The Panel with Kirsty Cameron and Stephen McCabe Part 1
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Scoop
an hour ago
- Scoop
One Day's Notice Shows Rushed Approach To Gutting New Zealand's Science Funding
Revelations that the Marsden Fund was given just one day's notice of further funding cuts demonstrates the Government's cavalier approach to dismantling New Zealand's science sector, the Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi said today. The $15 million cut to the Marsden Fund is in addition to the cuts that were already announced in Budget 2025. "It is outrageous that the Royal Society only learned of the $15 million funding cut the day before the Institute for Advanced Technology was announced and was told to keep quiet about it," said PSA national secretary Fleur Fitzsimons. "This is no way to make policy that will affect New Zealand's scientific capability for decades to come. The Government should be engaging meaningfully with our science sector workforce on their reforms, not giving them a day's notice and swearing them to secrecy." "The Marsden Fund supports fundamental research - the kind of science that leads to breakthrough discoveries and innovations. "The Government keeps talking about wanting research that can be commercialised, but they don't seem to understand that you can't have applied research without the fundamental research that underpins it." PSA represents public sector science workers including in Public Research Organisations and Callaghan Innovation. "Our members feel demoralised and uncertain about the future. Many are considering leaving New Zealand for countries that value scientific research. We're haemorrhaging talent and institutional knowledge," Fitzsimons said. "The Government needs to step back from these rushed reforms and engage meaningfully with the sector and its workforce. The final report of Sir Peter Gluckman's review has been sitting with the Science Minister since April but still hasn't been released. "We call on the Government to pause these damaging cuts, release the Gluckman review, and have a meaningful conversation with scientists, researchers and their representatives. Our researchers and the New Zealand public deserve better than policy-making by stealth and ambush." Note The Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi is Aotearoa New Zealand's largest trade union, representing and supporting more than 95,000 workers across central government, state-owned enterprises, local councils, health boards and community groups.

RNZ News
7 hours ago
- RNZ News
The Panel with Kirsty Cameron and Stephen McCabe Part 1
Tonight, on The Panel, Wallace Chapman is joined by panellists Kirsty Cameron and Stephen. First up, new data shows reading and writing levels for school children are dire. The Education minister Erica Stanford unveiled a new government strategy aimed at reversing the downward trend and imporving handwriting. And they also discuss the pros and cons for nuclear power, particularly now data centres for AI demand huge amounts of power. has nuclear power's time come? To embed this content on your own webpage, cut and paste the following: See terms of use.

RNZ News
8 hours ago
- RNZ News
Legislation to implement Three Waters replacement passes third reading
'Local Water Done Well' is replacing Labour's Three Waters. (File photo) Photo: 123RF The government's final piece of legislation to implement 'Local Water Done Well' , replacing Labour's Three Waters, has passed its third reading. National MP Ryan Hamilton hailed the legislation, and said "hello localism, and choice" while Te Pāti Māori MP Mariameno Kapa-Kingi called it "an atrocious piece of work." The government has said the Local Government (Water Services) Bill and the Local Government (Water Services) (Repeals and Amendments) Bill provide a "flexible" framework for local councils to address challenges related to drinking-water, waste-water, and stormwater services. NZ First's Casey Costello led the debate, calling it the government's "urgently required" plan to "address challenges with New Zealand's water services." "Simply put, chronic underinvestment and the lack of sustainable management of local government water services has come home to roost." Costello said councils would be able to choose the best structure for "financially sustainable water services that meet regulatory requirements and local needs." NZ First's Casey Costello led the debate. (File photo) Photo: VNP / Louis Collins "I want to keep repeating that Local Water Done Well will maintain local ownership, choice, and decision-making. "That gives councils the best shot at identifying their most pressing problems and the right approach to solving them." National MP Ryan Hamilton hailed the passing of the government's Three Waters replacement. "Goodbye Three Waters, hello Local Water Done Well. Goodbye co-governance, hello locally chosen and designed options. "Hello localism and choice." NZ First's Jamie Arbuckle highlighted the removal of "co-governance" in the legislation. "Isn't it great to get rid of co-governance from this piece of legislation? Get rid of it! We are about New Zealanders. We are about Kiwis." But the opposition slammed the legislation, with Labour's Megan Woods saying it "shifts the financial risk" to councils and ratepayers. Labour's Megan Woods slammed the legislation. (File photo) Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone She criticised the government's response to Three Waters, and said it had got rid of the economies of scale and "the money that could have been saved", allowing for a "proliferation" of water service entities. "What the government said was 'oh no there's two few entities, there's not enough room for local decision making under the previous government plans'." But she said the changes had led to an average increase in water charges for households. Tangi Utikere, Labour's spokesperson for local government, echoed her, and said there was no adequate financial support to those councils for the changes the government was seeking to implement. Te Pāti Māori's Mariameno Kapa-Kingi criticised the government for "ignoring the role of Māori in the delivery of water services." "Removing these provisions is not progress, it is reform, it is regression and it is deeply and only racist." She said the bill in its thinking and design ignored and dismissed how "tangata tiriti get to live here", referencing Te Tiriti o Waitangi. She implored the government to "get the education" and concluded by saying "what an atrocious piece of work." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.