Daily Archives: June 1, 2022

Tim Southee is preparing to make his fifth appearance at Lord's, a ground where his name is already etched on the visiting dressing room honours board twice. When he first played in St John's Wood, in only his second Test back in 2008, Brendon McCullum led the way for New Zealand by thrashing 97 off 97 balls; five years later, McCullum was captain and Southee took a ten-for, only for New Zealand to be blown away for 68 in the fourth innings by James Anderson and Stuart Broad.The tenor of New Zealand's visits to England has changed markedly over the course of Southee's career. From being comfortably beaten on those first two tours, in 2015 they recovered from the defeat at Lord's - which remains the last time England beat New Zealand in a Test match - to secure a 1-1 draw. On last year's visit to north London, New Zealand controlled the game - Southee taking 6 for 43 in the first innings - before going on to win at Edgbaston and secure a first series win in the country since 1999.New Zealand's reward is availing their first three-Test series here since 2008, but it comes with a twist: McCullum will now be guiding the home team, having been appointed England Test coach as part of an ECB revamp.

For Southee, who until a couple of weeks ago was playing under McCullum for Kolkata Knight Riders at the IPL, seeing his former captain walking around in England gear will take some extra getting used to.

Whether or not McCullum - who made the last of his 432 New Zealand appearances in 2016 - can divulge any short-term wisdom that will benefit England, the tourists undoubtedly know what to expect from a team he is involved with.

"It's exciting, obviously a great challenge for Brendon," Southee said. "I know him pretty well. Everything he does, he gives it a 100-percent so this will be no different. He's excited about the next wee while and what lays ahead of him. I'm sure he'll be doing everything he can to bring the best out of this England Test side.

"He's a great man-manager and he loves to try to get the best out of people. I'm sure he'll be doing that here as well. The way he played his cricket was exciting and fearless, and that's the way he is a person and I'm sure that's the way he is as a coach as well.

"It will be an exciting brand of cricket, I'm sure. They [England] won't die wondering I'd imagine if the way he goes about things is anything to go by."

Those two guys, BJ [Watling] and Ross [Taylor], have been massive parts of the side for such a long time, they're obviously big holes to fill. But we've got guys who have been playing some pretty good cricket and waiting in the wings for a while.

Tim Southee on New Zealand's talent pool

However, last year's success was achieved in the complete absence of Boult, as he took some time off between another IPL season and the World Test Championship final, and New Zealand have good depth in their pace options despite a disrupted build-up.

"Nothing changes compared to the lead-up to any other Test match," he said. "I love Test cricket and I'm excited to get back into playing some Test cricket after playing a lot of T20 cricket."

A lot has changed since New Zealand's World Test Championship win, but they still possess a challenging bowling attackGareth Copley/ICC/Getty Images

"It's very important, dropping a couple of Test matches in our home summer puts a little bit extra on this series. But our focus is the first five days here at Lord's, then we shift on to the second Test and the third. As a group, we try to play what's in front of us, attack it one Test at a time.

"We've been lucky that we've had a pretty consistent group of guys for a long period of time." He said, "Those two guys, BJ and Ross, have been massive parts of the side for such a long time, they're obviously big holes to fill.

Devon Conway, who made his double-hundred on debut at Lord's, will need to step up again with New Zealand in a transition phaseGetty Images

"I guess in New Zealand we've learned to box above our weight for a long period of time," Southee said. "We're obviously challenged with just being a small country, the lack of people playing and lack of resource. The Kiwi way is to muck in and get the best out of what we've got. That's not going to change, we're not always a sudden going to have a lot of [players] to choose from. I think it's just about making the most of what we've got. Sometimes less is more as well. And I think it's in our DNA to try, not only the cricket side, as Kiwis is to just enjoy it and make the most of what we've got."

Alan Gardner is a deputy editor at ESPNcricinfo. @alanroderick

Link:

Southee: 'The Kiwi way is to muck in and get the best out of what we've got' - ESPNcricinfo

New Zealands biggest king salmon farmer says it is shutting some of its farms after warming seas prompted mass die-offs of fish, warning that it is a canary in the coalmine for climate change.

New Zealand is the worlds largest producer of king, or chinook salmon, a highly valued breed which fetches a premium on the world market. The countrys farms account for about 85% of global supply, New Zealand King Salmon chief executive Grant Rosewarne said.

Now, increasingly warm summer seas mean the fish at some sites are dying en masse before they can reach maturity, leaving farmers dumping thousands of tonnes of dead fish into local landfills.

There should be alarm bells, Rosewarne said. When I joined this company, I never heard of the term marine heatwave. Recently, theres been three of them.

We thought we had more time, Rosewarne said. Climate change is a slow process but faster than many people think certain industries are canaries in the coalmine.

We thought that climate change is a really slow effect, detected over decades and possibly weve got, two decades before were even impacted. Well, within one decade we were impacted.

Its considered usual for a small percentage of farmed fish to die each year, but warming temperatures have significantly increased those deaths. In 2022, the King Salmon Companys percentage mortality of biomass for the fish was up to 42% in warm water areas where the fish were not towed to cooler zones; compared to 17% in 2018. Even when the fish were towed out to cooler waters, many were dying: 37% in 2022, compared to just 10% in 2018.

Over the summer months, hotter water temperatures, heated by warm currents coming down from the coral sea, had pushed some of the farmed populations over the edge. We see [temperatures] elevated by a full degree I know that doesnt sound much to people, but a full degree is huge for our species, he said. If you get to 18 degrees for two weeks, then you have a mass mortality event on your hands.

According to RNZ, trucks taking dead fish out of the area had dumped 1,269 tonnes of dead fish and waste in Blenheims landfill over the summer 632 tonnes in February alone, seven times last year and up from the 194 tonnes dumped in February 2020.

Now, New Zealand King Salmon will fallow three of its farms in the warmer Pelorus sound area, keeping just one open to run trials. The company is hoping to be allowed consents from the government for water space where it can farm the fish in cooler waters.

View original post here:

Major New Zealand salmon producer shuts farms as warming waters cause mass die-offs - The Guardian

Trent Boults last-minute arrival from the Indian Premier League means he may have to sacrifice an appearance at Lords this week, but New Zealand captain Kane Williamson insists his side are full of Test match purists.

Boult went all the way to the IPL final with Rajasthan Royals so only touched down in England two days before the start of the series.

That left him a solitary training session to prove his fitness for a five-day game and get reacquainted with the red ball, and he may instead have to wait until next weeks visit to Trent Bridge.

Hes just arrived but hes keen as, Williamson said of the left-arm quick.

Theres a number of things to consider. Trent is a world-class player but weve got great variety in our bowling attack. Its working out who is ready to go. Most are, obviously Trent is one to look at.

Williamson is not short of bowling options, with Tim Southee, Kyle Jamieson, Neil Wagner and Matt Henry all raring to go, and he is adamant that a Black Caps side who were crowned inaugural World Test champions at the Ageas Bowl last summer remain fiercely committed to the five-day format.

Our Test team are so passionate about the format. There does seem to be real movement within cricket, but you certainly still see the purists get a real kick out of red-ball cricket, and our team is full of those sorts of people, he said.

You certainly still see the purists get a real kick out of red-ball cricket, and our team is full of those sorts of people.

Kane Williamson

These guys are so passionate about Test cricket were a nation that probably doesnt play quite as much as England, Australia and India and probably play slightly shorter series. So for us there is a lot of excitement to be playing Test cricket, especially here at Lords.

Becoming Test champions was an amazing achievement and a proud thing for New Zealand cricket. But your motivation is to try and move the team forward.

Williamson confirmed Daryl Mitchell would line up in the middle order, taking the place of fellow batter Henry Nicholls following his bout of coronavirus.

Original post:

Kane Williamson working out who is ready to go for New Zealand - The Independent

VANESSA LAURIE/Stuff

Millie Wright won the Miss Teen NZ pageant on the weekend but is hoping to take her win to international competitions.

Taranaki pageant finalist Millie Wright has been crowned Miss Teen New Zealand and now has her sights set on an international competition.

The seventeen-year-old was one of seven finalists in the national pageant competition, held in Waikato on Saturday night, and part of her prize includes attending a pageant overseas.

Its all still a bit of shock for me at the moment because I wasnt expecting it at all.

But Wright said the shock cannot last too long as she prepares for the Teen Tourism pageant in the Philippines at the end of this month.

READ MORE:* Miss Nevada Kataluna Enriquez makes history as first transgender woman to win pageant* Taranaki pageant winner looks to compete abroad* Taranaki teen crowned Miss Teenager Oceania 2019 at her first international pageant

Im pretty keen on going, Im just trying to figure it out with school and everything.

The Miss Teen final took place at the Fitzgerald Cafe in Cambridge, and Wright was up against six other finalists, three of whom Lainey Chard, Alisha Mitchell and Makaia Singh were also from Taranaki.

Wright, a Sacred Heart Girls College student, said she started competing in pageants after her mum, Janine, saw an advertisement for Miss Taranaki.

Since Mum got me into it, she always taught me that its not the outcome that matters, but its the experience that is so important.

VANESSA LAURIE/Stuff

Wright was also scouted for the Teen Tourism Pageant in the Philippines next month.

Wright first competed in Miss Taranaki in 2020, then went on to Miss Teen New Zealand 2021. The weekends win was her first title.

I went into it not expecting to win anything but once I won, it gave me so much confidence in myself.

The event included being interviewed by the judges and a workshop to create a national costume from recycled materials.

Wright said the pageants helped her learn interview and public-speaking skills, and had also boosted her self-confidence.

I have found in my short time doing pageants, my thoughts about myself have been much happier, and Im more comfortable with who I am.

Ive learnt its more important to be yourself rather than anything else.

supplied/Stuff

The Taranaki contestants included Lainey Chard, Makaia Singh, Alisha Mitchell and Millie Wright.

The competition modelling categories included resort wear, cocktail wear and evening gowns and the other Taranaki contestants walked away with awards.

Chard, 20, won the Model of the Year category, Miss Friendship and Hollywood Glamour, as well as Best Restort Wear. She will go to Tasmania in September to compete in Miss Supermodel World.

Singh, 19, won Teen Model of the Year NZ, Best Dressed in the cocktail category, and was also named Miss Photogenic. She will go to Tasmanai in September for Miss Teen Supermodel.

Mitchell, 16, was Miss Teen New Zealand first runner-up, and won the Best Swimwear category. She has been scouted to go overseas to represent New Zealand in Miss Asia Global in Malaysia in September.

See the original post:

Winner of Miss Teen New Zealand pageant has her sights set on overseas - Stuff

Rotting seaweed has plagued the Caribbean for more than 10 years but research shows how we could clean up beaches and emissions at the same time, by turning whats now rubbish into renewable electricity and fertiliser.

Pelagic sargassum is a brown seaweed that floats at the surface of oceans, particularly in the Atlantic.

Over the last decade, unprecedented amounts of this seaweed have washed up on coastlines of the Caribbean region, Gulf of Mexico, United States and West Africa, triggering human health concerns and negatively impacting the environment and economy.

Recent satellite images have spotted more sargassum at sea than in previous years. Experts fear this years influx could be the worst since the catastrophic 2018 season.

READ MORE:* First Gas invests millions to use biogas, but delays green hydrogen trial* Wellington sewage could be the future for powering homes and heating the airport* Biogas could supply 20pc of NZ's gas needs by 2050, says Beca* Stinking 'seaweed island' heads for Mexico

Given the noxious hydrogen sulphide gas emitted by the seaweed as it decomposes and the frequency with which these influxes have recurred since 2011, sargassum has devastated Caribbean economies that depend on tourism and fisheries for survival.

But there is something we can do.

Our team of researchers has developed a new approach to turn sargassum into bioenergy and fertiliser a solution that could help restore beaches, create jobs and produce renewable electricity.

Tourism is a major sector in the Caribbean region, accounting for 30-40% of the gross domestic product of some small nations.

Rotting seaweed has resulted in reduced visitor arrivals.

Sargassum has also triggered a state of emergency in the fisheries sector of several islands. The seaweed has resulted in reduced visibility, higher occurrences of fishing net entanglement, widespread boat damage and lower fish capture.

The marine ecosystem is further affected because sargassum accumulation on beaches and along shallow coastlines impairs the nesting of sea turtles and causes fish die-offs due to deoxygenation and toxins in water.

Sargassum also promotes coral bleaching and reef mortality.

Human health and the integrity of infrastructure have also been compromised by the hydrogen sulphide, a corrosive and toxic gas with a rotten-egg smell, emitted as the seaweed decomposes.

Though some small-scale attempts have been made to make sargassum useful, land filling remains the primary way to manage the influxes. This approach is an expensive practice, with high labour and energy demands.

Stefan Sebk/Unsplash

Pelagic sargassum is a brown seaweed that floats at the surface of oceans. (File photo)

Sargassum is promising as component in anaerobic digestion systems a process through which bacteria break down organic matter without the presence of oxygen, resulting in biogas.

The seaweed is rich in polysaccharides, a good source of energy, and low in lignin and cellulose, which are difficult to digest.

However, sargassum doesnt readily biodegrade.

To overcome this challenge, our research takes a new approach: for the first time, combining the technologies of super hot water pre-treatment with anaerobic digestion system.

Hydrothermal pre-treatment is a green technology that uses high pressure to make water super hot (140C), while keeping it in a liquid state. Treating sargassum in this super-hot water for 30 minutes helps break it down.

This means hydrothermally pre-treated sargassum yields more energy than unprocessed sargassum.

Hydrothermal pre-treatment also reduces the hydrogen sulphide content in the generated biogas from 3% to 1%.

In the second step, hydrothermally pre-treated sargassum is processed with food waste or other organic wastes in the anaerobic digestion system.

Putting different organic wastes together helps balance out the feedstock, meaning more biogas can be produced.

Whats more, the substance that remains after biogas production is nutrient-dense and pathogen-free, making it safe and useful as an organic bio-fertiliser or soil conditioner.

Building a sargassum-based biorefinery equipped with hydrothermal pre-treatment and anaerobic digestion technologies would offer a number of socio-economic and environmental advantages to Caribbean countries.

Most obviously, a biorefinery would supply electricity to the national grid and produce a bio-fertiliser for local and international use.

A proposed biorefinery in Barbados could handle an annual feed input of 15,750 tonnes of hydrothermally pre-treated sargassum mixed with raw food waste. This would handle a significant portion of sargassum influx, keeping it out of landfills.

This feed input could yield 0.69 gigawatt hours (GWh) of electricity, 1.04 GWh of heat and 15,000 tonnes of solid-liquid biofertiliser for Barbados.

While sargassum is available only seasonally, a biorefinery could run solely on food or other organic waste when there is no seaweed, making the refinery a sustainable, year-round source of green energy.

Implementing this technology would also help increase the economic sustainability of the tourism and fisheries sectors, assist with waste management and help develop industry and infrastructure in the Caribbean.

However, the cost of development and management of a biorefinery in Barbados has to be carefully managed and will require substantial support from the local community.

According to our analysis, the biorefinery will not break even on power generation alone. Maximum profits could be achieved through selling all of the fertiliser to international markets but this approach provides zero support to local food security. Our recommended option would be to split the waste 50/50 between local farmers and international markets.

While this solution cant directly prevent sargassum influxes, the biogas produced would help reduce carbon emissions.

Since climate change appears to be a factor in the increased sargassum blooms of the past decade, contributing to global efforts to mitigate climate change may eventually improve the situation.

In the meantime, we could have an effective way to deal with the stinking mess ruining Caribbean beaches.

Saeid Baroutian is an associate professor at the University of Auckland and Terrell Thompson is a life sciences coordinator - export Barbados at the University of Auckland

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Read more:

Stinky seaweed is clogging Caribbean beaches but a New Zealand solution could turn it into green power and fertiliser - Stuff

As Aotearoa New Zealand heads into the colder winter months, the pressures on our health system and staff are growing significantly.

On top of the ongoing impact of COVID-19, flu cases have begun to spike.

Conditions are also primed for potential outbreaks of other illnesses including measles, whooping cough and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).

If we are to weather the coming storm, there will need to be a recommitment to public health measures that slow the spread of respiratory infections, as well as a renewed drive for widespread vaccination.

The first wave of Omicron swept through Aotearoa New Zealand in late February and March.

Unfortunately, as seen in many other countries, the fall in case numbers has been much slower than the rise, with infections reaching a plateau in all age groups.

Case numbers have been driven by a high number of infections in young people between the ages of 10 and 29 years old. But the elderly have borne the brunt of hospitalisations, largely due to the higher risk of severe outcomes for older adults.

Age stratification aside, persistent inequities have also left Mori and Pasifika at the sharp end of the outbreak both in terms of cases and severe outcomes.

Hospitalisation rates and reinfections are rising in many age groups, mirroring trends seen elsewhere.

New Zealand can expect another resurgence of COVID-19 this winter.

While 95% of New Zealand has received the second dose of the vaccine, one of the highest rates in the world, fewer have received a booster. We also have lower than optimal levels of childhood vaccination.

Long COVID will add a layer of complication for our medical services.

A recent report by the US Center for Disease Control (CDC) suggests one in five COVID-19 survivors aged 18 to 64 years old, and one in four survivors aged 65 years and above, experienced at least one condition that might be attributable to previous COVID-19 infection.

Despite being labelled as one of this generations disability challenges, there is currently no test for long COVID.

Worryingly, COVID-19 deaths in Australia have started to trend upwards. Evidence from Australia has shown that the overwhelming majority of people are dying from, not with, COVID-19.

Health professionals are not just worried about COVID-19. The flu and other viruses are also expected to hit hard this year.

Thanks to closed borders, managed isolation and quarantine, and lockdowns, the last time New Zealand experienced a flu season was in 2019.

We are now more vulnerable to the virus. There has already been a reported surge in Dunedin.

In response, the government has made two million vaccines available and has the widened eligibility for people to get vaccinated for free.

Unfortunately, there is growing concern that part of the population may not get vaccinated due to immunisation fatigue, or may be unable to due to structural inequities in access to vaccines.

As with COVID-19, looking across the Tasman can help us understand what is likely to happen in New Zealand.

Much like New Zealand, flu rates in Australia have, until now, been very low due to closed borders.

The latest Australian national surveillance for influenza shows a steep rise in rates of the flu, as well as rising hospital and ICU admissions.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic even started, our research highlighted declines in childhood immunisation for vaccine-preventable diseases.

Public health officials are now noticing further significant declines in routine childhood immunisations.

In April, the World Health Organization reported a 79% increase in measles cases in the first two months of 2022.

Meaningfully addressing long-standing inequities in childhood vaccination programmes takes on new urgency in the face of these vaccination gaps.

Lessons can also be learned from the COVID-19 vaccination programme regarding the success of handing leadership to Mori and Pasifika community providers to improve vaccination rates.

We have long been warned that an underfunded health system might struggle with a seasonal surge in demand.

Pressure points have appeared across the country. On May 23, Dunedin Hospitals COVID-19 ward was at capacity. Two days later, Nelson Hospital also hit capacity limits, leading to temporary ambulance ramping at the emergency department.

Canterbury District Health Board, Hawkes Bay District Health Board, and MidCentral District Health Board have recently urged people to consider alternative care for minor conditions to help alleviate the pressure.

Community health providers are also struggling to meet demands.

During the winter, we spend more time in indoor spaces with inadequate ventilation. We are also becoming more complacent with our mask wearing as policies relax.

In the future, vaccines will need to improve.

But for now, its important to remember that three doses of the COVID-19 vaccine remain effective against hospitalisation even for newer variants, as well as lowering the risk of infection.

But there are things we can all do to avoid the worst this winter has to offer, including to:

Finally, workplaces should continue to support people to stay home and isolate if required.

Excerpt from:

Resurgent COVID-19, flu and other viruses are pushing New Zealand's health system to the limit and now winter is coming - The Conversation Indonesia

New footage of flying taxis that will be active in New Zealand within "five to 10 years" has been released.

Wisk Aero is creating pilotless flying taxis that "rise like a helicopter and fly like a plane". The aircraft has 12 independent electric rotors, redundant systems, and a parachute if anything goes seriously wrong.

Testing took place in Canterbury over recent years, with Stuff Travel witnessing a test flight at Tekapo Airport in 2019. The company has partnered with the New Zealand Government to progress its trials, and with Air New Zealand which may eventually introduce them to its fleet.

Wisk Aero/Supplied

The flying taxis have been tested in New Zealand.

More than 1500 test flights have so far taken place both in New Zealand and at its base in the United States.

READ MORE:* Government supports flying taxi trials in Christchurch* Possibility or pipe dream: How close are we to seeing flying cars?* The weird hybrid future of taxis

Fresh footage has been released of Wisk's progress, revealing the aircraft flying faster and higher.

The company also recently announced a "6th generation" aircraft which has four seats, with the company saying "the day in which you'll be able to skip traffic by flying over it in an air taxi is approaching, and we want the world to be ready.

Wisk Aero/Supplied

Wisk has recently revealed a four-seat version of its aircraft.

Flight testing in New Zealand has wrapped up for now, and the focus here has moved to an "Airspace Integration Trial Programme.

"We have been developing and testing procedures that will allow autonomous aircraft to fly in controlled airspace," explains Chris Brown, Wisk's Communications Lead.

Air New Zealand's CEO Greg Foran was recently in California checking out the new four-seater aircraft.

However, the airline is staying tight-lipped about what it wants to do with the flying taxis.

Asked about its ambitions for the electric taxis, Foran gave little away.

"Air New Zealand has had a Memorandum of Understanding with Wisk since 2018, and we continue to work together to find sustainable aviation solutions.

Wisk Aero/Supplied

Wisk says passengers can expect to be flying in the air taxis within five to ten years.

"Wisk is making great progress with their autonomous electric 4-seater aircraft, and we look forward to staying close to them as their technology advances," Foran said.

Wisk has huge ambitions for its aircraft, saying that within five years of certification, it expects 14 million annual flights across 20 cities, with approximately 40 million people using its service.

The company confirmed that at least one New Zealand city is among the first 20 but wont go into further detail at this stage.

Wisk has an impressive list of partners, including Nasa and Boeing - which recently announced it was investing NZ$690 million (US$450m) in the company.

The company confirmed Wisk aircraft will be on display at upcoming events in New Zealand.

Here is the original post:

New footage of flying air taxis coming to New Zealand - Stuff

Travel

31 May, 2022 10:23 PM2 minutes to read

New Zealand's largest spider - the Nelson cave spider grows up to 13 centimetres across. Egg sac, inset. Photo / Supplied

Squeamish readers be warned.

A popular West Coast cave is being closed for a year to protect a wonderfully gross resident - New Zealand's largest and most unusual spider.

The Nelson cave spider is known to live in the Crazy Paving Cave in the parara Basin, Karamea. Measuring up to 13 centimetres across, it is the country's largest arachnid.

DoC has made the decision to close the Crazy Paving Cave for the next 12 months to protect them after a dip in breeding numbers.

The cave spiders size might be the most remarkable thing, but stranger still are where the spiders lay their eggs:

Young spiders are born in hanging egg sacs that swing from the cave roof. They look not unlike golf balls, suspended on thin stings of web.

DoC senior biodiversity ranger Scott Freeman says it is to protect these odd eggs that the Crazy Paving Cave will be closed, with immediate effect.

Although the number of spiders seen in the caves has increased since 2019, they have not been laying eggs.

"Only one egg sac has been seen since 2018," says Freeman.

"Breeding is the real long-term driver of the population so we want to close the cave to see if this will allow breeding to improve. Closing the cave means we can monitor the spider population's response to the removal of human visitors."

The Crazy Paving Cave - named for its broken stone floor - will be closed to visitors from June 1.

The nearby Box Canyon cave network will remain open and are free for visitors to explore in the Kahurangi National Park.

For more adventurous visitors, parara's Honeycomb Hill caves contain 13km of passages with notable limestone formations but access is by guided tour only.

This can be booked through the Karamea Information Centre.

The Nelson cave spiders are found in small populations around cave entrances in Golden Bay and the Karamea Bight.

Protected under the New Zealand Wildlife Act, they are though to be the 'missing link' between modern and prehistoric spiders, from 350 million years ago.

View original post here:

West Coast cave closed to protect New Zealand's weirdest spider - New Zealand Herald

"We made the last 5 percent growth in just the last four years, so as Police has grown we have been able to recruit," said Police Commissioner Andrew Coster.

An IPCA report last year labelled parts of the police as a boys' club rife with a toxic culture and sexism.

The Commissioner is adamant that isn't the case anymore.

"Absolutely not. Look, we've got some incredible women doing some amazing things inside New Zealand Police and they reflect loving the work and loving the organisation and we're in a good place," he said.

Of a recent graduating wing, 30 percent were women.

"I've always been very interested in the police. It was something I've always wanted to do, so yeah, it was a no-brainer for me," said Constable Courtney Spence from Tasman Police.

"When you're younger, you always look at cops and think, 'That's such an awesome job,' but never really think that could be you," added Constable Kate Palmer from Canterbury Police.

"Take the leap don't be scared, even if you are changing careers, you can do it, it's amazing," said Constable Harriet Ashby from Canterbury Police.

Police are aiming to increase the number of women in blue even more.

"We have projected that by 2032, we could reach 40 percent women in New Zealand Police," Cmmr Coster said.

But there has never been a commissioner who's a woman.

"I think it's a really important aspiration. We have women in deputy commissioner roles at the moment, so yeah, the job is there for the taking," he said.

The future is in good hands. In the recent police graduating wing, the top three prize winners were all women.

"Oh, women are just the best," Palmer said, laughing.

Lucky there's more on the way to the front line.

Visit link:

One-quarter of New Zealand police officers now women - Newshub

For many, the terror attacks on the Christchurch mosques seemed to come from nowhere. But not everyone was blind to the looming danger. In this seven-part series See No Evil, Stuff investigates how a group of women desperately tried to get the attention of officials and why they failed.

This is Chapter 3: Spies and Brides. The remaining chapters will be published daily.

Parliamentary committees often deal with matters that have far-reaching consequences for peoples lives.

But rarely have just two words uttered in one of Wellingtons wood-panelled rooms where MPs gather caused as much upheaval as those spoken by Prime Minister Sir John Key on December 8, 2015.

Seven years later, those two words still rile people, and cause others to squirm.

Key was chairing the intelligence and security committee, a group of MPs whose job it is to hold the intelligence agencies to account.

He was questioning the head of the Security Intelligence Service, Rebecca Kitteridge, about people in New Zealand being influenced by the terror groups Islamic State or ISIS which at the time were thriving in Syria and Iraq.

Kitteridge replies that one recent phenomenon was the issue of New Zealand women travelling to Iraq and Syria.

Key interjects, and uses those two words: Jihadi brides.

Immediately after he says it, theres a micropause from Kitteridge. Shes sitting opposite Key at the far end of a set of tables arranged in a rectangle. Her eyes look away from him and up to right before she carries on.

Presumably, she says. I mean its difficult to see what they do when they go

Her answer continues, and she waters down the assumption that the reason Kiwi women might be going is to marry terrorist fighters.

But Key has set the tone, and speaks to the media about it after the hearing. Jihadi brides is the phrase that catches on, catches the attention of the media coverage, and lights a fire that still smoulders to this day.

KATHRYN GEORGE/123RF/Stuff

A 2015 Parliamentary committee hearing in which the issue of New Zealand women becoming jihadi brides in Iraq and Syria was raised led to another layer on the pile of discrimination faced by Muslim women in Aotearoa. Information about the issue later needed correcting but damage had been done. (The image above is a posed stock photo.)

Not that anyone in that moment seems to notice what has just happened.

Andrew Little, the Minister in Charge of the Security Intelligence Service these days, was sitting next to Key in the committee meeting, as then Leader of the Opposition; he admitted in a recent interview that, at the time, he wasnt aware of the impact those two words would have but that has changed.

Ive certainly become aware since that the community felt it was marginalising of the community and particularly Muslim women in New Zealand, Little tells Stuff.

There was that flavour of the time because of what we were told were the main terrorist threats at the time.

It was a pejorative statement that reflected poorly on the community, and they really felt that.

The way that Aliya Danzeisen and Anjum Rahman, of the Islamic Womens Council, saw things, the jihadi brides comment was another brick on a pile of prejudice which impacted Muslim people, especially women.

Its the layering, time and time again, says Danzeisen. The fall-out from the September 11, 2001, attacks on America was the first big impact, and things ramped up from there. Racism and blame would be directed at anyone in a hijab after any fundamentalist atrocity.

KATHRYN GEORGE/Stuff

Director of Security Rebecca Kitteridge was being questioned by MPs at a Parliamentary committee in 2015 when Prime Minister Sir John Key used the phrase Jihadi brides in relation to women travelling to Iraq and Syria.

Each time the language keeps getting bigger and bigger, she says.

Rahman: Its like we werent seen as human. We were just a community to be targeted.

Danzeisen says there was a media narrative about Muslims.

The kindling was there, the smouldering ash was there, and ISIS was petrol on the fire. And then you had our Prime Minister bringing it to New Zealand.

Before we go on, theres an important twist to the jihadi brides story that you need to know; a twist that didnt attract as much attention; a twist that certainly didnt reverse the impact.

Those New Zealand women who were allegedly leaving to go to Iraq and Syria? Months after that committee hearing, it emerged that actually, there were no women leaving New Zealand to become jihadi brides.

What the intelligence showed was that women with New Zealand passports had travelled from Australia. The implication that terrorist sympathisers were living amongst us, and then heading off to join ISIS, was wrong.

Kitteridge later apologised in private to the Islamic Womens Council over the affair.

To this day, it remains a sensitive topic for many officials.

Kitteridge declined to be interviewed for the series but said in a statement: I can confirm I offered an apology to the council. In particular, I apologised for the delay in the public record being corrected with regards to media reporting that New Zealand women travelled to Dish-controlled areas in the Middle East from Aotearoa New Zealand, whereas in fact they had travelled from Australia. I said how sorry I was about the way the issue had played out in the media. I acknowledged that the way in which this issue had been reported by the media at the time had stigmatised the Muslim community, and particularly Muslim women.

KATHRYN GEORGE/Stuff

Anjum Rahman, left, and Aliya Danzeisen, right, say the Jihadi brides comment created problems for Muslim women in New Zealand.

For the IWCNZ, in the aftermath of the controversy, there was some progress.

Since 2014, the council has been talking to the police about what was happening to people in their community, and, importantly, working with other agencies to help find solutions.

And by 2016, it seemed, progress was being made.

With other members of the council, Danzeisen and Rahman met Chris Finlayson, then Minister in Charge of the SIS, in Hamilton.

Finlayson says during the meeting he heard from the women about the racism they were encountering.

I distinctly remember one lady saying to me, I was in the supermarket and someone said go back where you came from, he says.

Finlayson remembers the meeting was on a weekend, and on the following Monday, during a regular briefing with senior SIS officials he told them: These people need a lot of TLC, keep in touch [with them].

In other words, he passed on what hed been told, albeit that he does not recall there being any specific threats mentioned.

It was more what you would call Islamophobia.

This is not how the women recall the seriousness of what they passed on to the minister but well come back to this.

Regardless, the SIS did take on board Finlaysons advice to show the women TLC, and in 2016 Kitteridge met with Rahman and others from the council.

The next day, Kitteridge wrote to Rahman to thank her for the meeting and to say that she saw them as partners. In our different ways we contribute to keeping New Zealand safe and secure, wrote Kitteridge.

A partnership things really were looking up.

And certainly, there was one senior official who got where they were coming from.

One autumn afternoon, there was a community picnic in a park. The Race Relations Commissioner, Dame Susan Devoy, was invited along.

It was an informal event, but during it, Devoy approached Danzeisen and said she was hearing a lot of reports about Muslim women getting harassed. Could she help?

I said yes, says Danzeisen.

The women laid everything out to Devoy, Danzeisen sending a detailed email explaining how Muslim women and youth were struggling, and how things could change.

From that moment on, Devoy became a fierce advocate, working within the system to draw attention to what the community was enduring and the warnings they were sounding.

Meanwhile, within various Government departments and agencies, sure, things were happening, but it was scattergun and seemed to meander along like pieces of driftwood.

KATHRYN GEORGE/Stuff

Chris Finlayson was Minister in Charge of the Security Intelligence Service from 2014-2017, under the National Government. He met with the Islamic Womens Council twice.

In fact, by 2016, there had already been 10 years of work to address issues within ethnic communities, including the Muslim population.

Labours Ethnic Affairs Minister Chris Carter took a paper to Cabinet after noticing disruptive events overseas including the so-called Cronulla Riots of 2005 when groups of Anglo-Australians sought to reclaim beaches in Sydneys eastern suburbs, attacking people who looked Middle Eastern.

New Zealand ministers approved a cross-Government work programme called Connecting Diverse Communities. But as one official familiar with the programme put it: Nothing ever really came out of it.

Ministers in the National Government of 2014-2017 had their officials working on a programme with a similar-sounding goal, around strengthening communities.

But there was a bit more to it than that.

A 2015 briefing to Nationals Minister for Ethnic Communities, Sam Lotu-Iiga, plays up the value of making diverse communities stronger. Underneath it, though, was a desire from the Government to ramp up efforts on Counter Terrorism.

In other words: bring these communities inside the tent, quickly.

Because it wasnt just any terrorism that was causing the concern the officials were laser-focused on one particular strand of terrorism.

With the rise of Islamic State [ISIS], there is heightened interest in Countering Violent Extremism internationally and in New Zealand, the briefing explained to the minister.

Countering this threat has become a core security concern for many of New Zealands key security and regional partners. And as the threat develops globally, it is increasingly a concern of our own.

The message was clear: these Islamic extremists are becoming increasingly problematic, and we need to head them off by making sure our communities arent vulnerable to radicalisation.

A Countering Violent Extremism programme was established for the newly-formed Community Strengthening Working Group of officials, to meet the needs of the Counter Terrorism Co-Ordination Committee, chaired by the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.

KATHRYN GEORGE/Stuff

Key players: Over the years of trying to get help for the Muslim community, Anjum Rahman and Aliya Danzeisen met with senior civil servants and politicians.

Serious stuff: All those programmes and working groups and committees.

But what was being done to meet the needs of the community itself, a community whose members were telling officials they felt unsafe?

At one point, a member of the Muslim community who said he had come up with a way to avert extremism was invited along to the Community Strengthening Working Group. Government-led programmes would not get through to the people they needed to, the man told the group. Initiatives needed to come from the community.

After he presented his ideas, documents seen by Stuff show, officials discussed in private what they thought. It had merit, they agreed, but it was light on detail. Some officials pondered how else the man and his community might help.

One senior official suggested the man who presented to the group be asked: Who are we worried about?

When you think about it, its an odd question. It implied that while, at that time, many in the community were asking for help, asking for protection, the Government's prime concern was protecting people from the community (or at least some individuals within it).

Thats how Danzeisen and Rahman were thinking, anyhow. The vibe they were getting was: Oh, yeah, sure, tell us about dangers you see, but when it comes to solving anything within your community

Theres a thing called epistemic injustice, says Danzeisen. Its a phenomenon in which people are discriminated against when they try to impart knowledge.

We were seen as valuable in the sense of informants, but we were not informed, in their eyes, on community issues.

Rahman: When we present, This is what the issue is, its not taken as, This is someone who knows what theyre talking about.

Someone within the Government was listening to them Devoy, the Race Relations Commissioner.

She took up their case with the State Services Commissioner, Peter Hughes (his position is now Public Service Commissioner), including sending that letter we learned about in Chapter One, the letter in which she lambasted the Government reaction to the communitys concerns.

In response, another meeting was arranged, jointly hosted by the SSC and the Human Rights Commission. Except this was no ordinary meeting. It was an all-of-Government meeting, with representatives from 10 Government agencies high-powered stuff.

And invited along were representatives of seven Muslim community organisations, including the Islamic Womens Council.

Think about that: some of the most powerful civil servants in the country, people in control of huge budgets, people who can effect change real change sitting in a conference room together to listen to people from a sector of the community which has been crying out for help.

On March 23, 2017, Danzeisen and Rahman, stood in front of these senior bureaucrats and prepared to put their case once and for all.

At last, they thought, they were going to be heard.

This is Chapter 3: Spies and Brides. The remaining chapters will be published daily.

Read more here:

Petrol on the Fire: The two words from a Prime Minister that set off a fierce reaction Chapter 3: Spies and Brides - Stuff