New Zealand Nurses Organisation strike on 28 November.RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Health NZ has accused nurses of failing to honour their commitment to provide so-called “life preserving services” during a partial strike.
However, the New Zealand Nurses Organisation is blaming Health NZ for rejecting a plan for dedicated on-call staff to cover gaps during their two weeks of “working to rule”.
For the last two weeks, 37,500 thousand nurses, midwives and healthcare assistants employed by Health NZ have been refusing to do extra hours or to be redeployed to other areas.
Whangārei Hospital nurse Rachel Thorn, a union delegate, said before the strike, nurses offered to have a pool of on-call staff available in each region to deliver life-preserving services if required.
That included urgent diagnostic procedures, crisis interventions or treatments.
Instead Health NZ opted for an “emergency plan”, which meant that if all other options had been exhausted, managers had to call a union rep, who would then ask members to volunteer.
“So it was a very sketchy, and I would say pretty dangerous, plan which obviously didn’t work as well as they hoped in some areas, and to be honest, that’s their responsibility.”
It was hard to say why Health NZ had decided not to take up the union offer, Thorn said.
“I can only conclude it was to do with budget, because they would have had to pay people to be on-call. But it wasn’t much, we’re talking $8 a hour.
“They believe – or at least they choose say – that there are enough nurses in the system and we know there aren’t.
“There are so many gaps being plugged by nurses doing ‘goodwill shifts’ to support colleagues and keep patients safe.”
Health NZ manager Robyn Shearer said the agency respected union members’ right to take lawful strike action, “but any refusal to undertake life preserving services creates serious patient-safety risks”.
“We did not support union’s request of having a dedicated pool of members for life preserving services as there is no way to predict staff skills needed for life-preserving services, and the nature of the partial strike action meant that all staff would be on site and available to deliver care.”
“A dedicated pool would also reduce the number of staff available to care for patients and require the cancellation of all elective surgery and outpatient appointments for each shift for a two-week period.”
Because Health NZ and the union were unable to reach agreement, they took the “unprecedented” move of asking the chief medical officers to adjudicate the arrangements for life-preserving services in each district.
Health NZ had also raised concerns with the union about “an unusually high number of staff taking sick leave in some districts”, Shearer said.
Thorn claimed management’s entire plan for the strike relied on the goodwill of nurses – “or business as usual”.
“I would say the sick call increase is nurses feeling exhausted and burned out, and the emergency plan didn’t work out how Health NZ wanted it to. But that’s because they refused to negotiate with us about a safe plan.”
It was “a bit rich” of Health NZ to complain about nurses refusing to plug the holes in its roster during the strike, she said.
“Funnily enough, that’s what the strike was about: to highlight the gaps and not fill them so that Health NZ could actually see where those gaps are. And it’s certainly highlighted the chronic short-staffing.”
In Northland, those gaps were particularly evident in the rural hospitals, the orthopaedic ward, the emergency department, surgery and post-operative care, as well as the neonatal ward, she said.
Health NZ “abusing” nurses’ goodwill – union
Nurses organisation industrial adviser David Wait said the adjudication laid out how Health NZ could request life-preserving services – but it did not trump the right to strike.
“And they knew beforehand that they couldn’t compel members to do that. So they were really abusing the goodwill of nurses by putting in life-preserving services request that undermined the right to strike.”
Wait said Health NZ management had also tried to require nurses calling in sick for one day to produce a medical certificate, which the union overturned.
Meanwhile, the contract dispute drags on, with no more dates for talks set currently.
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But at the agency’s annual review before Parliament’s Education and Workforce Select Committee, outgoing chief executive, Jane Lee, said in September there were 427 students across eight schools.
“We have schools that have a range of in-between 30 right through to over 100 students and what we see, because we do collect attendance and enrolment data, what we can see is a trajectory of increased rolls,” she said.
Lee said most of the schools would reach the number of students agreed in their contracts.
“At the end of this year most of those schools, if not all, will be at their establishment rolls.”
Lee appeared before the committee on her final day of work as the agency’s establishment CEO.
She said information about students’ achievement and attendance would be published in May next year.
“We have collected interim data and what we can see from that interim data is that most students have made sufficient rates of progress and in some cases accelerated rates of progress,” Lee said.
Earlier, Lee indicated there was nothing to stop a repeat of the situation faced recently by Kelston Boys High.
Lee said applications for conversion had to demonstrate to the Charter School Authorisation Board that they had community support.
“During that application process, Kelston could demonstrate that they had support from parts of their community, which the authorisation board took into account,” she said.
“The next part of that process… was to undertake their own consultation process and that is one of the stop measures to ensure there is full community backing. If there isn’t full community backing it is very unlikely that the authorisation board would approve the applicant to come to contracting.”
“When the authorisation board approved the sponsor for contracting there was an error through the contracting process where the trust changed its name so it was an administrative error,” she said.
“Therefore we contracted with an entity that did not exist because they had changed their name part-way through.”
Lee said the agency had since introduced “further robust processes” to ensure the contracting sponsor was the sponsor all the way through the contract process.
Agency staff told the committee the schools’ sponsors received $10.9 million in 2024/25 including $6.3m in one-off establishment funding, and $4.6m in operational funding.
It said much of the operational funding was based on the schools’ “establishment roll”, which was the number of students they expected to have after five school terms of operation.
The agency said charter schools were given just a year to set themselves up, whereas some state schools were funded for establishment for three years.
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On the morning of his final NCEA exams, while most students flick straight to page one and start scribbling, Year 13 Hutt Valley High School student Toby Ireland begins by feeling the test.
His right hand hovers over rows of tiny raised dots; his left flies across a compact keyboard-like device. It’s a rhythm he’ll maintain for six hours —three for accounting, three for statistics — reading each question in Braille and typing his answers into a word processor and spreadsheet. When asked to ‘draw’ diagrams, he uses Braille Lego to create tactile versions, which are photographed and added to his answer sheet.
Every printed page of questions usually becomes three in Braille. Fixing a mistake or going back to check an answer means retracing every line on his device.
Toby Ireland can use Braille Lego to create tactile versions of diagrams.
Supplied / Robin Schofield
By the time Toby finishes, he is shattered.
“I was pretty much exhausted with my feet up,” the 17-year-old says of that last day. “I’m really happy that school’s over. Not that I didn’t like school, but I’m just happy that I don’t have to deal anymore with the stress of the textbooks not coming in time or the extra study I had to do and stuff like that.”
This year, Toby was one of only seven students nationwide sitting NCEA exams in Braille. The support falls under NZQA’s Special Assessment Conditions (SAC), which include reader-writers, rest breaks and separate accommodation.
Before his first Level 1 exam, they had to verify he couldn’t use pen and paper, his mother, Nikki Topp, recalls. Toby was born without sight and at most can see shades of light and dark.
If you only attempt one paper under SAC — as Toby chose to do — extra time isn’t permitted in externals. So he leans heavily on more flexible internal assessments to secure credits.
Robin Schofield (left) has been working alongside Toby Ireland (right) as Resource Vision Teacher for the past six years.
Supplied / Robin Schofield
Time management, he says, is non-negotiable. “I don’t know how much time I need to study. So I need to be organised. Otherwise, it could well eat into my whole week’s breaks or my holidays.”
Missing a single hour of class can mean three to four hours of catch-up. If in-class support is weak, that deficit can turn into 40 hours over a holiday. And yet, throughout exam season, Toby keeps up his rowing training — his goal is the 2028 Paralympics.
“Exercise is my way to burn off stress,” he says. “A good quote from a good rower called Finn Hamill, who’s the son of the Olympic rower Rob Hamill, is ‘When your body is tired, work your mind. When your mind is tired, work your body’.”
Toby Ireland rowing on Halberg Foundation Lyall Bay Surf Day in Wellington on 14 March, 2025.
Photosport / Marty Melville
Preparation
Toby’s school year is woven together from a patchwork of sources: a teacher aide, classroom teachers, his resource teacher, his mother, and textbooks using his Braille display.
“It’s good to have them both there,” he says of his device and Braille printouts, “but I prefer reading off the paper and marking on the Braille machine — that would be a dream come true.”
To make sure he can sit the exams, a request must be made about four months in advance. Studying from past papers is only possible if a blind student has taken that subject before. If Toby needs a paper that hasn’t been embossed into Braille before, there’s no guarantee it’ll arrive on time — and he must rely on others to fill the gaps.
Elements like graphs (as shown in this NCEA level 3 calculus exam) can end up taking more space on the page when being transcribed.
Supplied / Blind Low Vision NZ
“Toby has been the first Braille student, I believe, to take accounting at [NCEA] Level 1, 2, 3. So there was nothing there [in terms of past papers in Braille],” Topp says. “[It was] mainly Toby’s accounting teacher in year 12 and 13, she put those papers into accessible format for Toby. Other times, I’ve literally just gone online and been reading them out for other subjects.”
NZQA confirmed that no Braille papers were requested for accounting in the two years before Toby began taking it, and none for Level 3 statistics in the three years prior.
The Braille display
Toby’s ‘refreshable Braille display’ allows him to create documents, browse the internet and work through spreadsheets. It can be plugged into a screen so Toby’s Resource Vision Teacher of six years, Robin Schofield, can see any issues that pop up and moderators keep an eye on what is being used during exams.
But it has its limitations. Revision and correcting early mistakes is time consuming, and one mis-entered symbol can wipe a page, he says.
The Braille Sense 6 is a portable keyboard-like device that includes pin characters on the bottom row and navigation buttons.
Pacific Vision
When some websites wouldn’t load for a three-week research assessment, Toby had to send questions to his mother and teacher. Topp copied entire webpages into documents and printed copies for his reader-writer.
“So he could have 10 pages there of research to go through. Very, very long and drawn-out process.”
Still, Schofield says accessibility has come a long way in his 14 years with Blind and Low Vision Education Network NZ (BLENNZ).
Not all subjects translate easily, though. Toby left science this year — despite strong chemistry marks — because adapting materials was a mammoth task. Topp says blind and low vision students often end up in English-heavy pathways because they’re more accessible.
Te reo Māori also had to go. Getting from one end of the campus to the other meant he was always late. Toby usually spends months “mapping out” a school campus so he can get around independently — sometimes during his school study period, the time he’s left aside to catch up on coursework.
Toby spends a few months mapping out his navigation route to classes in school.
Supplied / Nikki Topp
Teachers make or break a year
Teacher cooperation becomes crucial, Topp and Toby say.
“At primary school or intermediate, if I had a bad teacher, I’d have to put up with them all year for five-six hours a day,” he says. “But for high school, if I’ve got a bad teacher, I’d need to put up with them for one hour [a day].”
Nikki recalls a moment that illustrated the difference a teacher can make.
“I’ve had conversations, at the same time, with two separate teachers,” she says. One responded defensively, while the other said, “‘Oh, that’s no good. What can I do to help?’ … Toby went from struggling in that class to doing really, really well.”
Toby Ireland, who sits on the Halberg Youth Council, has taken been advocating for himself at school for the past few years, his mother, Nikki Topp, says.
Supplied / Nikki Topp
Most teachers, she says, genuinely try — and some have told her they’ve become better educators after learning to accommodate non-visual learners.
Toby agrees this year was one of his best because he had the same teachers as last year, and they already knew what he needed.
How Braille exams are made
Blind Low Vision NZ produces Braille transcriptions for NZQA. Accessible formats manager David Davenport says specialists must be able to render everything from text to diagrams, charts and other languages.
Visual components like diagrams can inflate page counts, but Davenport says they work with NZQA to create a “create a digestible transcription, without the loss of critical details”. Although it’s rare anything would be dropped or altered.
The NCEA level 3 calculus exam papers show a graph and Braille transcription.
Supplied / Blind Low Vision NZ
About 20 different papers are transcribed for Term 4. Producing a Braille exam costs about $3000. BLENNZ and Blind Low Vision NZ members can get resources for free, he says.
“But if it is through a third party or if it’s a lot of work, then we take a look at who would be charged for what.”
Topp says it would help to have blind or low vision people test the papers too. She remembers a pilot exam question about building a rabbit hutch.
“How on earth is a person who’s never seen a rabbit hutch going to figure that? They just basically raised the edge of the picture … I’m sure the reader-writer did a lot of that backfilling, but in order for Toby to understand that, he pretty much had to have seen or felt it first.”
Davenport says they create notes that a reader assistant can use to guide the student through points which may require sight. NZQA adds students with concerns about exams can contact them directly or through their school or groups like Blind Low Vision NZ.
Blind Low Vision NZ also provides the notes for an amanuensis (or reader-writer),
Supplied / Blind Low Vision NZ
What comes next
Paralympian and friend of Toby, Mary Fisher, once told his primary school classmates not to put life all into one box.
He’s taken that to heart. He became the first para athlete in New Zealand to compete at the Coastal Rowing Nationals, plays piano, is an inclusion advocate, travelled for NASA’s space camp under a scholarship and has about “200 personal goals”.
“Broadcasting school as well is another big possibility of mine, and I want to host a game show one day.”
Toby Ireland, who has been on the NASA space camp, says he has about “200 personal goals” including heading to the 2028 Paralympics and possibly broadcasting school.
Supplied / Nikki Topp
But Toby, who advocates for himself at school, is not fishing for sympathy over his exams or compliments. He doesn’t wish to be the target of “inspiration porn” – a phrase coined by Australian disability advocate Stella Young to describe objectification of people with a disability as models of inspiration.
Instead, Toby feels “super happy” when his achievements are acknowledged for what they are — not because of his disability.
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
The consequences of chronic methamphetamine use are already visible in hospital wards, and it’s about to get worse, an emergency department doctor says.
Dr Paul Quigley told a symposium on reducing drug harm on Monday the country was facing an impending health crisis on par with smoking-related lung disease.
“We are seeing the chronic effects of drug use, that’s often in terms of mental health – so people developing ongoing forms of schizophrenia – [but] we are now seeing the hard effects of long-term methamphetamine use.
“We’re seeing people with cardiomyopathies, heart failure.” Dr Paul Quigley.
RNZ / Rebekah Parsons-King
Quigley told RNZ methamphetamine was particularly “cardio-toxic”, affecting the heart in two key ways through accelerated ageing and exhaustion.
He said the ageing heart meant heart disease was showing up 10 to 15 years earlier than expected.
“So we’re seeing people in their mid-40s who are regular methamphetamine users having heart attacks as if they’d be in their 60s.”
He said meth also increased people’s heart rate and blood pressure, and sustained use literally “exhausts the heart” resulting in cardiomyopathy (a type of heart failure) and in extreme cases, heart transplants.
Quigley said those most at risk of heart disease weren’t “your weekend warriors”, but almost daily methamphetamine users who’d been using for more than a decade.
He said data showed acute meth use in New Zealand was on the rise and the major concern was the impending burden on the healthcare system and society – a cost already seen in countries where meth use was high.
befunky.com
“You should look at this like smoking. People smoked in the 40s and 50s … then later we had this terrible burden of lung disease from the effects of smoking. And it’s going to be the same.
“If we have increased meth use now, we should be looking at, ‘Well, what’s going to happen in 10 to 15 years time?’
“We’re going to have this much larger population of patients with these heart conditions … and it’s affecting parts of our society that are already struggling.”
The Reducing Drug Harm in Aotearoa Symposium – hosted by the Public Health and Forensic Science Institute – featured a range of experts from the frontline of festival drug checking and wastewater analysis, to the police’s drug intelligence office and international experts on early warning systems for new and harmful drugs.
National Drug Intelligence Bureau analyst Kylie Collins spoke to current and emerging drug trends in New Zealand, highlighting a spike in meth consumption in July 2024 that almost doubled methamphetamine use nationally – and has continued.
Collins said the vast majority of New Zealand’s supply came from overseas and the increased use had coincided with a drop in price for the drug.
She said alongside increasing seizures of the drug, meth-related hospitalisations had also been on the rise.
“However, many hospitalisations stem from chronic or very heavy use. So with the recent increases in meth consumption we expect to see even bigger increases in hospitalisations in years to come.”
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The price of Bitcoin has fallen significantly after a volatile year.CFOTO / NurPhoto via AFP
Falls in Bitcoin’s value are typical of the cryptocurrency’s high levels of volatility, experts say, but having a proponent in the White House is likely to put a floor under its price.
In mid-October it hit a record of more than NZ$214,000 but it has dropped sharply since then, back to levels last seen in April. Prices are now about 7 percent lower year-on-year and down 20 percent in a month.
“It’s been a pretty bouncy road this year for Bitcoin, post Trump coming in,” Rupert Carlyon, founder of Koura KiwiSaver said. Koura offers a crypto fund.
“Twelve months ago, Trump came in, it all got quite frothy and then it kept on building.
“This time, with all the nervousness in the last couple of weeks around, is the US Fed actually going to continue with the cutting cycle, is AI massively overblown, is the tech sector overblown? … When the stock market has a sneeze Bitcoin catches pneumonia and that’s a bit what we’ve seen over the past couple of weeks.
“Is it existential? No. Is this very similar to what we’ve seen repeatedly over the last couple of years? Yes. Why would this time be different? There’s nothing that I can see which says this is going to be different.”
He said liquidity could be a risk to the cryptocurrency.
“The big thing with Bitcoin now is the liquidity trade. What that means is how much spare money is sloshing around.
“And I think with the combination of the US shutdown, with some concerns around the direction of where the US Fed are likely to go and how easy they’re going to make money through conditions, probably the big risk factor is does liquidity dry up? But that goes counter to absolutely everything that Donald Trump wants to do. And he’s going to bully his way, I think, to get the opposite impact. So that’s why I remain confident.”
Trump has been a supporter of cryptocurrencies since he took office again.
“From a markets perspective, I remain confident that Donald Trump will do everything in his power to boost global, to boost financial markets, whether that be the stock market, whether that be Bitcoin. He’s got a real desire and he sees that the financial markets are a true kind of judgement on his presidency. And that gives me confidence that the White House will continue to step in as and when necessary.”
Experts say having a Bitcoin proponent in the White House is likely to put a floor under its price.AFP / Jim Watson
Muhammad Cheema, a senior lecturer in finance at Otago University, said Bitcoin was originally promoted as a safe haven asset but had never behaved like one.
“In fact, Bitcoin has proven to be even riskier than the stock market. For instance, in one of my papers … we find that ‘Bitcoin moves in tandem with stock market losses and does not serve as a safe haven during Covid’. During the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, Bitcoin lost almost 46 percent of its value on a single day – March 12, 2020, while the S&P 500 fell by about 10 percent on that day. This clearly shows that Bitcoin is an extremely risky and speculative asset.
“Like most speculative assets, Bitcoin’s price is driven primarily by investor sentiment. Traditional assets such as equities have fundamental value because they represent ownership in firms that generate income. Bitcoin, by contrast, has no underlying cash flow; its value depends almost entirely on market perception. Many investors implicitly rely on the greater fool theory – the belief that an asset can be sold at a higher price to someone else. Investor sentiment is currently weak due to economic uncertainty, geopolitical risks, trade tensions, and broader market volatility.”
Alex Sims, a professor in the University of Auckland law school, said Bitcoin’s price was still up significantly over a longer period.
“The current price is actually just under what it was a year ago. But in the past 12 months it fell, then rose and now has fallen again. However, Bitcoin is significantly higher than it was two years ago. These price movements are typical of Bitcoin.”
Single women are turning to reverse mortgages as a way to get more cash flow in retirement.UnSplash/ Cade Martin
Single women are turning to reverse mortgages as a way to get more cash flow in retirement – and some commentators say it may sometimes be because the adjustment to a “single” pension rate is too tough.
Professor Graham Squires from Lincoln University has conducted research on reverse mortgages in New Zealand.
“This research has not been conducted in New Zealand before, and it is timely given the trajectory of our ageing population and the financial pressures retirees face,” he said.
He said while reverse mortgages were relatively niche, only offered by Heartland Bank and Southland Building Society, they could become more common.
“Reverse mortgages can be useful, but they come with sensitivities around debt and intergenerational wealth,” he said. “If someone remortgages their house later in life, this can affect the level of debt a person holds, potentially passing it on to their children. Our research aimed to provide an objective understanding of how these loans are actually used.”
He said the average amount borrowed was just under $50,000 and 95 percent were voluntarily repaid before the borrower died.
The typical applicant was a 72-year-old single woman.
He said New Zealanders appeared more cautious than Australians, who often borrowd up to the maximum permitted amount.
“Here in New Zealand, the market is highly regulated to help protect financially vulnerable people – those who are struggling financially and repayments may be difficult to make. I believe this research shows that New Zealanders are sensible by not taking out large loans in their retirement years, and that appropriate safeguards are in place. What is vital in the future is the need for people to be financially literate, so they understand what financial options are available to them and what the most appropriate might be.”
Ralph Stewart, whose business Lifetime Retirement Income offers Lifetime Home, a different model that allows people to sell a stake in their house in return for ongoing income, said his clients were also commonly single females.
“They’re sort of left alone in the household by themselves with the house with maybe 20 years to run.”
People who were widowed or separated would find their pension dropped from the married rate of $828 a fortnight each to the single rate of $1076.
“The amount of discount to NZ Super is not proportionate to your expenses,” he said.
Claire Matthews, a banking expert at Massey University agreed being widowed could be a catalyst for people to look at other options.
“It would make it more challenging to remain in the family home. But that should also affect widowed men, although the gender difference would reflect the higher rate of women being widowed. However, I wonder to what extent it also reflects the known gender gap in retirement savings – if women have lower levels of savings, they may have a greater need to access the equity in their home.”
Liz Kohm, founder of Enrich Retirement, said New Zealanders had a conservative approach to reverse mortgages.
“Perhaps too conservative. Current retirees are part of a generation who believe that it is not good to take on debt, especially in retirement.
“This is despite the fact that the debt does not have to be repaid during their lifetime. It would be interesting to know the reasons why the mortgages are voluntarily repaid before death. Possible reasons include selling the home to move into a retirement village – where reverse mortgages are not permitted or family members repaying the debt to avoid erosion of their inheritance. In my view there is scope for retirees in New Zealand to be more relaxed about reverse mortgages and to take better advantage of the opportunity to improve their standard of living. There is a balance to be struck between spending money/wealth on oneself versus leaving more money/wealth behind for family members to spend.
“My observation is it is mostly people who have separated or divorced. Women usually end up worse off than men after a relationship breakdown – probably due to lower earning power and also psychological issues.”
The Leopard family decided to take time out to go on a 15-month camping trip in 2021.
But the allure of life on the road was such they’re still going strong, travelling the country towing an off-grid caravan.
Mike and Sophie Leopard and their three children, Jade, 13, Riley, 12, and Toby, 10, were living the “good life” in Rotorua when the plan came to fruition, Mike Leopard told RNZ’s Nine to Noon.
The Leopard family’s off-grid caravan.
Mike Leopard
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
A coroner has found the death of a driver who crashed into a school bus could have been prevented had he not driven while tired.
Scania Rangi Te Whare, 27, had driven from his home in Te Kuiti on 31 October 2022, leaving about 7.30pm to start his night shift at BidFood in Hamilton.
He typically worked night shifts from 9pm to 7am.
The coroner noted Te Whare would sometimes sleep in his car or at a friend’s house rather than driving home.
As he drove home about 7.30am the next day, Te Whare crossed the centre line of the road and hit a school bus travelling in the opposite direction.
Te Whare died at the scene, while the bus driver suffered minor injuries.
None of the students on board the bus were injured.
A post-mortem detailed the injuries Te Whare suffered in the crash, including a severe head injury, a ruptured aorta and lacerated lungs.
Coroner Rachael Schmidt-McCleave found his death could have been prevented had he not been driving in a likely fatigued state.
Te Whare had been putting in large amount of overtime at work in the weeks before his death.
Coroner Schmidt-McCleave made a number of recommendations after his death.
She wanted the public to take heed of advice from the NZTA around driving with fatigue.
“The NZTA advises that fatigue does not just mean falling asleep at the wheel,” she said.
“That is an extreme form of fatigue. Fatigue can also mean tiredness, weariness or exhaustion and a driver can be fatigued enough for it to impair driving long before the driver ‘nods off’ at the wheel.”
Being tired at the wheel could cause a driver to drift in and out of sleep without knowing it, called microsleep, the Coroner said.
“These naps can last between three and five seconds and are the main cause of fatigue-related crashes where the driver runs off the road.”
Coroner Schmidt-McCleave said lifestyle changes should be considered to make sure drivers get enough sleep.
“Measures such as drinking caffeine, getting out of the vehicle to stretch legs, opening the window or turning up the radio volume do not work and will refresh a driver only for a short while,” she said.
“Once fatigue has set in, no amount of willpower will keep a driver awake. The only answer is sleep and the driver should stop for a short nap or seek assistance to get home.”
NZTA said drivers should prepare properly before driving, and plan where to take a safe break, Schmidt-McCleave said.
A short nap of no more than 15 to 30 minutes could also help, she said.
“Not being tempted to keep driving when tired just because a destination is close.
“Many tiredness-related collisions occur close to home because the driver has relaxed, and the body takes this as a signal that it is ok to fall asleep.”
The Coroner noted shift workers were a recognised category of drivers more likely to suffer from driver fatigue, because they were more likely to have their sleep patterns disrupted.
NZTA’s warning signs for fatigue
Beginning to blink
Not being able to stop yawning
Having trouble keeping head up
Eyes closing for a moment or going out of focus
Having wandering, disconnected thoughts
Not remembering driving the last few kilometres
Missing a gear
Missing a road sign or exit
Slowing unintentionally
Braking too late
Drifting over the centre line or onto the other side of the road
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Track and field star Anna Grimaldi celebrates after winning bronze in the women’s 100m T47 final at the 2024 Paralympics.GETTY IMAGES
New Zealand’s Olympic and Paralympic movements could be on the brink of a historic shift, with the two organising bodies formally exploring the possibility of becoming a single organisation.
The New Zealand Olympic Committee (NZOC) and Paralympics New Zealand (PNZ) have launched a “Synergy Review” – a feasibility project that could pave the way for a merger and a new era of inclusive representation in elite sport.
The review is being led by organisational strategy specialist Susan Strawbridge, with oversight from a governance group that includes delegates from both boards and executives, and Sport NZ.
Representatives from the NZOC and PNZ declined to be interviewed about the review while it was still in the early stages, but in a joint statement said the decision to explore a merger was based on increasingly close cooperation and a growing sense that a more formal alliance could amplify their collective impact.
“NZOC and PNZ share a common purpose of supporting athletes and inspiring Aotearoa New Zealand through sport. We already work closely together, and this process is about exploring if there is an opportunity to build on that strong foundation to improve the possible impact for athletes and the sector,” the statement said.
While speculation about a merger had been bubbling within the sector, officials stressed that nothing had been decided.
“There is no pre-determined outcome,” the statement said. “It is a proactive step to explore potential opportunities to create greater impact, guided by each organisation’s kaupapa and strategic plans.”
The early phase of the project has involved consultation with staff of each of the organisations, national sporting bodies, athletes’ commissions, and major sector stakeholders. Their feedback would now be weighed by both boards over the coming weeks.
The statement said any final decision would be made jointly by both boards, and only if they agreed it was in the best interests of athletes and the sporting community.
The review would also likely consider optics. While the NZOC and PNZ operated as separate entities, many New Zealanders assumed the Olympic and Paralympic teams fell under the same organisation.
That confusion had often led to criticism of the NZOC and its partners during Paralympic campaigns, with the public mistakenly believing the Olympic body was failing to support disabled athletes. A unified structure could reduce that friction and present a clearer message about how athletes were funded and supported.
Internationally, Olympic and Paralympic structures varied widely. Most countries maintained separate bodies, but several – including Team USA, one of the largest and most influential teams in world sport – operated under a single organisational umbrella.
A number of other nations were currently weighing similar options, although NZOC and PNZ noted that national context was always the deciding factor.
It is not yet known if any merger would result in job losses. The NZOC is the larger, more well-resourced of the two organisations, with more than 30 fulltime employees and an annual turnover of nearly $23 million, according to its 2024 annual report.
PNZ’s total revenue for 2024 was $5.4 million.
Should the two organisations elect to join forces, it was likely a formal merger would not take place until after the LA 2028 Olympic cycle due to existing broadcast and commercial arrangements.
Last month Sky announced a long-term partnership with the International Olympic Committee for the broadcast rights to the Olympic Games from next year’s Winter Olympics through to Brisbane 2032.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
The Coroner has found the death of a driver who crashed into school bus could have been prevented had he not driven while tired.
Scania Rangi Te Whare, 27, was driving from his home in Te Kuiti on Halloween 2022. He had left home at about 7.30pm to start his night shift at BidFood in Hamilton.
He typically worked night shifts from 9pm to 7am.
The Coroner noted Te Whare would sometimes sleep in his car or at a friend’s house rather than driving home.
As he drove home at about 7.30am the next morning, Te Whare crossed the centre line of the road and hit a school bus travelling in the opposite direction.
Te Whare died at the scene, while the bus driver suffered minor injuries.
None of the students on board the bus were injured.
A post-mortem detailed the injuries Te Whare suffered in the crash, including a severe head injury, a ruptured aorta and lacerated lungs.
Coroner Rachael Schmidt-McCleave found his death could have been prevented had he not been driving in a likely fatigued state.
Te Whare had been putting in large amount of overtime at work in the weeks before his death.
Coroner Schmidt-McCleave made a number of recommendations after his death.
She wanted the public to take heed of advice from the NZTA around driving with fatigue.
“The NZTA advises that fatigue does not just mean falling asleep at the wheel,” she said.
“That is an extreme form of fatigue. Fatigue can also mean tiredness, weariness or exhaustion and a driver can be fatigued enough for it to impair driving long before the driver ‘nods off’ at the wheel.”
Being tired at the wheel could cause a driver to drift in and out of sleep without knowing it, called microsleep, the Coroner said.
“These naps can last between three and five seconds and are the main cause of fatigue-related crashes where the driver runs off the road.”
Coroner Schmidt-McCleave said lifestyle changes should be considered to make sure drivers get enough sleep.
“Measures such as drinking caffeine, getting out of the vehicle to stretch legs, opening the window or turning up the radio volume do not work and will refresh a driver only for a short while,” she said.
“Once fatigue has set in, no amount of willpower will keep a driver awake. The only answer is sleep and the driver should stop for a short nap or seek assistance to get home.”
NZTA said drivers should prepare properly before driving, and plan where to take a safe break, Schmidt-McCleave said.
A short nap of no more than 15 to 30 minutes could also help, she said.
“Not being tempted to keep driving when tired just because a destination is close.
“Many tiredness-related collisions occur close to home because the driver has relaxed, and the body takes this as a signal that it is ok to fall asleep.”
The Coroner noted shift workers were a recognised category of drivers more likely to suffer from driver fatigue, because they were more likely to have their sleep patterns disrupted.
NZTA’s warning signs for fatigue
Beginning to blink
Not being able to stop yawning
Having trouble keeping head up
Eyes closing for a moment or going out of focus
Having wandering, disconnected thoughts
Not remembering driving the last few kilometres
Missing a gear
Missing a road sign or exit
Slowing unintentionally
Braking too late
Drifting over the centre line or onto the other side of the road
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand