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

Source: Palestine Forum of New Zealand

The Palestine Forum of New Zealand (PFNZ) has congratulated the Free Palestine Party on its successful registration as a political party in Aotearoa New Zealand, calling it a significant moment for both the Palestine solidarity movement and New Zealand’s democratic landscape.

The party’s registration follows years of sustained public advocacy marches, petitions and direct lobbying calling on New Zealand to take a principled stance on Palestine, international law and Palestinian rights.

“For years, thousands of people across Aotearoa have marched, protested, petitioned and written to politicians demanding a principled position on Palestine,” a PFNZ spokesperson said. “The registration of a political party dedicated to bringing these issues into Parliament represents a new chapter in that struggle. Palestine must no longer be treated as a peripheral issue in New Zealand foreign policy or domestic political debate.”

PFNZ said the ongoing situation in Gaza, the expansion of settlements, and the occupation of Palestinian territory demand political accountability, and that the new party gives New Zealand voters a direct democratic avenue to raise these concerns.

The organisation congratulated the founders, members, volunteers and supporters involved in achieving registration, describing it as “the beginning of a new political chapter” rather than the end of the campaign.

Source: Human Rights Without Frontiers

SEOUL, South Korea, 7 August 2026 — Human Rights Without Frontiers (HRWF), together with CAP Liberté de Conscience (CAP LC), which has accredited ECOSOC status at the United Nations, FOREF, CESNUR and Bitter Winter, held a press conference today at the Seoul Foreign Correspondents’ Club on Freedom of Religion or Belief and Freedom of Expression in South Korea. The issues addressed included concerns about the treatment of elderly religious leaders in pretrial detention, including questions of proportionality, humanitarian considerations, and due process. The organizations called on South Korean authorities to review the detention of 95-year-old Shincheonji Chairman Lee Man-hee and to ensure that the legal and administrative response to religious minorities remains neutral, proportionate, and consistent with South Korea’s international human-rights obligations, including with respect to 83-year-old Mrs. Hak-ja Han Moon of the Family Federation.

The issues discussed today form part of a broader pattern of Freedom of Religion or Belief concerns in South Korea. Concerns have also persisted regarding Segero Church in Busan, which has reportedly continued to face harassment and official scrutiny even after Pastor Son Hyun-bo was released from detention.

Reporting has also raised questions about conscientious objection, public hostility toward a mosque project in Daegu, and religious accommodation in educational settings. Over the past decades, HRWF has documented the imprisonment of hundreds of Jehovah’s Witnesses in South Korea as conscientious objectors, and although alternative civilian service was later introduced, critics maintain that it has been implemented in a punitive manner rather than as a genuine rights-respecting alternative, notably because it requires 36 months of service in correctional facilities, twice the length of regular military service. Recent court decisions have also upheld key features of that system against constitutional challenge.

Opening the conference, Hans Noot, Associate Director of HRWF, said the issues at stake “lie at the heart of democratic society,” warning that when religious communities are stigmatized, peaceful gatherings are restricted, and dissent is treated as a problem to be contained, the consequences “extend far beyond any single group or case.” He said the conference was not about defending any one theology or movement, but about “defending a principle: that fundamental rights apply equally to all.”

Thierry Valle, President of CAP Liberté de Conscience, addressed the legality of Chairman Lee’s detention under international law. Referring to South Korea’s ratification of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in 1990 and the Convention against Torture in 1995, he questioned whether placing a 95-year-old in pretrial detention is consistent with those obligations. He stressed that the presumption of innocence must prevail over any presumption of guilt.

There are alternative more proportionate and more humane measures respecting the presumption of innocence and human dignity in democratic countries. And he cited precedents including Cardinal Joseph Zen’s 2022 release on bail in Hong Kong and Vietnam’s decision to place Buddhist Patriarch Thich Quang Do under house arrest rather than in prison.

Michael Langhans, Executive Director of FOREF Germany, presented a legal analysis questioning whether pretrial detention for Chairman Lee of the Shincheonji Church was necessary given evidence already sufficient for an indictment, and whether that evidence was gathered neutrally rather than through a narrative framing the defendant’s community as a “sect” or “cult.” He argued that the case raises a broader question for lawmakers: whether measures meant to protect fair elections can be applied without nullifying the constitutionally and internationally guaranteed right to freedom of religion.

Márk Nemes, Deputy Director of CESNUR, shared his thoughts on the effects of ongoing persecution and its possible ramifications for minority faiths. He noted three recent scholarly investigations conducted in selected Shincheonji congregations in Europe, Argentina, and Australia, each finding worrisome increase in hostility toward the otherwise peaceful and cooperative religious movement. He stressed that Shincheonji is not simply a South Korean minority church but a global religious movement with congregations worldwide. The disproportionate persecution in South Korea affects the lives of those congregants abroad, whose freedoms for expressing and practicing faith, enshrined in ICCPR Articles 18 and 19, are inalienable rights and must be considered during this current process.

Massimo Introvigne, Managing Director of CESNUR and Editor-in-Chief of Bitter Winter, said South Korea “has crossed a worrying line” by arresting Chairman Lee, arguing that international standards such as the Mandela Rules would call for house arrest rather than imprisonment for a 95-year-old accused of a non-violent offence. He said the charges, tied to ordinary political participation by members of a religious minority, “appear legally and conceptually overstretched,” and warned that the case fits a broader pattern of pressure against minority faiths in the country.

The organizations called on South Korean authorities, the media, and the international community to examine these developments with close attention to due process, proportionality, and the equal protection of fundamental rights, and made further documentation available to support continued reporting.

At the conclusion of the press conference, the scholars in attendance signed an official letter calling on the Government of the Republic of Korea to immediately release Chairman Lee from custody.

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Source: Te Hiringa Mahara – Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission

Te Hiringa Mahara welcomes today’s release of the Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy and its implementation plan. The Strategy is an important step toward a mental health and addiction system that is easier for people to access and better able to support them when they need help.

“This Strategy points us in the right direction, but the real test will be whether people and whānau see better support in their everyday lives,” says Te Hiringa Mahara Chief Executive, Karen Orsborn.

“People should be able to get help early, close to home, and in a way that respects who they are, their culture, their community, and their whānau. When someone is in crisis, support must be quick, safe, and easy to find. This includes young people as we are seeing increasing numbers who need more support.

“The Strategy sets the direction for the next 10 years. We are pleased to see commitments to end the use of seclusion, improve cross-government action, and give people with lived experience a stronger voice in leadership and support.

“We welcome the focus on recruitment, retention and the wellbeing of our workforce including the peer workforce. This is a critical element for improving the effectiveness of our services.

“But there are still important gaps. The plan misses a chance to make faster, clearer improvements for young people’s mental health over the next three years.

“We welcome the commitment to develop a separate youth mental health and addiction plan. We would like to see this plan prioritise increased access to early intervention and specialist services for young people, and more positive young people appropriate options when there is a crisis. Young people and their whānau have been calling for this for a long time so the youth plan must respond.

“We have called for a nationally consistent crisis response system that is available everywhere in the country, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The focus needs to on ensuring these are available for irrespective of where people live.

“It is also not clear enough how the Strategy will tackle the reasons some groups continue to experience poorer mental health and wellbeing outcomes. This particularly affects Māori, Pacific peoples, young people and people who are disabled. The implementation plan would be stronger if it named these inequities clearly and set out direct action to reduce them.

“Te Hiringa Mahara will monitor how the Strategy is put into practice and whether it is improving people’s lives. We will continue to speak up for action that puts people with lived experience, and their whānau, at the centre of the system,” says Ms Orsborn.

Editor’s note

Read the Government’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy.

Source: Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi

Nurse Maude care and support workers will strike again on Monday 10 August, after their employer failed to come back with an acceptable offer for these workers, following their first strike on 31 July.

They will be joined on strike by around 35 workers at Nurse Maude’s Care Coordination Centres in the Wellington region, known as ‘CareCo’, in a separate dispute over pay. In total, around 285 PSA members across Nurse Maude will take strike action tomorrow.

“After bargaining, Nurse Maude is still not giving these workers a fair pay deal and it’s still trying to strip two days of sick leave from a workforce that can’t afford to get sick on the job,” said Fleur Fitzsimons, National Secretary for the Public Service Association, Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi.

Speaking to journalist Chris Lynch last week, Nurse Maude Chief Executive Louise Zacest said that the team was negotiating in good faith and that the organisation remained hopeful of reaching a settlement that was fair to everyone.

“Nurse Maude’s Chief Executive talks about a settlement that is fair to everyone. There’s nothing fair about where these workers already stand. Their pay equity claim was cancelled, and now this employer is refusing to give them a fair pay offer,” Fitzsimons said.

“If the organisation is genuinely negotiating in good faith, workers would have seen a fair offer by now. They haven’t.”

Workers at CareCo also employed by Nurse Maude, who assess older people’s care needs and coordinate the support they receive across the Wellington region, have only been offered 2% for Care Managers and 2.5% for admin staff on pay, which is well below inflation. Nurse Maude is refusing to move on this.

“The pay offer is effectively a pay cut once you account for the cost of living,” Fitzsimons said.

“These workers are already struggling to make ends meet on low pay. They simply can’t take a pay cut.

“Nurse Maude needs to bring a fair pay offer for care and support workers and put a fair offer to CareCo workers. The door is open to settle this dispute.”

Picket details

• Christchurch — 8:30am — Cnr Papanui Road & Mansfield Ave, Merivale
• Nelson — 8:00am — Outside Nurse Maude’s Offices, 4 Kidson Place, Stoke
• Hutt Valley — 8:30am — Cnr High Street and Daysh Street, Avalon, Lower Hutt
• Kāpiti — 8:30am — Cnr of Te Roto Drive and Kāpiti Road (near Bin Inn)
• Mana, Porirua — 8:30am — Mana Esplanade, down from the bridge (near NZ Sea Adventures)

The Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi is Aotearoa New Zealand’s largest trade union, representing and supporting more than 95,000 workers across central government, state-owned enterprises, local councils, health boards and community groups.

Source: Workers First Union

Juken NZ has confirmed the Northland Mill will close permanently today – Friday, 7 August – two weeks earlier than the previously planned closure date of 21 August. Workers First Union organiser Marcus Coverdale says the earlier date came as a surprise to workers and delegates.

“Holy heka, it’s a bit of a shock as this wasn’t expected to happen for another couple of weeks,” said Mr Coverdale.

Despite the accelerated timeline, workers will be paid out to the end of the originally planned term. The collective agreement’s terms and conditions will roll over, with workers also receiving a wage increase and back pay reflected in their final pay calculations.

Some Northland Mill workers have taken voluntary redundancy, while others have transferred to shifts at the nearby Triboard Mill, which remains open. No updates have been provided yet on the Triboard Mill’s future and potential buyer.

“Some of the older Triboard workers were happy to take redundancy now and open up opportunities for younger workers from the Northalnd Mill, which they were really grateful for,” said Mr Coverdale.

“Some of these workers have another 20 years of work left in them while others are coming towards retirement.”

Bargaining for a new collective agreement had been underway with Juken NZ before events escalated rapidly this week.

There remains hope that a buyer could still be found for the Northland Mill site or facilities. A new one-year agreement is in place that could be transferred to a new employer, should a buyer come forward.

“The hope is that an investor could still purchase this mill and hire the experienced local workers with an agreement already in place,” said Mr Coverdale.

Juken NZ is planning to hold an employment transition event with local agencies and employers to support affected workers. Workers First Union acknowledges the work local agencies, training providers, and government agencies have done to support workers through the transition.

“The flow-on effects of the mill’s closure will be felt in the Northland community long after the gates close for the last time,” said Mr Coverdale.

Source: Porirua City Council

Nominations for Porirua City Council’s Onepoto General Ward closed at midday today with a by-election to be held in October.

Five candidates have put themselves forward for election. They are, in alphabetical order, Joanne Dow, Caroline Mareko, Zac Painting, Siobhan Samuel and Jess Te Huia. The by-election follows the sudden passing of Onepoto Ward Councillor Mike Duncan.

Porirua’s Deputy Electoral Officer, Jack Marshall, says it’s now up to voters in the Onepoto General Ward to cast their votes for who will represent them around the Council table. “Local government is in a time of great change. The new Councillor will take part in critical decisions for the future of our city,” he says.

“We’ll be providing more information for voters in the coming weeks, with profiles of all candidates available on the Council’s website next week.” People who live in the Onepoto General Ward and are on the General Electoral Roll are eligible to vote in the Onepoto General Ward By-election. You can find out which suburbs in Porirua are in the ward in the information for voters section on our website.

It’s a great time to check you’re enrolled to vote. If you enrol after today, you will need to cast a special vote in the by-election. We’ll have more details on where you can do this in the coming weeks. Voting papers will begin to be delivered from 14 September, and must be in the hands of the Electoral Officer by 12 noon on Friday 16 October.

Source: Employers and Manufacturers Association

The EMA (Employers and Manufacturers Association) has welcomed the government’s announcement of nine new industry-led secondary school subjects, saying the move will help better connect classroom learning with the skills, careers and workforce needs of the future.

From 2029, Year 12 and 13 students will be able to study subjects including Next-Gen Manufacturing, Applied Intelligent Systems, Construction and Built Environment, Engineering Technology, Food and Fibre Systems and Tourism, with programmes developed in partnership with industry.

EMA Head of Professional Services Nick Sheppard said the announcement represented a significant shift in how New Zealand prepares young people for employment, training and further study.

“For many years, employers, schools, tertiary providers and communities have been calling for stronger connections between education and the world of work. This announcement is a major step in the right direction.”

“These new learning pathways will help young people better understand the exciting career opportunities available to them while gaining skills that are relevant to employers and the future workforce.”

Sheppard, who serves on the Industry Advisory Group for the Engineering and Manufacturing Industry Skills Board, said the reforms recognise that industry must play a central role in preparing the next generation of workers.

“One of the most encouraging aspects of this initiative is that industry is being invited to help shape what students learn. Businesses understand the skills, technologies and capabilities that will be needed in the years ahead, and their input will help ensure these subjects remain innovative, engaging and future-focused.”

The EMA believes the new subjects will help expose more young people to career pathways they may never previously have considered, while giving employers an opportunity to strengthen connections with local schools and future talent.

“This creates a real opportunity for employers to become involved in developing New Zealand’s future workforce. The door has been opened and now it is important that industry steps through it.”

Sheppard said the EMA would encourage its members to engage with the development of the new subjects and support ongoing collaboration between business, schools, tertiary providers and Industry Skills Boards.

“Success will depend on genuine partnership. Curriculum design is only the beginning. As technologies evolve and industries change, business will need to remain actively involved to help ensure these pathways continue to prepare young people for the jobs of the future, not the jobs of the past.”

Sheppard said the reforms had the potential to elevate industry-connected learning to a new level within the secondary school system.

“New Zealand has seen many successful vocational and career-focused initiatives over the years, but these new subjects have the potential to embed industry-connected learning more deeply within mainstream secondary education and give it the same status as traditional academic pathways.”

He added that businesses were seeking a stable, long-term approach to skills development that would give schools, learners and employers the confidence to invest in future workforce capability.

“After a period of significant change across the skills and vocational education system, businesses are looking for consistency and long-term commitment. If we get that, these new subjects can play an important role in building the skilled workforce New Zealand needs to grow and prosper.”