United States, has become a highlight on the firefighter calendar and continues to grow in popularity across New Zealand.
Spectators are welcome to come along and support the firefighters throughout the day.
Event Details:
Location: Te Mata Road, Havelock North
Date: Friday 9 and Saturday 10 April
Competition Time Day 1: 12:00pm – 5:00pm  Competition Time Day 2: 9:30am – 4:00pm (end times are approximate)
Members of the public are welcome to attend and support the competitors.
About the UFBA – for over 140 years the United Fire Brigades’ Association has been the leading association for firefighters in New Zealand. Today our services support c.14,000 firefighters throughout the fire and emergency services sector by providing advocacy, skills-based challenges, workshops, and service honours.
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Advocacy – Foreign Minister Peters urged to put Palestine at the front of the agenda in Washington – PSNA

Source: Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa – PSNA

Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa has just written to Foreign Minister Winston Peters, urging him to put Palestine front and centre in his meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington this week.

“The escalating international crisis, which all stems from resistance to Israel’s genocide in Gaza, must be reined in, and pressure from New Zealand should be part of this” says PSNA Co-Chair Maher Nazzal.

“The US will want to recruit New Zealand into the US and Israel war on Iran, and try to get Peters to offer something crazy, like dispatching the New Zealand frigates Te Kaha and Te Mana to help force the Straits of Hormuz.”

‘But the open wound of Palestine remains the single greatest threat to peace and stability across the entire world.”

“We are urging Peters to press the US to demand equal rights for everyone living ‘between the river and the sea’”, says Nazzal.

“This means confronting the apartheid state of Israel head-on. The world can no longer tolerate a genocidal and racist state in West Asia, which is armed to the teeth by the US and hell-bent on attacking its neighbours to capture territory.”

“Israel continues to stoke the flames of hatred and eternal war by last week passing legislation to execute Palestinians convicted of what Israel calls ‘terrorism’.”

“This racist apartheid law does not apply to Jewish Israeli settlers who are killing Palestinians daily.  It exclusively applies in the Military Courts, which are only used to try Palestinians.  They have a conviction rate of over 96 percent.”

“Racist Israeli ministers and Knesset members celebrated the inflammatory racist law with champagne. There was barely a peep from Peters.”

“New Zealand has played an important role in helping resolve international conflicts in the past – we can be part of the solution now.”

Maher Nazzal
Co-Chair PSNA

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Tatauranga umanga Māori – Statistics on Māori businesses: December 2025 quarter – Stats NZ information release

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National accounts (income, saving, assets, and liabilities): December 2025 quarter – Stats NZ information release

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Fire Safety – Restricted fire season for Waiheke Island and Great Barrier Island

Source: Fire and Emergency New Zealand

Fire and Emergency New Zealand revoked the prohibited fire season on Waiheke Island and Great Barrier Island at 8am yesterday (Wednesday 1 April).
These areas are now in a restricted fire season, until further notice.
During a restricted fire season, people wanting to light outdoor fires must apply to Fire and Emergency for a permit and have it approved.
District Commander Geoff Purcell says the cooler, wetter weather has significantly reduced the fire risk.
“Recent rainfall means the vegetation is less dry and the likelihood of a fire starting and spreading has reduced.
“This doesn’t mean there is no risk. People will still need to apply for a permit and visit www.checkitsalright.nz to check if the conditions are safe to light a fire.
“Moving these areas into a restricted fire season allows us to continue to maintain public safety and protect our beautiful whenua, while also enabling land management activities,” Geoff Purcell says.
No matter where you are, visit www.checkitsalright.nz to check what fire season you’re in, whether the conditions are safe to light, and access fire safety advice.