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Parliament Hansard Report – Karakia/Prayers – 001479

Source: Govt’s austerity Budget to cause real harm in communities

WEDNESDAY, 21 MAY 2025

The Speaker took the Chair at 2 p.m.

KARAKIA/PRAYERS

GREG O’CONNOR (Assistant Speaker): Almighty God, we give thanks for the blessings which have been bestowed on us. Laying aside all personal interests, we acknowledge the Queen and pray for guidance in our deliberations, that we may conduct the affairs of this House with wisdom, justice, mercy, and humility for the welfare and peace of New Zealand. Amen.

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Parliament Hansard Report – Urgent Debates Declined — Gaza Aid—Signing of Joint Statement – 001478

Source: Govt’s austerity Budget to cause real harm in communities

URGENT DEBATES DECLINED

Gaza Aid—Signing of Joint Statement

SPEAKER: Members, I’ve received a letter from the Hon Phil Twyford seeking to debate under Standing Order 399 the Government’s signing of a joint statement calling for Israel to allow a full resumption of aid into Gaza. This is a particular case of recent occurrence for which there is ministerial responsibility. However, that signing of a statement is not a matter that is of so urgent a proportion as to warrant the setting aside of the business of the House today. The application is declined.

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21 May 2025 Kāinga Ora confirms new structure for its reset As part of the reset and resize, Kāinga Ora has released decisions today that will enable the organisation to focus on providing and managing state owned social housing more cost effectively.

Source:

The agency confirmed that net 620 roles will be removed of which 194 are vacant.

Changes are predominately from its back-office and corporate functions – frontline tenancy management roles are not impacted.

Formal consultation and staff feedback has resulted in changes to the proposal with extra roles added to the structure in key areas.

The agency is also entering into a second round of consultation with parts of its Finance group and a central North Island community engagement and partnerships team.

Kāinga Ora Chief Executive Matt Crockett says that the agency is committed to having the right structure in place so it can deliver on its reset. That is why there will be a further round of consultation for these two areas of the business as the feedback from staff has resulted in some changes to the original proposals being made for further consideration.

“It is clear from the consultation process that our people want the reset to work. They have provided valuable feedback on the original proposal, with constructive ideas, and we have made some changes to those original proposals as a result,” says Mr Crockett.

“We need an organisational model and workforce that reflects our new, narrower focus on managing and providing social housing. We also need to align our back-to-basics focus, and reduced volume of activity, while enabling more cost-effective provision of housing and support services to our tenants.

“We have listened, and we have been agile where we can. These decisions are about setting Kāinga Ora up to be successful. We will be able to deliver to what the government expects of us, and the workforce changes will not negatively impact the support and services we provide to tenants,” says Mr Crockett.

The second round of consultation for the two areas concludes on 28 May. Kāinga Ora will transition into the new structure on 1 July 2025.

For more information, updates will be provided on the Kāinga Ora workforce changes page.

Kāinga Ora headcount numbers as of:

  • 31 December 2023 – 3,514
  • 31 December 2024 – 3,018
  • 30 April 2025 – 2,821

Page updated: 21 May 2025

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Greenpeace slams Federated Farmers over ‘selfish’ behaviour on climate

Source: Greenpeace

Greenpeace says that Federated Farmers’ intent to ‘go to battle’ over methane targets is yet another example of the agri-business lobby group’s selfish approach to life on our collective home.
Federated Farmers, Beef + Lamb and Dairy NZ have been pushing for methane targets aligned with ‘no additional warming’ – an approach that has been harshly criticised by climate scientists, the Climate Commission and the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment.
Greenpeace spokesperson Amanda Larsson says “The New Zealand dairy industry is the country’s worst climate polluter. The oversized dairy herd is cooking the climate with superheating methane emissions, yet agri-industry lobby groups refuse to play their part in tackling the climate crisis, instead leaving it to the rest of us to clean up their mess.
“Yet again, Federated Farmers are attempting to convince us that they are the exception to the rule. But this new concept they’re promoting – no additional warming – is not based on science. They’ve simply come up with a way to count emissions differently so that they can justify doing less.”
Methane emissions are responsible for a third of global heating to date, and the agricultural industry is the single biggest source. Those emissions are rising faster than at any other time in history.
“The consequence of the livestock industry selfishly absconding their climate responsibility is that everyone else has to pick up the slack. Or, alternatively, that we all suffer the consequences of more floods, storms, fires and droughts. All of which affect frontline farming communities first,” says Larsson.
Greenpeace says the key flaw in no additional warming is that it ignores the historic pollution caused by intensive livestock farming.
“It’s a bit like expecting your mortgage to magically be written off. The catch is that your debt still exists, it’s just that someone else will have to pay for it. Ignoring the historic methane emissions from agriculture won’t make that pollution – or its warming impact – go away.”
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Assault reignites Christchurch Hospital parking woes

Source: New Zealand Nurses Organisation

New Zealand Nurses Organisation Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa (NZNO) is concerned that after-hours attacks on Christchurch Hospital staff returning to their cars have continued without a proper long-term solution to parking in sight.
It follows the recent assault on a student midwife going back to her car from Kurawaka Waipapa.
NZNO Christchurch delegate Al Dietschin says staff have raised concerns about parking at the hospital for more than a decade, possibly longer, and while there has been some action from Te Whatu Ora, it is not nearly enough to prevent the assaults from persisting.
“How many incidents do we need to have before the employer acts in the interest of staff in accordance with the Health and Safety Employment Act?
“They have to provide a safe work environment. They always say health and safety of staff is important, but these after-hours assaults continue to happen.”
Al Dietschin says the Tū Waka Waipapa building that opened opposite the hospital in November 2023 provides parking, but costs about $25 a day, which is unaffordable for most workers.
In wake of many assaults in the past, the hospital provides a minibus shuttle between 9pm and 1am, but staff are often made to wait too long for this arrive.
“Staff are reportedly walking to their cars because they’re made to wait 30 minutes or more after working the late shift for the shuttle to arrive. Staff don’t feel safe walking to cars after their shift or early morning in the dark, but they’re sometimes forced to.”
Another shocking decision recently limits emergency department parking for lead maternity carers (community midwives) to five hours, he says.
“This used to be available for unlimited time. Now they’re forced to ask core staff to relieve them in the middle of a patient’s labour so they don’t get fined. That’s not good for the safety of their patients.”
Al Dietschin says the solution is simple from the staff’s perspective.
“Staff only want safe after hours parking close to hospital, and we don’t want to break the bank for this to happen.”
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“A devastating record”: New Greenpeace analysis reveals almost half a million blue sharks caught as ‘bycatch’ in Central and Western Pacific in 2023

Source: Greenpeace

TASMAN SEA – A new analysis of the latest fisheries data by Greenpeace Australia Pacific has revealed widespread slaughter of sharks in the Pacific Ocean by industrial longline fishers. The analysis estimates that almost half a million blue sharks were caught as bycatch in the region in 2023, the highest number in recorded history since 1991.
Greenpeace estimates that around 438,500 near-threatened blue sharks, almost 50 million kilograms, were caught as bycatch in the region in 2023 from Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WFCPFC) data. The figure is double the 2015 numbers.
The analysis of shark bycatch data also revealed that the Lord Howe Rise and South Tasman Sea areas between New Zealand and Australia had some of the highest rates of birds caught on fishing lines – 13% of bycatch from longliners were seabirds like albatross.
Greenpeace Aotearoa oceans campaigner Juan Parada says, “This rampant destruction of critical ocean life in the high seas between New Zealand and Australia highlights the urgent need for international cooperation to protect the oceans.”
“The Tasman Sea faces multiple threats from industrial fishing. We’ve recently seen firsthand the destruction caused by bottom trawlers in a similar area of the high seas, where we witnessed graveyards of destroyed coral. Now we see that almost half a million blue sharks were unnecessarily killed in the West and Central Pacific in 2023. That’s so many sharks that if stacked nose to tail, they would reach the International Space Station and back.
“The international waters between New Zealand and Australia are globally renowned precisely because of the range and variety of ocean life that lives there, from deep sea corals growing on seamounts to sharks, seabirds and migrating whales. 
“It’s such a significant place that Greenpeace and allies are calling for it to be one of the world’s first global ocean sanctuaries and it must be protected from longlining and bottom trawling so ocean life can thrive,” says Parada.
The incident happened on Lord Howe Rise, a region renowned for diverse marine life including corals, sponges, whales and seabirds.
Parada says, “While some countries are working constructively towards protecting the high seas, New Zealand is actively blocking meaningful ocean protection. Shockingly New Zealand is the only country still bottom trawling these waters.
“To protect the Tasman Sea, New Zealand must stop bottom trawling and get on with helping to create global ocean sanctuaries so all the life that lives there can thrive.” Scientists agree that to help stave off the worst of the climate crisis at least 30% of the world’s oceans must be protected from industrial harm by 2030.
Creating global ocean sanctuaries in international waters like the Tasman Sea, those areas outside of any one country’s jurisdiction, will play a crucial role in achieving this goal. In 2023 the world won the Global Ocean Treaty, which provides the legal framework for these sanctuaries, but first it must be passed into law.
Parada says, “Now is the time for cooperation in ocean protection. Every day that passes without the Global Oceans Treaty in force, marine species are being pushed closer to the brink of extinction by the industrial fishing fleet in the high seas.”
Greenpeace Australia Pacific spokesperson Georgia Whitaker says of the shark bycatch data, “The data is deeply disturbing – it’s a devastating record and a testament to the destructive nature of the industrial fishing industry. Sharks and other animals dying by the hundreds of thousands a year in this one patch of ocean, brutally killed by a legal and indiscriminate fishing practice like longlining. This is an appalling legacy our global leaders are leaving while the blue lungs of our planet are already facing chronic decline. Industrial fishing is sucking our ocean dry, fuelling the biodiversity crisis, and pushing prehistoric animals like sharks to the brink of extinction. Healthy shark populations are central to a healthy ocean – this is a loss we can’t afford.”
Ahead of the United Nations Oceans Conference in Nice, France, in June, Greenpeace is calling on governments to ratify the Global Ocean Treaty. Both New Zealand and Australia have signed the treaty but have yet to bring it into force.
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Education – Open Polytechnic study helps ‘to shape’ Christchurch ECE graduate

Source: Open Polytechnic

One hundred and five graduates from the South Island graduated at the Wigram Airforce Museum in Christchurch, Ōtautahi this week (Tuesday 20 May 2025), to receive their qualifications from Open Polytechnic, New Zealand’s specialist provider of online learning.
Christchurch-based Bachelor of Teaching in Early Childhood Education graduate, Tessa Karati was the student speaker at the ceremony.
Tessa, who identifies as Cook Island and New Zealand Māori, commenced her speech in te reo Māori before thanking God and those people who had contributed to her success.
During her speech, Tessa acknowledged the impact that studying with Open Polytechnic has had on her life.
“I thank Open Polytechnic, for sensitively, but boldly calling us up and out to be advocates, and for helping to shape not just who I am as a teacher, but who I am as a person,” she said.
She likened her learner journey to a “relationship” with her degree as she went through the five stages of attraction, romance, disillusionment, commitment and acceptance.
Through her studies, Tessa realised how disconnected from her culture she had become and discovered that she had absorbed stories about her culture that were rooted in deficit, and how and why that was.
“It generated a deep sense of responsibility to do better for our future generations and enable them to thrive,” Tessa said
“I still have a lot to learn, but even so, I know my role as a kaiako is more than teaching, it’s advocating for our tamariki (children), ensuring they grow up hearing positive messages about themselves, knowing that they are valued.”
Tessa finished off her speech by thanking her tutors, friends and family, before congratulating her fellow graduates.
“Be proud. You are smarter, wiser, more resilient, more persistent, courageous, and hardworking,” she said.
During his speech, Executive Director Open Polytechnic Alan Cadwallader congratulated the graduates for their commitment to completing their studies.
“Choosing to study at distance and online is a learning experience which takes discipline and determination,” he said.
“It takes your self-motivation to set time aside to work through your online course materials, absorb the learnings, and then successfully complete assessments. I commend you all for completing your qualification while also navigating the responsibilities of whānau, work and other life commitments.”
Alan told the audience that it was a privilege and honour to be able to lead a world-class learning institution that puts learner achievement at the forefront of everything it does.
“I’m pleased to be able to say that in our most recent student satisfaction survey, 94% of our learners said they were satisfied with their overall experience with Open Polytechnic,” Alan said.
“This level of satisfaction can only be achieved by an all of organisation effort to ensure our ākonga (learners) have the teaching and facilitation, feedback, services and tools they need to succeed in their studies. “
Alan also acknowledged the importance of having a support network to help.
“I know your study journey will not always have been easy, and I would like to thank those in the audience that have supported you, your friends, family, whānau and supporters,” Alan said.
“It’s your practical means of support, your words of encouragement, and your guidance throughout your graduate’s study journey that has also contributed to their success.”
The graduates at the Christchurch ceremony were awarded a variety of diplomas and degrees, including early childhood education, primary and secondary education, social work, social health and wellbeing, funeral directing, business, accounting, applied management, legal executive studies, library and information studies, psychology, web development and design, information technology, architectural technology, and construction.
The Christchurch ceremony was the second of three for Open Polytechnic in 2025, with the final ceremony to come in Wellington on 27 May. Including those awarded in absentia, around 1150 graduates will receive their diploma or degree from Open Polytechnic this graduating year.  
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Is taking photos on a plane allowed?

Source:

Reviewed May 2025

Can passengers take photos and videos on a plane? That’s a good question when most of us have easy access to our phones and inflight Wi-Fi being increasingly offered to passengers. Another public setting where this question might arise is recording of patients and staff in hospitals. Read our AskUs answer to the question, ‘Can I record someone without telling them?‘

An important consideration is whether the recording is taking place in a public or private space. Generally, the Privacy Act says taking photos or recordings in public places is allowed. It also depends on who is taking the photo or making the recording, and whether the photos could be categorised as highly offensive.

Businesses

If you’re an agency (business or organisation) or if you’re taking the photo or making the recording on behalf of a business or agency, you need to consider the general obligations around collection of personal information (see principles 1-4 of the Privacy Act).

Individuals

If you are an individual and you’re taking the photo or making the recording in a personal capacity, it won’t usually be an issue under the Privacy Act. Most passengers on planes and visitors to hospitals will fall into this category, and if they were to make a recording on a flight, it will be in their personal capacity. But there are two things that a passenger should keep in mind.

  1. It is always good practice to seek permission when an individual is the subject of your photo or recording. This is courteous and respectful of the privacy of others
  2. The use of some public facilities, for instance, parks or swimming pools, will be subject to conditions that may impose limits on what you can film or record. For example, many swimming pools have clearly stated policies that photos and recordings are not permitted. Similar restrictions could apply to a passenger planeor a hospital.

While a commercial space like a passenger plane is essentially a public space, the airline may impose rules around whether a passenger can film or record. It can set this out in its passenger terms and conditions and in its passenger education.

However, the personal capacity exemption does not apply where the collection, use or disclosure could be “highly offensive”. This means there are circumstances where it generally isn’t appropriate for individuals to take photos or make recordings, even when they’re in a public space.

Emergencies

Is it acceptable for other passengers to film a mid-air medical emergency involving another passenger and post it online? We don’t think so. A medical situation would likely involve sensitive information about an individual who is vulnerable, and so this could be considered highly offensive.

In our view, an incident that may be embarrassing to an airline does not mean it is highly offensive. The case involving United Airlines and David Dao on a US domestic flight is a famous example. In this case, video taken by other passengers of Mr Dao being forcibly removed from the flight after he refused to give up his seat was used as key evidence.

What happens when people disagree? 

Individual passengers and air crew may disagree about whether photos or recordings are acceptable. Ultimately, all parties should exercise restraint, consideration and common sense on a flight, as they should in other walks of life. If you wouldn’t want someone to do it to you, don’t do it to others.

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Serious crash: State Highway 12, Matakohe

Source: New Zealand Police

Motorists are advised to expect delays on State Highway 12, west of Gallid Road, Matakohe.

Emergency services are in attendance at a crash, reported at around 1.15pm.

A car has left the road and landed in a ditch.

Police advise that although both lanes are currently open, traffic restrictions are in place.

A ‘stop-go’ system will be implemented to enable the vehicle to be retrieved.

An update will be provided in due course regarding injuries.

ENDS.

Nicole Bremner/NZ Police 

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Submissions open for the Anzac Day Amendment Bill

Source:

This bill would amend the Anzac Day Act 1966 to cover conflicts and persons who have served New Zealand in past or future times of war or in warlike conflicts that are not currently covered by the Act.

Tell the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee what you think

Make a submission on the bill by 11.59pm on Thursday, 22 May 2025.

For more details about the bill:

ENDS

For media enquiries contact:

Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee staff

fadt@parliament.govt.nz

MIL OSI