Category: Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

A rural Hawke’s Bay mum is accusing the Ministry of Education of discrimination for not providing transport for her son, who has epilepsy, to get directly to and from school.

Patoka farmer and veterinarian Sally Newall’s nine-year-old son Ted has a variety of medical needs and a school bus used to stop directly outside their home.

The service was removed at the start of this year, after student numbers dropped below the required threshold.

As a result, Newall said the nearest bus stop was about three kilometres away, along a high-speed rural road with blind bends and frequent heavy vehicles.

Because of his conditions, she said it was unsafe for Ted to travel that distance independently.

”I applied for Specialised School Transport Assistance (SESTA), hoping that the ministry would recognise that he had extra needs, and send the bus to his driveway and get him to school,” Newall said. “Instead, they’ve given us an allowance per school day to contribute to the fuel costs of getting him to school, which isn’t really the issue.

“If we lived in town, he would be provided with a method of transport to get him safely to and from school but because of where we live, rurally, I feel like we are discriminated against by the ministry. He’s not provided with that same service, even though the school bus could very easily travel three kilometres to pick him up.”

Newall said this response failed to provide equitable access to education.

“All I’ve been asking for is for the ministry to fund the school bus to come that extra three kilometres to pick him up, as it always has done prior to this year.”

Tranzit operates the school bus that Ted takes to school and is also a SESTA provider for the ministry, including for Napier.

However, there was no SESTA vehicle service for the Patoka area, where the Newalls lived, and no operator was contracted to provide SESTA transport in Patoka, including Tranzit.

Ministry of Education school transport group manager James Meffan said the availability of a SESTA vehicle service was determined by the number of eligible students in a particular area.

“The fact that a transport provider operates nearby will not necessarily mean that SESTA services can be offered,” he said.

Meffan said that were not enough eligible students in the Patoka area to support the service.

“SESTA transport and school bus services operate as separate systems. The presence of a school bus has no influence on whether a SESTA vehicle service is available.”

Where a SESTA vehicle service wasn’t available, Meffan said families may be eligible for an allowance, which helped with the cost of getting their child to and from school.

The introduction of a SESTA vehicle service in the future would depend on an increase in eligible student numbers and whether a provider was able to resource the service.

As part of a wider review of Napier school bus services last year, Meffan said the three bus services for Patoka School were reviewed.

The Patoka School bus routes were changed following shifts in the number and locations of eligible students.

Meffan said bus operators may choose to make private arrangements with families to extend a route beyond the ministry-funded service.

“These arrangements sit outside the ministry’s role and may involve a cost,” he said.

Patoka School confirmed it was working with Tranzit on behalf of affected families, regarding a possible private extension of the route.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

If a new pathogen emerged today, the world would be largely unprepared, former Prime Minister Helen Clark says.

The Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing Annex [PABS] could not be agreed to in time for adoption at the next World Health Assembly.

It’s an essential part of the WHO Pandemic Agreement, which aims to strengthen global prevention, preparedness, and response to future pandemics.

The agreement as a whole cannot proceed towards ratification, if the annex is not agreed to.

Clark, co-chair of the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response, said it was a disappointing result.

Clark said some sticking points prevented the annex from going through.

“The huge issue is about equitable access to vaccines and to the technologies which develop vaccines. That’s been the sticking point.

“As well, the developing countries have wanted an undertaking, that in return for honouring their obligations under the international health regulations to make information about a new pathogen available, they would then get the benefits of sharing that information from whatever new innovation comes along.

“It’s stuck on this basic principle of equity, with at this point, developed countries not being prepared to concede enough on the equity side, to satisfy developing countries,” she said.

Clark said, as a result, the world would be unprepared, if a new pathogen emerged.

“[I have] several concerns around the lack of preparedness now, one that, of course, vaccine misinformation and disinformation is rife, so that’s a more difficult context to be implementing 101 public health measures in.

“Secondly, a lot of countries still have a lot of fiscal issues arising from having to spend their way through the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Then you have the issue of not enough international finance for developing countries for preparedness and for response, so there’s so many issues and areas where we’re not prepared.”

Clark said co-ordination was key.

“Co-ordination is critical and it’s needed… at the regional level as well as at the global level.

“There’s a whole ecosystem, around vaccine development, procurement, distribution, financing, which needs to work, and we’re not there yet.”

Geopolitical conflicts were also having an impact on preparedness, she said.

“The key issue is the distrust between north and south. There’s a very bad taste from the last pandemic where developing countries did not get a fair shot at getting the vaccines, developed countries gobbled up most of what was available, the production wasn’t sufficient to then supply developing country populations.

“When some of us were beginning to get our boosters, health workers and some poor countries had never had as much as a single shot of a vaccine.

“There’s a lot of resentment about this and a determination from the developing countries not to settle for something that will be inequitable in future,” she said.

Clark said, while political leaders were dealing with immediate issues, they could not afford to neglect foreseeable risks.

“Right now, leaders are grappling with the cost of living, the spill-over impacts from the war on Iran, so pandemic preparation response is not top of mind.

“Unfortunately, that means that negotiations like these can founder, because they don’t have sufficient political attention,” she said.

The 79th World Health Assembly will be held in Geneva, Switzerland, on 18-23 May, 2026.

Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

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