Maritime Union on Interislander ferry Aratere breaking down
transport national 26 minutes ago
The Maritime Union is concerned over the latest breakdown of the beleaguered Aratere ferry. Carl Findlay spoke to Charlotte Cook.
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RNZ News
8 minutes ago
- RNZ News
Indian community devastated after loss of lives in Ahmedabad plane crash
People light candles as they take part in a prayer ceremony in Siliguri, India, for victims of the airplane crash in Ahmedabad. Photo: AFP / Diptendu Dutta New Zealand's Indian community is gathering at Auckland's Mahatma Gandhi Centre tonight to pay respects to victims of the Ahmedabad airplane crash on Thursday. So far, there is only one reported survivor among the 242 people who were on board the London-bound Air India flight that crashed in a residential neighbourhood within a minute of taking off from Ahmedabad's international airport on Thursday, according to media reports. At least 290 people were killed once dozens of victims on the ground were included in the death toll, CNN reported. Victims of the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner crash in Gujarat state included minors, local residents and people who were inside a medical college hostel when the plane struck it, according to media reports. Air India said the dead included 169 Indian nationals, 53 British citizens, seven Portuguese and one Canadian. Narendra Bhana, former president of the New Zealand Indian Central Association, said the Indian community was devastated by the news. "The Indian diaspora collectively mourns the loss of lives in Ahmedabad," Bhana said. "Gujaratis - including me - form a large part of the Indian diaspora here in New Zealand and we all have strong family connections to the region. ... The impact is huge. "We stand in solidarity with the people of Gujarat and all of India during this time of mourning. "Our thoughts and prayers are with the injured, the rescue teams and everyone working tirelessly to provide support on the ground." Narendra Bhana, former president of the New Zealand Indian Central Association Photo: RNZ / Blessen Tom Working with the Indian Diaspora Group, Bhana has organised the candlelight vigil in Auckland and is expected a large gathering. "We invite people from all sections of society to join us in lighting a candle in tonight's solemn gathering," he said. "It is a time to come together in prayers, reflection and solidarity with the victims." Hitesh Dobariya, who lost a distant relative in the crash, said he had been in touch with his family in Ahmedabad since last night. They were still in a state of shock, he said. "Authorities have taken DNA samples yesterday to ascertain the identity of those killed," he said. "While we know all but one person on board has survived the crash, we still need the official confirmation," he said. "Now we wait for the official investigation to conclude and tell us what really happened." Among the dead is former Chief Minister of Gujarat Vijay Rupani, who ruled the state between 2016 and 2021. Ketan Joshi, a local journalist who runs the runs Gujarati news portal Apun Gujarat in Auckland, shared his experience working with Rupani. "I got to know Vijay ... while covering the Covid era," Joshi said. "He was always known as the common man's chief minister. How well he managed one of India's most prosperous states during those challenging times will always be his legacy." After providing support to victims' families and confirming casualties, attention would likely shift to the cause of the crash. Shares in Boeing fell by more than 7 percent in pre-market trade Thursday. For recently privatised Air India - the Tata Group bought the airline from the Indian government in 2021 - the crash comes as a huge blow as it embarks on shedding its decade-long image of a debt-ridden player in India's growing aviation sector. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called the incident "heartbreaking beyond words", adding that he was working with authorities involved in the disaster. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the scenes were "devastating". The United Kingdom had activated a crisis team in New Delhi and London, British foreign minister David Lammy said.
Scoop
3 hours ago
- Scoop
Prime Minister To Visit China And Europe
Rt Hon Christopher Luxon Prime Minister PrimeMinister Christopher Luxon will travel to China and Europe next week. He will be joined in Shanghai and Beijing with a delegation of senior New Zealand business leaders. 'China is New Zealand's largest trading partner and a vital part of our economic story,' Mr Luxon says. The visit will focus on growing trade, which was worth over $38 billion last year, as well as also look to strengthen education and tourism links and to maximise opportunities for New Zealand businesses. 'New Zealand is a trusted supplier of safe, high-quality food and beverage products to Chinese consumers. It is an important market, and I look forward to doing what I can to support Kiwi businesses to thrive,' Mr Luxon says. China is New Zealand's largest source of international students and is our third-largest tourism market. 'This visit is about backing the recovery of international education and tourism and putting New Zealand front and centre as a world-class destination for travel, study, and long-term connection,' Mr Luxon says. The Prime Minister will meet China's top leadership, including President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang, to discuss the comprehensive bilateral relationship and key regional and global issues. 'The challenging global outlook makes it vital that we are sharing perspectives and engaging China on issues that matter to New Zealand.' The Prime Minister will be accompanied by the 2025 Te Matatini champions, Te Kapa Haka o Ngatī Whakaue. The Prime Minister and his delegation will be in China from 17 to 20 June. Europe Mr Luxon will then travel on to Europe to undertake bilateral visits in Brussels and the Hague. He will meet with leaders, including from the European Union, to discuss trade, security, and the shifting geopolitical landscape. 'We have a high-quality trade relationship with the European Union, and the Netherlands and Belgium are gateways for New Zealand's growing exports to Europe,' Mr Luxon says. 'Since the early entry into force of the New Zealand-European Union Free Trade Agreement, Kiwi goods exports have grown by over 25 per cent, which is a more than NZ$1 billion increase." In the Netherlands, the Prime Minister will participate in the NATO Summit and hold one-on-one talks with a number of NATO leaders. 'Prosperity is only possible with security, and our discussions will focus on connections between the Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific security environments,' Mr Luxon says. New Zealand has been invited to the NATO Summit alongside other members of the Indo-Pacific Four - Australia, Japan and Korea. "I look forward to building our positive relationship with our European friends, and to forging stronger links with businesses and investors as part of our wider plan to rebuild New Zealand's economy.' The Prime Minister is in Europe from 21 to 25 June.
RNZ News
4 hours ago
- RNZ News
More cuts proposed at Ministry for Culture and Heritage
Photo: RNZ / Quin Tauetau The axe is hovering over historians and staff at the Ministry for Culture and Heritage who create digital content used by schools and the public. Manatū Taonga, which lost $2m in the Budget, told staff on Thursday it proposed to shed 24 roles, about 15 percent of its staff. "Our current level of resourcing is not sufficient to keep the content we have up to date, and our context has shifted significantly, meaning the ministry's core focus no longer supports the creation of content," said the change proposal obtained by RNZ. Three of its seven historian jobs and most of its digital production roles would go, unless consultation now underway changed the plan. A former chief historian for 14 years, Professor Jock Phillips, said the proposal put websites "absolutely central" to the education of New Zealanders at risk. Laulu Mac Leauanae. Photo: Ministry for Culture and Heritage / supplied "If you look at the usage, it's phenomenal - particularly in schools but also internationally," Phillips said. "You need people to keep those up to date, keep up with what's happening, keep up with new knowledge. And it would be an absolute tragedy to see those not properly maintained." A ministry staffer who RNZ agreed not to name said the downgrade had been a long time coming. "Our senior management have talked about wanting to be a 'policy shop' for some time, which means they've always wanted to get rid of the awkward community-engaged parts of the ministry," they said by email on Friday. "The cuts required by government are just an excuse to do what senior management have wanted to do for a while - get rid of community engagement with actual humans." They said this included school groups doing lessons at Pukeahu National War Memorial, helping with Te Tai Whakaea Treaty Settlement Stories led by iwi, and with Pacific Histories in response to the Dawn Raids apology . "We do a shitload on the smell of an oily rag because we are committed to sharing the stories of all New Zealanders and we feel this work matters," they said. The change proposal showed the ministry's 'heritage content and production' unit faced among the biggest shake-ups, its 11-person team reduced to just four, including three historians going. A lot of the ministry's digital publishing capacity would be decommissioned, merged or farmed out. The options were "migrating to static sites, decommissioning and archiving sites, merging with other sites or finding another organisation to operate sites". Also, the highly specialist job of carillonist would be cut, to be replaced by contractors "as and when required". "We are not able to hold highly specialist roles that are not directly aligned to legislation, regulation or other mandated work," the proposal said. The ministry just spent another $6m strengthening Wellington's carillon bell tower. Chief executive Laulu Mac Leauanae told RNZ the ministry would carefully consider staff feedback on the proposal, and "out of respect for those affected" would not comment further. He wrote in the change document: "This proposed reduction reflects our fiscally constrained environment and the need to reduce roles across the ministry." The proposal comes just one year after Manatū Taonga's last restructure finished; this cost $700,000 in redundancy payments. It had about 190 staff three ago, and 151 now. That would drop further under what was proposed, with business groups cut from five to three, and two senior manager jobs going. Seven roles would be disestablished in a kaupapa Māori group set up just two years ago, and its remaining jobs would be merged into another group. "The ministry's context has evolved," Leauanae said in the document. "While I am proposing these changes, as a ministry we remain fully committed to our responsibilities under Te Tiriti o Waitangi." Jock Phillips. Photo: Victoria University of WellingtonNew Zealand. RNZ asked if having fewer people left to do this indicated a deprioritisation, but the ministry did not address that. The operational business group, Te Hua, would absorb about eight of the jobs not cut in the Māori unit. Te Hua itself, where the historian jobs would go, would shift away from creating and maintaining "a vast repository of historical information", the proposal said. "Ten years ago, a team of more than 30 people worked on creating and maintaining this content" but resources were more limited now. The staffer listed a dozen types of project that Te Hua worked on, such as helping create over 2000 oral histories of West Coast rugby fans in the 1940s and East Coast whariki mat weavers, among others, and helping uncover waka in the Chatham Islands . Phillips warned stripping away expertise would inevitably be damaging. "The thing that concerns me most is the websites that the historians have produced over the years - Te Ara Encyclopaedia of NZ, Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, NZHistory, Te Akomanga digital history curriculum support - they are absolutely central to the education of New Zealanders. If we don't understand ourselves, we are a very diminished society." Te Hua would shift towards monitoring and legislation, with a whole new unit under that name set up. Among other things, the new unit would consider the impacts on heritage of the government's fast-track legislation, it appeared. "Due to the requirement to reduce our baseline, the work programme in Te Hua must be focused on activities that are required due to legislation, regulation or other mandate," Leauanae wrote. The proposal is to cut 35 roles and create 11. Staff have till June 23 to express interest in voluntary redundancy. The ministry had a staff headcount of 140 in 2019-20, 192 soon after Covid-19, and 151 at the latest count. While it hired 23 contractors and consultants in 2023-24 at a cost of $1.4m, that dropped sharply to just $400,000 in the nine months to March 2025. The Public Service Association lamented proposed cuts to roles that supported websites honouring the 28th Māori Battalion and recording the history of New Zealand's participation in the Vietnam war. "This is yet another decision that exposes the short-sighted thinking behind the Government's funding cuts," it said. 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