AM Edition: Top 10 Politics Articles on LiveNews.co.nz for November 10, 2026 – Full Text

Source: Etu Union

RNZ plans to cut the equivalent of 58 full-time jobs by the end of March, about one in six of its workforce, after revealing an $11.8 million deficit this afternoon. E tū, the union for media workers, says staff are being made to pay for financial failures they had nothing to do with.

The deficit is more than 25 times the $470,000 RNZ had forecast for the year to June. In its annual report, RNZ admits its internal financial reporting did not show its true position. As a result, it failed to cut costs in line with a 7% cut to its baseline funding. The board has announced an independent review.

Only three months ago, RNZ told staff it would cut 25 to 30 roles. That number has now doubled. Workers have already been through rounds of voluntary redundancies, and 18 have chosen to leave. Many teams have been running short as people who left were not replaced.

Auckland-based RNZ journalist and E tū delegate Melanie Earley says the announcement is disappointing for all workers at RNZ.

“This news has come at a time when RNZ staff should be able to celebrate all the hard mahi they put in over election weekend,” Melanie says.

“Our workforce is already feeling significant pressure from job losses and the loss of so many more jobs will make it even harder for us to meet the needs of New Zealanders and provide the stories that need to be told. Our staff and the public deserve better.”

E tū Director Amy Hansen says RNZ workers have done everything asked of them.

“These are people who care deeply about good journalism. They’ve picked up the work of colleagues who left and weren’t replaced. They’ve grown RNZ’s audience and kept it the most trusted news brand in the country. Now nearly 60 of them are being told they have to go because the books were wrong.”

Amy says RNZ’s own annual report shows what’s at stake. RNZ reached 83% of New Zealanders aged 18 and over every month, radio listening grew 6.6%, and a record 79% of people said it is important for Aotearoa to have public media.

“Commercial newsrooms are shrinking. Stuff and NZME have cut dozens of jobs in the past two years. RNZ’s journalism turns up in newsrooms across the country and the Pacific through content sharing. When RNZ loses reporters, every community that relies on that coverage loses out too.

“Our democracy needs strong public media to hold power to account, and RNZ is carrying more of that load every year.”

Amy says no final decisions on jobs should be made until the next Government is formed.

“The election was on Saturday. Final results aren’t due until 27 November, and we don’t know yet who the next Media Minister will be. This Government has cut RNZ’s funding two years running and signalled more cuts to come. Decisions about RNZ’s future shouldn’t be made while the country waits for a Government.

“RNZ says it has enough money in reserve to get through this year. There’s no need to rush. Get the review done, find out what went wrong, and hold off on cutting jobs until there’s a Government in place to make decisions about public media.

“New Zealanders trust RNZ more than any other news outlet. That trust was built by the people who work there. Don’t make them pay for someone else’s mistakes.”

Original source: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/11/09/rnz-workers-shouldnt-pay-for-managements-mistakes/

Source: Media Outreach

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

– Published and distributed with permission of Media-Outreach.com.

Source: Auckland University of Technology

AI is changing our attitude towards, and use of ‘knowledge’. Universities are adapting as technologies develop. Our history of applied learning means AUT has always been far more than a place of knowledge transfer.

At AUT, our approach to learning, and proof of learning includes:

• Learn the thing, do the thing: AUT’s credentials are in applying knowledge – 89% of our bachelor’s graduates have a workplace experience, they have done the academic learning, and used it in real-world situations.
• Exposure to professional and clinical experiences. Many thousands of AUT students are in our dozens of programmes that meet professional, clinical or regulatory standards: from nurses and paramedics who have clinical placements, teachers who have teaching practicums or engineering students working towards globally accredited standards.
• Working with knowledge – and people: As AI develops, so too does the desire for ‘real’ experiences, the need to collaborate successfully, and the requirement to develop and hone judgement. These are not things an LLM can teach, but they are part of what a degree at AUT delivers.
• Assessments that mean something and show what students can do: Invigilated tests are not the answer to AI concerns. To graduate, AUT students must be able show how they can utilise their learning for real tasks, and staff must be able to observe and gather evidence of this learning. AUT has always used the assessment process to ensure students can demonstrate their learning through opportunities to investigate, work together, to analyse and critique.
• Assessing learning in the real-world: As New Zealand’s most modern university we have a huge range of assessments going well beyond the page or a digital environment and show our commitment to practice based and real-world learning. Assessments are in small localised face-to-face environments like studios (from architecture to design) and labs. They assess things students actually build – whether a computer science group project that meets the needs of a real client, an actual product a design student builds, or delivering a campaign for a real PR client as a communications student.

Is it still worth investing in a degree?

Yes. Going to university provides learning opportunities and experiences that go far beyond what an algorithm can provide. At AUT skills such as collaboration, critical thinking, creativity are baked into learning. Chances to apply learning in real-world situations, and to develop local and international networks all mean investing in a degree adds up.

How can you be sure students know their stuff?

Our focus at AUT has always been on students demonstrating their learning, not simply remembering facts in an exam setting. In the AI era AUT is refining our approach and using ‘Points of Observation of Learning’ (POOLs). Using POOLs, teachers and academics can see evidence of students’ ability to take what they have learned and use this information.

Does AUT still have invigilated assessments?

Yes, because sometimes it is essential for students to “think on their feet”, demonstrate independent learning and perform without access to AI. Depending on their programme, students may undertake clinical examinations, perform live demonstrations of technical skills, verbally explain their critical reasoning, and make decisions in real-time scenarios. These assessments sit alongside other ways students can demonstrate and apply their learning.

What about take-home assessments? Can’t students just use AI to write them?

Take-home assessments are important because that’s where skills and values such as relationship-building, judgement and curiosity can be developed and demonstrated. At AUT we have designed a model called Points of Observation of Learning (POOLs). POOLs make student thinking and learning visible, they put more emphasis on the process of putting an assessment together, rather than simply on the final product.

Does AUT include assessments in real-world settings?

Yes. Our graduates display the power of the knowledge they learned, and assessments are aligned with industry or professional – as well as academic – expectations. While studying, students have achieved real things, often while being assessed. Nursing students might have helped save lives, midwives delivered babies, teachers taught a classroom of students, computer scientists worked with a software client, communication students helped a small business. And all our graduates have worked in teams with other people, to deliver an outcome.

Across the university assessments are incredibly diverse:

• As New Zealand’s largest health science university, we know that every year thousands of students have undertaken OSCE’s: Objective Structured Clinical Examination: these are practical tests used in almost all of the13 regulated health professions we teach, like paramedicine and nursing.
• Design, hospitality and other students work at digital and analogue interfaces to produce things as different as garments they have sewn, models of spaces and buildings, prototypes of products, chemicals and meals.
• Communication students are already contributing to actual news broadcasts on TVNZ.
• Students are working with robots, on drones, and other forms of physical AI as part of the learning and their assessment.
• To learn first-hand about how algorithms shape what we see and hear about the world via digital media, students in a global politics course deliberately change their online search terms, taking “before” and “after” screenshots to see the impact on their social media feeds. They can put these insights to use to become smart cultural navigators and more effective influencers for a better world.
• Students in Education use generative AI or social media to help them learn a skill that they are keen to develop. They document their interactions and use their own experience to turn theories of learning into practical action.
• In Engineering (ENME603 Fluid Mechanics), students document their learning through weekly learning journal entries. Students’ written submission explicitly demonstrates how the concepts encountered throughout the semester form the foundation for solving a complex, multi-part problem. The submission draws on – and explicitly cites – evidence captured in the learning journal, to support the claims and insights presented in the solutions.
• In ARCH810 (Advanced Topics in Architecture) – a self-directed course intended to help students develop skills or knowledge in a specific area of interest – students produce an “artefact” that is justified by a research question or design problem. Students document their planning and tracking progress using an interactive digital whiteboard (e.g., Miro / Lucid). Staff feedback and comments, as well as students’ responses to these, are time-stamped to provide a clear trail of development.

Useful links:

Original source: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/11/08/meaningful-assessments-equate-to-degrees-that-matter/

Source: Green Party

The Green Party says Luxon must categorically rule out the sale and disposal of public conservation land and any intention to put profits ahead of nature in conservation law, after the National Party quietly released its ‘blue-green’ manifesto this morning.

The ‘Blue-Green’ policy, published online with no fanfare, quietly walks away from previous assurances by Luxon that his party had backed down from its unpopular conservation positions.

“Today a critical line has been drawn for New Zealanders, a vote for the Luxon coalition is a vote to rip up or sell off public conservation land,” says Green Party Co-leader Marama Davidson.

“Over 70,000 people submitted on the Conservation Amendment Bill. But National has been caught out sneaking their hugely unpopular positions back into play, and New Zealanders should be very worried,” Davidson says.

National previously indicated it would remove the controversial land-disposal provisions from the Bill, yet its ‘blue-green’ manifesto makes no such commitment, and their Bill in front of the House remains unchanged.

“This election, our conservation land and assets are on the line. National is leaving the door wide open to changes that put our public conservation land at risk,” Davidson says.

“Another coalition government with ACT and NZ First raises serious concerns about the future of conservation protections.

“Seymour is a tireless advocate for selling off our critical public assets, while Jones pushed through the provisions to prioritise economic development on conservation land.

“National cannot claim to have listened to public concerns while refusing to rule out the very provisions that sparked widespread opposition.

“Our conservation estate is not a property portfolio or an economic development opportunity. It belongs to all New Zealanders and must be protected for future generations,” Davidson says.

Original source: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/11/08/national-caught-sneaking-unpopular-conservation-policies-back-into-play/