NZ Engine

Source: Radio New Zealand

Fire and Emergency crews in Tongariro National Park will be back at the scene of wildfires, hoping for more rain to keep hotspots damp.

Favourable conditions on Monday meant the fire appeared to be extinguished.

Thermal imaging drones were expected to be used overnight to check for hotspots after fires that had turned more than 2800 hectares of land to ash.

MetService forecasts rain clearing in region from early Tuesday morning and then fine, aside from isolated showers.

Incident Controller Nigel Dravitzki told Checkpoint the favourable conditions had helped reduce the fire, but there was still a lot of work to be done.

“Visibility it looks out, but we are doing thermal imaging and drones over it tonight to see if we can pick up any activity or hots spots we can’t see.”

He said this type of fire would require walking the perimeter edge and digging up hot spots to confirm there was no fire activity.

“It is tough grunt work,” he said.

Next steps were working on how to manage the situation going forward, he said.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Another 5200 health workers will walk off the job at the end of the month, the public sector union says, bringing the total number on strike to about 16,700.

The Public Service Association said more than 3500 mental health nurses and assistants and public health nurses, plus 1700 policy, advisory, knowledge and specialist workers (PAKS) – who provide vital support for health care – have voted to strike on Friday 28 November.

The strike was to support claims for safe staffing and a pay rise that kept pace with the cost of living, national secretary for the Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi, Fleur Fitzsimons said.

The PSA said these members would join 11,500 allied health workers, including physiotherapists, social workers and technicians, who have also voted to strike on 28 November, after mediation failed.

“These health workers are reluctantly taking strike action. They care deeply about their patients and their work and will ensure life preserving services continue. But they feel they have no choice when their concerns are not responded to,” Fitzsimons said.

“The pay offers for the three collectives still doesn’t keep pace with inflation – they are effectively a pay cut. Meanwhile, there are simply not enough health workers to provide the level of care New Zealanders need.”

Mental health nurses and assistants and public health nurses would have another round of mediation on Friday 14 November, and the PAKS collective on Tuesday 25 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

An international study of more than 80,000 adults shows the more languages people know, the slower their brains age.

The analysis of 51 to 90-year-olds from 27 European countries – published in Nature Aging – found the brains of those who only spoke one language were twice as likely to age faster.

Those who were multilingual were on average about half as likely to experience accelerated ageing, the authors said.

The researchers also found that speaking multiple languages delayed ageing and the more languages spoken, the greater the effect.

They said the results suggest that promoting multilingualism could support healthy ageing strategies.

Dementia researcher and lecturer in psychological medicine at University of Auckland, Dr Etu Ma’u, said the study confirmed what had long been suspected – that being bi- or multi-lingual keeps the brain active and stimulated, which is beneficial for brain health.

He said the brain shrunk about 5 percent every year from the age of 40.

Ma’u e said the brain’s ageing was a natural process and a balance between incremental damage sustained over a lifetime and things that protect “cognitive reserve” (the brain’s ability to keep functioning despite such changes).

“We’ve known for a while that anything that stimulates our brain is going to be good for cognitive reserve.

“[This] study by Amoruso and colleagues demonstrates that the ability to speak more than one language improves cognitive reserve by slowing brain ageing, and the benefits increase with the number of languages spoken.”

Ma’u said the “massive study” with some “really cool modelling” showed the more languages spoken, the younger the brain.

“If you speak more than one language your brain age, or the health of your brain, is coming in at a couple of years younger than what your chronological age is – a younger brain means a healthier brain, effectively.

“If you just spoke your mother-tongue, you had a higher brain age compared to people who spoke two languages, but they’ve shown that people who spoke three languages, probably had even more of an impact.”

He said dementia was the result of cumulative and incremental damage over the course of someone’s life, as was building cognitive reserve and resilience.

Therefore, guarding against such age-related diseases was something to think about earlier rather than later, he said, and not just on an individual basis, but at an environmental level.

“We need to think about brain health from infancy all the way through. So clearly learning a second language as a child at school or in your community is good, because it keeps your brain active and stimulated.

“It’s never too early and it’s never too late to learn a new language to challenge your brain.”

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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 military has confirmed members of its elite special forces were used to search for fugitive father Tom Phillips and his children.

Phillps was shot by police on 8 September – four years after he disappeared with the family in December 2021.

The defence force has confirmed members of the SAS were involved in the search for Phillips and his children on three occasions.

It said the service usually operated overseas, but in this case it was cleared to help Police.

The Herald reported that up to four SAS members – including expert trackers – helped police search for the family in remote Waikato bush in 2024 and 2025.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

When the New Zealand Transport Agency signed off on an integrated national ticketing system in 2009, John Key was prime minister, Avatar ruled at the box office and a pound of butter cost about $3.60.

After more than 16 years, the first stage of the $1.4 billion National Ticketing Solution’s (NTS) latest iteration, known as Motu Move, was launched on Monday in Christchurch, rolling out contactless payment options on bus and ferry services across Greater Christchurch.

The option to pay with contactless debit or credit cards and digital payments like Apple Pay and Google Pay on phones or smart watches on buses and ferries will work on three hundred buses across Christchurch, Waimakariri and Selwyn, but only for those paying full fare.

A system to enable concession holders to pay less and the Motu Move cards themselves have been relegated to later stages.

The programme, a partnership between the NZTA, Auckland Transport and a dozen regional and city councils – will be rolled out in Wellington next, and it’s hoped the whole country (except for Marlborough and the West Coast) will be part of the long awaited integrated system by the end of 2027.

Following repeated delays and a critical independent review earlier in the year, the planned launch in Timaru and Temuka was scrapped in favour of a phased approach, which saw the launch relocated to Christchurch.

It was also downsized to just the first phase, contactless payment, after delays to “some of the more complex system components” saw the rollout changed to “a phased approach”, according to NZTA.

The NTS was slated to be launched in South Canterbury in 2024, but by the middle of this year, Transport Minister Chris Bishop weighed in, saying the project was facing technology, delivery and governance issues and was “not on track”.

Bishop said nothing was “off the table”, as consultants conducted an independent review of the project.

Councils in Auckland and Wellington raised concerns, and some councillors publicly mused about pulling out of the scheme.

The wide-ranging – though heavily redacted – review was released in September.

It raised concerns about the capacity of the US multinational transport and defence contractor delivering the system, Cubic Corporation, and stated the company “must commit additional global expertise dedicated to the programme”.

The review found deficiencies in a number of areas including poor communication, “optimism bias” from some senior programme leaders, limited public transport and ticketing knowledge, slow decision making, the “urgent need” to support legacy fare collection systems, pressure on budgets and the “very high likelihood of further significant delays”.

In the meantime, a pilot of contactless payment options on Christchurch’s Airport to City bus – which began in December 2024 – saw more than a third of adult passengers using the debit or credit card option.

Canterbury Regional Council chair Dr Deon Swiggs said the launch had been a long time coming.

“We are proud Canterbury has taken a lead role in this nationally significant evolution of a payment system in New Zealand.

“Our region has a history of contributing nationally to public transport innovation and we are pleased to be trusted with the first step of the national ticketing system.”

Swiggs said more than 500 people had already taken advantage of the new payment system by the time he addressed the launch at 1pm.

Previously, using cash to pay instead of a Metrocard incurred an extra dollar charge.

The project had seen the regional council work closely with central government, Cubic, bus and ferry operators and other regional councils.

Swiggs acknowledged the complex programme of work hadn’t been “always easy”, but said strong relationships and customer focus had got the launch over the line.

“We wanted to get the base functionality right – because we’ve been saying this is coming, this is coming, this is coming – so with the vendor, we’ve said let’s get the base functionality right, get people used to tapping on, the new system – you’ve got the dual system at the moment – get people used to interacting with it.”

Concession holders will have to continue to use their Metrocards until the next phase of the project is rolled out.

Card readers allowing users to ‘tag off’ will be introduced in later stages, as will a physical Motu Move card.

The card would allow those who cannot or will not use bank cards or digital payments to continue to load money onto a card once the Metrocards are defunct, NZTA chief customer and services officer Sarina Pratley said.

“We want to make sure public transport is accessible to everybody – there are unbanked people… also students who may not have a bank card and also people who just prefer not to [use a debit or credit card].”

New Zealand would be the third country with a national ticketing system, along with the Netherlands and Singapore, Pratley said.

It was hoped making payment easier would encourage more use of public transport, and provide councils with “better data” on public transport use, the regional council said in a statement.

Cubic has previously declined to answer questions from RNZ on what data it would collect after concerns were raised by privacy advocates in the United States about the collection and use of data gathered by the company.

Peace organisations called on the government to cancel the deal when it was announced in 2022.

The group’s criticised the use of tax dollars to a company whose defence arm, Cubic Surveillance and Reconnaissance, developed intelligence systems for US Special Operations drones.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

When the New Zealand Transport Agency signed off on an integrated national ticketing system in 2009, John Key was prime minister, Avatar ruled at the box office and a pound of butter cost around $3.60.

After more than 16 years, the first stage of the $1.4 billion National Ticketing Solution’s (NTS) latest iteration, known as Motu Move, was launched on Monday in Christchurch, rolling out contactless payment options on bus and ferry services across Greater Christchurch.

The option to pay with contactless debit or credit cards and digital payments like Apple Pay and Google Pay on phones or smart watches on buses and ferries will work on three hundred buses across Christchurch, Waimakariri and Selwyn, but only for those paying full fare.

A system to enable concession holders to pay less and the Motu Move cards themselves have been relegated to later stages.

The programme, a partnership between the NZTA, Auckland Transport and a dozen regional and city councils – will be rolled out in Wellington next, and it’s hoped the whole country (except for Marlborough and the West Coast) will be part of the long awaited integrated system by the end of 2027.

Following repeated delays and a critical independent review earlier in the year, the planned launch in Timaru and Temuka was scrapped in favour of a phased approach, which saw the launch relocated to Christchurch.

It was also downsized to just the first phase, contactless payment, after delays to “some of the more complex system components” saw the rollout changed to “a phased approach”, according to NZTA.

The NTS was slated to be launched in South Canterbury in 2024, but by the middle of this year, Transport Minister Chris Bishop weighed in, saying the project was facing technology, delivery and governance issues and was “not on track”.

Bishop said nothing was “off the table”, as consultants conducted an independent review of the project.

Councils in Auckland and Wellington raised concerns, and some councillors publicly mused about pulling out of the scheme.

The wide-ranging – though heavily redacted – review was released in September.

It raised concerns about the capacity of the US multinational transport and defence contractor delivering the system, Cubic Corporation, and stated the company “must commit additional global expertise dedicated to the programme”.

The review found deficiencies in a number of areas including poor communication, “optimism bias” from some senior programme leaders, limited public transport and ticketing knowledge, slow decision making, the “urgent need” to support legacy fare collection systems, pressure on budgets and the “very high likelihood of further significant delays”.

In the meantime, a pilot of contactless payment options on Christchurch’s Airport to City bus – which began in December 2024 – saw more than a third of adult passengers using the debit or credit card option.

Canterbury Regional Council chair Dr Deon Swiggs said the launch had been a long time coming.

“We are proud Canterbury has taken a lead role in this nationally significant evolution of a payment system in New Zealand.

“Our region has a history of contributing nationally to public transport innovation and we are pleased to be trusted with the first step of the national ticketing system.”

Swiggs said more than 500 people had already taken advantage of the new payment system by the time he addressed the launch at 1pm.

Previously, using cash to pay instead of a Metrocard incurred an extra dollar charge.

The project had seen the regional council work closely with central government, Cubic, bus and ferry operators and other regional councils.

Swiggs acknowledged the complex programme of work hadn’t been “always easy”, but said strong relationships and customer focus had got the launch over the line.

“We wanted to get the base functionality right – because we’ve been saying this is coming, this is coming, this is coming – so with the vendor, we’ve said let’s get the base functionality right, get people used to tapping on, the new system – you’ve got the dual system at the moment – get people used to interacting with it.”

Concession holders will have to continue to use their Metrocards until the next phase of the project is rolled out.

Card readers allowing users to ‘tag off’ will be introduced in later stages, as will a physical Motu Move card.

The card would allow those who cannot or will not use bank cards or digital payments to continue to load money onto a card once the Metrocards are defunct, NZTA chief customer and services officer Sarina Pratley said.

“We want to make sure public transport is accessible to everybody – there are unbanked people… also students who may not have a bank card and also people who just prefer not to [use a debit or credit card].”

New Zealand would be the third country with a national ticketing system, along with the Netherlands and Singapore, Pratley said.

It was hoped making payment easier would encourage more use of public transport, and provide councils with “better data” on public transport use, the regional council said in a statement.

Cubic has previously declined to answer questions from RNZ on what data it would collect after concerns were raised by privacy advocates in the United States about the collection and use of data gathered by the company.

Peace organisations called on the government to cancel the deal when it was announced in 2022.

The group’s criticised the use of tax dollars to a company whose defence arm, Cubic Surveillance and Reconnaissance, developed intelligence systems for US Special Operations drones.

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

The Department of Conservation (DOC) says Tongariro National Park is home to threatened species of flora and insects, as fire-fighters wait to see if a wildfire in the area has really been extinguished.

Fire and Emergency said an observation flight this afternoon has found “no visible signs of fire” after rainfall in the area.

But the impact on biodiversity was expected to be significant.

DOC director terrestrial biodiversity Tim Bamford told Checkpoint the park is home to threatened species.

“It’s home to a range of threatened plants, such as orchids, and also a range of threatened butterflies and moths as well,” he said.

“But it is a resilient environment and it’s been shaped by a range of volcanic activity and fires over the last few hundred years.”

Bamford said there were birds living in the edges of the area – such as New Zealand falcon and whio – but they were feeling positive they would have flown away to escape the blaze.

Bamford hoped the area will regenerate over the next few years, but had concerns about weeds over taking native bush.

“The species in there and the plants are generally quite slow growing, whereas invasive weeds like heather, and broom, and gorse, are really fast growing,” he said.

He said they wanted to put monitoring in place to understand what vegetation was re-establishing in the area, and to make a plan if it were the invasive weeds, to stop them spreading

“That will really smother the plants and the species that make this place so unique, sacred and spectacular.”

Bamford said there was a conversation to be had about restoring the scorched area, including how long walking tracks would remain closed.

Ngāti Hikairo ki Tongariro has placed two rahui on parts of the national park, in which the wildfire has burnt through more than 2500 hectares.

The first covers the Tongariro Alpine Crossing and will remain in place for a week.

The second applies to any burnt areas, and will remain in place for an extended period to allow the land to regrow and heal.

“Given the slow growing environment, I think there is a conversation for restoration, about what that looks like, so in terms of access to infrastructure, and for people, to the park, that’s seven days, and the 10-year rahui is focused around allowing the land to regrow and heal through restoration of that environment rather than the use of it,” Bamford said.

‘It looks out’ – thermal imaging to check hotspots

Fire and Emergency told Checkpoint they would be doing thermal imagery of Tongariro National Park tonight to see if the blaze that left more than 2800 hectares in ashes is truly out.

An observation flight this afternoon has found “no visible signs of fire” after rainfall in the area.

Ground crews have also been working on the flanks of the fire to strengthen the containment lines.

Incident controller Nigel Dravitzki said favourable conditions had reduced the blaze.

“Visibly, it looks out,” he said.

“We’re doing thermal imaging drones over it tonight to see if we can pick up any activity or hotspots that we can’t see.”

Concerns raised for wildlife welfare

DOC’s Damian Coutts said the impact on biodiversity was going to be significant.

“It’s going to take us weeks once we can get our ecologists in to really understand that,” Coutts said.

He said he did not know when the national park’s facilities will reopen.

Meanwhile, the charitable foundation that manages the Kaimanawa wild horses said they were in no danger at present from the massive blaze on the Central Plateau.

In a social media post, the Kaimanawa Legacy Foundation said it had received many messages asking if the herd was safe.

It confirmed there was no immediate threat to their habitat.

The fire was about 30 kilometres from the horses’ territory, and they were monitoring the situation closely

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