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RNZ News
5 days ago
- Business
- RNZ News
Health and Disability Commission says operating budget $1.9m less than previous years
The Health and Disability Commission lost nearly 10 percent of its funding in this year's Budget. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone The Health and Disability Commission cannot yet confirm whether it will have to make any staff redundant after losing nearly 10 percent of its funding in this year's Budget. A spokesperson for the consumer health watchdog said the total operating budget was $1.9 million less than in previous years. "This is due to the end of time-limited funding ($2.9m) that was provided in 2021 and extended for 2024/25." That has been "partly offset" by an extra one-off $1m for the 2025/26 year to help the HDC clear a backlog of complaints. When asked whether any jobs would be lost as a result, the commission said no decisions had been made. "We are not in a position to comment any further until we have completed engagement with our staff. "We remain committed to fulfilling our critical function to uphold people's rights and manage complaints." The $2.9m in time-limited funding was introduced by the Labour Government in 2021, to ensure the HDC had capacity to protect the rights of patients using assisted dying services. The new government axed the funding in its 2024 Budget, but subsequently extended it for another year. According to its 2024 annual report, the number of complaints to the HDC increased 52 percent over five years. The 3628 complaints received by HDC in 2023/24 was the highest number of complaints ever received in a single year, which placed significant pressure and led to delays in resolving some of them. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
20-05-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
Lobby group members raise red flags over ferry fleet's resiliency issues
The Aratere. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone Members of public and transport lobby groups are raising red flags about resiliency issues resulting in Aratere's retirement . KiwiRail has announced that the Interislander ship will retire by the end of August and has warned that it would affect capacity for the service with their fleet reduced to two ships. The Aratere is the only vessel in the Interislander's fleet which is rail enabled, which means rail freight can roll on and off it. That means it can't use another wharf in Picton, while port upgrades there and in Wellington are underway for two new ferries set to arrive in 2029. It could also reduce jobs associated with the ships. Interislander executive general manager Duncan Roy advised passengers to book their trips early, especially for peak season around Christmas time. "We don't have full ferries all the time with three [ferries], so we'd expect to have fuller ferries and, probably, people will be travelling at non-traditional times - earlier in the morning, later in the evening," he told Morning Report. Roy would not say whether prices would increase after the Aratere retires but assured there would be no price-gouging. "Nothing considerable... there could be a price increase anytime, but we watch our prices and monitor them like any good business. We work hard to keep the cost down." Interislander executive general manager Duncan Roy. Photo: RNZ / Marika Khabazi RNZ asked Wellingtonians what they thought of the news. Jenna said that it would be annoying to have to travel at less popular times. "Nobody's going to wake up early to go on transport to get somewhere, that's just really annoying actually." She said it would make her think more about flying across Cook Strait rather than sailing. Jackie told RNZ the decision to retire the ferry was short sighted. She said the Interislander ferries were an essential link and it needed to have appropriate levels of capacity. "Really important, and really important that its rail enabled." Evan told RNZ the ferries sailed at "pretty odd times" now. "So, if they are reducing the fleet, it's only going to make things worse." He said it could make people look at other travel options and he was concerned about prices on the service going up. Transporting New Zealand chief executive Dom Kalasih told Midday Report the lower number of ships could have flow on effects if one is taken out of service suddenly. "It is almost a given that a ferry will be out for unplanned reasons and so it's what sort of disruption is caused then and how that's managed." Kalasih said it was not clear yet whether the cost of freight would go up, but that there was increased risk of price increases. New Zealand motor caravan association Bruce Lochore said the Aratere's retirement would make travelling across the Cook Strait "a little tougher". "It's going to be at capacity just about full time and the risk of one breaking down is a concern." Lochore said the fact that there was less capacity meant there was more risk of prices increasing. "We'll just have to watch that, but we haven't had any indication from Interislander that they are looking at price rises at this point." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
20-05-2025
- Politics
- RNZ News
Watch live: Parliament debates Te Pāti Māori MPs' punishment for Treaty Principles haka
Te Pāti Māori MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipa-Clarke was among those to perform a haka, at Parliament, after the first reading of the Treaty Principles Bill, on 14 November, 2024. Photo: RNZ/ Samuel Rillstone Parliament will debate the proposed punishments of Te Pāti Māori MPs for last year's Treaty Principles haka when the House sits at 2pm on Tuesday. The Privileges Committee recommended suspending Te Pāti Māori co-leaders Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer for 21 days. MP Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, who started the haka but had since expressed contrition, faces a one-week suspension. If the debate is still going when the House rises at 10pm, Parliament's Speaker Gerry Brownlee will decide whether it takes precedence over members' day on Wednesday or is adjourned until the next sitting day after the Budget, in early June. All 123 MPs will be allowed to speak, and if any amendment is put forward, they would be allowed to speak again. Follow RNZ's live coverage of the debate. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
09-05-2025
- Health
- RNZ News
New Zealand's sexual violence rates higher than global average, Australia's
About 500 people gathered on Courtenay Place in Wellington to rally against sexual violence in 2021. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone New Zealand has rates of sexual violence against teenagers above the global average, ahead of even a badly afflicted Australia, according to new research. A study published in The Lancet took a look across more than 200 countries over the last three decades. Among people aged 12 to 18, it estimated almost 30 percent of New Zealand women and one in five men had experienced sexual violence. Australian rates were just below that, but above those of most other high-income countries. The global rate was 18.9 percent for women and 14.8 percent for men. The study found significant differences between countries and regions. The US and UK rates for men were around 16 percent, versus almost 22 percent in New Zealand. Montenegro and Mongolia had particularly low rates, and the Solomon Islands and Cote d'Ivoire, high. "The prevalence... is extremely high for both females and males across the globe," said the researchers, noting these were probably underestimates given the difficulties getting data. "An overwhelmingly high proportion of survivors first experienced sexual violence during childhood, revealing a narrow yet sensitive window that should be targeted in future prevention efforts." They reviewed three global epidemiological databases. New Zealand's high rates were despite the government spending $70 million on a 25-year plan launched in 2021 to combat sexual and family violence. Reports on the plan, Te Aorerekura, found rates of sexual abuse of girls may have actually gone back up recently. The researchers said the rates showed routine surveillance was vital, and that survivors needed more government-funded support "for the rest of their lives". The second phase - with far fewer targets, after the first phase had too many, the government said - includes a review of the $1.3 billion spent on family and sexual violence services and contracts. "We're focused on doing a smaller number of things, but doing them more effectively," said the minister responsible for the plan, Karen Chhour. Community health professor Janet Fanslow at the University of Auckland told the Science Media Centre the study "should not be allowed to sit on a shelf somewhere" but be a catalyst for investment. "It is no longer sufficient to take a piecemeal approach hoping that individual parts of the system will eventually join up," she said. A primary objective of Te Aorerekura for four years had been to join up the efforts of about a dozen government agencies. Last year's review found a very spotty outcome. Dr Rachel Roskvist, a forensic medical examiner and expert in sexual assault and non-fatal strangulation and suffocation, said comprehensive relationship and sexuality education was needed. "What is not seen in this work is the prevalence among transgender, gender fluid, non-binary or intersex individuals, groups known to be at risk for sexual violence." If it is an emergency and you feel like you or someone else is at risk, call 111.
RNZ News
05-05-2025
- General
- RNZ News
Mākara rat-catching drive keeps Wellington kiwis (and eels) alive
Students check rat traps at Mākara Model School. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone Students at a small, semi-rural school west of Wellington City are trapping rats in the playground and feeding them to the eels, in the name of biodiversity. Mākara Model School is helping protect the 200 kiwi now living in Wellington's eastern hills, as part of the Capital Kiwi project . On Monday, Conservation Minister Tama Potaka and Department of Conservation (DOC) representatives, including director-general Penny Nelson, visited the school. Discussion documents were released, seeking public feedback on DOC's future work programme - including the goals of Predator Free 2050 - and the minister took the opportunity to tour the school's trapping regime. Mimi, 11, was part of a small group of Mākara students tasked with checking the schools traps, indoors and out, each day. She said they checked the traps each morning, resetting them with replenished bait in the form of peanut butter and then feeding any trapped rats to the eels in the nearby stream. Classmate Molly, 12, had eagerly taken up the mantle from the previous year's group of seniors. "Last year, it was this huge group of boys who did it, none of the girls helped," she said. "This year, I was pretty keen to do it." Checking and resetting the traps was "pretty fun", until there was a live rat to contend with. Conservation Minister Tama Potaka at Mākara Model School. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone Upon discovering a not-quite-dead rat on their rounds, Molly said the solution was to finish the job with a rock. "It's pretty freaky the first time," she said, but both girls were focused on the wider cause. With the Capital Kiwi project regularly releasing birds in the surrounding hills, reducing rat numbers was even more important. The local eel population benefitted too. New principal James Appleton said students also learned about the circle of life. "It's skills they probably wouldn't be learning at a school in the city." The school had trapped rats for more than a decade, both to protect the area's biodiversity and to keep rodents out of the classrooms. Capital Kiwi founder Paul Ward said his relationship with the school went way back - his mum actually got her first teaching job there. "We've got really close connections with the kura, since the beginning of the project," he said. "Kids are the future, and if we're wanting to do something as long-term and ambitious as restoring kiwi to the hills of our capital city, getting those tamariki engaged is a critical part of that mission." Their efforts had contributed to making the place safe for kiwi to breed and thrive. "These are kids that know the difference between a Norway rat and a ship rat," he said. "They trap possums." "One of the most awesome things to note was when we asked them today, 'Do you know what a kiwi sounds like?' and virtually every hand in that school of 70-odd kids went up." Minister Tama Potaka said protecting the environment was a team effort. "The government sets the regulatory framework and the statutory framework. Businesses who can move with alacrity and really quickly around decision-making, and community, often bring the muscle - the woman power and the manpower - to do things." DOC director general Penny Nelson said work by groups like Mākara Model School was "absolutely critical" to achieving predator-free status. "We've got a really big goal to be predator-free by 2050, but there's no way DOC can do it on their own. What I've loved about this morning is just seeing how excited the kids are to get out there trapping." In Mākara, it was working. Molly said the number of rats they were logging from their traps was declining. "We had this chart and it was [tracking] how many rats we got each term. There were so many rats in the beginning and now we get maybe two each day, so it's definitely gone downwards." That means less food for the eels - but a safer haven for the capital's kiwi population to thrive. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
