NZ Engine

Source: Radio New Zealand

An alien invasion that could threaten New Zealand’s entire economy is just a plane ride away.

That is the key message from a new video, which will be compulsory viewing for the country’s 6 million international arrivals from now on.

Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard said the updated video – which replaces the current 2019 version on all international flights – stressed the need for travellers to declare or dispose of any risk items, including food, plants, and animal products.

“It’s really vital that we keep invasive pests and plants out.

“The risk posed by threats such as foot and mouth disease and the brown marmorated stink bug could jeopardise our $60 billion primary sector export revenue, and also threaten our natural environment, which is the big drawcard for our tourism industry, another big export business.”

The video stars three current biosecurity officers, 2025 Young Farmer of the Year Hugh Jackson, champion kayaker Ashton Reiser, and others.

New Zealand had about six million international arrivals each year, and the biosecurity risk had increased hugely over time, Hoggard said.

“The new version keeps the same friendly tone but introduces fresh faces and updated content, including more detail on the potential impacts of biosecurity risks on New Zealand’s economy and outdoor lifestyle.”

The video will help airlines meet their legal obligations under the Biosecurity (Information for Incoming Passengers) Regulations 2023.

It was one of many measures Biosecurity New Zealand had in place to manage the expected increase in passenger volumes this summer, Hoggard said.

“It’s been great to see Biosecurity New Zealand bolster biosecurity by recruiting more front-line border staff in 2025. This includes 50 new quarantine officers and 26 part-time passenger facilitators to help travellers navigate biosecurity processes at international airports over the summer.”

The agency had also introduced new ways of assessing passengers for risk.

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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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Explainer – What were some of the biggest topics RNZ’s journalists explained this year? Here’s a look back.

Explainer features have exploded in journalism the last few years as a way for writers to make sense of complicated topics in quick, digestible fashion, whether it’s the latest bills facing Parliament or new ideas in health, technology or business.

In an increasingly confusing world, we hope RNZ can help make sense of some of the things going on out there.

Here’s ten of the most read explainers RNZ has featured in 2025:

Why are our summer holidays so long?

After a post on LinkedIn claimed that New Zealand’s long summer breaks hurt business productivity, Kiwis spoke up in favour of our leisurely Christmas and January. Compared to some countries, Kiwis do get a generous amount of paid leave time. The latest version of the Holidays Act from 2003 entitles employees to at least four weeks of paid annual leave after 12 months of continuous work. That’s quite a contrast to, say, America, where there is no legally mandated paid holiday time. Here we looked at how our holidays became a cultural institution and why that isn’t too likely to change any time soon.

Read it here.

What happens if a political party decides to roll its leader?

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon spent much of the year battling back against poor showings in the polls. The last poll of the year found Labour with an eight-point lead ahead of National as next year’s election looms. Talk about both National and Labour possibly changing leaders before then reached a fever pitch in media pundit circles as the year went on, which sparked us to take a closer look at how leadership challenges work. New Zealand history is filled with dramatic moments when confidence in a party leader has dropped and a leadership challenge is held. They’ve even happened to sitting prime ministers.

Read it here.

How pornographic deepfakes may soon be criminalised

When an ACT MP held up a digitally created nude photo of herself in Parliament earlier this year, she was making a point about the rise of online manipulation as a weapon. Laura McClure’s member’s bill to criminalise non-consensual sexually explicit deepfakes has been pulled from the ballot and may be considered by Parliament in the year ahead. Here, RNZ looked at how the Deepfake Digital Harm and Exploitation Bill looks to close a loophole by amending existing laws to expand the definition of an ‘intimate visual recording’.

Read it here.

Fake New Zealand doctors are trying to sell you weight loss products

They’re smiling out from you in catchy Facebook ads and elsewhere on social media. But they’re not even real. It’s part of a flood of fake medical professionals flooding the internet hawking weight loss products and trying to capitalise on the popularity of GLP-1 medications like Ozempic and Wegovy. RNZ took a deeper look at how these operations work and try to deceive ordinary Kiwis, and what might be done to stop them.

Read it here.

Why were New Zealand musicians leaving Spotify this year?

Is Spotify over? This year rising discontent with the music streamer saw many bands move their music off the platform, including Kiwi icons like Tiki Taane and The Bats. “We refuse to be exploited by Spotify any longer,” a statement released by NZ musicians said. But what’s turned them against the streamer? RNZ takes a look at how profit sharing, artificial intelligence and even the sale of military technology has led to a larger exodus from Spotify this year.

Read it here.

How are our roads being repaired after Cyclone Gabrielle?

It’s been nearly three years since roads around the country were torn apart by Anniversary Weekend floods and Cyclone Gabrielle hitting in quick succession. The damage wasn’t easy to fix – requiring engineering analysis, careful management to allow resident access where needed and most importantly, futureproofing against future weather events made more likely by climate change. “Water’s a strange beast. It’s unbelievable what it can do,” one Auckland Transport staffer said. RNZ takes a look at one popular West Auckland road leading out to the beaches at Piha and how and why it took two and a half years for access to be restored on Scenic Drive.

Read it here.

Can US Customs legally search your phone?

The return of Donald Trump to the White House has led to a steady stream of headlines and big changes to who the United States is allowing to emigrate to or even visit the country. One of the biggest controversies was announcements that your social media history may be searched before you enter America, with the latest that such searches can go back up to five years. But is this legal? RNZ took a deep dive into why your phone isn’t the safe space you may think it is to vent about Trump or other political topics, and what you can do about it.

Read it here.

How ‘Run It’ style games can cause fatal brain injuries

One of the more bizarre fads of 2025 was ‘Run It,’ a combat sport where a ball runner and defender charge at full speed at one another without any helmets or safety gear. The “dominator” is the winner and could get large cash prizes. But it is also highly dangerous, made tragic by the death of a 19-year-old Palmerston North man in May. Here, RNZ looked at exactly how vulnerable the brain is to catastrophic injuries with contests like this and what medical experts say about them.

Read it here.

Is New Zealand’s weather getting more chaotic?

Do the seasons mean the same thing anymore? We can get hammered by torrential flooding in the peak of summer or scorched by wildfires in the middle of winter. Our seasons are actually changing, scientists say. What does this mean for spring, summer, autumn, and winter as we know and define them? RNZ takes a look at why the transition between seasons just isn’t what it used to be and what impacts that might have across Aotearoa.

Read it here.

How New Zealand plans to spend billions to boost our military

The world is a more dangerous place these days, with wars and conflict raging in Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan. Defence Minister Judith Collins unveiled New Zealand’s new Defence Capability Plan in April, setting out a $12 billion spending blueprint for the next 15 years. “Our current defence spending is simply too low,” Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said as it was announced. But where are these billions of dollars going to be spent, and where is the cash coming from? RNZ dove into the world of military spending and where it’s going.

Read it here.

You can also take a full look back at all of RNZ’s What You Need To Know stories here.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

• Tourism New Zealand is confident it can hit $5 billion off-peak plan targets
• Tourism Industry Aotearoa chief executive Rebecca Ingram is calling for their industry to remain on the radar of political parties this election and not lose momentum
• She says the sector is feel optimistic about next 12 months and forward bookings have been positive for summer
• Tourism New Zealand’s latest global campaign has been seen 178 million times

Tourism New Zealand says it’s on track to hit its visitor arrival targets after receiving millions of dollars from the government.

In April, the organisation received a $13.5 million boost to attract an extra 23,000 international visitors by the end of March 2026 and bring in an additional $100m.

Less than two months later, the government announced another $13.5m to help attract 72,000 visitors from China, Australia and the United States over the next few years.

Tourism New Zealand chief executive René de Monchy said the recent month-on-month visitor growth rate has been promising and there was a pretty positive outlook for the summer.

The funding meant they had worked closely with major markets to drive a bit of urgency around people deciding to book a trip to Aotearoa, he said.

In June, a new marketing campaign inviting the world to find their 100 percent Pure New Zealand was launched, which de Monchy said was able to go live earlier because of the additional funding.

“It means it’s been seen 178 million times in our key markets. It’s driven 300,000 people to visit NewZealand.com, which is our core website, to find out more about New Zealand to start their planning and hopefully entice them into getting the bookings,” he said.

“It’s doing its job in terms of really priming the audience.

The campaign cost more than $5m and was part of the 100% Pure NZ legacy campaign.

In 2024, Tourism New Zealand launched a strategy to grow tourism by $5 billion over the next four years, putting particular attention into enticing travellers outside of the busy summer season.

About 70 percent of that spending growth – or $3.5b – was meant to be achieved outside of peak season.

Total international visitor spend reached $12.3b, a 5.3 percent increase, in the year to September, according to the government figures.

De Monchy said it was positive progress.

“I’m confident we’ll get to those numbers.”

There had been a lot of focus on tourism this year and the industry had been buoyed by the momentum, he said.

“That’s a really good sign that people are feeling more optimistic and more certainty, hiring more people, investing in their products and in their businesses. Those are all really good positive signals, he said.

Tourism Industry Aotearoa chief executive Rebecca Ingram agreed, saying forward bookings were looking positive and the industry had real momentum.

She attributed that to the government’s tourism focus and investments, targeted marketing from Tourism New Zealand, changes in visa settings and new and exciting changes on the horizon including the upcoming opening of the One NZ Stadium in Christchurch.

But businesses had different experiences based on where they were in the country with some of the main centres finding it tougher this year than parts of the South Island, Ingram said.

Domestic travel had also been quite variable and business travel was also down.

The government has set its sights on doubling the value of tourism exports by 2034, growing the number of Kiwis working in tourism and hospitality, and restoring international visitor arrivals to at least 2019 levels.

She was pleased by the work to meet those targets – the Tourism Growth Roadmap, saying it was an opportunity to “shift a gear in the way we do tourism”.

That included tackling issues including workforce, data, sustainability, funding, regions and communities.

But she did not want that energy or focus to be lost as New Zealand entered an election year.

“If there is a change of government next year, that that work isn’t lost and that focus isn’t lost and that we continue to have our eyes set on what do we want tourism to look like in the future and what does that mean for the decisions that we make today,” Ingram said.

De Monchy said the industry still faced challenges, travel was a discretionary spend, the cost of advertising was rising and competition was tough.

China had been slower to recover and travel from the United States, while strong overall, had been wobbly in recent months following geopolitical uncertainty, he said.

But there were also opportunities.

Currently, Australia, China and the United States account for about 60 percent of international visitors.

There would always be a big focus on those main markets, but Tourism New Zealand was considering where to branch out further, he said.

“Markets like India, that still is the medium term significant opportunity for New Zealand. At the moment, you can’t fly direct, it’s quite complicated,” he said.

But a partnership between Air New Zealand and Air India had paved the way for more optimism.

He also believed visitors from Thailand, Malaysia and other countries in South East Asia could be attracted to New Zealand.

The tourism industry was preparing for artificial intelligence to play a greater role in how people travel.

The sector has been facing a rapid rise in new technology with some hotels already using robots for room service and some airlines using digital bag tags.

Ingram said smartphones were now the most useful travel tool used for recommendations, translations and planning an itinerary.

“Unsurprisingly, AI is changing that landscape so 40 percent of travellers, this is some CANTAR research that was done recently, are using AI to plan their travel,” she said

There needed to be a concerted effort for how tourism businesses would show up in this world of AI, she said.

As for the travel trends ahead, embracing nature and wellness tourism were high on the agenda for many and New Zealand was well placed for travellers seeking to enhancing their well-being or those wanting wild wellness in the great outdoors, Ingram said.

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