Monthly Archives: July 2022

Some New Zealand lawmakers are calling to revert the countrys name back to its indigenous roots, advocating for the Mori word Aotearoa.

Aotearoa pronounced au-te-a-ro-uh refers to the clouds that helped early Polynesian explorers to the island, as told by indigenous oral history.

While the first European contact with indigenous Mori ended in a retreat and the death of four sailors, the Dutch name Nieuw Zeeland stuck as New Zealand after it became a part of the British Empire.

According to historians, the Mori did not have a name for the entire country, and Aotearoa referred to only the North Island.

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The name change proposal is not the first for New Zealand. As seen from the Parliament petitions page, there has consistently been a petition each year on the issue starting from 2018 to now.

Citizens can create petitions online, collect signatures and then present them to the House of Representatives. An example from 2019 calling to include Aotearoa in the official name of New Zealand is one such case, which resulted in over 6,000 signatures.

There is a section on the site that also tracks the progress of the petition, including when it was created, closed, presented to the House of Representatives and then reported on, which is the time in which a decision was made.

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The most recent petition, which is still open for signatures, was launched in 2021 by the Mori Party, asking that Te Reo Mori names be officially restored across the country in the next five years.

The New Zealanders fighting to change the nations name claim that the British-originated version is rooted in colonization, as reported by the Wall Street Journal.

The current petition has more support than ever before, having garnered over 70,000 signatures, and will be put up for a vote in Parliament for potential action.

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A name change is not so simple, however, and an opinion poll by market-research company Colmar Brunton shows that over half of respondents surveyed want to keep the name New Zealand.

Still, Aotearoa or Aotearoa New Zealand, a combination of the old and new, are supported by about 40 percent of respondents.

Previously, New Zealanders rejected a new national flag referendum in 2016, with the majority of people voting to keep the current flag. Critics of the flag argued the inappropriate nature of employing the Union Jack design, which is the design of the United Kingdoms flag.

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In the past few decades, the name Aotearoa, either combined with New Zealand or used as a standalone, has become increasingly common, appearing in bank notes, passports and other government documents.

In a joint statement between the U.S. and New Zealand in May, leader Jacinda Ardern was referred to as prime minister of Aotearoa New Zealand.

When asked about a formal name change, a spokesperson for Ardern responded that while a wider use of Aotearoa is welcome, an official change is not being explored by the government.

Featured Image via 1News(left) and Joyous Travel(right)

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New Zealand petition seeks to change country's name to Aotearoa in honor of its Mori roots - Yahoo News

An Australian woman has been seriously injured after falling into a geothermal sinkhole in New Zealand.

The Perth woman, described as elderly, fell into the sinkhole near a tourist attraction in Rotorua, on the North Island, at 2:20p m on Thursday.

She was helped out of the hole by her husband, who was also injured.

A St John ambulance spokeswoman told NCA NewsWire the woman was in critical condition when she was taken to the hospital.

Two ambulances and one rapid response unit attended the scene. St John treated then transported one patient in a critical condition and one in a moderate condition to Rotorua Hospital.

An official said the ground opened up at the Whakarewarewa Maori village.

We are just keeping in communications with them and their families to monitor their wellbeing and recovery from the incident, Whakarewarewa Village general manager Mike Gibbons told the New Zealand Herald.

Images from the scene showed a fuming square hole on a sidewalk.

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Australian woman seriously injured after falling into geothermal sinkhole in New Zealand - New York Post

Two climbers who were buried by an avalanche and then caught in a blizzard atop one of New Zealands most famous mountain ranges survived their ordeal by digging themselves out of the snow, building a cave and living off muesli bars.

The two men in their 20s were on a three-day ice climbing adventure in The Remarkables a 2,300-metre high range above Queenstown when they triggered an avalanche and were carried about 20 metres downhill.

The pair dug themselves out only to discover that the weather was closing in and they would not be able to traverse out of the ranges safely without the risk of triggering another avalanche.

The men called the police for help at midday on Tuesday, who then requested assistance from the Wakatipu alpine cliff rescue.

Its very steep and rugged terrain and it is mountainous and snowy when storms come out it can be a pretty inhospitable place, said team coordinator Russ Tilsley.

The first two helicopter rescue attempts were thwarted by a blizzard.

It was getting late in the day and we decided it was too late to put a team in on foot we knew we had a beautiful calm morning the next morning, so we spoke to the guys and they were in good spirits, and they decided to build a snow cave, Tilsley said.

The men found a boulder the size of a garage that had built up with snow drift and dug in next to it. That would have made their overnight stay a comfortable 0C; outside, the temperature would have felt like -12C in the wind.

They had had a tent the previous nights but that had been buried in the wind and snow and would have been pretty wet they would have been a lot more comfortable in the snow, Tilsley said.

The rescue team checked the men had enough food for the night. And the guy goes, well, you know I think weve got maybe 10-15 muesli bars, Tilsey said.

The men had almost run out of fuel for their stove needed to melt water which was a big concern as trying to melt snow in the mouth for hydration can use up more energy than it provides.

But the men survived the night and were rescued the next day.

They were a little bit shaken, a bit damp more than anything else, and they were pretty humble.

It was incredibly fortunate the men had been on the edge of the avalanche when it was triggered, Tilsley said.

They were lucky they were there and not 50 or 100 metres into the flow, because they probably would have been dead.

The men had made the right call to retreat and wait for help, he said. A lot of people young Kiwi males especially are pretty stoic at times, so it is a bit of a thing for them to swallow, knowing they couldnt get themselves out of it. But they did the right thing.

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New Zealand climbers survive avalanche and blizzard, thanks to snow cave and muesli bars - The Guardian

It was, remembers Caroline Arrell, just another paddock. Grazed by sheep under the wide Waikato sky, it gave no hint of its past except perhaps that her labrador, Lucy, had an odd aversion to it. The dog would veer away from it, skirting the fence line.

But out riding her horse, Alice, on a quiet Sunday in early 1991, Arrell was about to discover a grave on the 200-hectare farm she called home. Beneath the feet of the sheep, under the grass and soil, nearly 500 people lay buried.

I jumped Alice over the fence into this paddock and she tripped and fell, her rear foreleg disappeared down a hole, she says. I tumbled off. We were both OK, except I tumbled against a hard piece of rock or so I thought. It was a metal plaque.

Arrell pulled the plaque from the overgrown grass. It identified the resting place of a single woman the only marker in the paddock. In reality, hundreds of others lay beneath the grass, their graves unmarked.

The graves were dug to receive patients who died at Tokanui hospital, a state-run institution that housed New Zealanders with intellectual disabilities or mental illness.

While the last burials at the graveyard were recorded in the mid-60s, the institution remained open until the late 1990s, with much of its surrounding grounds including the gravesite converted into farmland. Like its graveyard, the institution slipped mostly out of public memory after it was shut down in 1998. Now, New Zealand is in the midst of a royal commission of inquiry into claims of abuse and neglect of those cared for by the state.

Arrell, who worked at Tokanui as well as living at the farm, was one of those who shared their memories.

Today, Tokanuis dead lie at the centre of a dairy farm run by Agresearch, a crown research institute. To find the graveyard, you trudge up the chewed-up mud of a track, past the gaze of a cluster of bobby calves. The graves have been fenced off, to stop stock wandering in. A wreath of purple flowers has blown into the next paddock, and lies half concealed by grass. At the fields centre is a small wooden cross, crusted with lichen, leaning a little crookedly in the wind.

Maurice Zinsli came across the graveyard while researching his family tree. His great-aunt, Maria, had been committed to Tokanui at age 23, while grieving the sudden death of her fiance. She remained there until her death almost 40 years later. Zinsli had looked up where she was buried, and discovered it was nearby in a cemetery he hadnt heard of before. I said oh thats just down the bloody road from me, Ill go down and have a look.

He was appalled by what he found. It was a farm paddock thats all it was, thats all you could say. The cattle were in there, the sheep were in there It was an absolute disgrace, he says. He began a decade-long campaign for recognition and a proper memorial for the people buried there. On the hill there now stands a memorial wall, etched with the 467 names of those Zinsli and genealogist Anna Purgar have spent almost a decade tracking down.

Purgar also has an extended family member buried there, and says shes saddened that no one took responsibility after the institution closed.

Its quite sad really, if you see it, its quite emotional. You sort of stand there, and turn around and see all these peoples names. And you turn back again and think well, theyre in this paddock.

Zinsli says: I couldnt see why all these people that were buried there never got any recognition. I mean, they were human beings for Gods sake.

The forgotten graveyard strikes him as symbolic of a wider societal forgetting. If you went into a mental home, no matter what you went in for, a stigma got attached and then nobody wants to know about it.

New Zealand is in the process of excavating the experiences and memories of those who lived through its institutions, in an effort to understand how the country allowed abuse or neglect to occur, and to ensure it is not repeated.

The royal commission, which will deliver its final report in June next year, was established in 2018 and has been taking evidence since 2019. Over the past month, it conducted hearings on abuse in state psychiatric and disability care facilities, adding to thousands of hours of testimony from ex-staff, patients and family members.

An ex-resident of Tokanui, Peter Keoghan, was sent to the hospital when he was five years old, and remained there for 20 years. Keoghan told the tribunal he experienced physical abuse from staff members and sexual abuse from other patients.

Tokanui ruined my life and it has affected me every day. It was not a nice place. The memories made me feel angry, he said. When I got out, I said Im free Im free! Im free! No one would kick me in the stomach or grab me around the neck.

One witness to the tribunal identified as Mr EY testified about the loss of his 12-year-old brother, Jimmy, who was sent to Tokanui after being diagnosed with imbecility and difficulty walking. The family visited Jimmy just once after his admission. In a little over a year, EY alleged he had transformed he was severely overweight, heavily medicated, non-verbal and confined to a wheelchair. Attempting to lift him up, EY discovered he was bleeding from severe bed sores.

He couldnt acknowledge us. He couldnt even say anything. He was sitting there in a state of obvious anguish, in physical and mental pain, EY testified. Jimmy died shortly afterwards, and was buried in an unmarked grave.

I believe Jimmy died unnecessarily. His mana [pride and dignity] needs to be restored but I feel that this cannot happen until his resting place is marked, EY said. My brother died in care. Jimmy didnt have a voice to express his pain and suffering. So, I must carry his voice from beyond the grave to ensure justice.

Tokanui was built in 1912, when eugenics ideas were mainstream in New Zealand. A year earlier, the country had signed its Mental Defectives Act, allowing for the detention and segregation of people considered mentally deficient. The New Zealand Nurses journal celebrated the bills passing, saying it would help with stemming the tide of race deterioration.

The idea developed that it would be better to corral people with so-called mental defects and take them away from wider society, says University of Newcastle Prof Catharine Coleborne, who studied the history of Tokanui and other institutions like it. A sense of protecting people from wider society, but also protecting wider society from them.

These kinds of institutions may become worlds unto their own, says Coleborne and their legacy is not black and white. Institutions are complex places. They could be places where people found respite and asylum in the real sense of the word, and purpose. But they needed to have support from the outside world.

She says that beyond the institutions themselves, there is a wider question for New Zealand, around how it chose to care for those with disability, mental health, and others who needed assistance.

I would hate for institutions to receive all of the blame, because I think what was going on more broadly was a culture of silence around people who didnt fit into a productive economy, she says. Theres a bigger question we have here what was going on in wider society for that to be able to happen?

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The paddock that became a grave for the people New Zealand branded defective and chose to forget - The Guardian

Oceania|Diplomacy|Oceania

The best approach to safeguarding democracy in the region is for both countries to demonstrate the prosperity and human flourishing that can flow from good governance.

Are Australia and New Zealand overlooking democratic decay throughout the Pacific Islands for fear of pushing their neighbors closer to China? This is the assertion of the leader of Fijis National Federation Party, Biman Prasad. Writing for the Australian National Universitys Development Policy Centre, Prasad claims that at the recent Pacific Islands Forum leaders meeting in Fiji, there was a deafening silence on declining standards of democracy, governance, human rights, media freedom and freedom of speech issues in the region.

Chinas burgeoning activity and influence in the Pacific have proved confronting to both Canberra and Wellington. In response, both countries have launched initiatives to seek to reaffirm their positions as the Pacifics major influences: Australias Pacific Step-Up and New Zealands Pacific Reset. These initiatives have sought not only to increase spending in the region but to do so in a manner that reframes the relationship away from one between an active donor and a passive recipient. The objective has been to create partnerships that demonstrate a familial bond with the region.

Yet frank, honest discussion should be considered essential for any family. To avoid this is to undermine a familys most fundamental building block. Australia and New Zealand would be well aware that there are democratic difficulties within the Pacific. However, raising concerns in a superior manner may come across as too paternalistic, treating Pacific Island countries as sons and daughters, rather than brothers and sisters. Respect among equals has to be at the center of Canberra and Wellingtons Pacific engagement.

Prasad is chiefly concerned with his own country. Fiji has been and continues to be a country where it is a struggle to maintain liberal-democratic norms. Fijis numerous coups are an obvious indication of democratic failure. Despite the new Fijian constitutions laudable aims to move the countrys governing institutions away from being race-based which was one of the main drivers of the countrys coup culture according to Freedom House, the governing FijiFirst party frequently interferes with opposition activities, the judiciary is subject to political influence, and military and police brutality is a significant problem.

Get briefed on the story of the week, and developing stories to watch across the Asia-Pacific.

Beyond Fiji, the problem of political violence at each Papua New Guinea election is serious, and an issue that all regional states have an interest in finding solutions for. However, democracys struggles in PNG might be less a failure of governance and more a problem of trying to shoehorn Western institutions onto a society of immense complexity, with traditional social structures and obligations that are often in tension with these institutions. Democratic lessons from outside powers may be a futile pursuit.

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Yet it is PNGs neighbor in the Solomon Islands where Canberra and Wellington may be treading lightly due to a fear of creating or consolidating a counterforce toward China. Since switching its diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China in 2019, the government of Manasseh Sogavare has developed a more intimate relationship with Beijing, including a security agreement that has deeply unsettled Australia and New Zealand. Sogavare has bristled at scrutiny of the agreement, which may be less about Solomon Islands security and more about maintaining Sogavares own political power.

However, there are signs that Canberra is interested in promoting liberal-democratic norms in the Pacific but is doing so in a more subtle manner, as heavy-handed methods could be counterproductive. On a recent visit to the Solomon Islands, Australias Foreign Minister Penny Wong spent considerable time answering questions from local journalists. Although this was partially a way of contrasting herself with her Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, who refused to answer journalists questions on his recent trip to the Pacific, it was also a demonstration of a norm within Australian politics that politicians make themselves available for public scrutiny.

Australia and New Zealand do need to be able to have open and honest discussions with their neighbors. However, the best approach to safeguarding democracy in the region is for both countries to demonstrate the prosperity and human flourishing that can flow from good governance. And for Australia especially, taking the Pacifics primary concern in climate change seriously would also be an enormous soft power boost that could have major flow-on effects to Pacific democracy.

Of course, there is a distinct irony that in order to counter the dehumanizing effects of authoritarian regimes, states like Australia and New Zealand need to be less vocal on liberal-democratic ideals. However, there is also some merit to embracing subtlety in promoting these ideals. No one likes being scolded or hectored for their own behavior; this itself can feel dehumanizing and can often lead to an entrenchment of negative behavior. Canberra and Wellingtons re-engagement policies in the Pacific will be as much about tone as material contributions.

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Are Australia and New Zealand Compromising on Democratic Ideals in the Pacific? - The Diplomat

My feet revolted on the third day. Inspection confirmed what I already knew: boots still damp from the biblical deluge of the day before had buffed up a blister the size of a 50p piece. But I was 1,000m up, walking across the top of the Paparoa Range on the Paparoa Track New Zealands 10th and newest Great Walk and the finish was now equidistant from the start.

Besides, with the track itself a community memorial to the 29 lives lost in the Pike River mining disaster in 2010, and the spectacle of distant peaks and ancient forest to take in, this was not a moment for urban infirmity. It is a walk that exceeded my expectations longer, harder, wetter, warmer, more spectacular, more varied, more social, and more fun than I imagined it would be (I am more inclined to beaches and surf).

New Zealands 10 Great Walks, with their well-equipped huts and Department of Conservation (DoC) staff presence, are intended as a confidence-builder and gateway to New Zealands scores of great walks, which require greater autonomy and a bit more gear. I was walking in a group of five including two lovely DoC minders, Jacob and Lizzie but there is no impediment to walking alone.

The track begins at Smoke-ho car park, a few kilometres beyond the historic mining town of Blackball in the north-west of the South Island. The Blackball Hilton is an obvious launchpad for the Paparoa track: New Zealands labour movement began in Blackball and the hotels walls are covered with cuttings, photographs and paintings of the personalities and travails of those trying to improve pay and conditions. And one of its locally sourced venison burgers will get you up the hill.

Up, up, up and up. The first days walk is all about up 1,000m of it as it follows the old Croesus Track cut to bring supplies and carry the gold mined from numerous claims established during the 19th century. The forest has largely grown over this frenetic period in New Zealands history the track itself is the most enduring monument but there are two remarkably isolated clearings where hotels once stood.

As lovely and leafy a walk as it is, I was more struck by the volume of birdsong: all around us were whistles, hoots, coos, buzzes and squeaks. The stars of the show were the tuis a bird whose uncanny R2-D2 impressions are seemingly performed for hikers entertainment. Each turn of the path might have revealed a cast of Ewoks.

After the track emerges from the tree line, it becomes less even, with loose stones threatening to turn an ankle with each wobbly low-blood-sugar step. The removal of heavy packs and then peppermint tea and instant noodles at Ces Clark Hut quickly restored spirits.

The huts are marvellous. Each is equipped with a wood burner, several gas hobs, a smattering of pans and utensils (youre supposed to bring your own), and views that would be a bargain at four times the price the panoramic view of the ranges down to Lake Brunner from the Ces Clark loo alone is worth the hike.

The forecast for the second day, written on the huts whiteboard, Light rain. Moderate N-W wind with gusts up to 50km/hr, might have been written by Michael Fish on one of his off days. With the rain tracking horizontally across the windows, we spent the morning drinking coffee and finishing a 1,000-piece jigsaw from the huts ghastly-weather shelf.

Eventually conditions seemed to be improving and we set off. In minutes we were walking in torrential rain, which did not let up for the two-and-a-half hours it took us to reach Te Whare Atarau (Moonlight Tops Hut). This section is on a ridge and, in nice weather, a spectacular alpine walk with views from the ocean to the Southern Alps. In bad weather, it is diabolical. The wind, gusting up to 80kmh, drove the rain in lashing sheets.

Revived, if not rested sleep was impossible because of the rustling, Velcro-tearing cacophony every time a fellow hiker got up to pee the third day dawned to a clear sky. Now we were treated to panoramic ridge views over vertiginous chasms.

A few kilometres down the track, we passed back below the tree line into a goblin forest of gnarled, alpine-stunted trees, the morning sun delivering shafts of light that we photographed obsessively. Blisters notwithstanding, this was a glorious good-to-be-alive walk and, at 19km, the longest section of the track. At Pororari Hut, my feet patched with donated blister dressings and happy in my bedroom slippers, I watched the sun set into the Tasman Sea from a cloudless sky.

The weather held for the walk out on the fourth day. Closer to sea level, there was no cool mountain breeze and thermal tops were soon drenched in sweat. The idea of a swim, mentioned half in jest the day before, suddenly seemed a good one. There are a couple of spots to swim along the Pororari River, which leads you out to the coast, and the surrounding 15m-high nkau palms look invitingly tropical.

There is nothing tropical about the mountain meltwater, though. My knees began to ache the moment my feet entered. It was all or nothing. I dived and swam a few strokes upriver before turning on my back, trying (and failing) to look relaxed as I floated back to the start. The relief of getting out almost made it worth diving in though my feet were pain-free for the remainder of the walk.

And then it was over. We passed under the finishing arch and found ourselves on the side of State Highway 6. The only antidote to what, I think, is the inevitable anticlimax of finishing a Great Walk (or great walk) is to do another one.

How to get there

Flights to Christchurch are available on Singapore Airlines via Singapore.

Walking the track

For details of Paparoa Track and Pike 29 Memorial Track: doc.govt.nz/ parks-and-recreation/places-to-go/ west-coast.

More information

New Zealand reopens its borders to fully vaccinated tourists on Sunday. Visitors must take rapid antigen tests on arrival and day five or six. All visitors require a New Zealand Electronic Travel Authority (NZeTA)

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New Zealand is reopening, and its 10th 'Great Walk' is the perfect way to celebrate - iNews

Issued on: 29/07/2022 - 20:14Modified: 29/07/2022 - 20:12

Edinburgh (AFP) New Zealand posted their highest Twenty20 international total of 254 as they hammered Scotland by 102 runs in Edinburgh on Friday to complete a 2-0 series win.

Test world champions New Zealand, who only two days earlier defeated Scotland, a team outside the global elite, by 68 runs again proved too strong for their hosts.

Mark Chapman and Michael Bracewell both enjoyed career-best scores at this level on Friday, making 83 and 61 not out respectively in a total of 254-5.

Chapman's 44-ball knock featured seven sixes, the first getting him off the mark, while Bracewell faced 25 balls for his runs.

The 28-year-old Chapman's innings was all the more creditable as it was his first professional knock since mid-April.

"It's just the nature of international cricket," Chapman told the ESPNCricinfo website. "It took a bit to get going, but once you get one out of the middle of the bat, things come back pretty quickly.

"We've been talking about taking the game on, and being really positive in the way we play. It came off today, and the boys are pretty happy."

Scotland never looked like chasing down a huge target and in the end did well to avoid being bowled out as they finished on 152-9.

Chris Greaves top-scored with 37, while New Zealand all-rounder James Neesham took two wickets in an over and spinner Michael Rippon 2-37.

2022 AFP

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New Zealand thrash Scotland by 102 runs to seal T20 series - FRANCE 24 English

Former New Zealand Rugby boss David Moffett has blasted the organisation and called for current chief executive Mark Robinson to resign in the wake of the messy All Blacks coaching saga.

A day after former All Blacks coach Steve Hansen launched a stinging attack on NZR and their operations, Moffett has followed up with his own tirade, in an interview with Today FM's Tova O'Brien on Friday.

Moffett, who was NZR chief executive between 1996 and 2000, and held the same role with the Welsh union from 2002 to 2005, believes Robinson should leave his post, and found it deplorable that he was swanning around in Birmingham instead of fronting media in New Zealand.

Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images

New Zealand Rugby chief executive Mark Robinson has not fronted media over the All Blacks coaching changes.

Asked if he felt Robinson, who was appointed in 2019 to replace Steve Tew, was up to the task, Moffett was blunt in his assessment.

No, I dont think so, he said.

Thats where I would disagree with Steve [Hansen]. Steve said that he thinks hell make a good CEO one day.

Well, the chief executive of New Zealand Rugby is right up there in terms of publicity and persona as the prime minister. I found in my day I used to do more media than the prime minister on some days.

We dont need a CEO to learn how to be a CEO at New Zealand Rugby. We need somebody who knows what theyre doing, and if they make mistakes, like we all do, they can just own it.

David Walker/Stuff

Former New Zealand Rugby boss David Moffett has launched heavy criticism against the organisation.

Dont hide, dont blame the board if they make decisions, its him, hes the chief executive, the buck stops with him. The board sets strategy and policy, thats it, as far as Im concerned. The rest of the time the chief executive is running the place.

I feel for these guys, because Ive been there. But I never ducked the media. I always fronted, always took the flak, never made excuses. And thats what we need to see in our chief executive. Robinson needs to get back here and he needs to front the media and he needs to tell them whats gone wrong, what hes doing about it and be open, instead of hiding away up there in Birmingham. We dont want to see that in our chief executive.

Asked if he felt Robinson should resign, Moffett was equally frank.

Yes, I think he should, he said.

Because this is just the tip of the iceberg. Any rugby CEO who does not understand that rugby is too much of a business to be a sport and too much of a sport to be a business i.e. youve got to get that balance right is always going to struggle.

Moffett said Robinsons first mistake was appointing Sir Graham Henry to the panel which selected Ian Foster as the new coach, as he was going to control the process and be unable to be held to account. He noted that Henry raised concerns over Scott Robertsons prospective assistant coaches, but that those guys like Jason Ryan and Leon MacDonald were all of a sudden seen as saviours of New Zealand Rugby.

The former boss also raised big concerns over NZRs duty of care to its employees, disliking the way Robinson had allowed Foster to stand there and take all the flak, and believing sacked All Blacks assistants Brad Mooar and John Plumtree, and former Black Ferns coach Glenn Moore, could go down a legal avenue in the wake of their departures.

Ella Bates-Hermans/Stuff

Can Joe Schmidt help Ian Foster turn things around with the All Blacks?.

If I was them, I would be looking for a really good, top-notch employment lawyer, because their coaching careers have been trashed by the way in which theyve been dealt with, Moffett said.

They had a review six months ago which confirmed Foster and the coaches were right for the job, six months later things have got so bad that theyve had to make a couple of sacrificial lambs.

And if they think that anybody in New Zealand thinks that Mooar and Plumtree were responsible for where the All Blacks are today, then these guys are kidding themselves. Nobodys going to believe that.

And then Glenn Moore went through a review, he was confirmed as coach of the Black Ferns. And then a little bit later, obviously when the Twitterati got into the act, hes let go as well. Its chaotic in there at the moment.

Adding to the chaos, Moffett felt, was that NZR had refused to talk following Hansens broadside on Thursday.

Instead, in a leaked email to Stuff, it revealed they felt the best course of action was to say nothing.

Oh fair dinkum, obviously they are further out of touch with reality than even I think that they are when they do that sort of thing, Moffett said.

They said well youll only just start another round of news on any subject. Well, guess what, because Mark Robinsons swanning around over there in Birmingham and not fronting the media, it leaves a huge gap for people like me and other commentators to actually come in and say what has to be said.

And I found it incredible that he isnt back here in New Zealand, standing in front of the media and explaining his decisions, defending his decisions, but also defending his staff.

Steve was right when he said what he said, and things must be grim for Steve Hansen to come out publicly and slate New Zealand Rugby the way he did, because he doesnt normally do that.

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David Moffett calls for New Zealand Rugby chief executive Mark Robinson to resign - Stuff

New Zealand has likely passed the peak of the most recent COVID-19 wave, thanks to strong hybrid immunity in the community and with the number of hospitalisations at the lower end of what was originally expected.

The seven-day rolling average of new daily cases has fallen steadily from a peak of around 10,000 on July 15 to just under 7,800 yesterday.

The number of reported cases depends on how many people actually test when they feel unwell. The true number of infections is likely to be significantly higher. But there is no reason to think testing has dropped off significantly in the past two weeks, or even in the past few months.

The levelling off and subsequent decline of cases fits with the wave naturally reaching a peak. The amount of virus being detected in wastewater has also decreased in the past week. Altogether this means the fall in cases is likely to be real.

Importantly, cases have been falling in all age groups, including over-70s. This is particularly good news because the increase in case rates in older age groups had been a key driver of the steep rise in hospitalisations and deaths in this wave.

We may yet see an increase in cases in families with school-age children as they returned to school this week after the winter holiday break. But this is unlikely to be enough to reverse the falling trend, and hopefully wont affect older age groups to the same extent.

Hospitalisations typically lag behind cases by a week or two. Consistent with this pattern, the number of people in hospital with COVID has recently shown signs of levelling off. It will probably start to fall in the coming week.

The BA.5 variant is driving the current wave. BA.5 has taken over from BA.2 as the dominant variant in New Zealand, as it has in other countries.

The leading hypothesis for why BA.5 has been able to outcompete BA.2 is its increased ability to evade immunity whether that was acquired through vaccination or previous infection with a different variant.

However, new evidence from Qatar and Denmark (both yet to be peer-reviewed) suggests people whove had a previous Omicron infection have relatively strong immunity against BA.5. Qatar and Denmark both have highly vaccinated populations and this is evidence of the strength of hybrid immunity.

Read more: Hybrid immunity: a combination of vaccination and prior infection probably offers the best protection against COVID

In England, it is estimated people who havent had COVID previously still account for the majority of new cases, despite being less than 15% of the population.

The strength of hybrid immunity induced by high vaccination rates and the large and relatively recent BA.2 wave in Aotearoa likely means this BA.5 wave is smaller than it would have been otherwise.

Following the first Omicron wave in March, cases dropped relatively slowly and plateaued at case numbers between 5,000 and 8,000 for several months. Its possible we will again see a relatively slow decline in cases.

But there are also grounds for optimism that hospitalisations and deaths could drop lower than they did between the BA.2 and BA.5 waves. Although immunity isnt perfect and wanes over time, those who havent yet been infected with Omicron are the easiest targets for the virus. But theyre getting harder to find as the number of people in New Zealand who havent yet been infected dwindles.

The rollout of fourth doses for eligible people more than six months after their last dose, coupled with building evidence for the strength of hybrid immunity, suggest New Zealands population is increasingly well protected against currently circulating variants.

Currently, New Zealand is reporting around 500 potential reinfections per day, making up about 6% of all cases. Reinfections will certainly grow over time as immunity wanes.

The true number of reinfections is almost certainly a lot higher because cases cant be classified as reinfections if the first infection wasnt reported. And its possible people who know theyve had COVID before are less likely to test, especially since their symptoms are likely to be milder the second time around.

Read more: Reinfection will be part of the pandemic for months to come. Each repeat illness raises the risk of long COVID

But the fact reinfections are still a small proportion of cases is consistent with evidence that prior Omicron infection provides strong, albeit imperfect, protection against getting reinfected with BA.5.

Continuing to rely solely on people getting tested to keep track of where the virus is spreading will lead to greater and greater uncertainty, particularly if access to free testing becomes restricted in the future.

A regular prevalence survey of a representative sample of the population would be a much more reliable indicator of the true prevalence of the virus in the community.

Another new variant is likely to trigger the next wave. Its impossible to predict its timing or exact characteristics with any certainty. The Ministry of Health plans to launch a random testing survey to determine the true community prevalence of the virus.

Having a prevalence survey in place before the next variant takes over would enable us to estimate the size and severity of the next wave more accurately. Combined with wastewater testing and genome sequencing, this would give us a world-class COVID surveillance system that could provide a blueprint for managing other existing or newly emergent pathogens.

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New Zealand's latest COVID wave is levelling off, with fewer people in hospital than feared - The Conversation