• Telix to partner with companies developing advanced minimally invasive and image-guided ablative technologies for prostate cancer.
• Initial focus on patient selection, treatment planning and post-treatment monitoring; evidence generation to inform best practice.
• Aim to accelerate adoption of novel therapeutic workflows to enhance clinical decision making and patient outcomes.

MELBOURNE, Australia and INDIANAPOLIS, May 15, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Telix Pharmaceuticals Limited (ASX: TLX, NASDAQ: TLX, “Telix”) today announces that it has entered into letters of intent to pursue collaborations with EDAP TMS S.A. (NASDAQ: EDAP, “EDAP”) and Profound Medical Corp. (NASDAQ: PROF, TSX: PRN, “Profound”), leading companies developing advanced minimally invasive and image-guided treatment ablative technologies for prostate cancer, including focal, subtotal, and whole-gland treatment approaches. These initiatives reflect Telix’s commitment to advancing the integration of molecular imaging into the evolving prostate cancer treatment landscape to help inform clinical decision-making.

The collaborations will explore the investigational use of Telix’s PSMA-PET¹ imaging agents Gozellix® (kit for the preparation of gallium Ga 68 gozetotide) and Illuccix® (kit for the preparation of gallium Ga 68 gozetotide) with robotic high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU), and other image-guided therapies designed to treat localized prostate cancer, such as transurethral ultrasound ablation (TULSA).

Telix’s intention is to work with select partners to explore how PSMA-PET imaging may support emerging therapy workflows, which aim to preserve healthy tissue and minimize the risk of side effects such as incontinence and impotence. Collaborative activities will focus on non-promotional scientific, educational, and research engagement².

“We are uniquely designed to enable the integration of PSMA-PET imaging with Focal One’s real-time ultrasound and fully robotic energy delivery to optimize treatment efficacy while minimizing side effects,” said Ryan Rhodes, EDAP Chief Executive Officer. “As the market leader in robotic focal therapy, with a growing global installed base, this collaboration will accelerate the development and standardization of treatment strategies to further personalize focal therapy treatments using Telix’s PSMA-PET imaging agents and Focal One Robotic HIFU.”

“Emerging clinical evidence suggests PSMA imaging may support prostate whole-gland, partial-gland, and focal ablation workflows, from treatment planning through post-treatment monitoring,” said Arun Menawat, Profound’s Chief Executive Officer and Chairman. “In collaboration with Telix, we look forward to exploring optimized workflows and generating clinical evidence that may help establish best practices and accelerate adoption of PSMA-PET imaging and the MRI-guided TULSA Procedure.”

“Precision medicine requires precision treatment strategies,” said Kevin Richardson, CEO, Telix Precision Medicine. “As disruptive technologies continue to transform prostate cancer care, we believe PSMA-PET imaging has the potential to play an important role in helping inform clinical decision-making across a range of minimally invasive and image-guided treatment approaches. We are excited to explore collaborations with market leaders in EDAP and Profound that may further advance personalized care for patients.”

About EDAP TMS SA

A recognized leader in robotic energy-based therapies, EDAP TMS develops, manufactures, promotes, and distributes worldwide minimally invasive medical devices for various conditions using ultrasound technology. By combining the latest technologies in imaging, robotics, and precise non-invasive energy delivery, EDAP introduced the Focal One® in Europe and the United States as a leading prostate focal therapy platform controlled by urologists, with the potential to expand to multiple indications beyond prostate cancer. For more information on the Company, please visit focalone.com.

About Profound Medical Corp.

Profound is a commercial-stage medical device company and an innovator in interventional MRI procedures. The company’s flagship platform, TULSA-PRO®, enables MRI-guided, incision-free prostate ablation. Physicians use the TULSA Procedure to see, ablate, and confirm therapy in real time, supporting personalized treatment strategies across the continuum of prostate care—from whole-gland to subtotal, hemi, multifocal, and focal treatment. This approach enables individualized care using prostate tissue ablation, while minimizing the potential of the side effects that are typically associated with surgery or radiation, such as urinary incontinence and/or erectile dysfunction.

Profound Medical’s technologies are approved across major global markets. TULSA-PRO is cleared by the FDA in the United States for transurethral ultrasound ablation (TULSA) of prostate tissue. In addition, TULSA-PRO is cleared for use in various jurisdictions including Europe, Canada, Saudi Arabia, India, Australia/New Zealand, and the UAE. 

IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION (GOZELLIX)

WARNINGS AND PRECAUTIONS
Risk for Misinterpretation
Image interpretation errors can occur with GOZELLIX PET. A negative image does not rule out the presence of prostate cancer, and a positive image does not confirm the presence of prostate cancer. Gallium Ga-68 gozetotide uptake is not specific for prostate cancer and may occur with other types of cancer as well as non-malignant processes such as Paget’s disease, fibrous dysplasia, and osteophytosis. Clinical correlation, which may include histopathological evaluation of the suspected prostate cancer site, is recommended.

Imaging Prior to Initial Definitive or Suspected Recurrence Therapy
The performance of GOZELLIX for imaging of biochemically recurrent prostate cancer seems to be affected by serum PSA levels and by site of disease. The performance of GOZELLIX for imaging of metastatic pelvic lymph nodes prior to initial definitive therapy seems to be affected by Gleason score.

Radiation Risks
Gallium Ga-68 gozetotide contributes to a patient’s overall long-term cumulative radiation exposure. Long-term cumulative radiation exposure is associated with an increased risk for cancer. Ensure safe handling to minimize radiation exposure to the patient and healthcare providers. Advise patients to hydrate before and after administration and to void frequently after administration.

Hypersensitivity Reactions to Sulfites
Ascorbic Acid Stabilizer contains sodium metabisulfite, a sulfite that may cause allergic-type reactions including anaphylactic symptoms and life-threatening or less severe asthmatic episodes in certain susceptible people. The overall prevalence of sulfite sensitivity in the general population is unknown and probably low. Sulfite sensitivity is seen more frequently in asthmatic than in non-asthmatic people.

ADVERSE REACTIONS
The safety of gallium Ga-68 gozetotide was evaluated in 960 patients in the PSMA-PreRP and PSMABCR studies, each receiving one dose of gallium Ga-68 gozetotide. The average injected activity was 188.7 ± 40.7 MBq (5.1 ± 1.1 mCi). The most commonly reported adverse reactions were nausea, diarrhea, and dizziness, occurring at a rate of

DRUG INTERACTIONS
Androgen deprivation therapy and other therapies targeting the androgen pathway Androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) and other therapies targeting the androgen pathway, such as androgen receptor antagonists, can result in changes in uptake of gallium Ga-68 gozetotide in prostate cancer. The effect of these therapies on performance of gallium Ga-68 gozetotide PET has not been established.

Please note that this information is not comprehensive.

Please see the Full Prescribing Information here.

IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION (ILLUCCIX)
WARNINGS AND PRECAUTIONS

Risk for Misinterpretation
Image interpretation errors can occur with Illuccix PET. A negative image does not rule out the presence of prostate cancer, and a positive image does not confirm the presence of prostate cancer. Gallium Ga 68 gozetotide uptake is not specific for prostate cancer and may occur with other types of cancer as well as non-malignant processes such as Paget’s disease, fibrous dysplasia, and osteophytosis. Clinical correlation, which may include histopathological evaluation of the suspected prostate cancer site, is recommended.

Imaging Prior to Initial Definitive or Suspected Recurrence Therapy
The performance of Illuccix for imaging of biochemically recurrent prostate cancer seems to be affected by serum PSA levels and by site of disease. The performance of Illuccix for imaging of metastatic pelvic lymph nodes prior to initial definitive therapy seems to be affected by Gleason score.

Radiation Risks
Gallium Ga 68 gozetotide contributes to a patient’s overall long-term cumulative radiation exposure. Long-term cumulative radiation exposure is associated with an increased risk for cancer. Ensure safe handling to minimize radiation exposure to the patient and healthcare providers. Advise patients to hydrate before and after administration and to void frequently after administration.

ADVERSE REACTIONS
The safety of gallium Ga 68 gozetotide was evaluated in 960 patients in the PSMA-PreRP and PSMA-BCR studies, each receiving one dose of gallium Ga 68 gozetotide. The average injected activity was 188.7 ± 40.7 MBq (5.1 ± 1.1 mCi). The most commonly reported adverse reactions were nausea, diarrhea, and dizziness, occurring at a rate of

In the VISION study, 1003 patients received one dose of gallium Ga 68 gozetotide intravenously with the amount of radioactivity 167.1 ± 23.1 MBq (4.52 ± 0.62 mCi). Adverse reactions occurring at ≥0.5% in patients with metastatic prostate cancer who received gallium Ga 68 gozetotide injection in the clinical study were fatigue (1.2%), nausea (0.8%), constipation (0.5%), and vomiting (0.5%).
Adverse reactions occurring at a rate of

Injection site pain has been identified during postapproval use of ILLUCCIX.

DRUG INTERACTIONS
Androgen deprivation therapy and other therapies targeting the androgen pathway
Androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) and other therapies targeting the androgen pathway, such as androgen receptor antagonists, can result in changes in uptake of gallium Ga 68 gozetotide in prostate cancer. The effect of these therapies on performance of gallium Ga 68 gozetotide PET has not been established.

Please note that this information is not comprehensive.
Please see the Full Prescribing Information here.

You are encouraged to report suspected adverse reactions of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit MedWatch at www.fda.gov/medwatch or call 1-800-FDA-1088. You may also report adverse reactions to Telix by calling 1-844-455-8638 or emailing: pharmacovigilance@telixpharma.com.

About Telix Pharmaceuticals Limited

Telix is a global biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of radiopharmaceuticals with the goal of addressing significant unmet medical need in oncology and rare diseases. Telix is headquartered in Melbourne (Australia) with international operations in the United States, United Kingdom, Brazil, Canada, Europe (Belgium and Switzerland) and Japan. Telix is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX: TLX) and the Nasdaq Global Select Market (NASDAQ: TLX).

Visit www.telixpharma.com for further information about Telix, including details of the latest share price, ASX and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings, investor and analyst presentations, news releases, event details and other publications that may be of interest. You can also follow Telix on LinkedIn, X and Facebook.

Legal Notices

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements. 

You should read this announcement together with our risk factors, as disclosed in our most recently filed reports with the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX), U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including our Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC, or on our website.

The information contained in this announcement is not intended to be an offer for subscription, invitation or recommendation with respect to securities of Telix Pharmaceuticals Limited (Telix) in any jurisdiction, including the United States. The information and opinions contained in this announcement are subject to change without notification. To the maximum extent permitted by law, Telix disclaims any obligation or undertaking to update or revise any information or opinions contained in this announcement, including any forward-looking statements (as referred to below), whether as a result of new information, future developments, a change in expectations or assumptions, or otherwise. No representation or warranty, express or implied, is made in relation to the accuracy or completeness of the information contained or opinions expressed in the course of this announcement.

This announcement may contain forward-looking statements, including within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, that relate to anticipated future events, financial performance, plans, strategies or business developments. Forward-looking statements can generally be identified by the use of words such as “may”, “expect”, “intend”, “plan”, “estimate”, “anticipate”, “believe”, “outlook”, “forecast” and “guidance”, or the negative of these words or other similar terms or expressions. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to differ materially from any future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on Telix’s good-faith assumptions as to the financial, market, regulatory and other risks and considerations that exist and affect Telix’s business and operations in the future and there can be no assurance that any of the assumptions will prove to be correct. In the context of Telix’s business, forward-looking statements may include, but are not limited to, statements about: the initiation, timing, progress, completion and results of Telix’s preclinical and clinical trials, and Telix’s research and development programs; Telix’s ability to advance product candidates into, enroll and successfully complete, clinical studies, including multi-national clinical trials; the timing or likelihood of regulatory filings and approvals for Telix’s product candidates, manufacturing activities and product marketing activities; Telix’s sales, marketing and distribution and manufacturing capabilities and strategies; the commercialization of Telix’s product candidates, if or when they have been approved; Telix’s ability to obtain an adequate supply of raw materials at reasonable costs for its products and product candidates; estimates of Telix’s expenses, future revenues and capital requirements; Telix’s financial performance; developments relating to Telix’s competitors and industry; the anticipated impact of U.S. and foreign tariffs and other macroeconomic conditions on Telix’s business, including as a result of war or other geopolitical conflicts; and the pricing and reimbursement of Telix’s product candidates, if and after they have been approved. Telix’s actual results, performance or achievements may be materially different from those which may be expressed or implied by such statements, and the differences may be adverse. Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements.

Trademarks and Trade Names. All trademarks and trade names referenced in this press release are the property of Telix Pharmaceuticals Limited (Telix) or, where applicable, the property of their respective owners. For convenience, trademarks and trade names may appear without the ® or symbols. Such omissions are not intended to indicate any waiver of rights by Telix or the respective owners. Trademark registration status may vary from country to country. Telix does not intend the use or display of any third-party trademarks or trade names to imply any affiliation with, endorsement by, or sponsorship from those third parties.

©2026 Telix Pharmaceuticals Limited. All rights reserved.

^{______________________________________
1} Imaging of prostate-specific membrane antigen.
² PSMA-PET imaging is not currently approved for specific treatment-planning indications associated with these emerging therapies.

– Published by The MIL Network

The Palestine Forum of New Zealand expresses deep concern regarding reports that the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) will participate in the upcoming Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) military exercises alongside Israel and the United States.

At a time when the world is witnessing the ongoing devastation in Gaza and growing international condemnation of Israel’s actions in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, New Zealand must not be seen aligning itself militarily with a state facing serious allegations of war crimes and genocide before international legal institutions.

New Zealand has long claimed to uphold international law, human rights, and an independent foreign policy. Participating in joint military exercises alongside Israel fundamentally contradicts those values and risks damaging New Zealand’s international reputation.

There should be no military cooperation with states engaged in ongoing conflicts and facing credible allegations of violations of international humanitarian law.

The Palestine Forum of New Zealand calls on the Government of New Zealand to immediately review New Zealand’s participation in these exercises and ensure the country does not become complicit directly or indirectly in legitimising violence, occupation, or collective punishment.

New Zealanders expect their country to stand on the side of justice, peace, and international accountability, not military cooperation with governments accused of grave human rights abuses.

Palestine Forum of New Zealand

MIL OSI

Tourists arrivals were the highest they’d been this March since before Covid-19, but as the fuel crisis continues tourism may take a hit.

Fuel prices have soared this year due to the conflict in the Middle East, making travel, both domestic and international, more expensive, but visitor arrivals in March totalled nearly 360,000 up nearly 15 percent from March 2025.

Stats NZ numbers showed overseas visitor arrivals hit 3.51 million in the year ended December 2025, up 6 percent from the prior year.

Tour operator Paul Button, general manager of Rotorua Canopy Tours and the Million Dollar Cruise in Queenstown, told Morning Report, there’d been a bit of a hit just recently through April going into May.

He said Rotorua had seen domestic support, but lower numbers from Australia and the United States which were usually two of the biggest markets.

Extreme inflation had also been a challenge recently, he said, noting it had been a tough six or so years.

“The challenge I guess for us, people are the products and we really gotta look after them.

“Last year we had a really good year… really excited for the future, but now it’s just more learning, more challenges.

He said the Million Dollar Cruise on Queenstown’s Lake Wakitipu had been 90 percent up in 2025.

Despite the fuel crisis, Button wasn’t too worried about the impact on tourism as he said many markets, including the Chinese market, saw Aotearoa as a safe place to go and so did many other markets.

“We’re seen as a safe destination to come to with all the chaos. Is a selling point, we’re seen as a really safe destination to visit.”

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

PANAMA CITY, PANAMA – Media OutReach Newswire – 14 May 2026 – Fuutura has introduced a unified trading protocol that combines self-custody, on-chain identity, and access to multiple asset classes within one connected architecture. At the centre of the design sits a single rule: each user verifies once, holds their own keys throughout, and operates independently across every product the platform offers.

Where much of the crypto industry has pursued visibility through disconnected tools running on competing chains, Fuutura has worked outside the spotlight for years. The team has been engineering the foundational infrastructure required to deliver financial access to the billions whose participation has been blocked by the legacy system.

The launch brings three products to market under the Fuutura name. Fuutura Identity, Fuutura Wallet, and Fuutura Trade have each been designed to stand alone while reinforcing the capabilities of the others.

Fuutura Trade has been described by the team as the trading layer crypto has spent fifteen years trying to build. The protocol is non-custodial and multi-chain, engineered for traders unwilling to compromise on architecture. On-chain execution. Cross-chain liquidity. A revolutionary single environment for the full range of on-chain digital assets: cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, governance and utility tokens, liquid staking tokens, wrapped assets, LP tokens, and other digital and tokenised assets. The protocol already knows the trader is verified, recognises the keys they hold, and trusts them to act on their own behalf.

No platform-managed orderbook. No off-chain matching. No third party with the keys.

The protocol works for the trader. Not the venue. Not the custodian. Not the intermediary.

That’s the difference.

“We didn’t set out to build another exchange. We set out to build the trading layer that’s missing from crypto. Non-custodial, on-chain, multi-chain, with identity attestation handled at the protocol layer rather than at every product. Once you build that architecture, the rest of the ecosystem becomes possible. Wallet, Identity, Trade. They all run on the same foundation, and that’s why the protocol can recognise the user and trust them to act on their own behalf without intermediaries getting in the way,” said Ellis McGrath, Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of Fuutura.

The Fuutura Identity product sits beneath the wider ecosystem as its trust layer. Verification runs through biometric authentication and liveness detection, paired with document recognition and AML screening, before producing an on-chain attestation linked directly to the user’s wallet. That attestation is then recognised across every product Fuutura operates. A single verification covers all subsequent interactions, with compliance happening within the protocol rather than at the entry to each individual product.

This is what gives Trade the ability to identify its user without running KYC a second time. It is also what allows Wallet to function with no intermediary involvement. Identity becomes the architecture itself.

Fuutura Wallet sits at the centre of the ecosystem as its custody and control layer. The wallet is non-custodial and multi-chain. Users retain their keys, direct the movement of their assets, and authorise their own transactions. It operates across blockchains and serves as the entry point to every Fuutura product, without surrendering custody to a third party at any stage.

The principle is simple: ownership is not delegated.

“The promise of crypto has always been that users could participate in finance without giving up custody, identity, or access. The reason that promise hasn’t delivered is that the architecture wasn’t there. Identity, custody, and execution have lived in separate places, and the user has paid the cost. Fuutura is being built so they live in one place, at the protocol layer, where they belong,” said Oliver Cook, Co-founder of Fuutura.

Three products are ready for launch. Additional products are under active development, each engineered to broaden identity usage, deepen wallet integration, and expand the reach of the ecosystem as Fuutura scales.

This is the broader vision Fuutura is working toward: a compliance-first financial ecosystem designed to deliver inclusion at a global scale, with the user positioned at its centre.

Digital asset risk.

Digital assets are high-risk and their value may fall as well as rise. Trading digital assets involves significant risk and may not be suitable for all investors. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results.

Forward-looking statements.

This document contains forward-looking statements regarding Fuutura, its technology, products, business plans and future conduct, including statements relating to the phased rollout of the ecosystem, regulatory engagement and licensing outcomes, geographic expansion, and market ambitions. Forward-looking statements are identifiable by words such as “building,” “plans,” “intends,” “expects,” “designed to,” “anticipates” and similar expressions, as well as by statements regarding future outcomes, ambitions or strategic direction.

Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual outcomes to differ materially from those expressed. These include, without limitation, changes in the regulatory environment across jurisdictions; the availability and timing of licensing or authorisation; developments in digital asset markets; technological and cybersecurity risks; operational risks; counterparty and third-party risks; the pace of product development; and other factors beyond Fuutura’s control.

No offer or advice.

Nothing in this document constitutes an offer to sell, a solicitation to purchase, investment advice, or a recommendation in respect of any digital asset, crypto-asset, token, security, or financial product or instrument. Fuutura’s products and services may not be available in all jurisdictions and may be subject to regulatory restrictions. Access to Fuutura’s platform is restricted to residents of jurisdictions where its services are permitted.

No duty to update.

Fuutura undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law.

Restricted Jurisdictions.

NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO, OR USE BY, PERSONS IN RESTRICTED JURISDICTIONS.

This communication is directed exclusively at persons outside, and must not be acted upon by any person in or resident of, the United Kingdom, the European Union or European Economic Area (including Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway), Switzerland, the United States of America, Canada, Australia, Japan, any FATF-listed high-risk or monitored jurisdiction, or any jurisdiction subject to comprehensive United Nations, European Union, United Kingdom or United States sanctions (the “Restricted Jurisdictions”). It is not an offer, solicitation, inducement or recommendation in respect of any digital asset, token, security or financial product. Fuutura holds no regulatory authorisation in any Restricted Jurisdiction; its products and services are not available to persons in or resident of any Restricted Jurisdiction; and access to Fuutura’s platform is restricted at the onboarding and protocol level.

https://fuutura.com/

Hashtag: #Fuutura

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

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

An urban renewal project in New Plymouth’s CBD is revealing traces of the city’s past – piece by piece.

The derelict Metro Plaza is being demolished to allow a stretch of the Huatoki Stream – which has been hidden from view for about a century – to be uncovered.

The Devon Street address has been home to a multitude of businesses over the years including a bakery, drapery, tearooms, and furniture store before in more recent years hosting a cafe, night club and even a Subway outlet.

Senior project manager Steve Ilkovics said the May and Arrowsmith bakery was the earliest to leave its mark.

“The bakehouse was the first building on this site probably built about 1908 or 1910 and there’s some interesting history around how it linked up with some of the old flour mills and the mill building across the way at Powderham Street.

“Potentially it had the capacity to bake all the bread Taranaki needed back in those days.”

An article published when the bakehouse opened in 1918 by the Taranaki Daily News proclaimed it “would be hard to find its equal among the bakehouses of the Dominion”.

The top floor held up to 305 tonnes of flour, which was fed through to two large hoppers to mixing machines on the second floor, where the dough was fed down to the ground floor where there were “five big ovens, each capable of holding 480 to 500 loaves”.

About “9000 dozen eggs” could be stored in the cellar and a concrete platform was specially constructed on the ground floor for breaking the vast quantities needed each day.

Ilkovics said experts had been bought in to examine the wooden beams which held up the three-storey bakehouse.

“They identified this wood as being Oregon pine, know as Douglas Fir here in New Zealand as well.

“These are 14m-long beams, which are probably from the heart of the tree, but interestingly we didn’t start growing Douglas Fir in New Zealand until around about the 1870s or 1880s, so we can only assume these were imported from the United States.”

New Plymouth District Council intends to repurpose the beams as street furniture, decking, handrails and other public‑space features.

Demolition manager Brett Wheeler, of Wheeler Demolition, said the job had not been without its challenges.

“Probably managing the stream, the awa looking after that has been toughest. If it was a different kind of demo we would’ve just caved all this in and loaded it out.

“But the methodology of this one had to be cut and carry because we can’t put too much weight on certain parts of the floor especially at the front where it’s all timber framing, so we’ve had to crane diggers into certain points.”

His crew had made several surprising finds.

“So a good one’s just down here. We pulled one of the walls away and the foundation for this building, we’re standing on, is like a pretty old bluestone masonry wall, which is pretty cool.

“No one knew it was there until we ripped down three layers of walls and found it.”

Ilkovics had a theory about that wall.

“The blockwork that you can see under the old wooden building there. We believe that is part of the old railway embankment.

“A trainline used to run through this site, along this edge, and that was the original Waitara to New Plymouth line.

“This section was made redundant when the line was diverted along the coast, but a lot of the old brickwork, stonework was just sort of left in place.”

Ilkovics, who said it was a privilege to work on such a project, said another find was the steel framing of a drapery that once occupied the site.

“This beam on the ground here was part of the old McGruer’s building, which was constructed in the 1930s, again we didn’t know much about it until we peeled back the cladding.

“We found it was an import and you can actually see here from the stamp that it’s come from a company called Dorman Long & Co in Middlesbrough, England which still fabricates steel components and exports them around the world today.”

The company famously supplied steel for both the Auckland and Sydney harbour bridges.

The New Plymouth District Council had partnered with property developer K.D. Holdings and Ngāti Te Whiti to create the Huatoki public space which is part of its $10 million centre city strategy.​

Construction of the wider project – which included new retail, office, and hospitality spaces on both sides of the stream, was due to begin next year

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

New data showing international visitor numbers continue to grow shows confidence is increasing in the sector, Tourism and Hospitality Minister Louise Upston says.

New international travel figures released by Stats NZ today show 358,900 international visitors arrived in March 2026, up 15.1 per cent on the same time last year, approaching closer to the number of visitors we were receiving in 2019. 

Louise Upston says more visitors means more money flowing into New Zealand.

“More visitors means more people staying in our hotels, eating at local cafes, booking tours and shopping in our towns and cities. That supports jobs and helps businesses and our wider economy grow.

“Our mates in Australia remain our biggest source of visitors, with 138,360 people arriving in March, up 21 per cent on the same time last year.

“There was also strong growth from other key tourism markets, including an 8.3 per cent increase in visitors from the United States (53,390 visitors) and a 20 per cent increase in visitors from China (24,620 visitors). 

“Annual figures show we welcomed 3.63 million international visitors in the year ending March 2026, up 9.2 per cent percent on the previous year.

“Tourism is our second largest export earner, and when it does well, New Zealand does well. 

“Every extra visitor helps support jobs, from hospitality workers and tour guides to retail staff and transport operators.

“These numbers are also encouraging given the fuel crisis, which has led to some uncertainty that could have affected people’s travel plans. I continue to monitor the situation and work closely with industry to ensure New Zealand retains its appeal.”

MIL OSI

MIL OSI

A group of Hawke’s Bay rangatahi have developed their own set of guidelines for healthy eating and backed it up by creating and starring in a social-media campaign to disseminate the guidelines.

Two studies have been published describing the creation of and campaign promoting the Manaora Rangatahi Guidelines for Eating and Wellbeing, as well as demonstrating the strengths of co-designing guidelines for young people with young people.

Professor of population nutrition and global health at the University of Auckland Boyd Swinburn told RNZ healthy eating guidelines for children and young people, which were developed in 2012 and last updated in 2015, are in the process of being updated by the Ministry of Health.

“Eating guidelines they seem like they have like an educational role, that they are helping people to guide them to what’s healthy to eat and what’s not and that is true, but they are also quite powerful policy instruments.

“So once you have a set of agreed eating guidelines that flows on into things like… the school lunches program, what’s able to be advertised, what’s able to have health claims and so on.”

The studies were part of the Nourishing Hawke’s Bay: He wairua tō te kai project and Swinburn said he and co-author professor David Tipene-Leach felt the current guidelines were pretty old, formal and didn’t resonate with young people.

He believes that co-design is the way the go, with rangatahi providing their input and experiences with the support of experts who provide the scientific knowledge.

“When it comes to converting them into messages that are going to be picked up and understood and thought about by the target group you have to involve those people to whom you’re targeting it just doesn’t make sense any other way.”

Seventeen rangatahi from four schools in Hawke’s Bay took part took part in three noho marae (marae stays) developing draft guidelines and comparing them against other guidelines from New Zealand, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Norway and USA.

“They critically appraised these different guidelines based on what seemed relevant to them, they were quite taken with the Mexican guidelines actually because the Mexican guidelines had an invitational approach,” Swinburn said.

After the first noho marae the draft guidelines were put to the test during the next school term with students gathering feedback from their friends and fellow students, he said.

“It wasn’t only eating guidelines, we started out with eating guidelines but they wanted to have wellbeing guidelines which included sleep and physical activity and cyber safety and all that sort of thing, so this expanded into 10 eating guidelines and 10 wellbeing guidelines.

“Our first goal was to try to get some guidelines together and when they came together and when we tested them and tweaked them we were thinking these are fantastic, these are way better than any others that we’ve seen.

“I was totally enthused by these guidelines because they were rich and they had Māori constructs in which were holistic and anyway I thought they were beautiful and I thought okay we’ve got to get these out there we can’t just do these and put them on the shelf.”

Swinburn said the students took the lead on the social media campaign, guiding the researchers on how to share the information, how it would look and which Māori influencers they wanted to work with.

“[The rangatahi] put in a huge amount of their own knowledge and expertise and understanding of their peer group to be able to say ‘this is what’s going to resonate, this is what’s going to have an effect, no that won’t work, that’s useless, they don’t understand that’ and so they were really quite clear about what the ways to disseminate these guidelines were.”

Their campaign achieved more than 1.48 million impressions and more than 19,000 engagement actions, at a total cost of NZ$125,000.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Moana Pasifika is not the only club facing closure since the Super Rugby Pacific competition kicked off in 2022.

The Melbourne Rebels suffered a similar fate at the end of the 2024 season, which reduced the then-12-team competition to 11.

There are calls for changes to mitigate what many believe is the growing risk of the competition going under.

Last weekend’s New Zealand Rugby (NZR) annual general meeting (AGM) heard all five of New Zealand’s franchises – the Blues, Chiefs, Crusaders, Highlanders, and Hurricanes – were bleeding money in 2025.

Moana Pasifika, which could be called the financially weakest of all the clubs, was doomed to follow the Rebels into oblivion for many reasons.

That reality was announced last month, with funders and current licence holders, the Pasifika Medical Association (PMA), announcing they were backing out because of financial challenges.

This decision comes after extensive consideration of the financial, operational and strategic realities facing the franchise, as well as professional rugby in New Zealand.

Moana Pasifika said on 15 April, that despite the tireless dedication of players, staff, and supporters, it is no longer viable to continue the franchise at this level of competition.

“This is one of the hardest decisions we have ever made. We are immensely proud of our players, staff, and the community who have supported our team over the years,” Moana Pasifika chair Dr Kiki Maoate said.

“Across our rugby, pathways and community programmes, we have been able to support a growing hub of Pacific talent across multiple sporting codes, both locally and in the Pacific region. This is something we are extremely proud of and will continue to support and advocate for as best we can.

“Our commitment now is to ensure a smooth transition for everyone affected and to celebrate our legacy by finishing the season strong.”

The Moana Pasifika Charitable Trust was founded by Savae La’auli Sir Michael Jones KNZM and Tuifa’asisina Sir Bryan Williams KNZM in 2021, with a mission to create the first professional Pacific rugby team.

It is that ‘Trust’ model which is now believed to have been a downfall that has limited the franchise’s ability to secure long-term funding from sponsors.

World Rugby and NZR both stepped in the initial stages, but both organisations have stated publicly they will not do that now, leaving the club and its owners to either stay firm on their decision to close or sell to interested buyers.

Enter Kanaloa Consortium – backed by a number of Pasifika heritage former All Blacks.

Kanaloa’s CEO Tracy Atiga said they have been given until 15 May – tomorrow – to send in their proposal to NZR to save Moana Pasifika for disbanding.

She has also said that part of that NZR agreement is for Kanaloa to get the support of both PMA and the New Zealand Rugby Players Association (NZRPA).

She has been outspoken about what she calls unsupportive stance taken by both the PMA and the NZRPA who had, as she claimed, shown no interest in getting Kanaloa’s proposal or bid supported.

However, both PMA and Moana Pasifika chief executive Debbie Sorensen and NZRPA’s Rob Nichol have stated that Kanaloa should send their proposal to NZR, if they were serious about their bid.

Kanaloa, which was known to many until the revelation that Moana Pasifika was going to close, had initially sent a proposal to PMA’s Sorensen last year but did not get any response, and had also bid for a franchise license in 2020/2021 but were also unsuccessful.

A point of interest: Kanaloa threatened to sue NZR in November 2020, because they claimed the union breached its own rules by granting Moana Pasifika a licence, even though the new franchise did not properly participate in the tender process.

Anyway, NZR has also stated they are open to discuss any proposal that would save Moana Pasifika.

“NZR is open to receiving proposals that present a long-term and sustainable plan for Moana Pasifika,” a NZR spokesman said, adding “that opportunity is available for the next few weeks”.

For Kanaloa that period ends on Friday.

‘The model doesn’t work’

It is going to be telling to see how things play out in the next few days and week.

Media reports in Aotearoa say that reports tabled at the NZR AGM indicate all five of New Zealand’s teams made losses last year and the private equity investors who hold varying stakes in those teams have called for changes, including a possible move to full private ownership.

“When we got involved, we knew the Hurricanes were losing money. The model doesn’t work,” Malcolm Gillies, a co-owner of the Wellington-based Hurricanes, told the Rugby Direct podcast.

“Unless there’s change, it’s not going to work. You’ve got five franchises in New Zealand and none of them are making a lot of money. The whole system has to change.

Gillies believes the competition in its current form is unsustainable.

“If it stays the way it is now, I fear for it. If there’s change then I believe we’ve got a product. But if it doesn’t, I believe it’s going to die. That’s my honest opinion.”

NZR contracts and retains control over Super Rugby Pacific players under the current system.

Full private ownership would follow the England and France situation, where clubs directly contract the players.

Moana Pasifika players basically come under the Pacific Rugby Players (PRP) association, which has stated their ultimate focus is making sure players’ welfare are looked after.

It is their number one job, chairman Valentine Tauamiti told RNZ Pacific this week.

So right now, PRP will request discussions on any proposal they see might fit the bill. Thus, their request to NZR that the Kanaloa bid gets discussed.

While Atiga and Kanaloa have yet to send their proposal through, a number of things needs to be verified:

• How has their management record been? Has Kanaloa successfully managed sports teams to the magnitude of a Super Rugby franchisee in the past?

Records show Kanaloa had tried to get into the Major Rugby League in the USA three years ago also but failed. But Atiga is confident they have the money, the experience and the people to fund and manage Moana Pasifika, fulfilling all the requirements that needs to be met, with international player fees paid out on top of players’ contracts.

• Do they have a viable and sustainable business plan?

The reality on the ground is Super Rugby clubs need more than NZ$15 million to survive annually. And there is no guarantee ticket sales, TV rights and sponsorship endorsements will meet that need annually. Atiga and Kanaloa believe their model will work and ensure financial safety going forward.

• Will Kanaloa be able to have security, or guarantee, that would cover the costs if the franchise folds?

This is a critical factor that would need to be part of any sale agreement. Buyers must prove they have the added security, in the form of a building or assets, that can be used to meet the financial demands, ensuring there are no debts left when a franchise folds. RNZ Pacific understands this is one area both the PRP and the NZRPA demand as being part of any proposal.

RNZ Pacific has been reliably informed that the PMA is selling its Christchurch building, the Maoate House, which is now on the market.

Sorensen has been asked to confirm the sale, but it is believed that is being done as part of the funding agreement when the PMA took up Moana Pasifika.

Moana Pasifika has two more games to go this season, one at home next weekend and the other away in Australia.

Whether those two matches will be their last as a Super Rugby Pacific team – or the start of a revamp – is anyone’s guess right now.

One thing is clear: NZR and the stakeholders involved will need to act fast if Moana Pasifika is to be saved.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Xero has reported record full‑year revenue, even as net profit fell due to acquisition costs.

Key numbers for the year ended March compared with a year ago:

• Net profit after tax $167.4m vs $227.8m
• Revenue $2.75 billion vs $2.1 billion
• Underlying earnings (EBITDA) $789.5m vs $638.5m
• Gross margin 83.9 percent vs 89.0 percent
• Dividend: none

Accounting software firm Xero said revenue rose 31 percent to $2.75 billion, driven by strong customer growth and accelerating expansion in the United States.

The company added 506,000 customers over the year, taking its total customer base to 4.9 million worldwide.

Underlying earnings increased 24 percent to $789 million, while free cash flow rose 9 percent to $554 million.

Chief executive Sukhinder Singh Cassidy said the result reflected disciplined execution across Xero’s key markets.

“Our strong full‑year results demonstrate Xero’s disciplined execution and macro‑resilience,” she said, pointing to accelerating growth in the US following the integration of payments platform Melio.

Reported net profit after tax fell 27 percent to $167 million, largely due to transaction costs, higher financing expenses and operating losses associated with the Melio acquisition, completed in October.

Xero said the deal weighed on statutory profit as the company moved from a net cash to a net debt position.

Growth was broad‑based, with revenue in Australia and New Zealand up 18 percent, the UK up 26 percent, and US revenue surging, supported by Melio and strong organic growth.

Singh Cassidy said Xero was positioning itself for longer‑term growth, particularly through artificial intelligence.

“With proprietary data and trust as our foundation, Xero is well positioned to be a long‑term AI winner.”

Xero does not pay a dividend, preferring to reinvest cash into growth.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Chris Wood will captain the All Whites for their FIFA World Cup campaign in North America.

New Zealand head coach Darren Bazeley named his 26-player squad for the Cup, which will be held in the United States, Mexico and Canada, starting on 11 June.

The squad is:

Goalkeepers: Max Crocombe, Alex Paulsen, Michael Woud

Defenders: Tyler Bindon, Michael Boxall, Liberato Cacace, Francis de Vries, Callan Elliot, Tim Payne, Nando Pijnaker, Tommy Smith, Finn Surman

Midfielders: Lachlan Bayliss, Joe Bell, Matt Garbett, Ben Old, Alex Rufer, Sarpreet Singh, Marko Stamenic, Ryan Thomas

Forwards: Kosta Barbarouses, Eli Just, Callum McCowatt, Jesse Randall, Ben Waine, Chris Wood (captain).

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

The All Whites squad that will carry New Zealand onto football’s biggest stage at the 2026 FIFA World Cup will today be unveiled at Eden Park.

Coach Darren Bazeley will name his 26-man squad as New Zealand prepares for its first World Cup appearance since the 2010 tournament in South Africa.

The 2026 FIFA World Cup will run from June 11 to July 19 across the United States, Canada and Mexico.

The All Whites open their World Cup campaign on June 16 against Iran in Los Angeles.

The team announcement is due to begin about 11am at the top of this page, followed by a stand-up afterward. There may be a small break in streaming.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Good evening, everyone. Thank you to the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs for the invitation to deliver this year’s annual lecture. It’s a pleasure to be here.

I would like to acknowledge NZIIA Patron and former Governor General Sir Anand Satyanand, members of the diplomatic corps, distinguished guests. I would also like to acknowledge the outgoing members of the NZIIA Board, Dr James Kember and Suzannah Jessep and new board members Rosemary Banks and Dr Julia Macdonald.

The NZIIA has been asking hard questions about New Zealand’s place in the world for over seventy years. Tonight those questions are as relevant as at any point in that history.

I want to start with a simple observation. New Zealand is a trading nation. Not in the casual sense that politicians invoke when they want to sound economic – but fundamentally, and structurally.

One in four jobs in this country depends on our ability to sell to the world. A quarter of our GDP is generated offshore. We know that exporters pay higher wages at home and are more productive than domestically focused firms. We are geographically remote, domestically small, and globally dependent. That is not a problem to be solved. It is the defining condition of our economic prosperity.

And the system that has underwritten that economic life – the rules-based international trading order – is under more pressure than at any time since it was constructed after the Second World War.

The Global Trade Landscape
Two developments in the past twelve months have made that pressure acute.

The conflict in the Middle East has disrupted global supply chains in ways our exporters are feeling directly. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz – which carries around 20% of the world’s daily oil supply – has driven up fuel costs and made getting products to market harder and more expensive.

The ceasefire is welcome, but the situation remains fragile, and the impacts on our exporters are real. They are navigating challenges with sourcing key inputs, maintaining competitiveness in the face of rising production and distribution costs, and finding reliable routes to market.

And even before that conflict, our exporters were already navigating a fundamentally changed approach to tariff policy from the United States. And the US is not the only one. Just ask our dairy exporters to Canada. The major economies really are playing outside the rules with very sharp elbows. These shifts are the clearest signal yet of a broader global trend: we are moving from a world governed by shared rules to one increasingly shaped by power.
For a small trading nation, that shift matters more than it does for many other countries.

I want to be clear about the stakes. Our exports rose 11.8% last year in 2025 – growth that happened because Kiwi exporters are world class and consumers will pay a premium for what we produce. That is a remarkable achievement in a difficult environment.

But it is not an achievement we can take for granted. It depends on continued access to markets, continued investment in relationships, and a continued commitment to the rules that provide certainty and transparency and enable our exporters to compete on a level playing field.

Tonight I want to talk about how this Government is responding to that challenge. Not reactively. Not defensively. But with a clear plan. Our plan has three parts: 
•    shoring up and creating new rules that underpin our trade. 
•    building resilience so our exporters can weather disruption. 
•    and innovating – because in a world where the old rules are contested, New Zealand has to earn its seat at the table.

Shoring Up Trade Rules
For a small trading nation like New Zealand, the rules-based system has always mattered more to us than it does to the large economies that can apply asymmetrical bilateral leverage.

Kiwis believe in fairness and the rules deliver exactly that. They level the playing field. They give our exporters the certainty, the transparency, and the market access that no amount of diplomatic relationship-building can substitute for.

It is worth remembering that despite everything, 72% of world trade still takes place under WTO rules. The system is battered. But it is not broken – and New Zealand has a clear national interest in saving as much of the multilateral furniture as possible.

That said, we are pragmatic. Progress at a multilateral level moves slowly. Too slowly for our exporters, who need better and certain access now. Which is why this Government has invested heavily in free trade agreements – the bilateral and regional deals that lock in the access we need and provide certainty that WTO processes alone cannot deliver.

FTAs
In 2025, 71% of New Zealand’s exports were covered by 17 high-quality FTAs. That is not an accident. It reflects a sustained, deliberate investment in trade architecture over 25 years – and this Government has moved faster and further than any that came before.

The results are tangible. Since our EU FTA entered into force in May 2024, New Zealand’s exports to the EU have grown by NZ$3 billion. Our exports to the UK grew 13% in the year to December 2025, following the conclusion of our UK FTA. 
Our exports to the UAE have seen record growth of 33% following that agreement’s entry into force.

And we have now concluded a deal with India – the world’s soon-to-be third largest economy, with 1.4 billion people and within the next 5 years a middle class of 700 million. That’s greater than the entire population of the EU or ASEAN.

When our Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) agreement enters into force, 75% of New Zealand’s exports will be covered by FTAs. These are not theoretical gains. These are the binding international treaties that are the building blocks of long-term prosperity for New Zealand.

Shoring up trade rules is not only about securing new FTAs – equally important is investing in existing FTAs to make sure they continue to deliver for the evolving needs of our exporters. This means upgrading and expanding these FTAs. We upgrade them by negotiating new rules to meet the new issues and challenges our traders are grappling with – for example last year an upgrade negotiation for Asean- Australia New Zealand FTA (AANZFTA) was informed by the COVID supply shock experience and delivered outcomes which make trade of essential goods easier and more efficient during times of crises.

We are working energetically to expand our plurilateral FTAs through accession negotiations. This brings more economies within the umbrella of FTA rules our exporters rely on and provides new preferential market access. CPTPP already consists of 12 economies that represent around 16% of global GDP, and we have concluded accession negotiations with Costa Rica, with an ever-growing list of countries queueing up to join.

The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership is the world’s biggest FTA globally by population and total GDP, and we are working to expand it further including into important markets where New Zealand does not currently have FTAs, such as Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

WTO
These agreements will continue to be an essential component of New Zealand’s economic resilience strategy. And we will continue to prioritise the WTO which provides the foundation for the global system of trade rules that matters so much to New Zealand.

But let me be direct about the WTO. The 14th WTO Ministerial Conference in Cameroon was deeply disappointing. And I say this as the Vice Chair of the Conference and as the facilitator for the negotiations on reform.

The absence of multilateral outcomes – extending WTO reform, on the e-commerce moratorium, on agriculture and fish subsidies – reflected the entrenched positions of major economies unwilling to compromise. That is a real setback, and we should not pretend otherwise.

New Zealand will not walk away. We will continue to be a constructive, pragmatic broker. We will continue to push on agricultural trade reform, harmful fisheries subsidies, trade-distorting industrial policy, and digital trade rules. Because in a world shifting from rules to power, every institution we can support and every norm we can embed makes New Zealand safer. The alternative – abandoning the multilateral system – is not an option for a country like ours. And we will invest in the institution. I am delighted that the 165 WTO members have endorsed the appointment of the New Zealand Ambassador to Geneva to lead the WTO peak body, the General Council.

Building Resilience
Trade rules alone are not enough. Our second pillar is resilience – the ability to keep New Zealand’s trade flowing when the system is under stress. I see our resilience agenda through three lenses: engagement with our exporters, diversification in our international relationships, and the unglamorous but high-value and critical work of removing non-tariff barriers.

Engaging our exporters
When the US tariff announcements hit, we moved immediately to get real-time information out to exporters and to hear from them directly. We have run regular, well-attended webinars since then. And MFAT’s website contains 754 market intelligence reports for New Zealand traders.

I have already done five India FTA roadshows around the country over the past few months with more to come. Getting out and hearing from our exporters and the public – not just in Auckland and Wellington, but across the regions – is one of the most valuable things I do as a Minister. It shapes our priorities and it builds trust.

We will continue to prioritise this kind of engagement, particularly in the current tumultuous environment. Kiwi exporters have shown time and again that they are resourceful and resilient. Our job is to make sure they have the information, the access, and the support they need to make the most of the opportunities we have secured for them.

Take for example an ice cream company that established a New Zealand and Asian plastic packaging supply chain following COVID 19.  Given the low stocks, they are now exploring how cardboard could be used instead.

Investing in relationships
This Government has prioritised both investing in our partnerships and diversifying our trade relationships.  This has included more international visits than any previous government in a parliamentary term to build and strengthen New Zealand’s relationships with key partners.  

Trade missions are about opening doors for New Zealand exporters – helping them build relationships, understand markets, and turn opportunities into real contracts, and the trade missions we’ve achieved to date have helped deliver over 200 commercial outcomes valued at more than NZ$2 billion. Those are not just numbers. They represent new connections, new contracts, and new confidence for Kiwi businesses in markets they might not have entered alone.

Our Saudi Arabia mission is a good example. We unlocked five commercial deals worth over $100 million. The 21 businesses who came with us opened doors in premium food, technology, services, construction, and the creative industries. Those doors opened because we showed up.  We invested in the relationship, and we demonstrated that New Zealand is a serious partner.

Our relationship with Singapore tells a similar story. New Zealand’s original trade agreement with Singapore was one of our first. We have invested in that relationship for over two decades. And that investment recently produced something genuinely new – the world’s first Agreement on Trade in Essential Supplies, designed specifically to keep essential goods moving in times of crisis. It delivers better fuel predictability for New Zealand and food security for Singapore. 
It only became possible because we had built the relationship long before we needed it.

Not only have we prioritised engagement with our long-standing partnerships – such as Australia and the EU- but we are also future-proofing our trade resilience through diversification, which can help open alternative markets and sources of supplies.

This is why we saw the China market as a good opportunity back in 2008 – when no other developed country had an FTA with China. China is now New Zealand’s largest export market and the value of our exports to China has soared from between $2 to $3 billion to around $23 billion per annum.

Another approach we have taken to strengthening partnerships is through our leverage of CPTPP to establish formal dialogues with the EU and ASEAN – something the PM and I have prioritised in these challenging times.  This provides a valuable opportunity for large trade blocs (with the EU and CPTPP representing a third of global trade) to move on issues that are currently paralysed at the WTO.

And our partnerships with the Pacific, through the PACER Plus agreement, are essential to the prosperity and resilience of our region. That is why our government, alongside Australia, has invested NZD 38 million in Aid for Trade initiatives that strengthen countries’ trade capacity under the agreement.
I will also continue to strengthen relationships with Pacific Island Countries that have yet to join PACER Plus, including Fiji, because regional economic integration through trade makes us all more resilient.

Removing non-tariff barriers
Our relationships are also critical to resolve many of New Zealand’s non-tariff barriers (NTBs) – from certification requirements, labelling rules, testing regimes, to environmental regulations – these issues slow growth.

NTBs currently affect almost NZ$9 billion worth of New Zealand’s exports across more than 50 markets, and this government is committed to finding solutions. 
Last year alone, we resolved NTBs affecting around $600 million of exports. Some examples include unlocking access to China’s $200 million cosmetics and skincare market, signing and implementing a deer velvet arrangement with China providing market growth worth $64.5 million in the year to December 2024, and expanding access for New Zealand dairy products and blueberries to Korea worth $5 to $10 million, and $5 million, respectively.

We are also progressing a new plurilateral arrangement with like-minded partners to tackle NTBs in third markets cooperatively. This work does not generate headlines. But it directly affects whether Kiwi exporters can compete.

Innovation: Securing Our Seat at the Table
Our third pillar is innovation. I have heard the phrase: “New Zealand needs the world to trade, but the world doesn’t need New Zealand.” That just means we have to earn our place. And innovation is how we do that.

New Zealand has a record of bringing trade ideas to the world that larger countries haven’t thought of yet. The Digital Economy Partnership Agreement – DEPA – is a clear example. New Zealand, Singapore, and Chile created the world’s first standalone digital economy agreement, covering everything from business facilitation and digital trust through to AI and digital inclusion. The Republic of Korea has since joined. Costa Rica and Peru are seeking membership. That agreement started as an idea from three small, like-minded countries, and it is now shaping the architecture of global digital trade.

Similarly, we are working to maximise the commercial value of indigenous business connection through the Indigenous Peoples Economic and Trade Cooperation Arrangement (IPECTA).

Our leadership in institutions like APEC, the OECD, and the Small Advanced Economies’ Initiative has gradually found its way into the hard rules of agreements like CPTPP. That is how small countries shape the world.

We are building on that legacy with the Green Economy Partnership Agreement. Working with Chile and Singapore, GEPA will make the green transition easier for producers, exporters, and investors, and position Kiwi businesses to compete in a global green economy projected to be worth US$11 trillion by 2040.

And through the Future of Investment and Trade Partnership – FIT-P – New Zealand is working with 16 like-minded, trade-dependent economies with a global reach ranging from Norway to Rwanda to Malaysia. Our approach is to cooperate on practical solutions for supply chains, paperless trade, non-tariff barriers, and trade-distorting subsidies. This initiative came about when I got together with trade colleagues from Switzerland, Singapore and the UAE. We knew we needed to find a way to support each other, reinforce the rules-based system, and work together to create new rules that give our traders more certainty.

Most recently at MC14, Eleven FIT-P members released a Joint Statement on maintaining open and resilient supply chains given the impact on global trade of the Middle East conflict. New Zealand and these FIT partners have committed to working together to identify disruptions to the trade of essential goods and exchanging information on how we will approach and mitigate these.

I will host my fellow trade ministers at the next FIT-P Ministerial in Auckland later this year. That is a leadership role, and we intend to use it to find new ways to support our exporters and their jobs, incomes and productivity in New Zealand.

The Long Game
Our goal is ambitious: to double the value of New Zealand’s exports in ten years. That requires growth in trade relationships – but it also requires growth in investment.

New Zealand is well below the OECD average for foreign direct investment as a share of GDP. That gap has a direct cost in productivity and wages. That is why this Government established InvestNZ – New Zealand’s first dedicated foreign investment agency – to attract more capital into sectors with the highest growth potential: renewable energy, technology, data infrastructure, advanced manufacturing. More capital means higher productivity. Higher productivity means better wages for New Zealanders.

And we are also seeing our export base diversify in ways that are genuinely exciting. Technology, commercial services, and education are growing fast. Companies like Auror – which exports retail crime prevention software to Australia, the UK, and North America – and Halter, exporting high-tech livestock management solutions globally, are proving that New Zealand innovation can compete anywhere. These are exactly the kinds of businesses we want to see more of, in more markets, with more support behind them.

We also want to venture deeper into global markets that are bursting with opportunities – like Latin America, which is fast becoming a key growth market for New Zealand exporters, with our exports to the region rising by 41% since 2021.  

This Government has already started making inroads – the Minister of Foreign Affairs led a Parliamentary and large business delegation to Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay earlier this year to strengthen our partnerships, deepen our people-to-people links, and boost our profile.  

The visit was a huge success, with a range of New Zealand exporters announcing new commercial agreements with companies in Argentina – fostering connections, and growing partnerships.  

We’re also exploring additional markets in Asia and looking at opportunities in Africa.  Diversification is not just an economic strategy – it is insurance.

Conclusion
Let me finish with this.

The world New Zealand trades in today is harder and much more uncertain than the one we were trading in five years ago. The rules are more contested. The relationships are more complex. The disruptions are more frequent. I do not expect that to change anytime soon.

But this is not a new challenge for a country like ours. New Zealand has always had to work that much harder and smarter than larger economies to secure and protect its access to markets. We have always had to be more creative, more constructive, more persistent, and more present.

What this Government has done is bring that same mindset – and more energy, and more urgency – to the task.

That’s why this Government has run more trade missions than any previous administration in a parliamentary term.

That’s why this Government established New Zealand’s first dedicated investment agency.

Because 400 million people around the world get around 10% of their diet from New Zealand. Our farmers, our food producers, our tech companies, and our service exporters are among the best in the world. They deserve a government that fights for them on the world stage.

We are fighting for them. And we are not finished.
 

MIL OSI

A South Island mussel farming company that unlawfully moved hundreds of tonnes of live shellfish from a parasite-infected zone has been ordered to pay $24,000 for Biosecurity Act breaches.

Aroma Aquaculture moved 259 tonnes of green-lipped mussels from its Marlborough Sounds farm down to Ōtautahi, on their way to export, risking transmission of an oyster-killing parasitic disease.

The family-owned company with operations in Marlborough and Canterbury moved the volumes over 27 instances during a 10-month period in 2024, without permits, prompting an investigation by the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) into the consignments.

Restrictions were in place in the zone under a controlled area notice due to deadly oyster disease Bonamia ostreae, that mussels can transmit.

The company farmed mussels for live sale and processing into neutraceutical products too.

Company director Ben Winters appeared at sentencing in the Christchurch District Court on Wednesday.

The company’s lawyer said its errors were not deliberate, but were instead mistaken assumptions about the appropriate permits.

Moving marine product out of the controlled area notice zone would require a permit from MPI with strict protocols around transportation.

Facing a maximum fine of $100,000 for the offences, Judge Mark Callaghan discounted the sentence due to an early guilty plea and no other offending, ordering it to pay $24,000 plus court costs.

Judge Callaghan said he accepted the offending was an oversight, rather than an act of deliberate non-compliance.

“But given the biosecurity risk, it’s important for any entity involved in the commercial processing of risk goods to be fully aware of the extent of activities allowed under their existing permits,” he said.

“MPI tells me that they expressly advised the defendant company of the new permit requirements prior to the offending.

Judge Callaghan said the potential consequences of transmission were disastrous, as outbreaks fo the disease had severely damaged other oyster fisheries.

“The flat oyster species is an important taonga species to local iwi in the South Island.

“The movement of green-lipped mussels carries the risk of introducing Bonamia to unaffected marine areas.

Judge Callaghan cited fellow Judge Tony Zohrab during the sentencing for the exporter Ikana New Zealand, in March.

“When we are dealing with issues with respect to biosecurity, where the potential for harm is high, and if realised may be irreversible, it is simply not sufficient for the defendant company to suggest that there was no real risk here.”

The judge revealed the company received $518,840 for all the movements.

MPI acting director of investigation and compliance Aleshea Allen said the controls were in place to prevent the spread of Bonamia ostreae.

“Bonamia ostreae has had a significant effect on the flat-oyster fishery, and we all need to do our part to prevent it from spreading. The movement controls are well understood by industry and have been in place across areas of the South Island since 2015.”

She said the investigation found shellfish were moved in breach of biosecurity regulations, as a result of a business arrangements between the management of Aroma Aquaculture and Ikana New Zealand, its Christchurch-based importer.

“The vast majority of people who work in the aquaculture industry are responsible and do the right thing by following all rules and regulations,” Allen said.

“Aroma Aquaculture’s actions had the potential to cause serious harm to both the natural environment, and to the reputation of our country’s multi-million-dollar export and domestic shellfish industry.”

Meanwhile, in March, the exporting company Ikana New Zealand was fined $20,000 for nine charges under the Biosecurity Act for moving 330 tonnes of mussels unpermitted during 2023 and 2024 – including volumes from Aroma Aquaculture, and 80 tonnes from Waimana Marine.

Ikana New Zealand exported mussels and abalone to markets including Asia and the United States.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

A South Island mussel farming company that unlawfully moved hundreds of tonnes of live shellfish from a parasite-infected zone has been ordered to pay $24,000 for Biosecurity Act breaches.

Aroma Aquaculture moved 259 tonnes of green-lipped mussels from its Marlborough Sounds farm down to Ōtautahi, on their way to export, risking transmission of an oyster-killing parasitic disease.

The family-owned company with operations in Marlborough and Canterbury moved the volumes over 27 instances during a 10-month period in 2024, without permits, prompting an investigation by the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) into the consignments.

Restrictions were in place in the zone under a controlled area notice due to deadly oyster disease Bonamia ostreae, that mussels can transmit.

The company farmed mussels for live sale and processing into neutraceutical products too.

Company director Ben Winters appeared at sentencing in the Christchurch District Court on Wednesday.

The company’s lawyer said its errors were not deliberate, but were instead mistaken assumptions about the appropriate permits.

Moving marine product out of the controlled area notice zone would require a permit from MPI with strict protocols around transportation.

Facing a maximum fine of $100,000 for the offences, Judge Mark Callaghan discounted the sentence due to an early guilty plea and no other offending, ordering it to pay $24,000 plus court costs.

Judge Callaghan said he accepted the offending was an oversight, rather than an act of deliberate non-compliance.

“But given the biosecurity risk, it’s important for any entity involved in the commercial processing of risk goods to be fully aware of the extent of activities allowed under their existing permits,” he said.

“MPI tells me that they expressly advised the defendant company of the new permit requirements prior to the offending.

Judge Callaghan said the potential consequences of transmission were disastrous, as outbreaks fo the disease had severely damaged other oyster fisheries.

“The flat oyster species is an important taonga species to local iwi in the South Island.

“The movement of green-lipped mussels carries the risk of introducing Bonamia to unaffected marine areas.

“When we are dealing with issues with respect to biosecurity, where the potential for harm is high, and if realised may be irreversible, it is simply not sufficient for the defendant company to suggest that there was no real risk here.”

The judge revealed the company received $518,840 for all the movements.

MPI acting director of investigation and compliance Aleshea Allen said the controls were in place to prevent the spread of Bonamia ostreae.

“Bonamia ostreae has had a significant effect on the flat-oyster fishery, and we all need to do our part to prevent it from spreading. The movement controls are well understood by industry and have been in place across areas of the South Island since 2015.”

She said the investigation found shellfish were moved in breach of biosecurity regulations, as a result of a business arrangements between the management of Aroma Aquaculture and Ikana New Zealand, its Christchurch-based importer.

“The vast majority of people who work in the aquaculture industry are responsible and do the right thing by following all rules and regulations,” Allen said.

“Aroma Aquaculture’s actions had the potential to cause serious harm to both the natural environment, and to the reputation of our country’s multi-million-dollar export and domestic shellfish industry.”

Meanwhile, in March, the exporting company Ikana New Zealand was fined $20,000 for nine charges under the Biosecurity Act for moving 330 tonnes of mussels unpermitted during 2023 and 2024 – including volumes from Aroma Aquaculture, and 80 tonnes from Waimana Marine.

Ikana New Zealand exported mussels and abalone to markets including Asia and the United States.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has promised “careful” immigration policy and signalled more capital spending than expected in an annual pre-Budget speech,

Speaking about the need for social cohesion, Luxon highlighted his own electorate of Botany as “more diverse than most”, saying many of Chinese, Korean, Malaysian and Indian New Zealanders were being “unfairly and unreasonably vilified”.

He said during the Covid-19 pandemic, ministers had “too often prioritised their own political interests over the interest of the public”, and the media “determined to flatter New Zealand’s relative performance, also failed”.

“Since then, failed immigration policies in Europe and North America have also stoked a politics of division online. Despite prudent policies and the natural advantages of geography, immigration now seems to be an emerging political issue in New Zealand, too,” he said, in what could be seen as a swipe at New Zealand First’s criticisms of the India free trade deal.

He pointed to the government’s moves to tighten immigration law and said National would be watching closely.

“And you should expect to see careful policy on immigration from National as we get closer to the election … when it comes to immigration, when faced with a choice between social stability and your bottom line, I will choose the former every single time.”

Pointing to the United States “now focusing more exclusively on its own view of its own interests – America first”, and Russia having made “its brutal intentions clear in Europe” and China “expanding its influence”, Luxon painted a now-familiar picture of an erosion of the international rule of law.

“When you turn on the news at night and see alliances straining, trade wars flaring and the rules being rewritten by the powerful, it is only natural to feel as though the ground is shifting beneath you,” he said, before offering an optimistic observation.

“We have faced similar challenges before, and we have overcome them.”

He hearkened back to world wars, giving a message of hope in an increasingly volatile world.

“The outcome was not inevitable. It was not guaranteed. People were frightened, and they were right to be frightened,” he said. “They didn’t just win a war. They built the peace that followed.”

Also addressing a need for cooperation with like-minded partners on defence and trade, he also drew attention to the need for energy independence.

“On too many occasions, private capital, eager to bolster domestic energy production, has been pushed to the sidelines by overzealous planners and politicians in recent years,” he said.

“The reality is that when faced with energy shock after energy shock, it’s very hard to justify backing the skink over the solar farm.”

He pointed to the government’s responses to the fuel crisis, while noting “more action is required”.

That could be delivered through changes to Budget allowances – with less operational spending at $2.1b, down from $2.4b; but more capital spending at $5.7b.

“The recent crisis has acted as a timely reminder that significant levels of capital investment will be required in the coming years,” Luxon said.

“That doesn’t reflect a permanently higher rate of borrowing – we’ll need to get the balance right in the years ahead, as we rebuild our fiscal buffers … The truth is that as a country we don’t save nearly enough, and rely too much on money borrowed from overseas to support our lifestyles. That must change.”

Finance Minister Nicola Willis will deliver her third Budget on 28 May in what are constrained fiscal times.

The conflict in Iran and the global fuel crisis it has triggered required a certain level of re-forecasting and reprioritising of the Budget in recent months.

There were no pre-Budget announcements expected in Christopher Luxon’s speech to a Business NZ audience on Wednesday, though some are due to trickle out from other ministers in the coming days.

The only policy announced to date is the scrapping of the third year of fees-free tertiary study.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

New Zealander Daniel Hillier will follow out Masters champion Rory McIlroy when he tees off in his first PGA Championship on Friday morning (NZT).

Hillier will play alongside Americans Ryan Vermeer and Max McGreevy when they start on the 10th hole at the Aronimink Golf Club in Newton Square, Pennsylvania at 12.51am.

The group ahead of them comprises multiple major winners McIlroy, Jordan Spieth and Jon Rahm.

Hillier’s compatriot Ryan Fox will tee off from the first hole with American Ryan Lenehan and Japan’s Kazuki Higa at 12.35am.

Higa played in the New Zealand Open, won by Hillier in Queenstown in March.

Hillier was included in the field through being in the top 100 ranked golfers in the world. He is currently ranked 96th. It will be his sixth appearance at a major, but just his second in the United States. He played in the US Open in 2019 when an amateur and missed the cut.

Fox will be playing his eighth PGA Championship, with a best finish tied for 23rd at at Rochester in New York three years ago.

World No 1 Scottie Scheffler, who is defending his PGA Championship title, will tee off with Englishmen Justin Rose and Matt Fitzpatrick at 6.05am.

Just ahead of them is another strong group – Cameron Young, Keegan Bradley and Justin Thomas, who has won this championship twice.

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MIL OSI

The lawyer of a New Zealander held by the United States’ Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) believes she was transferred from the state of California to Arizona because the state takes a harsher view of federal immigration law.

Everlee Wihongi was detained by ICE when re-entering the US on a Green Card a month ago, following a family holiday in New Zealand.

Wihongi was originally detained and held in Los Angeles, but was transferred to a different facility in the Republican-voting state Arizona.

Lawyer Marc Christopher told RNZ he had been scheduled to talk to her on Saturday afternoon (local time), but had not been notified that she was transferred the night before.

“When I logged in to speak with her, I had nothing but an empty chair there in front of me.”

Christopher said he never used to see transfers like this, but under the Trump administration, it was happening frequently.

He said it seemed the government was intentionally transferring detained immigrants to states with courts that would interpret federal law in a way that was less favourable to immigrants.

He pointed out the government was heavily investing in detention facilities in southern Rebublican-voting states, such as “Alligator Alcatraz“.

Transferring clients also made it incredibly challenging for him to communicate with them, including Wihongi, he said.

“I can’t meet with them hardly in person, and the ability to have a Zoom call with them is very limited. I’m normally limited to 20 minutes at a time, and it takes a couple of days to set up an appointment.”

Christopher said he was confident Wihongi had been charged at her first appearance before a judge on 28 April, but those charges had not been communicated to her.

“They have made allegations against her as far as conduct … but they have not pointed to the law, the United States law, that makes her removable.”

The conduct allegation that has led to Wihongi’s detention relates to a decade-old conviction for a felony offence of marijuana possession.

Foreign Minister Winston Peters previously claimed she was detained because she had lied about that offence.

But Christopher said she had been detained simply because she had been convicted of that offence – not because she had lied about anything.

That was because of a nuance in US law that meant the previous conviction did not require her deportation, but it would prevent her from re-entering the country, should she leave, he said.

“Let’s say Everlee had remained in the United States and had applied for her citizenship, she would have been able to get her citizenship and then travel in and out of the country, but because she travelled out with a controlled substance violation before she got her citizenship, she’s prohibited from coming back in.”

Grounds for relief

Wihongi has a court date to have the earlier underlying felony conviction vacated, which could secure her release, Christopher said.

That was set to take place in the state of Wisconsin on 21 May.

The basis of that appeal was that Wihongi’s attorney when she was faced the marijuana possession charges, told her that a conviction would not affect her immigration status.

She pleaded guilty to the charge based off incorrect advice, Christopher said.

“Under our constitution, if that happens, a person is able to then vacate their conviction.

“In addition to this, shortly after Everlee’s conviction, the attorney was disbarred for a number of reasons, foremost for lying to his clients for forging documents and forging court orders.”

If that conviction was vacated, the US would no longer have any legal basis to detain her, and she would be released “relatively soon after”.

If they were unable to vacate that underlying conviction, the next step in the immigration case would be to apply for something called a “cancellation of removal”, Christopher said.

“It’s a provision under our statute, which allows permanent residents who have committed deportable offences to remain in the United States.”

But they would need to prove that Wihongi was eligible for that relief, and that was challenging to do currently, as the courts had not stipulated the exact charges she was facing, he said.

It was not yet clear whether she would be charged for a controlled substance violation, or as an aggravated felon.

He explained that under Wisconsin law, possession of marijuana counted as a felony if it was a second offence.

Wihongi had previously been convicted of possession of drug paraphernalia, so when she faced the marijuana possession charges, she was convicted of a felony in Wisconsin.

But federal law applied differently.

Under federal law, a controlled substance possession charge would only be a felony if it was the second drug possession charge, and the paraphernalia charge would not be considered.

If Wihongi was to be charged as as an aggravated felon, he would argue that the federal law should be applied, not the Wisconsin law, Christopher said.

“That’s the nuanced argument that we’re going to make. I don’t even know if I need to make the argument because they haven’t even set forth that that’s what they’re charging [her with].”

ICE ‘reluctant to cooperate’

Another challenge Wihongi was facing was whether ICE would allow her to attend the Wisconsin hearing.

“The court is trying to work with the ICE facility to allow Everlee to appear and testify by video,” Christopher said.

“The court will allow it, but oftentimes the ICE facilities are reluctant to cooperate with state courts.”

It was very common for people detained by ICE to not be allowed to attend their hearings in any fashion, Christopher said.

He was worried this would impact her chances of having the underlying possession conviction quashed.

“Normally the judge and the district attorney will want to hear testimony directly from the defendant.”

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Securing Maryland-Based Drug-Substance Facility and Existing Commercial Orders to Scale the Group’s Integrated Technology Platform

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The 27th edition of The Asian Banker Summit will convene senior banking, regulatory and technology leaders from over 25 countries in Kuala Lumpur on 13–14 May 2026 under the theme “Imagining the AI Bank”.

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Trade Minister Todd McClay said he was expecting the United States government to announce it was launching a trade investigation into New Zealand and Australian lamb imports in the coming weeks.

New Zealand lamb exports to the US have grown in recent years, with more than $600m of sheep meat – including lamb sold to the US – in 2025.

US Trade officials are thought to be launching investigations into so-called unfair trade practices, as a way to reintroduce tariffs deemed illegal by the Supreme Court.

“We know they are doing investigations at the moment, so-called investigations, they are looking for other ways to put that tariff wall back up,” McClay said.

McClay said an investigation into lamb was likely and it was possible that if the president needed to shore up votes in some states, he could hit New Zealand and Australia with tariffs.

He said that his officials were talking to their US counterparts and reminding them that New Zealand was providing good product, was not flooding the market and was helping US farmers grow the market for lamb.

“But the nature of it is when the president decides, the president decides, and so if he decides, you know, that if he’s had a bad lamp chop or something, who knows what’s going to happen”

Most New Zealand exports to the US face the blanket global tariff rate of 10 percent.

This was imposed after an earlier 15 percent tariff on New Zealand exports was deemed illegal by the Supreme Court.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

The mother of a New Zealander being held in ICE custody in the United States says she does not know where her daughter will end up, after she was taken to a different state.

Everlee Wihongi was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) when re-entering the US on a Green Card a month ago, following a family holiday in New Zealand.

Her mother Betty Wihongi was in Wisconsin and said Everlee was told she was being removed from a centre in California on Friday at midnight local time.

On Saturday morning, she had missed a scheduled meeting with her lawyer.

“They [ICE] never contacted our lawyer, so he was waiting for her on a Zoom call and she never showed up,” she said.

The online ICE detainee locator system said that Everlee was in “Camp East Montana” Texas, a camp where an average of about 3000 people per day live.

Detainees had described the camp to CNN as loud and unsanitary, where diseases spread easily and sleep was a luxury.

But then, as journalist David Farrier reported, Everlee disappeared from the detainee locator system.

On Monday night, Betty received information that her daughter was being held at an airport in Arizona.

“She doesn’t know how long she’ll be there, they told her not to get comfortable that she will be moved, but they don’t know where it going to be,” she said.

Betty said because Everlee had moved to another jurisdiction, she would have to restart the process to have her case heard in court.

“So every time you are moved, your court appearances, everything that you had before disappears and you start at the bottom again,” she said.

Betty said their lawyer had been seeing more and more cases of ICE moving detainees to make it difficult for lawyers to get hold of them and to set court appearances.

She said her daughter had been doing well considering, but it was taking a toll on Everlee, who was usually a happy and outgoing person.

“Just the moving around, the facilities, the guards, just everyone, it’s just their job to make your life miserable and hard.

“I think her greatest fear is that we don’t know where she is, that we won’t be able to locate her or find her and she’s going to be lost in all this,” she said.

The family were once again calling on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFAT) and Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters to do more to help.

“Reaching out to the US government [asking] what’s going on with the detainee? Why are you moving her around so much, why can’t she have her day in court?

“We don’t want them to provide funding for us, that’s something we’re taking care of. We don’t want them to give us a free ride for anything else.”

When contacted by RNZ, MFAT repeated its statement that the government was “unable to influence the immigration decisions of other governments”.

“The Ministry continues to provide consular assistance to the family of a New Zealander detained in Los Angeles. Consular officials are in regular contact with the individual and their family,” a spokesperson said.

The spokesperson said MFAT was unable to comment on the details of any individual case and Peters’ office referred RNZ to the ministry for comment.

As of this month, MFAT said it was aware of two New Zealand citizens in immigration detention in the United States.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

The mother of a New Zealander being held in ICE custody in the United States says she does not know where her daughter will end up, after she was taken to a different state.

Everlee Wihongi was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) when re-entering the US on a Green Card a month ago, following a family holiday in New Zealand.

Her mother Betty Wihongi was in Wisconsin and said Everlee was told she was being removed from a centre in California on Friday at midnight local time.

On Saturday morning, she had missed a scheduled meeting with her lawyer.

“They [ICE] never contacted our lawyer, so he was waiting for her on a Zoom call and she never showed up,” she said.

The online ICE detainee locator system said that Everlee was in “Camp East Montana” Texas, a camp where an average of about 3000 people per day live.

Detainees had described the camp to CNN as loud and unsanitary, where diseases spread easily and sleep was a luxury.

But then, as journalist David Farrier reported, Everlee disappeared from the detainee locator system.

On Monday night, Betty received information that her daughter was being held at an airport in Arizona.

“She doesn’t know how long she’ll be there, they told her not to get comfortable that she will be moved, but they don’t know where it going to be,” she said.

Betty said because Everlee had moved to another jurisdiction, she would have to restart the process to have her case heard in court.

“So every time you are moved, your court appearances, everything that you had before disappears and you start at the bottom again,” she said.

Betty said their lawyer had been seeing more and more cases of ICE moving detainees to make it difficult for lawyers to get hold of them and to set court appearances.

She said her daughter had been doing well considering, but it was taking a toll on Everlee, who was usually a happy and outgoing person.

“Just the moving around, the facilities, the guards, just everyone, it’s just their job to make your life miserable and hard.

“I think her greatest fear is that we don’t know where she is, that we won’t be able to locate her or find her and she’s going to be lost in all this,” she said.

The family were once again calling on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFAT) and Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters to do more to help.

“Reaching out to the US government [asking] what’s going on with the detainee? Why are you moving her around so much, why can’t she have her day in court?

“We don’t want them to provide funding for us, that’s something we’re taking care of. We don’t want them to give us a free ride for anything else.”

When contacted by RNZ, MFAT repeated its statement that the government was “unable to influence the immigration decisions of other governments”.

“The Ministry continues to provide consular assistance to the family of a New Zealander detained in Los Angeles. Consular officials are in regular contact with the individual and their family,” a spokesperson said.

The spokesperson said MFAT was unable to comment on the details of any individual case and Peters’ office referred RNZ to the ministry for comment.

As of this month, MFAT said it was aware of two New Zealand citizens in immigration detention in the United States.

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