AM Edition: Top 10 Politics Articles on LiveNews.co.nz for October 5, 2026 – Full Text

Source: New Zealand Labour Party

Today I released Labour’s Fiscal Plan.

It sets out, line by line, how we’ll get everyday costs under control and exactly how we’ll pay for it.

Three free GP visits a year. Free prescriptions. A $20-a-week public transport fare cap. A three-year freeze on fuel tax. Action on grocery prices and power bills.

These simple, practical everyday fixes will put a bit more money back in your pocket.

Every commitment is costed. Every commitment is funded.

We’ll get the books back into surplus and bring debt down over time, while investing in the things that help people get ahead.

Government is about choices. And I know which choices I’ll make as Finance Minister.

I’ll back businesses to grow and create jobs. I’ll invest in healthcare so people can get help when they need it. And I’ll make getting everyday costs under control a priority.

National has been running a campaign of outright lies about Labour’s plans. They have made everything more expensive. They’ve broken the economy with their cuts and left everyday Kiwis to pay for it. They know it, so they want you to talk about anything but their record.

It’s dishonest and it ends today. We’ve shown how it all adds up. Now they have to answer for their own record.

Christopher Luxon promised to fix the cost of living. He has made it worse. People are paying more and getting less, and after three years, his answer is more cuts.

More cuts to the services we rely on. More jobs lost. More families falling behind. Three more years of the same, only worse.

I will never accept that running down our schools and hospitals is the best we can do for this country. And I won’t accept that the people caring for our loved ones should have to keep fighting to be paid fairly.

That’s why we’ll restore pay equity and give 65,000 care and support workers an immediate $4-an-hour pay rise, while we work towards proper settlements. That commitment is fully funded too.

I’m proud of this plan. And I’m proud of the difference it will make to people’s lives.

More people able to afford a doctor’s visit. Families with more money left after the bills are paid.

That’s the Finance Minister I will be. I will make those choices and make life better for people who are working hard and deserve to get ahead.

We have the plan. We’ve shown how we’ll pay for it. And I’m ready to get on with it.

Kiwis can’t afford another three years of National.

Better starts now.

Fiscal Plan

Five-year collaboration will build the technology, data, and delivery capabilities needed to translate genomic research into real-world healthcare applications under Singapore’s National Precision Medicine programme.

SINGAPORE – Media OutReach Newswire – 2 October 2026 – Precision Health Research, Singapore (PRECISE), and AI & digital transformation company, Temus, signed a memorandum of understanding to establish a PRECISE-Temus Joint Innovation Centre (JIC), a five-year collaboration to support the technology, data, and delivery capabilities for Phase III of Singapore’s National Precision Medicine (NPM) programme.

The signing took place at the Precision Health Partnerships in Singapore event, witnessed by Guest of Honour Mr Ong Ye Kung, Minister for Health and Coordinating Minister for Social Policies.

The JIC brings together PRECISE’s leadership of Singapore’s national precision medicine programme with Temus’s vision-to-value with velocity approach to transformation. It will help translate precision medicine from research into practical applications by strengthening the digital infrastructure, operating models, and safeguards needed to manage genomic data securely and responsibly.

Supporting Phase III of NPM

NPM’s Phase III, launched in November 2025, aims to sequence the genomes of about 10 per cent of Singapore’s local resident population (450,000 residents) – and build evidence on how genomic information can be used responsibly in healthcare at population scale, while continuing to support research into health and disease.

“Phase III is not simply about sequencing more genomes. It is about ensuring that NPM Phase III can manage genomic data securely and responsibly, in ways that support both research and care. The Joint Innovation Centre gives us a practical way to develop the platforms we need, keep them current and ensure they continue to meet evolving needs in this fast developing field without compromising security or scientific quality,” said Professor Patrick Tan, Executive Director of PRECISE.

The JIC builds on work that PRECISE and Temus have undertaken together since 2024, providing a proven foundation for the next phase of the partnership. This includes plans to build a secure genomics data infrastructure that handles around 13.6 petabytes of genomic data – scaling to more than 60 petabytes, cutting data-processing timelines from weeks to days, and generating genome-wide association results for 100,000 genomes. The work spans data pipelines, research platforms, and visualisation solutions.

Building on secure genomics infrastructure

The JIC aims to place this work within a longer-term operating model. Scientists and engineers will work together to develop shared platforms for processing and analysing whole-genome data efficiently, sustainably and securely. The centre will also help ensure that these platforms can be maintained and improved as programme needs evolve, rather than rebuilt for each new project.

The team will also establish structured processes and appropriate safeguards to assess and integrate emerging methodologies and technologies, including AI-enabled tools.

“Precision health is a powerful example of why technology alone is not the solution. The science is advancing at a rapid pace, and AI is giving us increasingly powerful tools, but that requires trusted data, strong engineering, appropriate safeguards and people who know how to make all of those pieces work together,” said Sng Ren Yeong, Chief Executive Officer of Temus.

“We are honoured to deepen our partnership and support for PRECISE. Together, we can help turn scientific priorities into useful platforms scalably for researchers and practitioners, while building the talent and institutional capabilities needed to sustain that progress for Singapore over the long term.”

Developing talent and delivery capability

Beyond enabling precision health and innovation, the JIC is expected to build specialist delivery capability development across Singapore’s precision health ecosystem. In partnership with PRECISE, Temus plans to explore talent development pathways for specialist consultants and engineers in areas such as computational biology and bioinformatics specific to precision medicine and genomics. These specialists would work alongside research and technology teams to build practical expertise through live projects.

For Temus, the JIC also represents a significant healthcare application of its AI Foundry, one of the priority sectors under Singapore’s National AI Impact Programme. Launched in May 2026 at ATxSummit with support from Digital Industry Singapore, the AI Foundry is hiring, developing and deploying 50 Singapore-based AI professionals in live enterprise projects, building production-grade AI assets, data pipelines, governance frameworks and human-in-the-loop systems for regulated and operationally complex environments.

https://temus.com

Hashtag: #Temus #PrecisionHealth #Genomics

About PRECISE

About Temus

Source: Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa New Zealand Nurses Organisation

Care and Support workers say to all parties: fund pay equity

Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa NZNO has applauded the Green Party’s commitment to restore pay equity and fund a settlement for care and support workers and has urged all other political parties to do the same.

The Green Party today announced it would immediately restore the pay equity framework that existed prior to the 2025 changes, prioritise the Care and Support Workers claim, and move quickly to settle it. The commitment is backed by dedicated funding to support the settlement.

NZNO members joined care and support worker members from E tū and PSA at the announcement in Tāmaki Makaurau today.

Among those who had their pay equity claims gutted last year was NZNO delegate and aged care worker Sabina Lama.

“Aged care workers help older New Zealanders live with dignity, independence and quality of life, while also supporting families and communities. It is skilled, essential work, yet many care workers remain among the lowest-paid people in the health sector,” Sabina Lama says.

“Many workers are struggling with the cost of living and supporting their whānau. They shouldn’t be undervalued because care work has traditionally been seen as women’s work.”

The care and support workers’ pay equity claim was one of 33 stopped by the Government’s law change in May 2025. Unions estimate 65,000 care and support workers had their claim stopped. These workers are typically paid between $23.95 and $31 an hour. Unions estimate the minimum cost of restoring the entire pay equity system is $12.8 billion over four years.

More information about Pay Equity

Source: Rapid Relief Team New Zealand

The Rapid Relief Team (RRT) charity has delivered 5,300 free meals to healthcare workers at Auckland City Hospital, marking the final event in a major nationwide campaign that has provided more than 36,040 meals to healthcare workers across 50 hospitals.

Arranged in collaboration with Auckland Hospital Foundation, the final event at Auckland City Hospital saw 100 RRT volunteers serve 5,300 meals across two days.

The campaign launched to coincide with International Nurses Day in May this year, aligning with the global theme of “Empowered Nurses Save Lives.”

Going on to hold 61 appreciation events over the last five months, RRT sought to recognise the critical role nurses play in delivering care and helping them feel seen and appreciated by their local communities.

At each event, nurses and healthcare staff were offered a free meal and refreshments by RRT volunteers, while providing staff a moment to connect with colleagues and enjoy a small token of appreciation from volunteers local to their area.

In total, the initiative has reached an equivalent of more than one-third of all New Zealand’s 80,960 registered nurses.

Reflecting on the day, RRT New Zealand General Manager Paul Simmons said the campaign had achieved its purpose of providing a meaningful opportunity to thank nurses for their tireless work.

“Serving 5,300 meals across Auckland has been a fitting way to complete this major campaign of putting compassion into action by recognising the extraordinary work being carried out in hospitals every day.”

“In Auckland and right across the country, our volunteers have been out there personally thanking healthcare teams for their work while providing a simple but practical gesture of thanks.

“We now look forward to building on this success over the coming months and years to ensure healthcare staff continue to feel the appreciation they deserve,” Mr Simmons said.

Speaking at the event Candy Schroder, Chief Executive Officer at Auckland Hospital Foundation, said that “the corridors have been buzzing” in the hospital in the build-up, and that the initiative itself had “lifted spirits”.

“Thousands have come down from the hospital – the atmosphere has been electric”

“It’s a huge morale booster. They [healthcare staff] are in the trenches taking care of all of us after a difficult winter and influenza season.

“It is wonderful to see the community come out, rally around the staff and show how much they appreciate all the work they do here at the hospital.

Also speaking at the event, Mike Shepherd, Group Director Operations at Auckland City Hospital, said the support had been “unbelievable”.

“The sense of knowing that the community cares about our staff is incredibly important,” he said, adding that “it’s been a super hard winter, so to understand that the community does care about the work they do and the way they do it is great. A huge thank you to the Rapid Relief Team – they make an incredible difference.”

The initiative also formed part of RRT’s global effort, which supported healthcare workers in multiple countries, providing a total of over 57,000 meals across 110 hospitals.

About Rapid Relief Team NZ

Established in 2013, the Rapid Relief Team is the charitable arm of the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church which provides practical support, community assistance and disaster relief across New Zealand and around the world. For more information on RRT, please go to www.rrtglobal.org.

About Auckland Hospital Foundation

Auckland Hospital Foundation is the charity supporting adult health services at Auckland City Hospital. The Foundation’s vision is for all New Zealanders to have access to world-class healthcare – accelerating discovery, innovation, and quality of patient care beyond the scope of government funding.

For more information on AHF, please visit www.ahf.org.nz.

Source: Fire and Emergency New Zealand

• NZPFU delay has cost average senior firefighter $2,600

Fire and Emergency New Zealand welcomes the New Zealand Professional Firefighters Union’s agreement to take a proposal for two annual 2.2 percent salary increases, alongside new and increased allowances, to members for ratification.

When the new and increased allowances are included alongside salary and overtime increases, this will give an average increase in take-home pay of approximately 2.5 percent in the first year.

“This is a positive and important step. We have consistently sought a fair and sustainable collective agreement, and NZPFU members will now have the opportunity to directly consider a proposal that was first tabled in December 2025,” says Deputy Chief Executive People Janine Hearn.

When first tabled, it provided for a 2.2 percent increase from 1 December 2025 and a further 2.2 percent increase from 1 January 2027 over a 24-month term, alongside lump-sum payments, new and increased allowances and other provisions. The package was modelled at approximately $50 million over four years.

Janine says the decision to put the proposal to members is welcome, but the NZPFU’s delay in doing so has cost the average senior firefighter approximately $2,600 since the original offer was first tabled. She also noted the facilitation process did not produce a revised NZPFU pay position.

“During the most recent facilitation the NZPFU would not table a revised pay proposal or identify what pay outcome it would accept. That made it impossible for the parties to negotiate towards a different pay settlement.

“Every time Fire and Emergency has increased its offer, the NZPFU has hiked its settlement proposal taking the two parties further apart.

“Putting our proposal to members now creates a pathway to an outcome, but the NZPFU’s delay in doing so, also costs them.”

Currently senior firefighter base salaries are set at $80,600-$87,300. The proposal delivers an increase of approximately $1,773-$1,921 a year in gross base salary for those team members. In addition, the increase in average overtime earnings is worth approximately $858 per annum and the new and increased allowances worth approximately $410 per annum. In total, this equates to an average overall increase of 2.5 percent.

The Government’s Workforce Policy Statement expects settlements to avoid backdating any components of adjustments to pay and conditions, so delaying taking an offer out to members reduces the benefit ultimately available to those members.

The NZPFU’s 10-month delay in taking this proposal out to its members means they have missed out on those increases for 10 months. For the average senior firefighter, that equates to approximately $2,600 in lost income.

“That is real money for our people and illustrates why reaching a settlement matters. We will respect the NZPFU’s ratification process and await the outcome,” Janine says.