Category: Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

More people are listening to Radio New Zealand, with the broadcaster saying it has hit a target for live listeners a year ahead of schedule.

GFK survey figures released on Tuesday show 500,300 in a typical week for RNZ National aged 10 or older, up from 475,800 in the last survey.

“We’ve achieved our November 2026 goal a year early with these latest results, and we now want to build on that success in 2026,” RNZ chief executive Paul Thompson said.

RNZ’s flagship programme Morning Report has 13,000 more listeners, a rise of 4 percent.

“Further changes to programming and the introduction of new presenters and correspondents in 2026 will help confirm RNZ National as the home of trusted news and content for New Zealanders,” Thompson said.

Auckland has by far the biggest lift in live radio listeners, up 16,700 from 116,000 last survey to 132,700 in the latest figures.

There was growth in all major programmes.

Morning Report had 13,600 more listeners across the country, Nine to Noon 20,200 more, Checkpoint another 18,100 and Saturday Morning 4,400.

RNZ National and RNZ Concert have a combined weekly audience of 584,300 listeners.

The two have a 12.7 percent combined share, up from 11.3 percent.

However, RNZ Concert had 154,100 listeners which was down from 170,400 in the last survey.

RNZ said when all its platforms are combined, it is now reaching 83 percent of New Zealanders a month aged 18 or over.

Separately, it has also had back-to-back record digital growth in digital viewers.

A total of 1,698,000 New Zealanders aged 15+ visited rnz.co.nz in October, the highest ever monthly audience for RNZ’s website following another record month in September.

The survey, known as Survey 3, was conducted between 10 August and 1 November.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Regional councillors who’ve just been sworn in have been shown the writing on the wall by the government, which is plotting a swift end to their terms

It’s been billed as the biggest shakeup in local government since amalgamation in 1989.

But at the end of the day, “all the government’s really announced is work to start a brain storming session,” says Stuff political reporter Glenn McConnell.

Simpler, more cost-effective local government is the stated aim from the ministers involved; local government minister Simon Watts and the man in charge of resource management reform, Chris Bishop.

The media release from the Beehive didn’t mention the word ‘amalgamation’ once, but that’s effectively what it will end up being.

“It is a huge announcement,” McConnell tells The Detail, “because it’s effectively a key part of New Zealand’s democracy … regional councils, local government being completely overhauled, reformed, so that … probably the next time a local government election comes up, you won’t be voting for who is on your regional council.”

He says it’s probably fair to say this is effective amalgamation but “the government hasn’t come out and said ‘we want to amalgamate all these councils; we want to merge regional and district councils across the country’.”

There are 11 regional councils in New Zealand – Auckland, Marlborough and the Chatham and subantarctic islands don’t have them.

McConnell says Chris Bishop raised a pretty good point when he asked if people actually know who they’re voting for on a regional council – who can name the councillors?

He adds that local government voting percentages are so low that you could ask if the democratic process is even working that well, with less than half the population participating.

On the other hand, the chair of Environment Canterbury, Deon Swiggs, has told him that locals are well engaged in his area and do know what’s happening.

“So maybe that’s a good example of this new system that everyone is going to need to think about. We could have, depending on engagement in the areas, and the concerns raised, different voting systems.”

McConnell says local government in New Zealand is a complex system and simplifying it will be a complicated job. He also points out that the country’s busy mayors didn’t sign up for this.

The first step is to replace regional councillors with the mayors who cover those regions, on what will be called Combined Territories Boards, and they have two years to work out what the decision-making structures will look like in the future.

One irony here is that Prime Minister Christopher Luxon campaigned on giving more power to locals to make decisions, in a bite-back to Labour’s Three Waters changes.

McConnell says in a way, this move is not dissimilar.

“This is the same rationale as having Three Waters, that you could combine resources across different cities and regions to make it more effective and cheaper to operate local government services. That is the same rationale that Chris Bishop is using for pushing for this reform of regional councils.”

Bishop has been very interested in this area and has been open with his desire to reform it.

National has backing from both its coalition parties, but interestingly for different philosophical reasons.

“The politics of this is quite fascinating,” says McConnell.

New Zealand First’s Shane Jones has effectively made getting rid of regional councils a party policy – “particularly he’s unhappy about the Otago Regional Council, which he said is a ‘Kremlin-like institution’ in the South Island, all because he doesn’t like the decisions they’re making.”

Act, on the other hand, sees it as a way to get rid of co-governance.

“In Canterbury, ECan has seats for Ngāi Tahu – Ngāi Tahu representation is guaranteed on the ECan board – now this change, getting rid of the board that runs ECan and just replacing it with mayors, means that Ngāi Tahu representation is gone.

“So Act is celebrating from the perspective of getting rid of co-governance. Three completely different reasons for this policy.

“But this is going to take years to change this … I think this discussion will be going on for quite some time.”

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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 corporate healthcare provider has hit back on Labour’s claims that it doesn’t prioritise community needs.

On Sunday, the party announced a policy that would offer doctors and nurse practitioners low-interest loans to set up new practices or buy into existing ones, if elected next year.

The loans would only be available for owner-operated general practices, with corporate-owned clinics excluded.

Labour’s health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall told Morning Report on Monday that although many corporate-owned practices provided good care, there were instances where priority was not given to community needs.

She used an example in Lower Hutt where the practice gave up on doing face-to-face consultations because they had taken all the funding that comes with enrolling a large patient population and then not hired the doctors to support that.

Tend Health founder and co-chief executive Cecilia Robinson said Verrall’s comment were “pretty odd”.

“I think it’s a pretty odd assertion, it’s not reflective of the data, you know, continuity of care is actually design assured, it’s not an ownership issue, and it really relies on having enough clinicians, modern systems and a model built around long-term relationships with patients.

“So it’s a strange assertion and I think what’s important to discuss is continuity of care which is incredibly important but true continuity of care also depends on the quality of the data, the broader care team supporting our GPs and consistent prescribing practices. That’s really what we need to ensure a safe, seamless patient experience.”

Robinson said Tend was focused on creating access for patients and moving clinicians depending on where demand is highest and patients accessing care in a location that is convenient to them.

“Our patients have a higher satisfaction once we’ve integrated a practice into Tend’s network than what they did pre an integration under a previous ownership structure and why is that? It’s because patients can now access their care that they need in a timely way in a price that is right for them.”

Robinson said there had been a “significant” shift in patient satisfaction, with its data showing it rise from 60 percent to 95 percent.

It was also experiencing a broader enrolment cohort – with an increased number of Māori and Pasifika enrolments.

Robinson said its Bay of Plenty practices had gone from 12 percent enrolment of Māori patients to surpassing 22 percent.

“This is real impact in real communities where patients are making decisions around the healthcare that is best for them.”

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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 person has been seriously injured and a manhunt is under way after a Christchurch robbery.

Police were called to the scene at a business on Opawa Road about 5.40am on Tuesday.

By the time they got there, the alleged offenders had fled.

Police said they were working to find those responsible.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Relying on trees to offset New Zealand’s emissions years into the future is putting “a significant number of eggs in one basket”, the Climate Change Commission chair has warned politicians.

New trees would need to be “in the ground” within a couple of years and could still be destroyed by forest fire or extreme weather events – wiping out their carbon savings.

Appearing before Parliament’s environment select committee on Monday, commission chief executive Jo Hendy was questioned about the “significant risks” the commission identified earlier this year when it came to meeting the country’s emissions budgets.

Emissions budgets are set by the government, taking into account advice from the commission.

They establish the total net emissions the country can produce over a five-year period and still keep its domestic and international climate goals on track.

In its annual emissions monitoring report released earlier this year, the commission said there were risks to meeting the second budget (2026-30) and third budget (2031-35).

One of those risks was relying on forest removals of carbon dioxide to meet nearly half of the 2031-35 emissions budget.

In response to questioning from Green Party climate change spokesperson Chlöe Swarbrick, Hendy said there were two main implications of that approach.

“The first implication is you need those forests in the ground quickly for that carbon to then start sequestering,” she said.

“The other is risks around things like fires and storms – you know, another Cyclone Gabrielle taking a big hit out of that forestry. Then you’ll be faced with a difficult situation where you might not be able to meet the budget.”

Researchers have started to warn that many of the natural carbon sinks that society relies on to soak up emissions are now sometimes releasing more carbon than they absorb.

Swarbrick asked Hendy if she could explain the commission’s remarks that “the reliance on forests for a large proportion of emissions reduction is likely to increase the long-term cost of meeting the 2050 target and increase impacts on future generations”.

That was because using forestry to offset emissions created less of an incentive for businesses and communities to limit the amount of greenhouse gases produced in the first place, Hendy said.

“As a result, we don’t get as much decarbonisation in the economy.

“When you don’t get as much decarbonisation in the economy – what we’re talking about is electrification of industry, for example – you are missing out on those economic benefits of reduced costs.”

The commission has long recommended that New Zealand “decarbonise where possible”.

“Relying heavily on forestry might help Aotearoa meet its 2050 emissions reduction targets but it would make maintaining net zero long-lived emissions beyond that date more difficult,” it told the previous government in 2021.

“It would delay people taking actions that reduce gross emissions, lead to higher cumulative emissions and push the burden of addressing gross emissions on to future generations.”

Tougher methane target was feasible, affordable, achievable

The committee also asked Hendy about the government’s decision to revise New Zealand’s 2050 methane emissions target.

In October, the government said it would scrap previous plans to introduce agricultural emissions pricing by 2030, and would pass legislation to lower the 2050 methane target from a 24-47 percent reduction from 2017 levels, to a 14-24 percent reduction, in line with a ‘no additional warming’ policy.

National MP Grant McCallum, a Northland beef and dairy farmer, asked what the impact would be on the rural sector if the current target was retained, if there was no technology available to help farmers reduce their methane emissions.

“One of the key considerations when we do our scenario work for emissions budgets is impact on rural communities,” Hendy said.

“We found that it was a feasible and affordable and technically achievable, in our previous emissions budget advice at the end of last year.”

The upper end of the range could be achieved with new technologies, while the 24 percent low end of the range was based on technology that was already available, and changes to farming practices.

There was a “good pipeline” of methane-inhibiting technology, she said.

“The key point will be making sure that it can be deployed on farms.

“Not necessarily every tool will work on every farm. It’s really about making sure that farmers are enabled to work with the tools that work for them.”

McCallum asked Hendy and commission chair Dame Patsy Reddy twice about whether New Zealand should remain a signatory to the Paris Agreement.

“Does the commission have a view or has it given any consideration to the cause of some people who think we should pull out of the Paris Accord [sic]?”

Part of the commission’s mandate was based on the agreement, Dame Patsy said.

“It’s not our place to have a view.”

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has repeatedly said the government was committed to the Paris Agreement and New Zealand’s emissions targets, despite a push from coalition partner ACT to leave the pact.

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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 battlelines have been drawn in Biosecurity New Zealand’s war against the yellow-legged hornet, but there’s some suggestion they should be widened before a population takes hold.

Currently, trapping has been extended out to a five kilometre radius around the concentration of the hornet detections in Auckland’s Glenfield and Birkdale, using a combination of carbohydrate and protein traps.

To date, there have been 29 confirmed queen hornets found (based on specimens), according to Biosecurity New Zealand.

The agency said 19 of the 29 confirmed queen hornets were found with either developed nests or evidence of nesting. 

Additionally, seven worker hornets were found in nests.

Northland conservationist Brad Windust said authorities need to look at casting the net wider to 30km ahead of summer.

He said the coming months were pivotal for the goal of eradication and the prevention of the hornets spreading to other regions.

“We need to give out thousands of traps to people in a 30km radius with clear instructions and bait.

“It will only take two queens to fly outside the current 5km radius monitoring area they have at the moment and we would have lost it because each queen after she makes her nest drops hundreds of queens in the autumn and they can disperse up to 28km.

“We also want them to give out Vespa catch traps to all the beekeepers and orchardists in the North Island as a monitoring tool, because there’s a real chance that some of these hornets got moved while they were hibernating in the winter last year.”

Biosecurity New Zealand north commissioner Mike Inglis said the fact they were finding more hornets showed surveillance efforts were working.

He said they’d adjust their hornet response activities, including extending the trapping radius, where required based on their technical advisory group (TAG) advice alongside the input of our own experts.

“The 5km tapping radius was decided on based on advice from the TAG. It is a multi-prong scientific approach to trapping, as guided by our international experts with actual on-the-ground experience managing the pest. However, our public awareness push extends throughout the country.

“We have a national advertising campaign in the market urging the public to report suspected sightings. We are asking residents to check their properties for any hornets or nests and providing information where to look, including how to make and monitor your own trap.

“We are also working closely with the bee industry, including enhanced hive surveillance and we have produced a series of key documents for beekeepers around trapping, surveillance and reporting. All of that information is also available on our website.”

Inglis said on-the-ground surveillance was an important tool for detecting hornets and had been expanded since the beginning of the response.

“We have increased the number of traps by more than five times from the early numbers, to more than 600 and we are adding additional traps as more hornets are found. We are also doing property-by-property searches within 200 metres of confirmed finds. We’ve done more than 2200 property checks for hornets and nests and that number grows every day,” he said.

Inglis said genetic testing indicated the hornets were closely related, suggesting a small, contained population.

Victoria University entomologist Phil Lester said Biosecurity New Zealand were acting appropriately with their action around trapping and searching areas for ground nests.

“I think the ground teams that are working from MPI are doing a really good job. So clearly they’re finding this, they’re putting a lot of effort into it.

“They’ve increased the amount of people that are on the task and are doing well, but I think we probably need to have more people out there, more boots on the ground to be able to look for these hornets and get them while we can.”

Lester said authorities will need to change tact ahead of the summer months.

“Having traps out, having people looking for nests and workers is awesome.

“In addition, at that stage let’s do the hunting for nests up the top of trees and that sort of thing where they’ll be at that time. So the tipping point really comes at, well, we’ve got to spend, hopefully get them all this summer.”

Lester said it was difficult to know just how far the pests may have travelled since arriving in Auckland.

He said the 5km radius advice at the moment is based on international advice that Biosecurity have had.

“There’s lots of work overseas that is looking at how quickly does an invasion front move, so that work is where the 30km to 80km to 100km comes from and that’s where you’ve got a whole bunch of nests that are sending out new queens every autumn that are going some distance.

“We’re not in that situation. So we’re in a situation where we’ve probably got one nest that sent out some queens last autumn.

“So how far have they moved? That’s the big sort of question that is kind of unknown.”

He said even if authorities were unable to complete eradication this summer, it’s not too late.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Lawyers representing a charity calling for more protection for the hoiho, or yellow-eyed penguin, have criticised advice on set net fishing given to the fisheries minister.

In October the Environmental Law Initiative (ELI) filed High Court proceedings against the Minister for Oceans and Fisheries Shane Jones over the set net ban, which it said failed to protect hoiho from the risk of extinction.

Jones announced in mid-September the set net fishery around the Otago Peninsula would close for three months, with public consultation on long-term bycatch measures to protect hoiho carried out during the closure period.

The three-month emergency closure extended the existing four nautical mile set net ban, which was in place to protect dolphins, out to eight nautical miles.

However, the extension only applied to waters surrounding the Otago Peninsula, leaving other key hoiho habitats unprotected, ELI argued.

Those habitats included North Otago and Stewart Island.

Monday’s judicial review at the High Court in Wellington came in the wake of a hoiho being caught near Stewart Island over the weekend.

David Bullock, representing the charity, said the nub of his case was that the minister was not told about limitations with the studies given to him by officials when considering the September ban.

Bullock made the argument officials could have told Jones that whilst they had focused on the Otago Peninsula, he may wish to consider a wider area due to a lack of data and given it was known the hoiho had been caught in other areas.

Justice David Boldt noted the government workers had to give their advice in a condensed time period and the minister made the decision when he did in September because it was the hoiho’s breeding season.

The crown was represented by Nicholai Anderson, who told the court that the ban was put in place in a hurry and was a temporary measure while a long-term solution was sorted out.

He said the modelling the minister did recieve was highly sophisticated and was limited only because it related to adult penguins and not juvenile birds.

The hearing continues.

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