Environment – Have your say on three internationally restricted chemicals – EPA

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Source: Environmental Protection Authority The Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) is calling for submissions on plans to restrict three Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) recently added to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants.   Aotearoa New Zealand has signed this international environmental agreement, so must stop or limit producing, using, importing, and exporting POPs listed under the Stockholm … Read more

Kiribati ministerial delegation visits EIT to explore RSE training opportunities

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Source: Eastern Institute of Technology 2 minutes ago A ministerial delegation from Kiribati has visited EIT’s Hawke’s Bay campus to learn about the institute’s national training programme supporting workers in New Zealand’s Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) scheme. The delegation, led by Kiribati’s Minister for Employment and Human Resources Hon Auria Kitina, met with EIT staff … Read more

Simon Kneebone joins Black Ferns coaching team

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Source: Radio New Zealand Simon Kneebone has been appointed a Black Ferns assistant coach, focusing on set pieces. SUPPLIED The Black Ferns have a new assistant coach who will focus on their set piece. Simon Kneebone completes the coaching group, joining head coach Whitney Hansen, and assistants Tony Christie (attack) and Riki Flutey (defence). Christie … Read more

Mince records biggest annual increase since data began

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Source: Radio New Zealand The average price of a kilogram of beef mince was now $4.60 more than the same time in 2025. RNZ / Vinay Ranchhod Food prices were up 4.5 percent in the year to February, and mince has recorded the biggest annual increase since data began. Meat, poultry and fish led the … Read more

EMA – Employers call for regulation of employment advocates as dispute resolution system falters

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Source: EMA The Employers and Manufacturers Association (EMA) is calling for a review of the employment disputes resolution system and especially the conduct and regulation of employment advocates, following a survey of more than 300 of its members. Employers pointed to an escalating number of disputes, rising costs, longer case durations, and increasingly adversarial behaviour by … Read more

Health and Politics – Minister’s winter spin can’t mask Health NZ’s staffing crisis – PSA

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Source: PSA The Government’s announcement of extra staff and beds for winter cannot be taken seriously from a Minister whose policies have driven Health NZ into a staffing crisis, the PSA says. “This is a drop in the bucket. Hospitals are already carrying significant vacancies and recruitment is too slow to fill them,” said Fleur Fitzsimons, … Read more

Health – Hospital Capacity Boost Highlights Critical Role of Aged Care Sector

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Source: Aged Care Association The Aged Care Association says today’s announcement of additional funding to increase hospital capacity highlights the essential role aged residential care providers play in supporting New Zealand’s health system. The Government has announced a $25 million winter package aimed at boosting hospital capacity, including additional staffing, beds, and the use of up to 567 short-term … Read more

Politics and Employment – Young workers with Christopher Luxon masks take to the streets like he said he would – PSA

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Source: PSA Young workers wearing Christopher Luxon masks will line State Highway 1 in Kilbirnie, Wellington on Wednesday morning to protest the Prime Minister dragging his feet on modern slavery legislation, despite saying in 2022 that it is something he would march in the streets for. The protest is being held by PSA Youth, the youth … Read more

Tertiary Education – International student numbers surge at Vic Uni

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Source: Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington posts major rise in international student enrolments and strong growth in arts, politics, and teaching, as well as higher numbers of Māori and Pasifika students. Victoria University has recorded a substantial 50 percent increase in international students enrolled to start, signalling strong … Read more

Have women quit cutting their hair short when they get older?

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Source: Radio New Zealand Rebecca Wadey can’t imagine ever cutting her hair. The Auckland-based writer and former editor of online magazine Ensemble will turn 50 this year. Her hair, which she describes as “big, curly and coarse”, reaches well below her shoulders “to my elbows if I straighten it”. When she surfs, it blinds her; … Read more

At the Oscars after-party, the fashion was sexy, strange and sensual

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Source: Radio New Zealand The Oscars red carpet is typically viewed as the apex of awards season dressing. What the stars wear to the Dolby Theater is the culmination of months of business negotiations between talent agencies, stylists and fashion houses, generating millions of views for brands and, when successful, can cement an actor’s relevancy … Read more

Overhaul of ERO school reports announced

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Source: Radio New Zealand The Education Review Office says it is introducing new, simpler reports about schools next month. It says from term two ERO reports will include a summary that gives families an at-a-glance understanding of the performance of their children’s school. The office says the new reports will have more focus on children’s … Read more

Inquiry into the Fatal Landslides in Tauranga

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Source: New Zealand Government Cabinet has agreed the Terms of Reference and membership for a Government Inquiry into the Fatal Landslides in Tauranga, Emergency Management and Recovery Associate Minister Chris Penk has announced.  “Eight people died in the devastating events of 22 January 2026 – two when a landslide struck a property in Pāpāmoa’s Welcome Bay Road … Read more

Wattie’s NZ’s proposed cuts ‘a really big blow’ to seed, arable growers

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Source: Radio New Zealand The Wattie’s factory in Christchurch. Nathan McKinnon / RNZ Wattie’s New Zealand’s proposal to stop producing frozen vegetables is expected to impact the country’s already-hurting vegetable growers and seed producers. The seed industry was taking stock of what last week’s announcement by one of the country’s largest food producers, would mean … Read more

NZ, Samoa vow to combat flow of drugs through Pacific ‘super highway’

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Source: Radio New Zealand New Zealand and Samoa have vowed to do more to combat the flow of drugs through the Pacific, which prime minister Christopher Luxon says has become a “super highway”. Luxon and his Samoan counterpart La’aulialemalietoa Polataivao Leuatea Fosi Schmidt have signed memorandums of understanding for Police and Customs to work together … Read more

Education – ERO issuing new school reports from Term 2, focused on providing clarity for parents to understand their school performance

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Source: Education Review Office The Education Review Office (ERO) is overhauling their school review reports to better enable parents and whānau to understand school performance and engage in their child’s learning. ERO Chief Review Officer Ruth Shinoda said the new reports will lift standards of education by providing parents with clear, useful and accessible information about … Read more

Research – 58% of Kiwi professionals are relocating this year – and for 65% of them, Australia is the first choice

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Source: Robert Walters Auckland, New Zealand – 17th March 2026 – Professional mobility across New Zealand is strengthening, with new research from Robert Walters revealing that 58% of New Zealand professionals are open to relocating for work in the next 12 months. As skills shortages intensify and career expectations rise, movement across the Tasman is … Read more

Pharmac seeks feedback to make access to medicines clearer and simpler for people with exceptional clinical circumstances

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Source: PHARMAC Pharmac is reviewing its Exceptional Circumstances Framework (the Framework) after people told us it is hard to understand and needs to work better. The Framework is used when a person’s clinical situation is unusual or complex and existing funded medicines or standard funding rules are not suitable. In these cases, Pharmac can consider … Read more

Tauranga School went in lockdown after reports of an armed person

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Source: Radio New Zealand Police say they’re continuing to make enquiries. RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly A Tauranga school was put into lockdown this morning after reports of someone with a weapon. Police were called to Cameron Road at about 8.50am. “A nearby school was advised to be placed into a lockdown, however this has since … Read more

COVID-19 and long COVID 2024/25: New Zealand Health Survey

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Source: New Zealand Ministry of Health Publication date: 17 March 2026 This page presents a summary of data from questions about COVID-19 and long COVID added to the New Zealand Health Survey (NZHS) in 2024/25. These questions asked adults aged 15 years and over if they had ever had a COVID-19 infection, and if they … Read more

What one changing suburb tells us

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Source: Radio New Zealand Residents of Blockhouse Bay in southwestern Auckland were dismayed to learn early last year that their local Woolworths supermarket was earmarked to close. While the Donovan Street store wasn’t the largest supermarket in the area, many living nearby treated it as an extension of their household refrigerators, popping down to the … Read more

Why Oscar-winning actor Sean Penn skipped the ceremony

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Source: Radio New Zealand Film star Sean Penn stepped out of a train carriage in central Kyiv on Monday, thousands of miles away from the glitz of Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre where he had failed to turn up to receive his third acting Oscar hours earlier. Penn, 65, won the Oscar for best supporting actor for … Read more

Two people hospitalised after four-vehicle crash in Palmerston North

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Source: Radio New Zealand Two people are being taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Supplied / St John Emergency services are at the scene of a four-vehicle crash in Palmerston North this morning. The crash was reported at about 8.25am at the intersection of Rangitikei Line and Flygers Line in Cloverlea, police said. Two … Read more

Moving health decisions closer to home

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Source: New Zealand Government From 1 July, decision-making within Health New Zealand will shift closer to patients, communities, and hospitals, ensuring decisions are made in the right place at the right time so Kiwis get better access to care, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. Local authority: Health New Zealand regions and districts will receive delegated … Read more

More staff, extra beds as hospitals prepare for winter

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Source: New Zealand Government Health New Zealand will invest an additional $25 million to boost hospital capacity, increase staffing, and prepare the health system for higher demand over the busy winter months, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. The investment will deliver: Up to an additional 378 full-time equivalent staff across the country to support meeting … Read more

Settlement welcomed for PSA members

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Source: New Zealand Government Health Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the ratification of a new collective agreement for Policy, Advisory, Knowledge and Specialist (PAKS) members represented by the Public Service Association (PSA). “I am pleased for the approximately 4,400 Health New Zealand staff across the country who will benefit from this agreement. It recognises the … Read more

Are specialist police needed to patrol the CRL underground?

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Source: Radio New Zealand Karangahape Road will be one of three new underground stations on the City Rail Link. Supplied: CRL A specialist police force will be needed to patrol deep below Auckland’s streets on the new City Rail Link, says a city councillor. Transport officers and Māori wardens currently patrol public transport, but do … Read more