Category: Public Media

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Health New Zealand says another 10,000 immunised against measles

Source: Radio New Zealand

Health New Zealand has the target of 95 percent of two year olds being fully vaccinated. 123rf

Health NZ says another 10,000 people have been immunised against measles, but experts warn more coverage is needed to help those with immune deficiencies.

The National Public Service’s Nikki Canter-Burgoyne said 10,847 people were vaccinated against Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) last week.

It comes after an immunisation drive earlier this month which saw an extra 15,000 people vaccinated.

There are 19 confirmed cases in the current measles outbreak.

“It’s heartening to see continued interest in people protecting themselves and their tamariki from measles a week after Immunisation Week finished,” Canter-Burgoyne said.

The national childhood vaccination rate in New Zealand is at 82.6 percent. Coverage of 95 percent in the community is required to prevent outbreaks and protect populations, The World Health Organisation said.

Health New Zealand also has the target of 95 percent of two year olds being fully vaccinated.

Dr Nikki Turner, from the Immunisation Advisory Centre, said it was vital to reach community immunity when some people couldn’t get the vaccine.

She said as a live vaccine, MMR could pose risk for those with significant immune deficiencies, including people on medications for Crohn’s disease, arthritis, people undergoing chemotherapy, or those with HIV. It also cannot be given to those who are pregnant.

“MMR is what we call live attenuated, so it doesn’t cause measles, but when you give the vaccine it can replicate inside you, so that if you have a significant immune problem, it can replicate quite vigourously inside you, and cause what looks like measles.”

Turner said those with immune deficiencies were at higher risk of developing severe complications from measles – including pneumonia, brain inflammation or death.

“We do not want these people to get measles.”

Associate professor Andrew Harrison, medical director at Arthritis New Zealand, said this was an issue for a significant proportion of the population.

“I know it’s caused a fair amount of concern”.

He said a decision needed to be made on a case by case basis for patients with arthritis who did not have immunity to measles.

Harrison said the MMR vaccine could be given to people with certain lower-level treatments for inflammatory arthritis, whereas advice for those on heavy immunosuppressants – such as TNF inhibitors – was that they stopped medications if they needed the vaccine.

“If they carry on with their treatment – the risk is that the live vaccine will expand and proliferate in their bloodstream and tissues, and cause an infection, which can be harmful.”

He said guidelines differed between Health NZ’s Immunisation Handbook and guidelines from the American College of Rheumatology.

“The best approach is to tailor the advice for the individual patient according to their circumstances, and to balance the risks of developing measles against the risk of vaccine-related syndrome.”

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All Blacks fail to make World Rugby Player of the Year list

Source: Radio New Zealand

Ox Nche of South Africa Andrew Cornaga/www.photosport.nz

No All Blacks have been named among the finalists for World Rugby Player of the Year.

Richie McCaw, Dan Carter, Kieran Read, Brodie Retallick, Beauden Barrett and Ardie Savea have all won the award since it was first introduced in 2001.

However, this is the second successive year that New Zealand has not had a finalist.

The finalists for World Rugby Men’s 15s Player of the Year are: Louis Bielle-Biarrey (France), Pieter-Steph du Toit (South Africa), Malcolm Marx (South Africa) and Ox Nche (South Africa).

All Black lock Fabian Holland is nominated for Breakthrough Player of the Year, while Tupou Vaa’i’s try against France in July is up for Try of the Year.

The voting panel included former legends of the game: Jacques Burger, Fiona Coghlan, Victor Matfield, Drew Mitchell, Ugo Monye, Sergio Parisse, Kieran Read and Blaine Scully.

The winners will be announced this weekend.

The women’s winners were announced after the World Cup with Sophie de Goede of Canada taking the top honour and New Zealand’s Braxton Sorensen-McGee named Breakthrough Player of the Year.

World Rugby Men’s 15s Player of the Year

Louis Bielle-Biarrey (France)

Pieter-Steph du Toit (South Africa)

Malcolm Marx (South Africa)

Ox Nche (South Africa)

International Rugby Players Association Men’s 15s Try of the Year

Santiago Cordero (Argentina, v British and Irish Lions – June)

Santiago Pedrero (Chile, v Samoa, South America/Pacific Play-off, RWC 2027 qualifier – October)

Lekima Tagitagivalu (Fiji, v Australia, men’s international – July)

Tupou Vaa’i (New Zealand, v France, men’s international – July)

World Rugby Men’s 15s Breakthrough Player of the Year

Fabian Holland (New Zealand)

Ethan Hooker (South Africa)

Henry Pollock (England)

Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii (Australia)

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15 years on, Pike River families still pushing for criminal charges

Source: Radio New Zealand

Smoke coming out of the Pike River Mine. Credit: NZ Police

Pike River families are still waiting to hear if police will lay criminal charges, as a result of the disaster that left 29 men dead 15 years ago.

Bernie Monk, whose son Michael died in the mine, said it was outrageous to still be waiting for a prosecution.

“They owe this to the country to do the right thing and I can’t understand why we’re still here, still battling for the same thing.”

To honour the anniversary, Monk said families would meet at the memorial site in Atarau on Wednesday morning, before heading up to the mine in the afternoon.

“We’ll all gather at approximately the time of the explosion and have a roll call, so every member is remembered by individuals. If their families are not there, we still have their names recorded and then we have a minute silence.

“That’s a vigil that we’ve had every year since the day it’s happened and we’ll continue to do that, until the government, the police and the Crown see sense in bringing charges and possibly getting the men out.”

The 15th anniversary also comes after the release of the Pike River feature film, which has brought the families’ ongoing fight for justice back into focus.

Recently released research shows New Zealand’s health-and-safety record remains poor, with workers here more likely to die than in Australia or the United Kingdom.

The Public Health Communication Centre research identified persistent issues with workplace health and safety, including weak enforcement, inadequate fines, and poor understanding of legal duties among employers and political leaders.

Anna Osborne, whose son Milton died in the mine, and Sonya Rockhouse, whose son Ben was also killed in the disaster, are in Wellington to meet with Workplace Safety and Relations Minister Brooke van Velden.

Osborne said she was shocked, but not surprised there had been little change in the rate of workplace fatalities in the last 15 years, and she wanted to see health-and-safety regulations strengthened.

“We lobbied the government for stronger health-and-safety rules and regulations in the workplace, but to find that they’re being watered down at the moment by the government, it just makes me sick to think that another Pike River could actually happen again.”

Osborne said people dying at work and not returning home to their families was unacceptable.

“I’ve lived through losing my husband and it’s a nightmare. It’s an emotional rollercoaster and life just is not the same.

“I just hate the thought of any loved one not returning home after their day at work, so if I can help in any way to push these laws to make them stronger and make it safer, I’m going to do that.”

Osborne said she felt she owed it to the people of New Zealand, who had been so kind in supporting the Pike families, to keep fighting for safer health-and-safety regulations in the workplace.

A police spokesperson said they were still working with the crown solicitor and considering whether to lay charges over the Pike River Mine disaster.

They could not provide a timeframe for when a decision would be made on the matter.

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What’s all the buzz about this retro keychain camera?

Source: Radio New Zealand

A finger-sized camera with a resolution that wouldn’t hold a candle to your average smartphone is selling out at official stockists in New Zealand.

The Chamera — a nostalgic collaboration with Reto that nods to Kodak’s first single-use cameras of the ’80s — comes in seven colours (plus one “secret edition”) and clips onto belt loops or bags like a fashion accessory.

Splendid, which specialises in analogue photography and operates out of Auckland, Wellington, and online, says it has sold out of hundreds of since September. Co-founder Sean Aickin says the craze blindsided them.

The secret edition of the Charmera has a transparent shell.

Supplied / Kodak

Who still has a landline phone?

“The Charmera kind of caught us by surprise,” Aickin says. “We placed, what we considered at the time, a significant order. It subsequently sold out in days [in September], which really blew us away.”

Amid the resurgence of retro gadgets, digital point-and-shoot cameras have been trending among Gen Z but they’re often second-hand, dying and increasingly hard to source, he says.

“So this being a brand new product that you can buy off the shelf with that retro, vintage, digital camera look and feel … it just really hit the mark.”

Christchurch retailer NZ Camera and Print says it only received about 40 units — most of which were already spoken for before they even arrived.

“In the two weeks leading up to getting them in-store with us we were getting emails and phone calls almost daily asking when they’d land,” staff member Madeline says.

“We’ve honestly never seen that level of huge interest for a product before but it’s been grand seeing folk get so into it.”

She believes social media influencers played a huge role in boosting its popularity. Aickin agrees, saying sales boost could also have been driven by Christmas gift shopping.

Kodak Reto’s keychain Charmera offers various filters for people to take photos in.

Supplied / Kodak

But whether this is just another fad, Adrian Cook, director of the Analogue Aotearoa festival, says anything that encourages a slower, more mindful approach to photography is welcome.

“I’ve noticed a general rise in interest around simple point-and-shoots, [second] hand analogue cameras and low-spec digital cameras and a genuine desire for something more tactile and less ‘perfect’.

“The price point will appeal to many, though of course the image quality won’t compare to true analogue or higher-end digital.”

Madeline calls it “a nifty little bridge” between ’90s charm and modern convenience.

People can also choose to put frames and timestamps on their photos.

Supplied / Kodak

The 30-gram Chamera pairs old-school appeal with a modern practicality: photos and videos are stored on an SD card, and users can add frames and filters. Its low-resolution 1.6-megapixel sensor — practically extinct by today’s standards — is exactly why Aickin’s Gen Z staff love it, he says.

“I was trying to work out where the hell they found these 1.6 megapixel sensors. I thought we stopped making those in the 2000s…

“As photographers, it does come back to the image quality for us, because we are photographers, but we realise that it’s going to be targeted at a lot more people than just photographers because of the small nature of it, the blind box side of it, and all of those other kind of features.”

The Charmera, which weighs just 30 grams, comes in seven colours.

Supplied / Kodak

That blind box aspect puts the Chamera in the same wheel as other pop-culture collectables. With a 1-in-48 chance of scoring the “secret edition” transparent shell, its marketing mirrors the tactics of PopMart’s Labubu dolls or Bearbricks.

According to USA Today, the camera sold out within 24 hours on the official website in September. Director Vivienne Tsang said they sold 10 times more blind boxes than expected.

A handful of Splendid customers even bought all seven colours in hopes of completing the set, Aickin says.

“That to us was a bit surprising because that’s the kind of thing that you get with like the Labubus and Bearbricks.”

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Taumata Arowai intervention over Kaeo water supply was ‘about time’

Source: Radio New Zealand

Anna Valentine has been one of those affected by Kāeo’s water drama. RNZ / Peter de Graaf

A resident of a Far North town says it was “about time” the water watchdog stepped in, after being under a boil notice for more than 10 years.

Kāeo’s water supply has been under the management of private companies for 25 years, after it was sold by the Far North District Council.

Since then, a decade-long boil water notice has been in place, the water supply owner has been trespassed from the treatment plant and water hasn’t been running for the past month.

Now, for the first time, the water services authority – Taumata Arowai – has placed the town’s supply under statutory management and appointed the council to take care of it.

Local resident Anna Valentine told RNZ it was about time the community had change.

“It’s a relief for sure, but it seems like a lot of effort has gone in to get somebody to take notice of it.”

Valentine said getting information out of the private water company about their issues had been difficult.

“It has been like living under that Mad Max character that is like the lord of the water, and has turned it on and off at whim.”

She wanted accountability for what the town had gone through.

“What’s happened to all the money the town’s paid to the supplier, if he couldn’t even put a filter in or maintain the plant? That seems to have not happened, because the boil-water notice never got taken off.”

Taumata Arowai operations head Steve Taylor said the issues were unacceptable and went on for too long.

He said the Far North District Council would now need to consider how it managed the water, both short and long term.

Te Runanga o Whaingaroa pou arahi Rainera Kaio said his iwi organisation would like to be part of that work.

“We’re keen to work alongside Far North District Council to co-design something.

“Whether that looks like – a joint model situation or whether we look to other members of the community, or other contractors in the community that could take this on.”

Far North District Council was approached for comment.

Wai Care Environmental Consultants declined to comment, beyond saying it supported Taumata Arowai’s statement.

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Good vocational pathways ‘capped and trapped’ – tradie trainers

Source: Radio New Zealand

Students in Years 9-10 should be able to enrol in a trades academy or similar programme to gain basic vocational skills, say experts. File photo. Supplied/ UCOL

Secondary schools will have to work a lot closer with polytechnics and employers to realise the government’s goals for its new “vocational subjects”, say industry leaders.

The government has designated some subjects “vocational” meaning their curriculum and qualification will be developed by the Industry Skills Boards it is setting up next year to set trade training standards for apprenticeships and work-place learning.

Industry and school sector delegates to the Vocational Education and Training Research Forum run in Wellington this week by training providers the Skills Group and the Building and Construction Industry Training Organisation told RNZ the reform would require a huge step up in the availability of work experience placements and in schools’ use of training options like Trades Academies where students attended a tertiary institute for trade training.

Skills Group head of consulting Josh Williams said the changes could rebalance the school system to better recognise vocational and trades subjects, especially if teenagers could enrol in tertiary courses and get work experience at the same time as attending school.

“At the moment there is a lot of fantastic innovation and a lot of very good vocational pathways delivery happening, but it’s capped and it’s trapped in schemes like Gateway and Trades Academies, and there’s little pockets of money here and there,” he said.

“To make this systemic we really do want to promote more of that kind of dual-enrolment opportunity that’s already enabled, that doesn’t require legislation change.”

Williams said students could spend some of their time in school, some with a tertiary provider, some with an employer and seamlessly progress into an apprenticeship.

“I think that’s a fantastic vision and I actually think it can be done,” he said.

Williams said the main shortcoming for employers in terms of school-leavers’ skills and knowledge was not so much industry-specific skills but basic foundation skills, literacy and numeracy.

New Zealand Initiative senior fellow Michael Johnston advised the government on curriculum changes and advocated for a stronger vocational education in secondary schools.

He told the conference vocational subjects could use “skill standards” rather than unit standards in the new secondary school qualification that would replace NCEA from 2029, but the standards might have to be assessed on-the-job rather than in a classroom.

He said schools could not possibly teach vocational subjects on their own.

“A lot of these vocational subjects are going to require some work-integrated learning, that is students out in the workplace learning on the job. They’re going to have to be able to have dual-enrolments with polytechnics because schools are not set up to just teach across all of the vocational areas,” he told RNZ.

“They’ll need support from the ISB’s. They’ll need to be partnered with industry, with polytechs and other training organisations, and there will have to be some changes to the funding model to make that happen.”

Johnston said the ISBs could be tasked with arranging work placements for schools.

Engineering teacher Dave Brewerton said schools in small centres would certainly need help.

“Each school or each careers space within that school will need to go out and talk to local industry, build up those relationships, and effectively beg and promise to be able to gather those placements for those students,” he said.

“That’s quite a large ask not only for the schools, but it’s also a big ask for the local businesses and it makes it really difficult, particularly for more regional schools that don’t have the same access to those resources.”

The co-chair of the Construction Centre of Vocational Excellence and director of training provider Vertical Horizonz Phil Hokianga said he wanted to see more opportunities for rangatahi who needed direction in their first years at high school.

He said students in Years 9-10 should be able to enrol in a trades academy or similar programme to gain basic vocational skills.

“Then they go through the process of learning the skills required to then get to a stage where they can be doing taster programmes to see if they want to be a chippy, to see if they want to be an electrician, to see what tickles their fancy and do that in the comfort of being already in the system,” he said.

“They’re getting a pathway into a journey to be able to start an apprenticeship. I think that’s the part that’s missing.”

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Jesse Ryder makes comeback for T20 Black Clash

Source: Radio New Zealand

Jesse Ryder goes on the attack for the CD Stags in 2022. Photosport

Following his departure from the international cricket scene, former Black Cap Jesse Ryder will make a comeback for the T20 Black Clash.

Daniel Vettori’s Team Cricket takes on Kieran Read’s Team Rugby at Tauranga’s Bay Oval on the 17 January.

A left-handed batsman, Ryder scored all three of his test centuries against India and was one of New Zealand sport’s more colourful figures.

“The Black Clash looks like awesome fun so that’s definitely a bit of me,” he said.

“I can’t wait to get out there. I reckon I’ve still got a bit to offer!”

Ryder’s penchant for being part of record-breaking occasions carried over into shorter forms of the game – in 2014, he scored what still stands as the ninth-fastest ODI century of all time, smashing 104 off 46 balls in a rain-shortened match against the West Indies in Queenstown.

“On his day Jesse was without doubt one of the most destructive batters the game has seen,” captain Vettori said.

“It’s going to be great catching up with him again. I’m sure he’ll be going all out to put on a show for the fans.”

Now 41, Ryder played professionally as recently as 2023 when he appeared in a T20 legends series for the Southern Superstars.

Event director Carlena Limmer is delighted to have secured Ryder for the 2026 Black Clash.

“The T20 Black Clash is all about having a great time and celebrating Kiwi sport’s finest athletes and biggest personalities,” Limmer said.

“Jesse certainly ticks all the boxes – I’d say he’s the ultimate Black Clash player. I know the fans will all get behind him and hope he produces some of his trademark massive hits.”

Ryder joins other Black Caps stars, with Tim Southee and Neil Wagner adding some world class pace bowling to what is perhaps the strongest Team Cricket line-up yet.

However, Read’s ever-competitive Team Rugby have countered by signing Aussie legend Michael ‘Mr Cricket’ Hussey to play alongside a cast of rugby stars who just happen to have elite cricketing skills.

It’s the third time the event has been held in Tauranga, with the sold out 2022 and 2024 editions drawing sports fans from across the country to the picturesque Bay Oval.

Confirmed players

Team Cricket

Dan Vettori (Captain), Tim Southee, Neil Wagner, Hamish Marshall , Kyle Mills, Nathan McCullum, Jesse Ryder

Team Rugby

Kieran Read (Captain), Michael Hussey (Wildcard), Ruben Love, Joey Wheeler, Andy Ellis, Jason Spice, Kaylum Boshier

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30 with Guyon Espiner: Economist Gary Stevenson on why New Zealand should tax the rich

Source: Radio New Zealand

New Zealand should be a rich country, but instead inequality is growing and the middle class are on the way out, British YouTuber, economist and trader Gary Stevenson says.

He told 30 with Guyon Espiner the divide between the middle class and the rich had been growing since 2011.

“I started to look at the financial situation of my friends and their families, and what I saw in 2011, was my parents’ generation, you know, ordinary people, not with exceptional jobs or degrees, owning property, buying houses,” Stevenson says.

“And then what I saw in my generation was kids with a degree, advanced education, who would never be able to own property. So what you’re seeing there is… families going from being property-owning families to non-property-owning families.”

Stevenson was a working-class kid from East London who used his smarts to win a trading game competition and score himself an internship with a leading bank. He went on to become one of the biggest traders in the world.

Now with 1.5 million subscribers on YouTube, Stevenson talks all things economics and told Guyon Espiner that New Zealand should be rich, in theory.

“You know, really, by rights, New Zealand should be a rich country, because there’s not a lot of people there, there’s a phenomenal amount of natural wealth per person, it can sustain a good quality of life for every single person in the country.

“The problem you have is, once you start cutting those taxes on the richest, the rich very, very quickly start to increase their share of the wealth, and inevitably that starts to squeeze people out.”

Gary Stevenson appearing via remote link on season 4 of ’30 with Guyon Espiner’. RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly

Stevenson said the country would see “really rapid increases in poverty” if it did not tax the rich.

“I think if you don’t do anything, if you leave the system as it is, then wealth inequality will increase very rapidly.

“What that means is the rich get richer and richer, and everybody else loses their assets. What that means is ordinary families can’t afford to buy homes, ordinary families need to take enormous amounts of debt. It means the, the bankrupting of governments, which means the shutting down of welfare states.

“I’m here to speak to the New Zealand public and tell them the fire engines are not coming.”

He doubled down and said that if New Zealand wanted to “fix the economy”, the public needed to “demand action” from politicians and themselves.

“They don’t realise that if you don’t tax the rich, the rich will squeeze you out.

“If you accept a situation where the rich grow their share every year, then, of course, your share and your family’s share will eventually be squeezed to nothing,” he said.

When asked whether there needed to be some degree of international co-ordination, Stevenson said it would help massively.

“So I’ve got to be honest, I think this will be much, much, much easier if we work together.

“These problems, which you have [in New Zealand], unaffordable housing, not enough good jobs, not enough government services, we’re seeing them here, we’re seeing them everywhere. Let’s work together and fix this together.”

Stevenson is visiting Auckland in March next year with The People’s Economist tour.

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Capital Gains Tax wouldn’t have raised much in recent years – Cotality

Source: Radio New Zealand

National median property values were flat in the three months to October and still 17.3 percent below their peak. Supplied / James Munro

A capital gains tax would not have raised much money in the last 4-5 years, property data firm Cotality says.

Its latest monthly housing chart pack shows national median property values were flat in the three months to October and still 17.3 percent below their peak.

Between October 2023 and October 2025, the national median price only lifted from $802,112 to $811,662.

Labour has proposed a 28 percent capital gains tax on residential investment and commercial property from a valuation day in 2027.

Cotality chief property economist Kelvin Davidson said the market was steady.

“The timing of Labour’s proposal is interesting,” Davidson said. “The market is getting busier, but remains a touch below normal, affordability has improved and investor participation is on the rise.

“Against that backdrop, the CGT debate naturally raises questions about behaviour, whether investors would hold properties longer to try and avoid the tax for a while, and how much revenue a tax might realistically generate.”

He said timing and the assumptions in the policy were important considerations.

“For such a system to collect meaningful revenue, property values would need to rise, yet recent years have seen only modest growth. Our data shows national median values up 10 percent since five years ago in October 2020.”

He said a capital gains tax would not stop prices rising. Other countries with a CGT still recorded house price rises.

“People were looking at the general vibe of the CGT policy and saying surely what Labour wants from this is for house prices never to grow again. It’s not quite true.

“Perversely, they’d actually need house price rises to keep rising for any tax to be collected.”

He said investors could dodge it for a while by not selling – but not forever.

“I do think it would reduce the expected return from property investment and you would think that might result in relatively fewer investors than otherwise, which could have implications.

“People say it might push up rents and it may a little bit, but at the same time, it might create some opportunities for people who otherwise would have been renting to actually buy. The houses don’t disappear.”

Sales volumes were up six percent in October, the 28th rise in the past 30 months. New listing numbers also increased.

Davidson said first-home buyers were still active in the market at 29 percent of purchases in October.

“First-time buyers are still getting in in record numbers in terms of market share, but we are also seeing investors out there, so I guess there is a bit for everybody.

“There is a bit of balance there. It is not cheap, but if you’ve got the finance, you’ve got the income, you’ll be able to get a decent property at a price that is still down 15-20 percent from where it was potentially.

“You might say the market is in some kind of equilibrium right now.”

He said investors had lifted to 25 percent of transactions.

“The predictability of current conditions is re-assuring for buyers, who are continuing to adjust to the recent experience of stable prices and slightly lower mortgage rates.”

“With affordability gradually improving and employment conditions set to strengthen next year, there’s a growing sense of cautious optimism.”

He expected prices to rise next year.

“The economy is not exactly racing away, but I guess we’re getting a wider range of indicators starting to improve course,” Davidson said. “Mortgage rates are down, so eventually that lagged impact of mortgage rates will come through and tend to push up house prices.

“Affordability is at its best level in several years, listings are set to ease lower and a large share of fixed loans are shifting onto cheaper rates. Provided employment holds up, those factors point to a gradual lift in both sales activity and values next year.”

“We’ll be watching the final months of the year closely, as they will show whether the steady rise in sales is strong enough to keep absorbing the normal seasonal lift in new listings.”

He said, normally, the impact of mortgage rate falls would have been felt earlier than it was this time.

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Prisoners design dozens of pairs of canvas shoes

Source: Radio New Zealand

The art medium of “acrylic paint and glitter on canvas shoe” doesn’t easily fit with the hardened stereotype of a New Zealand prisoner.

But that is what artist and prisoner Edward Newman created for the exhibition Worn, a showcase of more than 50 transformed canvas pairs of shoes on display at the Upper Hutt gallery Whirinaki Whare Taonga. (Like other names used in the show, Edward Newman is a pseudonym).

“In and out of the system, trying to find a better way to conduct my life. But having a colourful past doesn’t mean it’s all bad – it’s not all about the colour of your shoes,” wrote Newman, in an artist’s statement that helps frame the shoes he painted in an ombre of shimmery rainbow colours.

Artists in prisons transformed plain canvas shoes for the Worn exhibition.

supplied

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