Auckland’s housing development face a significant hurdle as Watercare, the region’s water and wastewater provider, implements water restrictions across several areas. The move, aimed at managing water supply amid growing demand, has blindsided developers who warn of delays, increased costs, and potential financial strain on the industry.
The restrictions, which limit the amount of water, stormwater and/or sewer available for new connections, come as Auckland grapples with infrastructure challenges and population growth. Developers in affected areas, including parts of the city’s northwest and south, are now unable to secure water connections for new housing projects, effectively putting developments on hold.
“This decision has caught many developers off guard”, says Troy Patchett, Director at Subdivide Simplified. “Water & Drainage is obviously a fundamental requirement for any housing project. This will undoubtedly delay the delivery of much-needed housing stock and could push some developers to the brink”. (ref. https://www.subdividesimplified.co.nz/ )
Patchett emphasised the broader implications for Auckland’s housing crisis. “Auckland is already facing a housing shortage, and these restrictions will only exacerbate the problem. The timing couldn’t be worse, as the city is in desperate need of more affordable, healthy, and accessible housing.”
Watercare has defended the restrictions, citing the need to balance water supply with increasing demand. A spokesperson for the organisation stated, “Rapid growth in some areas has put pressure on our infrastructure. These restrictions are a necessary step to manage capacity while we work on long-term solutions.”
Patchett believes the changes could have been handled far better, with a more structured approach to minimise disruption. “A decent lead-in time would have allowed developers to adjust their plans and manage the transition more effectively. Instead, we’ve been hit with a sudden blanket ban, which is causing chaos across the industry,” he said. “Most people were expecting restrictions to be applied on a case-by-case basis, not this sweeping measure that affects entire regions.”
The decision has sparked calls for better planning and collaboration between Watercare, local councils, and developers. Patchett urged authorities to prioritise infrastructure investment to support growth. “This situation highlights the need for proactive planning and investment in water infrastructure. Without it, Auckland’s growth ambitions will remain constrained,” he said.
The restrictions have also raised concerns about the financial viability of projects already in the pipeline. Developers who have invested heavily in land and planning now face uncertainty, with some warning of potential losses if the situation is not resolved promptly.
As Auckland continues to grow, the pressure on its infrastructure will only intensify. The current restrictions serve as a stark reminder of the challenges facing the city and the urgent need for coordinated action to ensure sustainable development.
For now, developers and homebuyers alike are left in limbo, waiting for clarity on when and how the restrictions will be lifted. In the meantime, the housing crisis shows no signs of abating, and the stakes for Auckland’s future have never been higher.
It’s important to know that when you link your myID to your not-for-profit (NFP) in Relationship Authorisation Manager (RAM), it will not link your personal records with the records of your NFP. Your personal tax records are separate from those of the NFP.
Each person within your NFP who needs to access Online services for business will need to set up their own individual myID. This is because myID is unique to each person and shouldn’t be shared. Linking your myID to the NFP in RAM ensures only you and authorised users can transact for your NFP in Online services for business.
Why do you need a myID to lodge online?
Your myID is a secure way to prove who you are when logging into government online services.
Non-charitable NFPs with an active Australian business number (ABN) need to lodge an NFP self-review return to notify eligibility to self-assess as income tax exempt. This can be completed through Online services for business.
Before you can link your myID and lodge online, you need to check your organisation’s details are up to date. This includes the organisation’s associates, as they will be the principal authorityExternal Link for the NFP. If the associate isn’t up to date, notify us of changes by completing a Change of details form to request an update. You can also advise us of new authorised contacts, postal and email address details as well.
Once you’ve set-up access to Online services for business, you can use it to lodge the NFP self-review return. The first return is due to be lodged for the 2023–24 income year, by 31 March 2025.
People are being asked to steer clear of a fire in Awarua in the Far North as emergency services work at the scene.
A section of Mangakahia Road has been closed as the fire continues.
Police are in attendance supporting Fire and Emergency New Zealand with traffic management, after receiving a report of a bush fire in the area just after 12.30pm.
The road has been closed either side of Takawhero Road and people are being asked to avoid the area.
It’s no surprise there’s confusion in the health sector after the Government today released yet another plan to fix the dire state of Aotearoa New Zealand’s public health system, the New Zealand Nurses Organisation Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa (NZNO) says.
Health Minister Simeon Brown today outlined his plan to “fix the system” and his five key priorities.
NZNO Kaiwhakahaere Kerri Nuku says the Minister’s acknowledgement of the issues facing the health system is good for patients and health care workers.
“However, it isn’t clear how this latest plan fits with the plethora of other current health plans, strategies and legislative frameworks including the Government Policy Statement, the Pae Ora Act and the six accompanying Pae Ora Strategies, the health targets and the Health Workforce Plan.
“And this is not to mention Te Whatu Ora Commissioner Dr Lester Levy’s long awaited ‘reset’. It’s no wonder everyone in the health system is confused.”
There was also no mention in the Minister’s plan or priorities of improving the health outcomes of Māori or that of our vulnerable communities, Kerri Nuku says.
“Lifting the health outcomes of Māori, Pacific people and disabled people ultimately benefits all of Aotearoa New Zealand by creating a more equitable health system and improving access to quality health care for all.
“The Minister was also strangely silent on the role of Iwi Māori Partnership Boards (IMPBs) despite his Government having committed to them previously and his rush to have a locally delivered health system by July. IMPBs are enshrined in the Pae Ora Act and Simeon Brown needs to explain the role he sees them playing in his plan,” Kerri Nuku says.
Source: United States Senator for Maine Angus King
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), U.S. Senator Angus King questioned three witnesses about the adverse impact of the Republican-led House and Senate not passing annual federal spending bills on military capability and production. During the hearing, Senator King spoke with David Berteau, the President and Chief Executive Office of the Professional Services Council; Dr. Christine Michienzi, the former Senior Technology Advisor to the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment; and Dr. John McGinn, the Executive Director of the Greg and Camille Baroni Center for Government Contracting at George Mason University’s Costello College of Business.
The exchange comes as Congress has struggled to negotiate a federal spending law that would pass with bipartisan support and be approved by the White House. Now, with less than 10 days to avert a government shutdown, Congressional appropriators are pursuing a continuing resolution that would temporarily fund the government at the previous year’s levels — therefore not adding new policies or investments that the military needs.
“Could we all agree that continuing resolutions absolutely are not part of the solution to this problem,” asked Senator King.
“Franklin Roosevelt did not face a single continuing resolution in the entire buildup to World War II and the entire execution thereof,” replied Berteau.
“I concur,” said Dr. McGinn.
“I concur,” echoed Dr. Michienzi.
“All of you agree with that. That is one of the difficulties we are in now. It creates all kinds of downstream in the industrial base and preparation. Thank you for that. Let the record show, continuing resolutions are not the way to do business, particularly in the defense area,” said Senator King. “All of you have mentioned something very interesting which is allies are part of the solution. It concerns me that we are embarked on a course that is not encouraging to our allies, and in some cases poking our allies in the eye. Talk to me about the importance of allies in dealing with the production necessary for significant conflict whether it is Japan, U.K., Canada, or other countries.”
“Our allies are a key part of our industrial base. We have a number of agreements and collaborative programs. The largest fighter program in the world, the F-35, we have a dozen partner countries I believe,” responded Dr. McGinn.
“We cannot do this by ourselves, correct,” asked Senator King. “All of you are nodding, could you say yes? They don’t show up in the transcript.”
“Yes,” Berteau, Dr. Michienzi and Dr. McGinn agreed unanimously.
A member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Senator King is recognized as an authoritative voice on national security and foreign policy issues who has also been named a “fiscal hero” by government watchdogs for responsible spending. Senator King has previously urged the Department of Defense (DoD) to take advantage of private sector technologies or risk losing access to innovative defense technologies and encouraged the (DoD) to reevaluate its acquisition process of defense technologies.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) has finalized the “R.O.C. 2025 Renewable Energy Feed-in Tariffs (FIT) and Calculation Formulas”, confirming that the official rates remain unchanged from the initial draft, and continues to offer incentives for diverse renewable installations through tariff levels and various subsidies and supporting mechanisms to encourage further expansions. Compared to 2024, the FIT rate for rooftop solar PV installations ranging from 1kW to under 10kW remains the same as the second phase of 2024, while other categories have undergone slight reductions. Furthermore, a new capacity range of 1-100kW has been added for small hydropower to reflect cost differences based on scale. Meanwhile, all existing incentives and supporting mechanisms remain unchanged.
The key points of the officially announced 2025 Feed-in Tariffs (FIT) Rates for Renewable Energy (see details in the attachment) are as follows (same as draft)： 1. Solar PV: Two-phase rates are adopted. The FIT rate for the first phase (first half of the year) ranges from NT$ 3.5337 to NT$ 5.7055 per kWh, while the second phase (second half of the year) ranges from NT$ 3.5037 to NT$ 5.6279 per kWh.
2. Wind Power: Rates remain unchanged. The FIT rate for onshore wind farms with capacities under 30kW is NT$ 7.4110 per kWh, while onshore wind farms with capacities of 30kW and above are at NT$ 2.1286 per kWh. Offshore wind power maintains a FIT rate of NT$ 4.5085 per kWh.
3. Biomass Energy: Rates remain unchanged. The FIT rate for biogas (with anaerobic digestion facilities) is NT$ 7.0192 per kWh. The rate for the solid biofuels and domestic agricultural residues resources is NT$ 5.1407 per kWh, and NT$ 2.8066 per kWH for other biomass categories.
4. Waste to Energy: The FIT rates for energy generated from general and general industrial wastes category remain unchanged at NT$ 3.9482 per kWh.
5. Small Hydropower: The FIT rates for 1-100kW capacity category is NT$ 4.9548 per kWh. The rates for other capacity ranges (100kW-500kW, 500kW-2MW, and 2MW-20MW) remain unchanged at NT$ 4.8936 per kWh, NT$ 4.2285 per kWh, and NT$ 2.8599 per kWh respectively.
6. Geothermal Power: The FIT rates remain unchanged. Facilities with capacities under 2MW will have a FIT rate of NT$ 5.9459 per kWh, while those above 2MW will have a FIT rate of NT$ 5.1956 per kWh.
7. Marine Energy: The FIT rate remains at NT$ 7.3200 per kWh, the same as in 2024.
During the public consultation period, stakeholders expressed concerns over solar FIT reductions, refined capacity ranges for small hydropower, higher FIT rates, and more detailed categories for marine energy and creating floating offshore wind FIT category. However, after careful review based on the principles of FIT, the committee decided to uphold the original proposal while committing to ongoing evaluations for potential adjustments.
The MOEA emphasized that the 2025 FIT review process followed a fair, transparent, and rigorous procedure to ensure that the tariffs aligned with Taiwan’s development environment., The government remains committed to continuously evaluating FIT-related policies to build a solid foundation for Taiwan’s renewable energy development.
Spokesperson for Energy Administration, Ministry of Economic Affairs: Deputy Director-General, Chih-Wei Wu Phone: 02-2775-7750 Mobile: 0922-339-410 Email: cwwu@moeaea.gov.tw
Business Contact (Solar PV, Biomass Energy, Waste to Energy, Small Hydropower): Deputy Director, Shih-Wei Liao Phone: 02-2775-7620 Mobile: 0920-091-081 Email: swliau@moeaea.gov.tw
Cobra Gold is taking place from Feb. 26 – Mar. 8, 2025, with this year marking the 44th iteration of the exercise. As the largest joint exercise in mainland Asia, Cobra Gold brings together multinational armed forces and multiple civilian agencies in the exchange of knowledge involving training events and discourse with subject matter experts.
In the combat marksmanship training event, U.S. Marines instructed Thai and ROK Marines in close combat scenarios utilizing a 50 meter rifle range.
Col. Stuart Glenn, commanding officer of the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit, Marine Rotational Force-Southeast Asia, was there to witness the cooperative training environment.
“We’re exchanging knowledge,” said Glenn. “We’re exchanging skills. We’re exchanging best practices and things that we have learned in our collective training. And what makes this particular event unique is that we’re also receiving all of that from our international partners here today.”
One such partner present, Petty Officer 1st Class Suttiwat Susing of the Royal Thai Marine Corps, has extensive experience with the collaborative training mission, having participated in over four Cobra Gold exercises in the past.
“I have learned many things from the U.S. Marine Corps in all the Cobra Golds I have been a part of,” said Susing. “Even today on the range, they taught new practices related to safety on the range.”
In addition to the technical expertise exchanged between service members, Susing has seen many lasting friendships result from the exercises. This fact is not lost on Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Isaiah Gutierrez, a U.S. Navy Sailor attached to the 1st LAR.
“Training like this on a range is important for our readiness, but it’s also like a bonding time for these guys,” said Gutierrez. “A lot of these guys like to shoot – American, Korean and Thai. So doing it all together gives a sense of camaraderie between them. And, of course, it helps us all understand how we operate our weapon systems.”
Lance Cpl. Ryan Bernard, team leader in the 1st LAR, participated in the combat marksmanship training and welcomed the opportunity to learn from marines of other nations.
“Training with our partners like this, in their own country and with other armed forces, is crucial to our mission,” said Bernard.
According to Bernard, a day on the range with partners and allies goes a long way toward operational familiarity and camaraderie among service members.
Republic of Korea Navy Capt. Kim Kyung-ho, commander of the ROK Navy Cobra Gold Exercise Squadron, observed for himself the marines instructing each other in techniques and safety procedures on the range.
“Through active and practical training like today with our allies and partners, we will be able to enhance the ability to conduct multinational joint operations and contribute to strengthening interoperability and military cooperation while promoting friendship among the participating forces,” said Kyung-ho.
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ramona Zharfpeykan, Lecturer, Department of Accounting and Finance, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau
Despite large multinational companies such as Goldman Sachs, Paramount, Google and others removing their diversity, equity and inclusion policies, the evidence is clear: having a diverse team can help businesses make better, more empathetic decisions.
At the top level, a growing body of research shows having more women on corporate boards leads to better decision-making, stronger governance and improved environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance.
Women make up 50.8% of the population and hold 40.8% of parliamentary leadership roles. But they hold only 28.5% of board seats and 26.4% of executive roles in the New Zealand’s Stock Exchange (NZX) top 50 companies (the NZX50).
And while businesses are encouraged to disclose gender diversity policies by the NZX, there are no mandatory quotas, leaving progress uneven.
However, change is happening. Our new research looked at the the percentage of female directors in NZX-listed firms between 2016 and 2022.
What we found is positive. Using information from financial infrastructure and data provider LSEG’s database on global financial markets, we identified a rise in the number of female directors on corporate boards. We also saw a corresponding improvement in the firms’ ESG performance.
Despite making up 50.4% of the population, women hold only 28.5% of board seats and 26.4% of executive roles in NZX50 companies. T. Schneider/Shutterstock
Boosting performance
Between 2016 and 2022, the proportion of female directors in NZX-listed firms increased from 26% to 36%. These same businesses saw an average 33% improvement in their ESG performance.
Notably, governance – one of the key ESG pillars – improved significantly, with a 31% increase on average. Governance specifically refers to the effectiveness of the firm’s management systems, board structure and capacity to protect shareholder interests.
While it’s not possible to say outright that having more women on the board directly influenced governance outcomes, we saw a positive relationship between the two. This suggests having more women in leadership strengthens corporate oversight and ethical decision making.
Gender diversity does not have the same level of importance in all contexts. While social and environmental performance also improved, this study found no significant link between a more gender-diverse board and these higher scores in social and environmental performance.
Our findings are supported by overseas research suggesting board diversity does not strongly influence sustainability outcomes when it comes to issues and groups already covered by legislation.
Therefore, New Zealand’s proactive stance on issues such as the environment, poverty and human rights, as well as encouraging private companies to improve sustainability and transparency, may explain why board diversity had no notable impact on social and environmental performance in this study.
What women bring to the business
Our findings align with studies completed overseas.
In the US, one study found women business leaders tended to prioritise transparency, fairness and stakeholder interests. This made them strong advocates for sustainable and inclusive business practices.
It’s clear that addressing the gender gap in corporate New Zealand isn’t just about fairness. It’s about economic success. Businesses that embrace diversity perform better, attract top talent and enhance their reputations.
The solution isn’t simply about enforcing quotas, but ensuring more qualified women are placed in leadership roles. Companies need to move beyond a “compliance mindset” and recognise true diversity strengthens governance, reduces risk and drives long-term success.
As the world celebrates International Women’s Day on March 8, businesses need to realise that increasing female representation at the top isn’t just the right thing to do – it’s the smart thing to do.
Ramona Zharfpeykan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Prema Arasu, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Minderoo-UWA Deep-Sea Research Centre, The University of Western Australia
In February, researchers from conservation organisation Condrik Tenerife were about two kilometres off the coast of Tenerife Island, looking for sharks, when they caught sight of something much stranger.
Photographer David Jara Boguñá filmed a humpback anglerfish (Melanocetus johnsonii, a species of black seadevil) swimming near the surface in sunlit waters. These fish have never before been seen alive in daylight, as they normally dwell in the “twilight zone” at depths from 200m to 600m.
The video has provoked an enormously empathetic response on social media, with some seeing the fish as a feminist icon or an Icarus-like figure who swam too close to the Sun. The reaction shows our views of the deep sea – long ignored or seen as a realm of monsters – may at last be changing.
The strange lives of anglerfish
Anglerfish are much smaller than you probably think they are. The specimen Boguñá filmed was a female, which typically grow up to 15cm long.
The creatures are named for their bioluminescent lure (or esca). This modified dorsal fin ray can produce a glow used to fish (or angle) for prey in the dim depths of the sea. The bioluminescence is produced by symbiotic bacteria that live inside the bulbous head of the esca.
Male anglerfish lack the iconic lure and are much smaller, usually reaching a length of only 3cm.
A male anglerfish spends the first part of his life searching for a female to whom he will then attach himself. He will eventually fuse his circulatory system with hers, depending on her entirely for nutrients, and live out his life as a parasite or “living testicle”.
It is unknown why this fish was swimming vertically near the surface. Researchers have speculated that the behaviour may have been related to changes in water temperature, or that the fish was simply at the end of her life.
Watchers observed the fish for several hours, until it died. Its body was preserved and taken to the Museum of Nature and Archaeology in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, where it will be further studied.
I like to think she is a respected old grandmother who has dreamed her entire life of seeing the sunlight and the world above the water. She knows her time is nigh so she bade farewell to her friends and family and swam up towards the light and whatever it might hold for her as her life as an anglerfish comes to a close.
One person described the fish as her “feminist Roman Empire”, in the sense of an inspirational obsession that filled the same role for her that the Roman Empire supposedly does for many men.
Boguñá and Condrik Tenerife have since commented on the public reaction. (The original post is in Spanish, but Instagram’s automated English translation is below.)
He’s become a global icon, that’s clear. But far from the romanticisation and attempt to humanise that has been given to its tragic story, I think that what this event has been for is to awaken the curiosity of the sea to PEOPLE, especially the younger ones, and perhaps, it also serves that messages about marine ecosystem conservation can reach so many more people.
From horrors to heroes
The outpouring of empathy for the anglerfish is unexpected. With their glowing lures and fang-filled mouths, the creatures have long been archetypal horrors of the abyss.
As I have written elsewhere, the anglerfish’s extreme sexual dimorphism and parasitism, along with its unsettling anatomy, have made it the “iconic ambassador of the deep sea”. Anglerfish or angler-inspired aliens have appeared as antagonists in films such as Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999), Finding Nemo (2003), The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (2004) and Luca (2021).
Star Wars film The Phantom Menace features a large anglerfish-inspired sea monster. Disney
The reception of “Icarus” (as some call her) in popular culture indicates a perhaps surprising capacity for empathy toward animals that aren’t conventionally cute or beautiful. It stands in stark contrast to the fate of the deep-sea blobfish Psychrolutes marcidus, which in 2013 was voted the world’s ugliest animal.
Perhaps the name is a clue: people have seen in the fish a creature striving to reach the light, who died as a result of her quest.
But does our projection of human emotions and desires onto non-human animals risk misunderstanding scientific reality? Almost certainly – but, as US environmental humanities researcher Stacy Alaimo has argued, it may also have benefits:
Deep-sea creatures are often pictured as aliens from another planet, and I think that gets people interested in them because we’re all interested in novelty and weirdness and the surreal […] I think that can be positive, but the idea of the alien can also cut us off from any responsibility.
Prema Arasu does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Emergency services are at the scene of a serious crash involving a car and motorcycle, at Pipiroa in the Hauraki district.
Police were alerted to the crash about 2.20pm, at the intersection of Shellbank and Bush roads. One person is in a critical condition.
The road is likely to be closed for some time and diversions are being put in place at the intersections of Bush Road and State Highway 25, and Bush Road and Orchard East Road.
Legal controls on the movement of fruit and vegetables on Auckland’s North Shore will remain in place for the next few weeks as part of the response to the discovery of a single male Oriental fruit fly last month, says Biosecurity New Zealand’s commissioner north, Mike Inglis.
“We’ve had fantastic support from the Birkdale community and sector groups to date, and we’re asking for that to continue a little longer out of an abundance of caution. It is vital to our success in keeping fruit fly from establishing in New Zealand,” Mr Inglis says.
“To date, no other Oriental fruit flies have been found in surveillance traps since the original find on 20 February 2025, which is encouraging.
“We’ll continue to regularly check fruit fly traps, and specialist staff in our mobile field laboratory will cut up and inspect fruit and vegetables collected in the area for any signs of larvae.”
Mr Inglis says it’s anticipated the restrictions will remain in place until 10 April 2025.
“This is so we can be confident that we are not dealing with a breeding population. This timeframe is based on scientific advice about the life cycle of the Oriental fruit fly.”
There is no change to the current movement rules that are in place. The A and B Zone areas in Birkdale will remain the same and the instructions on the disposal of produce waste remain unchanged. More detail on these zones is on our website:
“Those legal controls prohibit the movement of fruit and vegetables out of the specified controlled area around where the fruit fly was found. The restrictions are a critical precaution to protect our horticultural sector and exports,” Mr Inglis says.
“There have been 13 previous fruit fly incursions in New Zealand which we have successfully eradicated, so we have very strong and detailed operational plans to guide our work.
“The fruit fly poses no risk to human health, but there would be an economic cost to the horticulture industry if it were allowed to establish here.”
To report suspected finds of fruit fly, call MPI’s pest and diseases hotline on 0800 809 966.
For further information and general enquiries, email info@mpi.govt.nz
For media enquiries, contact the media team on 029 894 0328.
This International Women’s Day, the Commissioners at the Australian Human Rights Commission stand together to call for urgent action to ensure that all women and girls—of every background, age or disability—can live free from violence, discrimination, and inequality.
This year’s International Women’s Day theme, “For ALL women and girls: Rights. Equality. Empowerment,” is a reminder that gender equality can only be achieved when every woman and girl has their rights upheld, their safety guaranteed, and their voices heard. Gender equality benefits all of us.
For too many women, this vision remains out of reach. Women in Australia continue to face gender-based violence at devastating rates, economic insecurity that puts them at risk, and structural barriers that leave them without access to support or justice. These issues are not separate—they are interconnected. That is why we must take a prevention-first approach that reflects the diversity of Australian women and girls.
We also urge governments to commit to sustainable funding for community-led, trauma-informed, and person-centred solutions, ensuring that the women and communities most affected by violence and discrimination lead the responses. This cannot be achieved without real accountability.
This International Women’s Day, we ask Australia to move beyond rhetoric and commit to genuine systemic change. Women’s safety must be a guarantee – it cannot be an afterthought.
“International Women’s Day is a moment to celebrate progress, but it is also a call to action. We cannot achieve gender equality while women continue to live in fear of violence and discrimination. We know what works in communities, workplaces, and homes, let’s listen to women and girls and be led by them.” Dr Anna Cody, Sex Discrimination Commissioner
“For migrant, refugee, and First Nations women and girls, safety is often undermined by racism, visa insecurity, and systemic barriers to justice. True empowerment means ensuring negatively racialised women and girls have equal protection under the law and that their perspectives are built into policy and practice.” Giridharan Sivaraman, Race Discrimination Commissioner
“While Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women are the bedrock of our communities, we also face challenges like domestic and family violence at disproportionate rates – a crisis further compounded by the ongoing issue of misidentification as perpetrators. Too often, these women remain invisible within the statistics that should be driving our reforms. We must have targeted, culturally informed strategies that acknowledge and address these systemic shortcomings.” Katie Kiss, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner
“Housing insecurity has become increasingly widespread among older women. The rate of homelessness among older women has grown by almost 40% in the last ten years. We cannot talk about women’s safety without addressing economic inequality and the structural barriers that put them at risk.” Robert Fitzgerald AM, Age Discrimination Commissioner
Women and girls with disability experience higher rates of violence, yet their specific and unique experiences are often not recognised or addressed in gender-based violence responses. We need accessible, and rights-based solutions to ensure no woman or girl is excluded.” Rosemary Kayess, Disability Discrimination Commissioner
“All children should be safe, and their wellbeing should be made a national priority for Australia. 1 in 3 girls experience child sexual abuse. If we are serious about ending gender-based violence, we must stop the violence experienced by children in their homes and ensure that children with trauma get the help they need. For too long we have neglected the wellbeing of children – this International Women’s Day I call for child wellbeing to be made a priority for National Cabinet.” Anne Hollonds, National Children’s Commissioner
“Australian women and girls are diverse, but one thing that should be shared by us all is being able to live free from violence and fear. International Women’s Day is a day to reaffirm the importance of ensuring that these shared rights are upheld for all women and girls.” Lorraine Finlay, Human Rights Commissioner
This International Women’s Day, we call on governments, policymakers, and communities to act. For ALL women and girls—Rights, Equality, Empowerment.
If there is one thing we can thank US President Donald Trump for, it is this: he has decisively stripped away the ridiculous notion, long cultivated by Western media, that the United States is a benign global policeman enforcing a “rules-based order”.
Washington is better understood as the head of a gangster empire, embracing 800 military bases around the world. Since the end of the Cold War, it has been aggressively seeking “global full-spectrum domination”, as the Pentagon doctrine politely terms it.
You either pay fealty to the Don or you get dumped in the river. Last Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was presented with a pair of designer concrete boots at the White House.
The US president looked like a gangster as he roughed up Zelensky. But he wasn’t the one who stoked a war that’s killed huge numbers of Ukrainians and Russians. Image: www.jonathan-cook.net
The innovation was that it all happened in front of the Western press corps, in the Oval Office, rather than in a back room, out of sight. It made for great television, Trump crowed.
Pundits have been quick to reassure us that the shouting match was some kind of weird Trumpian thing. As though being inhospitable to state leaders, and disrespectful to the countries they head, is unique to this administration.
Take just the example of Iraq. The administration of Bill Clinton thought it “worth it” – as his secretary of state, Madeleine Albright, infamously put it — to kill an estimated half a million Iraqi children by imposing draconian sanctions through the 1990s.
Under Clinton’s successor, George W Bush, the US then waged an illegal war in 2003, on entirely phoney grounds, that killed around half a million Iraqis, according to post-war estimates, and made four million homeless.
Those worrying about the White House publicly humiliating Zelensky might be better advised to save their concern for the hundreds of thousands of mostly Ukrainian and Russian men killed or wounded fighting an entirely unnecessary war — one, as we shall see, Washington carefully engineered through Nato over the preceding two decades.
Henchman Zelensky All those casualties served the same goal as they did in Iraq: to remind the world who is boss.
Uniquely, Western publics don’t understand this simple point because they live inside a disinformation bubble, created for them by the Western establishment media.
Henry Kissinger, the long-time steward of US foreign policy, famously said: “It may be dangerous to be America’s enemy, but to be America’s friend is fatal.”
Zelensky just found that out the hard way. Gangster empires are just as fickle as the gangsters we know from Hollywood movies. Under the previous Joe Biden administration, Zelensky had been recruited as a henchman to do Washington’s bidding on Moscow’s doorstep.
The background — the one Western media have kept largely out of view — is that, following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the US tore up treaties crucial to reassuring Russia of Nato’s good intent.
Viewed from Moscow, and given Washington’s track record, Nato’s European security umbrella must have looked more like preparation for an ambush.
Keen though Trump now is to rewrite history and cast himself as peacemaker, he was central to the escalating tensions that led to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
In 2019, he unilaterally withdrew from the 1987 Treaty on Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces. That opened the door to the US launching a potential first strike on Russia, using missiles stationed in nearby Nato members Romania and Poland.
He also sent Javelin anti-tank weapons to Ukraine, a move avoided by his predecessor, Barack Obama, for fear it would be seen as provocative.
Repeatedly, Nato vowed to bring Ukraine into its fold, despite Russia’s warnings that the step was viewed as an existential threat, that Moscow could not allow Washington to place missiles on its border, any more than the US accepted Soviet missiles stationed in Cuba back in the early 1960s.
Washington pressed ahead anyway, even assisting in a colour revolution-style coup in 2014 against the elected government in Kyiv, whose crime was being a little too sympathetic to Moscow.
With the country in crisis, Zelensky was himself elected by Ukrainians as a peace candidate, there to end a brutal civil war — sparked by that coup — between anti-Russian, “nationalistic” forces in the country’s west and ethnic Russian populations in the east. The Ukrainian President soon broke that promise.
Trump has accused Zelensky of being a “dictator”. But if he is, it is only because Washington wanted him that way, ignoring the wishes of the majority of Ukrainians.
Reddest of red lines Zelensky’s job was to play a game of chicken with Moscow. The assumption was that the US would win whatever the outcome.
Either Russian President Vladimir Putin’s bluff would be called. Ukraine would be welcomed into Nato, becoming the most forward of the alliance’s forward bases against Russia, allowing nuclear-armed ballistic missiles to be stationed minutes from Moscow.
Or Putin would finally make good on his years of threats to invade his neighbour to stop Nato crossing the reddest of red lines he had set over Ukraine.
Washington could then cry “self-defence” on Ukraine’s behalf, and ludicrously fearmonger Western publics about Putin eyeing Poland, Germany, France and Britain next.
Those were the pretexts for arming Kyiv to the hilt, rather than seeking a rapid peace deal. And so began a proxy war of attrition against Russia, using Ukrainian men as cannon fodder.
The aim was to wear Russia down militarily and economically, and bring about Putin’s overthrow.
Zelensky did precisely what was demanded of him. When he appeared to waver early on, and considered signing a peace deal with Moscow, Britain’s prime minister of the time, Boris Johnson, was dispatched with a message from Washington: keep fighting.
That is the same Boris Johnson who now breezily admits that the West is fighting a “proxy war” against Russia.
Hmm, maybe someone can help me.
How was Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine entirely ‘unprovoked’, when the British leader in charge at the time, Boris Johnson, now admits Nato viewed Ukraine as the battlefield for a ‘proxy war’ against Russia? 🤯 pic.twitter.com/VS6jRE03gH
His comments have generated precisely no controversy. That is particularly strange, given that critics who pointed this very obvious fact out three years ago were instantly denounced for spreading “Putin disinformation” and Kremlin “talking points”.
For his obedience, Zelensky was feted a hero, the defender of Europe against Russian imperialism. His every “demand” — demands that originated in Washington — was met.
Ukraine has received at least $250 billion worth of guns, tanks, fighter jets, training for his troops, Western intelligence on Russia, and other forms of aid.
Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian and Russian men have paid with their lives — as have the families they leave behind.
Mafia etiquette Now the old Don in Washington is gone. The new Don has decided Zelensky has been an expensive failure. Russia isn’t lethally wounded. It’s stronger than ever. Time for a new strategy.
Zelensky, still imagining he was Washington’s favourite henchman, arrived at the Oval Office only to be taught a harsh lesson in mafia etiquette.
Trump is spinning his stab in the back as a “peace agreement”. And in some sense, it is. Rightly, Trump has concluded that Russia has won — unless the West is ready to fight World War III and risk a potential nuclear war.
Trump has faced up to the reality of the situation, even if Zelensky and Europe are still struggling to.
Trump’s overt ‘genocidal’ warning over Gaza. Video: TRT World News
But his plan for Ukraine is actually just a variation of his other peace plan — the one for Gaza. There he wants to ethnically cleanse the Palestinian population and, on the bodies of the enclave’s many thousands of dead children, build the “Riviera of the Middle East” — or “Trump Gaza” as it is being called in a surreal video he shared on social media.
In telling the “people of Gaza”, they will be “DEAD” if the hostages aren’t released – something they can’t decide – Trump is expressing clear genocidal intent. He’a also sending the arms to make that genocide possible.
Similarly, Trump now sees Ukraine not as a military battlefield but as an economic one where, through clever deal-making, he can leverage riches for himself and his billionaire pals.
He has put a gun to Zelensky and Europe’s head. Make a deal with Russia to end the war, or you are on your own against a far superior military power. See if the Europeans can help you without a supply of Washington’s weapons.
Not surprisingly, Zelensky, Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron huddled together at the weekend to find a deal that would appease Trump. All Starmer has revealed so far is that the plan will “stop the fighting”.
That is a good thing. But the fighting could have been stopped, and should have been stopped, three years ago.
Money, not peace It is deeply unwise to be lulled into tribalism by all this — the very tribalism Western elites seek to cultivate among their publics to keep us treating international affairs no differently from a high-stakes football match.
No one here has behaved, or is behaving, honourably.
A ceasefire in Ukraine is not about peace. It’s about money, just as the earlier war was. As all wars are, ultimately.
An acceptable ceasefire for Trump, as well as for Putin, will involve a carve-up of Ukraine’s goodies. Rare earth minerals, land, agricultural production will be the real currency driving the agreement.
Zelensky now understands this. He knows that he, and the people of Ukraine, have been scammed. That is what tends to happen when you cosy up to the mafia.
If anyone doubts Washington’s insincerity over Ukraine, look to Palestine for clarity.
In his earlier presidency, Trump tried to bring about what he termed the peace “deal of the century” whose centrepiece was the annexation of much of the Occupied West Bank.
The hope was that the Gulf states would ultimately fund an incentivisation programme — the carrot to Israel’s stick — to encourage Palestinians to make a new life in a giant, purpose-built industrial zone in Sinai, next to Gaza.
That plan is still simmering away in the background. At the weekend, Israel received a green light from Washington to revive its genocidal starvation of Gaza’s population, after Israel refused to negotiate the second phase of the original ceasefire agreement.
The Trump administration and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are now spinning their own bad faith as Hamas “rejectionism”.
They and the echo chamber that is the Western media are blaming the Palestinian group for refusing to be gulled into an “extension” of what was never more than a phoney ceasefire — Israel’s fire never ceased. Israel wants all the hostages back, without having to leave Gaza, so that Hamas has no leverage to stop Israel reviving the full genocide.
The people of Gaza are still being fed into the Washington mafia’s meatgrinder, just as the Ukrainian people have been.
Trump wants them out of the way so he can develop a Mediterranean playground for the rich, paid for with Gulf oil money and the so-far untapped natural gas reserves just off Gaza’s coast.
Unlike his predecessors, Trump doesn’t pretend that Ukraine and Gaza are anything more than geostrategic real estate for Washington.
The big shakedown Zelensky’s shakedown did not come out of the blue. Trump and his officials had been flagging it well in advance.
Two weeks ago, the industrial correspondent for Britain’s Daily Telegraphwrote an article headlined “Here’s why Trump wants to make Ukraine a US economic colony”.
Trump’s team believes that Ukraine may have rare-earth minerals under the ground worth some $15 trillion — a treasure trove that will be critical to the development of the next generation of technology.
In their view, controlling the exploration and extraction of those minerals will be as important as control over the Middle East’s oil reserves was more than a century ago.
And most important of all, the US wants China, its chief economic — if not military — rival excluded from the plunder. China currently has an effective monopoly on many of these critical minerals.
Or as the Telegraph puts it, Ukraine’s “minerals offer a tantalising promise: the ability for the US to break its dependence on Chinese supplies of critical minerals that go into everything from wind turbines to iPhones and stealth fighter jets”.
A draft of the plan seen by the Telegraph would, in its words, “amount to the US economic colonisation of Ukraine, in legal perpetuity”.
Washington wants first refusal on all deposits within the country.
At their Oval Office confrontation, Trump reiterated this goal: “So we’re going to be using that [Ukraine’s rare earth minerals], taking it, using it for all of the things we do, including AI, and including weapons, and the military. And it’s really going to very much satisfy our needs.”
All of this means that Trump has a keen incentive to get the war finished as quickly as possible, and Russia’s territorial advance halted. The more territory Moscow seizes, the less territory is left for the US to plunder.
Self-sabotage The battle against China over rare-earth minerals isn’t a Trump innovation either — and adds an additional layer of context for why Washington and Nato have been so keen over the past two decades to prise Ukraine away from Russia.
Last summer, a Congressional select committee on competition with China announced the formation of a working group to counter Beijing’s “dominance of critical minerals”.
The chairman of the committee, John Moolenaar, noted that the current US dependence on China for these minerals “would quickly become an existential vulnerability in the event of a conflict”.
Another committee member, Rob Wittman, observed: “Dominance over global supply chains for critical mineral and rare earth elements is the next stage of great power competition.”
What Trump appears to appreciate is that Nato’s proxy war against Russia in Ukraine has, by default, driven Moscow deeper into Beijing’s embrace. It has been self-sabotage on a grand scale.
Together, China and Russia are a formidable opponent, and one at the centre of the ever-growing Brics group — comprised of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. They have been seeking to expand their alliance by adding emerging powers to become a counterweight to Washington and Nato’s bullying global agenda.
But a deal with Putin over Ukraine would provide an opportunity for Washington to build a new security architecture in Europe — one more useful to the US — that places Russia inside the tent rather than outside it.
That would leave China isolated — a long-time Pentagon goal.
And it would also leave Europe less central to the projection of US power, which is why European leaders — led by Keir Starmer — have been looking and sounding so unnerved over the past few weeks.
The danger is that Trump’s “peacemaking” in Ukraine simply becomes a prelude to the fomenting of a war against China, using Taiwan as the pretext in the same way Ukraine was used against Russia.
As Moolenaar implied, US control over critical minerals — in Ukraine and elsewhere — would ensure the US was no longer vulnerable in the event of a war with China to losing access to the minerals it would need to continue the war. It would free Washington’s hand.
Trump may be behaving in a vulgar manner. But the gangster empire he now heads is conducting the same global shakedown as ever.
Jonathan Cook is an award-winning British journalist. He was based in Nazareth, Israel, for 20 years and returned to the UK in 2021. He is the author of three books on the Israel-Palestine conflict, including Disappearing Palestine: Israel’s Experiments in Human Despair (2008). In 2011, Cook was awarded the Martha Gellhorn Special Prize for Journalism for his work on Palestine and Israel. This article was first published in Middle East Eye and is republished with the author’s permission.
E tū is deeply concerned by comments made by NZME investor and billionaire James Grenon, that he wants to replace the board of directors with four new people – including himself.
Grenon owns a 9.3% stake in NZME, and has been a controversial figure in the media landscape.
NZME delegate Isaac Davison said the takeover proposal created significant uncertainty about the company’s potential direction and the newsroom’s editorial independence.
“Our top priority is preserving the impartiality of our journalism and the independence of the newsroom,” Isaac says.
“E tū journalists follow a code of ethics which includes a commitment to reporting and interpreting the news with “scrupulous honesty” and without fear or favour.
“While the intentions of the potential new board members remain unclear, we are concerned about an apparent record of backing news ventures which lack transparency.
“Further, NZME is in the last stages of a major change process which has had a profound impact on staff morale. We believe it is a time for consistency and stability rather than more uncertainty.”
E tū Director Michael Wood says that Grenon has a clear agenda to use NZME for his own interests.
“Mr Grenon clearly wants to use his financial clout to steer the editorial direction of one of New Zealand’s largest and most important media networks,” Michael says.
“While changes to media ownership in New Zealand are common, there is not any recent example of an extremely wealthy individual seeking to use an ownership stake to steer public discourse in the way that Mr Grenon, based on his track record, seems to be attempting.
“These concerns are heightened by a lack of transparency. When his initial stake in NZME was revealed, Mr Grenon indicated that he was not intending to make any further moves, yet within a week it has been reported that he is working closely with an NZ On Air board member and a high-profile businessman to take over the board.
“The idea that a shadowy cabal, backed by extreme wealth, is planning to take over such an important institution in our democratic fabric should be of concern to all New Zealanders.”
Michael calls on the current board to re-affirm its commitment to the editorial independence of NZME’s publications.
“While there is clearly a commercial process to play out, we must protect the rights of NZME journalists to report free from undue interference. We urge other shareholders to think carefully about the impact on the value and standing of NZME if they allow it to be turned into a plaything for the agendas of billionaires like Mr Grenon.”
Responding to Chris Hipkins’s State of the Nation speech, ACT Leader David Seymour says:
“It was a deck chair speech. All the changes he’s proposing involve politicians and bureaucrats being reorganised, and will have no effect on actual people.
“A new ‘economic team’ of Labour MPs, a new ‘jobs and incomes’ portfolio for Ginny Anderson, talking to ‘experts’ and ‘unions’ – none of this is real change.
“We’ve seen this before. Hipkins spent resources reorganising the health system, and what we got was a new org chart while patients were ignored.
“We won’t reshuffle our way to prosperity. But to give Hipkins credit, giving a speech in Auckland was probably a bold step for someone who struggles to think outside the Wellington bubble.
“By contrast, we’ve got a Government that is making real change to red tape and regulation, focusing public services on patients and students, reducing government waste so inflation and interest rates are lower for the people.
“The amazing thing is Chris Hipkins’s changes could all be made without any real person in New Zealand noticing. It may not be long before some of Hipkins’s caucus decide to reorganise him.”
BusinessNZ has welcomed the Government’s commitment to better management of the health system.
BusinessNZ Chief Executive Katherine Rich said a high-functioning health system was critical for enabling New Zealanders to lead healthy, productive lives.
“Getting clear targets for things like GP access and elective surgery wait times, getting better value from health expenditure by working with private sector health providers, and ensuring adequate investment in health infrastructure indicates a serious approach is being taken to this critical sector.
“Successful outcomes for patients is a key consideration where New Zealanders want to see responsible, competent use made of public funding,” Mrs Rich said.
The BusinessNZ Network including BusinessNZ, EMA, Business Central, Business Canterbury and Business South, represents and provides services to thousands of businesses, small and large, throughout New Zealand.
Fire and Emergency New Zealand has declared a prohibited fire season for the Waikato Northern and Coromandel Zones as of 2pm on Friday 7 March, until further notice.
A prohibited fire season means no outdoor fires are allowed and all fire permits are revoked.
Waikato District Manager Daryl Trim says the areas are experiencing less rainfall than usual for this time of year.
“Despite some rain this week, vegetation is very dry across Waikato, especially through the west of the District,” Daryl Trim says.
“With no rain forecast for the next few weeks, these dry conditions are set to continue.
“There were 115 vegetation fires in Waikato in January and February, including the large fire on Black Jack Road in the Coromandel.
“It’s much harder for Fire and Emergency to protect people, property and the environment when the fire danger is so high.”
Daryl Trim asks people to be mindful of the dry conditions and to avoid activities that can generate heat and/or sparks and cause fires.
“Don’t mow the lawns, use power tools, or drive or park vehicles in long dry grass, particularly during the hottest parts of the day,” he says.
“These all have the potential to start a devastating wildfire.”
A new $330,000 funding initiative to help prevent and address alcohol-related harm in New Zealand’s Pacific communities was officially launched today by Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey.
“This is an important milestone for alcohol harm prevention among our Pacific communities. This is the first significant alcohol prevention specific investment in the health system to address alcohol harm in Pacific populations,” Mr Doocey says.
“The new Pacific Strengthening and Innovation Fund aims to provide resources to Pacific communities, to help empower locally-led approaches to prevent alcohol-related harm, joining wider work being done in areas like health and education.
“Hazardous alcohol consumption can cause a lot of harm in our communities. That is why this Government is taking alcohol harm seriously, which is evident by it raising the alcohol levy for the first time in 15 years.
“The Government is committed to addressing alcohol harm and that includes enabling and providing support for locally driven solutions.
The New Zealand Health Survey tells us that despite lower overall alcohol consumption rates, Pacific communities face higher rates of hazardous alcohol consumption and heavy episodic drinking.
“As Minister, I set a goal of increasing investment into prevention and early intervention, focusing on population needs for groups and communities which the new Pacific Strengthening and Innovation Fund will help achieve.
“I am very pleased that dedicated funding is now available for Pacific communities. It joins the many other initiatives that are intended to help people overcome challenges and improve their quality of life, and to support healthier, safer, happier communities.”
The Government’s City and Regional Deals initiative has received a great response from regions across New Zealand, and is now into the assessment stage to determine which regions will be the first to progress towards a deal, Local Government Minister Simon Watts and Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop say. Councils were asked to work together to form regions and to outline, via a light-touch proposal, how a deal of up to five priority projects would unlock economic growth in their area. Regions had until 28 February 2025 to submit their light-touch proposals to the Department of Internal Affairs. “The Government has been clear that driving economic growth is a core focus for our Government with our regions playing a key role in delivering that plan. City and Regional Deals will be relentlessly focused on driving our growth agenda,” Mr Bishop says. “New Zealand has a massive infrastructure deficit. Water pipes are bursting, roads have been falling apart, and there simply aren’t enough houses. Our Government is relentlessly focussed on reducing the infrastructure deficit within this country.” “With a growing population, it is critically important we are delivering the long-term infrastructure we need for growth. City and Regional Deals is designed to help reduce New Zealand’s infrastructure deficit through unlocking productivity, attracting investment, and improving connectivity across the country. “Delivering a joint long-term vision for regions will ensure they remain focused on delivering what matters most to ratepayers, including critical infrastructure like housing and transport.” “The positive response from regions across the country demonstrates the value councils see in the programme and that central and local government agree that through collaboration we can accelerate long-term vision realisation in our regions and cities. This is critical to accelerate economic growth and productivity,” Mr Watts says. “I have made it clear to councils that I expect them to demonstrate how each initiative would connect to other projects and other government priorities, such as Local Water Done Well. I look forward to seeing the details of each proposal.” City and Regional Deals light-touch proposals will now be assessed against the criteria outlined in the strategic framework. The results of the assessment will be provided to Ministers for consideration. The Government will decide which regions progress towards a deal with the intention to have the first deal concluded by the end of 2025. It is expected that three deals will be in place by October 2026. More information about City and Regional Deals can be found at www.dia.govt.nz/Regional-Deals.
NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi advises of the following closures for motorway improvements. Work delayed by bad weather will be completed at the next available date, prior to Friday, 14 March 2025.
Please note this Traffic Bulletin is updated every Friday.
Unless otherwise stated, closures start at 9pm and finish at 5am. Traffic management may be in place before the advertised closure times for the mainline.
NORTHERN MOTORWAY (SH1)
Onewa Road southbound on-ramp, 9-13 March
Stafford Road northbound off-ramp, 9 & 11-13 March
Shelly Beach Road southbound off-ramp, 10 March
Curran Street northbound on-ramp, 9 & 11-13 March
CENTRAL MOTORWAY JUNCTION (CMJ)
None planned
SOUTHERN MOTORWAY (SH1)
Tecoma Street southbound off-ramp, (approx. 8:00am 8 March to 5:00am 10 March 24/7)
Southbound lanes between East Tamaki Road off-ramp and Redoubt Road on-ramp, 13 March (approx. 10:00pm to 5:00am)
East Tamaki Road southbound on-ramp, 13 March
SH1 southbound to SH20 northbound link, 13 March (approx. 10:00pm to 5:00am)
Southbound lanes between Redoubt Road off-ramp and Papakura on-ramp, 11-12 March (approx. 10:00pm to 5:00am)
SH1 southbound to SH20 northbound link, 11-12 March (approx. 10:00pm to 5:00am)
Redoubt Road southbound on-ramp, 11-12 March
Takanini southbound on-ramp, 11-12 March
Northbound lanes between Drury/SH22 off-ramp and Papakura on-ramp, 9-13 March
Drury/SH22 northbound on-ramp, 9-13 March
Drury/SH22 southbound off-ramp, 9 & 13 March
Drury/SH22 southbound on-ramp, 10-13 March
Southbound lanes between Drury/SH22 off-ramp and Bombay on-ramp, 10 March
Drury/SH22 southbound on-ramp, 10 March
Southbound lanes between Nikau Road off-ramp and Nikau Road on-ramp, 9 March (approx. 10:00pm to 5:00am)
Northbound lanes between Ridge Road off-ramp and Nikau Road on-ramp, 9 March (approx. 10:00pm to 5:00am)
Razorback Road southbound off-ramp, 9 March (approx. 10:00pm to 5:00am)
SH1 southbound to SH2 eastbound link, 9 March (approx. 10:00pm to 5:00am)
Northbound lanes between Pokeno off-ramp and Pokeno on-ramp, 9 March
Southbound lanes between Hampton Downs off-ramp and Hampton Downs on-ramp, 10-13 March
Northbound lanes between Hampton Downs off-ramp and Hampton Downs on-ramp, 10-13 March
Dragway Road northbound off-ramp, 10-13 March
NORTHWESTERN MOTORWAY (SH16)
Southbound lanes between Waimauku roundabout and Trigg Road, 9-13 March (approx. 8:00pm to 5:00am)
Northbound lanes between Trigg Road and Waimauku roundabout, 9-13 March (approx. 8:00pm to 5:00am)
UPPER HARBOUR MOTORWAY (SH18)
Eastbound lanes between Tauhinu Road off-ramp and Albany Highway on-ramp, 9-10 & 12-13 March
Greenhithe Road eastbound on-ramp, 9-10 & 12-13 March
SOUTHWESTERN MOTORWAY (SH20)
Northbound lanes between Maioro Street off-ramp and SH16 links (Waterview northbound tunnel closed), 10 March
SH20 northbound to SH16 westbound link, 10 March
SH20 northbound to SH16 eastbound link, 10 March
Maioro Street northbound on-ramp, 10 March
Southbound lanes between Lambie Drive off-ramp and SH1 links, 11-12 March (approx. 10:00pm to 5:00am)
Lambie Drive southbound on-ramp, 11-12 March
SH20 southbound to SH1 northbound link, 11-12 March (approx. 10:00pm to 5:00am)
SH20 southbound to SH1 southbound link, 11-12 March (approx. 10:00pm to 5:00am)
GEORGE BOLT MEMORIAL DRIVE (SH20A)
Kirkbride Road southbound off-ramp, 9-13 March
PUHINUI ROAD (SH20B)
None planned
STATE HIGHWAY 22 (SH22)
None planned
STATE HIGHWAY 2 (SH2)
SH2 westbound to SH1 southbound, 9 March (approx. 10:00pm to 5:00am)
Volcano Watch is a weekly article and activity update written by U.S. Geological SurveyHawaiian Volcano Observatoryscientists and affiliates.
Lava fountains during the 1959 Kīlauea Iki eruption (upper left), 1969 Maunulu eruption (upper right), 1983 Puʻuʻōʻō eruption (lower left), and the ongoing summit eruption in Halemaʻumaʻu (lower right). USGS images.
Even more recently, fissure 8 of the 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption exhibited a continuous lava fountain for over two months. However, the lava fountain at fissure 8 differed from episodic lava fountains occurring recently at Kīlauea summit. The continuous fissure 8 lava fountains were primarily driven by a pressure gradient as magma moved from storage chambers beneath the summit to erupt out of the low-elevation vent on the flank of the volcano.
Episodic lava fountains are driven by changes in pressurization, related to new magma being supplied. As new magma accumulates, the amount of pressure builds. Eventually, lava erupts and de-pressurizes the system. As magma rises to the surface, magmatic gas rapidly exsolves as bubbles—just like when you open a bottle of soda or champagne. This gas is a major driving force of the lava fountaining, and the pieces of lava found around the crater rim are filled with bubbles, resembling a stiff foam.
Many people remember the 1983–2018 middle East Rift Zone of eruption of Puʻuʻōʻō for the accessible lava flows on the coastal plain and ocean entries. But the first three years of the Puʻuʻōʻō eruption were characterized by 44 lava fountaining episodes that built a prominent cinder- and spatter-cone vent standing 835 feet (255 meters) above the surrounding landscape. Lava fountaining episodes during this eruption occurred every 3–4 weeks and lasted about a day. Reaching heights up to 1,500 feet (460 meters), the lava fountains fed lava flows that traveled downslope. Some of the lava flows reached the Royal Gardens subdivision and destroyed several houses.
At the start of the Maunaulu eruption in 1969, twelve lava fountaining episodes occurred in the upper East Rift Zone. Each lava fountaining episode generally lasted for several hours, slowly building in height until a maximum height was reached, after which the fountains died within minutes. Fountains from Maunaulu reached up to 1,770 feet (540 meters). Lava flows fed by Maunaulu fountains traveled downslope, once going more than 12 miles (7.5 kilometers) to eventually enter the ocean.
The short but spectacular Kīlauea Iki eruption occurred in the crater just northeast of Kaluapele, the summit caldera. From November 14 to December 20, 1959, there were 17 episodes of lava fountaining that filled in the Kīlauea Iki Crater with 440 feet (135 meters) of lava. The longest episode was 6 days and episode 15 of the eruption included the highest lava fountains yet measured on Kīlauea, reaching staggering heights of 1,900 feet (580 meters). These high lava fountains built the prominent Puʻupuaʻi cinder cone, which you can view on the Devastation Trail in Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park.
Hazards associated with lava fountaining include the fallout materials (termed tephra), volcanic gas emissions, and lava flows. Tephra generally accumulates in the area immediately downwind of the vent and can build features such as cinder cones. Changes in wind direction and speeds can result in these particles being wafted greater distances to impact nearby communities. Like all eruptions, increased volcanic gas emissions associated with lava fountains creates volcanic air pollution (vog), which affects regions downwind. When lava fountain events occur on the flanks, they feed lava flows that travel downslope, and destroy everything in their path.
The ongoing eruption is occurring within Halemaʻumaʻu, with lava flows contained in the summit caldera. Trade winds transport tephra and gas emissions to the southwest, away from the closest communities, but changes in wind conditions may result in Pele’s Hair and vog in areas that include Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park and nearby communities.
Lava fountains in the ongoing Kīlauea summit eruption haven’t reached “high” fountain heights of over 1,000 feet (305 meters). So far, there have been 12 episodes of lava fountaining in the ongoing Kīlauea summit eruption—the same number as Maunaulu. Continuing inflation suggests this eruption will likely continue, but whether it catches up to Kīlauea Iki or Puʻuʻōʻō, in terms of the number of episodes or fountain heights, remains to be seen.
Volcano Activity Updates
Kīlauea has been erupting episodically within the summit caldera since December 23, 2024. Its USGS Volcano Alert level is WATCH.
The summit eruption at Kīlauea volcano that began in Halemaʻumaʻu crater on December 23 continued over the past week, with one eruptive episode. Episode 12 was active from the morning of March 4 until the morning of March 5. Kīlauea summit has been inflating since episode 11 ended, suggesting that another eruptive episode is possible. Sulfur dioxide emission rates are elevated in the summit region during active eruption episodes. No unusual activity has been noted along Kīlauea’s East Rift Zone or Southwest Rift Zone.
Mauna Loa is not erupting. Its USGS Volcano Alert Level is at NORMAL.
Four earthquakes were reported felt in the Hawaiian Islands during the past week: a M3.2 earthquake 11 km (6 mi) S of Hala‘ula at 20 km (12 mi) depth on March 4 at 3:00 p.m. HST, a M3.0 earthquake 6 km (3 mi) ENE of Honoka‘a at -1 km (0 mi) depth on March 2 at 4:25 a.m. HST, a M3.6 earthquake 31 km (19 mi) SSW of Hana at 29 km (18 mi) depth on March 1 at 7:34 p.m. HST, and a M3.0 earthquake 12 km (7 mi) SSE of Fern Forest at 7 km (4 mi) depth on March 1 at 7:19 p.m. HST.
HVO continues to closely monitor Kīlauea and Mauna Loa.
Please visit HVO’s website for past Volcano Watch articles, Kīlauea and Mauna Loa updates, volcano photos, maps, recent earthquake information, and more. Email questions to askHVO@usgs.gov.
PERTH, Australia, March 06, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Canyon Resources Limited (ASX: CAY) (‘Canyon’ or the ‘Company’) is pleased to announce that the Board of CAMRAIL SA (‘Camrail’) has approved Total Energies Marketing Cameroun SA (‘Total Cameroon’) and Societe d’Exploitation des Bois du Cameroun (‘SEBC’) to enter into two share sale agreements with the Company’s wholly owned in-country subsidiary Camalco Cameroon SA (‘Camalco’). The agreements will see Camalco acquire a strategic 9.1% investment in Camrail as well as secure a position on the Camrail Board upon the completion of the two acquisitions.
Camalco acquired a 3.8% equity interest in Camrail from SEBC for an upfront cash consideration of XAF 575,700,000 (approximately A$1.4 million) and this unconditional acquisition was completed on the 28th of February 2025. Camalco will separately acquire a 5.3% equity interest in Camrail from Total Cameroon for an upfront cash consideration of XAF 812,850,000 (approximately A$2.0 million). Completion of this acquisition from Total Cameroon is subject to the remaining condition precedent of internal approval by the Apex Committee of Total Cameroon, which is expected to be completed by the end of March 2025. The total consideration of approximately A$3.4 million for the 9.1% holding in Camrail will be paid from the Company’s existing cash reserves.
Establishing and accessing a transport network within the region, notably within the mine and from mine-to-port is a key focus area for Canyon, and the execution of these agreements and investment in Camrail which operates Cameroon’s rail network (refer to Image 1), has further de-risked the Company’s position in securing and optimising the logistics solution for its world-class, flagship Minim Martap Bauxite Project (‘Minim Martap’ or ‘the Project’).
Minim Martap ranks among the world’s richest bauxite deposits, with an Ore Reserve of 109Mt at 51.1% Al2O3 and 2.0% SiO2 and a JORC Mineral Resource Estimate of 1,027Mt at 45.3% Al2O3.
Mr Jean-Sebastien Boutet, Canyon Chief Executive Officer commented: “This investment in Camrail is a major milestone for Canyon, as we continue to work on establishing an optimal logistics plan for the Minim Martap Project
“Minim Martap is a standout, tier-one bauxite project, which Canyon believes has all the required characteristics to become a long-term, low-cost operation, supplying a high-quality product into a growing and constrained market. To unlock the significant value potential of Minim Martap, Canyon has been focused on progressing and completing key discussions with with Ministry of Mines, Ministry of Transport, the Port Authority of Douala, Camrail and other relevant authorities to sign agreements for rail and port and secure logistics support.
“We welcome the Board of Camrail’s approval of the 9.1% stake sale previously held by Total Energy and SEBC, to Camalco and look forward to working alongside the current shareholders in Camrail, State of Cameroon and Africa Global Logistics.
“This acquisition is a significant step forward in gaining access to rail infrastructure and delivering on our logistics objectives in the first half of 2025, and I would like to take the time to recognise the ongoing hard efforts of the Canyon team as we rapidly develop Minim Martap towards production.”
Image 1:Camrail transport route (source: http://www.camrail.net/)
This announcement has been approved for release by the Canyon’s Board of Directors.
Forward looking statements
This announcement contains forward-looking statements. These statements can be identified by words such as “anticipate”, “may”, “will”, “expect”, “intend”, “estimate”, “opportunity”, “plan”, “potential”, “project”, “seek”, “believe”, “could”, “future” and other similar words that involve risks and uncertainties. These statements are based on an assessment of present economic and operating conditions, and on a number of assumptions regarding future events and actions that are expected to take place. Such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other important factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company, its directors and management that could cause the Company’s actual results to differ materially from the results expressed or anticipated in these statements.
The Company cannot and does not give any assurance that the results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements contained in this announcement will actually occur and investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake to update or revise forward-looking statements, regardless of whether any new information, future events or any other factors affect the information contained in this announcement, except where required by applicable law and ASX requirements.
Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves
The information in this announcement that relates to the Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves at the Minim Martap Bauxite Project has been extracted from the ASX releases by Canyon entitled ‘Minim Martap Mineral Resource Estimate upgrade adds Measured Resource’ dated 11 May 2021, and ‘Positive BFS for Canyon’s Minim Martap Bauxite Project’ dated 21 June 2022, available at www.canyonresources.com.au and www.asx.com (Canyon Releases). Canyon confirms that it is not aware of any new information or data that materially affects the information included in the Canyon Releases and that all material assumptions and technical parameters underpinning the estimates in the Canyon Releases continue to apply and have not materially changed.
Some 50 years ago, on March 1 1975, Australian television stations officially moved to colour.
Networks celebrated the day, known as “C-Day”, with unique slogans such as “come to colour” (ABC TV), “Seven colours your world” (Seven Network), “living colour” (Nine Network) and “first in colour” (0-10 Network, which later became Network Ten). The ABC, Seven and Nine networks also updated their logos to incorporate colour.
For most viewers, however, nothing looked much different. The majority owned a black and white TV, while a coloured broadcast required a colour TV set.
Advertisers were initially reluctant to accept the change, which required them to re-shoot black and white commercials with colour stock at a significantly higher cost.
Many reasoned viewers were still watching the ads in black and white. And initially this assumption was correct. But by nine months later, 17% of Australian homes had a colour receiver. This rose to 31% by July 1976.
By 1978, 64% of Melbourne and 70% of Sydney households owned colour TV sets, making Australia one of the world’s fastest adopters of colour TV.
According to the Federation of Australian Commercial Television Stations (FACTS) annual report for 1975–76, colour TV increased overall viewership by 5%, with people watching for longer periods.
The 1976 Montreal Olympics also led to an increase in TV sales, with the colour broadcast shared between the ABC, Seven and Nine.
Highlights from the Montreal 1976 Olympic Games marathon event.
A late start
With the United States introducing colour TV from 1954, it’s peculiar that Australia took so long to make the transition – especially since conversations about this had been underway since the 1960s.
In 1965, a report outlining the process and economic considerations of transitioning to colour was tabled in parliament.
Feedback from the US highlighted problems around broader acceptance in the marketplace. Colour TV sets were expensive and most programs were still being shot in black and white, despite the availability of colour.
Networks were the most hesitant (even though they’d go on to become one of the most major benefactors). In 1969, it was estimated transitioning to colour would cost the ABC A$46 million (the equivalent of $265,709,944 today) over six years.
The federal government, led by then prime minister Robert Menzies, decided to take a cautious approach to the transition – allowing manufacturers, broadcasters and the public time to prepare.
The first colour “test” broadcast took place on June 15 1967, with live coverage of a Pakenham country horse racing event in Victoria (although few people would have had coloured TV sets at this point).
Other TV shows also tested broadcasting in colour between 1972 and 1974, with limited colour telecasts aired from mid-1974. It wasn’t until March 1975 that colour TV was being transmitted permanently.
‘Aunty Jack Introduces Colour’ was a one-off television special of The Aunty Jack Show, broadcast on the ABC on February 28 1975.
The cinema industry panics
Australia’s involvement in the Vietnam War created further urgency to televise in colour. With the war ending in April 1975, Australians watched the last moments in colour.
Other significant events broadcast in colour that year included the December federal election, in which Malcolm Fraser defeated Gough Whitlam after the latter was dramatically dismissed as prime minister on November 11.
With the public’s growing interest in colour TV, local manufacturers began lobbying for higher tariffs on imports to encourage domestic colour TV production.
In the mid 1970s, a new colour set in Australia cost between $1,000 and $1,300, while the average full-time annual income was around $8,000. Still in the throes of a financial recession, customers began seeking out illegally-imported colour TV sets – which were appearing at car boot markets across the country.
British childrens show The Wombles came to Australian screens shortly after colour TV was introduced.
The government also created an advertising campaign warning the public of scammers who would offer to convert black-and-white TVs to colour. These door-to-door “salesmen” claimed to have a special screen which, when placed over a TV, would magically turn it colourful.
By 1972, the estimated cost of upgrading broadcasting technology to colour had reached $116 million. The cinema industry, in a panic, even questioned whether colour TV could damage a viewer’s eyesight.
The industry had previously suffered huge losses in cinema attendance with the introduction of black-and-white TV from 1956. Cinemas had a monopoly on colour and were petrified over what the introduction of colour to television could do to their attendances.
Such fears were founded. In 1974 Australia had 68 million admissions to the cinema. By 1976, there were just 28.9 million admissions. Never again would yearly cinema admissions reach above 40 million.
But despite the complaints – from the cinema industry, advertisers, broadcasters and manufacturers – audiences were ready for colour. And any network that dared to program in black and white would subject itself to a barrage of annoyed viewers.
Colour TV was here to stay.
Stephen Gaunson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: United States Senator for Nevada Cortez Masto
Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) and Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) reintroduced the Promoting Agriculture Safeguards and Security (PASS) Act, bipartisan legislation to ban individuals and entities controlled by China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea from purchasing agricultural land and businesses located near U.S. military installations or sensitive sites. The PASS Act is cosponsored by Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) and Senators John Hoeven (R-N.D.) and Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.).
“Nevada is home to many sensitive sites that are critical to our national security,” said Senator Cortez Masto. “It is common sense that we should not allow our foreign adversaries to buy agricultural land next to these locations. This bipartisan bill will keep Nevadans safe and protect American national security.”
“Our near-peer adversaries such as China are looking for any possible opportunity to surveil our nation’s capabilities and resources,” said Senator Rounds. “One example occurred in 2021 when the Fufeng Group purchased 300 acres of land in North Dakota, located near the Grand Forks Air Force Base. We can’t risk this happening again. The PASS Act would prevent entities of foreign adversaries from purchasing agricultural land and businesses near our military bases and sensitive sites. I am hopeful that with President Trump’s recent National Security Presidential Memorandum on this issue, we can finally get it across the finish line.”
Specifically, the PASS Act would:
Ban purchases of agricultural land near military installations and sensitive sites by individuals/entities controlled by North Korea, China, Russia and Iran.
Make the Secretary of Agriculture a voting member of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) for transactions involving the purchase of agricultural land, biotechnology, and any other transaction related to the agriculture industry in the United States.
Give the U.S. Department of Agriculture the ability to refer cases to CFIUS for review if there is reason to believe an agriculture land transaction may raise a national security concern.
The full text of the bill can be found here.
Senator Cortez Masto has consistently advocated for strengthening American national security and standing up to our foreign adversaries. She recently introduced legislation to promote innovative businesses in direct competition with Communist China. Earlier this year, she introduced the HONOR Act to prevent businesses from claiming a foreign tax credit or deduction against taxes paid to fund the Russian government’s war machine. Cortez Masto has also led legislation to strengthen American partnership with Pacific Island nations to counter growing Chinese influence in the region.
Source: United States Senator for Nevada Cortez Masto
Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) joined 31 of her Senate colleagues in a letter led by Senators Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) and Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) to Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum demanding that they continue legal services for unaccompanied children caught up in the immigration system as required by law.
Earlier this month, the Trump Administration issued a stop work order to organizations that provide legal services for unaccompanied children. Last week, following public pressure, the order was rescinded.
“Pausing or terminating the provision of legal services to unaccompanied children under this contract runs directly counter to the requirements of the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) and places 26,000 unaccompanied children at increased risk of trafficking, exploitation, and other harm,” wrote the Senators. “The TVPRA, passed by Congress in 2008 on a bipartisan basis, requires the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to ensure, to the greatest extent practicable, that all unaccompanied children have counsel to represent them in legal proceedings and protect them from mistreatment, exploitation, and trafficking.”
According to a report by the Guardian this month, the organizations affected by the previous stop work order provide legal counsel for around 26,000 unaccompanied minors.
“Cutting off access to legal services makes it more likely that the government will lose track of unaccompanied children, given the challenges such children would face in independently appearing for immigration court hearings, submitting address updates, or otherwise communicating with immigration authorities,” continued the Senators. “Not only will this make children more vulnerable to trafficking, but it will also create further inefficiencies in an already backlogged immigration court system.”
Read the full letter here.
The first and only Latina senator, Senator Cortez Masto has consistently supported immigrant communities in Nevada, calling on both administrations to protect TPS holders and other immigrants, as well as leading commonsense legislation to fix our broken immigration system. Cortez Masto joined Senator Rosen (D-Nev.) in introducing the Born in the USA Act to effectively block the implementation of President Trump’s unconstitutional Executive Order attempting to end automatic citizenship for children born in the United States. She has worked to pass meaningful immigration reform that balances critical border security measures with a path to citizenship for Dreamers, TPS holders, and essential workers, and she’s pushed legislation to allow Dreamers and TPS holders to work in Congress.
The opposition wants to call time on letting public servants work from home. In a speech to the Menzies Research Institute this week, shadow public service minister Jane Hume said, if elected, a Coalition government would require public servants in the office five days a week:
While work from home arrangements can work, in the case of the [Australian Public Service], it has become a right that is creating inefficiency.
Hume said Labor had given public servants a “blank cheque” to work from home, creating an “unsustainable” system that was no longer working.
She stressed that exceptions “can and will be made”, but only “where they work for everyone rather than be enforced on teams by an individual”.
Few workplace issues have drawn such heated debate as whether people should be allowed to work from home. The Coalition’s latest election promise, with parallels to a similar move by Donald Trump in the United States, has brought these questions back into the spotlight.
What impact do work from home arrangements have, not only on performance and productivity but also employee wellbeing? Is it really wise to reverse course?
Our research has examined these questions in detail – and we’ve found a changing picture.
We have examined the impacts of working from home on staff performance and productivity in Australian workplaces as part of the Australian Workplace Index, surveying 2,932 Australian employees across 2022 and 2024.
This is a research collaboration project between Australian National University and University of Newcastle.
An Australian Workplace Index 2022 working paper (which has not been peer-reviewed) actually suggested working from home was linked with a number of negative impacts.
In 2022, we saw that compared to those who didn’t, employees who worked from home three to four days a week experienced lower wellbeing, higher depression and anxiety, and higher loneliness.
They also experienced more administrative hassles, higher pressure to meet targets and increased levels of conflict with supervisors and colleagues.
We found working from home was also associated with a reduction in staff productivity, job-target performance and an increase in staff turnover intentions.
A changing picture
We have recently completed analysis for a similar study based on data from 2024, to be published in an upcoming working paper. And it paints a very different picture.
We found the negative impacts of working from home, originally found in 2022, had reversed in 2024.
In the most recent 2024 Australian Workplace Index employment data, we see no significant difference in productivity between employees who work from home and those in the office.
In fact, the latest data suggest numerous benefits.
For example, staff who worked from home one or more days a week had 9.9% more autonomy in how they carried out their work. Those with higher job autonomy were up to 16.8% more productive in their work when compared to those with low job autonomy.
We found staff who work from home also save on average 100 minutes in commuting time each day.
But on top of this, staff who worked from home one or more days a week were 10.6% less burnt out from work compared to those who never did, and had reported lower intention to quit their jobs.
This positive trend likely reflects investment by employers in improving support for staff who work from home.
In 2024, we found a majority of organisations (69%) now had a work-from-home policy in place.
There was also an increase in the physical, technological and psychological infrastructure support available to staff who work from home. For example:
Physical: 82% of staff have a dedicated workspace, 93% have their own desk, and 93% have air conditioning.
Technological: 85% of staff have access to IT support, 94% have access to collaborative technology and 95% have internet access.
Psychological: 80% of staff have access to psychological support from their supervisor and 72% have access to counselling services.
Importantly, employees still value the opportunity highly. Our 2024 data show 38% of Australian employees chose to work from home for 50% or more of their work hours.
32% of Australian employees would prefer to exclusively work from home, 41% prefer a hybrid option, while 27% prefer to work exclusively from the office.
Christina Boedker has received research grant funding from the University of Newcastle’s RSP Stimulus Funding Scheme and from The Australian National University for this research project.
Kieron Meagher received research grant funding from the University of Newcastle’s RSP Stimulus Funding Scheme and from The Australian National University for this research project.
Aeson Luiz Dela Cruz does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: United States Senator for Alaska Dan Sullivan
03.06.25
WASHINGTON—U.S. Senators Dan Sullivan and Lisa Murkowski (both R-Alaska) have re-introduced legislation to extend the Alaska Native Vietnam-Era Veterans Land Allotment Program for five additional years. Without such an extension, the program will expire in December 2025 and potentially leave well over a thousand eligible Alaska Native Vietnam veterans and their heirs without their rightful land allotments.
“While serving their country during the Vietnam War era, many Alaska Native veterans missed the deadline to apply for their legally entitled land allotment—an injustice that we are still working to fix nearly 70 years later,” said Senator Sullivan. “I’ve been working on this issue since I came into office. In 2019, President Trump signed into law a major lands package led by Senator Murkowski that included an allotment program I authored with a five-year window to apply. Unfortunately, throughout the implementation of this program, the Biden administration callously threw up endless regulatory hurdles and delays, dramatically limited the lands available for selection, and ended up delivering allotments to about 40 Alaskans out of more than 2,000 eligible veterans. We are reintroducing this legislation to extend this program and finally secure these land allotments for our courageous veterans who sacrificed greatly on behalf of our country. I look forward to working with the Trump administration to see this legislation signed into law and successfully implemented to fix this historic injustice and honor our Vietnam veterans’ heroic service.”
“As thousands of Alaska Natives served our nation during the Vietnam War, they missed their opportunity to select the land allotments they are rightfully owed,” Senator Murkowski said. “With roughly 150 veterans remaining to be notified, and the pace of allotment certifications slower than we hoped it would be, an extension has become necessary—especially as we push to open additional lands closer to where many of these veterans and their families actually live.”
The Alaska Native Vietnam-Era Veterans Land Allotment Program was established through a Sullivan-Murkowski provision in Murkowski’s 2019 lands package. The program has enabled thousands of Alaska Native veterans to apply for their congressionally-pledged land allotments, which can range from 2.5 to 160 acres, on certain Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands in Alaska.
As of February 13, 2025, BLM Alaska reported that it has received 453 applications for allotments and completed certifications for 41 of them. Hundreds of eligible veterans and their heirs—especially those who live in southeast, western, and northern Alaska—have not submitted applications because no lands are available within hundreds of miles of their place of residence or ancestral homelands.
Timeline:
In 1906, Congress passed a law allowing Alaska Native individuals to acquire 160-acre parcels of land.
In 1971, at a time when many Alaska Native men were serving in the military during the Vietnam War, the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) extinguished the 1906 allotment rights.
In 1998, the Alaska congressional delegation secured legislation to partially fix the injustice of Alaska Native veterans who missed the chance to apply for an allotment. However, due to certain restrictions, only about 500 veterans ultimately applied out more than 3,000 who were eligible.
On February 12, 2019, the Senate passed Sen. Murkowski’s S.47, the National Resources Management Act, including a Sen. Sullivan provision to establish the Alaska Native Vietnam Veteran Land Allotment Program. The late Congressman Don Young (R-Alaska) shepherded the legislation through the House.
On March 12, 2019, President Donald Trump signed S.47, and the Trump administration began working on its implementation.
In January 2021, then-Interior Secretary David Bernhardt signed the revocation of 11 outdated public land orders (PLOs) issued in 1972 and 1973 that were put in place to allow Alaska Native Corporations to select lands promised to them by Congress 50 years ago. This important step allowed for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to revoke the PLOs.
In 2021, Senator Sullivan met twice with Secretary Haaland prior to her confirmation vote to be the Secretary of Interior. In both meetings, she committed to rapidly implement the Alaska Native Vietnam Veteran Land Allotment Program. She subsequently refused to follow through on this commitment.
In February 2021, members of the Alaska congressional delegation condemned the Biden administration Department of the Interior’s (DOI) action to postpone the revocation of PLOs signed by former Interior Secretary Bernhardt.
In April 2021, in a unilateral and unnecessary action, the BLM postponed the PLO revocations, requiring further environmental analysis on five public land orders with a two-year stay on the implementation of the PLO revocations.
On May 7, 2021, Sen. Sullivan and Gov. Mike Dunleavy (R-Alaska) penned an op-ed in the Juneau Empire outlining the State of Alaska’s legislative effort to make state lands available to eligible Alaska Native veterans.
In June 2021, Sens. Sullivan and Murkowski introduced legislation to amend the Alaska Native Vietnam Veteran Land Allotment Program and make an additional 3.7 million acres of federal land in the National Wildlife Refuge System available for selection.
On April 18, 2022, Sens. Sullivan and Murkowski sent a letter to Secretary Haaland urging her to lift the PLOs that would make over 28 million acres of federal land available for selection by eligible veterans or their heirs.
On April 21, 2022, Sen. Sullivan disputed Secretary Haaland’s claim that she is “[moving] expeditiously to deliver on [her] promise” to Alaska Native Vietnam-era veterans as she accepted a “Finding of No Significant Impact” (FONSI) from the acting Alaska BLM director on the Environmental Assessment (EA) for the Alaska Native Vietnam Veteran Land Allotment Program.
In February 2023, Sens. Sullivan and Murkowski reintroduced S.175, legislation to codify the revocation of the five PLOs signed during the Trump administration and undoing the Biden administration’s efforts to unfairly halt access to federal public lands in Alaska.
In April 2023, Sen. Sullivan condemned Interior Secretary Deb Haaland’s decision to order a new full environmental impact statement (EIS), which delays the implementation of the allotment program even further.
On August 10, 2023, Sen. Sullivan criticized Secretary Haaland’s announcement of a PLO to open about 812,000 additional acres of public lands managed by BLM Alaska for selection, noting that the “new” land has already been spoken for by the state, and the decision will result in more delays and legal hurdles for eligible veterans.
In February 2024, Sens. Sullivan and Murkowski introduced S.3790, which would extend the program for another five years before its expiration in December 2025. The bill passed the Senate by unanimous consent on the final day of the 118th Congress, but did not clear the House of Representatives.
Source: Australian Government – Antarctic Division
This is the first of our weekly updates on the science and shipboard activities happening on the Denman Marine Voyage, a 60-day collaborative science voyage to the Denman Glacier region. There are about 60 scientists on board, and they’re already hard at work.
RSV Nuyina has been at sea for almost a week and is expected to reach the target area in the next few days. It’s been rough at times but the crew and science groups have managed to get a fair bit done, deploying argo and BGC floats, the Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) and Moving Vessel Profiler (MVP). The eDNA team has been sampling the moon pool for invasive species and phytoplankton, wet well operations have begun and radiosonde air chemistry and modelling are being done by the atmospheric team, with twice daily balloon releases. Daily science talks are being held on subjects like biogeochemistry (BGC), seal tagging, physical oceanography and sediments. Over the next few days there will be more talks on krill and their diets, benthic trawling and atmospherics. Some of the teams have switched to their shifts as they prepare for 24-hour operations. There’s now a meal at midnight and plenty of food options, including curry at breakfast and eggs and bacon ready for lunch. In a surprise turn, unofficial Antarctic mascot, Stay – the Guide Dog’s Tasmania collection dog – has turned up! (She was last spotted at Mawson research station). As usual, she came from nowhere and took a star turn on the bridge before disappearing again. You can find out more about Stay, the Antarctic enigma, here. Air temp: 2°C, Sea temp: 3°C, Wind speed: 5.8kts, Significant wave height: 2.43m, Distance to Hobart: 1518nm
Hobart Burnie Casey Davis Mawson Macquarie Island Denman Glacier Bunger Hills Dome C Heard Island Fremantle
RSV Nuyina
Voyage track of the RSV Nuyina over the last 10 weeks, from 28 December 2024 to 7 March 2025
To find out more, visit our website. The Denman Marine Voyage is a collaboration between the Australian Centre for Excellence in Antarctic Research (ACEAS), the Australian Antarctic Program Partnership (AAPP), Securing Antarctica’s Environmental Future (SAEF) and the Australian Antarctic Division. This content was last updated 12 hours ago on 7 March 2025.
