NZ Engine

Source: Green Party

Budget 2025 has put our climate targets in serious jeopardy, says the Green Party. 

“Today the Government has done even worse than deny or delay climate action – they’ve actively chosen to pour gas on the fire,” says Green Party Co-Leader and spokesperson for Climate, Chlöe Swarbrick. 

“The Government is setting $200 million of our public money on fire to support fossil fuel executives’ profit, handing a lifeline to a sunset industry, instead of investing in real, resilient, renewable energy.

“They have the gall to call themselves ‘responsible economic managers’ while leaving us vulnerable to paying out billions in climate liabilities for failing to meet the Paris Agreement, which they also consistently act to push further out of reach.

“Our communities are confronted with ‘one in one hundred year’ climate change charged weather events year on year. The climate crisis is here. The measure of how much worse things get is the Government’s willingness to act.

“Christopher Luxon knows all of this and has said, ‘yeah, nah’ to a liveable future for all. New Zealanders need to know that this is not inevitable.

“The Greens have shown how we can reduce climate-changing emissions five times faster than the Government’s plan, while reducing the cost of living, and improving the quality of life.

“Time and again, this Government shows us whose side they’re on, and it’s not that of regular people, future generations or the planet we all share,” says Chlöe Swarbrick.

Source: Green Party

The future of the Ka Ora | Ka Ako school lunch programme looks to be uncertain with Budget 2025 failing to provide any funding beyond 2026. 

“The Government’s refusal to commit to funding the school lunch programme leaves thousands of families unsure whether their kids will be fed or forgotten,” says the Green Party’s spokesperson for Education, Lawrence Xu-Nan.

“Our children deserve better. They deserve kai that nourishes them, setting them up to achieve their full potential. The Government could have used today’s Budget to commit to feeding our kids good food, instead, it has left our most vulnerable tamariki wondering whether they will have lunch at school past next year. 

“The writing has been on the wall for months. ‘Seymour’s slop’ was always funded to fail. All of this looks to be a prelude to the programme being cut completely. 

“Expecting children to focus and succeed in school with empty stomachs is not just unrealistic, it’s inhumane. 

“Failing to fund this programme beyond next year shows exactly where this Government’s priorities lie–and it’s not with our children’s wellbeing. 

“As the Green Party showed last week, this is not inevitable. Our plan lays out real solutions, including expanding free school lunches, as a baseline funding, to more than 150,000 additional children every day. 

“We want all tamariki in Aotearoa to thrive and have a sense of belonging in schools.

“That means no child should go to school hungry. Full stop, end of story,” says Lawrence Xu-Nan.

Source: New Zealand Police

Police are asking for the public’s help finding Marilyn, who has been reported missing from the Ponsonby area.

The 14-year-old was last seen on 18 May and is described as about 175cms tall with brown eyes and brown hair.

Police and Marilyn’s family have concerns for her welfare and would like to find her as soon as possible.

If you have seen her or have information that might help us find her, please call 111 and quote reference number 250519/9845.

ENDS.

Holly McKay/NZ Police

Source: NZ Music Month takes to the streets

Largest boost to Learning Support in a generation
The Government is delivering the most significant investment in learning support in a generation to better support Kiwi kids to thrive at school, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. 
Key investments include substantial annual increases to teacher aide hours, building up to over 2 million additional teacher aide hours per year, from 2028; Learning Support Co-ordinators for all schools with Year 1-8 students; expanding early intervention services from early learning through to end of year 1; and an historic overhaul of the Ongoing Resourcing Scheme (ORS) funding model to ensure that demand for the service is met with guaranteed funding so all students with high and complex needs who are verified for ORS receive the support they need.
“Too many children wait too long to receive support, or miss out altogether, on the help they need to succeed. We are addressing this by investing in a smart, system-wide reform that significantly increases specialist and support staff resources in our schools. 
“We’re powering up support to the frontline and investing early to ensure our kids get the tailored help they need, and so that teachers have more time to teach the basics brilliantly,” Ms Stanford says.
Budget 2025 invests $2.5 billion over the forecast period in Vote Education with a focus on delivering a transformational boost to learning support funding.
“Backed by a social investment lens, this is a seismic l shift in how we support learning needs in New Zealand. We’re deliberately prioritising early intervention, investing in what works and directly tackling long-standing inequities in the system.”
The learning support funding package includes:

$266 million to extend the Early Intervention Service (EIS) from early childhood education through to the end of year 1 of primary school. This will fund more than 560 additional FTE for EIS teachers and specialists. We are investing in:

expanding the service through to the end of Year 1 to support the effective transition into school of around 4,000 children with additional needs.
reducing existing waitlists in early intervention so that more than 3,000 children that need the support receive it sooner.
increasing the amount of specialist support provided to the more than 7,100 children who are currently enrolled in EIS.
building up annually to an additional 900,000 teacher aide hours per year, from 2028, to support young learners in EIS.

$122 million to meet increased demand for ORS (Ongoing Resourcing Scheme) for students with high and complex needs. This includes a structural change to the funding model so every child who is verified for ORS funding receives the support they need. This investment will also increase the number of specialists and teacher aide time to support the more than 1,700 additional learners forecast to access ORS over the next four years.
$192 million to ensure that over three years, all Year 1-8 schools and kura are funded for a Learning Support Coordinator to work with students, families and educators to identify and respond to learner needs. This investment will benefit 1250 schools and an additional 300,000 learners around New Zealand.
$43 million for an extra 78.5 FTE speech language therapists, as well as additional psychologists and supporting teacher aide hours to help meet the growing demand of students with communication and behaviour needs. This will provide specialist supports to around 2500 students over the next four years.
$3 million of investment in our teacher aides with targeted professional development for working with learners with social, emotional, wellbeing, behavioural, and neurodiverse needs.
$4 million to employ 25 intern educational psychologists each year to enable a more sustainable pipeline of locally trained workforce.
$90 million of capital for approximately 25 new learning support satellite classrooms to provide around 225 new student places across the Ministry of Education’s specialist school network, as well as provide learning support property modifications so that schools are more accessible to learners with additional needs.  

“Across all learning support services in Vote Education, we are building up to more than 2 million additional teacher aide hours into the system every year from 2028. 
“The education sector has been calling for more support for a long time, and this Government is delivering results. This investment recognises and responds to the growing number of children with additional learning needs and the pressure it places on teachers,” Ms Stanford says. 
Budget 2025 also includes substantive key investments in the Government’s priority areas:

$298 million into strengthening Curriculum and Assessment supports, including $132.2 million for accelerated learning in literacy and maths.
$572 million of capital funding invested into school property.
$100 million of operating funding, to maintain and upgrade classrooms.
$150 million to build the education workforce of the future through leadership development pathways, teacher supply initiatives, and funded registration and certification.
$104 million to support Māori learner success, including $50 million of capital funding for new classrooms in Māori Medium and Kaupapa Māori schools.
$140 million for a new attendance service and to support and strengthen frontline attendance services

 
“To deliver this investment, we have assessed underspends and reprioritised initiatives that are underperforming or lack clear evidence that they’re delivering intended outcomes. Around $614 million within the vote has been identified for reinvestment into frontline, priority education initiatives.
“Budget 2025 builds on the strong foundations we’ve already laid through teaching the basics brilliantly. We will continue to invest to raise achievement and close the equity gap in schools across the country, so all Kiwi kids have the knowledge, skills and competencies they need to reach their full potential,” Ms Stanford says.

Source: New Zealand Police

Following a gruelling 14 month investigation, Police have today charged a fourth person in relation to the death of a woman whose body was found in a bag in Gulf Harbour last year.

The body of 70-year-old Chinese woman Shulai Wang was found in a black rubbish bag in the water in Gulf Harbour on 12 March 2024.

Acting Inspector Tim Williams, Waitematā CIB, says officers attended an Orewa property this morning where one person was taken into custody.

“A 64-year-old man was arrested and has been charged with manslaughter and kidnapping and will appear in court tomorrow.”

This is the fourth arrest in relation to this matter.

A 37-year-old man, a 36-year-old woman and a 61-year-old woman are each facing charges of kidnapping and manslaughter

The 64-year-old man will appear in North Shore District Court tomorrow.

As the matter is before the court Police are limited in providing further comment.

ENDS.

Holly McKay/NZ Police

Source: NZ Music Month takes to the streets

New funding will ensure New Zealanders have access to independent local journalism that keeps them informed about what’s happening in their communities, Media Minister Paul Goldsmith says.
“Regional journalism helps keep communities informed and holds decision-makers to account. 
“Budget 2025 will invest $6.4 million over four years in council, community and court reporting across New Zealand. The funding will be distributed through NZ on Air.
“Open Justice and Local Democracy Reporting have been successful programmes with an emphasis on reporting, rather than opinion. This funding expands them. 
“It will get funding into regional newsrooms so that more local frontline journalists can report on the things that matter to their audiences. 
“Budget 2025 also adjusts Radio New Zealand’s funding. 
“RNZ has had funding increases in recent years, most notably a boost of $26 million a year in 2023, on top of a previous increase of $7.3 million per year in 2020.
Budget 2025 reduces RNZ funding by approximately $18 million over four years, or $4.6 million a year, equivalent to approximately 7 per cent of its annual Crown operating Budget of $67 million. 
“This savings initiative recognises that government-funded media must deliver the same efficiency and value-for-money as the rest of the public sector. 
“I expect RNZ to improve audience reach, trust and transparency. I am confident the organisation can do so while operating in a period of tightened fiscal constraint.
“This comes as the Government considers how it can modernise media legislation through its Media Reform package. 
“New Zealand media, like media around the world, continue to face significant challenges. We need modern legislation, so the media sector is financially sustainable in the years to come. 
“I am considering submissions from the recent consultation on media reform. I will have more information on next steps for media modernisation in the coming months,” Minister Goldsmith says.