Author: MIL-OSI Publisher

Source: Secondary teachers question rationale for changes to relationship education guidelines

Infrastructure

Progress with flood resilience

Following the severe weather in Auckland in early 2023, almost $2 billion worth of investment is being made by council and government for Auckland’s storm recovery and resilience.

Council is creating more blue-green networks of waterways (blue) and parks (green) in suitable locations to help make our communities safer and achieve other infrastructure, environment and community benefits.

In April, council approved funding to progress options to develop a blue-green solution for Wairau Valley. In addition, the official groundbreaking and blessing of two Māngere flood resilience (blue-green) projects occurred.

These projects will replace a key bridge and lift New Zealand’s largest sewerage pipe to significantly reduce flood risk for hundreds of homes surrounding the Te Ararata Stream and Harania Creek.

Our community

Safety teams expanded

The council’s Community Safety Team wardens has been expanded with eight additional staff giving regional support in town centres across Tāmaki Makaurau. This is a mobile resource that provides proactive patrols addressing safety and anti-social issues.

Food waste collections thrive

Aucklanders have diverted around 18,471 tonnes of food waste from landfill, since July 2024. Transforming food scraps into clean energy and liquid fertiliser helps move Auckland towards its goal of Zero Waste by 2040. Read more about this initiative: Turbo-charging tomatoes with Auckland’s food scraps – OurAuckland

More Aucklanders took a dip…

Over the summer, Aucklanders took nearly 2.4 million dives into council pools. That’s the most swimmers using our pools during the summer months (January-March) for several years.

… and more read library books!

Auckland Council libraries clocked nearly 2 million visits in the three months January-March. That’s the most since before Covid-19. 

Library visits topped 2 million in the first three months of 2025.

What we’re focusing on next

We’re in the final stages of confirming our Annual Plan 2025/2026.

In March, we completed consultation on the proposed plan, which focused on delivering the second year of the Long-term Plan 2024-2034 and included an opportunity to feedback on the funding of events and destination marketing, and the priorities of local boards.

We heard from 13,000 Aucklanders who provided feedback. In June, the Governing Body will meet to adopt the plan ahead of the financial year starting 1 July.

Auckland Council is working hard to keep your rates affordable, provide good value, build a stronger and more resilient city, and invest wisely to support Auckland’s growth. 

Source:

Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Broadcasting, Tākuta Ferris, and MP for Tāmaki Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, are demanding the Government significantly increase its investment in Whakaata Māori in Budget 2025.

The call comes following the release of the network’s 2025 Social Value Report at an event today, attended by MP Kemp, highlighting more than $114 million in measured impact across Aotearoa.

“Whakaata Māori is not just a broadcaster — it is a cornerstone of cultural survival, education, and national identity,” said Tākuta Ferris.

“This latest report proves what our people have known all along: kaupapa Māori media changes lives, strengthens whānau, and brings te reo Māori into the hearts of homes across the motu.”

The report, independently developed by Social Ventures Australia, affirms that Whakaata Māori’s work is delivering more than double its operating budget in social value — from improved reo Māori use to stronger cultural identity and cross-cultural understanding.

“With 78% of Māori viewers feeling more connected to their identity and 69% of parents saying their tamariki are speaking more reo and practising tikanga at home, this Government must now future-proof these outcomes with targeted investment,” says Takutai Tarsh Kemp.

Ferris and Kemp are calling on the Government to urgently prioritise a meaningful funding boost for Whakaata Māori in Budget 2025, following 17 years without an increase to the network’s baseline operational funding.

“For too long, successive Governments – and especially this one – have paid lip service to te reo Māori and Māori development, while refusing to back it with resources,” said Kemp.

“The network has not received a baseline funding increase since 2008. The numbers presented today speak for themselves – Whakaata Māori delivers where it matters most: to the people. Budget 2025 must reflect that,” concluded Ferris.

Source:

Source: NZ Music Month takes to the streets

Minister for Rail Winston Peters says the decision by the KiwiRail board to retire the Aratere from service is about the next 60 years of rail on the Cook Strait. Ferry Holdings supports this decision. 
“We will not waste one tax dollar on shuffling infrastructure to keep the vessel in service for the sake of it or add any infrastructure risk to our objective of completion in 2029.  That would have cost $120 million.
“Building marine infrastructure while ferries are berthing there can’t be done.
“The Aratere berth in Wellington requires work to be done on it, saving the taxpayer considerable money compared to iReX’s brand new infrastructure,” Mr Peters says.
The Aratere berth in Picton will be demolished and a new, double lane linkspan will be built in its place to serve road and rail for the next 60 years.
“Under iReX, a whole temporary operation was to be built at taxpayers’ expense only to knock it down when permanent infrastructure was built, plus ‘Taj Mahal’ terminal buildings and expensive works across the wider yards in Wellington and Picton. That is not good use of funds, and we are getting the taxpayer a superior deal. 
“KiwiRail has briefed us on their plans to serve the market in the interim. Goods will still get from A to B by shifting freight on to the Kaitaki and Kaiārahi, making use of coastal shipping for some heavy freight such as grain, and adapting their rail and ferry schedules to best suit the market. 
“Passengers will still have capacity, and we may see some evening sailings being busier than normal around Christmas and Easter. 
“We know that job losses are hard. KiwiRail advise us that voluntary redundancy will be offered across the wider Interislander team, and they will be seeking redeployment opportunities where possible,” Mr Peters says.