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World’s Best Airline crowned for 2023

Air New Zealand has received the top honour from the <a href="https://www.airlineratings.com/news/passenger-news/air-nz-named-airline-of-the-year-for-2023/">AirlineRatings.com Airline Excellence Awards</a>, taking home the coveted title of World’s Best Airline. It’s the seventh time the airline has been commended since 2013, for the likes of its innovative and multi-award-winning SkyNest economy beds, its operational safety, environmental leadership, and staff motivation. Competition was tough for the top five, with five editors looking at everything from major safety and government audits to 12 key factors including “fleet age, passenger reviews, profitability, investment rating, product offerings, and staff relations.” And while Air NZ had taken out second place to two-time-consecutive champ Qatar Airways in 2022, the situation flipped in 2023, with the airline beating out Qatar, Etihad, Korean Airlines, and Singapore for the prestigious win. As AirlineRatings’ Editor-in-Chief Geoffrey Thomas said, “in our objective analysis Air New Zealand came out number one in many key areas although it was a very close scoring for the top five. “Air New Zealand’s commitment to excellence in all facets of its business starts at the top with outstanding governance and one of the best executive teams in aviation through to a workforce that is delivering consistently to the airline’s strategy and customer promise. “Like all airlines across the globe Air New Zealand has faced severe disruptions during and after the pandemic and this year huge challenges from storms and cyclones. The airline has responded well. “Our editorial team was impressed by the airline’s commitment to the economy passenger and on long haul offers more comfort options than any other airline.” In response to the win, Air NZ’s CEO Greg Foran shared that the airline owed its success to the 12,000 members of staff “who wake up each morning to connect Kiwis with each other and the world.” He remarked that “it is a sign that we have got our swing back”, and like with many other airlines around the world, “we understand that our fantastic team faces difficulties in providing the service we strive for and that our customers expect. We’re working hard to address these challenges. “There is no doubt that we have more work to do to tackle customer concerns like wait times, on-time departures and arrivals, lost baggage, and refunds. We want to thank our customers for their patience and support as we work towards delivering the greatest flying experience on Earth.” Just missing out on the top five were Australia’s own Qantas and Virgin - coming in at sixth and seventh place respectively - although both airlines snagged number one positions in other categories. Qantas took out Best Lounges with its network of over 51 lounges across Australia and the rest of the world. Meanwhile, Virgin Australia/VirginAtlantic took home the title of Best Cabin Crew - in what marked their fifth victory in the category. And for anyone wondering how the rest of world’s top 25 premium airlines stacked up, here’s the complete list: Air New Zealand, Qatar Airways, Etihad Airways, Korean Air, Singapore Airlines, Qantas, Virgin Australia/Virgin Atlantic, EVA Air, Cathay Pacific Airways, Emirates, Lufthansa / Swiss, SAS, TAP Portugal, All Nippon Airways, Delta Air Lines, Air Canada, British Airways, Jet Blue, JAL, Vietnam Airlines, Turkish Airlines, Hawaiian, KLM, Alaska Airlines, and United Airlines. Images: Getty

International Travel

Why Air NZ is asking passengers to hop on the scales

Until July 2, passengers departing on international Air New Zealand flights from Auckland International Airport are being asked to step on the scales before their trip. New Zealand’s Civil Aviation Authority are making the request as part of a “weight survey” program - one required to take place every five years - and hoping to gather more information on the weight loads and distributions for aircrafts. “We weigh everything that goes on the aircraft - from the cargo to the meals onboard, to the luggage in the hold,” Air NZ’s load control improvement specialist Alastair James explained. “For customers, crew and cabin bags, we use average weights, which we get from doing this survey.” James went on to note that they are aware “stepping on the scales can be daunting”, as weight is a personal issue that many do not want to make public knowledge. And for any passengers with such concerns, the airline has promised to protect their privacy, with the data being kept anonymous. “We want to reassure our customers there is no visible display anywhere," he said. “No one can see your weight - not even us! It’s completely anonymous.” Two scales are to be set up in Auckland International Airport’s gate lounges - one that travellers will be asked to stand on, with their weight submitted for the survey, and another for their luggage in a separate weighing process. In order for the survey to be effective, 10,000 passengers must participate over the course of five weeks. “It’s simple, it’s voluntary,” James added, “and by weighing in, you’ll be helping us to fly you safely and efficiently, every time.” Air NZ’s project also means that passengers experiencing one of the world’s longest flights - the 17-hour flagship trip from Auckland to New York City’s JFK Airport - for the first time may find themselves asked to participate. It isn’t the first time the airline has requested its passengers hop on the scales before their trips either, with a similar survey taking place in 2021. And while the international research was meant to be conducted at an earlier date as well, the pandemic brought those plans to a temporary halt. And similar surveys are undertaken all across the globe, with Flight Global revealing that a survey by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency in 2022 discovered that the average weight of passengers has remained “relatively unchanged” for the past 15 years. Images: Getty

International Travel

Busting a king-sized myth: why Australia and NZ could become republics – and still stay in the Commonwealth

The imminent coronation of King Charles III is an ideal time for Australia and New Zealand to take stock of the British monarchy and its role in national life – including certain myths about what becoming a republic might mean. In particular, there is a common assumption that both nations must remain monarchies to retain membership of the Commonwealth of Nations. It might sound logical, but it’s entirely wrong. There is no basis for it in the rules of the Commonwealth or the practice of its members. Australia could ditch the monarchy and stay in the club, and New Zealand can too, whether it has a king or a Kiwi as head of state. Yet this peculiar myth persists at home and abroad. Students often ask me about it when I’m teaching the structure of government. And just this week a French TV station interpreted the New Zealand prime minister’s opinion that his country would one day <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/may/01/new-zealand-will-ideally-become-a-republic-one-day-says-chris-hipkins">ideally become a republic</a> to mean he would <a href="https://www.bfmtv.com/international/oceanie/nouvelle-zelande/nouvelle-zelande-le-nouveau-premier-ministre-souhaite-que-son-pays-quitte-le-commonwealth_AN-202305010328.html">like to see</a> it leave the Commonwealth. <h2>What does ‘Commonwealth’ mean?</h2> The implication that breaking from the Commonwealth would be a precursor to, or consequence of, becoming a republic relies on a faulty premise which joins two entirely separate things: the way we pick our head of state, and our membership of the Commonwealth. It would make just as much sense to ask whether Australia or New Zealand should leave the International Cricket Council and become a republic. The confusion may derive from the fact that the 15 countries that continue to have the British sovereign as their head of state are known as “Commonwealth Realms”. What we usually refer to as the Commonwealth, on the other hand, is the organisation founded in 1926 as the British Commonwealth of Nations. This is the body whose membership determines the competing nations of the <a href="https://www.commonwealthsport.com/">Commonwealth Games</a>, the highest-profile aspect of the Commonwealth’s work. King Charles III is the head of state of the 15 Commonwealth Realms and the head of the international governmental organisation that is the Commonwealth of Nations. The Commonwealth has 56 members – but only 15 of them continue to have the king as head of state. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said Monday he personally favors his country becoming a republic, though it’s not a change he intends to push for as leader. <a href="https://t.co/1XEiFFtqPT">https://t.co/1XEiFFtqPT</a> <a href="https://t.co/aftsZ0hHmV">pic.twitter.com/aftsZ0hHmV</a> — The Diplomat (@Diplomat_APAC) <a href="https://twitter.com/Diplomat_APAC/status/1653406552693395457?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 2, 2023</a></blockquote> <h2>Joining the Commonwealth club</h2> To be fair, confusion over who heads the Commonwealth is nothing new. A <a href="https://www.royalcwsociety.org/_files/ugd/e578ea_5642f282aad345faa0b39c9eebd465e5.pdf">2010 poll</a> conducted by the Royal Commonwealth Society found that, of the respondents in seven countries, only half knew the then queen was the head of the Commonwealth. A quarter of Jamaicans believed the organisation was led by the then US president, Barack Obama. One in ten Indians and South Africans thought it was run by former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan. Given the king’s overlapping leadership roles and the different use of the word in the contexts of Commonwealth Realms and the Commonwealth of Nations, these broad misunderstandings are perhaps understandable. In fact, it was this ambiguity that allowed for the development of an inclusive Commonwealth during the postwar years of decolonisation. However the confusion arose, it is also very simple to correct. The Commonwealth relaxed its membership rules regarding republics when India became one in 1950. According to Philip Murphy, the historian and former director of the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, this decision was based on the erroneous idea that India’s huge standing army would underwrite Britain’s great-power status in the postwar world. From that point on the Commonwealth of Nations no longer comprised only members who admitted to the supremacy of one sovereign. To make the change palatable, a piece of conceptual chicanery was needed. Each country did not need a king, but theking was to be head of the organisation comprising equal members. <h2>Monarchy optional</h2> Since then, the number of Commonwealth members has steadily increased to the 56 we have today. As early as 1995, membership was extended to countries with no ties to the former British Empire. With the support of Nelson Mandela, Mozambique became a member, joining the six Commonwealth members with which it shared a border. Rwanda, a former German and then Belgian colony, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/oukwd-uk-commonwealth-rwanda-idAFTRE5AS1C520091129">joined in 2009</a>. It became an enthusiastic member and hosted the biennial meeting of states known as CHOGM (Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting). The most recent countries to take up Commonwealth membership are the <a href="https://thecommonwealth.org/news/gabon-and-togo-join-commonwealth">former French colonies of Togo and Gabon</a>. According to the <a href="http://www.thecommonwealth.org/shared_asp_files/GFSR.asp?NodeID=174532">Commonwealth’s own rules</a>, membership is based on a variety of things, including commitment to democratic processes, human rights and good governance. Being a monarchy is entirely optional. The new king offers the chance for a broader debate on the advantages of monarchy. But let’s do so knowing Commonwealth membership is entirely unaffected by the question of whether or not the country is a republic. Image credits: Getty Images This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/busting-a-king-sized-myth-why-australia-and-nz-could-become-republics-and-still-stay-in-the-commonwealth-204750" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>.

Legal

Resistance to mega-tourism is rising in the South Pacific – but will governments put words into action?

With COVID-19 travel restrictions largely a thing of the past for Australian and <a href="https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/travel/2022/12/fiji-more-popular-with-kiwi-tourists-than-it-was-pre-covid-19.html">New Zealand tourists</a>, Pacific destinations are enjoying the return of visitors – albeit at a <a href="https://devpolicy.org/the-pacific-emerging-from-covid-slowly-20221019/">slower pace</a> than in other parts of the world. Tourism in Fiji, Samoa, Vanuatu and the Cook Islands was <a href="https://www.imf.org/-/media/Files/Countries/ResRep/pis-region/small-states-monitor/pacific-islands-monitor-issue-17-october-2022.ashx">hit hard by the pandemic</a>, but <a href="https://www.massey.ac.nz/about/news/pacific-islands-resilient-as-covid-19-topples-tourism/">patience and resilience</a> are starting to pay off. Foreign dollars are once again circulating in those small economies. Recently, <a href="https://www.mvariety.com/business/kiribati-welcomes-first-cruise-ship-visit/article_30ca4be0-b0f7-11ed-9b9d-93619a4dfba6.html">Kiribati welcomed</a> its first international cruise ship since 2020. But this isn’t a simple case of returning to normal. The past three years have allowed time for reflection, leading to a rising awareness of <a href="https://southpacificislands.travel/pacific-sustainable-tourism-leadership-summit-calls-on-pacific-leaders-to-work-together-to-build-resilient-futures/">possible alternatives</a> to pre-pandemic tourism models. From senior levels within governments to grassroots tourism operators and citizens, there has been serious discussion about the resumption of business as usual, including several <a href="https://southpacificislands.travel/2021-ends-on-a-high-with-pacific-islands-tourism-research-symposium/">regional symposiums</a> hosted by the South Pacific Tourism Organisation. Issues of sovereignty and future resilience have been very much to the fore – quite untypical in a global tourism industry largely focused on <a href="https://etc-corporate.org/news/europes-tourism-rebound-predicted-to-continue-into-2023/">boosting numbers</a> as soon as possible. Questions remain, however, about the gap between rhetoric and reality. <h2>Flipping the narrative</h2> The <a href="https://southpacificislands.travel/2022-pacific-sustainable-tourism-leadership-summit/">Pacific Sustainable Tourism Leaders Summit</a> in November 2022 brought together tourism ministers and industry stakeholders to discuss the future of regional tourism. This led to a <a href="https://southpacificislands.travel/pacific-sustainable-tourism-leadership-summit-calls-on-pacific-leaders-to-work-together-to-build-resilient-futures/">regional commitment</a> signed by 11 countries focused on promoting sustainable tourism. Essentially, the aim is to flip the narrative: rather than Pacific nations being seen as dependent on tourism, regional tourism itself depends on the Pacific and its people surviving and thriving. Accordingly, Pacific countries are calling for fairer and more meaningful relationships with tourism partners. Cook Islands’ associate minister of foreign affairs and immigration, Tingika Elikana, urged other Pacific leaders at the summit to rebuild tourism in a way that was <a href="https://www.fijitimes.com/inclusive-pacific-summit-calls-on-regional-leaders-to-work-together/">equitable and inclusive</a>, "[it] is crucial that lessons are learned from recent crises and that steps are taken to embed long-term inclusivity, sustainability, and resilience into our tourism offering as it faces evolving challenges and risks." Vanuatu has been heading in this direction since early in the pandemic, when it made “destination wellbeing” <a href="https://www.traveldailymedia.com/vanuatu-tourism-adopts-well-being-approach-for-covid-19-recovery/">central to its tourism recovery</a>. The aim of “moving beyond solely measuring visitor arrivals and contribution to GDP” then fed into the country’s <a href="https://tourism.gov.vu/images/DoT-Documents/Presentations/Vanuatu_Sustainable_Tourism_Strategy_2020-2030-2020_.pdf">Sustainable Tourism Strategy</a>, launched at the height of the pandemic. <h2>Push-back on resorts and cruise ships</h2> This reappraisal of scale and priorities has perhaps been most evident in Fiji where there has been <a href="https://www.fijitimes.com/project-unoriginal/">strong opposition</a> to a US$300 million mega-project proposed by Chinese developers. The hotel, apartment and marina complex would be built in an area containing one of the last remaining remnants of mangrove forest near the capital, Suva. Conservationists and local residents have been critical of the <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/484141/conservationist-calls-on-fiji-govt-to-preserve-rare-mangrove">environmental</a> and <a href="https://www.fijitimes.com/how-can-fiji-supply-water-to-project/">infrastructural</a> impact of the proposed development, as well as the <a href="https://www.fijitimes.com/project-unoriginal/">authenticity of its design</a>. There is <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/484710/costly-development-of-suva-forest-may-now-not-happen">now doubt</a> about whether the government will renew the developer’s lease, due to expire in June. The minister for lands and mineral resources has said “there’s been a lack of transparency” from the developers, and that he “will continue to monitor the remaining conditions of the development lease”. A leading opponent of the project, Reverend James Bhagwan, <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/484710/costly-development-of-suva-forest-may-now-not-happen">told Radio New Zealand</a>, "we'’re not anti-development, but what we’re saying is we need to look at development from a perspective that places the environment at the centre, not at the periphery. There is a precedent here: approval for a multi-million-dollar resort and casino development on Malolo island was revoked in 2019 after another Chinese developer, Freesoul Investments, destroyed part of a reef, dumped waste and disrupted traditional fisheries. In 2022, the High Court fined the company <a href="https://www.newsroom.co.nz/resort-developers-found-guilty-over-fiji-island-disaster-1">FJD$1 million</a>. It was the first time a developer had been punished for an “environmental crime”. Environmental concerns are also causing other Pacific countries to resist a return to mass tourism. In Rarotonga, Cook Islands, annual visitor numbers before the pandemic were ten times the island’s local population. The ability to cope with that level of tourism has since been <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/443141/cook-islanders-considering-how-much-tourism-is-too-much">seriously questioned</a>. And in French Polynesia, the government has <a href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/travel/french-polynesia-the-latest-country-to-ban-mega-cruise-ships/RXY2PDLCWPAIZRVNENLHJ6Z2N4/">banned port calls</a> for cruise ships with a capacity greater than 3,500 passengers. The decision was based on concerns about air pollution, stress on the marine environment and social impacts. Daily cruise arrivals to Bora Bora are now restricted to 1,200 passengers, much to the <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/407885/bora-bora-calls-for-ban-on-large-cruise-ships">relief of locals</a>. <h2>A new kind of tourism?</h2> In the face of uncertainties due to climate change and geopolitical tensions in the region, it’s encouraging to hear local voices being heard in debates about the future of Pacific tourism – and political leaders appearing to respond. The Pacific Island Forum leaders’ retreat in Fiji late last month discussed the tourism industry. The forum’s signature <a href="https://www.forumsec.org/2050strategy/">Blue Pacific Strategy</a> for regional co-operation recognises tourism is an important component of national development, and the need to balance economic pressures with environmental and cultural protection. But despite the apparent political will and regional focus on building resilience, tourism development will undoubtedly continue to challenge the desires and initiatives of Pacific peoples seeking more sustainable futures. While the policy rhetoric sounds good, it remains to be seen whether Pacific governments will remain steadfast and united under mounting pressures from major cruise operators, Chinese commercial interests and large hotels looking to maximise occupancy rates. Many Pacific people reported the natural environment – along with social, spiritual, physical and mental wellbeing – <a href="https://www.internationaljournalofwellbeing.org/index.php/ijow/article/view/2539">improved during the pandemic pause</a> in tourism. But the reality of putting local wellbeing ahead of profits and increased tax revenue is yet to be fully tested as tourism bounces back. Images: Getty <em style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #212529; font-family: -apple-system, 'system-ui', 'Segoe UI', Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, sans-serif, 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol', 'Noto Color Emoji'; font-size: 16px; background-color: #ffffff;">This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/resistance-to-mega-tourism-is-rising-in-the-south-pacific-but-will-governments-put-words-into-action-201071" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>.

International Travel

"Mateship in action": NZ survivors of helicopter crash praise Aussie compassion

Two couples from New Zealand who survived the deadly helicopter collision on the Gold Coast have shared their condolences for those who died during the accident. Edward and Marle Swart along with Riaan and Elmarie Steenberg spoke of how the "fun five-minute joy ride on vacation to Australia turned into a nightmare" and said their "hearts are so heavy" for those who died in the other aircraft that fell to the ground. "Our deepest sympathies and sincere condolences to the injured and the deceased and their families," they said in a joint statement released on Wednesday night. "We are grateful and blessed to have been spared but very sad for the people who lost loved ones and the little ones and mum fighting for their lives in hospital. "Our hearts are so heavy for them." The couples also praised the 52-year-old pilot who managed to land their damaged helicopter safely "through all the chaos", while also commending the actions of witnesses who rushed to help on the scene. "Our gratitude goes out to every bystander who ran to help, every police officer and emergency services personnel who helped us with our immediate needs keeping us calm and making us comfortable," they said. "We saw mateship in action. Australians come together to help in time of need." "We would like to extend our great thanks to the hospital staff taking care of us for their kindness and compassion during this traumatic experience." The New Zealand couples, all in their 40s, were among the six people in the second helicopter who all survived the crash with minor injuries. <a href="https://oversixty.com.au/news/news/helicopter-crash-victims-identified" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Four people</a> on the first helicopter died while the remaining three survivors remain in hospital. Image credits: Nine News

Travel Trouble

"Dear leg, I'll miss you so much": Boy's tragic farewell

A young boy has left a heartbreaking message on his leg after learning that it had to be amputated due to a rare cancer. Chandler Tran, 8, from Australia, and his family first discovered the illness when they found a “pea-sized” bump on his leg and noticed he was walking with a limp when he returned from holiday care around Easter time. Seeking an X-ray at the local hospital, he was then taken to a children’s hospital in Sydney and was given the devastating diagnosis of osteosarcoma, which is a rare bone cancer. The following months comprised of chemotherapy treatment. Doctors then wanted to amputate his leg to alleviate the pain, but the amputation will not cure him. Chandler’s dad Cong Tan, 42, recalled the moment. He said: “Can you take a photo of my leg on my tablet?” “He drew a little love heart over his leg and wrote a little message.” “He wrote: ‘Dear leg, I’ll miss you so much when you’re gone, love Chandler.’ “He was sad about the prospect of losing his leg, but he was like, ‘If that’s what I need to do to not have pain, then that’s okay.’ “For us seeing him coping so well, that really helped us.” Days after recovering from that operation, his family were told the tumours in Chandler’s lungs had grown and the doctors couldn’t do anything more to save his life. “They said any treatment would just be palliative, to try and slow the cancer down,” his mother Trang said. The family has set up a <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/jwxjw-support-the-trans" target="_blank" rel="noopener">GoFundMe</a> page to help cover eventual funeral costs but also to fund any LEGO that Chandler wants. “The sickness is coming on and we are at the point where we can’t treat it and so it is about keeping him happy,” Mr Tran said. “We appreciate everyone who has donated and is helping us give Chandler whatever his heart desires to make the last bit as enjoyable as possible.” Image: NZ Herald

Body

“Have a second phone”: Aussie spy chief’s warning on social media use

MPs have been urged to use a second phone if they want to access social media apps such as TikTok, after one of Australia’s top spy bosses spoke about how these apps use our personal information. Rachel Noble, the Director-General of the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD), recommended that politicians and their staff should adopt the practice during a Senate estimates hearing. She also said that having a phone without access to social media was the only way to have “absolute certainty” of data privacy. “Our advice was, frankly, for people who are members of parliament who might be particularly targets of espionage … that if you wanted absolute certainty that your social media app couldn’t have access to those things … would be to have a second phone which you exclusively use for that,” Ms Noble said. The warning comes after it was reported earlier this year that the ASD had confidential meetings with politicians and their staff to warn them that some apps undertake excessive data collection and request access to contact lists, location data and photos. Last year, the Department of Home Affairs restricted TikTok use on work phones, joining the Department of Defence in doing so. During the hearing, Ms Noble said that in some cases social media apps were collecting additional information extending “beyond the content of messages, videos and voice recordings”. “Social media apps are monetising what you do on your phone, what you access, what you look at for how long, who your friends are – they will seek to get demographics of your friends in order to push you the information and get you to buy things,” she said. With some apps headquartered outside Australia, such as China, Ms Noble said the information collected could be accessed legally or be subject to covert collection. Sectors of the Australian public service aren’t the only ones restricting use of social media apps on work phones, with parliaments in the United States and New Zealand warning against using TikTok on government devices. Image: Getty Images

Technology

Boat tragedy claims five lives after whale flips vessel

New details have emerged pertaining to the accident that involved a whale, which was understood to have flipped over a boat at Goose Bay, claiming the lives of five photographers near Kaikōura in New Zealand’s South Island. The fatal accident occurred at 10 am on a Saturday, when the whale breached directly underneath the boat causing the vessel to capsize. Six people were thrown overboard including the skipper; five others were left trapped and did not survive. According to their website, the 10 photographers from the Nature Photography Society had been planning the three-day field trip for months. Everyone made their way to the popular seaside village on Friday September 9, before setting out to photograph landscapes, seascapes and birdlife. The group embarked at 9 am in an 8.5m aluminium boat, leaving South Bay at Kaikōura and heading down the coastline to Goose Bay near the well-known twin road tunnels on State Highway 1. The three-hour charter had taken the group out on the water to capture photos of the snow-capped Kaikōura landscape in the background and the birdlife along the coast, with whale watching not even on the agenda. An hour later, the charter headed north towards Barneys Rock, a popular spot for photographers and tourists. As it motored slowly north it appears it was on the edge of the famous deep trench that is home to whales, where the canyon quickly drops away to a depth of 500 metres and as far down as 3km. The boat was about 500 m from shore when the emerged from directly beneath the boat, flipping the vessel, throwing the skipper and passengers into the water. The Transport Accident Investigation Commission is investigating, in conjunction with Maritime New Zealand and the police. Image: Getty

Travel Trouble

“Kia Ora NZ!”: First cruise ship returns to New Zealand

After more than two years, the first cruise ship has returned to New Zealand’s shores, sailing into Auckland’s Waitemata Harbour on Friday. The P&O Cruises flagship Pacific Explorer, decked out with a banner reading, “Kia ora NZ”, was carrying passengers on a 12-night round-trip cruise from Sydney to New Zealand and Fiji, who were greeted with a traditional Māori welcome before heading ashore for locally-run tours. Multiple Kiwi businesses welcomed the return of cruising to New Zealand and hope it will bring a boost to the local economy and their business. David Lee, who owns five eateries in the shopping and hospitality precinct in Auckland City, said the return of cruising has brought him hope after the lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc when he opened in March 2020. “Without tourists, it was really hard to keep our restaurants afloat,” he said in a statement. “Our projected revenue amounted to less than half of what it should have been - we hung on by the skin of our teeth. “The return of cruise ships and the tourists they bring has given me hope for our business. I can’t wait to see the city abuzz with tourists and energy again.” Clinton Farley, the general manager of The Hotel Britomart, a boutique hotel in downtown Auckland, said the return of tourists through cruising isn’t just welcome financially, but also from a community aspect. “Along with our industry peers, we are extremely excited to see the maritime border reopening and tourists returning – they are such an important part of the fabric within our community,” Mr Farley said. “Tourists are crucial not just to the hotel but also to the wider Britomart precinct and the New Zealand economy. The return of cruise is a big part of our reopening to the world, and we are thrilled to see downtown Auckland coming back to life.” P&O Cruises Australia and Carnival Australia president Marguerite Fitzgerald thanked the Ardern government for enabling the cruising industry to return following the pandemic, “Pacific Explorer’s arrival in Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland today is a signal that cruise tourism is poised to make a significant contribution to the restoration of the tourism economy,” Ms Fitzgerald said. “We are looking forward to our ships also being able to return to beautiful destinations in New Caledonia and Vanuatu and to the progressive return to New Zealand ports of ships from our other cruise lines as the tourism sector continues to rebuild.” Ms Fitzgerald added that they were already planning for the Pacific Explorer to return to Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland, in 2023 for the ship’s first home-ported cruise in three years. “This is an exciting day for P&O and an exciting day for cruising and we thank New Zealand for today’s warm welcome,” she said. Image: P&O Cruises (Supplied)

Cruising

Australia’s wellbeing budget: what we can – and can’t – learn from NZ

Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers has <a href="https://twitter.com/JEChalmers/status/1545191023386951680" target="_blank" rel="noopener">confirmed</a> Australia will follow Aotearoa New Zealand’s example and put wellbeing at the centre of the national budget. So what is a wellbeing budget? To understand that requires a short explanation of how Australia’s budget works now, and how wellbeing goals will change the process. How the budget has worked till now Governments around the world budget in different ways. Some deliver little more than a statement of economic policy aspirations. Others, like Australia and New Zealand, publish detailed and useful information. The standard Australian budget since the 1980s has included an economic outlook, official estimates of likely revenue and expenses, and details on proposed changes to taxes and spending. There are sections on risks, estimates of debt, and much else besides. Preparing the budget is a mammoth undertaking by bureaucrats, ministers, and ministerial offices. Nevertheless government decisions actually only affect the budget at the margins. The bulk of spending is locked in to programs that roll on year after year – such as aged pensions, health and defence. Budgeting is incremental. Cabinet’s key budget decision-making body, the <a href="https://www.finance.gov.au/about-us/glossary/pgpa/term-expenditure-review-committee-erc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Expenditure Review Committee</a>, will work for months to shift just 2-3% of spending. There are exceptions. When a major new tax such as the GST is introduced, for example. Or when a government spends big in response to a global financial crisis or pandemic. But these are rare. Government budget decisions at the margin are, however, what the media and political debate focuses on, because they show the government’s priorities. These priorities typically change each year, reflecting political imperatives. The grab-bag of disparate spending increases in the Morrison government’s last budget, <a href="https://budget.gov.au/2022-23/content/overview/index.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">for example</a>, reflected an impending election. Its <a href="https://archive.budget.gov.au/2021-22/download/glossy_overview.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2021-22</a> budget reflected the pandemic. Its <a href="https://archive.budget.gov.au/2019-20/download/overview.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2019-20 budget</a> reflected its long-term plan to deliver a surplus. New Zealand makes the shift Until 2019 and its first wellbeing budget, New Zealand’s process was so similar to Australia’s that observers lumped them together as the “Antipodean” model of budgeting. No longer. The New Zealand government’s policy decisions still remain mostly at the margins. But the way those marginal decisions are made has changed. Priorities are no longer just set according to the government’s whim but are more constant – reflecting long-term goals identified as important to national wellbeing. These priorities aren’t meant to change significantly between years, or terms, or even decades. Setting national priorities New Zealand first wellbeing budget in 2019 set out five priorities for budget funding: <ol> <li>transition to a sustainable and low-emissions economy</li> <li>social and economic opportunities</li> <li>lifting Maori and Pacific peoples’ opportunities</li> <li>reducing child poverty</li> <li>improving mental health.</li> </ol> These priorities have stayed the same over four wellbeing budgets – albeit with some minor changes, such as adding physical wellbeing to the mental health objective. Extra funding has been allocated to these priorities in each of the four years. The 2022 budget, for example, had <a href="https://www.beehive.govt.nz/speech/minister-finance-wellbeing-budget-2022-speech" target="_blank" rel="noopener">an extra NZ$580 million</a> (about A$525 million) for health, social and justice program contributing to Māori wellbeing. Has it made a difference? It is not yet apparent what wellbeing budgeting has achieved for New Zealand. But that’s to be expected. Challenges such as child poverty, greenhouse emissions or mental health need decades of sustained effort, not four years of the standard budgeting cycle. These are areas that have often been neglected precisely because they can’t provide some “announceable” outcome in time for an election. Criticisms of the New Zealand process for <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/australia-shouldn-t-blindly-follow-nz-wellbeing-budget-model-20220708-p5b084.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">not yet improving outcomes</a> thus fail to appreciate the point of the reform. They are even more unfair given the context of the past two years, with the challenges of COVID-19, supply chain disruptions and global inflation. Evidence from Scotland A sense of the long-term benefits of wellbeing measures comes from Scotland. It has not yet gone as far as New Zealand with a wellbeing budget, but for 15 years it has had a “<a href="https://nationalperformance.gov.scot/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">well-being framework</a>” helping to shape spending priorities. The <a href="https://nationalperformance.gov.scot/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">National Performance Framework</a> was adopted in 2007 with a ten-year vision to measure and improve wellbeing outcomes. Updated in 2018, it covers 11 major outcomes – from “a globally competitive, entrepreneurial, inclusive and sustainable economy” to children growing up “loved, safe and respected” – with 81 measures of improvement (such as social and physical development scores as measures <a href="https://nationalperformance.gov.scot/measuring-progress/national-indicator-performance" target="_blank" rel="noopener">of child well-being</a>). <hr /> <figure class="align-center zoomable"><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473524/original/file-20220712-16-97lchi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473524/original/file-20220712-16-97lchi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473524/original/file-20220712-16-97lchi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=595&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473524/original/file-20220712-16-97lchi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=595&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473524/original/file-20220712-16-97lchi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=595&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473524/original/file-20220712-16-97lchi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=747&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473524/original/file-20220712-16-97lchi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=747&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473524/original/file-20220712-16-97lchi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=747&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" alt="Main goals of Scotland's national performance framework." /></a><figcaption>Main goals of Scotland’s national performance framework. <a class="source" href="https://nationalperformance.gov.scot/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Scottish Government</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CC BY</a></figcaption></figure> <hr /> Public policy researcher <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-02230-3_3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jennifer Wallace</a> (and current director of the Carnegie UK Trust) says the Scottish experience: <blockquote> tells a strong story of how a focus on wellbeing can reorientate government by creating a shared language for public services and a sense of unity of purpose. </blockquote> Not perfect, but a step in the right direction New Zealand’s wellbeing budget is not a complete departure from a standard budget. It still has economic content and, like any set of papers produced by a government, cannot escape politics. Nonetheless it puts wellbeing spending at the forefront of the government’s most important policy statement of the year. It is working on measuring progress in more sophisticated ways than standard indicators such as GDP. It encourages departments and their ministers to prepare policy bids with a view to these priorities. It makes wellbeing a benchmark by which to judge the budget – even by critics. New Zealand has long been a budget innovator. It led the world in introducing outcomes and outputs budgeting – categorising spending according to desired results rather than inputs such as staff and buildings. This is now considered standard good practice for a developed country. In Australia the wellbeing budget could turn out to be an equally useful model – though there will always be more work to be done.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/186725/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/stephen-bartos-901192" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Stephen Bartos</a>, Professor of Economics, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-canberra-865" target="_blank" rel="noopener">University of Canberra</a> This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-wellbeing-budget-what-we-can-and-cant-learn-from-nz-186725" target="_blank" rel="noopener">original article</a>. Image: Getty Images

Money & Banking

‘Patently ridiculous’: State government failures have exacerbated Sydney’s flood disaster

For the fourth time in 18 months, floodwaters have inundated homes and businesses in Western Sydney’s Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley. Recent torrential rain is obviously the immediate cause. But poor decisions by successive New South Wales governments have exacerbated the damage. The town of Windsor, in the Hawkesbury region, has suffered a particularly high toll, with dramatic flood heights of 9.3 metres in February 2020, 12.9m in March 2021 and 13.7m in March this year. As I write, flood heights at Windsor have reached nearly 14m. This is still considerably lower than the monster flood of 1867, which reached almost 20m. It’s clear that standard flood risk reduction measures, such as raising building floor levels, are not safe enough in this valley. We’ve known about the risk of floods to the region for a long time. Yet successive state governments have failed to properly mitigate its impact. Indeed, recent urban development policies by the current NSW government will multiply the risk. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> BBC weather putting Sydney’s downpour into context. More rain there in 4 days than London gets in a year. <a href="https://t.co/FDkBCYGlK7">pic.twitter.com/FDkBCYGlK7</a> — Brett Mcleod (@Brett_McLeod) <a href="https://twitter.com/Brett_McLeod/status/1544071890431623169?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 4, 2022</a></blockquote> We knew this was coming A 22,000 square kilometre catchment covering the Blue Mountains and Western Sydney drains into the Hawkesbury-Nepean river system. The system faces an <a href="https://theconversation.com/sydneys-disastrous-flood-wasnt-unprecedented-were-about-to-enter-a-50-year-period-of-frequent-major-floods-158427" target="_blank" rel="noopener">extreme flood risk</a> because gorges restrict the river’s seaward flow, often causing water to rapidly fill up the valley after heavy rain. Governments have known about the flood risks in the valley for more than two centuries. Traditional Owners have known about them for millennia. In 1817, Governor Macquarie lamented: <blockquote> it is impossible not to feel extremely displeased and Indignant at [colonists] Infatuated Obstinacy in persisting to Continue to reside with their Families, Flocks, Herds, and Grain on those Spots Subject to the Floods, and from whence they have often had their prosperity swept away. </blockquote> Macquarie’s was the first in a long line of governments to do nothing effective to reduce the risk. The latest in this undistinguished chain is the NSW Planning Minister Anthony Roberts. In March, Roberts <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/nsw-planning-minister-scraps-order-to-consider-flood-fire-risks-before-building-20220321-p5a6kc.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly revoked</a> his predecessor’s directive to better consider flood and other climate risks in planning decisions, to instead favour housing development. Roberts’ predecessor, Rob Stokes, had required that the Department of Planning, local governments and developers consult Traditional Owners, manage risks from climate change, and make information public on the risks of natural disasters. This could have helped limit development on floodplains. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> Michael Greenway knows that as soon as he sees floodwater, it’s time to get the three boxes of family photos and move to higher ground. He’s lived in his Richards home for years and has experienced six floods - three of which have been this year <a href="https://t.co/t8Tgckc5lx">https://t.co/t8Tgckc5lx</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NSWFloods?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NSWFloods</a> <a href="https://t.co/ErN6sf6hBn">pic.twitter.com/ErN6sf6hBn</a> — Laura Chung (@Laura_R_Chung) <a href="https://twitter.com/Laura_R_Chung/status/1543890156675276800?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 4, 2022</a></blockquote> Why are we still building there? The Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley is currently home to 134,000 people, a population <a href="https://www.infrastructure.nsw.gov.au/expert-advice/hawkesbury-nepean-flood-risk-management-strategy/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">projected to</a> double by 2050. The potential <a href="https://theconversation.com/to-stop-risky-developments-in-floodplains-we-have-to-tackle-the-profit-motive-and-our-false-sense-of-security-184062?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=bylinetwitterbutton" target="_blank" rel="noopener">economic returns</a> from property development are a key driver of the <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/26393302" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lack of effective action</a> to reduce flood risk. In the valley, for example, billionaire Kerry Stokes’ company Seven Group is <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/how-raising-the-warragamba-dam-wall-could-be-a-win-for-billionaire-kerry-stokes-20220222-p59yke.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly a part owner</a> of almost 2,000 hectares at Penrith Lakes by the Nepean River, where a 5,000-home development has been mooted. Planning in Australia often uses the 1-in-100-year flood return interval as a safety standard. <a href="https://nccarf.edu.au/living-floods-key-lessons-australia-and-abroad/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">This is not appropriate</a>. Flood risk in the valley is increasing with climate change, and development in the catchment increases the speed of runoff from paved surfaces. The historical 1-in-100 year safety standard is particularly inappropriate in the valley, because of the extreme risk of rising water cutting off low-lying roads and completely submerging residents cut-off in extreme floods. What’s more, a “medium” climate change scenario will see a <a href="https://www.infrastructure.nsw.gov.au/expert-advice/hawkesbury-nepean-flood-risk-management-strategy/resources/publications-and-resources/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">14.6% increase</a> in rainfall by 2090 west of Sydney. This is projected to increase the 1-in-100 year flood height at Windsor from 17.3m to 18.4m. The NSW government should impose a much higher standard of flood safety before approving new residential development. In my view, it would be prudent to only allow development that could withstand the 20m height of the 1867 flood. No dam can control the biggest floods The NSW government’s primary proposal to reduce flood risk is to <a href="https://www.infrastructure.nsw.gov.au/expert-advice/hawkesbury-nepean-flood-risk-management-strategy/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">raise Warragamba Dam</a> by 14m. There are many reasons this <a href="https://www.giveadam.org.au/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">proposal should be questioned</a>. They include the potential inundation not just of <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/traditional-owners-launch-federal-bid-to-stop-raising-of-warragamba-dam-wall-20210128-p56xkt.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cultural sites</a> of the Gundungarra nation, but threatened species populations, and part of the Blue Mountains World Heritage Area. The <a href="https://www.infrastructure.nsw.gov.au/media/2855/infrastructure-nsw-resilient-valley-resilient-communities-2017-jan.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cost-benefit analysis</a> used to justify the proposal <a href="https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/committees/inquiries/Pages/inquiry-submission-details.aspx?pk=65507" target="_blank" rel="noopener">did not count</a> these costs, nor the benefits of alternative measures such as upgrading escape roads. Perversely, flood control dams and levee banks often result in higher flood risks. That’s because none of these structures stop the biggest floods, and they provide an illusion of safety that justifies more risky floodplain development. The current NSW transport minister <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/emergency-minister-says-raising-dam-wall-could-lead-to-more-development-on-floodplain-20210329-p57evo.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">suggested such development</a> in the valley last year. Similar development occurred with the construction of the Wivenhoe Dam in 1984, which hasn’t prevented extensive flooding in <a href="http://www.jstor.org/stable/26393302" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Brisbane</a> in 2011 and 2022. These are among the reasons the NSW Parliament Select Committee on the Proposal to Raise the Warragamba Dam Wall <a href="https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/committees/listofcommittees/Pages/committee-details.aspx?pk=262#tab-reportsandgovernmentresponses" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recommended</a> last October that the state government: <blockquote> not proceed with the Warragamba Dam wall raising project [and] pursue alternative floodplain management strategies instead. </blockquote> What the government should do instead The NSW government now has an opportunity to overcome two centuries of failed governance. It could take substantial measures to keep homes off the floodplain and out of harm’s way. We need major <a href="https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/committees/inquiries/Pages/inquiry-submission-details.aspx?pk=65507" target="_blank" rel="noopener">new measures</a> including: <ul> <li>preventing new development</li> <li>relocating flood prone residents</li> <li>building better evacuation roads</li> <li>lowering the water storage level behind Warragamba Dam.</li> </ul> The NSW government should help residents to relocate from the most flood-prone places and restore floodplains. This has been undertaken for many Australian towns and cities, such as <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212420914000028" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Grantham</a>, Brisbane, and <a href="https://nccarf.edu.au/living-floods-key-lessons-australia-and-abroad" target="_blank" rel="noopener">along major rivers worldwide</a>. <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/5/4/1580/htm#B10-water-05-01580" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Relocating residents isn’t easy</a>, and any current Australian buyback and relocation programs are voluntary. I think it’s in the public interest to go further and, for example, compulsorily acquire or relocate those with destroyed homes, rather than allowing them to rebuild in harm’s way. This approach offers certainty for flood-hit people and lowers community impacts in the longer term. It is patently ridiculous to rebuild on sites that have been flooded multiple times in two years. In the case of the Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley, there are at least <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/federal-government-insurers-stop-housing-in-floodrisk-zones/news-story/cba71269eff2b0ea00d93445ff0e9f73" target="_blank" rel="noopener">5,000 homes</a> below the 1-in-100-year flood return interval. This includes roughly <a href="https://www.hawkesburygazette.com.au/story/7657492/near-1000-flood-related-home-insurance-claims-already-in-hawkesbury/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">1,000 homes flooded</a> in March. The NSW government says a buyback program would be <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/farcical-minister-shoots-down-flood-relocation-says-residents-know-the-risks-20220308-p5a2qg.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">too expensive</a>. Yet, the cost would be comparable to the roughly $2 billion needed to raise Warragamba Dam, or the government’s $5 billion WestInvest fund. An alternative measure to raising the dam is to lower the water storage level in Warragamba Dam by 12m. This would reduce the amount of drinking water stored to supply Sydney, and would provide some flood control space. The city’s water supply would then need to rely more on the existing desalination plant, a <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364032116001817" target="_blank" rel="noopener">strategy assessed as cost effective</a> and with the added benefit of bolstering drought resilience. The flood damage seen in NSW this week was entirely predictable. Measures that could significantly lower flood risk are expensive and politically hard. But as flood risks worsen with climate change, they’re well worth it.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/186304/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/jamie-pittock-7562" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jamie Pittock</a>, Professor, Fenner School of Environment & Society, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/australian-national-university-877" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Australian National University</a> This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/patently-ridiculous-state-government-failures-have-exacerbated-sydneys-flood-disaster-186304" target="_blank" rel="noopener">original article</a>.

Legal

New Air NZ exhibit celebrates Māori culture

A new exhibition promises to take visitors through the skies of New Zealand by combining virtual reality with the real world. The exhibition, launched by Air New Zealand, sees a virtual version of Pou Tikanga, Pou Pūrākau (cultural leader, storyteller) Joe Harawira take guests through the story of Matariki, the celebration of the Māori new year. "Attendees will board the waka rererangi (canoe in the sky) to visit the Guardians Tanē Mahuta (forest), Tangaroa (sea), Papatūānuku (land), and Ranginui (sky) to experience the Matariki story, all without moving an inch,” Air New Zealand Senior Cultural Development Manager Jahmaine Cummings-Hodge said in a <a href="https://www.airnewzealand.com.au/join-araraurangi-air-new-zealand-in-the-waka-rererangi-for-a-matariki-journey" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a>. "A full 3D virtual version of Joe has been created which appears in the experience at a human scale. We have also replicated the carved waka in its entirety digitally using similar techniques, mimicking intricate carvings and textures." A combination of facial motion capture, photogrammetry, and scanning techniques was used to bring the virtual versions of Joe and the waka to life, which can be viewed using Magic Leap headsets. The technology used by Magic Leap layers digital objects onto the real world, meaning that light enters the eye just like it would if a real object were being viewed. The virtual reality experience comes after the airline worked with Harawira for a new safety video celebrating Māori culture, released in May this year, and as part of the company’s efforts to support te ao Māori (the Māori worldview). "As the national carrier, Air New Zealand has a responsibility to demonstrate an authentic and holistic support of Māori culture,” Cummings-Hodge said. The experience, launched at the Canterbury Museum on June 18-19, will be live at Te Puia in Rotorua from June 22. Image: @canterburymuseum (Instagram)

Domestic Travel

Aus-NZ refugee deal is a bandage on a failed policy

Australia has finally accepted New Zealand’s offer to settle some of the refugees from the <a href="https://www.kaldorcentre.unsw.edu.au/sites/kaldorcentre.unsw.edu.au/files/factsheet_offshore_processing_overview.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">offshore processing</a> regime – about nine years after it was first made in 2013. The NZ deal will provide certainty for <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/mar/24/australia-agrees-450-refugees-can-be-resettled-in-new-zealand-nine-years-after-deal-first-offered" target="_blank" rel="noopener">450 people</a> who have been in limbo, many for more than a decade. But in the March 24 <a href="https://minister.homeaffairs.gov.au/KarenAndrews/Pages/australia-new-zealand-resettlement-arrangement.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announcement</a>, Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews made clear the deal does not change Australia’s <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/australia-and-new-zealand-reach-refugee-resettlement-agreement/20vyv2d8w" target="_blank" rel="noopener">hard-line approach</a>. This makes the deal a bandage on a <a href="https://www.kaldorcentre.unsw.edu.au/sites/kaldorcentre.unsw.edu.au/files/Policy_Brief_11_Offshore_Processing.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">failed policy</a> that continues to haemorrhage cash, destroy lives and erode the international system for refugee protection. Who is – and isn’t – included in the NZ deal? The original offer, made by the then NZ Prime Minister John Key in 2013, was refused by the Australian government until now. The Coalition government claimed the deal could be a “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/nov/01/decision-to-bring-children-from-nauru-an-admission-of-failure-by-government" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pull factor</a>” for asylum seekers coming by boat to Australia. Under the agreement, NZ will settle up to 150 of Australia’s “offshore processing” refugees per year for three years. These refugees arrived in Australia by sea between 2012 and 2014 and were sent to Nauru or Manus Island “offshore processing” detention centres. The deal can include the <a href="https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/about-us-subsite/files/population-and-number-of-people-resettled.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">112 people</a> who are in Nauru or those temporarily in Australia under offshore processing arrangements. Some <a href="https://www.unhcr.org/en-au/news/press/2022/3/623a66584/unhcr-news-comment-on-the-australia-new-zealand-refugee-deal.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">1,100</a> people have been returned temporarily to Australia, mostly for medical treatment. They mostly live in the community with <a href="https://www.amnesty.org.au/potential-return-of-refugees-and-people-seeking-asylum-to-nauru-and-png-proof-of-policy-failure/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">no support and insecure visa status</a> but some remain in detention. Those already being considered for settlement to another country, such as the United States or Canada, aren’t eligible for the NZ program. More than 100 men who remain in Papua New Guinea aren’t included in this deal. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> The always wise, always insightful <a href="https://twitter.com/BehrouzBoochani?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BehrouzBoochani</a> on Australia, the NZ refugee resettlement offer, and why it took nine years...<a href="https://t.co/IdxPBGpAz0">https://t.co/IdxPBGpAz0</a> — Ben Doherty (@BenDohertyCorro) <a href="https://twitter.com/BenDohertyCorro/status/1508944829509926915?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 29, 2022</a></blockquote> Under current known arrangements, people remaining in PNG could be <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/25/australia-new-zealand-refugee-deal-everything-we-know" target="_blank" rel="noopener">referred</a> by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to NZ through its regular refugee programme. Even after the NZ and US options are exhausted, it’s estimated at least <a href="https://www.refugeecouncil.org.au/australians-welcome-nzs-generosity-to-refugees-in-offshore-processing/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">500 refugees will be without a solution</a>. And they’re not the only ones. There are some <a href="https://www.kaldorcentre.unsw.edu.au/sites/kaldorcentre.unsw.edu.au/files/Factsheet_Legacy%20Caseload_final.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">30,000 people</a> in what’s called the “legacy caseload” who arrived by sea between 2012 and 2014 and weren’t transferred to Nauru and PNG. They remain in Australia subject to harmful measures. They’re stuck in limbo on temporary visas, unable to reunify with family members, and receive <a href="https://humanrights.gov.au/about/news/urgent-call-government-protect-asylum-seekers-and-refugees" target="_blank" rel="noopener">inadequate support</a> to secure housing or health care. Australia distorts the global refugee system <a href="https://www.refworld.org/docid/51af82794.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Australia has primary responsibility</a> for refugees who seek its protection. The Australian government has repeatedly tried and failed to find countries willing to settle refugees it refuses to protect. It reportedly offered multiple countries, from the Philippines to Kyrgyzstan, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/may/08/australias-refugee-deal-a-farce-after-us-rejects-all-iranian-and-somali-asylum-seekers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">millions of dollars</a> to settle refugees from Australia’s offshore camps – without success. Resettlement to a third country is an important solution, available to less than 1% of refugees globally whose lives, liberty, safety, health or other fundamental rights are at risk <a href="https://www.unhcr.org/46f7c0ee2.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">in the country where they have sought refuge</a>. This isn’t the case for refugees seeking asylum in Australia, where there’s a well-established asylum system. It’s difficult to think of the NZ solution as “resettlement” in its true meaning. Resettlement places are important to <a href="https://www.unhcr.org/en-au/news/press/2021/6/60d32ba44/un-refugee-agency-releases-2022-resettlement-needs.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">relieve pressure on developing countries</a> that host almost 90% of the world’s refugees. Conflicts in Syria, Yemen, Myanmar, South Sudan, Afghanistan, plus now Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, have created a need for resettlement in a third country for almost <a href="https://www.unhcr.org/en-au/news/press/2021/6/60d32ba44/un-refugee-agency-releases-2022-resettlement-needs.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">1.5 million</a> refugees worldwide. Resettlement has been disrupted over the last two years due to COVID, leaving even more people in urgent need. Under these extraordinary “refugee deals” with the US and NZ, the Australian government is trying to solve a political problem of its own making at the expense of people in desperate need. Like Australia, the US and NZ offer only a limited number of resettlement spots each year. When these spots go to Australia’s refugees, who are Australia’s responsibility, someone else misses out. Continuing damage This is Australia’s second go at offshore processing. Its first iteration, the “Pacific Solution”, lasted from 2001 until 2008. The second commenced in 2012 and continues. Offshore processing remains costly. Australian taxpayers have spent, on average, around <a href="https://www.kaldorcentre.unsw.edu.au/sites/kaldorcentre.unsw.edu.au/files/Policy_Brief_11_Offshore_Processing.pdf#page=14&zoom=auto,-135,786" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A$1 billion per year</a> to maintain offshore processing since 2014. This is despite a dramatic drop in the number of people held in Nauru and PNG. At the peak in April 2014, Australia detained a total of 2,450 people. By December 2021, there were <a href="https://www.refugeecouncil.org.au/operation-sovereign-borders-offshore-detention-statistics/2/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">219 people remaining offshore in Nauru and PNG</a>. People transferred to Manus Island and Nauru suffered mandatory and indefinite detention in harsh conditions. Their treatment has been called out by the United Nations repeatedly as <a href="https://www.unhcr.org/en-au/united-nations-observations.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cruel and inhuman</a> and described by Amnesty International as <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/checkpoint/audio/2018835563/amnesty-international-celebrates-deal-for-nz-to-take-refugees" target="_blank" rel="noopener">torture</a>. The abuse of men, women and children in offshore processing centres has been thoroughly documented in a <a href="https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/b743d9_e4413cb72e1646d8bd3e8a8c9a466950.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">communiqué</a> to the International Criminal Court, <a href="https://bills.parliament.uk/publications/43063/documents/791#page=27&zoom=auto,-134,1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">parliamentary inquiries</a> and domestic legal challenges. Australia’s offshore processing sets a bad regional precedent for <a href="https://humanrights.gov.au/sites/default/files/20160913_Pathways_to_Protection.pdf#page=20&zoom=page-fit,-625,841" target="_blank" rel="noopener">refugee protection in Southeast Asia</a> and beyond. The policy objective of using cruelty as a deterrent to “stop the boats” and “save lives at sea” didn’t work. If boats didn’t arrive, this was due to Australia’s <a href="https://www.kaldorcentre.unsw.edu.au/sites/kaldorcentre.unsw.edu.au/files/Policy_Brief_11_Offshore_Processing.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">interception and turnback of boats at sea</a>. What needs to change? Refugee policy can be <a href="https://www.kaldorcentre.unsw.edu.au/publication/principles-australian-refugee-policy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">principled</a> and driven by compassion while protecting borders and respecting international law. Australia should formally end offshore processing. The small number of people still held offshore in Nauru and PNG should be transferred back to Australia. Everyone who has been subject to the policy since 2012 who doesn’t have a permanent solution could be offered settlement in Australia. This <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/about_parliament/parliamentary_departments/parliamentary_library/pubs/bn/2012-2013/pacificsolution" target="_blank" rel="noopener">occurred</a> in the first iteration of offshore processing and could happen again. Money and lives can be saved.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/180241/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/natasha-yacoub-1259499" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Natasha Yacoub</a>, International refugee lawyer and scholar, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/unsw-sydney-1414" target="_blank" rel="noopener">UNSW Sydney</a> This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/aus-nz-refugee-deal-is-a-bandage-on-a-failed-policy-its-time-to-end-offshore-processing-180241" target="_blank" rel="noopener">original article</a>. Image: Getty Images

Legal

Why doesn’t the government have a duty of care to children’s futures?

Federal judges <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-60745967" target="_blank" rel="noopener">have deemed</a> that the Australian government doesn’t have a duty of care to protect children from the harms of climate change, overturning last year’s landmark decision. Eight teenagers and an 87-year-old nun convinced Federal Court judges that Susan Ley, the Australian Environment Minister, had a duty of care to protect children from future harm caused by climate change when assessing fossil fuel projects. They <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/the-australian-government-has-a-duty-of-care-to-protect-children-from-climate-harm-court-rules/grhgp8t8y" target="_blank" rel="noopener">initially</a> sought an injunction to stop the expansion of a coal mine in New South Wales, which is expected to add an extra 170 million tonnes of fossil fuels to the atmosphere. However, the injunction wasn’t issued since the judges believed the minister hadn’t yet violated her duty of care. The government appealed the court ruling and all three judges sided with the minister for various reasons, including that there wasn’t “sufficient closeness” between the minister’s decision to approve the mine and “any reasonably foreseeable harm” that comes from it. Despite the initial decision being successfully challenged, the teens could still take the case to the country’s highest court. “Today’s ruling leaves us devastated, but it will not deter us in our fight for climate justice,” 17-year-old Anjali Sharma said in a statement released by the teenagers’ lawyers in mid-March. 15-year-old Izzy Raj-Seppings, another of the teens involved in the case, said their lawyers would review the judgement, and that “we may have more to say in the coming weeks”. “While today’s judgement did not go our way, there is still much to celebrate. The court accepted that young people will bear the brunt of the impacts of the climate crisis.” Image: BBC News

Legal

Buckle up! Number of Australia-NZ flights set to rise

Flights from Australia to New Zealand <a href="https://travel.nine.com.au/latest/new-zealand-qantas-and-jetstar-to-ramp-up-flights-to-new-zealand/39f3aa8c-3bc7-42e5-a0c3-360843a3ae3f" target="_blank" rel="noopener">are set to increase</a> after it was announced vaccinated Aussies would be allowed to travel to their Kiwi neighbour from mid-April. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced that the border would reopen from 11.59pm on April 12, nearly a year after the short-lived trans-Tasman bubble between the two countries first opened. <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/tv/CbJMv83lJrA/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/tv/CbJMv83lJrA/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by New Zealand (@purenewzealand)</a> </div> </blockquote> In response, Qantas and Jetstar plan to run up to 30 return flights a week from mid-April. Though nowhere near the more than 170 return services offered a week before the global pandemic, it’s a significant increase after the closure of the travel bubble and a sign of the industry’s recovery. In a statement, Qantas said it would be operating daily flights between Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney to Auckland, and between Sydney and Christchurch. Meanwhile, Jetstar will be offering three weekly flights from the Gold Coast to Auckland. But the travel opportunities will continue to grow during May and June, when the airlines will resume flights to Queenstown and Wellington. <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CbJ2QwbO56Y/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CbJ2QwbO56Y/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Jetstar Australia (@jetstaraustralia)</a> </div> </blockquote> It is also said that Qantas will continue to offer a flexible booking policy for trans-Tasman flights which allows for unlimited flight date changes on flights booked before June 30 for travel until December 31, 2022. With Aussies accounting for 40 percent of the tourists entering New Zealand each year, it’s sure to be a decision welcomed by the local tourism industry and those who have been itching to travel for the last two years. Image: @jetstarnz (Instagram)

Domestic Travel

Qantas’ eight-year streak as safest airline ended by Kiwi rival

In the wake of some of its toughest years during the pandemic, the airline industry has welcomed the gradual return of travelling by announcing the safest airlines in the world for the year ahead - with the top prize going to Air New Zealand. The 2022 rankings were compiled by <a href="https://www.airlineratings.com/news/air-new-zealand-worlds-safest-airline-2022/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">AirlineRatings.com</a>, which considered the number of serious incidents over the previous two years, safety initiatives, fleet age and COVID-19 safety protocols in each airline’s score. Air New Zealand was lauded for its technical innovation and young fleet of planes, with the website’s editors noting that the airline operates in “some of the most challenging weather conditions and remote environments”. <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CagcvZXlCNq/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CagcvZXlCNq/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Air New Zealand ✈️ (@airnz)</a> </div> </blockquote> “The last two years have been extremely difficult for airlines with COVID-19 slashing travel and Airline Ratings editors have particularly focused on the lengths airlines are undertaking to re-train pilots ahead of a return to service,” said Editor-in-Chief Geoffrey Thomas, He added that Air New Zealand was a leader in the field thanks to its “comprehensive retraining”.. This year’s rankings has also seen the end of Qantas’ eight-year streak, with the website stating that an incident at a Perth airport in 2018 caused the drop in its ranking. Despite this, the Aussie airline still made the top 20 of the 385 airlines included in the ranking, coming in seventh place. The top 20 ranking, in full, is as follows:Air New Zealand, Etihad Airways, Qatar Airways, Singapore Airways, TAP Portugal, SAS, Qantas, Alaska Airlines, EVA Air, Virgin Australia/Atlantic, Cathay Pacific Airways, Hawaiian Airlines, American Airlines, Lufthansa/Swiss Group, Finnair, Air France/KLM Group, British Airways, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and Emirates. Meanwhile, the safest low-cost airlines have also been ranked, with Jetstar, Ryanair, Vietjet, Westjet and Wizz were among those that made the top ten list for 2022. Image: @qantas (Instagram)

Domestic Travel

All the tunes used to repel NZ anti-vaccine mandate protesters

As a protest against vaccine mandates enters its sixth day outside New Zealand’s Parliament House, Speaker of the House Trevor Mallard adopted a rather unconventional way to send protesters packing.With the rain and wind brought on by Cyclone Dovi not appearing to deter protesters, Mallard first attempted to shoo them away by turning on the sprinklers.When that didn’t work either, he <a href="https://theconversation.com/three-unconventional-forms-of-travel-you-should-try-if-you-cant-go-abroad-this-summer-163776" target="_blank" rel="noopener">began blasting</a> widely disliked tunes instead at full volume, along with repeated pro-vaccination messages.<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Last night the lovely govt played on loop Macarena, vax messaging, & Trevor Mallard warning protesters that erecting structures on parliament lawns was unlawful. All night long. Despite this audio torture & the howling gale, the protest continues. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Parliament?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Parliament</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/convoy2022NZ?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#convoy2022NZ</a> <a href="https://t.co/QCtK4T69N7">pic.twitter.com/QCtK4T69N7</a>— @victoria_dlV (@victoria_dlV) <a href="https://twitter.com/victoria_dlV/status/1492654821325041668?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 13, 2022</a></blockquote>To start with, Mallard’s playlist featured a selection of Copacabana singer Barry Manilow’s songs, Macarena by Los Del Rio, and the children’s tunes including Baby Shark and Let it Go from Disney film Frozen. As news of the Speaker’s playlist spread online, singer James Blunt even weighed in, taking to Twitter to suggest that the NZ government include his music if Manilow’s proved ineffective.<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Give me a shout if this doesn’t work. <a href="https://twitter.com/nzpolice?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NZPolice</a> <a href="https://t.co/AM2dZ6asMS">https://t.co/AM2dZ6asMS</a>— James Blunt (@JamesBlunt) <a href="https://twitter.com/JamesBlunt/status/1492586180226990083?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 12, 2022</a></blockquote>Mallard saw Blunt’s “very kind offer” and quickly added the Brit’s smash hit, You’re Beautiful, to the playlist.<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><a href="https://twitter.com/JamesBlunt?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JamesBlunt</a> we will take up your very kind offer. My only doubt is whether it is fair to our <a href="https://twitter.com/nzpolice?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@nzpolice</a> officers but I think they will be able to cope. <a href="https://t.co/spb1BDK50u">https://t.co/spb1BDK50u</a>— Trevor Mallard (@SpeakerTrevor) <a href="https://twitter.com/SpeakerTrevor/status/1492612830935531521?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 12, 2022</a></blockquote>Other entries on Mallard’s playlist included a humorous rendition of Celine Dion’s My Heart Will Go On, featuring musician Matt Mulholland playing a recorder quite poorly, as well as Randa’s Vaccinate the Nation.<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">This is another suggestion………Crybabies Caravan With Full Band <a href="https://t.co/zjxaet7Wn1">https://t.co/zjxaet7Wn1</a> via <a href="https://twitter.com/YouTube?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@YouTube</a>— Trevor Mallard (@SpeakerTrevor) <a href="https://twitter.com/SpeakerTrevor/status/1492607298476605440?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 12, 2022</a></blockquote>Social media users have also been sending in recommendations for what has been described as Mallard’s “counter protest”, while others have compiled playlists of annoying tunes guaranteed to irritate.Image: Getty Images

Music

Australian government appeals ruling protecting Aboriginals from deportation

The Australian government has made an appeal against a High Court decision that Aboriginal Australians can’t be aliens, claiming the decision threatens to confer “political sovereignty on Aboriginal societies”.Lawyers for the government made the claim in an appeal against the Love and Thoms decision, which bars the deportation of Indigenous non-citizens. They claim that the ruling threatened the position that Aboriginal sovereignty did not survive the colonisation of Australia.<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/law/2022/feb/01/aboriginal-spiritual-connection-to-land-no-bar-to-deportation-morrison-government-says" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Guardian</a> reports that the submissions, lodged on Friday, also contain arguments that the spiritual connection Aboriginal Australians have with the land doesn’t create a “special relationship” to the commonwealth.What is the Love and Thoms decision?In February 2020, four out of the seven judges ruled that Aboriginal Australians were not aliens under the Australian constitution and couldn’t be deported, prompting the release of New Zealand-born man Brendan Thoms from detention.Thoms and Papua New Guinea-born Daniel Love, who both have one Indigenous parent, had their visas cancelled and faced deportation from Australia after serving time in prison.Lawyers for the two men, with support from the state of Victoria, argued that the government can’t deport Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islanders even if they don’t hold Australian citizenship.In separate judgements, justices Virginia Bell, Geoffrey Nettle, Michelle Gordon and James Edelman made the ruling based on the three-part test established by the Mabo native title cases that assess a person’s claim to be Aboriginal based on their biological descent, self-identification, and recognition by a traditional group.By April 2021, nine people were released from immigration detention as a result of the ruling, with Guardian Australia revealing the government was seeking to overturn the decision in October of the same year.Why is the government appealing the decision?In November 2021, the federal court ordered for the release of Shayne Montgomery, a New Zealand citizen whose visa was revoked by former home affairs minister Peter Dutton after he was convicted of a non-violent aggravated burglary in 2018. The court ruled that Mr Dutton “failed to give any degree of consideration” to Mr Montgomery’s claims of Aboriginality. Though he wasn’t biologically descended from an Aboriginal person, the court said it was “not reasonable” to conclude Mr Montgomery was not Aboriginal since he was culturally adopted by the Mununjali people in Queensland.In an appeal against that ruling, the federal government is now asking that the federal court overrule Love and Thoms.With the retirement of two of the four judges who originally made the decision, assistant attorney general Amanda Stoker has noted in a 2020 research paper that a challenge to the decision could see it get reconsidered by the new bench.In October, immigration minister Alex Hawke <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/nov/19/judge-orders-new-zealand-man-who-had-visa-revoked-by-peter-dutton-to-be-freed-from-detention" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> the government had “no intent to deport an Aboriginal from Australia”, despite making an appeal alongside home affairs minister Karen Andrews to restore their power to do so.He said the case was about “a complex question of law, it’s not about an opinion of the government, and it has to be tested and resolved”.“That’s what the government is doing. Of course, there is no intent to deport an Aboriginal from Australia, ever.”Kristina Kenneally, the shadow home affairs minister, has said Labor “respects the decision of the high court” in Love and Thoms, and that the government should “abide by the ruling”.The matter is yet to be listed for a hearing.Image: Getty Images

Legal

What a disaster: federal government slashes COVID payment when people need it most

With Australia’s official COVID-19 infection numbers topping <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/world/australia-covid-cases.html">100,000 a day</a>, the federal government has slashed its last remaining pandemic support payment. The decision is ill-timed, irresponsible and heartless. It is stripping away support for those most affected by the pandemic at the time they need it most. It will place those in low paid and precarious work in further financial stress as they lose income to isolate when infected or in close contact with someone else with COVID-19. The Pandemic Leave Disaster Payment was introduced in August 2020 in response to concerns casual workers and others without sick or pandemic leave entitlements could not take time off work when infected or in contact with someone with COVID-19. The leave payment was initially available to those not qualifying for JobKeeper – or, after JobKeeper ended in March 2021, the “disaster payment” introduced in response to <a href="https://theconversation.com/support-package-for-sydney-better-and-more-fit-for-purpose-than-jobkeeper-164394">the Sydney lockdown</a> in July 2021. Since that payment ended the Pandemic Leave Disaster Payment is the only individual financial support the federal government provides. Available to people who had contracted COVID, were a close contact or needed to care for someone who had COVID, until this week it paid A$750 a week for two weeks. You could claim the payment regardless of the number of hours of paid work you lost. On January 18 the rules tightened – a move announced via a <a href="https://ministers.pmc.gov.au/mckenzie/2022/changes-pandemic-leave-disaster-payment">press release </a> on January 8 (a Saturday). Now it only pays $750 if you lose 20 hours or more of paid work a week. If you lose 8-19 hours you get just $450 a week. If you lose less than eight hours you get nothing. Getting the payment has also been made more difficult by imposing a 14-day time limit to apply, from the start of the isolation period. To qualify, you must show evidence of a positive PCR or rapid antigen test. Considering the difficulty of obtaining RATs, and delays in PCR test results <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/victoria/test-samples-no-longer-suitable-after-seven-day-wait-20220108-p59ms1.html">of a week or more</a>, this is a unreasonable and unnecessary constraint. <h2>Flawed eligibility rules</h2> A major flaw in the eligibility rules for the leave payment it is not available to people receiving social security payments. This excludes all JobSeeker recipients, despite about <a href="https://data.gov.au/data/dataset/dss-payment-demographic-data/resource/80cc89a3-3208-4e0d-9745-598f7a882e28">one in four</a> being in some form of paid work – generally low-paid casual jobs. The leave payment has been a vital part of the economic supports to help people stay safe and protect their loved ones and the community. The peak body for the community services sector, the Australian Council of Social Service, has <a href="https://www.acoss.org.au/media-releases/?media_release=another-income-hit-for-casual-workers-massive-cut-to-pandemic-leave-disaster-payment">condemned this decision</a>. It says cutting the payment will leave people without enough to cover basic costs, let alone the extra costs of isolation such as delivery fees, rapid tests (if you can get them) and personal protective equipment. <h2>Worst time possible</h2> There could scarcely be a worse time to cut this payment, with Australia now in the worst stage of the pandemic. Between August 5 2020 and July 8 2021 the Pandemic Leave Disaster Payment provided <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/rp/rp2122/Quick_Guides/COVID-19DisasterPayments">almost 15,000 grants</a> to support those in need. During this period the peak COVID case rate was just over 500 day, in August 2020. Consider, therefore, the likely need now we’re at more than <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/world/australia-covid-cases.html">100,000 a day</a>. With no other form of federal income support available you may apply for an unemployment or sickness payment like JobSeeker. But Services Australia advises this will be paid about <a href="https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/when-youll-get-your-first-jobseeker-payment?context=51411">two weeks after</a> a claim is granted. That is of little help to cover rent while you’re isolating with COVID. JobSeeker is also a maximum of $315 a week – inadequate to cover basic costs. This cut will affect many of the same people <a href="https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/national/pm-announces-national-day-of-thanks-for-pandemic-heroes/news-story/174c8ccb94814aaa554d79eea0193e4f">lauded as the heroes of pandemic</a> – essential workers employed casually in health and aged care, supermarkets, hospitality venues and warehouses. It will also hurt temporary visa holders, who are entitled to the leave payment and do not qualify for any other federal income support. Last week <a href="https://www.acoss.org.au/media-releases/?media_release=community-sector-calls-for-collaboration-and-decisive-leadership-from-national-cabinet-to-deal-with-covid-debacle">ACOSS called for</a> the establishment of a civil society COVID Rapid Response Group to work alongside National Cabinet. We need the interests of people most at risk in the room at the highest levels when decisions like the future of the Pandemic Leave Disaster Payment are made. Cutting this payment now is effectively telling low-paid workers at the worst stage of the pandemic in Australia that they’re on their own.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/175146/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/cassandra-goldie-94635">Cassandra Goldie</a>, Adjunct Professor and UNSW Law Advisory Council Member, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/unsw-1414">UNSW</a> This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-a-disaster-federal-government-slashes-covid-payment-when-people-need-it-most-175146">original article</a>. Image: Mick Tsikas/AAP

Retirement Income

Government funds bail out festival cancellations with Event Saver Fund

As another year of music festivals and summer events have been cancelled in the eleventh hour by the pandemic, the NSW government has put their hand up to help the arts. The state government recently announced the Event Saver Fund, which is aimed at financially supporting the state’s music industry that has been devastated by the latest wave of Omicron. At a recent press conference, NSW Treasurer Matt Kean revealed that a $43 million fund has been established for organisers of the cancelled events to be financially supported if they've been cancelled or may be affected by changes to public health orders. “This fund is a $43 million fund that will ensure that we will underwrite sunk costs for the festivals that could be impacted by changes to public health orders,” he said. The fund will help organisers to pay their staff and suppliers, as well as recoup other costs lost in the event planning that got cancelled or cut short due to lockdowns or border closures. Minister for the Arts Ben Franklin said the vital funding will give event organisers to continue to plan festivals without the stress of a last-minute cancellation costing them thousands. “Major events provide tremendous social benefits to the community, bringing us together to enjoy live performances,” he said. “As we look to rebound from the effects of the past two years, this funding will help support local jobs and ensure major event organisers can plan with confidence to safely deliver their events in 2022/23.” Australian Festivals Association chair Julia Robertson welcomed the Event Saver package, and emphasised how much the industry has suffered since the start of the pandemic. “This package is really great for building confidence,” she said. “For helping those festivals that have got events coming up — to maintain those festival lineups — but also to those events that have had to be cancelled over the last couple of weeks due to the Omicron variant. “We will be able to help those events recover some of those costs that they’ve lost. We’ve got a really long way to building that confidence for the festival industry, so thank you.” Image credits: Getty Images

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News

Shop

Catalogues

Travel

Health

Lifestyle

Finance

Entertainment

Property

Information

Keep up to date

Search

World’s Best Airline crowned for 2023

Why Air NZ is asking passengers to hop on the scales

Busting a king-sized myth: why Australia and NZ could become republics – and still stay in the Commonwealth

Resistance to mega-tourism is rising in the South Pacific – but will governments put words into action?

"Mateship in action": NZ survivors of helicopter crash praise Aussie compassion

"Dear leg, I'll miss you so much": Boy's tragic farewell

“Have a second phone”: Aussie spy chief’s warning on social media use

Boat tragedy claims five lives after whale flips vessel

“Kia Ora NZ!”: First cruise ship returns to New Zealand

Australia’s wellbeing budget: what we can – and can’t – learn from NZ

‘Patently ridiculous’: State government failures have exacerbated Sydney’s flood disaster

New Air NZ exhibit celebrates Māori culture

Aus-NZ refugee deal is a bandage on a failed policy

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Buckle up! Number of Australia-NZ flights set to rise

Qantas’ eight-year streak as safest airline ended by Kiwi rival

All the tunes used to repel NZ anti-vaccine mandate protesters

Australian government appeals ruling protecting Aboriginals from deportation

What a disaster: federal government slashes COVID payment when people need it most

Government funds bail out festival cancellations with Event Saver Fund

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