New York, New York, June 02, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Univest Securities, LLC (“Univest”), a premier boutique full-service investment bank and securities broker-dealer firm based in New York, is pleased to announce that it will be participating as a Platinum Sponsor in the upcoming Japan GO IPO Summit, set to take place on June 5, 2025. This premier event brings together leading experts, investors, and industry leaders to discuss the latest trends and opportunities in the US IPO landscape.
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For more information about the Japan GO IPO Summit and Univest’ involvement, please visit the event website: https://japangoipo.com/.
About Univest Securities, LLC
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Grant Duncan, Teaching Fellow in Politics and International Relations, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau
Imagine getting a positive pregnancy test and then – just a few days later – learning you’ll be prime minister. In hindsight, being willing and able to deal with the unexpected would become the hallmark of former New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern’s political career.
She had always stood out as a leader, but her tumultuous political journey followed none of the predictable pathways. Readers of her memoir will relive what this was like, from her feelings about motherhood through to meeting world leaders.
Review: A Different Kind of Power – Jacinda Ardern (Penguin Random House)
The title of her book promises more than just that, however. Many people hope for a different kind of leader, but what personal qualities or strengths do such leaders need? More generally, can the personal qualities that contribute to great leadership be learned and applied by others?
The answer seems to be a qualified yes. Since leaving office, Ardern has become something of a global influencer. But as her career pivots towards celebrity appearances and international agencies, her memoir also serves as a leadership manifesto – especially for women, or aspirants of any gender, who suffer self-doubt.
The limits of empathy
In her formative years, working as an assistant to Labour leader Helen Clark, Ardern relates how she let political opponents get under her skin. Was she “too thin-skinned” for politics? She soon learned “you could be sensitive and survive”. Better still, she could use her sensitivity as a strength.
But “it is different for women in the public eye”, she writes. Derogatory terms were used against her, such as the “show pony” epithet coined by a senior woman journalist. There were questions about whether she had “substance”. These things could undermine people’s belief in her competence – perhaps even her own self-belief.
What she did about this is instructive. Lashing out at jibes and cartoon images would make her look “humourless and too sensitive”. The “trick” was to respond in a way that would “take the story nowhere”. She became adept at that, deflecting comments aimed at putting her down.
This also meant being a feminist but not using feminism as her ideological platform. Other than admonishing a TV presenter that it was “unacceptable” for him to ask whether a sitting prime minister could take maternity leave, she generally let others do the outrage and avoided becoming an even bigger target for culture warriors.
But A Different Kind of Power asks the question: different from what? Ardern’s political career has been a challenge, if not a rebuke, to leaders who indulge in egotistical, competitive, always-be-winning behaviour. Need one even mention Donald Trump?
Instead, Ardern offers kindness and empathy. The approach showed its true strength in the days following the terrorist atrocity in Christchurch in 2019. At a time when anti-immigrant and Islamophobic sentiments were growing, Ardern embraced the victims. “They are us”, she declared. Emotions that could have generated a cycle of blame were guided by her towards sharing of grief and aroha.
Like any political virtue, though, empathy has limitations: it touches those whose suffering commands our attention, but it is partial. Effective social policy also requires an impartial administration and redistribution of resources. Leaders must ensure public goods are delivered equitably to those in need, which calls for rational planning.
And sometimes a national emergency may call for actions that feel unfair or insensitive to some.
Pandemic politics
COVID-19 was that emergency. It created deep uncertainty for governments, and there was no “kind” pathway forward. The Ardern government did an exemplary job, saving many lives, and the Labour Party was rewarded at the 2020 election with an unprecedented 50% of the party vote. But Ardern’s retelling of that time is surprisingly brief, especially given her pivotal role.
She put herself daily at the centre of it all, patiently explaining the public health responses. During this battle with a virus, however, she couldn’t inoculate against the political consequences and shifts in public opinion.
As the pandemic wore on, many New Zealanders whose businesses had been shut down, who had been isolated in their homes, who had difficulty returning home from abroad or who’d been ostracised for not getting vaccinated, weren’t feeling much empathy or kindness from their government. And they felt they were being silenced. This sentiment grew far beyond the activists who had made themselves heard on parliament grounds in early 2022.
Ardern refused to meet with those protestors. “How could I send a message that if you disagree with something, you can illegally occupy the grounds of parliament and then have your demands met?”
But she (or a senior minister) could have heard their demands and explained why they couldn’t be met. Her refusal to listen left the field open to veteran populist Winston Peters, who exploited the opportunity, launching his campaign to return to parliament – in which he now sits and Ardern doesn’t.
While vaccine mandates were a key concern for protestors, it’s disappointing that, to this day, Ardern blames the dissenters, as if they were “not us” – kicked out of the “team of five million”. She attributes the dissent solely to their “mistrust”. Refusing to listen – not just to protestors, but to deeper shifts in public opinion – would cost Labour dearly.
Induced by the pandemic fiscal stimulus, inflation peaked at 7.3% in June 2022. By that time, two switches had occurred: the National Party was ahead in polls and a majority were saying the country was heading in the wrong direction. In January 2023, then, Ardern resigned as prime minister. She believed, probably correctly, that it would be “good for my party and perhaps it would be good for the election”.
Power and parenthood: Jacinda Ardern with her partner Clarke Gayford and their baby daughter, 2018. Getty Images
The toll of leadership
But she also reveals in her memoir that a cancer scare influenced the decision – a false alarm, but a sign perhaps that the job was taking its toll. Her leaving could “take the heat out of the politics”, she reasoned. And anyway, she was tired, stressed and losing her patience.
The leadership change to Chris Hipkins – and a devastating cyclone – boosted Labour’s polling for a while. But their 1,443,545 party votes in 2020 fell to 767,540 in the October 2023 election.
Hundreds of thousands of voters had turned their backs on the Labour Party, and the COVID response wasn’t solely to blame. There were also controversial or failed policies – such as restructuring water services, a proposed unemployment insurance scheme, and Māori co-governance initiatives – that were ruthlessly exploited by the political opposition. These were all initiated under Ardern, although unmentioned in her memoir.
Her book is more about subjective self-doubt and empathy. She doesn’t critically examine her own policies. Nor does she express empathy for those who felt disadvantaged or excluded by them – granting as always that emergency measures had been necessary. And, as she heads further into an international career, there’s no expression of empathy for those who now need it most, be they children in Gaza or refugees in South Sudan.
It’s disappointing Ardern doesn’t define key words: empathy, leadership or power, for example. There are different ways to understand them, and definitions carry assumptions. But she’s not addressing academics or political analysts. Her audience is primarily American – a much larger and more lucrative market than her home country. With the Democrats struggling to find direction and leadership after last year’s losses, Ardern – who poses no threat to anyone’s political ambitions there – offers some inspiration.
Some may fault it for avoiding those harder questions about her time at the top, but Ardern’s memoir interweaves an authentically retold personal story with high political drama. It tells of one woman’s struggle with morning sickness, childbirth, breastfeeding and motherhood, even while taking on huge public responsibilities and media exposure. It’s still amazing how she managed to do all that.
I was a personal acquaintance of Jacinda, when she was a list MP in Auckland Central.
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
People in traditional Chinese costumes take part in a celebration of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month in New York, the United States, on June 1, 2025. (Photo by Qin Mingwei/Xinhua)
A parade was held in Manhattan, New York City (NYC), to celebrate the traditional culture of Asian Americans on Sunday, drawing hundreds of participants and spectators.
The celebration was hosted by the Chinese-American organization Better Chinatown Society, as part of national celebrations of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, which is observed in May in the United States.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams, Chinese Consul General in New York Chen Li, and representatives from the Better Chinatown Society addressed the crowd, emphasizing the importance of cultural exchange and community empowerment for Asian and Chinese Americans.
The celebration plays a positive role in uniting community members in the United States to defend their rights, spread culture and strengthen the friendship between the United States and China, and other global countries, according to Chen.
“We should uphold the spirit of openness and inclusiveness, respect different systems, develop international people exchanges and cooperation and work together to build a community with a shared future,” Chen noted.
The national anthems of China and the United States were played during the event, stirring patriotic feelings among the audience from diverse backgrounds.
The performers showcased lion dances, Sichuan opera face-changing and Cantonese singing, drawing rounds of applause.
The event attracted thousands of citizens to line the streets and watch. Norma Anderson, a visitor from Sacramento, California, said she was particularly impressed by the lion dance and the variety of traditional Chinese costumes.
“Every era and region in China and Asia has different clothing, which is so beautiful and amazing,” said Anderson.
Jimmy Li, a Chinese American who lives in Flushing, NYC, said the celebration reminded him of his hometown.
“I’m an immigrant from Guangdong, and hearing Cantonese songs in New York moved me to tears,” Li said. “This is cultural transmission.”
This is the fourth Asian Heritage parade held in New York. May was officially designated AAPI Heritage Month in 1992 in the United States.
The month-long observance provides an opportunity to celebrate and recognize the AAPI community’s contributions to American culture, society and history over the centuries.
Lion dances are staged in celebration of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month in New York, the United States, on June 1, 2025. (Photo by Qin Mingwei/Xinhua)
This abuse in elite sport sport has been particularly visible but it is not just happening at the top level. Abusive and harmful practices are happening in all sports, at all ages and at all competition levels.
While sport can have many wonderful benefits for young people, it can also have a dark side, one where abuse can flourish, leading to serious psychological and physical harm.
A 2022 Australian study showed 82% of children had experienced physical, psychological or sexual abuse during their time participating in community sport. This makes the abuse prevalence similar to that found in elite sport environments.
The line between abuse and acceptable behaviour is blurred more in sport than in many other environments.
For example, in school, it would be unacceptable for a teacher to scream at a child who performed poorly on a test but in sports, screaming is a commonly used strategy by a coach to correct a young athlete’s behaviour.
The following quote from an elite-level gymnast in an ongoing research project demonstrates how athletes often learn to accept abusive behaviours as necessary for their performance:
(He) was a strict coach. He spoke loudly […] but I’m a gymnast, I need that. I don’t know if everybody needs that but if I did something really bad, he screamed at me and this kind of gave me motivation to push myself more, so for me this type of coaching style was really good.
Challenges and changes
The “win-at-all-costs” mentality in many sports is also problematic.
When winning is everything, abusive practices are not seen as a problem to be stamped out but rather as legitimate strategies to motivate and toughen up the participants.
Athletes are not the only ones who normalise these practices. Parents, coaches and administrators might also come to tolerate, accept or even celebrate abusive behaviours and cultures as a “natural” part of sport.
This means experiences of abuse may flourish in such environments.
Thankfully, some sports organisations have in recent years made significant changes to reduce the likelihood of abuse and deal with cases as soon as they arise.
Sport Integrity Australia (SIA), for example, is implementing national policies for safeguarding and whistleblowing, where abuse and harmful behaviour can be reported.
SIA has also recently co-developed a course with other leading sport agencies to help coaches working with young athletes better navigate the complexities of physical, emotional and psychological development.
While these are potentially steps in the right direction, researchers have pointed out that similar efforts have achieved mixed results and there are no guarantees of athlete safety.
Parents may therefore rightly ask what they might do to protect their child(ren) from abuse and maximise the positive gains from participating in sport.
This involves being informed about training times and competition schedules, training content, coaching style and behavioural expectations.
Parents should also be welcomed to watch their children’s training sessions at any time and unannounced.
Denying parents information or access to facilities have been identified as a potential risk factors.
The right for inclusion also refers to decision-making. Sport is often hierarchical with authoritarian leadership styles, which are significant risk factors for abuse in sports.
So it is important children and their parents are provided with spaces and opportunities to have a say in matters related to their (child’s) sporting participation.
Secondly, young athletes and their parents/caregivers should be made aware of the policies and safety measures put in place to keep children safe.
If these are not clearly communicated, parents/caregivers are encouraged to ask what actions a club has put in place.
If protection and prevention are not developed, or considered limited or ineffective, parents are recommended to raise their concerns.
Lastly, parents should be conscious of the “win-at-all-costs” mentality found in many sports and consider how this can lead to abusive practices being accepted as a “natural” part of sport.
By staying informed, involved and attentive, parents can play a powerful role in supporting safer sporting environments for all children.
Natalie Barker-Ruchti is affiliated with Safesport Sweden.
Fanny Kuhlin, Jessica Lee, and Steven Rynne do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Last month, Google announced SynthID Detector, a new tool to detect AI-generated content. Google claims it can identify AI-generated content in text, image, video or audio.
But there are some caveats. One of them is that the tool is currently only available to “early testers” through a waitlist.
The main catch is that SynthID primarily works for content that’s been generated using a Google AI service – such as Gemini for text, Veo for video, Imagen for images, or Lyria for audio.
If you try to use Google’s AI detector tool to see if something you’ve generated using ChatGPT is flagged, it won’t work.
That’s because, strictly speaking, the tool can’t detect the presence of AI-generated content or distinguish it from other kinds of content. Instead, it detects the presence of a “watermark” that Google’s AI products (and a couple of others) embed in their output through the use of SynthID.
A watermark is a special machine-readable element embedded in an image, video, sound or text. Digital watermarks have been used to ensure that information about the origins or authorship of content travels with it. They have been used to assert authorship in creative works and address misinformation challenges in the media.
SynthID embeds watermarks in the output from AI models. The watermarks are not visible to readers or audiences, but can be used by other tools to identify content that was made or edited using an AI model with SynthID on board.
Several AI companies, including Meta, have developed their own watermarking tools and detectors, similar to SynthID. But these are “model specific” solutions, not universal ones.
This means users have to juggle multiple tools to verify content. Despite researchers calling for a unified system, and major players like Google seeking to have their tool adopted by others, the landscape remains fragmented.
A parallel effort focuses on metadata – encoded information about the origin, authorship and edit history of media. For example, the Content Credentials inspect tool allows users to verify media by checking the edit history attached to the content.
However, metadata can be easily stripped when content is uploaded to social media or converted into a different file format. This is particularly problematic if someone has deliberately tried to obscure the origin and authorship of a piece of content.
There are detectors that rely on forensic cues, such as visual inconsistencies or lighting anomalies. While some of these tools are automated, many depend on human judgement and common sense methods, like counting the number of fingers in AI-generated images. These methods may become redundant as AI model performance improves.
Logical inconsistencies, such as extra fingers, are some of the visual ‘tells’ of the current era of AI-generated imagery. T J Thomson, CC BY-NC
How effective are AI detection tools?
Overall, AI detection tools can vary dramatically in their effectiveness. Some work better when the content is entirely AI-generated, such as when an entire essay has been generated from scratch by a chatbot.
The situation becomes murkier when AI is used to edit or transform human-created content. In such cases, AI detectors can get it badly wrong. They can fail to detect AI or flag human-created content as AI-generated.
AI detection tools don’t often explain how they arrived at their decision, which adds to the confusion. When used for plagiarism detection in university assessment, they are considered an “ethical minefield” and are known to discriminate against non-native English speakers.
A wide variety of use cases exist for AI detection tools. Take insurance claims, for example. Knowing whether the image a client shares depicts what it claims to depict can help insurers know how to respond.
Journalists and fact checkers might draw on AI detectors, in addition to their other approaches, when trying to decide if potentially newsworthy information ought to be shared further.
Employers and job applicants alike increasingly need to assess whether the person on the other side of the recruiting process is genuine or an AI fake.
Users of dating apps need to know whether the profile of the person they’ve met online represents a real romantic prospect, or an AI avatar, perhaps fronting a romance scam.
If you’re an emergency responder deciding whether to send help to a call, confidently knowing whether the caller is human or AI can save resources and lives.
Where to from here?
As these examples show, the challenges of authenticity are now happening in real time, and static tools like watermarking are unlikely to be enough. AI detectors that work on audio and video in real time are a pressing area of development.
Whatever the scenario, it is unlikely that judgements about authenticity can ever be fully delegated to a single tool.
Understanding the way such tools work, including their limitations, is an important first step. Triangulating these with other information and your own contextual knowledge will remain essential.
T.J. Thomson receives funding from the Australian Research Council. He is an affiliated researcher with the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making & Society.
Elif Buse Doyuran receives funding from the Australian Research Council. She is a research fellow at the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision Making and Society.
Jean Burgess receives funding from the Australian Research Council including the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society (ADM+S), and from the Canadian Social Sciences and Humanities Council.
WASHINGTON, DC – Last week, U.S. Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s Subcommittee on Near East, South Asia, Central Asia, & Counterterrorism, and a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, visited Israel, the West Bank, Jordan, and Iraq to meet with heads of state and government leaders to discuss ways to increase stability throughout the region. During her visit to the region, Senator Rosen advocated for increased regional security, strengthening of the Abraham Accords, development and humanitarian partnerships with the U.S., and ways to counter Iranian aggression. While in Israel, Senator Rosen paid her respects at the sites where Hamas attacked innocent men, women, and children on October 7, 2023, including the site of the Nova Musical Festival, Kibbutz Nir Oz, and a military outpost near the Gaza border.
While in the Middle East, Senator Rosen met with deployed U.S. servicemembers, including Nevadans, to express her gratitude for their service and discuss how she can best support them in Congress.
“As Iran continues its destabilizing efforts in the Middle East, it couldn’t be more important to strengthen long-lasting relationships with our allies and partners in the region at this moment,” said Senator Rosen. “I had very productive meetings with heads of state and government officials in Israel, the West Bank, Jordan, and Iraq to discuss ways the United States can work with them to increase stability, combat Iranian aggression, strengthen partnerships with the U.S., and foster regional cooperation.”
In visiting these countries, Senator Rosen had meetings with government officials, including:
ISRAEL: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Isaac Herzog, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, and Opposition Leader Yair Lapid to discuss reinforcing and strengthening the U.S.-Israel relationship, the war in Gaza and freeing the hostages, rising antisemitism, and regional security.
WEST BANK: Prime Minister of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Mohammad Abdullah Mohammad Mustafa, and Vice President of the PLO Hussein Al-Sheikh to discuss economic, governance, and prisoner payment reforms.
JORDAN: His Majesty King Abdullah II bin Al Hussein, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Ayman Safadi, Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Zeina Toukan, and Director of the General Intelligence Department Maj. Gen. Ahmad Husni to discuss combating terrorism and pursuing peace and security in the Middle East.
IRAQ: Government of Iraq (GOI) meetings included Prime Minister Mohammed Shiaa al-Sudani, Minister of Migration and Displacement Evan Faeq Jabro, and Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein to discuss U.S.-Iraq priorities in the fight against ISIS and other security threats, economic development, displaced persons, and countering Iran. Senator Rosen also met with Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Prime Minister Masrour Barzani and KRG Deputy Prime Minister Qubad Talabani on maintaining U.S. security partnerships, regional developments, and improving relations between the KRG and GOI.
In the March quarter 2025, average retail petrol prices across the five largest cities (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth) were 182.2 cents per litre (cpl), an increase of 2.4 cpl from the previous quarter.
Quarterly average retail prices were higher in Sydney, Brisbane and Perth and only marginally lower in Melbourne (by 0.7 cpl) and Adelaide (by 0.4 cpl).
A lower AUD-USD exchange rate was the main contributor to higher average retail prices
Higher retail petrol prices on average largely reflected the impact of a lower AUD-USD exchange rate, which makes the international cost of refined petrol relatively more expensive in Australian dollar terms.
In the March quarter 2025, the AUD-USD exchange rate averaged US 62.7 cents, which was the lowest quarterly average AUD-USD exchange rate in more than 20 years.
The international price of refined petrol (Mogas 95) is traded in US dollars in global markets and made up the largest component of average retail petrol prices.
The following figure shows the impact of changes in various components on average retail petrol prices across the five largest cities between the December quarter 2024 and the March quarter 2025.
Components of average retail petrol prices across the five largest cities – Australian cpl
Source: ACCC calculations based on data from Informed Sources, Argus Media, Ampol, bp, Mobil, Viva Energy, FuelWatch, the Reserve Bank of Australia and the Australian Taxation Office. Notes: cents per litre change from the previous quarter) Excise and wholesale goods and services tax (66.0 cpl) excludes a component of retail goods and services tax (1.3 cpl) in the above chart. This is for consistency in reporting gross indicative retail difference figures throughout this report, which include a small component of goods and services tax. Total excise and goods and services tax for both wholesale and retail (67.3 cpl) is shown in the petrol bowser in the ‘March quarter 2025 – Petrol snapshot’.
If the quarterly average AUD–USD exchange rate had remained the same, Mogas 95 prices would have decreased by 0.5 cpl in the quarter. Instead, the lower AUD–USD exchange rate meant that average Mogas 95 prices increased by 2.9 cpl in Australian dollar terms.
“The lower AUD-USD exchange rate meant that consumers paid higher prices on average at the bowser in the most recent quarter,” Commissioner Anna Brakey said.
Other components of retail prices include taxes, wholesale costs and margins, and retail costs and margins (represented by gross indicative retail differences). Gross indicative retail differences are a broad indicator of gross retail margins and include both retail operating costs and retail profits.
Petrol gross indicative retail differences were 14.4 cpl across the five largest cities in the quarter, a decrease of 2.8 cpl from the previous quarter. They varied between the five largest cities, and were lowest in Adelaide (7.6 cpl) and highest in Brisbane (24.2 cpl).
Average retail petrol prices were higher in the smaller capital cities and on average across the regions
In Canberra, Hobart and Darwin quarterly average retail petrol prices were also higher from the previous quarter. Quarterly average retail petrol prices in Canberra were the highest among the eight capital cities.
Across 190 regional locations that the ACCC monitors, average retail petrol prices across regional locations (in aggregate) were 184.3 cpl, an increase of 4.8 cpl from the previous quarter. On average, regional retail prices across all locations were 2.1 cpl higher than prices across the five largest cities (182.2 cpl).
“We continue to encourage consumers to use information available through fuel price apps and websites to find lower priced retailers and save money where possible,” Ms Brakey said.
“Fuel price transparency schemes collect price data for display on fuel price apps and websites. In January, the Victorian Government announced a price transparency scheme to be phased in over 2025, which would then mean every jurisdiction in Australia is covered by one of these schemes.”
After initial uptick, international crude oil prices then trended downward in the quarter
International prices for refined petrol (Mogas 95) are largely driven by international crude oil prices. In the March quarter 2025, after an initial increase, crude oil prices largely trended downward.
This downward trend was influenced by international factors, including concerns of lower demand stemming from the United States’ plans for higher tariffs, the potential for Russian oil supply to re-enter the market as part of a peace deal with Ukraine, and several OPEC countries increasing supply.
Diesel prices were higher in all capital cities for the first time in four consecutive quarters
Quarterly average retail diesel prices increased in all eight capital cities. Across the five largest cities, quarterly average retail diesel prices were 186.9 cpl, an increase of 9.8 cpl from the previous quarter. Retail diesel prices generally followed international diesel benchmark prices, which accounted for the largest component of retail diesel prices.
The higher quarterly prices followed four consecutive quarters of decline, from the December quarter 2023 to the December quarter 2024.
Note to editors
‘Petrol’ means regular unleaded petrol unless otherwise specified.
Price changes are reported in nominal terms unless otherwise specified.
Singapore Mogas 95 Unleaded (Mogas 95) is the relevant international benchmark for the wholesale price of petrol in Australia. Singapore Gasoil with 10 parts per million sulphur content (Gasoil 10 ppm) is the international benchmark for the wholesale price of diesel.
Background
The ACCC has been monitoring retail prices in all capital cities and over 190 regional locations across Australia since 2007.
On 14 December 2022, the Treasurer issued a direction to the ACCC to continue to monitor the prices, costs and profits relating to the supply of petroleum products in the petroleum industry in Australia and produce a report every quarter for a further three years.
A range of projects led by community groups have been allocated a share of $303,119 from Auckland Council in the latest round of Ngā Hapori Momoho | Thriving Communities grants for 2024/2025, approved by the Community Committee on 27 May.
The grants support regional goals in the council’s Ngā Hapori Momoho | Thriving Communities Strategy 2022-2032, with the vision for a fairer, more sustainable Tāmaki Makaurau where every Aucklander belongs. The goals aim to improve financial security, improve health outcomes, and grow community and intercultural connection.
Committee chair, Councillor Angela Dalton says the funding recognises the organisations behind these projects as experts at what they do, changing lives for the better in line with council objectives.
“Initiatives funded in this round include a transitional housing service for women, a programme teaching traditional Māori parenting skills, and a support service for young people experiencing sexual harm,” Cr Dalton says.
Deputy chair, Councillor Julie Fairey agrees that this year’s successful applicants will provide a broad spectrum of community benefits, from strengthening wellbeing for rainbow youth to supporting food rescue.
“The council is proud to be able to support a wide range of community activities through these grants, acknowledging the skills of local groups and supporting them in their important mahi. This is the stuff that helps our communities to thrive,” says Cr Fairey.
Ngā Hapori Momoho | Thriving Communities grants are allocated to regionally significant groups, services, events and activities to benefit residents across Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland.
General Manager Community Wellbeing Kenneth Aiolupotea says demand for council funding continues to grow with the highest number of applications ever received for the current round of Ngā Hapori Momoho grants, up 25 per cent from last year, with a total of 119 applications submitted.
“It is really great news that each of the 11 successful applicants have been approved for close to maximum funding, with grants ranging from $26,000 to $28,500 allocated,” Kenneth says.
Organisations delivering strong Māori outcomes were among 11 community groups that each receive a welcome boost this year for their work to improve welfare, health and belonging for Aucklanders in need.
“In addition, four of the successful applicants are Māori organisations and another two are delivering projects with strong Māori outcomes. Together, these six applicants account for 56 per cent of the total recommended funding, which is an important measure for the council.”
In the last funding round for 2023/2024, six of the 13 applicants funded were from Māori organisations or delivered strong Māori outcomes, and together they received 50 per cent of the allocated funding.
All applications were assessed by a panel to determine eligibility, capability, and how well they meet the grants funding criteria, which is available online. Unsuccessful applicants will be supported to reapply for future funding.
The Community Committee has reviewed whether change is needed for future funding rounds to keep meeting the best outcomes. Members have resolved to continue investing in projects that increase whānau and community financial security, improve health outcomes and grow community and intercultural connection for allocations from 2026 through to 2028.
Find out more
The full eligibility criteria and funding priorities are explained in the Ngā Hapori Momoho / Thriving Communities Grants Guidelines, available on the Auckland Council website.
Key dates
Applications for the next round of the 2022-2032 Ngā Hapori Momoho / Thriving Communities Grants are expected to open in November 2025.
The Ngā Hapori Momoho / Thriving Communities Strategy 2023-2024 document is available on the Auckland Council website.
Ngā Hapori Momoho | Thriving Communities grants for 2024/2025:
Applicant
Project
Amount Recommended
Auckland City Mission – Te Tāpui Atawhai
Te Whare Hīnātore – a transitional housing service to reconnect wāhine with their whānau and provide the skills to live independently
$28,500
Auckland Pride Incorporated
Strengthening connections and wellbeing for Rainbow Youth
$28,500
Breathing Space Charitable Trust
Creative wellbeing professional development program for community organisations working alongside at-risk youth and young women
$28,500
EcoMatters Environment Trust
Improving health outcomes through teaching Aucklanders how to keep their house warm and dry and how to save money by reducing water and energy usage
$26,629
ECPAT Child Alert Trust (ECPAT NZ)
Youth engagement programme – supporting youth who are at risk of or have survived sexual exploitation
$28,500
KiwiHarvest
Food rescue and distribution to recipient charities
$28,500
Momentum Charitable Trust
Life and financial skills at Auckland Region Probation Centres
$27,374
Mya Steele-Fonokalafi
Ngākau Aroha parenting – inspiring and empowering whānau to apply tūpuna parenting skills
$26,104
TAIORA
Hauora training for Ngāti Whātua Iwi – training iwi and marae leaders with skills to support young people
$28,500
Te Whare Hukahuka Ltd
Ka Eke Poutama – rangatahi governance skills and pathways into governance roles programme
$28,263
OKE Charity
Working with schools – building outdoor classrooms, hands-on workshops, and community events
A man is facing at least 18 charges after a string of alleged offending across the North Shore area in recent months.
Waitematā East Police caught up with the man and he is custody until his next court date later in June.
Businesses and commuters have been the alleged targets of the man’s spree, including a defibrillator worth thousands of dollars from one Takapuna business.
Area Commander Inspector Stefan Sagar says staff have been piecing together a series of burglaries and shoplifting offences.
“Thanks to this collation the man was deemed a priority to target and locate, and Police arrested him near the Takapuna area late last week,” he says.
“Other alleged offending includes the theft of scooters from Park and Rides at Constellation and Sunnynook.
“We have laid 18 charges against this man including burglary, unlawful takes, theft and trespass.”
A 42-year-old man appeared in the North Shore District Court in late May.
“Police are continuing to target and hold offending to account and in this case, there was ongoing harm being inflicted,” Inspector Sagar says.
“The man has been remanded in custody and is not currently in the community.”
Source: Northern Territory Police and Fire Services
Drug and Organised Crime Detectives have seized 113 kilograms of cannabis and approximately $270,000 in cash in a major drug interdiction operation that has significantly disrupted the activities of a Vietnamese organised crime syndicate operating across state borders. A small amount of cocaine was also seized.
The seizure occurred on Monday 2 June, after a targeted traffic stop on Willard Road in Holtze. Intelligence indicated the vehicle was transporting a commercial quantity of cannabis intended for distribution within the Territory through established criminal networks.
Detective Superintendent Lee Morgan from the Drug and Organised Crime Division said the seizure is a major blow to those attempting to profit from the harm inflicted on Territory communities.
“This seizure strikes at the heart of a sophisticated criminal syndicate responsible for trafficking large quantities of illicit drugs into the Northern Territory,” said Detective Superintendent Morgan.
“This is not a case of low-level offending. This syndicate is part of a broader Vietnamese organised crime network intent on exploiting vulnerable communities for financial gain.”
“Removing 113 kilograms of cannabis from the supply chain will have an immediate and significant impact on the local drug market. The reduced availability of cannabis will interrupt the operations of street-level dealers and limit the reach of this syndicate into our community.”
Cannabis remains the most used illicit drug in the Northern Territory. Its misuse is closely linked to a range of community harms, including mental health issues, domestic violence, road trauma, and reduced outcomes in education and employment.
Criminal groups use cannabis distribution as a gateway to entrench their influence and introduce more dangerous drugs into the market.
This operation is part of an ongoing commitment by the NT Police Force to dismantle criminal networks that attempt to profit at the expense of public safety.
Two men from Victoria aged, 27 and 56, and a local 26-year-old man were arrested. The two Victorian men are expected to appear in court today with the local man expected to appear on Wednesday 4 June.
The 27-year-old male has been charged with:
Supply schedule 2 drug – Commercial quantity
Possess schedule 2 drug – Commercial quantity
Receive property – Commission of Offence.
Possessing schedule 1 drug – Less than traffickable quantity
The 56-year-old man was charged with:
Supply schedule 2 drug – Commercial quantity
Possess schedule 2 drug – Commercial quantity
Receive property – Commission of Offence
The local 26-year-old man was charged with:
Supply schedule 2 drug – Commercial quantity
Possess schedule 2 drug – Commercial quantity
Receive property – Commission of Offence
Anyone with information on the supply of alcohol or drugs to our communities can call police on 131 444 or make an anonymously report to Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
Polls began early Tuesday nationwide to pick South Korea’s new president.
The election is scheduled to last from 6:00 a.m. local time (2100 GMT Monday) to 8:00 p.m. (1100 GMT Tuesday) at 14,295 polling stations across the country.
The presidential race was triggered by the removal of former conservative President Yoon Suk-yeol from office over his botched martial law bid.
Recent surveys showed that Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party continued to have around 50 percent of support, holding a big lead over Kim Moon-soo of the People Power Party with about 30 percent.
Lee lost the 2022 presidential election to Yoon, then candidate of the People Power Party, by the country’s narrowest margin of 0.73 percentage points.
An early voting was carried out between May 29 and May 30. Among over 44 million eligible voters, 34.74 percent cast preliminary votes.
Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region
Owing to the thunderstorm warning, the flag-raising ceremony to be conducted at Golden Bauhinia Square, Wan Chai at 8am today (June 3) will be cancelled.
If the thunderstorm warning is cancelled and weather conditions permit by then, the flag-raising ceremony may be resumed without further notice.
Eligibility criteria If you are approved to provide work-based delivery, AEWV holders that undertake work-based learning with you may be eligible for TEC funding. To be eligible, they must:
For more information about ‘domestic student’ requirements, see: Other valid domestic enrolments Which programmes are funded? TEC publishes a list of funded programmes for work-based learners with AEWVs here: List of funded programmes for eligible AEWV work-based learners (XLSX 73 KB) If a work-based learner with an AEWV meets the eligibility criteria, funding will apply. To determine when a specific programme becomes eligible for funding, see the ‘Programme list’ section under the ‘Instructions’ tab. Check this list regularly. It changes in response to policy, immigration and programme changes. What if a learner is not eligible? If an AEWV holder does not meet the criteria to be an eligible learner, they will not qualify for funding, unless they fall into a different category of people eligible to be treated as domestic learners. Find out more at Other valid domestic enrolments. Learners ineligible for funding may still be able to access both provider-based and work-based learning. However, international fees will apply. Individuals with holiday or work visa types do not meet the criteria; the visa must be an AEWV. Eligibility for Fees Free AEWV learners who are eligible for TEC funding for work-based learning are treated as domestic learners, so they may be eligible for Fees Free. Find the complete list of Fees Free eligibility criteria at the Fees Free website. Learners enrolled in work-based learning before 1 January 2023 Before 2023, all individuals working legally in New Zealand and enrolled in work-based learning were eligible for TEC funding under the Industry Training Fund. This included individuals with visas other than residency visas. From 1 January 2023, limits were placed on funded work-based learning for international workers, to align eligibility more closely with funded provider-based study. As a result, fewer international workers are eligible for TEC funding. However, any learner who enrolled in work-based learning before 1 January 2023 is still eligible for TEC funding until they complete their programme of training, if they meet all other fund requirements. This is because they started their training under the previous policy settings. If the learner changes employers but continues the same programme, they will remain eligible for TEC funding. However, if the learner withdraws from or changes their programme, any new enrolment will be subject to the eligibility criteria in place at the time they enrol.
Rising dairy prices lift export prices – media release
3 June 2025
Export prices rose 7.1 percent in the March 2025 quarter, led by dairy prices, according to figures released by Stats NZ today.
“Export prices have been increasing since March 2024 and are now 17 percent higher than they were a year ago,” international accounts spokesperson Viki Ward said.
Prices for dairy products (New Zealand’s top export commodity) rose 10 percent, led by a 13 percent increase in milk powder prices compared with the December 2024 quarter.
“The increase in dairy prices was shared across all of the major dairy categories,” Ward said.
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The Global Anti-Base Erosion Model Rules (GloBE rules) provide for a coordinated system of taxation intended to ensure multinational enterprise groups (MNE groups) are subject to a global minimum tax rate of 15% in each of the jurisdictions where they operate.
On 10 December 2024, the Taxation (Multinational—Global and Domestic Minimum Tax) Act 2024 (the Act) received Royal Assent. It is part of a primary legislation package which implements the framework of the GloBE rules in Australia.
Certain entities in MNE groups are excluded from the operation of the Australian global and domestic minimum tax. Relevantly, the Act provides an exclusion for entities considered to be a ‘non-profit organisation’.
The ATO will consult with members of the Not-for-profit Stewardship Group and tertiary education sector representatives to inform its understanding of the scope of the ‘non-profit organisation’ exclusion and broader administration of the new measure.
We are committed to providing you with accurate, consistent and clear information to help you understand your rights and entitlements and meet your obligations.
If you follow our information and it turns out to be incorrect, or it is misleading and you make a mistake as a result, we will take that into account when determining what action, if any, we should take.
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Concerns about road cone use anywhere in New Zealand can now be reported to WorkSafe New Zealand through a new digital hotline on the WorkSafe website.
The initiative aims to get those deploying cones to be more proportionate and balanced, while maintaining worker and public safety.
“The pilot aims to reduce unnecessary cones on the road. While cones are primarily there to manage the speed and flow of traffic and help keep everyone safe, there can be times when usage is excessive. We will engage with those involved with temporary traffic management and provide information to influence them to take a more risk-based approach to the use of cones on the road,” says WorkSafe’s Chief Executive Sharon Thompson.
Once a report is received through the digital hotline, WorkSafe will assess it to determine the appropriate response. This could include contact with those responsible for the roadwork site, sending an inspector out, and educating the parties involved on what the law and guidance is.
Source: Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment (MBIE)
Dr Dave Gittings, Manager, Building Performance and Engineering, said: “This new document streamlines the process for those looking to use proven and tested overseas products, knowing they will be accepted through the consenting system.”
“The draft Building Product Specifications document released today contains specifications and overseas standards that can be used to demonstrate compliance with the Building Code.
“Designers will be able to use overseas products that comply with any one of these standards and specifications to show the building work meets overall Building Code requirements.
“Today we are releasing the proposed first version of this document which contains specifications and standards for products that we already know and use, such as windows, plasterboard and cladding.
“We will be rolling out further updates to this document over time, as well as developing other pathways for recognising overseas products.
“We think there’ll be a lot of interest in the changes – from councils who will be using the Building Product Specifications when assessing compliance – to designers, builders and developers keen to understand what other options are out there, and I’d like to encourage everyone to have their say.”
Source: Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF)
Jerusalem: Dozens of Palestinians were killed and hundreds more injured yesterday, 1 June, as they waited for food at the newly created Gaza Humanitarian Foundation distribution centres in Rafah and close to the Netzarim Corridor, according to the Ministry of Health.
Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) teams joined the mass casualty response in Nasser hospital, Khan Younis. Patients told MSF they were shot from all sides by drones, helicopters, boats, tanks and Israeli soldiers on the ground.
“Today’s events have shown once again that this new system of aid delivery is dehumanising, dangerous and severely ineffective. It has resulted in deaths and injuries of civilians that could have been prevented. Humanitarian aid must be provided only by humanitarian organisations who have the competence and determination to do it safely and effectively,” states Claire Manera, MSF emergency coordinator.
MSF teams at Nasser hospital treated patients with serious injuries today. Some patients in critical condition are still undergoing surgery. But with the blood banks almost empty, medical staff themselves have had to donate blood.
“The hospital corridors were filled with patients, but unlike what I have witnessed before, where most of the patients were women and children, today it was mainly men. They lay in their beds in the hallways because the rooms are already packed with injured people. They had visible gunshot wounds in their limbs, and their clothes were soaked with blood,” says Nour Alsaqa, MSF communications officer. “They looked shattered and distraught after trying to secure food for their children, returning instead injured and empty handed. Outside, there was shouting, sirens, a constant rush of new arrivals to the emergency room. Amid the chaos, we received confirmation that a colleague’s brother had been killed while attempting to collect aid from the distribution centre,” she adds. Mansour Sami Abdi, a father of four, described the chaos: “People fought over five pallets. They told us to take food—then they fired from every direction. I ran 200 metres before realising I’d been shot. This isn’t aid. It’s a lie. Are we supposed to go get food for our kids and die?”
“I was shot at 3:10am. As we were trapped, I bled constantly until 5:00am. There were many other men with me. One of them tried to get me out. He was shot in the head and died on my chest. We had gone there for nothing but food — just to survive, like everyone else,” says Mohammad Daghmeh, 24, a displaced person in Al-Qarara, Khan Younis.
This is the second time this new system of aid distribution has led to bloodshed. On 27 May, the first afternoon of distribution in Rafah, Israeli forces shot dozens of people as wholly insufficient amounts of basic lifesaving supplies were distributed amid chaos.
As a result of the total siege that was imposed by the Israeli authorities on 2 March, 100 per cent of Gaza is now at risk of famine, according to the United Nations. Since 19 May, the few hundred food trucks brought in – an insufficient fraction of what is needed – have spread despair among the 2 million plus people who have been largely deprived of food, water, and medication for three months now. Totally or partially blocking humanitarian aid to enter Gaza has aggravated the situation of all Gazans.
MSF reinforces that, along with displacement orders and bombing campaigns that kill civilians, weaponising aid in this manner may constitute crimes against humanity. Only a lasting ceasefire and the immediate opening of Gaza’s borders for humanitarian aid – including food, medical supplies, fuel and equipment – can ease this man-made catastrophe.
The change in focus for WorkSafe New Zealand is long overdue and should assist employers in keeping workers safer while having fewer concerns about being punished, says the Employers and Manufacturers Association (EMA).
The changes – including a new letter of expectations, a restructured funding model, and a legislative rewrite of the regulator’s core purpose – represent a significant shift in the approach to health and safety regulation in New Zealand.
The EMA has long advocated for a more balanced, collaborative model that fosters partnership and practical support for employers and workers.
‘Hello, what can we do to help?’ may be the new greeting from a WorkSafe inspector, says EMA Manager of Employment Relations & Safety Paul Jarvie.
“These reforms will help modernise WorkSafe into a regulator that promotes compliance through education rather than fear,” he says.
“This is a welcome and necessary change. For years, businesses – particularly small and medium-sized enterprises – have felt they were being policed rather than supported.
“We’ve heard consistently from our members that the culture of enforcement-first created a climate of fear and concealment, rather than clarity and cooperation. This meant businesses were reluctant to call in WorkSafe for assistance because they were worried about simply being fined without getting the help or guidance they originally sought to avoid or manage a potential risk in the workplace.
“That feedback has come through strongly from our members for many years and Minister van Velden heard the concerns during her roadshow events with small to medium businesses last year. The EMA has been calling for a shift towards an enabling, advisory-based regulator – and it’s pleasing to see the government respond.”
The announcement includes a redefinition of WorkSafe’s role, with a greater emphasis on early engagement, targeted guidance, and clear, consistent advice.
Updating and streamlining more than 50 guidance documents and re-prioritising critical risk areas are among the first steps being taken.
“Cleaning up of WorkSafe advice documents is long overdue and must continue,” Jarvie says.
“Clear expectations, consistent advice, and a shared goal of risk reduction should be the foundation of our health and safety system. New Zealand workplaces are safer when employers and regulators work in partnership.”
The EMA also supports the move to involve industries more directly in developing Approved Codes of Practice, with WorkSafe providing guidance and oversight.
“Industry knows its risks best,” says Jarvie. “Empowering businesses to help shape the standards they work to – with proper regulatory oversight – is a smart, pragmatic approach that will deliver better compliance and ultimately, better outcomes for workers.”
The EMA assisted the Minister ’s review roadshow and found strong support from our members for these changes. The EMA is actively involved in supporting our members to meet and surpass their health and safety obligations through our comprehensive training programme.
The EMA looks forward to continuing to work with the government, WorkSafe, Unions and other key stakeholders to ensure the transition achieves its intended purpose: a modern, fit-for-purpose regulator focused on outcomes, not bureaucracy.
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments
Press release
Bank on the UK in volatile times’ Trade Secretary tells G7 and European businesses
Trade Secretary’s message comes after UK sealed landmark deals with India, the US and EU
Jonathan Reynolds to meet G7 and EU counterparts in Paris and Brussels to discuss economic security and global trade.
Trade Secretary targets economic growth and jobs, saying deals with India, US and EU make UK the most connected economy for global business.
Visit shows how Plan for Change is reducing trade barriers that will boost exports to the EU.
The UK is a country that counterparts and businesses can bank on in increasingly uncertain and volatile times, Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds will tell G7 and EU ministers and commissioners on a three-day visit to Paris and Brussels.
He will deliver the message at a G7 Trade Ministerial Meeting in Paris before travelling to Brussels for talks with EU counterparts and a speech to business representatives, policymakers, and diplomats at the European Policy Centre’s Economic Security Forum.
The Trade Secretary’s message comes after the UK sealed landmark deals with India, the US and the European Union, positioning the UK as a global champion of free trade, delivering for British businesses and putting money in the pockets of working people.
This will be delivered through the expected GDP increase by £4.8 billion thanks to the India deal, nearly £9 billion added to the UK economy by 2040 through the EU deal and the thousands of jobs saved across the country because of the deal with the US.
He is also expected to meet US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, India’s Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal and EU Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security Maros Šefčovič to progress implementation of the trade deals and ensure businesses feel the benefits as soon as possible.
Jonathan Reynolds will use the visit to reinforce that Britain is open for business as part of this Government’s Plan for Change to deliver on its core mission to grow the economy, raise living standards and put more money in people’s pockets.
Ahead of the visit, Business and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said:
Our deals with the US, EU and India are proof that the UK is the most connected country in the world to do business. Along with our modern Industrial Strategy, our Plan for Change is making the UK a safe, stable bet in uncertain times.
We recognise our relationship with G7 allies and EU counterparts must continue to evolve and deliver a better trading environment for our businesses and exporters.
That’s why we want to wipe away costly, business-blocking barriers and open up opportunities to grow our economy, create jobs and put more money in people’s pockets.
The Business Secretary will use his visit to call for the UK’s new relationship with the EU to help businesses, and with almost 100,000 UK businesses exporting goods to the EU last year, and the upcoming Trade Strategy, the UK is continuing its work to build on the recent deals and tear down barriers to doing business around the world.
As part of the trip the Business and Trade Secretary will also discuss the UK’s modern Industrial Strategy being published this Spring in his first ever in person meetings with the European Commission’s Executive Vice-President for the Industrial Strategy Stephane Séjourné and Executive Vice-President for the Clean, Just and Competitive Transition Teresa Ribera.
The Business and Trade Secretary will also use the visit to hold in-person meetings with Laurent Saint-Martin, Don Farrell and Maninder Sidhu, the Trade Ministers of France, Australia and Canada respectively.
“Today, Canada’s First Ministers met in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, to build a stronger, more competitive, and more resilient Canadian economy. This marks the first time that a First Ministers’ Meeting has taken place in Saskatchewan in over 40 years.
“First Ministers expressed their deep concern regarding the wildfire situations across Canada, including in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta, and pledged to continue to provide assistance and support to impacted provinces, territories, and Indigenous communities.
“First Ministers discussed the federal government’s plan to remove trade barriers and advance major projects of national interest, including by tabling their One Canadian Economy legislation, so Canada can be stronger at home and abroad.
“First Ministers agreed to work together to accelerate major projects in support of building a strong, resilient, and united Canada. As a first step, First Ministers discussed projects of national interest which fit the following criteria, subject to consultation with Indigenous Peoples whose rights may be affected:
Strengthen Canada’s autonomy, resilience, and security.
Offer undeniable benefits to Canada and support economic growth.
Have a high likelihood of successful execution.
Are a high priority for Indigenous leaders.
Have clean growth potential, such as the use of clean technologies and sustainable practices.
“First Ministers also agreed to continue the discussion on projects of national interest, working with provincial and territorial governments.
“This is a first step in implementing a broader set of reforms to overhaul the project assessment process. A significantly improved, streamlined project assessment process is necessary for Canada to grow its economy to become the strongest in the G7 and a global energy superpower.
“First Ministers are committed to immediately begin to address project approval and permitting efficiency and timelines for all projects. Premiers welcomed the Prime Minister’s commitment to ensuring all federal assessment decisions are rendered within two years, beginning with projects of national interest. First Ministers also agreed to work toward efficiently and effectively implementing ‘one project, one review’ with the goal of a single assessment for all projects, in a manner that respects federal, provincial, and territorial jurisdiction, enhancing co-ordination activities on permitting and eliminating duplication. This will help kickstart economic growth and ensure that projects get built in a timely manner. First Ministers pledged to fulfil the Crown’s duty to consult with Indigenous Peoples and discussed ways to strengthen Indigenous ownership and partnerships to provide Indigenous communities with generational economic opportunities.
“Nation-building infrastructure and corridors, such as highways, railways, ports, airports, pipelines, nuclear projects, clean and conventional energy projects, and electricity transmission systems, are crucial for driving Canadian productivity growth, energy security, and economic competitiveness. First Ministers agreed that Canada must work urgently to get Canadian natural resources and commodities to domestic and international markets, such as critical minerals and decarbonized Canadian oil and gas by pipelines, supported by the private sector, that provide access to diversified global markets, including Asia and Europe. First Ministers also agreed to build cleaner and more affordable electricity systems to reduce emissions and increase reliability toward achieving net zero by 2050. In order to generate economic and social benefits, this work must be done by bringing together the right conditions, including Indigenous equity and participation, and deferring to provincial and territorial environmental assessments, where applicable.
“First Ministers also discussed needed investments in dual-use infrastructure in Northern and Arctic communities that will address Canada’s Arctic sovereignty and security goals, meet local community needs, advance national energy independence, and unlock the North’s economic potential. Indigenous equity and participation will be pivotal to the success of these projects. Premiers acknowledged the federal commitment to move quickly to improve Canada’s defence capabilities and meet international spending targets.
“Through recent federal, provincial, and territorial efforts and actions led by the Committee on Internal Trade and the Forum of Labour Market Ministers, significant progress has been made toward removing internal trade barriers and further facilitating the movement of goods, services, and workers across the country. Recognizing there is more work to do, First Ministers committed to unlock multilateral, economy-wide mutual recognition and labour mobility, while respecting Québec’s specificity. First Ministers directed the Committee on Internal Trade to rapidly conclude a comprehensive Mutual Recognition Agreement covering consumer goods, in alignment with the Committee on Internal Trade discussions, with implementation by December 2025. In addition, they directed their Ministers of Transport to work together to rapidly expand the trucking pilot. They also agreed to a 30-day service standard for pan-Canadian credential recognition.
“First Ministers also stressed the importance of creating a new economic and security relationship with the United States to remove the unjustified American tariffs – including longstanding unjustified duties on softwood lumber – and create a more stable and predictable trade environment. They underscored they all have a role to play to achieve this.
“The federal government committed to working urgently to remove Chinese tariffs on Canadian agriculture and seafood products. First Ministers emphasized the critical importance of regular and ongoing engagement with China at the highest level to improve the overall trade relationship. In the face of ongoing tariffs, they also discussed opportunities to diversify trade and broaden market access for Canadian exporters.
“First Ministers emphasized the importance of joint efforts to maintain safe and secure communities, including by enhancing the criminal justice system through meaningful and urgent bail and sentencing reforms supporting law enforcement, addressing delays in the criminal justice process, and reviewing risk assessment for sentencing and release of repeat sex offenders and individuals charged with intimate partner violence and gender-based violence crimes. First Ministers recognized the devastating impact the toxic illegal drug supply is having on Canadian communities and committed to dismantling the illicit drug trade, including fentanyl and its precursors. First Ministers directed federal-provincial-territorial Attorneys General and Ministers of Justice and Public Safety to bring forward an action plan to promote safe and vibrant communities for consideration at a future meeting.
“First Ministers agreed to continue to work collaboratively and address the priorities of all Canadians in every region of the country. To that end, they will meet regularly to drive action on shared priorities vital to Canada’s security and economic resilience.”
AUSTRAC has refused to renew a crypto ATM operator’s registration and placed operating conditions, including transaction limits, on other Australian crypto ATM providers. The conditions come after an AUSTRAC taskforce flagged worrying trends in crypto ATM compliance. AUSTRAC CEO Brendan Thomas said over several months, the taskforce observed customer activity that bears the hallmarks of scams, fraud, and other illicit activity.
The indicative allocation is our early estimate of each tertiary education organisation’s on-Plan funding. It indicates what you could receive for the following year if your Investment Plan is approved for funding. The indicative allocation is our early estimate of each tertiary education organisation’s on-Plan funding. It indicates what you could receive for the following year if your Investment Plan is approved for funding.
We calculate this using a set of allocation methodologies, which are specific to each fund. We review and revise these every year to make sure they’re aligned to funding determinations and the current tertiary environment. Your indicative allocations will be made available from 3 June and can be accessed through the My Allocations and Payments app on Ngā Kete. 2026 indicative allocations 2026 Global indicative allocation methodology (PDF 841 KB) Historical indicative allocation methodologies
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
Dushanbe, June 2 /Xinhua/ — Tajik-Chinese relations are currently at a high level of strategic partnership, Vice-Rector for International Relations of the Tajik Technical University named after Academician M. Osimi Rauf Jurakhonzoda said in an exclusive interview with Xinhua recently.
“Cooperation between our countries is actively developing thanks to the Belt and Road initiative, especially in key areas such as science and education,” he stressed.
According to R. Jurakhonzoda, within the framework of this initiative, quotas for studying in Chinese universities are allocated annually for Tajik students. The two countries are actively implementing joint educational and scientific projects and carrying out academic exchanges. Thus, the Tajik Technical University named after Academician M. Osimi has established a partnership with the Tianjin Vocational and Technical College of Urban Construction Management, the vice-rector said.
R. Jurakhonzoda noted that in recent years there has been a positive trend in cultural and humanitarian exchanges between the two countries. A striking example of this, according to him, is the launch in Tajikistan of the first “Lu Ban Workshop” in Central Asia, aimed at training engineering personnel for the industrialization and modernization of the country. The activities of this workshop cover such areas as geodesy, intelligent cartography, construction, architecture, water and heat supply, as well as renewable energy sources.
“We plan to introduce new formats of cooperation with Chinese universities. This is not only a contribution to the development of education, but also strengthening the friendship between our peoples,” he added.
Speaking about the upcoming 2nd China-Central Asia Summit, which will be held in June, the Vice-Rector expressed hope for further deepening of the strategic partnership, especially in the field of high technology.
He emphasized that the Tajik Technical University is interested in developing cooperation with Chinese universities in such areas as digitalization of education, artificial intelligence and smart technologies. Within the framework of the Lu Ban Workshops, it is planned to implement new joint programs that will allow training specialists in demand in various sectors – from agriculture to energy and industry, added R. Jurakhonzoda. -0-
A major milestone was achieved on 26 May 2025, when the Member States agreed on the new WHO Global Traditional Medicine Strategy 2025–2034 to take forward the development of evidence-based practice of Traditional, Complementary and Integrative Medicine (TCIM) into the next decade. In discussing the Strategy, Member States deliberated on crucial components for inclusion, such as establishing a robust evidence base for traditional medicine practices, developing regulatory mechanisms for quality and safety, creating integrated health-care service delivery models where appropriate, and ensuring qualified practitioners.
With the Strategy, the Assembly explicitly recognized not only the role of traditional knowledge of indigenous peoples but also the importance of upholding their rights, while promoting environmental sustainability and biodiversity conservation in the context of TCIM.
Under the 2025-2034 Strategy, WHO will assist Member States in strengthening the evidence base for TCIM, bolstering safety, quality and effectiveness, and, where appropriate, facilitating its integration into health systems while optimizing cross-sector collaboration.
The adoption of the Strategy capped an intensive two-year process of global and regional consultations. During the process, Member States, WHO at all three levels, stakeholders and partners, including indigenous representatives and representatives of the World Intellectual Property Organization, provided over 1200 comments. Forty-seven interventions were made during the discussion at the Assembly . All statements were positive, encouraging and supportive of the new Strategy. In addition, there were four interventions from non-State actors.
Building momentum
The adoption of the Strategy followed a series of high-profile side events during this year’s Assembly.
On 20 May 2025, ministers, global health leaders and experts gathered for the event titled “Improving Universal Health Coverage through the Implementation of the WHO Traditional Medicine Strategy 2025–2034”. hosted by China’s National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine in collaboration with Malaysia, Nepal, Saudi Arabia and Seychelles. The event underscored global momentum behind the Strategy and emphasized China’s influential contributions in policy, education, research and traditional medicine integration into the health-care system.
On 23 May 2025, India, together with 31 Member States of the Group of Friends of Traditional Medicine (GFTM), hosted a second official side event, entitled “Traditional Medicine: From Traditional Knowledge to Frontier Science, for Health for All”. The event highlighted India as a role model and success story for the GFTM countries. With over 250 delegates in attendance, the event showcased national experiences and reaffirmed global commitment to traditional medicine.
Private sector support
The role of private sector support for scaling up evidence-based interventions for traditional medicine was explored during a panel discussion on 20 May 2025, convened by the Geneva-based Health Innovation Exchange.
The event brought together high-level speakers, including:
Dr Pierre Somsé, Minister of Public Health and Population of the Central African Republic;
Dr Benjamin Njoudalbaye, interim head of the African Union’s Africa Medicines Agency;
The panel underscored the need for innovative and sustainable financing models to scale up innovations, as well as related challenges, including the need for standardized frameworks to address regulatory gaps, protect indigenous knowledge and ensure equitable benefit-sharing. Also discussed was the ethical use of tools like artificial intelligence to validate and scale practices.
Delegates were united in the message that bridging gaps can accelerate the path to universal health coverage and produce more inclusive economies and improved planetary health. Watch the session here.
Launches and announcements
The World Health Assembly was also the setting for showcasing innovative tools. WHO launched the first-ever WHO Traditional, Complementary and Integrative Medicine (TCIM) Dashboards on 21 May 2025, featuring comprehensive global and country-level profiles. The project builds on insights from the Third WHO Global Survey on TCIM, conducted between April 2023 and March 2024, and marks a significant leap forward in WHO’s data modernization agenda. The new dashboards transform static survey data into a dynamic, real-time digital platform, empowering Member States to continuously update and manage their national TCIM data.
During the Assembly, the Government of India’s Ministry of Ayush signed a US$ 3 million Memorandum of Understanding with WHO to support the inclusion of Traditional Medicine in the International Classification of Health Interventions. This initiative will classify and standardize traditional Ayush medical practices like Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani, ensuring they are globally recognized within health-care data frameworks. WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus welcomed the agreement on social media, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed it in his national radio address, Mann Ki Baat, as a proud milestone for India.
Engaging with delegates
To promote awareness and visibility of WHO’s work on Traditional, Complementary and Integrative Medicine, “Ask Me” information stands were set up on 21 May 2025 during WHA78. These interactive hubs offered delegates and participants an opportunity to explore the WHO Traditional Medicine Strategy 2025–2034, the newly launched TCIM dashboards, and key areas of WHO’s ongoing work in TCIM.
Looking ahead to the Global Summit
The adoption of the WHO Global Traditional Medicine Strategy 2025–2034 reflects a global consensus that TCIM, when validated and regulated, offers powerful solutions for advancing equity, inclusion and resilience in health care. As countries move from Strategy to action, the emphasis will be on building trust, supporting research and creating space for traditional medicine within national health plans.
The second WHO Global Traditional Medicine Summit, to be held in New Delhi on 2–4 December 2025, will be a key opportunity to align all stakeholders in joint action behind the goals of the Strategy, and to share evidence and best practices to accelerate learning and innovation.
In the media
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The focus of the workshops will be about getting farmers to think about their purchasing decisions. Instead of opting for products that could be wasted after a single use, she is encouraging farmers to choose sustainable products with Agrecovery stickers signalling they’re part of a recycling scheme.
Trish said her biggest hope is that after finishing a workshop, people would leave with the confidence to make one decision a month towards minimising and managing waste.
“This month it might be Fun Day Friday, where you take a load to the recycling depot and have a fish and chip lunch with your workers. That’s one change, and then next month you might look at doing something with your silage or baleage wrap or composting.”
Taranaki dairy farmer Trish Rankin is running workshops across Waitaha to help farmers minimise waste
From monthly skip bins to recycling pro
In 2017, Trish and Glen were sharemilking in Taranaki when they started noticing they had a skip bin of waste collected every month.
“I started to think — ‘how do we have this much rubbish on the farm, and it’s all going to landfill, there must be another option’.”
In 2019, through the Kellogg Leadership Programme, Trish began researching waste minimisation on farms and how a circular economy model could be developed in New Zealand.
She found growing requirements for manufacturers of on-farm products to be a part of a recovery scheme.
The missing link was that many farmers still didn’t know what they could recycle and how, because it hadn’t been well communicated, she said.
“The great thing about the workshops is people can share solutions. It’s not me telling people what to do—someone might have a solution for tractor batteries and someone else might know more about recycling bale wrap. That way we can learn from each other.”
Trish said many farmers were unaware they were already paying a product recovery levy.
“Let’s just say I buy a $1000 drum of alkaline. $75 of that might be a levy to get that collected, but you don’t know you’ve paid that and instead you’re paying more money to get it collected in your skip bin,” she said.
Farmers are trying to do better
There were many changes people could make to better our environment and sometimes that could feel overwhelming, which was why Trish suggested focusing on one goal at a time.
“The ‘should be’ list can be very long in farming. You ‘should be’ doing better for your animals, for your people, for your climate. Sharing knowledge and experiences farmer-to-farmer, and breaking it down, is empowering,” Trish said.
Fire and Emergency New Zealand has welcomed back its specialist team from their deployment to New South Wales.
The contingent of four Community Liaison Officers and two Jurisdiction Liaison have been operating mainly in the flood-hit areas of Taree and Port Macquarie.
Deputy National Commander Brendan Nally says he is proud of the efforts of the team who were faced with significant devastation caused by the floods.
“At the request of the New South Wales State Emergency Service, our people were tasked with supporting Australian emergency services and communities affected by the flooding,” he says.
“This involved going from door to door in the affected communities, speaking with homeowners, answering their questions, addressing their concerns about the damages from the flooding, and ensuring they knew how to access help.
“The willingness of our people to lend their skills to our close neighbours in their time of need is greatly appreciated.
“They bring home with them new experiences and knowledge that will benefit the communities of Aotearoa New Zealand when we’re faced with our own severe weather events.”
Local tech company, Wych, will assist Kiwibank in implementing open banking.
Kiwibank will not be charging accredited third parties to make standard API requests.
Open banking will deliver more value, choice and flexibility for customers.
Kiwibank is the first New Zealand bank to partner with Wych, a New Zealand based financial technology company specialising in providing open data services and capabilities to data holders and data recipients.
Wych will provide the integration capability to connect accredited third parties with Kiwibank as it delivers open banking.
Steve Jurkovich, Kiwibank’s Chief Executive, says, “As a modern integration provider, Wych’s solution is cloud hosted and provided as a complete end-to-end SaaS solution. It’s also scalable and will enable Kiwibank to easily adapt as the open banking ecosystem develops.
“This next step in our open banking journey will set us up to collaborate with even more innovative partners to offer services and experiences that provide our customers greater value and choice. As a smaller player compared to the larger banks, Kiwibank is excited to partner with fintechs to drive more competition to make Kiwi better off.”
Dermot Butterfield, Wych’s Chief Executive Officer, says, “We are excited to be partnering with Kiwibank to build on the opportunity that open banking represents for their customers, including more innovation and customer-centric solutions as the market matures.”
Kiwibank is proud to be supporting a Kiwi technology company and leveraging the expertise we have right here in New Zealand.
Kiwibank takes competitive stand on open banking fees
Kiwibank exists to challenge the status quo and to create a future where banking in New Zealand is stronger and fairer than ever before.
“We see the significant value open banking can deliver for our customers and we want to enable that,” says Jurkovich. “That’s why we won’t be charging accredited third parties to make standard API requests.”
This sets Kiwibank apart. While some banks are offering temporary waivers on fees charged to accredited third parties, in the longer term those costs could be passed on to customers.
“At Kiwibank, we’re committed to shaping an open banking environment that delivers real benefits for New Zealanders,” says Jurkovich. “By removing cost barriers we’re helping to unlock innovation that puts customers first – enabling more tailored, transparent, and empowering financial experiences.”
Kiwibank is committed to delivering payment initiation API services by 30 May 2026 and account information API services by 30 November 2026.
About Kiwibank
Kiwibank is a Purpose-led organisation that has modern, Kiwi values at heart and keeps Kiwi money where it belongs – right here in New Zealand. As a Kiwi bank, with more than a million customers, our trusted experts are focused on supporting Kiwi with their home ownership aspirations and backing local business ambitions, so together we can thrive here in Aotearoa and on the world stage. Kiwibank is the #1 bank in Kantar’s 2024 Corporate Reputation Index and the only bank in the top 20. To find out more about Kiwibank visitwww.kiwibank.co.nz.
