Author: MIL-OSI Publisher

Source: People Against Prisons Aotearoa

The Government has announced the total disenfranchisement of people incarcerated in New Zealand prisons. This replaces a partial ban, and will see all prisoners prevented from participating in elections. The move violates a 2018 Supreme Court ruling that stripping prisoners of the right to vote violated the Bill of Rights. People Against Prisons Aotearoa spokesperson and University of Auckland criminologist Dr. Emmy Rākete says the ban is undemocratic.

“The right to vote is the basis of democratic government. Legitimate governments cannot arbitrarily remove people from the pool that elects them. If the Government strips New Zealanders of the right to vote, it is attacking the democratic principles it claims to be founded on.”

“The Supreme Court has already ruled that banning prisoners from voting is unlawful. The Government is spitting on the rule of law.”

Corrections data show that the prison population is currently more than 50% Māori.

“Aotearoa has been subjected to months of racist meltdowns from Government ministers over hysterical claims that co-governance or abiding by Te Tiriti unfairly favours Māori. Now, on a whim, those same teary-eyed ministers will arbitrarily ban thousands of primarily Māori people from participating in their precious democratic institutions.”

Source: Consumer NZ

The Yeah, Nah Awards spotlight businesses that have excelled at letting consumers down. It’s accepting public nominations until 30 June.

Acting head of research and advocacy, Jessica Walker, says the Yeah, Nah Awards Are about recognising the worst products and services in Aotearoa and putting pressure on poor-performing brands and companies to lift their game.

“Been ripped off, lied to or burned by a business? We want to hear about it,” says Walker.

“The Yeah, Nah Awards give people a chance to get those grievances off their chests and, more importantly, demand that businesses pull their socks up by calling them out for their bad behaviour.”

Walker reflects on last year’s awards, noting the ‘winners’ received awards across a wide range of issues, like shrinkflation, greenwashing and overpriced products that underwhelm.  

“New Zealand consumers put up with a lot,” she says.

This year, the Consumer NZ team has noticed an increase in issues like dodgy sales strategies and manipulative marketing ploys.  

“It seems everyone has experienced the frustration of signing up to a free trial only to be stuck with a subscription they don’t know how to cancel.”

Walker warns of ‘mistake’ marketing, too.

“That’s where a company’s social media account makes an announcement that, for example, they’re going into liquidation or their number-one-selling product is being discontinued. Then, after their customers rush to stock up, they find out it was a hoax.

“That’s not on. That’s the kind of cooked behavior the Yeah, Nahs is here to call out.”

Who was bad enough to win last year?  

“Last year, Pam’s Value cream style corn won the Less Isn’t More Award for containing less than half corn. We get complaints about shrinkflation all the time – it really grinds peoples’ gears.”

The advocacy organisation presented the Polished Turd Award to two brands of dog poo bags for their misleading claims about being compostable and “a more sustainable alternative”. Consumer’s investigation found it’s much more likely that the doggy doo and these bags are headed straight for landfill – rather than peoples’ backyard compost bins.

Air New Zealand won the Taken for a Ride Award for cashing in on demand during the school holidays.

“After analysing over 600 flights across an 18-week period, we found Air New Zealand’s flight prices go up significantly more compared with Qantas at times of peak demand. We think our national carrier could be giving families a better deal over the school break.”

One model of Bosch heat-pump dryer received the Avoid at all Costs Award from Consumer’s test team.  

“Our test team slapped this dryer with a ‘do not buy’ label for creating an appliance that takes more than double the time to dry a load than other cheaper driers.”

Across the 178 businesses Consumer looked at over the last year, Westpac’s life insurance customers had the lowest level of satisfaction.

“Westpac’s life insurance customers expressed a 33% customer dissatisfaction rate, which works out at one in three customers reporting experiencing a terrible time. As a result, Westpac won the Grave Disappointment Award.”

Dob in products and services that have let you down by June 30!

Walker is keen to remind New Zealanders that the Yeah, Nahs are about complaining, yes, but they’re also about demanding better too.

“We’re not out here trying to ruffle feathers for the sake of it. Our members get trusted, independent advice about the best in class – from recommended products to top-performing services.

“Ultimately, you deserve to get good, fair, honest value from the things you spend your money on – whether you’re buying the essentials or the nice-to-haves. And that’s what the Yeah, Nahs, and Consumer NZ, are all about.”

Walker says her team will be accepting nominations from the public via Consumer’s website until Monday 30 June: https://consumernz.cmail20.com/t/i-l-fhjijlk-ijjdkdttjk-n/

“You might have a real bee in your bonnet about your favourite brand of oats having recently shrunk in size. Or it could be that online subscription you’ve been trying to cancel for months now.

“Whatever bewildering, baffling, doozy of a time you’ve had, tell us, and our team of experts and investigators will determine which nominees are worthy of the most quintessentially New Zealand expression of dissatisfaction: a Yeah, Nah.”  

Winners will be announced in November 2025.

Notes

A team of Consumer investigators will determine which nominees are bad enough to be good contenders based on the awards’ judging criteria.  

To be a contender for a Yeah, Nah Award, a product, business or service must meet one or more of the following criteria:  

Failing a standard
Stinging customers with hidden charges
Using false claims or broken promises
Selling products or services that aren’t up to scratch or good value for money
Using unclear messaging that causes consumer confusion, frustration or just plain outrage.

Source: NZ Music Month takes to the streets

Financial education will be embedded as a core element of the refreshed social sciences curriculum for Year 1-10 students, set to be available for use from 2026, Education Minister Erica Stanford announced today. 
“Embedding essential skills into the curriculum will ensure our young people are better prepared to make informed financial decisions in a complex financial world. This will positively impact their lives and the broader economy,” says Minister Stanford. 
For younger students the curriculum will cover key financial skills, such as identifying needs versus wants, having a bank account, earning, spending and saving. Older students will gain the knowledge needed to understand more complex concepts, such as budgeting, investment, interest, taxes, and insurance to help to build lifelong financial skills. We have already included financial maths in the new maths curriculum, which is being delivered this year.   
To support the implementation of financial education in the new curriculum, a variety of tools and resources, developed in collaboration with financial organisations, banks, and charitable trusts, will be available to schools, ensuring they can effectively deliver the curriculum.
A new partnership between the Ministry of Education and the Retirement Commission will map the offerings from financial education providers against the updated curriculum.  The Retirement Commission’s work with providers will ensure consistent curriculum-aligned supports and resources, giving schools confidence in their delivery. 
This resource map will be extended into senior secondary years with guidance and resources for Year 11-13 students, supporting schools to flexibly deliver ongoing financial education to their students. 
“As the Minister responsible for the Retirement Commission, I absolutely believe that strengthening financial education is crucial to our Government’s focus on economic growth. We are all consumers, and financial literacy can set young Kiwis up to be savvy consumers – whether it’s knowing how to invest wisely, choose the best loan at a bank, or even identify a scam,” Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Scott Simpson says.  
“We know that New Zealand parents have long called for financial education to be a priority. This curriculum update answers those calls, ensuring students are equipped with the knowledge to thrive in both personal and financial aspects of their lives,” says Minister Stanford. 
This initiative marks a significant step forward in New Zealand’s education system, placing a strong emphasis on real-world skills that will empower students to take control of their financial futures. Notes to Editor: 
Providers working with the Retirement Commission include:  

Sorted in Schools (Retirement Commission) 
Banqer
MoneyTime
Life Education
Young Enterprise Trust
Savvy
Westpac
ASB
Kiwi bank
BNZ

A draft of the updated social sciences learning area will be available in Term 4, 2025 for feedback. An updated version will be available for schools to use in 2026, and is planned to be required from 2027.

Source: NZ Music Month takes to the streets

Common sense new rules allowing certain species of live fish to be legally returned to the sea will reduce unnecessary red tape and support sustainability, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says.
Under the Quota Management System most fish caught by commercial fishers must be kept and taken to shore unless there is an exception in place.
The new rules exempt southern bluefin tuna, legal-sized pāua and Bluff oysters from this requirement as long as they are alive and likely to survive being returned to sea.
“Returning these species to their fisheries in circumstances when they are likely to survive benefits the sustainability of fish stocks as returned fish will remain part of the spawning population,” Mr Jones says.
“Commercial fishers have been allowed to return southern bluefin tuna since 2004 but these new rules set out the conditions in which they are likely to survive.
Under the new exception, commercial fishers can return southern bluefin tuna only if it has been caught by surface longline or troll, is confirmed to be alive, without major injury, and is returned to the sea as soon as possible. 
“Commercial pāua fishers have put in place voluntary minimum harvest sizes, which are larger than the minimum legal size. These voluntary measures from industry support sustainability of pāua fisheries by maintaining a larger amount of spawning pāua in the fishery,” Mr Jones says. 
“The exception will allow commercial pāua fishers to return pāua that are larger than the legal size, but smaller than the voluntary harvest size, which supports efforts to look after the fisheries they depend on.”
The change allowing oysters to be returned to the sea is a practical response to how they grow, Mr Jones says.
“Oysters grow in clumps, which can include both legal and undersized oysters. Without the exception, undersized oysters must be removed from the legal-sized ones and returned to the sea.
The exception requires legal-sized oysters, if attached to such a clump, to be returned to the water quickly as possible as well.
“Bluff oysters need to be returned to the sea quickly for them to have the best chance of surviving, so the handling time needed to separate the undersized oysters hurts their chances of surviving to grow and spawn more oysters.”
“My thanks to everyone who provided feedback as part of the consultation on these changes,” Mr Jones says.
The commercial landing exceptions come into force on 1 May 2025.

Source: NZ Music Month takes to the streets

Improving the current system to better protect power lines from falling trees will protect the security of New Zealand’s electricity infrastructure, says Energy Minister Simon Watts. 

“Secure electricity lines are critical to electrifying New Zealand’s economy and delivering the resilient and reliable electricity supply we need to power economic growth,” Mr Watts says.

“Cyclone Gabrielle and Cyclone Tam highlighted the vulnerability of our infrastructure to severe weather events like storms and floods. During Cyclone Gabrielle alone, trees outside the Growth Limit Zone caused power outages that left 68,000 households without heating, lighting, internet, and access to essential appliances.”

The Government has now agreed to amendments to the Electricity (Hazards from Trees) Regulations 2003, that will lower the risk to power lines from trees that are close to but aren’t immediately beside the line. 

“We’re taking action to deal with the increasing risk of damaged infrastructure and support our adaptation to the changing climate,” Mr Watts says.

The amendments introduce two key measures:

• Enabling lines owners to assess the likelihood and potential impact of a fall for trees they consider could be a risk to lines, then issue a Treefall Hazard Notice for moderate- and high-risk trees.
• Restricting the planting of new trees on land that is not already forested outside of urban areas.

“We have worked closely with lines owners and other impacted stakeholders to ensure we struck the right balance between security of our electricity supply, protecting property rights, and making sure the forestry sector’s Emissions Trading Scheme-related revenues are not unduly impacted,” Mr Watts says.

“This Government has made it clear that we are committed to unleashing transmission and distribution infrastructure on our mission to electrify the New Zealand economy. Ensuring the security of our network infrastructure is essential to delivering reliable electricity to all New Zealanders.”