Category Archives: New Zealand

Air New Zealand is living dangerously changing the cheese on offer during the recently returned Koru Hour and potentially affecting the all-important cheese-to-cracker ratio in the process.

Kiwi travellers extraordinary interest in the quality of the free cheese and crackers offered on certain domestic flights between 4:35pm and 7:05pm was first highlighted in 2015 when a disappointed passenger named Jeremy Chaston complained that the cheese to cracker ratio is completely out of whack, sharing a picture on social media of two crackers dwarfed by their cheesy toppings.

He deemed it a matter of national concern, and it was his post prompted a nationwide debate on just how cheese and crackers should be served.

The national carrier eventually did what Chaston suggested and added a couple of extra crackers and now, seven years later, its making even bigger changes to Koru Hour, which returned this week after a pandemic-induced break.

Brook Sabin/Stuff

Don't worry - cookies and lollies are staying, but there will be different choices too (video published July 2021).

READ MORE:* Air New Zealand settles on new in-flight snacks: Corn chips face uncertain future, while tea and coffee to be axed from some flights * Air New Zealand unveils new inflight snacks* Air New Zealand customer cheesed off at inflight snack

From Tuesday, the airline will replace the usual camembert cheese with edam for a limited time, and add quince paste to the mix. Theyll be served with Rutherford and Meyer rice wafer crackers four for every two pieces of cheese, which general manager customer Leeanne Langridge reckons is the perfect cheese-to-cracker ratio.

The thin rice wafer crackers may be another point of contention: Some reckon theyre too insubstantial to support a thick slice of cheese. They are gluten-free though, which makes them an option for more.

If you think quince paste sounds fancy, wait until you hear passengers will also be able to opt for an aperol spritz.

The AF Apero Spritz is a non-alcoholic version of the classic Italian cocktail, but the New Zealand-made mocktail promises the same bittersweet orange flavour and contains an intriguing-sounding ingredient called natural afterglow heat extract.

If youd prefer to wash down your cheese and crackers with a wine, beer, cider or soft drinks, no worries. Theyll all still be on offer. Another new addition slimline cans of flavoured sparkling water.

Langridge suggested passengers can expect still more changes to Koru Hour.

Well be looking forward to rotating the offering on Koru Hour to give more New Zealand companies, including the smaller ones, the opportunity to showcase their products when perhaps they werent able to in the past due to the sheer quantity we required, she said.

Supplied

The new Koru Hour offering: Edam, rice crackers, quince prace and a non-alcoholic version of aperol spritz.

On jet services outside of Koru Hour, passengers will be offered bliss bites, OSM Bars and a cookie (chewy oat for this rotation) before 10am, and corn chips, cookies and Proper Crisps after 10am. Passengers on regional services will be able to choose between the cookie and bliss bites.

The airline switched up its longstanding cookie-and-chip combo on domestic flights last year, trialling alternatives such as mandarins, popcorn, muesli bars and apple crumble-flavoured ice cream. Like the Koru Hour switch-up, it was a brave move. Even minor adjustments to snack offerings have caused outrage in the past. In addition to the 2015 Cheesegate, the police were alerted in March after a passenger found the usual chocolate chip cookie had been replaced by horror of horrors shortbread.

In-flight snack offerings are still a bit of a moveable feast, so Stuff Travel thought wed help the airline out by rating current and recent offerings. Let us know your favourites in the comments.

A cocktail-hour classic, the cheese-and-cracker combo is a winner particularly when served with a good glass or in this case plastic cup of quality Kiwi wine. The cheese choice is key though. Neither tangy nor smelly, edam and camembert are both safe options, but can be a little bland. Id love it if they served Kpitis Kahurangi Creamy Blue, but it is on the stinky side, which not all passengers may appreciate as air is circulated throughout the cabin. A good compromise could be Clevedon Creamerys walnut-studded buffalo gouda. The nuts add texture and flavour, the buffalo milk makes it extra rich, and no one could fairly say it stinks.

Rating: 7/10

Biting into one of these sugary bad boys makes me feel like a uni student again (giant Cookie Times and cans of V were a lunchtime staple), but theyre not doing our bodies any favours. Yes, the airline offers only mini versions, and theres nothing wrong with treating yourself every once in a while, but I prefer my chocolate to be the real deal these days.

In my dream world, theyd hand out 100g bars of Whittakers artisan dark chocolate with Hawkes Bay black doris plums and roasted almonds, but Id happily scoff a peanut slab. Or, in summer, the new peanut slab ice cream. If theyre going to hand out Cookie Times though they should at least contain chocolate the shortbread version just cannot compare.

Rating: 6/10

A longstanding favourite (or perhaps thats just because they were one of only two snack options for many years), the corn chips are an inoffensive snack - unless youre trying to concentrate and other passengers are noisily chomping their way through them. The Air New Zealand version is on the bland side, but that does mean kids and fussy eaters can enjoy them too. It would be nice if they were served with a dip though say some salsa and or guacamole.

Rating: 7/10

They do offer a taste of the Pacific, but theyre not very filling. Plus you inevitably end up covered in microscopic crumbs.

Rating: 5/10

Craig Simcox/Stuff

Bliss balls or bites are a wholesome sweet treat.

I have special food needs (Im gluten- and mostly dairy-free), so being offered a snack like this on board would come as a welcome relief. Made with real fruit and nuts, these wholesome sweet treats are just the right pick-me-up for a short flight. All were doing is sitting down, so were probably better off without the unhealthy fat-laden cookies and chips.

Rating: 9/10

This unusually flavoured ice cream was trialled on board last year, but sadly didnt make the final cut, although the airline has said it could make surprise appearances. I say sadly because I was a big fan when I tried it for the first time on a flight from Auckland to Christchurch last June. Rich, slightly chewy and not overly sweet, it went down a treat. Until my guts began to grumble - ah the joys of lactose intolerance. A vegan coconut-based ice cream would be an amazing alternative.

Rating: 8/10

Stuff

The airline hopes to be able to showcase more New Zealand products on its in-flight snack menu.

Having a fresh fruit option is great, but mandarins arent a personal fave and the smell of their peels can be pungent. Kiwifruit might have been more apt, but passengers would probably drip sticky juice on the seats. Bite-sized kiwiberries would be a great alternative. Mandarins, I have to admit, are easier to eat and far more cost-effective. Although keeping it local and seasonal would be nice.

Rating: 7/10

These chocolate-filled pastries went down a treat when offered one Mothers Day, so heres hoping they make a comeback. Made with croissant-like layered dough, theyll make you feel like youre on a flight to France rather than Whaktane.

Rating: 10/10

I havent tried these plant-based meal replacements so am unqualified to rate them, but they sound like a good idea in theory. Made in New Zealand with natural ingredients, theyre said to be high in protein and fibre and contain seven vitamins and three minerals. A nice option to have on hand when youre trying to be healthy. But do we really need to replace an entire meal on a short domestic flight?

Rating: You tell me

Made in Nelson from locally grown potatoes, these are about as healthy as chips are going to get. Theres an excellent range, including kmara, Marlborough sea salt, free-range sage and onion, and chilli and lime-spiked corn tortillas. Stuff Travel news director Juliette Sivertsen describes them as crunchy, flaky, salty, light and essentially delicious. Just be prepared to need to follow them with a large cup of water.

Rating: 9/10

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Cheesegate 2.0? Air New Zealand to switch up cheese and crackers in Koru Hour - Stuff

The cybersecurity authorities of the United States, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom have released a joint Cybersecurity Advisory (CSA) to warn organizations that Russias invasion of Ukraine could expose organizations both within and beyond the region to increased malicious cyber activity from Russian state-sponsored cyber actors or Russian-aligned cybercrime groups.

Joint CSA: Russian State-Sponsored and Criminal Cyber Threats to Critical Infrastructure, drafted with contributions from industry members of the Joint Cyber Defense Collaborative, provides an overview of Russian state-sponsored advanced persistent threat groups, Russian-aligned cyber threat groups, and Russian-aligned cybercrime groups to help the cybersecurity community protect against possible cyber threats.

U.S., Australian, Canadian, New Zealand, and UK cybersecurity authorities urge critical infrastructure network defenders to prepare for and mitigate potential cyber threats by hardening their cyber defenses as recommended in the joint CSA.

According to the Advisory, cyber threat actors from the following Russian government and military organizations have conducted malicious cyber operations against IT and/or OT networks:

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US, UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand Issue Advisory on Russian State-Sponsored and Criminal Cyber Threats to Critical Infrastructure - JD Supra

A New Zealand girl who took her own life at age 15 loved cellphones so much that her family erected an iPhone tombstone at her grave.

Theresa Matautia, of Auckland, was glued to her phone in the years before her suicide in August 2018, her brother Geoff Matautia said last week in a TikTok video that has amassed over 22 million views.

When our sister died we made her phone her headstone because she was always on it, he said in explaining the quirky gravestone.

Not everyone copes with loss the same, and our family did it in a different way, Geoff added. We give you permission to laugh at this video.

The headstone features messages the family sent Theresa.

One from her dad, which includes heart emojis, reads: Thinking of you today Sweetheart, just like I do every day. I miss and love you my lil Angel.

Her mom wrote in another message that appears on the stone that the memory of your little hand holding mine brings a warm glow to my heart.

She added: I miss you my beautiful daughter.

The video shows several photos of Theresa holding her beloved phones.

Her brother also joked that despite the Wi-Fi symbol on the faux phone, the cemetery doesnt have a signal.

The clip generated hundreds of comments.

Please update the iPhone regularly, she deserves the new ones! a user wrote.

Ok the uniqueness of it & the idea of placing those texts inside are beautiful. Sounds like she would love it, another wrote.

A third noted that the Wi-Fi signal lines are actually halos one for when she was born, one through childhood, and one when she gained her wings.

If you are struggling with suicidal thoughts or are experiencing a mental health crisis and live in New York City, you can call 1-888-NYC-WELL for freeandconfidential crisis counseling.If you live outside the five boroughs, you can dial the 24/7 National Suicide Prevention hotline at1-800-273-8255or go toSuicidePreventionLifeline.org.

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New Zealand family erects headstone in shape of iPhone for late daughter - New York Post

Anchor Dairy, the consumer brand of the New Zealand Dairy Co-operative giant, Fonterra, has announced the launch of a new, first of its kind dairy product, Organic carbonzero Certified Butter.

Launching just in time for Earth Day, the product has been audited and verified by Toit Envirocare, an independent certifier that verifies carbon emissions across the product life cycle. To meet the carbon zero requirements, Fonterra calculated the carbon emissions required in the distribution of Anchor butter from farm to consumers' homes, developed a plan to reduce emissions further and supported renewable energy projects to offset emissions that couldn't be reduced.

"We're excited to celebrate Earth Month with the launch of our Organic carbonzero Certified Butter. Not only does it taste great, but our butter can help everyday consumers live a more sustainable life. With sustainability and the environment a core pillar of the Fonterra brand, we're thrilled to be amongst the first companies to offer U.S. consumers a carbon zero butter option," says Megan Patterson, Americas Marketing Communication Manager, who is spearheading the consumer launch.

The product is set to hit New Zealand store shelves this month, but it remains unknown as to if the carbonzero butter will make its way to U.S. grocery stores.

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First 'Carbonzero' Certified Butter set to Hit New Zealand Shelves - Dairy Herd Management

Significant changes have been made to the New Zealand Rugby board, with the appointments of former Governor General Dame Patsy Reddy and Dunedin-based lawyer Rowena Davenport.

New Zealand Rugby board members Dame Patsy Reddy and Rowena Davenport Photo: Supplied/New Zealand Rugby

NZR confirmed the moves on Friday, lifting the number of women on the nine-person board from two to three.

Reddy and Davenport joined existing member, New Zealand Mori Board Chair Farah Palmer.

It came at a time when issues with the women's game were in the spotlight, in the wake of the damning results of the Black Ferns cultural review.

NZR board chair Stewart Mitchell said the appointments would strengthen the board, but acknowledged the organisation still had work to do around gender diversity in governance.

"It is an area we are committed to, and the introduction of women like Rowena and Dame Patsy will only strengthen and enhance the administration and governance of our game.

"Their influence could not come at a better time as we head into a massive year for women's rugby."

Reddy served as New Zealand's Governor General from 2016 to 2021, following a career as a lawyer, director, and crown negotiator.

Davenport was the chief executive of Dunedin-based law firm Gallaway Cook Allan and recently finished her term as chair of the Otago Rugby Football Union (ORFU).

With the Rugby World Cup in Aotearoa looming later this year, Reddy said it was an exciting time to be joining the NZR board.

"I am sure this tournament will inspire a new generation of women and girls to play rugby.

"I look forward to contributing to a sport that has unified and enthralled New Zealanders from all walks of life for over 150 years."

Reddy was appointed by the Appointments and Remuneration Committee (ARC) and replaced former chair Brent Impey, who was not eligible for reappointment after serving four terms on the Board.

Davenport was nominated by ORFU and also selected by the ARC after Jennifer Kerr chose not to seek re-appointment.

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New Zealand Rugby appoint more women to board - RNZ

On this side of the Tasman at least, many still believe that New Zealand and Australia are joined at the hip. Perhaps it's time for a reality check. By Paul Little

Brothers in arms. Best of frenemies. Cousins. Neighbours. The Australian-New Zealand relationship is often cited as a fine example of nation-to-nation bonding, especially on Anzac Day. But how much do we have in common, really?

At the time six colonies joined together to become the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901, it had been suggested that New Zealand should also join the club. But in Wellington, a 10-man royal commission decided against the move, expressing in orotund prose its view that "merely for the doubtful prospect of further trade with the Commonwealth of Australia New Zealand should not sacrifice her independence as a separate colony".

This established a pattern of on-again off-again enthusiasm, which has distinguished the relationship ever since. It was strengthened some 14 years later when soldiers from both countries combined to form the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, which landed at Gallipoli on April 25, an engagement in which 8141 Australians and 2779 New Zealanders died.

The two countries have many other things in common. In both cases, an inhabited nation was colonised by forces from Britain; both have Indigenous populations with strong cultures of their own; both have an abundance of natural resources; British culture was imported wholesale and only slowly adapted in each; both still pay fealty to a sovereign on the other side of the planet; unlike many neighbouring countries, both speak the same language; our populations are clustered around our coastlines. As well, Auckland is a lot closer to Sydney than Perth is. But each country has taken those traditions and moulded them in different ways, without paying much attention to how far we have drifted apart in the process.

"Is that what the NZ in Anzac stands for?" an astonished Australian once asked Tim Woodhouse, when told the shocking truth.

Woodhouse is a film editor, raised in Sydney but resident in NZ for 30-plus years. He is married to writer Stephanie Johnson, who was born and raised in Auckland. The two met in Sydney and their transtasman relationship encapsulates a lot of the complications between the two countries while giving them complementary perspectives on each other's homelands.

"When Steph and I got together in the mid-80s, I would often go to parties in Sydney my own home town and be the only Australian there. And when we came to New Zealand at the end of '89, it was just like changing suburbs."

Johnson thought she had made a big mistake when the pair moved back here: "For a long time I had a sense of another life that was going on in Australia without me."

This hints at the notion that things in Australia are bigger and better than they are here. It's a view held by many New Zealanders, and even more Australians.

"I was desperate to go back to Australia for about four years," says Johnson. "I was miserable. But Tim and I have been glad that we've been here for more than 30 years. I think it's very important to live close to your roots. And my family have been in New Zealand since the 1840s."

Richard Walsh has played a major role in print media in Australia and New Zealand for more than 50 years. Currently a consultant publisher at Allen & Unwin, he previously ran ACP Magazines in both countries. He would agree that the general Australian attitude to New Zealand could be described as benevolent obliviousness. But that doesn't mean we're special.

"It's a weakness in Australia," says Walsh, "not only in our relationship with New Zealand but our relationship with New Guinea and our relationship with the Pacific region in general, that we aren't able to rouse within ourselves a great interest. It's insularity more than arrogance, and let's be brutally frank, it's not entirely unrelated to the realities of the world. Australia is much more engaged with the international world than New Zealand is."

Robert Ayson, a professor of strategic studies at Victoria University of Wellington, wonders if the two countries sometimes resemble "allies, not friends".

"I think we often find Australia to be distracted as it focuses on bigger players," he continues. "For New Zealand, Australia is one of the top two markets, the most important defence partner, the most important diplomatic partner, the most important member of the Pacific Islands Forum. There are just so many aspects where Australia is much more essential to New Zealand than we can ever be to them."

Walsh still argues for a bond that goes beyond trade and politics: "I can't think of any two countries that lie side by side so peaceably. The Scandinavian countries, I suppose. Americans and Canadians don't ever talk of themselves as cousins. But I think that's a very good description of Australians and New Zealanders."

Cultural politics can take those involved by surprise. Johnson wrote a book called West Island, about five remarkable New Zealanders whose careers were made in Australia.

"I submitted the book to Penguin Random House, because they are normally my publishers, and [publisher] Harriet Allen said it wouldn't find a readership. The Australians would say, 'Sod them, they're New Zealanders,' and the New Zealanders would say, 'Sod them, they're Australian.' But it was published by Otago University Press and received very good reviews on both sides of the Tasman and elsewhere."

Walsh is aware of this lack of interest. His company does good business on both sides of the Tasman. But on the Sydney side, "if one of our authors is a New Zealander, we don't go out of our way to promote that too much". On the other hand, "we have a very active and terrific team in the Auckland office who are doing fabulous stuff and manage to produce a lot of books that we're able to sell here, so that is changing a bit".

Also changing, oh so slowly, is the situation of the Indigenous population, which was often referred to, in its infrequent media appearances, in the racist phrase "Australians and Aboriginals".

"When I was attending university, there was only one Aboriginal person engaged in tertiary education," says Walsh. "I knew him. He was Charlie Perkins. [Perkins, who died in 2000, was a prominent and effective Aboriginal activist.] Now, of course, we have Indigenous lawyers and doctors. And their culture is widening. We haven't reached nirvana, but we have got to acknowledge that we have progressed a great deal."

This framing of the situation by listing small gains will be familiar to Pkeh and Mori alike.

In 2008, in what was seen as a watershed, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd apologised to the Stolen Generation an estimated 100,000 Aboriginal children who were removed from their families in a state-sponsored policy of assimilation between 1910 and 1970. Myriad other abuses and outrages remain to be acknowledged.

"I was moved to tears at Sydney Museum, where they had a 'Sorry Book' after Rudd did this apology," says Woodhouse. "People could write their own regret or apology. I started reading it and was literally crying. It was so moving. Stephanie looked at it and was furious. 'Too little, too late,' she said."

More recently, in a process that echoes one that has been seen for some time in New Zealand, Johnson has observed people taking pride in finding they have some Aboriginal heritage. "That's quite a leap," she says. "Although I don't know what it would be like if you went out to Alice Springs you're probably going to encounter just the same sort of antediluvian racism as always."

She points out that where early Europeans frequently wrote with admiration about the Mori they encountered, "I can't think of one place where you'd see that admiration for Aboriginal culture".

The reality of race in Australia is not just unfortunate in itself, it also feeds the voracious New Zealand appetite for sanctimony. But anyone fancying a bout of indignation on behalf of the Stolen Generation could consider recent activity by Oranga Tamariki.

"I think New Zealanders have to be careful about feeling superior to Australians," says Hannah Ellison, a New Zealand-born Mori journalist living in Sydney. "In terms of how a colonised indigenous group is doing, we are at the front of the race to a better way of coexisting. But that's not because of Pkeh. That's because Mori learnt very quickly that they had to work within a Pkeh world and get into those institutions."

Woodhouse says he gets sick of New Zealanders taking the moral high ground. "The boat people thing is a classic. People going on about how awful it is. But New Zealand was never going to have to deal with it."

Once, when overseas, Johnson got pulled up by another writer for defending New Zealand's record on race against his criticisms. She received some consoling counsel later from Witi Ihimaera: "He said, 'Look, it happens all the time when New Zealanders are overseas.' If you're a whitey skiting about our marvellous race relations, you are likely to be rounded on, because actually, that's not true."

Similarly, there are reservations over the much-lauded recent success in persuading Australia to let us take in 450 refugees boat people from its detention centres.

"I think New Zealand is virtue signalling," says Jim Rolfe, senior fellow at the Centre for Strategic Studies at Victoria University of Wellington, "because New Zealand's record on refugees generally is not generous. Development assistance is nowhere near the 0.7 per cent of gross national income we signed up to."

He points out that while the Ardern government has complained about repatriations of the so-called 501s, "we read of New Zealand doing the same thing to Pacific Islanders. Each country is asserting its rights against a weaker state. I don't criticise Australia for that. I criticise New Zealand for whining about it. When I first travelled between the two countries, you didn't need a passport."

The passport requirement was part of a pattern of diminishing privileges for New Zealanders in Australia that has been going on since it was introduced in 1981.

In 2001, an agreement between the Howard and Clark governments saw welfare privileges withdrawn from New Zealanders in Australia. In return, New Zealand no longer had to keep increasing its contribution to those payments.

Although copious research showed that New Zealanders in Australia contributed to its economy out of all proportion to their numbers, the stereotype of the "Bondi bludger" was strongly entrenched and this move played well with Howard's constituency.

Further emphasising the differences between the Anzac mates is the nexus involving the economy, the environment, natural resources, three uranium mines, media ownership, concentrations of immense personal wealth, semi-institutionalised corruption and race.

"The right have just got their claws into the populace," says Woodhouse. "A lot of it is to do with ripping sh** out of the ground and going, 'Here we are. You can make a lot of money.' Your average left-wing, coffee-drinking, elderly person, whose pension fund relies on mining, is going, 'We don't like mining,' but they are doing well out of it."

"Our wealth is based in the ground," confirms Walsh. "Unfortunately, the people who own the mines are so wealthy that they're able to, in a way, corrupt the political process. Our Liberal-National Party coalition is way to the right of your National Party. We have some mega-wealthy people who have made their money out of dubious pursuits like mining and casinos. They basically own the coalition. Trying to change things, to make our society more equitable, is a hell of a job. When you've introduced that inequity, it's really hard to unwind."

It's complicated by the fact that when people are motivated by money, they can never have enough.

"They do outrageous things and basically many of them are old-fashioned rednecks," says Walsh. "They can say the whole Australian economy will collapse if we listen too hard to Indigenous people, or if we don't mine our black coal. They can make arguments that are basically self-interest and backed by money and particularly by Murdoch newspapers."

The power of capital feeds into the country's legendary levels of corruption, particularly at police and state-government level, but hardly unknown elsewhere. "It goes back to larrikin culture," says Woodhouse, "and there is a kind of grudging admiration for people who get away with it."

Getting away with it won't be made any harder by a February decision not to establish an anti-corruption Commonwealth Integrity Commission, which had been announced by Prime Minister Scott Morrison in 2018.

Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index ranks New Zealand alongside Finland and Denmark as the world's least-corrupt nations. Australia was 18th.

The Glebe Island Bridge is one of the lesser-known Sydney bridges. In 1998, it was renamed Anzac Bridge. A statue of an Australian Anzac was erected at one end in 2000. He waited alone for eight years before the long-planned New Zealand counterpart was installed at the other end.

That time lag is an apt metaphor for the Australian perception of New Zealand's enthusiasm for co-operation in military matters.

If there is one area of endeavour in which the Anzac alliance should be functioning to keep the spirit alive, it is surely defence, the one on which it was founded in 1915. And it is perhaps the deterioration in this relationship, driven by Australia's focus on its northern neighbours, on China as a threat, and on the US as the country it would most like to take to the prom, that shows how much the Anzac cousins have diverged.

The revelation that members of New Zealand's elite combat unit, the SAS, were prepared to give evidence against its trans-Tasman counterpart in a military trial is merely one example of the gap.

Another is the announcement early this month that Australia, with its Aukus partners the US and United Kingdom, will develop hypersonic missiles "in the face of a rising China and belligerent Russia".

We are still Anzac friends, on the surface, of course. "The capabilities are complementary, but Australia doesn't trust New Zealand," says Rolfe. In line with its foreign-policy objectives and self-image Australia looks elsewhere and in particular aligns its defence strategies with those of the US. This is not without its problems.

"We do not look to the Pacific," says Walsh, "and that's where we're totally different from New Zealand. It's proving to be a terrible weakness already, with the Solomon Islands and China [the two countries have agreed to a draft security co-operation agreement that could see China deploying police and military personnel in the Solomons]. And with many of the [Pacific] countries likely to sink in the next 20 years, this is going to create migration pressures."

It's probably a mistake to expect a single joint defence strategy, given there has never been one.

"There is no unbroken pattern of sustained defence co-operation ever since 1915," says Robert Ayson. "In his book The Prickly Pair, [diplomat and academic] Denis McLean said that in the lead-up to World War II, the defence relationship between New Zealand and Australia was 'little short of pathetic'.

"There is the Canberra Pact near the end of the war, but then the Cold War takes over. They both attach themselves to the United States, but it doesn't enrich their own relationship that much. And it's really only after the disappearance of Britain as a power, and the decline in America's role, that they look at each other in the early 1970s and think, 'Oh, we need a bit more of a relationship here.' And that takes off. It's not a continuous pattern of closeness."

Ayson concludes with a general warning about legends: "I think one of the real hazards is that Australia and New Zealand get caught up in their own mythologies about each other, rather than thinking about what's really going on."

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'Allies, not friends': Have NZ and Australia drifted apart? - New Zealand Herald

Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission urges anglers, boaters to help prevent spread of invasive New Zealand mudsnails

Updated: 12:28 PM EDT Apr 21, 2022

The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission is reminding anglers and boaters to be aware of aquatic invasive species and prevent their spread.One species of concern is the New Zealand mudsnails. They have been detected in several popular cold-water trout fisheries in central and eastern Pennsylvania.The state Fish and Boat Commission said the snails aren't harmful to humans but can compete with and negatively impact native freshwater invertebrate species, such as other snails and aquatic insects.The snails are roughly the size of a match head and have the potential to reach densities of hundreds or even thousands of snails per square foot.They can be found on rocks and vegetation and are easily spread to new waters by attaching to waders, fishing gear and boats, the state Fish and Boat Commission said."Because they are so small, these snails can be difficult to notice. They breed parthenogenically, meaning it just takes just one snail to start a new population. It is vital for anglers and boaters to properly disinfect their gear after every fishing or boating trip, especially when moving from one water to another," Sean Hartzell, the state Fish and Boat Commission invasive species coordinator, said in a news release.During 2021 surveys, 16 streams and rivers were found to host populations of New Zealand mudsnails:Big Spring Creek, Cumberland CountyLetort Spring Run, Cumberland CountyTulpehocken Creek, Berks CountyWyomissing Creek, Berks CountySchuylkill River, Berks/Montgomery/Philadelphia countiesPohopoco Creek, Carbon CountyEast Branch Brandywine Creek, Chester CountyFishing Creek, Clinton CountyJordan Creek, Lehigh CountyTrout Creek, Lehigh CountyLehigh River, Lehigh/Northampton countiesPerkiomen Creek, Montgomery CountyBushkill Creek, Northampton CountySaucon Creek, Northampton CountyMonocacy Creek, Northampton CountyWissahickon Creek, Philadelphia CountySigns have been posted at infected waterways.The state Fish and Boat Commission said techniques known to effectively disinfect gear from New Zealand mudsnails include freezing gear for at least six hours, soaking gear in hot water greater than 120 degrees Fahrenheit for at least five minutes or soaking gear for five minutes in a one-to-one solution of water and Formula 409 Cleaner Degreaser Disinfectant. Other Formula 409 products and other cleaning agents are not known to disinfect for New Zealand mudsnails.Boats especially kayaks and canoes should be inspected upon exiting the water, and all vegetation should be removed before leaving the area.More information about disinfection can be found on the state Fish and Boat Commission website.Members of the public who observe suspected New Zealand mudsnails or other aquatic invasive species can report their sightings online.

The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission is reminding anglers and boaters to be aware of aquatic invasive species and prevent their spread.

One species of concern is the New Zealand mudsnails. They have been detected in several popular cold-water trout fisheries in central and eastern Pennsylvania.

The state Fish and Boat Commission said the snails aren't harmful to humans but can compete with and negatively impact native freshwater invertebrate species, such as other snails and aquatic insects.

The snails are roughly the size of a match head and have the potential to reach densities of hundreds or even thousands of snails per square foot.

They can be found on rocks and vegetation and are easily spread to new waters by attaching to waders, fishing gear and boats, the state Fish and Boat Commission said.

"Because they are so small, these snails can be difficult to notice. They breed parthenogenically, meaning it just takes just one snail to start a new population. It is vital for anglers and boaters to properly disinfect their gear after every fishing or boating trip, especially when moving from one water to another," Sean Hartzell, the state Fish and Boat Commission invasive species coordinator, said in a news release.

During 2021 surveys, 16 streams and rivers were found to host populations of New Zealand mudsnails:

Signs have been posted at infected waterways.

The state Fish and Boat Commission said techniques known to effectively disinfect gear from New Zealand mudsnails include freezing gear for at least six hours, soaking gear in hot water greater than 120 degrees Fahrenheit for at least five minutes or soaking gear for five minutes in a one-to-one solution of water and Formula 409 Cleaner Degreaser Disinfectant. Other Formula 409 products and other cleaning agents are not known to disinfect for New Zealand mudsnails.

Boats especially kayaks and canoes should be inspected upon exiting the water, and all vegetation should be removed before leaving the area.

More information about disinfection can be found on the state Fish and Boat Commission website.

Members of the public who observe suspected New Zealand mudsnails or other aquatic invasive species can report their sightings online.

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Researchers in New Zealand are developing a new warning system that tracks shaking within volcanoes and could one day provide two to four days notice of whether an eruption is more likely.

After the deadly Whakaari eruption in 2019, researchers at the University of Canterbury set out to determine whether patterns in seismic frequency (the shakes felt in the volcano) could help forecast eruptions and prevent the loss of life.

Natural Resources Engineering postdoctoral fellow Dr Alberto Ardid studied recordings from GeoNet seismometers an instrument that measures ground noises and shaking prior to 18 eruptions across six active volcanoes around the world, including three in New Zealand; Ruapehu, Tongariro, and Whakaari.

A machine-learning algorithm allowed Dr Ardid to sift through thousands of recordings and highlight particular frequency patterns that occurred regularly before an eruption.

The findings, which are published in Nature Communications, showed that in the three weeks, and then the few days before an eruption, there were similar changes in frequencies within some of the volcanoes.

The shakes would become slower suggesting there was a blockage in the shallow part of the volcano and that a seal or lid had formed, which traps hot gas, builds pressure, and sometimes triggers an explosion.

This pattern started to emerge, in our experience, around three weeks before the eruption and it peaks around two and four days before the event, Ardid said.

However, it is important to point out that we have observed this sealing mechanism without any eruption related, he said. Sometimes the pressure will passively release, and other times it can explode. Thats when it is dangerous.

The research has picked up that Mount Ruapehu, an active volcano in the countrys North Island, is showing signs of a seal forming, Ardid said. At this point, were able to say that an eruption is much more likely to happen now.

Over the past month, strong tremors are becoming more frequent, hot gas and liquid is flowing into the crater lake and sulphur slicks are appearing on the battleship grey water near Mount Ruapehu. GeoNet, which monitors New Zealands geological hazards, has issued a warning over elevated volcanic unrest, saying the activity in the last four weeks is the longest period of tremor recorded over the past 20 years. It cannot predict if the volcano will blow unrest does not always lead to an eruption.

A tool to definitively predict if a volcano is going to erupt does not exist. As Ardid puts it: the holy grail of volcanology is trying to anticipate when an eruption is going to happen. But what this research does is allow scientists to determine with greater accuracy the probability, or likelihood, an eruption will occur.

The researchs co-author, Dr David Dempsey, a Civil and Natural Resources Engineering lecturer at the University, said once the warning system has been through enough testing, and the scientists are confident enough in its accuracy levels, it could be used across the world.

Dempsey hopes they can get the tool to a stage where scientists can say there is a 10-20% chance of an eruption in the next 48 hours. That would be considered a very, very high level of certainty.

Determining the relative risk of eruption is important for example, determining if there is a one-in-10 chance of eruption versus a one-in-1000. With that information you may or may not decide to delay your visit to a mountain.

New Zealand has 12 active volcanoes and in many cases, including Mount Ruapehu, are popular tourist destinations, or are bordered by residential areas.

Active volcanoes, including Whakaari, Ruapehu, Tongariro, and others around the world where visitors and skiers are likely to be nearby, are unpredictable and sometimes hazardous, Dempsey said. Early warning systems could save lives and avoid debilitating injuries.

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New Zealand scientists find tremor link that could predict volcanic eruptions - The Guardian

The New Zealand sharemarket ended the holiday-shortened week with a whimper, but held up better than offshore markets as the spectre of rising interest rates loomed.

The benchmark S&P/NZX40 Index closed on Friday down 0.3%, or 45 points, at 11,908, following a flat finish on Thursday.

Shane Solly, Harbour Asset Management portfolio manager, said the market had not managed to hit positive territory, following a weaker performance from global markets overnight.

Were actually holding up relatively well, but its all about Air New Zealand and index change today.

READ MORE:* NZX50 Index down 0.1%, recovers after inflation hits 6.9%* NZX50 slips 0.3%, Meridian down 2% after low lake levels affect generation* S&P/NZX50 rises 0.5%, Air New Zealand shares up 4.9%

Globally weve seen airline stocks performing better on the back of better load factors, so planes are fuller and suggestions that ticket pricing is able to pass on the higher fuel price. The Air New Zealand share price has reacted to that today.

Air New Zealand shares were up 4.6% at 89.5 cents while the rights soared 15.3% to 73.8c on volume valued at $5 million.

In the United States, American Airlines gained 3.8% after telling investors it expects to turn a profit in the second quarter as more people return to travel.

AIR NEW ZEALAND

Air New Zealand shares were up 4.6% at 89.5 cents while the rights soared 15.3% to 73.8c.

Travel technology business Serko also had a better day, up 4.1% at $4.80, benefiting potentially from the expansion in travel around the world.

At the other end were electricity generators and retailers Meridian Energy and Contact Energy, heavily traded as their weightings were reset in a global clean energy exchange trade fund.

Meridian was down 1.4% at $4.83 on turnover of 14 million shares, worth $70m. Contact fell 0.4% to $8.11 on turnover of 10 million shares, worth $88m. The shares remained in the index, but their weighting was reducing to make way for other stocks.

Top stock Fisher & Paykel Healthcare was down 1.3% at $22.29, Auckland Airport fell 0.6% to $7.85, Mercury Energy was down 0.6% at $5.91 and Mainfreight slid 1.2% to $80.50.

Retirement village operator Ryman Healthcare was a bit stronger on the day, up 2.7% at $9.20, recovering after a dip below $9 this week.

It has been quite weak, people are taking a bit of a view that it could come out of an index globally as well, so that stocks got to the point where its quite low-priced compared to how the business has normally been priced basically over the last 10, 20 years, Solly said.

A2 Milk continued to slide, losing 1.7% to $5.03 while Spark was down 0.4% at $4.92. Trading in the telco was heavy on Wednesday, worth $22m, but it had returned to a more normal level of $12m on Friday.

Despite the softer day, Spark was trading at the top of its range, with investors attracted to a stock that had relatively solid earnings and dividends they could rely on particularly as economic headwinds appeared, he said.

Definitely the potential sale of the cellphone towers is being seen as quite a positive thing, potentially realising value that had been underestimated by the stock price.

Across the Tasman, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 Index fell 1.5%, or 115 points, to 7477 in late afternoon trading, dragged down by resource stocks.

Solly said recent weak quarterly production updates from miners had prompted a cut in analysts forecasts.

In many cases people are thinking about wheres a good defensive place to be, and that's where our New Zealand gentailers and some of our other stocks come back to the fore.

Shares fell across Asia, including a nearly 2% drop in Tokyo.

Earlier on Wall Street, stocks slipped after United States Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell indicated increases in interest rates must be faster to fight inflation.

The S&P 500 closed 1.5% lower at 4393.66 after having been up 1.2% in the early going. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1% to 34,792.76 and the Nasdaq slid 2.1% to 13,174.65.

- With AP

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NZX50 Index eases 0.3%, Air New Zealand shares and rights soar - Stuff

Deserted international departures retail stores at Auckland International Airport during the Covid-19 Level 3 lockdown. Photo / Brett Phibbs, File

OPINION

In a recent article (Weekend Herald, April 16) John Roughan wrote that the pandemic has been an anticlimax.

Surprisingly, he acknowledges Covid-19 has killed about 25 million people worldwide, so hopefully he was referring to New Zealand's 600 deaths. He goes on to ask how many lives we in New Zealand have saved and states that it's "not the 80,000 based on modelling from the Imperial College London that panicked governments everywhere in March 2020".

I beg to differ. It is because governments panicked everywhere that the number of deaths so far is "only" about 25 million.

A recent comprehensive assessment of the Covid-19 infection fatality proportion the proportion of people infected with Covid-19 who die from the infection found that in April 2020, before most governments had "panicked", the infection fatality proportion was 1.5 per cent or more in numerous high-income countries. Included were Japan, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and the UK.

Without stringent public health measures, Covid-19 is likely to have spread through the entire population, and an infection fatality proportion of 1.5 per cent multiplied by 5 million (New Zealanders) equals 75,000.

That's close to the estimated 80,000 New Zealand lives likely to have been saved because our "panicking" Government, like many others, introduced restrictive public health measures.

What Roughan fails to appreciate is that public health successes are invisible. Unlike deaths, you cannot see people not dying. Without the initial public health measures and then the rapid development and deployment of highly effective vaccines (unconscionably largely to high-income countries) there would have been far more deaths.

Roughan asks "is this a pandemic?" He states that 25 million Covid deaths are only 0.3 per cent of the world's population ("only" 16,000 New Zealand deaths).

How many deaths make a pandemic? In 2020, Covid-19 was the number one killer in the UK, responsible for causing about one in 10 deaths in every age group, with each person who died losing on average about 10 years of life expectancy.

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In the US, more than 150,000 children have lost a primary or secondary caregiver to Covid-19.

So, has our pandemic response been proportionate?

Stringent public health measures were highly effective pre-Omicron, but are unsustainable long term.

We are incredibly fortunate that highly effective vaccines were developed so rapidly.

Even the less severe Omicron variant is a major killer of unvaccinated people, as demonstrated in Hong Kong, where the equivalent of 6000 New Zealanders have been killed by Omicron in the past couple of months, due to low vaccination rates.

Unfortunately, despite our high vaccination rates, we are unlikely to be out of the woods, and it is likely a new Covid-19 variant will be back to bite us. The only certainty is that the next variant will need to be even more contagious to overtake Omicron.

As long as Covid-19 passes to a new host before killing you, there is no selection advantage to a less fatal variant. We are just lucky that Omicron was less virulent than Delta.

Pandemics over the centuries have often taken several generations to change from being mass killers to causing the equivalent of a common cold.

What response will we accept as proportionate to shorten this process with Covid-19 without millions of additional deaths?

As immunity from vaccination or infection wanes, we will need updated vaccines to prevent regular major disruptions to society.

Unlike the flu, which has a natural R-value of less than two (one person on average infects fewer than two others), Omicron appears to have an R-value of at least 10. That means in the time it takes flu to go from infecting one person to two, to four, to eight people, Omicron (without a proportionate response) could go from infecting one to 10 to 100 to 1000 people.

There is no way that endemic Covid will be as manageable as endemic flu.

The only sustainable proportionate response to Covid-19 is for New Zealanders to embrace universal vaccination.

It is likely that vaccine passes will be required again if we want to live more normally and for society to thrive. It cannot be difficult to make the use of vaccine passes more seamless.

Almost every financial transaction today is electronic and it must be possible to link transactions to valid vaccine passes when required.

Almost 1 million eligible New Zealanders haven't had their third vaccine dose, yet few are anti-vaccination. Rather, thanks to vaccination and other public health measures, the pandemic has been an anticlimax for many New Zealanders and the third dose has not been a priority.

As already demonstrated, for the vast majority of New Zealanders, a vaccine pass is sufficient to make vaccination a priority.

Professor Rod Jackson is an epidemiologist with the University of Auckland.

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Covid-19: Rod Jackson - was New Zealand's response to the pandemic proportionate? - New Zealand Herald