Category: Public Media

Source: Radio New Zealand

Student association leaders warn more students are struggling to make ends meet and rising prices will make the problem worse.

Victoria University’s student association says its food bank shelves are being cleaned out every week, AUT’s association says international students are especially hard hit, and Lincoln University’s association says demand for financial assistance has remained high since the pandemic began in 2020.

Their comments accompanied the launch of a study that found a marked increase in student hardship across several universities in the past five years.

The report by an Otago University student during an internship with the Green Party said there had been sustained growth in the use of foodbanks and hardship grants at several universities since 2019.

It said numbers were highest during the height of the pandemic in 2020, but remained above pre-pandemic levels last year.

The report said international students, single parents and female students were more likely to seek help for food insecurity.

It said the the number of students using a foodbank at AUT jumped from about 100 in 2020 to more than 1800 last year, about three-quarters of them foreign students.

At Victoria University, the student association’s spending on its food bank jumped from about $7000 in 2019 to more than $13,000 last year.

The report said Otago University Students Association provided about 250 food bags in 2019 and nearly 700 last year.

The three associations awarded on average $20,000 each in hardship grants last year, less than at the height of the pandemic but about double the figure in 2019.

The report’s author Anika Texley said the students’ associations collected different data about student hardship, but the overall picture was of growing demand for help.

“They’re struggling to meet their needs and their most basic needs. So things like rent tend to be prioritized over groceries,” she said.

Texley said students were struggling with rising expenses across the board.

“It’s not just groceries, it’s also bills, rising utility, rent is going up, and it’s consistently going up. So it’s an ongoing issue,” she said.

Texley completed her report while working as an intern for Green Party MP Francisco Hernandez.

He said students had been struggling for years and the report showed that the situation had worsened.

“And sadly, things are only going to get worse with the war ongoing in Iran. The cost of everything, gas, energy, groceries, rents, will spike up even further,” he said.

Hernandez said all students should be eligible for an allowance, rather than having to borrow for living costs through the student loan system.

The cupboard is bare

Victoria University of Wellington Students Association president Aidan Donoghue said its foodbank cupboards had been cleared out by hungry students.

“This Monday we had an order to completely fill out that food bank and it’s completely gone already,” he said.

“We’ve seen an increase of us having to order from roughly once every fortnight to once every week to now twice a week.”

Donoghue said the association received about $10,000 a year from the university to stock the foodbank and it would need double that sum to keep up with demand.

He said the fund ran out before the end of the year in 2025 and this year it has cut back on non-food items.

“We’ve had to cut all of our non-food expenditure. We’ve really just had to keep it to the basics of rice, pasta, food in cans,” he said.

“There’s no more toilet paper, there’s no more toothpaste, there’s no more deodorant, because all that costs far too much, and we need to stretch the food bank as far as it will go.”

Donoghue said about 100 students a week were visiting the food bank and many more students were struggling to pay their bills.

“Students are facing the toughest time they’ve had in years when it comes to just meeting the basics of rent, power, public transport,” he said.

He said students could receive up to $320 for living costs from the student loan scheme or as a student allowance if they qualified but needed roughly a further $100-200 to make ends meet.

AUT student association president James Portegys told RNZ students were coming every day for food vouchers or food bank packs and rising prices were making the situation worse.

“Obviously, the prices were already high, and now they’re increasing, so it’s quite a few students are now struggling,” he said.

Portegys said last year some students stopped coming to university because they could not afford the bus fare and the association successfully campaigned for discounted fares for students.

“We heard evidence of students choosing between paying rent, eating, or coming to campus. And what are you going to do? You’re going to choose to pay your rent and eat food,” he said.

Lincoln University students association president Zara Weissenstein told RNZ

“We had a huge increase in all of our financial assistance fund applications during COVID-19, of course and that consistently stayed quite high,” she said.

Weissenstein said the university ran a food bank and the association had noted an increase in students attending events with free food.

“Food is a really big thing because that’s often the first thing that students won’t prioritise because you have to prioritise your general expenses first, so your rent and your utilities that happen every month,” she said.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Former minister Sir Bill Birch is the first to say he copped criticism over the carless days of the late 1970s and early 80s.

They’re the days that drivers, with coloured stickers on their windscreens, chose to keep off the roads during another global oil crisis sparked by events in Iran.

Sir Bill, who was Energy Minister, said the scheme “wasn’t perfect” and “wasn’t very pleasant”.

“But it sort of allowed people to have some use of their vehicles but to do it on a basis of choice in which days they used their cars and which they couldn’t use their cars.”

And it was better than the other option on the Cabinet table, he said.

“Nobody in the Cabinet was very keen on rationing, some of them could go back to the war years when rationing was a bit of a nightmare,” he told RNZ.

“So we adopted the system of carless days.”

Sir Bill believed a lot of people still criticising the scheme today were doing so political reasons.

He does not regret it, he said.

“I mean, we pulled the rug as soon as we had confidence that supply had increased but I think, and I still believe, that it was a better mechanism than rationing.”

‘Ineffective and expensive’

Basil Sharp, an energy economist emeritus professor at Auckland University, remembers the system well but said it did not work.

“And so it just became a huge nuisance for people and it was very, I’d have to say, it was ineffective and it was costly because you’ve got to enforce these things.”

Sharp likens the response to what was seen during Covid.

“Did we get 100 percent compliance with Covid? Of course not. Some people don’t follow the rules and they’re going to try to find ways around the rules,” he said.

“So in the end… it just became ineffective and expensive and so I think rightly so, the government ditched it.”

Sharp said it was a different economy at the time.

“That was an economy based on regulations – interest rates, prices, the cost of electricity, you name it,” he said.

“And so the mindset at the time was ‘well, let’s regulate driving’.”

The regulation did little to lower fuel consumption, which is said to have dropped only about 3 percent.

There were other measures too like cutting the open road speed limit to 80 km/h, and restricting when service stations could sell fuel.

Alan Webb, from the Tauranga Mini Owners’ Club, said people quickly found ways to get around the coloured stickers.

“People started doing what was referred to as portable stickers, what they would do is put the carless day sticker on a thin piece of perspex and then they could transfer it from one car to another which meant then they could use any car any day of the week,” he told RNZ.

“It was never really closely inspected, so it wasn’t that successful.

“People were quite angry, quite annoyed about it and some of them just blatantly ignored it, that’s what they did, they blatantly ignored it.”

Drivers were also able to get exemptions from the scheme, and a black market for exemption stickers cropped up.

There were also forgeries, which all made enforcement a problem.

Households with two cars could simply choose different days to be carless.

Sir Bill Birch said 1979 was a very similar crisis to what was happening now, but current conditions were “a wee bit different”.

“Any government has got to go through the options that are available today, and it sort of hangs on supply and demand,” he said.

“It’s the government’s responsibility to manage that, there’s nobody else that can have the authority to work their way through a crisis of that nature.”

He said the current crisis would be front and centre of Cabinet.

“And they’ll have to work out how much storage they’ve got, what the shortage in supply is going to mean to price, how much increases in prices we’re going to see, how damaging that’s going to be to the inflation and cost of living,” he said.

“And all of those things are very complex that he government’s got to work their way through and consider the impact on the inflation index and cost of living.”

Sir Bill said the current crisis had made him think a lot of the past.

He said the government needed a longterm energy strategy to deal with times when supplies are pinched.

“And my advice to them is to do exactly what we did and that is to engage with people outside of the government who are going to be affected.”

Sir Bill said shortages affected industry, production and jobs.

“And so there’s a whole lot of people in the community that you need to really touch base with and talk to about how it’s going to affect them and what their views are on how it’s managed by the government, so it’s not just a simple decision by the government,” he said.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

The Christchurch City Council has received a please-explain over sewage being discharged into the ocean around Banks Peninsula.

The Canterbury Regional Council issued the abatement notice on Friday following a recent series of unconsented sewage discharges into Whakaraupō Lyttelton Harbour and Akaroa Harbour.

Christchurch City Council has until 1 June to provide the regional council with a comprehensive management plan showing how it will manage the problem.

The regional council’s director of operations Brett Aldridge said it was the first step in preventing the issue in future.

“Whakaraupō Lyttelton Harbour and Akaroa Harbour have immense cultural and ecological value for Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu and the wider community,” Aldridge said.

“These marine environments are home to numerous native species and are also highly valued by recreational users.

“This abatement notice makes it clear we want assurance that critical wastewater infrastructure is being managed appropriately around Whakaraupō and Akaroa Harbours.

“We know these discharges have been distressing for the community and for our treaty partners who are rightfully concerned about the impacts to water quality, kai moana and the ability to swim safely along our coastline.

“It’s our responsibility to ensure CCC is operating its wastewater systems to the standard set out in its resource consent, including making improvements to the network to prevent further breaches in the future.”

It followed an abatement notice being issued to the Christchurch City Council last month for the putrid stench coming from Bromley’s damaged sewage treatment plant.

The plant was damaged by fire in 2021 and has since regularly caused a strong sewage smell to waft across eastern parts of the city.

The smell has been markedly worse in eastern and central Christchurch since the start of the year.

At the time of issuing that notice, the regional council said it had received more than 4500 complaints during the past month describing a “putrid, sewage-like smell”.

In response Christchurch Mayor Phil Mauger suggested pumping partially-treated and chlorinated sewage into Pesasus Bay to take pressure off the plant.

That plan was met with concern and outrage from some.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Follow all the Super Rugby Pacific action as the Hurricanes take on the Highlanders at Forsyth Barr Stadium.

A blockbuster derby awaits as the competition leaders head under the roof in Dunedin to meet the Highlanders. The game will see a plethora of mouth-watering matchups including Jordie Barrett against Timoci Tavatavanawai, Peter Lakai squaring off with the rising Lucas Casey and two of the competition’s form wingers in Caleb Tangitau and Fehi Fineanganofo. Expect a slobberknocker in the deep south.

Kick-off is 7.05pm.

Team lists:

Highlanders:

1. Ethan de Groot 2. Jack Taylor 3. Angus Ta’avao 4. Oliver Haig 5. Te Kamaka Howden 6. Sean Withy 7. Lucas Casey 8. Hugh Renton (cc) 9. Folau Fakatava 10. Reesjan Pasitoa 11. Jona Nareki 12. Timoci Tavatavanawai (cc) 13. Jonah Lowe 14. Caleb Tangitau 15. Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens

Bench: 16. Soane Vikena 17. Josh Bartlett 18. Sosefo Kautai 19. Tai Cribb 20. Veveni Lasaqa 21. Adam Lennox 22. Andrew Knewstubb (debut) 23. Tanielu Tele’a

“Every game that we play is a real arm wrestle for us, if we can play our best rugby then we are in with a chance.” – Highlanders coach Jamie Joseph.

Hurricanes:

1. Xavier Numia 2. Asafo Aumua 3. Pasilio Tosi 4. Caleb Delany 5. Warner Dearns 6. Devan Flanders 7. Peter Lakai 8. Brayden Iose 9. Cam Roigard 10. Ruben Love 11. Fehi Fineanganofo 12. Jordie Barrett (c) 13. Billy Proctor 14. Josh Moorby 15. Callum Harkin

Bench: 16. Vernon Bason (debut) 17. Siale Lauaki 18. Tevita Mafileo 19. Hugo Plummer 20. Brad Shields 21. Du’Plessis Kirifi 22. Ereatara Enari 23. Bailyn Sullivan

“We’re really excited to go down to Dunedin for our first Kiwi derby.” – Hurricanes coach Clark Laidlaw.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

White Ferns take series lead with six wicket win in Auckland.

Some big-htting by the middle order has given the White Ferns a lead in the T20 series against South Africa courtesy of a six wicket win in game three in Auckland.

Chasing 150 for victory, White Ferns number four batter Sophie Devine scored a quick-fire unbeaten 55 runs off 38 balls and was backed up by Maddy Green who scored 34 off 25 as the hosts recovered from losing three wickets in the first 10 overs.

The run chase was over in in the 19th over at Eden Park as a misfield by the South African wicketkeeper allowed the ball to run away to the boundary.

Earlier South Africa had won the toss and opted to bat, but lost early wickets to be two down for 9 runs in the third over.

Devine took two wickets as did Suzie Bates.

Game four of the five match series is on Sunday in Wellington.

See how the game unfolded in our blog:

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

“The silence is deafening.”

That’s the word from newly reinstated Te Pāti Māori MP Mariameno Kapa-Kingi who said she was yet to speak with her party’s leadership team following months of internal ructions and a bitter High Court battle.

In a wide-ranging interview with Mata host Mihingarangi Forbes, Kapa-Kingi said since returning to Parliament, all the she had received from party co-leader Rāwiri Waititi was a text message asking if she would be available for a short, 10-minute kōrero, and had not spoken to the party’s president John Tamihere since November 2025.

“Rāwiri messaged and asked if I was available at a particular time… we haven’t managed to pull that off.” she said.

“My view is it requires more than 10 minutes, tāku nei whakaaro. Nothing [has been] offered up, no real significant or important conversation set aside yet.”

Kapa-Kingi was reinstated to the party last week, after the High Court ruled her suspension and expulsion from the party was unlawful.

In a press statement released shortly after the court ruling was made public, the party said it would make no further comments on the matter.

Kapa-Kingi told Mata she was also yet to receive an apology.

“The silence is deafening, e pono ana, and I would say their press release probably reflects where their thinking is at and their practice.

“I would expect that at the least, which means there’s time and there are acts of remorse shown. Those things have to be evident going forward.”

Asked what accountability would look like for her, Kapa-Kingi said the “ball” was “in the court of the membership now in terms of the party” and suggested an SGM (Special General Meeting) should be on the table.

“There is clearly 55 pages of evidence to say this occurred and it was unlawful. Any right thinking Māori in a membership or even individually should recognise that we need to do something with this… we need to act on this.”

In late November, a meeting was held between Taitokerau iwi and party members to decide how the electorate should respond to their MPs expulsion. They called on president Tamihere to step down and for Kapa-Kingi to be reinstated to the party instead of remaining as an independent MP.

Kapa-Kingi said her electorate executive still supported her being in Parliament, but were concerned about whether she would still be “valued” in the party.

Asked if she had a “deadline” to decide if she wanted to remain in Parliament, Kapa-Kingi she did not but could feel the “tension” around it.

“When I first ever spoke about this, I talked about Te Tai Tokerau as voting for me, pushing for me, requiring me to do the right job for Te Tai Tokerau, to show up, to do the work, to represent with all my heart and mind present to it.” she said.

“The kaupapa itself, I don’t think belongs to any individual alone or even any party.”

Asked if the ructions within the party had taken a toll on her whānau, a tearful Kapa-Kingi said it had.

“I do fancy myself as a bit of a tough girl… but also vulnerable. This could have been figured out better.” she said.

“Not everybody’s suited to it, leadership. My message [to the leadership] is we should have done better. And we can, we can do better, we need to.”

The full interview is available on the RNZ website and on Youtube.

RNZ has approached Te Pāti Māori for comment.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

A man has been found guilty of sexually violating a teenager at his Canterbury bach over 30 years ago.

The victim, who was aged about 18 at the time of the offending, told the Christchurch District Court he was so intoxicated when he was assaulted he thought he might have been drugged.

A jury unanimously found the 68-year-old guilty on Friday afternoon following a week-long trial.

The man’s name suppression will be revisited by the court next week.

Judge Paul Kellar remanded the man in custody.

The judge thanked the jury for their service, saying he could tell they had not found the process easy.

“It is very difficult to sit in judgement on someone. It’s my job and I still don’t find it easy,” Judge Kellar said.

The victim gave evidence that when he was a teenager he would regularly meet with the older man after school to smoke marijuana at the man’s house.

The victim knew the man was gay but had no concerns the man’s motivations were sexual until the night of the attack, the victim said.

The man will be sentenced in May.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand