Category: MIL-OSI

Source: Press Release Service

Headline: Alchemy Bathroom Renovations Auckland Expands Services Across South and East Auckland

Alchemy Bathroom Renovations Auckland, a long-established specialist in bathroom upgrades, has announced it is now extending its services into South and East Auckland. The expansion comes as the company responds to steady enquiry growth from homeowners in suburbs such as Papakura, Takanini, Pakuranga, Howick, Botany, and Beachlands.

The post Alchemy Bathroom Renovations Auckland Expands Services Across South and East Auckland first appeared on PR.co.nz.

Source: Family First

Today’s superb (and well overdue) policy change by Sport New Zealand regarding biological males in women’s sports simply reflects public opinion.

A recent Curia Market Research poll found that only 13% of New Zealanders thought that boys who identify as girls should be able to play in a girls team. 68% said they shouldn’t, and 19% were unsure.

What is most interesting is that a similar poll in 2018 by the same polling company found that support and opposition was locked at 39% each. Opposition has grown markedly over the last five years to the unfairness and safety concerns around boys competing against girls.

Contrary to the narrative, ‘𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞’ 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲 𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐛𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐞𝐱. The other option is to create a new mixed category.

But females deserve to play in their own league. The government had dropped the ball on this by not sending clear guidelines to sporting groups.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐛𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲, 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧 & 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞.

Source: New Zealand Government

New Zealanders will be better protected from cybercrime following legislation passing third reading in Parliament today, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says. 

“11 per cent of New Zealanders were victims of fraud and cybercrime in 2024, and the National Cyber Security Centre estimates $1.6 billion was lost to online threats.

“The emotional and financial harm caused by cybercrime is significant, and such a quickly evolving threat warrants a coordinated response.

“The Budapest Convention, also known as the Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime, is the only binding international treaty on cybercrime. 

“It aligns member countries’ laws and makes it easier for them to cooperate on criminal investigations.

“By joining the convention, we are signalling to the other like-minded countries that we take cybercrime seriously and we are prepared to do our part to eliminate it.

“It will help our law enforcement agencies to protect New Zealanders, by providing the tools they need to detect, investigate, and prosecute criminal offending, even when it happens online.”

The Bill contains provisions to ensure our domestic laws meet the requirements of the Convention. These include;

• New ‘preservation directions’ in the Search and Surveillance Act, to enable law enforcement agencies to require companies to preserve records that could be evidence of offending.
• Amendments to the Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Act to enhance our ability to seek assistance from foreign countries for criminal investigations, and to provide assistance in return.

Minor amendments to the Crimes Act to ensure offences related to cybercrime and the use of computers are comprehensive and fully align with the Convention.

Source: New Zealand Government

Associate Health Minister David Seymour is welcoming steps to provide medical practitioners with more tools to treat people with depression, with Medsafe publishing guidelines for experts wanting to prescribe Psilocybin. 

“This is huge for people with depression who’ve tried everything else and are still suffering. If a doctor believes psilocybin can help, they should have the opportunity to do what’s best for their patient,” says Mr Seymour. 

“Recent changes have put New Zealand’s settings in line with Australia, where authorised prescribers have been using psilocybin in clinical settings for some time.

“Psilocybin remains an unapproved medicine, but one highly experienced psychiatrist has already been granted authority to prescribe it to patients with treatment-resistant depression. 

“This is excellent news for their patients, but there are other Kiwis in need in different parts of New Zealand who might have an appropriate practitioner nearby. 

“Practitioners must meet a series of requirements to gain approval, including being registered with the Medical Council with a current practicing certificate, a good understanding and experience of the medicines and the psychotherapeutic processes involved in psychedelic-assisted therapy, and a detailed proposal of how they will administer the treatment that has been peer reviewed and will be considered by Medsafe. 

“Soon more practitioners will have the ability to use this medicine, meaning more patients will benefit.” 

Note to editors: Guidelines can be found here. 

Source: New Zealand Government

Police Minister Mark Mitchell today announced the retirement of statutory Deputy Commissioner of Police, Tania Kura.

Ms Kura has served in the statutory Deputy Police Commissioner role since her appointment on 18 April 2023.

Deputy Commissioner Kura notified the Governor-General yesterday of her intention to retire from the role and the New Zealand Police in November this year.  

Ms Kura has served in the police for 37 years, graduating from the Royal New Zealand Police College in 1988. She started her career as a constable in Christchurch before working her way through the ranks to be Area Commander Hawkes Bay in 2012 and District Commander Eastern from 2017. She moved to Wellington in 2020 to be based at Police National Headquarters, taking up the role of Deputy Commissioner Leadership and Capability.

“I wish to acknowledge Deputy Commissioner Kura for her service, and I wish her and her family the best for the future,” Mr Mitchell says. 

Statutory Deputy Commissioners of Police are appointed by the Governor-General on the recommendation of the Prime Minister. The Public Service Commission has started a recruitment process for both Deputy Commissioner positions

Source: New Zealand Government

Vocational Education Minister, Penny Simmonds, has announced the appointment of Yvonne Browning MNZM to a vacant position on the Board of the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC). 

“I am pleased to confirm the appointment of Mrs Browning to this role. She is passionate about ensuring students, particularly young women, can realise their potential by engaging in tertiary education and training,” Ms Simmonds says. 

“Mrs Browning has been Principal of Southland Girls’ High School since 2003 and in 2023 was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM) for her services to education and youth. 

“Key to this honour was her role leading a partnership with Tiwai Point Aluminium Smelter and other organisations in Southland, including iwi and the Pacific community, that resulted in more young women pursuing qualifications and careers in engineering.” 

“The TEC has a statutory role to facilitate and strengthen connections between schools, employers and tertiary education organisations to ensure students are prepared for further education or training and employment. Mrs Browning’s expertise in this area will be valuable to its Board,” Ms Simmonds says. 

“Her experience and skills will complement and strengthen the governance of the Board and ensure that the TEC’s funding of tertiary education and training providers is informed by views of what works for young people when they are considering potential career options. 

“This is critical as the TEC has a key role in ensuring young New Zealanders have the information and skills they need to succeed and help New Zealand grow.” 

The appointment is for a three-year term from 1 September 2025 to 31 August 2028.

Source: PHARMAC

The Medical Technology Association of New Zealand (MTANZ) is the leading industry body representing medical technology manufacturers, importers and distributors of medical devices in New Zealand. HealthTech Week is New Zealand’s national conference for health technology industry and research.

“It was fantastic to have such a strong presence at HealthTech week this year,” says Pharmac’s Director Medical Devices, Catherine Epps.

Deputy Prime Minister and Associate Minister of Health – Pharmac, David Seymour, gave the opening address, followed shortly afterwards by Pharmac’s Board Chair Paula Bennett, who spoke about her work as Board chair of Pharmac and vision for the organisation

Catherine Epps then provided an update on the progress of Pharmac’s medical devices programme.

“It was great to be able to share the significant progress that we’ve made on the comprehensive list of medical devices,” she says.

New Zealand’s first ever nationwide list of medical devices, effective from 1 July, will support better patient care and long-term investments in medical devices.

This list represents medical devices that are used in hospitals or provided to people to use at home.

“Having a comprehensive list of what is used will support the health system to make more strategic, long-term investments in medical devices,” Epps says.

HealthTech week provided a great opportunity for Pharmac staff to meet with suppliers, hear their questions, and share more about our work.  

“It’s essential that Pharmac’s medical devices programme is informed by those who work with medical devices every day – whether that’s clinicians, suppliers, consumers, advocates, or other industry partners,” says Epps.

 “We couldn’t have success in this programme without working together with many others,” she says.

Source: PHARMAC

“The recent external reviews have highlighted the need for Pharmac to continue evolving into a more outward-focused and transparent organisation,” says Pharmac’s Director Strategy, Policy & Performance Michael Johnson.

A five-year change programme commenced on 1 July. It will occur in two phases, starting with an initial 12-month reset.

“While some changes can be made quickly, other changes will take longer to make. In the first 12 months, we want to focus on making improvements that benefit consumers, and lay strong foundations for the future change work”, he says.

A working group, made up of patient advocates and consumer representatives, is being established to support the development and delivery of the reset programme.  This supports recommendations from the Consumer Engagement Workshop Report released in March 2025.

“This group will provide insight, lived experience, and practical advice to ensure that the reset programme is designed in a way that reflects the needs, values, and perspectives of consumers,” says Johnson.

Patient advocate Dr Malcolm Mulholland has been elected by the consumer and patient community as the Chair of this group.

Dr Mulholland said, “We’ve waited a long time for this opportunity.  The work that Pharmac does is vitally important for the health of patients and their families, and this is why getting Pharmac to work as well as it can, will be the focus of the working group.”

Consumer and Patient Working Group

Source: PHARMAC

These organisations represent people and communities with lived experience of health conditions. They help to make sure that these voices are heard and considered in Pharmac’s decision-making.

“We want to make sure these groups can hear directly from our senior leadership about the progress we are making on key initiatives, and that they have the opportunity to ask us questions and give us feedback,” says Pharmac’s Director Equity and Engagement, Dr Nicola Ngawati.

“It’s really important that the voices of the people these groups represent are heard when we make decisions,” she says.

“We know many of these advocates are busy, so we appreciate them taking the time to meet with us each month. We’ve been encouraged by the feedback we’ve received so far, but we’ll continue to adapt so that these meetings are helpful and relevant for people who attend.” 

Source: PHARMAC

“We originally estimated that the uplift would allow us to fund around 54 medicines – 26 for cancer and 28 for other conditions – benefiting about 175,000 New Zealanders,” says Geraldine MacGibbon, Director Pharmaceuticals.

Pharmac has used the increase to fund 66 medicines – 33 for cancer conditions and 33 for non-cancer conditions. In the first year of funding, nearly 250,000 New Zealanders will benefit from these medicines.

“These medicines are making a real difference in people’s lives,” says MacGibbon.

“They’re helping New Zealanders manage a wide range of health conditions – from cancer and heart failure to osteoporosis and schizophrenia.”

For example, about 580 people are expected to benefit from aripiprazole depot injection, used to treat schizophrenia. This medicine works by correcting chemical imbalances in the brain and can reduce the risk of schizophrenia symptoms coming back.

Having access to the medicine denosumab will help 1,900 people with osteoporosis to live healthier lives.

“We heard from people living with osteoporosis that this medicine helps reduce the risk of fractures and supports them to stay active in their communities,” MacGibbon says.

Pembrolizumab (Keytruda) was one of the first medicines funded through the budget increase.  It’s now available for people with several types of cancer, including triple-negative breast cancer and Hodgkin lymphoma.

“Access to these medicines will slow down the progression of these cancers and improve survival, so that people have more valuable time with their whānau and friends,” MacGibbon says.

For 18,000 New Zealanders living with chronic heart failure, access to the heart medicine empagliflozin can reduce the risk of needing to be hospitalised, protect their heart, and reduce the risk of kidney failure.

People with severe eczema also now have access to upadacitinib to help manage their condition. Upadacitinib is a medicine that supresses immune and inflammatory processes in eczema and provides a treatment option for those with severe disease.

“These are just a few of the life-changing treatments that we’ve been able to fund using the budget increase,” says MacGibbon.

Looking ahead, while there was no additional increase to the medicines budget in 2025, Pharmac will continue to fund new medicines through its usual funding and savings activities. These tools allow Pharmac to keep funding and widening access to medicines that make a meaningful difference for New Zealanders.