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Monday, 14 April 2025, 5:38pm

Government: First major changes to NZ’s driver licence system since 2011

MetService: Wild Weather For Easter Break

James Fraser: Tunnel vision, and asphalt addiction

James Barber: Britomart ki Paekawakawa

Felicity Wong: Saving the Bridge

Diane Calvert: Missing the bigger picture

PHARMAC: 13,000 People To Benefit From New Insulin Medicine

Hugh Rennie: Spending what’s available

Gordon Campbell: On Marketing The Military Threat Posed By China

Gosh, we had to wait years for this flimsy Defence Capability Plan (DCP)? What the public got given earlier this week was a 25 page document filled with back-of-the-envelope costings meant to justify a gigantic $12 billion spending spree of public money over the next four years. Incredibly, the price range for the majority of the “indicative” costings in the categories listed were framed in “It could cost this, but it could also cost two or three times as much” terms. Or, for variation, it could cost “up to $50 million” to get this, and it could cost “$2 billion plus” to get that.

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NEW ZEALAND POLITICS

Greenpeace Aotearoa: Babies At Risk Due To Nitrate-Contaminated Drinking Water In Ashburton District

Greenpeace Aotearoa says that it is deeply concerned about the safety of drinking water in the Ashburton District after close to one in five bore water samples tested for nitrate at the beginning of April exceeded levels linked with blue baby syndrome.

Driving Change Network: Response To Government’s Proposed Driver Licensing Changes

“Replacing the full licence test with a ‘good behaviour’ period and increasing penalties by reducing the demerit threshold does not build safer roads or better drivers,” says Wendy Robertson, National Director of the Driving Change Network.

The New Zealand Remembrance Army: Victoria Cross And Hardham Cup Come Together For First Time In Over 100-years

“We are excited to bring together the worlds of rugby and military history in celebration of a figure who excelled in both arenas,” says Simon Strombom, Managing Director of NZRA.

RNZ Online: How The World Reacted To The Demise Of The Treaty Principles Bill

Parliament has voted down the controversial bill, with only Act backing it.

Te Matapihi: Response To Govt’s New Strategic Housing Partnerships: Progress, But Equity Gaps Remain

The organisation is calling for a dedicated Māori housing delivery pathway within the CHP funding system. We encourage ongoing dialogue and engagement with us to ensure that the voices of Māori CHPs are considered in future decisions.

Banking Class Action: Government’s Retrospective Law Change Threatens Consumer Protections

The amendment undermines confidence in the rule of law and therefore, confidence in everyday commerce and international investment. It harms New Zealand’s reputation and unfairly denies the plaintiffs their claims, for no other reason other than to effectively transfer wealth to Australian owned banks.

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PARLIAMENT
POLITICS
REGIONAL

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BUSINESS, SCIENCE & TECH

PSA: Worker Involvement Critical In Developing AI For The Good Of Aotearoa

Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi National Secretary Kerry Davies said these figures indicated there was a clear and pressing need for employers to engage with workers and the unions who represent them on using AI in a planned way.

MBIE: Easter Trading Laws - Your Rights And Responsibilities

Employers must notify employees of this right in writing between 4 and 8 weeks before Easter Sunday. Failure to provide proper notice means employees cannot be compelled to work on that day.

The Conversation: As More Communities Have To Consider Relocation, We Explore What Happens To The Land After People Leave

Managed retreat can be traumatic and hard. But with good planning, the land left behind can serve new purposes, and make public what was once private.

Bill Bennett: Satellite TXT expands, how Egmont Village got a fibre network

This week - One NZ extends Satellite TXT to prepaid customers. In Taranaki, Primo is wiring Egmont Village with underground fibre and city-style pricing. Early wildfire detection, media law reform, and smarter traffic in Auckland.

Community Access Media Alliance: Proposed Spectrum Fee Increases Threaten New Zealand’s Community Access Media Sector

The proposed fee increases, outlined in MBIE’s Review of Radio Spectrum Licence Fees 2025, could see a hike in standard licence costs and new and modified licences. CAMA believes these changes will disproportionately impact the 12 Community Access Media stations, which already face significant financial pressures.

Brewers Association: Brewers Association Of New Zealand Supports Modernisation Of Alcohol Legislation

The Bill’s proposal to allow licensed venues to meet low-alcohol requirements by offering zero-alcohol beverages (containing less than 1.15% ethanol) is a pragmatic step forward.

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BUSINESS
SCI-TECH

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COMMENT

Binoy Kampmark: Olfactive Implications - Perfume, Power And Emmanuel Macron

The fragrance analysts and perfumeries will be delighted to know that a head of state is so enamoured with a specific product. Those wishing to make a fuss about workplace attitudes and dispositions will also add, and have added, their worthless observations.

Martin LeFevre - Meditations: True Abundance

True abundance is wholly an inward phenomenon. And while one can physically live without it, as the vast majority of Americans have for decades, if not our entire history as a colonising and westward expanding nation, one cannot inwardly survive much less thrive without this indefinable abundance.

Binoy Kampmark: Junk Science And Bad Policing - The Homicide Prediction Project

The representatives of law enforcement crave results, even those poorly arrived at, and algorithmic expediency and actuarial fantasy is there to aid them. The “precrime” dystopia portrayed in Philip K. Dick’s The Minority Report (1956) is well on its way to being realised.

Keith Rankin: Rational Expectations, Intelligence, And War

It is through our ManualI – our manual override, our consciousness, our awareness – that we have the opportunity to make rational valuations which incorporate morality. Our AutoI, while rational in its own terms, is also amoral. Our automatic benefit-cost analyses drive much of our behaviour, without our awareness; we cannot easily question what drives our Auto-Intelligence.

Peter Dunne: Dunne's Weekly - Is Andrew Little Wellington's Mayor-In-Waiting?

Should former Labour leader and Minister Andrew Little decide to seek the Wellington Mayoralty later this year he will have a very good, but by no means guaranteed, chance of winning.

Gordon Campbell: On Peter Dutton’s Fading Election Prospects.

Since Australia is now our only dependable defence ally, maybe we should be paying attention to their upcoming election.

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TOP SCOOPS

Olfactive Implications: Perfume, Power And Emmanual Macron 12:06 PM | Binoy Kampmark
Junk Science And Bad Policing: The Homicide Prediction Project 11/04/25 | Binoy Kampmark
True Abundance 11/04/25 | Martin LeFevre - Meditations
Netanyahu’s Shin Bet Scandal: Who Holds The Power? 10/04/25 | Ramzy Baroud
Rational Expectations, Intelligence, And War 10/04/25 | Keith Rankin
On Marketing The Military Threat Posed By China 10/04/25 | Gordon Campbell
Dunne's Weekly: Is Andrew Little Wellington's Mayor-In-Waiting? 10/04/25 | Peter Dunne

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WORLD

Global Jews for Palestine: Jewish Organisations' Passover Statement, After 40 Days Of Starvation

We plead and we work for the end of this needless hunger, for ceasefire, for the justice which underlies real peace.

APEC: Stronger Immunization Policies Needed As Vaccine Confidence Falls

Gaps in data collection and assessment remain a critical challenge, according to the dashboard. Only one-third of APEC economies currently track the indirect benefits of vaccination, despite growing evidence that adult vaccines can return up to 19 times their initial investment.

350.org: Indigenous Groups From The Pacific, Brazil & Canada Hand Demands To COP30 Presidency To End Fossil Fuels

Over 180 Indigenous, youth, and environmental organizations from across the world have signed on to the letter, coordinated by 350.org, to urgently demand that COP30 reaffirms the global commitment, and supports the implementation of a fair and equitable transition away from fossil fuels and towards renewable energy.

Conservation International: Conservation International Expedition Reveals Ecosystem Recovery In Tokelau

This comprehensive rapid assessment expedition—a collaboration between Conservation International, NZ Geographic, the Samoa Conservation Society, and the Tokelau Govt’s EDNRE, with critical support from the New Zealand MFAT and Blackmores Foundation—represents the most thorough environmental survey of Tokelau's ecosystems in nearly two decades.

UN Special Procedures - Human Rights: UN Expert Urges States To Finance Inclusive And Sustainable Development, Not A War Economy

As negotiations preceding the 2025 ECOSOC Forum on Financing for Development and the Fourth Preparatory Committee for the FfD4 unfold, the expert issued a Negotiation Brief, outlining key considerations that should underpin negotiations of the outcome document.

Amnesty International Aotearoa NZ: Global - Recorded Executions Highest Since 2015

According to the report, Death Sentences and Executions 2024 , 1,518 executions were recorded in 2024 - the highest number since 2015 (at least 1,634) - with the majority in the Middle East.

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LIFESTYLE

New Zealand Association of Scrabble Players: Who Will Be New Zealand’s Masters Scrabble Champion For 2025?

The top 24 Scrabble players in New Zealand will be descending on Mt Albert this Easter weekend to decide who will be New Zealand’s 41st Masters Champion.

Paralympics New Zealand: Matthew Britz And Wojtek Czyz Receive Paralympian Pins

Numbered pins are presented to every Paralympian who represents New Zealand at the Paralympic Games with Matthew and Wojtek making their Paralympic debuts at Paris 2024.

Tennis NZ: New Zealand Billie Jean King Cup Team Qualify For World Group Play-Offs

The win represents New Zealand’s first progress to this level in more than thirty years, with 1993 the last time a Kiwi side progressed past the Asia/Oceania round of the competition.

University of Auckland: Online Gaming Review On Pacific Youth - Urgent Need For More Research

Dr. Allen is currently undertaking a three-year Marsden-funded research project, 'Virtual Voyagers: Amplifying Pacific Girl Gamer Voices.' The project focuses on Pacific girl gamers to understand more about how online gaming contributes to their well-being and relationships.

UCOL: UCOL Ākonga Awarded $28,000 In Freemasons Willson Lewis Scholarship

Eleven Manawatū akonga have been awarded Freemasons Willson Lewis Scholarships yesterday totalling $28,000 to assist them with their studies and career advancement.

Auckland Museum: Auckland Museum Announces Inaugural Matafatafa Aho Pacific Artist In Residence

Benjamin Work has been named as the 2025 Matafatafa Aho Pacific Artist in Residence. This residency, delivered in collaboration with Creative New Zealand, provides a unique three-month opportunity to create new work inspired by the Museum’s Documentary Heritage collections, promising to bring fresh perspectives and vibrant narratives to our cultural treasures.

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CULTURE
HEALTH
EDUCATION

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Consultation Starts On New Draft Sexuality Education Framework 3:07 PM | RNZ
Celebrations As EIT Hawke's Bay Students Graduate 11/04/25 | EIT Hawkes Bay
US Academic Takes Reins On Pacific Housing Research 11/04/25 | University of Auckland
UCOL Ākonga Awarded $28,000 In Freemasons Willson Lewis Scholarship 11/04/25 | UCOL
Learning Support Is Desperately Needed In Early Childhood Education 10/04/25 | Early Childho...
NZ Atom-Smashers Honoured With Top Science Prize 10/04/25 | University of Auckland
Principals Support NZEI's Call For Learning Support Boost 09/04/25 | NZ Principals Federatio...

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