Author: MIL-OSI Publisher

Source: Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington

With over 2,600 graduates, two parades, and eight ceremonies, this May graduation will fill Wellington’s streets with cloaked and capped graduates.

Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington’s graduates will honour the community that saw them through and the connections they have made, as they cross the stage.

Among those crossing the stage this graduation will be Luamanuvao Dame Winnie Laban, our first Assistant Vice-Chancellor (Pasifika), who is being awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Literature, after leaving her position at the start of this year.

The inaugural recipients of our Master of Criminology, as well as an early graduate of the Bachelor of Global Studies, will also be graduating in the May ceremonies.

Parades on Tuesday 13 and Thursday 15 May will see graduates walk from the Government Buildings to Queens Wharf Square, before our ceremonies are held at Michael Fowler Centre.

Source: New Zealand Police

Police have made several arrests and impounded vehicles following a gang tangi in Gisborne, attended by up to 400 gang members and associates.

The significant operation saw local Police supported by staff from neighbouring Districts including the Police Eagle helicopter, Tairāwhiti Area Commander Inspector Danny Kirk said.

“Our focus today was the safety of the Gisborne community and those attending the tangi. In the lead up to today’s event, Police have been engaging with the family of the deceased, and gang leaders, who have passed on the message that we would be highly visible and enforcing the law.

“It’s disappointing to see some people choosing to break the law, but that number is small compared to how many people were attending the tangi. A big part of that can be put down to the engagement we’ve had with gang leaders and the responsibility that they took for regulating the behaviour of their members.”

At least four individuals were arrested or summonsed for public display of gang insignia and will appear in court in the coming days.

One motorbike rider failed to stop twice for Police following a sustained loss of traction. The bike was recovered and has been impounded for six months. Enquiries are ongoing to identify the rider.

Another three vehicles have been impounded for 28 days, two for dangerous driving, and one for driving while suspended.

Several people were also seen leaning out of the windows of vehicles. Police are aware of their identities and will be following up with them.

“While the tangi may have finished, our work to enforce the law has not.

“Additional Police will be working through the night across Gisborne, carrying out reassurance patrols in the community and monitoring driving behaviour on our roads,” Inspector Kirk said.

Police encourage anyone who witnessed illegal or intimidating behaviour around the tangi to make a report online or call 105. Please reference the file number 250511/1622.

Information can also be provided anonymously to Crime Stoppers on 0800 555 111.

ENDS

Issued by the Police Media Centre

Source: Statistics New Zealand

Ready-mixed concrete: March 2025 quarter – 12 May 2025 – Ready-mixed concrete statistics provide an indicator of construction activity.

Key facts

• In the March 2025 quarter, the actual volume of ready-mixed concrete produced was 854,509 cubic metres, down 1.5 percent compared with the March 2024 quarter.
• In the year ended March 2025, 3.8 million cubic metres of ready-mixed concrete was produced, down 5.4 percent compared with the year ended March 2024.
• In seasonally adjusted terms, the volume of ready-mixed concrete rose 1.4 percent in the March 2025 quarter, following a 4.6 percent fall in the December 2024 quarter.

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Source: Statistics New Zealand

Electricity and gas to be included in the monthly selected price indexes – 12 May 2025 – Stats NZ will begin publishing indexes for electricity and gas as part of the monthly selected price indexes (SPI).

The April 2025 SPI, scheduled for release on 15 May 2025, will be the first to include the indexes, which will be part of the housing and household utilities group.

General manager and macroeconomic spokesperson Jason Attewell said this is the next step in Stats NZ’s continued commitment to improving and modernising the economic data it produces.  

“The cost of electricity and gas prices are important to New Zealanders, especially as we head into winter. Adding these components to our monthly release now will provide decision makers and the public more timely information about energy costs,” Attewell said.

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Source: NZ Music Month takes to the streets

Hunting and Fishing Minister James Meager will consider formally designating wapiti deer as a Herd of Special Interest (HOSI) in Fiordland National Park, which could cover more than 190,000 hectares. It is the second HOSI to be considered this year, following launch of the sika deer HOSI process in April.

“The wapiti HOSI represent an opportunity for economic growth in regional New Zealand. Better, healthier deer herds provide opportunities for domestic and international visitors to hunt the only free-range wapiti herd outside of North America,” Mr Meager says.

“The wapiti HOSI builds on existing community efforts of the hunter-led Fiordland Wapiti Foundation to manage the deer population for hunting and conservation purposes. The Foundation have been successfully managing populations in the Fiordland National Park for years, and this HOSI will give certainty and support to continue their work for years to come. 

“Not only do they undertake regular culling and manage the popular wapiti ballot, they maintain tracks and huts, and carry out thousands of hours of trapping to better protect vulnerable native species like whio/blue duck. A successful HOSI will improve herd and trophy health, better manage the impact of valued and other introduced species and continue to improve conservation outcomes such as improved biodiversity and protection for native flora and fauna.”

The next phase will involve targeted engagement with iwi/hapū and stakeholders – including Forest and Bird, the Ministry for Primary Industries, the Game Animal Council, the Conservation Authority, relevant regional councils, and conservation boards.

The Department of Conservation will publicly notify a draft herd management plan after engagement with key parties is complete. This is expected to take place in the fourth quarter of 2025.

To support the wapiti HOSI, the Government will also introduce a bill to Parliament to clarify the designation of HOSI in national parks, through a small amendment to the Game Animal Council Act 2013. The bill will clarify that HOSI can be established in national parks as was originally intended and clarify the existing legislation.

“The legislation for HOSI needs to be clear and unambiguous,” Mr Meager says.

“The National Parks Act’s requirement to ‘exterminate’ introduced animals as far as possible is clearly at odds with the purpose of designating a HOSI, which is to manage game animals for hunting and conservation outcomes.

“The GAC Act always intended for HOSI to be allowed in national parks, and by introducing this bill, we aim to provide clarity for all involved. The legislation will retain the requirements for HOSI to be consistent with New Zealand’s wider conservation framework, including the preservation of indigenous habitats and natural features.”

“The public will have the opportunity to submit on the bill at the select committee stage and I look forward to hearing more about how we can improve conservation outcomes through hunting.”

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

In a once weed-ridden and forgotten corner of Māngere, something remarkable is flourishing. On the unused land of a former Kāinga Ora housing site, the Māngere Community Enviro Hub is now sprouting with fresh produce to feed the community.

The hub, on the corner of Elmdon St and Watchfield Close, often echoes with the chatter of school kids gathered around the raised beds learning about growing kai, and on special occasions, the smoke from the hāngī pit signals a community gathering. At the Auckland Council-funded Māngere Community Enviro Hub, the community isn’t just watching things grow – they’re growing together.

1. Growing kai for the community

In just one year, the Kāinga Ora land leased to community development organisation I AM Māngere has gone from bare earth to a thriving community garden. The driving force of this transformation is software developer turned horticulturist Rata Taiwhanga, from the Etū Rākau Charitable Trust.

In the māra kai (food garden), several garden beds are growing seasonal kai. The beds are designed in a tiered pyramid shape to create airflow. There’s also a section dedicated to Pacific and international produce such as taro, pawpaw and bananas.

Even in cooler weather, the garden is thriving with rainbow silverbeet and winter greens. There’s a garden bed set aside for locals who can use the garden to grow vegetables for their whānau. Other produce is sold at markets for an affordable price.

The pyramid design of the garden beds at Māngere Community Enviro Hub is designed to create airflow around the whenua (land).

Auckland Council has supported the Māngere Community Enviro Hub through the Climate Grant, the Waste Minimisation and Innovation Fund and support through the Recovery Office. Installing a greenhouse is the next big project on the horizon which will allow the garden to extend the growing season on some crops – part of a bigger project around sustainability and climate resilience.

“It is important for Auckland Council to support Etū Rākau and the Māngere Enviro Hub,” says Frances Hayton, Low Carbon Specialist for the Council.

“Māngere is one of the three priority communities identified as needing support to be able to lead their own recovery following the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Weekend floods and adapt to the changing environment.

“The Māngere Enviro Hub sits alongside other Council programmes that aim to build on the understanding within the Māngere community of a changing climate to future hazards such as floods, drought, cyclones and rising sea levels.”

2. Composting waste and creating a circular economy

Council funding has helped provide carbon cycle composting bins for the site. Each bin can process 750kg of food waste a week, and the compost produced is used to replenish the garden. The composting system is part of the Enviro Hub’s circular economy and the group charges local businesses, such as cafes, $30 a week to collect their food scraps. The green waste is then used to grow microgreens, which are sold back to the cafe.

Local student Jackson has learnt how to compost Māngere Community Enviro Hub’s carbon cycle composting bins. The Council-funded bins have the capacity to compost 750kg of food scraps a week.

Another local business supplies the Enviro Hub with mulch and brown vegetation for the garden. If the compost bins can generate excess compost, Rata hopes to sell bags at local markets.

“The idea is to create a micro store that’s accessible for the local community as there’s no hardware store or plant store in Māngere,” says Rata. “By charging a small fee for things like plants, food or compost, it covers costs but it also shows there’s a value to what we’re creating.”

3. Growing great minds

The Enviro Hub works with several schools – including Māngere College, which helped build the foundations of the garden – and community groups, such as Ngāti Tamaoho, to run workshops and teach tamariki and rangitahi (children and teenagers) sustainable living skills like how to grow their own kai. From these practical skills and new-found knowledge of the environment comes personal growth, says Rata.

“Some of these kids have a 501 gang background and what we’re trying to do here is to equip them for life,” says Rata. “I see a lot of rangatahi and they’re afraid of being Māori. They think they need to speak the reo (language) to understand the history and know their whakapapa to be Māori.

“One thing I say to these kids is if you want to understand your culture, understand your first mother, Papatūānuku (Mother Earth). Once you learn how to look after the garden and the planet and all that, everything else will just come naturally.”

4. Replenishing the whenua (land)

In his workshops, Rata teaches his students how to rejuvenate the soil in the garden with compost and organic matter which brings microorganisms to the soil. He also talks to his students about carbon sequestration (the process of capturing and storing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere in the soil) and mycelium in the soil (the rootlike network of fungus) – the Enviro Hub even has a mushroom hut!

“The way I explain the soil is like a waka,” Rata explains. “When some people first see a waka they think the ingenuity is in the sail, but it’s actually underneath the boat which creates air bubbles that make the boat go fast – it’s the same with soil and the garden.”

Rata also leads the community on litter clean-up days and the restoration of Te Ararata Creek. This Matariki, the Enviro Hub plans to plant 500 native trees on the waterway.

5. Feeding the community

As well as feeding locals with fresh produce, Rata and the Enviro Hub team have worked together with the Tūpuna Maunga Authority to create community hāngī days. Earlier this year, the Māngere Community Enviro Hub and Te Pane o Mataoho / Te Ara Pueru / Māngere Mountain collaborated to feed the community with delicious hāngī.

The hāngī pit at Māngere Community Enviro Hub is used for special events. The carbon left over from the feast is used to replenish the soil.

The food was prepped by a kapa haka group from Māngere College and was cooked by Māori chef Kia Kanuta. The meat served was halal to cater to Māngere’s growing Muslim community.

“For some that attended it was their first experience of hāngī and that part of Māori culture. It was important to us to make it inclusive for everyone,” says Rata. “As humans, food is our first language and it’s a common shared experience for every culture. The good thing about hāngī is it sweetens the soil and we can use the carbon back in the garden – it’s all cyclical.”

Source: NZ Music Month takes to the streets

The Government is turbocharging student achievement in maths by ensuring extra help is available at every stage of primary and intermediate schooling, Education Minister Erica Stanford says.
“Proficiency in maths is such an important foundation of success in life. Every child deserves the opportunity to be confident and capable in maths so they can reach their potential. Budget 2025 invests nearly $100 million over four years so children needing extra help with maths gets the early intervention and targeted support they need to succeed,” she says. 
“Four million dollars of that investment is going into the development and implementation of a new Maths Check for lower primary students. 
“From next year, every child will have their maths ability checked in their first two years of schooling. The check will identify students who would benefit from additional support, early on in their schooling journey. Professional development and specialist support will be available to teachers to ensure the checks are used effectively.
“The first two years of school are critical for developing foundational maths skills. Support in that time can transform a child’s learning journey. We’ve already successfully introduced this in literacy through the Phonics Check,” Ms Stanford says.
“$56 million of the investment will fund the equivalent of 143 new full-time maths intervention teachers to provide targeted support to children in years 0-6 who are not achieving at curriculum level. This provides the same kind of additional staffing support as structured literacy approaches. 
“This investment means more students will get the expert support they need, when they need it,” Ms Stanford says.
“The remaining $40 million will fund targeted, small-group maths tutoring for up to 34,000 year 7–8 students each year from Term 1 2026. This programme will build on the current pilot to provide tutoring to students who are not yet at curriculum level. 
“Ensuring students are prepared to enter secondary school with strong foundations in maths will support them to succeed in the co-requisite assessment, NCEA and life beyond school”.
All of these initiatives will also be introduced in te reo Māori for students who are learning in a bilingual unit or kura Kaupapa so that students learning in te reo Māori have the same access to resources and support. 
Budget 2025 builds on Teaching the Basics Brilliantly and the Make it Count maths action plan to transform the teaching and learning of maths in New Zealand.

A clear and detailed, year-by-year and internationally comparable maths curriculum
Approximately 830,000 maths books and resources distributed to schools
Around 980 schools and over 15,000 teachers involved in maths professional learning and development
3,000 students already involved in a Year 7-8 maths trial to accelerate learning

“We want 80 per cent of Year 8 students achieving at or above curriculum expectations in reading, writing, and maths by 2030. This system-wide boost will ensure Kiwi kids have the knowledge, skills and competencies they need to reach their full potential,” Ms Stanford says.