Category Archives: New Zealand

In July, an estimated 60,000, mostly rural New Zealanders took to the streets to protest environmental regulations farmers say are unworkable. Angry and frustrated, they rolled into 57 towns and cities on tractors and trucks to form the countrys biggest farmer protest.

I grew up in rural New Zealand, and many of my family work in and around the dairy industry so I have experienced a lot of this frustration first hand.

But, having spent the last year-and-a-half researching New Zealands dairy farming boom for the documentary series Milk and Money, I couldnt help but view their fight through the lens of what had come before.

Yes, its true farmers are facing a lot of regulation, but only after decades of the agricultural sector fighting off incremental regulation. And now the resulting environmental bill has come due.

Over the past 30 years, New Zealand has experienced a massive shift towards intensive dairy farming the practice of keeping large numbers of cows within walking distance of a milking shed, and keeping them fed through the heavy use of inputs such as fertilisers, irrigation and imported feed.

In that time New Zealand has almost doubled the number of dairy cows in the country to 6.3m and increased the use of nitrogen fertiliser by over 600%. As a result, a quarter of our national export revenue now comes from dairy.

This rapid expansion was largely unregulated, and actually partly driven by the government.

In 2001, New Zealands largest dairy company (and largest company in general), Fonterra, was created by the then Labour government bypassing anti-monopoly law and allowing the amalgamation of the two largest dairy companies in the country.

Over the years, the growth of the dairy industry has also been incentivised by successive governments. In 2013, when dairy expansion reached its limits in regions with climates suited to dairy farming, the then National party-led government assisted in funding large-scale irrigation to regions previously considered too dry for dairy farming. Now 60% of all water used in New Zealand is for irrigation.

But alongside aiding that growth, successive governments also attempted to introduce regulation to limit its environmental impacts.

These include impacts on our water, with intensive agriculture degrading our freshwater, contributing to a third of New Zealands rivers deemed unfit to swim in at least part of the year.

It also affects our atmosphere, with our agricultural sector representing nearly half of all of New Zealands emissions. Our dairy cows alone are responsible for a quarter of our national emissions more than our cars.

And it has an impact on our soil, with 84m tonnes of soil eroding off pastures every year.

But, despite growing awareness of these impacts, New Zealands agricultural sector fought almost all forms of regulation, largely successfully.

To use emissions as an example, despite the agricultural sector making up nearly half our emissions, there is currently zero regulation of agricultural emissions in New Zealand. Zero.

An attempt was made in 2003, infamously labelled the Fart Tax. Farmers protested marching a cow and driving a tractor up parliaments steps and the plan was scrapped.

Then the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) was introduced in 2008 New Zealands primary tool for controlling emissions by putting a price on their production.

When it was introduced, the agricultural sector successfully lobbied to be exempted from the scheme until 2015. Then in 2013, they successfully lobbied to be indefinitely exempted.

Finally, in 2019, the current Labour government made a plan to include agriculture into the ETS. But that still wont happen until 2025 and even then at a 95% discount.

Despite how long the sector has managed to kick the can down the road, their inclusion in the ETS was still one of the regulations farmers were protesting against in July.

But regulations are now the only option. The sector has failed to balance its own economic goals with environmental limits. And it has now reached a point where the government can no longer delay addressing these issues without risking an ecological collapse.

Farmers are right to be demanding solutions for a more manageable way forward. But they shouldnt be demanding change from the government, but from the agri-business sector itself.

They should be demanding the cultivation of markets and business models that not only allow them to achieve a better balance with nature, but also of their own finances and lifestyle.

New Zealands dairy boom was built on a volume model which required as much milk as possible to be produced. That is what has led farmers to introduce more dairy cows, and required more water, fertiliser and imported feed.

This model is what led us to this imbalance.

The only way forward for the sector economically and environmentally is a business model that allows farmers to work closer to the limits of our land.

The most sustainable, ethical version of agriculture possible is what we need, and then we can expect a premium price for it.

That is something worth protesting over.

See the article here:

New Zealand farmers have avoided regulation for decades. Now their bill has come due - The Guardian

An unbeatable leader in times of crisis, New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Arderns soaring popularity has teetered on the countrys slow road to vaccination.

This week, polling in New Zealand indicated some of the gloss may be fading from the Ardern governments second term, which has enjoyed soaringly high popularity over the past year. The poll, conducted by Newshub/Reid Research, put Labour at 43%, down 9.7 percentage points. The results followed a similar trend line polling by TVNZ from May.

In the last election, and for much of the year that followed, Labour had been holding a large enough majority to rule alone highly unusual in New Zealands typically coalition-based, MMP electoral system.

The news of Labours drop also came as New Zealand slipped behind Australia on its vaccine rollout progress: as of 2 August, New Zealand had about 18% of its population fully vaccinated, with about 29% having had a first dose. Previously, Australia had been trailing New Zealand on the fully vaccinated metric partly because AstraZeneca has a longer advised wait-time between doses. But this week, driven by outbreaks in-country, Australia overtook New Zealand: now about 19% are fully vaccinated, and about 41% have had one dose. New Zealands pace puts it as one of the slower vaccine rollouts in the OECD.

Theres only one issue in the country and thats the virus or the absence of the virus and tied up with its absence is the speed and the depth of the vaccine rollout, political analyst and Mori politics writer Morgan Godfery said.

I think its obvious that some people are unhappy with the vaccine rollout failing to hit the high gear, Godfery says. People are quite highly engaged with that and there have been things in the past month or so to criticise But at the same time I think most people understand that the rollout is going to take time and its never been at risk of stalling.

Despite Labours drop, New Zealands left bloc is still extremely strong. While they could not govern alone at the current numbers, Labour would still hold a healthy majority alongside traditional coalition partners the Greens, which rose 1.4 points to 8.5%.

Political commentator Ben Thomas says the polls indicated that there are laws of political gravity, even for Ardern. It shows that being the Covid saviours wont be enough to keep their polling in the stratosphere, as its previously been for the last year or so.

There have been two stretches where Labour has really polled over 50%, Thomas says. That was, I think, immediately following the Christchurch terror attacks and the response to Covid.

Thomas and Godfery reflected that the easing of Arderns popularity also followed the countrys shift from crisis responses to more business-as-usual. Political scientists have written about how, over time, voters expectations of leaders have expanded from the day-to-day work of economic management, providing security and services, to figureheads offering comfort and empathy after disasters: the consoler in chief.

Few play this role as well as Ardern, who tends to be at her best in a time of crisis highly empathic, humane, decisive. One of the roles I never anticipated having, and hoped never to have, is to voice the grief of a nation, she told parliament in the wake of the March attacks. At this time, it has been second only to securing the care of those affected and the safety of everyone.

Her approach to the Covid-19 crisis has been similar. Speaking to the country throughout its lockdowns, she would often begin statements with reflections on the hard work, struggle and sacrifice of New Zealands team of 5 million. Her leadership and disaster management through Covid-19 has been hailed as among the best in the world.

Dr Lara Greaves, University of Auckland lecturer and associate director of the Public Policy Institute, said political scientists certainly would never have expected to see a single-party majority government under MMP.

It was partly because we were in the middle of a crisis, and voters tend to cling to the status quo in a crisis but also because Labour did an excellent job. There is no real way of disputing that, she said. We saw this huge high for Labour and the polls now probably represent that wearing off a little bit.

But as some of those crises fade from front of mind New Zealands last community-transmitted case of Covid was in February longer-term problems come back into focus. In some areas, Labours performance is strong. On Wednesday, new data showed unemployment had dropped to 4%, well under projections, and average hourly wages had risen 4% to $34.76 an hour, keeping ahead of inflation. But on other social issues, Arderns government has struggled to make progress. The housing affordability crisis has continued unabated despite government reforms, mental health statistics have barely budged, despite significant investment, and the vaccine rollout while keeping up with government projections has remained one of the slowest in the OECD.

Labour is still a reasonably popular government, but its not in this all-conquering position that it was previously, Thomas says. Basically, they are susceptible to the reality of politics again.

And even if the drops for Labour hold, Labour currently faces little in the way of threat from its traditional opposition, National, which has been mired in low polling and unpopular leadership. Labours loss was not Nationals gain the partys vote lifted just 1.7%, to 28.7%. The libertarian ACT party saw its vote lift 4.2 points to 11.1% a huge jump for a minor party.

In the preferred-prime-minister stakes, Ardern was still light-years ahead: dropping slightly to 45%, where opposition leader Judith Collins was on a bleak 8.2%.

Godfrey says the drop in support for Labour is significant but the party is still on very safe ground. Jacinda Ardern is still far and away the most popular prime minister in recent memory. Far and away the Labour party is more popular than has been at any point in the last 50 years.

Go here to read the rest:

Arderns popularity stumbles on New Zealands slow road to vaccination - The Guardian

It was a surreal, full-circle moment, Ruby Tui says of playing to an empty stadium at the Tokyo Olympics.

Ten years ago, Tui picked up a pair of second-hand rugby boots with worn-down studs for $20 and played her first game.

Back then, the sidelines were nearly empty. Despite rugby being the national sport of New Zealand and womens teams dominating the international playing field their efforts have been grossly under-recognised and under-supported.

Fast-forward to the Tokyo Olympics womens rugby sevens finals: Covid-19 forced supporters to watch from afar, and the irony was not lost on Tui.

We get to the top-of-the-top and again there were no crowds, it was pretty crack up, she laughs.

The Black Ferns Sevens stormed to their first Olympic gold, beating France 26-12.

Their historic win catapulted the team into the countrys Olympics hall of fame, and Tuis sense of humour and affability fast sealed her place as a contemporary sporting icon.

But the road to get there was not always easy.

The 29-year-old was born in Wellington to a Samoan father, and a mother with Scottish and Irish ancestry. Her parents split up when she was a child, and she spent the next few years moving with her mother from one remote town to another. At age thirteen, Tui, her mother and young brother were forced to flee her mothers partner, and seek safety at a womens refuge in Westport, in the South Island.

Tui does not shy away from telling this part of her life story.

I thought it was just normal for [parents] to fight every day for hours and its not at all. I always talk about it because I think it is important for a kid to know that thats not the rest of their life.

Leaving the relationship meant Tuis mother could put down roots, and for the first time Tui stayed in one school and finished out her high school years, allowing her to throw herself into every sport under the sun.

Tui moved to Christchurch after high school to study, with dreams of becoming a professional netball player for the Silver Ferns. But getting to netball training across the city cost money she did not have.

While contemplating the fate of her netball dreams she saw, out of her student accommodation window, women playing on the rugby field below.

After expressing interest, Tui was invited to play, so she donned her newly acquired boots and joined a team.

It was so welcoming, they were so grateful for anyone to come along, even if you couldnt catch.

Then I found out that in my team there were Black Ferns and I was like holy shit!

I really wanted to do netball, but rugby was so fun and then I went to the Olympics and won gold, she says, with glee.

The womens rugby culture may have drawn her in, but the game itself kept her hooked.

No one is pretending. The whole point is to smash and crash your way over the try line.

When she discovered rugby sevens, she wondered why she had not been doing it her whole life.

I fell in love straight away.

The fundraising requirements to get the womens sevens to matches were demanding at the time, Tui says, but she credits it for helping her stay humble.

She has played in two Olympic finals. At the Rio Games, the team came achingly close to winning gold but missed out and returned home with silver. This years gold medal helped heal that heartbreak.

Its hard to describe that moment. Its not just what you put yourself through, but what you put your loved ones through, and in that moment we felt it all.

A number of Tuis teammates lost family members in the months prior to the games, adding emotional strain to an already gruelling lead-up period.

[Winning] was a positive moment out of so much negative. It was a very emotional moment, but one of the most beautiful emotional moments Ive ever had, because you felt everything in one go.

Tui credits her loved ones for getting the team to gold and wants to thank anyone who has ever turned out to watch womens rugby.

It means so much to us and not just for me, its generational, they are changing not just our lives but the lives of teams to come.

Tui is looking forward to getting out of managed isolation and celebrating her win with her partner Dani Fennessyand her family.

This whole journey is not complete until we get to hug all our family, all our friends and put the gold medal around their neck as well. Thats number one on all of our lists.

Link:

From $20 boots to Olympics rugby gold: New Zealands Ruby Tui on her rise to the top - The Guardian

SportUpdated

7 Aug, 2021 01:00 AM3 minutes to read

NZ Herald Focus Sport's Cheree Kinnear wraps the news from day 15 as Lydia Ko and Ellese Andrews put themselves in contention and Lisa Carrington eyes one last medal. Video / NZ Herald / Sky Sport

All the New Zealand action from the Tokyo Olympics.

Here's all you need to know about today's action (Saturday, 7 August).

Full Kiwi schedule below. Click on a name to see athlete's bio, upcoming events, past Games performance and medal chance.

Lisa Carrington will have one more shot at adding to her historic tally at the Games so far in the K4 500m semi-final and, hopefully, final this afternoon.

While the Kiwi foursome are less of a favourite to take out gold in this event, the team was impressive in their heat yesterday and are relatively well-rested after progressing straight to the semi-finals.

On the golf course, Lydia Ko is currently in a share of the bronze medal position. However, a typhoon is on the way.

Today's final round has been rescheduled to start an hour earlier than normal, with the forecast meant to deteriorate as the day progresses.

Officials have left open the possibility of play on Sunday and there has yet to be clarification of how the bronze medal will be determined if the 54-hole scores do prove final.

If Ko does finish with gold, silver or bronze, she'll become the first woman golfer to win multiple Olympic medals.

Later in the day all eyes will turn once again towards the velodrome where our track cycling stars aim to increase an already record-breaking medal haul.

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Sam Webster and Callum Saunders get underway in the men's keirin while Ellesse Andrews will look to keep herself in the running for a medal in the women's sprint. Finally, the chaotic beast that is the men's madison will round out the evening on the track.

For those night owls out there, Camille Buscomb will contest the lengthy 10,000m final in the National Stadium.

Artistic Swimming (Team free routine)Athletics (Seven finals)Baseball (Gold medal and bronze medal matches)Basketball (Men's medal matches, women's bronze medal match)Beach Volleyball (Men's medal matches)Boxing (Four finals)Canoe Sprint (Four finals)Cycling Track (Men's madison final, women's spring quarter-finals, men's keirin first round)Diving (Men's 10m platform final)Equestrian (Jumping team final)Football (Men's gold medal match)Golf (Women's final round, rescheduled to begin at 9:30am)Handball (Women's semifinals)Hockey (Men's medal matches)Karate (Two finals)Modern Pentathlon (Men's medals decided)Rhythmic Gymnastics (Individual all-around final)Volleyball (Men's medal matches)Water Polo (Women's medal matches)Wrestling (Three finals)

The Herald will have live updates running from 10am, while you can catch all the action on Sky Sport. Every event on Sky can also be watched via streaming on Sky Sport Now or Sky Go.

Athletics (Men's marathon final)Basketball (Women's gold medal match)Boxing (Four finals)Cycling Track (Women's sprint, men's keirin, women's omnium)Handball (Women's medal matches)Rhythmic Gymnastics (Group all-around final)Volleyball (Women's medal matches)Water Polo (Men's medal matches)

The rest is here:

Tokyo Olympics 2020 live updates (August 7): New Zealand athletes and events in action, how to watch in NZ, live streaming - New Zealand Herald

Geronimo, the Kiwi alpaca on death row in the UK. Photo / Change.org

An alpaca from Taumarunui is at the centre of a community groundswell in the UK, as people plead with the government there not to kill Geronimo.

The New Zealand-born alpaca has captured hearts across the UK, and several people have taken to social media asking the government to reconsider the order to put Geronimo down.

However, the ministers involved, and even Prime Minister Boris Johnson, have not wavered and Geronimo is set to die.

The 6-year-old alpaca from New Zealand, now living in Gloucestershire, was sentenced to death by a High Court judge after testing positive for bovine tuberculosis (bTB) twice.

Geronimo's owner, farmer Helen MacDonald, has made many public pleas for the alpaca's life, assuring that the animal is now healthy.

"Despite all the millions of people asking for fair treatment for Geronimo, it appears Defra [Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs] are still planning to upset the will of the people," she said, quoted by the Daily Mail.

"They have no regards for the evidence and no regards for mine or Geronimo's life."

The farmer has repeatedly pleaded with the Prime Minister and Environment Secretary George Eustice to halt the order to destroy Geronimo.

MacDonald claims the diagnosis of bTB is based on inaccurate testing that led to "false positives" and her beloved alpaca is healthy.

"He came from a farm in New Zealand where there's been no TB since 1994. It's bonkers," the farmer told Sky News.

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"If there was disease present we wouldn't be having this conversation, he would've died years ago. But he's fit and healthy."

MacDonald says it is a "senseless destruction of an innocent animal".

"They have a choice here. They don't have to kill him; they could at least test him first.

"It's a really upsetting situation. I don't want Geronimo's last moments to be of being caught by a man who will put a gun to his head before he's shot, but then I don't want to consent to having him euthanised. That's no choice at all.

The farmer says the government is putting her "through hell".

"Asking me to do that to a healthy animal as a vet who has been saving lives for 30 years is the worst thing they can do to my mental health. They are putting me through hell," she told the TV station.

"I feel frustrated, angry and deceived. There is a complete lack of transparency."

The movement to save Geronimo has grown online, with more than 80,000 people asking Boris Johnson to save the alpaca's life.

Public support for Geronimo's life includes personalities such as Wildlife TV presenter Chris Packham and actress Joanna Lumley.

A petition to save Geronimo has gathered more than 86,000 signatures so far. Across social media, people continue to fight for the Kiwi alpaca's life.

Boris Johnson has responded to pleads via a spokesperson.

"We know how distressing losing animals to TB is for farmers and our sympathies are with Ms Macdonald and everyone with animals affected by this terrible disease," Johnson's spokesperson said.

"The Environment Secretary has looked at this case very carefully, multiple times over the last few years, and has interrogated all the evidence with expert vets alongside the Animal and Plant Health Agency.

"But, sadly, Geronimo has tested positive twice for TB using highly specific, reliable and validated tests."

According to the spokesperson, the UK Government will "continue to do everything that we can" to eradicate bovine TB.

"The test used on Geronimo is highly specific, it is validated, it is reliable and the risk of a false positive is extremely low," the spokesperson added.

"A retest after two consecutive positive test results wouldn't invalidate the previous tests. So, there's no plans for any further tests.'

"We have done these highly accurate tests and we've no plans to change that."

Eustice has also spoken publicly about the matter this week, reaffirming his stance to uphold the High Court judge's decision.

Defra has revealed that the tests have never been trialled for their accuracy in detecting bTB in alpacas but stands by its methods.

It also admitted Geronimo tested negative for bTB four times in New Zealand, before being moved to the UK.

"We are sympathetic to Ms Macdonald's situation - just as we are with everyone with animals affected by this terrible disease," a Defra spokesperson said.

"It is for this reason that the testing results and options for Geronimo have been very carefully considered by Defra, the Animal and Plant Health Agency and its veterinary experts, as well as passing several stages of thorough legal scrutiny.

"Bovine TB causes devastation and distress for farmers and rural communities and that is why we need to do everything we can to reduce the risk of the disease spreading."

The court order to kill Geronimo came into effect on Thursday and Defra now has 30 days to visit Macdonald's farm in south Gloucestershire and put him down.

Read the original:

New Zealand alpaca Geronimo set to die in UK after Boris Johnson refuses pleas to save it - New Zealand Herald

LEE JIN-MAN/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Lisa Carrington has cemented her name in New Zealand Olympic history.

ASSIGNMENT: At lounges andworkplacesalmost everywhere at the moment, people are giving their two cents worth on who they think is New Zealand's greatest-ever Olympian.

The answer is obvious, right? It has to beLisa Carrington afterhergolden runat theTokyo Games, and a career of winning gold medals for fun.

Or is it rowing-great Hamish Bond?

READ MORE:* Lisa Carrington's legacy grows with double gold for NZ at the Tokyo Olympics* Tokyo Olympics: How New Zealand hit rarefied air in the medal table top-10* Tokyo Olympics: Flying Kiwis, world firsts, and unity in a pandemic

But not so fast. What about Dame Valerie Adams? A true champion whose impact has extended much further than just the world of shot put.

Let's not forget the athletes of past, who inspired New Zealand's current generation of winners. Middle-distance runningthree-time gold medallistSir Peter Snell, and kayakerIan Ferguson, who won four, come to mind.

So let's settle the debate.

Who do you think is New Zealand's greatest ever Olympian and why?

What separates their achievements from the rest?

What are your memories of watching them compete?

How have they inspired you in sport, or elsewhere in life?

We're looking for submissions of 300 words or more to be published in Stuff Nation. To share your thoughts and memories, hit the contribute button. Appusers: emailstuffnation@stuff.co.nz

More here:

Tokyo Olympics: Who is New Zealand's greatest ever Olympian? - Stuff.co.nz

Sport

6 Aug, 2021 09:30 AM3 minutes to read

NZ Herald Focus Sport's Cheree Kinnear wraps the news from day 15 as Lydia Ko and Ellese Andrews put themselves in contention and Lisa Carrington eyes one last medal. Video / NZ Herald / Sky Sport

All the New Zealand action from day 14 at the Tokyo Olympics.

Here's all you need to know about today's action (Friday, 6 August).

Lisa Carrington will have one more shot at adding to her historic tally at the Games so far in the K4 500m heats.

She'll be joined by fellow gold medal winner in the K2 500m Caitlin Regal, along with Teneale Hatton and Alicia Hoskin.

While the Kiwi foursome will be less of a favourite to take out gold in this event, if there was one thing we learnt this Olympics is to never doubt a boat that contains the GOAT Lisa Carrington.

On the golf course, Lydia Ko will be looking to take one step closer to another Olympics podium in day three of the women's individual stroke play after staying in the medal hunt in round two.

The Kiwi former world number one had a strong second round but will be ruing two sloppy three-putt bogeys.

She shrugged off a disappointing bogey to start her second day of Olympics action, then went on a tear of six birdies in seven holes to finish her front nine.

However, she was only able to add one more birdie in her back nine, and two bogeys on the final two holes of the day means she sits in a tie for 9th at five-under par at the halfway mark of the competition.

Ko is still in the hunt for a medal, but she'll have plenty of work to do to if she wants to improve on her silver in Rio five years ago, with American world number one Nelly Korda at a stunning 13-under for the tournament, four shots clear of anyone else.

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Meanwhile in the velodrome, Jessie Hodges and Rushlee Buchanan will be hoping to add to New Zealand's two medal surprises in the track cycling last night in the Madison.

Artistic Swimming (Team technical routine)Athletics (Eight finals)Baseball (semifinal)Basketball (Women's semifinals)Beach Volleyball (Women's medal matches)Boxing (Semifinals, final)Canoe Sprint (Heats, quarter-finals)Cycling Track (Women's madison, Men's sprint)Diving (Men's 10m platform preliminary)Equestrian (Jumping team qualifier)Football (Women's gold medal match, men's bronze medal match)Golf (Women's third round)Handball (Women's semifinals)Hockey (Women's gold and bronze matches)Karate (Three finals)Modern Pentathlon (Women's medals decided)Rhythmic Gymnastics (Individual all-around qualification)Sport Climbing (Women's combined, lead final)Table Tennis (Men's team gold and bronze finals)Volleyball (Women's semifinals)Water Polo (Men's semifinals)Wrestling (Three finals)

The Herald will have live updates running from 10am, while you can catch all the action on Sky Sport. Every event on Sky can also be watched via streaming on Sky Sport Now or Sky Go.

Artistic Swimming (Team free routine)Athletics (Seven finals)Baseball (Gold medal and bronze medal matches)Basketball (Men's medal matches, women's bronze medal match)Beach Volleyball (Men's medal matches)Boxing (Four finals)Canoe Sprint (Four finals)Cycling Track (Men's madison)Diving (Men's 10m platform final)Equestrian (Jumping team final)Football (Men's gold medal match)Golf (Women's final round)Handball (Women's semifinals)Hockey (Men's medal matches)Karate (Two finals)Modern Pentathlon (Men's medals decided)Rhythmic Gymnastics (Individual all-around final)Volleyball (Men's medal matches)Water Polo (Wommen's medal matches)Wrestling (Three finals)

Excerpt from:

Tokyo Olympics 2020 live updates (August 6): New Zealand athletes and events in action, how to watch in NZ, live streaming - New Zealand Herald

Tech industry frustration is growing. Image / 123rf

Tech industry frustration with what the sector sees as a "deepening skills crisis" is growing - at border restrictions and difficulty renewing visas for staff already in New Zealand.

"New Zealand has become extremely anti-immigrant," Raygun co-founder John-Daniel Trask vented in frustration on Twitter.

Trask, known as "JD" in the industry, took to the social network to vent about what he saw as Immigration NZ moving the goalposts.

His company, which offers quality-testing and customer experience monitoring tools for software makers, does most of its recruitment locally, but has hired offshore for a number of specialised roles.

Raygun chief operating officer Lana Vaughan elaborated to the Herald that the company had raised the salary of a Wellington-based employee by around $10,000 to $106,080 to meet a skilled worker visa minimum requirement threshold - only for Immigration NZ to move the goalposts to $112,320 while the worker's application letter sat unopened.

Vaughan now worries the skilled worker will have to leave NZ on December 3 when his talent visa expires. She notes Immigration NZ current lists a 22-month wait-time for applications.

The worker first notified Immigration NZ of his salary increase to the $106,080 threshold (that is, twice the medium wage) on July 13. He was told to put it in writing. He did and Vaughan says the agency confirmed receipt on July 19. But it wasn't until July 21 that Immigration NZ sent an email saying the worker's assessment had begun. On July 22 or July 23, Immigration NZ updated its website with the new, higher salary threshold.

Because INZ didn't assess the Raygun staffer's request until July 21 he is not eligible for expedited processing, by Vaughan's account.

Immigration NZ missed a deadline for comment.

The episode is a kick in the guts for Trask, who could have taken his startup to Silicon Valley, but instead chose to stay in the capital, and earmark $15 million to expand his Wellington-based workforce.

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Meanwhile, TechNZ, whose members include most major technology companies operating in NZ, is again calling on the Government to address the tech skills shortage - this time after the Government liberalised visa rules for the primary sector, and the visiting Wallabies, but again ignored IT.

"NZTech is calling for rapid action by the Government to treat critical tech skills with at least the same enthusiasm as they do fruit pickers, actors, sportspeople and other so-called critical workers," the group's CEO Graeme Muller said.

The Government is ignoring New Zealand's "deepening tech skills crisis", Muller said.

"The Government has the solution to solve the problem by allowing essential tech workers into the country.

"But this is just not happening, which is damaging the economy, causing hundreds of jobs to be shifted out of New Zealand, hurting our home grown global software companies and halting critical tech projects for New Zealand businesses and government agencies," Muller said.

"We have surveyed hundreds of NZ tech companies to see what we can be done, we have shared the data with the Government, shown them the impacts and suggested options, but nothing is being done to address the problem," Muller said - referencing a recent report.

"In theory, it is simply a case of agreeing that with thousands of open roles, these technical skills are not readily available in New Zealand, using exactly the same logic as they did for vets.

"Meanwhile, the impact is that hundreds of jobs paying well over $100,000 are being shifted out of New Zealand every week and critical digital projects across business and government agencies are not getting done."

Earlier, Muller was one of a number of tech leaders who queued up to express their disappointment at Budget 2021's failure to offer substantive initiatives to address the tech skills shortage when it was released in May.

Communications Minister David Clark subsequently rejected a call for a tech visa, however, saying IT companies could use the Other Critical Worker exception (then with a $100,000 threshold). Tech companies including Vodafone NZ and Datacom told the Herald that the other critical worker visa criteria were too hard to fill however, on top of problems with an unusable MIQ booking system. In June, Immigration NZ said only 15 highly skilled tech workers had come in under an Other Critical Worker visa.

Muller received broad industry support for his stance.

But there was a degree of polite pushback, or at least extra context, from Fusion managing director Andrew Gurr, who said while he agreed with Muller's main point: "The NZ tech industry currently follows a recruit rather than train approach, only hiring staff when skills are required."

That was short-term thinking and left business with no control, Gurr said.

"If all tech businesses looked forward and invested part of their recruiting budget in internships and training we could all assist in developing a deeper pool of NZ talent, it will take longer but move control of the skills shortage back in the hands of the industry. Let's think local and work as an industry to start shifting this in-balance ourselves."

Muller's TechNZ and a second industry group IT Professionals New Zealand, last month released a co-authored reportreport that acknowledged border restrictions weren't the only issue.

The pandemic had revealed an over-reliance on hiring from offshore while local training fell away.

The report said both the industry and the education system had to reanimate training efforts, and encourage more people into the industry.

It also pegged a lack of diversity as a key problem, and said addressing that would help top up the funnel.

Muller agreed with all of the steps, but said they would take time. In the interim, the Government had to take urgent steps to bring in more workers, as it has already done in other sectors.

The NZTech boss says an urgent review of what constitutes unique experience and technical skills is needed.

Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi and Communications Minister David Clark have been asked for comment.

Original post:

Skills crisis: Tech boss says 'anti-immigrant' New Zealand moving the goalposts - New Zealand Herald

Jacinda Ardern has a lot on her mind as she prepares to sketch the public a course out of the Covid pandemic. She talks to Henry Cooke about why there wont be a clear milestone when New Zealand has vaccinated enough people, why 2021 is harder than 2020, and her commitment to climate change policy.

Theres not going to be a magic number.

Jacinda Ardern is happy to crow about hitting two million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine as she sits down for a long interview with Stuff on Wednesday evening, but shes also clear that she won't be able to point to some milestone like Scott Morrison is in Australia, some percentage of the population vaccinated or number of doses in arms and say: Thats it, no more lockdowns, open the borders.

Just a number oversimplifies things. And I dont expect that is going to change, Ardern says.

ROBERT KITCHIN/Stuff

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says 2021 has been a hard year for everyone.

READ MORE:* Covid-19: Strict border controls, MIQ won't be 'forever scenario', Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says* Covid-19: Prime Minister Jacinda Arderns most difficult decision explained* Covid-19: Government considers permanent MIQ facility, dismisses UK's decision to 'live with Covid'

Sipping a gumboot tea as the evening light starts to fade, two days after the first bad-ish poll for Labour in over a year, Ardern admits 2021 is turning into a bit of a grind.

This is a hard year. I pick up and often feel the same thing that our voters feel. You get a sense that theres a grind to things at the moment for people, Ardern says.

Thats the beauty of being a politician in a small country, you dont have to go far to be able to get a sense of things without having to rely on a poll.

She puts this down to both a grim global outlook and the impact her Governments border restrictions are having on everyday life.

Christel Yardley/Stuff

Jacinda Ardern gets her second Covid-19 shot.

Its totally natural as humans that you look for light at the end of the tunnel but were in the middle of a pandemic where even when you get the light of a vaccine you still see a massive toll in countries that you think have done a pretty good job.

Looking over to Australia, rather than feeling lucky that youre not in that position, its the same feeling as living on a street where your house is fine but your neighbour's is on fire. The reality is that this thing isnt going away, and its hard. Its hard for businesses who need people, and its hard for people who want to see their family and friends.

But despite her trademark empathy, the prime minister does not appear to be preparing a nice clean path out of the pandemic to present at her big speech about the second half of the year of the vaccine next Thursday.

ROBERT KITCHIN/Stuff

The prime minister says true certainty during the Covid-19 pandemic is impossible.

There will be no aforementioned magic number, she says. Because Covid-19 is changing too much for that kind of certainty.

If everything were stable and you had certainty about the way Covid-19 was going to behave then there is a certain level of decisions that you might be able to make. But Covid isnt stable or certain and I think that we are still in a bit of an experimental stage globally, where variants that could demonstrate vaccine resistance could emerge.

This caution about the changeable notion of Covid-19 also makes Ardern unwilling to seriously consider allowing it to run loose in the community once a high proportion are vaccinated, as Boris Johnson is in the UK.

At the same time, she doesnt think its a simple choice between opening fully up and standing still with the current heavy restrictions in place.

So what is the path that we can choose that factors in a changeable virus but still keeps making progress for us because I dont think its a zero-sum game.

When we are vaccinated we can still keep all the positives while removing some of the negatives. Thats the path Im looking for.

Ardern keeps telling the country high vaccination rates create options - without spelling out what those options are.

She told Stuff a large part of it was just the option of saying goodbye to lockdowns, before border controls are considered.

When you have an unvaccinated population, it limits your options it means you have to use extraordinary tools like lockdowns in order to protect people, Ardern says.

I ask people: If you had a choice what would you want to get rid of first, the uncertainty of a really heavy level 3 or level 4 lockdown, versus a bit less friction at the border?

People want to get rid of the idea that at any moment in time a big life event might end up being cancelled because you're going into a lockdown. That hangs over people. I just think about the psychological impact its hard on Victoria, for instance.

Shes also eager to point out that the free and normal life Kiwis are living right now is the source of our economic good fortune, and that even countries that are loosening up border controls like Canada still have serious rules restricting social gatherings.

ROBERT KITCHIN/Stuff

This interview was a rare opportunity for Stuff to sit down with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

The benefit is there has been an economy that has broadly recovered to pre-Covid levels, and that is astounding relative to what we've seen in other places, and relative to what was predicted I mean, unemployment at four per cent I celebrated that in a non-Covid period, let alone a Covid period.

On the border shes happy to admit that shes asked her officials for advice on things like vaccinated people isolating at home or going through a shorter stay in managed isolation, but wont get into her actual thoughts on such measures yet.

These are the things that we are trying to think about nice and early, even though obviously while were unvaccinated thats not something we would do. These are the kinds of questions that we are asking.

The Government has been in rapprochement mode with some of its harshest critics over the week: Opening the border to more seasonal workers, and signalling the likely-demise of the hated Auckland cycle bridge.

But despite the Groundswell protests, Ardern says the Government isn't about to back down on the climate or freshwater policies angering the agricultural sector.

There's always things that we could do to make implementation easier. Im not going to shy away from the things I said I would do though: Im committed to our climate work, I'm committed to our freshwater work, but I will always listen to how we can do things in a way that eases some of that change.

ROBERT KITCHIN/Stuff

Jacinda Ardern said she had a big job to do nailing down two free trade agreements.

Whats yet to be seen is how her Government would handle the inevitable protest that would happen should agricultural emissions lose their exemption into the Emissions Trading Scheme next year.

On other sore spots like housing, mental health, and immigration, Ardern wont concede any ground to critiques.

She says the full impact of her Governments housing package from March is yet to be fully rolled out into the economy, but hints that there could be more on the supply side, as the big changes to planning rules wont be in place until 2024.

Were exploring what we can do around accelerating housing development from a planning perspective so we aren't quite finished in that area.

But thats not all the rest of the year has in store: If possible, Ardern wants to get the trade deals with Europe and the UK finished, whether thats from New Zealand or by travelling over there.

I have a role to play in helping complete it. I will play it.

Even with Covid shutting the borders and farmers protesting it seems one thing does remain certain: New Zealand will have a lot of milk to sell.

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Jacinda Ardern says there's no magic vaccine number that will see NZ open the border - Stuff.co.nz

New Zealand are set to tour Pakistan for a limited-overs series in September and October, visiting for the first time since 2003.

The tour is set to start on 17 September with the first ODI in Rawalpindi, with subsequent ODIs to be played on 19 and 21 September.

The teams will then move to Lahore for the five-match T20I series, starting 25 September.

The New Zealand series will begin a long 2021-2022 home season for Pakistan England will tour the country for a white-ball series after the Blackcaps followed by West Indies in December andAustralia in February-March 2022.

"Series against a top-ranked side like New Zealand will be a perfect start to a mouth-watering and highly-exciting home season of red and white-ball cricket," said PCB chief executive Wasim Khan. "The 2019 World Cup finalists, who are also the World Test champions and ranked third in T20Is, will draw tremendous attraction and interest from the local fans, and will reinforce Pakistan's status as a safe and secure country."

"I am pleased New Zealand Cricket has accepted our offer to play two additional Twenty20 Internationals. These will not only provide extra games to both the countries as part of their ICC Men's T20 World Cup preparations but will also allow New Zealand players to spend extra days in Pakistan, familiarise with our culture and enjoy our hospitality."

Wasim Khan

New Zealand CricketChief Executive DavidWhite also expressed his happiness about the tour.

"We're very much looking forward to returning to Pakistan for the start of their home international season. New Zealand was the first country outside India to tour Pakistan and we share a close relationship with the PCB. It's great that, after such a difficult time for Pakistan, international cricket is again being played in the country."

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New Zealand announce first Pakistan tour in 18 years - International Cricket Council