Category: Public Media

Source: Radio New Zealand

Wellington’s former mayor says her plan to move across the ditch isn’t an abandonment of the city.

In a social media post, Tory Whanau said a combination of economic, professional, and personal reasons have prompted the decision to move to Melbourne.

She said public service cuts have reduced job opportunities, and she was aware her public profile created “political risk” for some organisations.

A large international environment will remove those constraints, she said.

Whanau also said she wanted to remove herself from the increasingly personal and ongoing scrutiny that came with political life and public office.

She said she genuinely loved Melbourne – where she has lived before – and it was a place she could “simply enjoy life again”.

“Importantly, my move isn’t an abandonment of Wellington or Aotearoa.”

Whanau said she would continue to support causes from afar and fully expected to return.

“This is not a permanent goodbye – it’s an intentional step toward growth, opportunity, and sustainability.”

Whanau, who won the mayoralty in 2022 as an independent and had secured the Green Party’s backing for re-election, quit the mayoral race in April, saying she backed Andrew Little’s bid.

She ran for the council’s Māori Ward but was unsuccessful at the local body elections in October.

When he was elected mayor, Little said Whanau had faced “toxic behaviour that no one should ever have to endure” during her time in office.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Next year – 2026 – could be the year that the kākāpō breeding programme takes such a big leap forward that conservationists can finally take a step back

Kākāpō numbers are so thin that all 327 of them have a name and a transmitter.

The funny little tree-climbing, owl-like parrot has had intensive management over the last several decades, and its numbers have come back from the brink to give conservationists hope.

And after a four year wait, they’re preparing for what could be the biggest boom in kākāpō chicks yet, because next year is a mast year.

That means rimu trees on the predator-free islands where the birds live are about to burst with seeds, the bumper year that kākāpō wait for.

“You have to wait around to get a good thing from kākāpō, but this year all the stars are in alignment,” says Alison Ballance, who will be continuing her Kākāpō Files podcast series from December 16.

It will also mark the first time that conservationists take a step back from such intensive methods of rescuing the critically endangered population.

Those methods are resource-heavy and not sustainable. So instead of incubating every egg, encouraging the females to lay more than one clutch, and providing supplementary feed, attention is turning to making sure the birds have enough room to spread their wings.

The ultimate prize would be to turn Stewart Island/Rakiura into a pest-free haven.

“That’s why we’re looking with great interest at the Predator Free Rakiura programme,” says Ballance, “where the community down there alongside DoC, and Zero Invasive Predators and Ngāi Tahu are starting to begin a programme where [they’re asking] can they get rid of things like feral cats and rats on Stewart Island.

“And if that was the case, then we could move kākāpō back to Rakiura and just stand back and let them be kākāpō in their own time frame, without the risk of predation.”

Conservationists know that the risk of taking their eye off every egg and chick means they may lose more than they have in the past.

They say while it’s nerve-wracking, it’s essential. There will be fewer chick checks this season, more eggs hatching in nests rather than in incubators, and generally a move towards minimal intervention.

The last mast years were in 2019 and 2022, so the big crop of chicks that arrived in 2019 will now be ready to breed. The females start from age five but it’s possible some four-year-olds may also lay eggs.

“There should be lots of new, young female kākāpō trying to breed this year which will be really exciting. The Department of Conservation’s kākāpō recovery team tell me there’s a bit of a wild card. There’s 24 young females who are four years old and basically they [DoC] haven’t had experience in the last 30 years of intensive kākāpō management of a breeding season that was four years apart.

“So they’re wondering … maybe some of those precocious four-year-olds … will they breed?”

Thirty years ago there were 51 known kākāpō; 21 female and 30 male. Now we’ve got 84 females of breeding age, so that’s about a 400 percent increase in potential chicks.

Kākāpō are a long-lived species, although we don’t know exactly how long-lived. There are definitely some birds in their late 40s and early 50s and there’s speculation they could live up to 80 or even 100 – and they keep laying until the end.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

New Zealand is yet to join a group of countries pushing for a ‘road map’ to phase out fossil fuels at this year’s global climate summit.

Formal negotiations are due to end today at COP30, in Belém in Brazil’s Amazon region.

However, government ministers and other negotiators were still thrashing out the detail late into the night yesterday, including on a possible ‘mutirão decision’ that would cover several major issues not on the formal agenda.

One of the biggest sticking points is whether countries should agree to work together on a ‘road map’ to globally phase out fossil fuels.

Countries committed to a landmark deal at COP28 two years ago to “transition away from fossil fuels” – the first time the main cause of climate change had even been formally acknowledged at the summit.

Since then, attempts to flesh out what that might mean have been blocked by petro-states.

On Wednesday (Tuesday evening in Brazil), a group of about 80 countries, including the UK and Pacific Island nations, joined the call to put a ‘road map’ on the table.

New Zealand was not among them so far.

New Zealand’s chief negotiator at COP Todd Croad referred RNZ to climate change minister Simon Watts when asked if New Zealand supported the concept.

A spokesperson for Watts said it was “currently being considered”.

A national statement the minister delivered at the summit yesterday said New Zealand was “accelerating the deployment of renewable energy” but did not mention the future of fossil fuels.

Earlier this year, New Zealand withdrew from the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance after the government decided to reverse the oil and gas exploration ban and announced a $200 million ‘co-investment’ to finance new fossil fuel drilling.

Croad said this year’s summit differed from the past few COPs, which had focused on a single issue or outcome – a $300 billion climate finance deal for poorer countries was the big one last year.

“This time around, that focus is being spread out across a range of issues, from mitigation to adaptation to finance and everything else,”

Unlike the acrimony of COP29 in Baku, there was “a general willingness to work and move forward”, he said.

“There’s still a lot of work ahead, and the pace of that work has picked up a lot in the last two days.”

Long hours for Kiwi attendees

As well as the official New Zealand negotiators, dozens of other Kiwis were among the thousands of delegates at COP30.

New Zealand advocate David Tong, who works as a campaigner for Oil Change International, said attendees were now running on very little sleep.

“Negotiations have been extended through to midnight for the remainder of the time, though within days, that will convert from until midnight to 24/7.”

Nearly half of countries attending the summit have not yet submitted their new targets, or NDCs, towards the Paris agreement goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels,

In his national statement to other delegates, Simon Watts urged them to do so.

“All parties must submit NDCs that reflect the urgency of the movement, and all parties with the capacity to do so must provide support to those who need it most,” the minister said.

“We recognise economies are under strain, but every step of progress helps us maintain momentum.”

Tong said many of the targets that had been submitted – including New Zealand’s – were unambitious, and the main Paris Agreement goal was under threat.

“There are still pathways where we can temporarily overshoot 1.5°C and return to 1.5°C by the end of the century, as is the general interpretation of the Paris target. That’s still possible, but every year it gets harder.”

Aaria Rolleston (Ngāi Tahu, Ngāi Te Rangi) was among a group of rangatahi Māori who were endorsed by the Iwi Chairs Forum to go to COP.

It had been a privilege to present a Māori perspective at COP for the first time, but she was frustrated by what she heard in the negotiation rooms.

“There’s a lot of contradiction. Nations come here wanting climate progress, but still so many countries are protecting the same extractive systems driving the crisis,” she said.

Her disillusion extended to New Zealand, which she said had pushed other nations for change at COP while rolling back climate policies at home.

“When it comes to emissions and fresh water, decisions seem to favour agricultural interests rather than the well-being of the environment and the people,” Rolleston said.

“A lot of experts have made it very clear that New Zealand’s current emission trajectory is not aligned with the level of ambition that is expected by a developed nation like ours.”

It was disheartening, “but there’s progress still being made and there is still hope”, she said.

COP30 officially ends on Saturday morning NZT but the summit has a history of running overtime.

A sweepstake being run by some attendees predicted it would last well into the weekend.

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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 Rail Minister has lifted the lid on how the government plans to save cash on the new Cook Strait ferries.

The costings have been revealed for the project which will see two new ships sail into New Zealand in 2029 with new port infrastructure.

When Finance Minister Nicola Willis pulled the plug on iReX, the previous government’s mega ferry project, she said at the time costs had quadrupled since 2018 to $3 billion.

Willis stated the spiralling costs were largely due to the port side infrastructure in Wellington and Picton.

The iReX project included new terminal buildings on both sides of the Cook Strait, an upgraded rail yard in Wellington and significant flood protection work.

The new plan strips back those costs by reusing much of the existing infrastructure – with the taxpayer expected to pay less than $1.7 billion.

Rail Minister Winston Peters said at a press conference on Wednesday they were saving billions.

“In fact, we have saved the taxpayer $2.3 billion… one more time we have saved the taxpayer $2.3 billion.”

That calculation was based on the iReX project blowing out to $4 billion, a figure he has said in the past Treasury warned the previous government it could cost.

Wellington Mayor and former cabinet minister Andrew Little said it was good they have been able to find a fix to the huge port costs.

“I think they have got a different solution on infrastructure; something had to happen because the infrastructure costs were going to be astronomical.”

Marlborough Mayor Nadine Taylor said it provided direction for the community.

“We have been through the iReX iteration, now we are into the new project and today’s announcement gives us that level of certainty.”

She accepted that Picton would not get the new terminal pitched as part of iReX.

“I think that it is in line with the government’s pragmatic reuse policy, and you know as a country we have to be sensible about these things.”

Peters would travel to China next week with Ferry Holdings Limited to acknowledge the contracts with Guangzhou Shipyard International.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Soil tests done as part of a remediation project at a controversial former chemicals plant in New Plymouth have given a large section of the site a clean bill of health.

However, dioxins researcher and community advocate Andrew Gibbs has questioned why the area tested – the least likely contaminated section of the 16 hectare site – was chosen, and said the results amount to “green washing”.

Ivon Watkins – later Ivon Watkins-Dow – made the herbicides 2,4,5-T and 2,4-D at Paritūtū from 1962 through to 1987.

The herbicides 4,5-T and 2,4-D, which contained toxic dioxins, were a key component of Agent Orange – the defoliant used by the US military in the Vietnam War – which had been linked to cancers and birth defects.

The Paritūtū plant was demolished in 2022, and a five-stage clean-up process was expected to take several years.

Dow Chemicals which bought back the site in 2023 has partnered with New Zealand firm Tonkin & Taylor to undertake the remediation programme.

Paritūtū Remediation Project field staff took soil samples in November 2024 from 61 locations across a 2.6 hectare grassed area in the southwest corner of the site, known as Zone 1, which borders residential housing and Centennial Park.

They were then independently analysed.

The analysis – which has been summarised on the Paritūtū Remediation Project website – found the main soil types were interbedded sands and clay.

“[There was] some evidence of fill material was found in two sample locations; however, these were tested for specific analytes (chemical entities) and there was no evidence of contamination.”

Dioxins levels “were all well below the relevant New Zealand Soil Contaminant Standards”.

Zinc at above typical levels was found in samples taken from an area near the site boundary, but they appeared to be unrelated to Dow operations, the summary said.

Area tested had low contamination – dioxin researcher

Dioxins researcher Andrew Gibbs questioned why the Paritūtū Remediation Project team had decided to test Zone 1 first.

“They haven’t tested the most contaminated sites that were identified in 1985 and the late 90s. They’ve gone straight to an area where contamination was low, which makes for a good soundbite for them, but it doesn’t really look at the core problem.

“You would have thought they would have tested where they found the highest contamination in ’85 where the extracted dioxin and waste was stored, which is just north of Zone 1.

“And underneath the two soak ponds, one of which has never been tested, the northern one, and the western one that straddled both sides of the boundary fence, where extremely high levels of contamination were found.”

Gibbs said while it was good news for Zone 1, publishing these test results smacked of “green washing”.

Paritūtū Remediation Project said it was a deliberate choice to first test in Zone 1.

“This area was chosen for the first phase because it was expected to have low contamination levels and presented a good opportunity to test investigation methods before moving on to other areas of the site.”

This logical sequence of investigation was agreed with the independent peer reviewer before work commenced in November 2024, the project team said.

Testing in Zone 1 would help refine the plan for the next stages of the site investigation.

Last year, the Paritūtū Remediation Project team completed a desktop Preliminary Site Investigation which acknowledged the potential for contamination to still exist at Paritūtū which could affect human health and/or the environment.

It had since divided the site into 10 zones as part of a Sampling and Analysis Plan.

The new bore samples taken in Zone 1 were part of Phase 1 of that plan and field staff drilled to depths varying from 1m to 3m.

A further round of soil sampling was completed in June 2025 focused on grassed areas, with a limited number collected in the hardstand (paved) area on the west of the site.

According to the project website, 68 soil samples were taken from 31 locations which had been analysed by an independent laboratory for future reporting.

Process too slow, says mayor

Meanwhile, New Plymouth mayor Max Brough was disappointed with how long the remediation process was taking.

“It seems to be taking a very long time and I question whether we have enough will being applied to getting through this process fast enough.”

Brough’s predecessor Neil Holdom was adamant the site was contaminated.

“I absolutely believe that site is full of some of the most toxic materials that you can imagine in New Zealand and at very high levels of concentration and that they pose a real risk to human health and to the environment, particularly the neighbouring marine park,” he told RNZ last year.

He declined to comment on the latest test results deferring to New Plymouth’s current leaders.

Iwi monitors accompanied field staff during the testing, but were not it a position to comment on its results at this stage.

Brough said he was happy to take up the baton from Holdom.

“So my predecessor, as you know, has had some very strong opinions around that site. He’s probably come off a much greater level of knowledge than what I’ve walked into here in the first few weeks, but actually one of the organisations that’s on my list of people to set up a meeting with is the owner of that site from the early days.

“I’m happy to pick it up and take it on where Neil left off. Actually, that’s part of what we need to do in this city is clean up that site.”

Brough said he did not know whether to feel optimistic or not about the latest test results.

“I understand process can take a long time, but this is, this has been going on for far too long now already. Get on with it. That’s my message to the owners of that site. The people undertaking [the] job, get on with it.”

Paritūtū Remediation Project said the Taranaki Regional Council had scheduled a briefing for New Plymouth district councillors in early December.

“This will provide a comprehensive update of the Paritūtū project, including a high-level overview of the timeline and long-term outlook.”

According to the project website, results from the Sampling and Analysis Plan would feed into a more complex Detailed Site Investigation (DSI) which would evolve as data became available.

“The DSI will be completed and submitted to the Regulators (Taranaki Regional Council) in due course, once the whole site has been investigated and the full report has been independently reviewed by the Council-appointed independent peer reviewer.”

A detailed remediation progress report, including an overview of the process being undertaken, was scheduled to be presented at Taranaki Regional Council in December.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

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