Daily Archives: June 9, 2023

ANKARA

Australia and New Zealand on Thursday agreed to move toward clean energy transition during the inaugural AustraliaNew Zealand Climate and Finance Summit

The summit in Wellington was attended by New Zealand's Finance Minister Grant Robertson and Climate Minister James Shaw along with their Australian counterparts, Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Climate and Energy Minister Chris Bowen.

The ministers discussed areas of enhanced cooperation, supporting accelerated climate action and once-in-a-generation economic opportunities that the clean energy transformation offers both countries, according to a joint statement issued following the meeting.

"(The two countries agreed) to establish a Net Zero Government Working Group to support decarbonising public services, climate-related disclosures, and sustainable procurement," it said.

They also discussed the need for accelerated climate action in this critical decade, to stay within a 1.5 degree temperature rise limit, and harness the significant opportunities that transitioning to low-emissions, climate-resilient economies offers both countries.

"Australia and New Zealand recognised climate change as the single greatest existential threat to the Pacific and committed to working together and with Pacific partners to ensure the resilience and prosperity of the region," it further said in the joint statement.

The two sides also agreed to hold the Australia-New Zealand 2+2 Climate and Finance Dialogue annually and establish a joint working group to support policy implementation.

The ministers also agreed to work together to develop adaptation indicators and monitoring frameworks.

"Co-ordinate efforts to stimulate production and supply of electric and zero emission vehicles into the Australasian market, including accelerating the uptake of zero emissions vehicles in government fleets, and explore the potential for collaboration on vehicle manufacturing and improving charging infrastructure," it added.

*Writing by Islamuddin Sajid

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Australia, New Zealand move toward clean energy transition - Anadolu Agency | English

Railways return to SBS next week with the two part series New Zealand From A Train.

There are three major scenic rail routes in New Zealand. The Northern Explorer running between Auckland and Wellington, the Coastal Pacific running between Picton and Christchurch and the TranzAlpine between Christchurch and the wild, rugged West Coast.

There is hardly a railroad network in the world which has been faced with such daunting construction challenges as the 4,000 kilometres of the rail network in New Zealand. This small island nation offers the scenic diversity of an entire continent subtropical, high alpine, rain forests, oceans, volcanoes, and grasslands and the rail network runs much of it.

The Northern Explorer The Northern Explorer starts in New Zealands largest city, Auckland, home to just over one and a half million of New Zealands five million inhabitants. Constructed on a field of more than 50 volcanoes, the field is closely monitored so residents can be warned if there is an impending eruption. The 12-hour journey passes through some of the most spectacular scenery in New Zealand and is the longest passenger service route in the country. The route of the Northern Explorer required construction of numerous structures including long bridges such as the Mohaka viaduct and the Raurimu spiral to enable the train to ascend to the volcanic plateau.

Friday, 16 June at 7.35pm on SBS.

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Airdate: New Zealand From A Train - TV Tonight

Friday, 9 June 2023, 3:23 pm Press Release: New Zealand National Party

Labours winter preparedness plan has excluded half of New Zealand ahead of a tough winter season, Nationals Health spokesperson Dr Shane Reti says.

Labour has claimed its winter preparedness plan will ease winter pressures on the health system by supporting community care and reducing hospital demand, but questions are raised how this will work when up to 10 regions are excluded.

Waikato, Tairawhiti, Lakes, Hawkes Bay, Wairarapa, Whanganui, Taranaki, South Canterbury, Nelson Marlborough and the West Coast are excluded from the Winter Plan, except for the telehealth component.

Pharmacies in areas like Rotorua and Waikato are angry that vulnerable people in their region wont be able to access the minor ailments initiative.

This plan is a hallmark of another hurried and poorly thought-out policy that will not deliver better health outcomes for sick or injured New Zealanders.

If this is Labours only plan for winter, then New Zealanders will see little benefit. What they should have done was open up our immigration settings at the beginning of last year to attract more of the critically needed nurses.

National knows that workforce is one of the main issues facing the sector and has a plan to deliver more nurses and midwives.

National will pay nurses and midwives student loan repayments if they enter a bonding agreement of five years, and make New Zealand a more attractive destination for international nurses.

National will also fix the economy so that we can invest in our front-line staff to give them the resources they need to deliver better health outcomes for all New Zealanders.

Written question 13783

Written question 13768

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Labours Winter Plan Excludes Half Of New Zealand - Scoop

Te Whatu Ora seeks rural telehealth service providers

Te Whatu Ora, in collaboration with Te Aka Whai Ora, is seeking providers of rural telehealth services.

Based on its proposal request, Te Whatu Ora aims "to provide rural communities with reliable and sustainable after-hours access, improve the access to primary and community care, and commission a national telehealth medical and specialist referral service."

This comes following a recent consultation with rural health sector stakeholders where the mounting pressure on practices was raised.

The proposal seeks one or more telehealth service providers for each rural region: Northern, Te Manawa Taki, Central, and Te Waipounamu.

University of Adelaide uses Sunrise EMR for practical exams

The University of Adelaide has started adopting the Sunrise EMR system for practical examinations of fifth-year medical students.

The exam involves mock patient scenarios where students may be required to access made-up patient medical records.

"It is crucial for our students to train and be assessed in a manner that is consistent with clinical practice in the hospital setting," said Dr Sean Jolly, Senior Lecturer at the Adelaide Health Simulation. Sunrise EMR is the primary medical record system in all major public hospitals in metropolitan SA.

"Our increasing use of Sunrise EMR in our examinations and teaching activities to replace paper-based charts is an important step in the clinical readiness of our students," Dr Jolly added.

Telstra Health unveils FHIR-native virtual care platform

Telstra Health has introduced a new FHIR-based virtual care solution, Virtual Health Platform.

Based on a media release, the solution provides a digital, automated, and streamlined process for creating remote healthcare delivery. It simplifies healthcare interoperability by doing away with translating data, "significantly" reducing implementation time. It is also scalable for all types of health services and customisable to support various use cases.

As a cloud-first platform, it allows data to be stored and exchanged using FHIR within a clinical data repository. It offers a secure gateway for accessing patient information and clinical data in near real-time via the MyHealthAccess patient portal and the VirtualHealthPortal provider portal. It can also integrate with EMR, EHR, or other clinical systems.

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Roundup: Telehealth providers needed in rural New Zealand and ... - Healthcare IT News

Its Friday and time to take a look at whats been added onto Disney+ in Australia and New Zealand today, which includes a brand new film from Searchlight Pictures, plus much more.

Heres the rundown:

Flamin Hot is the inspiring true story of Richard Montaez, the Frito Lay janitor who channelled his Mexican American heritage and upbringing to turn the iconic Flamin Hot Cheetos into a snack that disrupted the food industry and became a global pop culture phenomenon.

With exclusive access to some of the worlds biggest celebrations of LGBTQ+ culture, we deliver a new perspective on Pride from the air. Well reveal the historic activism, fearless creativity and logistical ingenuity required to pull off these technicoloured festivals of hope.

Kim Sabu works with passionate medical staff in a small hospital in the countryside.

What are you looking forward to watching on Disney+ this weekend? Let us know on social media!

Roger has been a Disney fan since he was a kid and this interest has grown over the years. He has visited Disney Parks around the globe and has a vast collection of Disney movies and collectibles. He is the owner of What's On Disney Plus & DisKingdom. Email: Roger@WhatsOnDisneyPlus.com Twitter: Twitter.com/RogPalmerUK Facebook: Facebook.com/rogpalmeruk

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What's New On Disney+ | Flamin' Hot (Australia/New Zealand) - What's On Disney Plus

Chris McKeen/Stuff

Ikea madness has building in New Zealand for almost three years now. This clip of the announcement that Ikea is committed to New Zealand is from 2021.

It was announced in 2019 that Auckland is to get New Zealands first Ikea.

But when the ground-breaking ceremony was held last week, it was revealed the shop wont be open until 2025. So why does it take so long to build an Ikea?

Auckland University of Technology professor John Tookey says Covid is a big part of the reason.

Whilst there was a lot of groundwork done prior to the announcement, the impact of Covid has been tremendous, he said.

For a global corporation such as Ikea this was doubly the case. Covid drove retailers like Ikea to totally reevaluate their financial exposure, their supply chains, their total retail floor area 'footprint' as well as the long-term viability of their markets. New Zealand wasn't at that time even in the game.

READ MORE: * Cheat sheet: What you need to know about Ikea's first NZ store * Ikea breaks ground on first New Zealand store * Ikea remains mum about its New Zealand plans

He said everything to do with opening the Swedish furniture giants first shop in New Zealand started from scratch mid-last year. Contracts for construction originally signed would have had to be renegotiated as a result of global inflation.

In terms of the actual construction process, the main issues were pretty standard, he said. It would have had to engage with an architect and contractor. The process of construction would also be long. He suggested it would take about 24 months from breaking ground to commissioning.

This makes late 2025 a pretty predictable outcome.

Tookey predicted it went something like this: Initial specifications would be issued and tenders prepared, outline construction contracts would be issued and designs developed. Consent would then have to be sought for construction at the proposed store location.

Supplied

An artists impression of the Auckland Ikea set to open in late 2025.

Ikea would likely have had to prepare original documentation related to traffic management and other logistical issues around the site.

Ikea signed a deal to buy 3.2 hectares of land for a store at Aucklands Sylvia Park shopping mall in 2021, two years after it announced it would look to open a store.

Once consent was issued, preliminary construction would start. A very large concrete slab would need to be prepared.

Steel frame goes up, cladding applied, services installed and then fitted out. Relatively simple structure and process, he said.

Ikea is well-known for its room displays throughout the store, which Tookey said it would have to hire in-house interior designers for. It would have to meet specifications that were globally standard, brought in line with New Zealand building code requirements.

Meanwhile, there would still be significant challenges to set up sustainable supply chains to deliver all the product required, he said.

In 2019 American retailer Costco announced it was going to open its first New Zealand store complete with petrol station in Westgate, Auckland. But due to Covid-19 travel restrictions the construction of the store was delayed in 2020.

Supplied

AUT professor of construction John Tookey says 2025 is a predictable outcome for Ikea to be complete.

It finally opened in September last year with customers queueing up overnight to be the first in the door.

Managing director of First Retail Group Chris Wilkinson said it was likely Ikeas overseas market had been put first, which is why things had been quiet after the lockdowns.

For those massive retailers, overseas markets which have larger catchments and where they already have infrastructure have been a priority, he said.

In many markets big brands had been focused on opportunities where there was more room for more locations that could create regional clusters in response to growing populations.

As other marketplaces matured and slowed - including Australia, - in the years prior to Covid, NZ remained relatively buoyant - which focused big players on our marketplace.

supplied

Ikea is being constructed on 3.2 hectares of land at Aucklands Sylvia Park.

Wilkinson said, with New Zealands large geographic spread and sparsely populated areas outside bigger centres such as Auckland and Christchurch, it was tough to achieve scale because the population was not at levels necessary for these brands to develop the store networks, distribution centres and other infrastructure needed.

Aside from scale, operating in NZ is no more onerous than most other countries in terms of legalities, labour laws, recruitment and importing. Larger retailers will run their NZ operations out of Australia or places like Singapore where they some have regional representation.

But when Ikea does finally open in 2025, Wilkinson expected New Zealand consumers will support the brand.

New Zealand consumers are well known for supporting new brands and concepts that come to the country with many seeing record opening days - reflective of our appetite for differentiation and the overseas products and experiences we aspire to have down-under.

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Why it's taking so long to open New Zealand's first Ikea - Stuff

HCMCITYNew Zealand Trade and Enterprise, the governmentsinternational business development agency,on Thursdaykickstarted its 2023 Made With Care Campaign toreinforce the strong trade relations between New Zealand and VitNam.

Thecampaignprovidesa platform for New Zealand brands to introduce their products to local retailers.

Speakingat the launch,Tredene Dobson,New Zealands ambassador to Vit Nam, said:The food and beverages sector is a particular success story in our trade relationship with Vit Nam, making up the majority of exports, [worth] a total of NZ$798 million last year.

This event is a fantastic chance to expand the brand value of New Zealands outstanding, great-tasting and healthy food and beverage products to the Vietnamese market, and further boost the collaboration between New Zealand and Vietnamese partners in this sector.

Inthe not too distant future, Vietnamese willbe able to enjoy delicious New Zealand strawberries and squash, and New Zealand consumers will be sampling VitNams delectable pomelos and limes, thanks to market access agreements signed between our countries late last year, she said.

An MoUwas also signed by NZTE with several retailers during the event.

Giang Nguyn,countrymanager of NZTE Vit Nam, said:We know Vietnamese consumers buy fruits based on trust in their retailers. So, as part of our ongoing commitment to the Vietnamese market, we are delighted to have the opportunity to partner with four retailers to bring safe, tasty, nutritious, ethical, and premium quality New Zealand apples and kiwis to Vietnamese consumers.

Eight New Zealand apple and kiwi companies will be participating in the retail promotionstobe launched at selected Aeon Mall, Central Retail, LOTTE Mart, and WinMart stores in HCMCity and H Niin June and July.

Dobson handed over donations made by her government and 10 companies to four non-governmental organisations.

Donated for a third year, it will see brands provide seven tons of fruits and almost 1,000 litres of milk to children and adults in HCM City and H Ni.

The four NGOs are Blue Dragon Childrens Foundation, Maison Chance, Operation Smile, and VinaCapital Foundation. VNS

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New Zealand companies showcase apple, kiwi in HCM City - Viet Nam News

Breakfast

The National leader spoke to Breakfast about the party's plans to cut tax for some Kiwis and its new policy on mental health.

ANALYSIS: National Party leader Christopher Luxons throwaway comment about Kiwis needing to have more babies has brought population politics - a sometimes uncomfortable, rarely discussed topic into the public domain.

His deputy Nicola Willis said that Luxons off-hand comment encouraging people to make babies at an infrastructure conference on Wednesday was no more than a joke. She confirmed that the number of children people have was not her partys business.

But his comment did, in fact, make an important point. New Zealands falling birthrate, akin to the rest of the Western world, has hit record lows and raises important, long-term economic questions. New Zealand does not reproduce at replacement rate.

In one way, Luxon was stating the obvious: There are only two ways to grow a population: importing people or birthing them.

READ MORE: * National's Christopher Luxon sharpens pitch to middle-income voters as party warns of Labour's 'envy-driven tax-grab' * Working for Families leaves some households with marginal tax rates near 60 per cent * Covid-19 NZ: Christopher Luxon tests positive for Covid-19, feels 'fine'

Successive governments have failed to come to terms with the ways an ageing, expensive population will change every corner of society, put pressure on already-groaning infrastructure, and simply exacerbate any shortage of workers.

Sungmi Kim/Stuff

Christopher Luxon has waded into population politics. (File photo)

New Zealand, in common with the rest of the west, has also struggled to begin any deeper reflection needed on the fundamental issue behind the decline: choice.

The factors which steer peoples family planning choices, such as extremely high housing costs, childcare costs, and the high cost of living, are not tipped in favour of childrearing.

Luxons pitch on the cost of living although light on details at this stage does acknowledge this matter and he has successfully placed it at the centre of the political debate. Chris Hipkins is also scrapping for this territory.

But it is broader.

All our problems go back to housing, says Susan St John, Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Auckland and child poverty campaigner.

We hear anecdotally all the time, couples are delaying starting a family because theyre renting, they cant save a deposit. If they do have a child the family can get caught up in all sorts of poverty traps. We have to have two incomes for low income families to pay the rent.

Underlining this all, St John said, is the subliminal message that childrearing is not valued, and women should get back to work as soon as possible.

Tom Lee/Stuff

Much of societys social ills come back to the housing market, Susan St John says. (File photo)

If parents follow these cues, they must drop their baby off at day care, while they work long hours in order to keep their foothold in the job market, and meet mortgage and daycare costs.

And this is where it gets tricky in a real-world sense. Children can get sick every few weeks, so parents will too, and will have to take days off work to recover. When they are at work, they are run down, harried and exhausted. It hardly looks appealing.

Why cant we be a bit more relaxed about women being out of the workforce for the years their children are young? St John says.

At the same time we are ignore that investment in the next generation who are going to be the ones who determine the standard of living older people can expect, and whether there will be enough skilled people All the people who give older people a better quality of life.

The Labour government has a number of economic incentives for families, such as the Best Start payments. In this years Budget, it promised to match KiwiSaver contributions made by a persons employer for paid parental leave recipients.

National also has a childcare policy, with more to come.

But neither Labour nor National is suggesting any kind of policy which would transform the economy and better plan for the future.

Infometrics chief executive and economist Brad Olsen said young people have been starting every life stage later than previous generations.

They have been getting into debt, going to university, taking longer to get into relationships, have children get into a house - all of that. People are also having fewer kids as well.

At some point in the next 30 years more people will die every day than be born, he said, while swathes of the population will retire.

Easing this will take some forward planning in terms of population strategy and a national skills plan to map out what essential roles and skills the economy will be short of. And, how these might be transferred from one generation to the next.

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Christopher Luxon has a point: New Zealand needs more people - Stuff

The Waipawa River in southern Hawke's Bay during Cyclone Gabrielle. The cyclone was "definitely made worse because of climate change", Renwick says. Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver

A senior climate scientist says New Zealand may be relatively insulated from the extremities of future weather changes, but is urging the government to look at its implications, including the possibility of huge immigration numbers.

Victoria University's senior climate scientist, Professor James Renwick, told Afternoons New Zealand's temperate climate meant the country would not be affected as intensely by global warming and associated chaotic weather patterns as other nations, including neighbours Australia.

However, the author of new book Under the Weather A Future Forecast for New Zealand warned Aotearoa still faced climate chaos caused by out-of-control carbon emissions.

Cyclone Gabrielle, which wrecked havoc across the North Island earlier this year, was a recent example, he said.

"I think it will take longer for the extremes of climate change to really be felt here, compared to other countries that are more exposed to those extremes," he said.

"Australia's a good example of that. It's closer to the equator, it's hotter, it's drier. And so you don't have to push the climate there so hard to get extremes that are difficult to adapt to, such as the big fires that hit a couple of summers ago.

"New Zealand is less likely to see those extremes so quickly. So we will be I think, a bit of an oasis region in terms of climate change for a while. But if you push the climate hard enough, it'll become pretty difficult to deal with even here. But, assuming that we do get on top of emissions reductions soon, this country may well, comparatively speaking, be doing all right."

Renwick, however, said this was not necessarily all good news for the country, as it operated in a global community and would face external pressures.

"A lot of people around the world are going to look at this country and think, 'oh, would be quite a good place to go to avoid some of these extreme events we're experiencing where I live'.

"We might have a lot of people who want to come here to live to get away... So how we deal with that, how that plays out, I think as an important issue - whether we end up with a much larger population because we are this climate change oasis. I'm not entirely sure. But there are consequences of being a country that doesn't feel the effects of climate change quite so intense as some others."

Another important issue facing New Zealand will be insurance companies pulling out of areas prone to climate disasters, which Renwick said was now happened in other parts of the world.

In May corporate giant State Farm said home and business property insurance was not being offered for new customers in southern California, citing rising costs from raging wildfires and skyrocketing repairs.

"The same kind of thing is starting to happen here that, if you live in a place that is very exposed to say coastal erosion or river flooding, such as the kind of things we saw with Cyclone Gabrielle, insurance companies are probably going to be reluctant to keep covering properties that are very risky.

"That's a situation that needs to be certainly discussed nationally, and we need to find solutions that involve central government and local government and individual property owners around who pays for the cost of this kind of thing."

Renwick said global warming was accelerating due to the amount of greenhouse gas emissions accelerating, with the rate of warming definitely going up in the last 30 to 50 years.

"I'm hoping that that rate of rise will start to slow down - we really need to see emission reductions happening and and we just need to take our foot off the accelerator pretty much, literally, to see the rate of change of extreme starting to ease off," he said.

Victoria University's senior climate scientist Professor James Renwick has released a new book charting weather changes in New Zealand. Photo: Supplied

The incremental changes introduced by the government demonstrated an incredible lack of urgency, even with recent initiatives like the introduction of the Climate Commission, he added.

In terms of the overall climate system, he did not envisage passing any thresholds or tipping points through the century that would suddenly make it an awful lot warmer or, or a lot more extreme. It would just gradually get worse over time.

It was a fact climate change was behind with the significant volumes of rain brought by Cyclone Gabrielle, he said.

"It was definitely made worse because of climate change. We've had one study of this already and way more to come, no doubt.

"The main thing that happens with cyclones or storms generally is that higher temperatures mean more moisture, more water vapour in the air, so you've got more fuel for rain events. When you have a storm that water vapour gets condensed out, rains out and if you've got more water vapour to start with, you're going to get more rain coming out of the sky on average...

"So we know that the amount of rain fell out of Cyclone Gabrielle was partly as a result of climate change and of course the energy released when you condense all that water vapour and create the rain feeds the storm, so the intensity of the storm went up because of that as well."

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Climate scientist says New Zealand insulated from worst, but warns ... - RNZ

The Brumbies' Corey Toole is tackled by Cam Roigard of the Hurricanes. Photo: PHOTOSPORT

The ACT Brumbies were the only Australian team to lock up a top-four spot in Super Rugby Pacific last season and are again the nation's best hope of stopping a New Zealand sweep of the quarter-finals this weekend.

By the time the Brumbies host the Hurricanes in Canberra on Saturday in a repeat of last year's quarter-final, they could well be Australia's last team standing.

The New South Wales Waratahs and Queensland Reds will have to defy history by winning a first playoff in New Zealand when they meet the Blues and Chiefs respectively.

Fijian Drua, meanwhile, face the toughest assignment in the competition on Saturday when they make their post-season debut against the Crusaders in Christchurch where the champions have won all 27 playoffs dating back to 1996.

The match-ups will likely leave the Brumbies looking to save face for Australian rugby which has not produced a winner in the provincial competition since Michael Cheika's Waratahs in 2014.

The only one of the country's five teams to finish the regular season with a winning record this year, the Brumbies will bid to defy the Hurricanes again after beating them 35-25 in last year's quarter-finals.

But the path to the semi-finals is anything but assured, with captain-prop Allan Alaalatoa sidelined with injury and the Hurricanes full of beans after a comeback win over the Crusaders in Wellington last weekend.

"Bringing momentum into the quarter-finals was really important for us and getting our performance to where we wanted it last week was key," said the Hurricanes' outgoing head coach Jason Holland.

"Heading to Canberra, our focus is to continue to build on some of the parts of our game that went really well for us against the Crusaders."

The twice-champion Chiefs have home advantage for as long as they last in the playoffs after finishing the regular season at the top of the table and face a Reds team that limped into eighth spot after three straight defeats.

The Chiefs are wary, however, having lost their only match of the season when the Reds stunned them 25-22 in New Plymouth a month ago.

Fijian Drua players celebrate. Photo: PHOTOSPORT

A number of All Blacks, including Sam Cane and Brodie Retallick, come back into the side after being rested from the 43-19 win over Western Force in Perth last weekend.

"We're keen to rip in and we know it's a bit of a redemption game after our only loss," Chiefs fullback Shaun Stevenson said.

"We're keen to right a few wrongs."

Defeat could mean Brad Thorn's last game in charge of the Reds, with the dual international out of contract at the end of the season.

The Waratahs will need to snap an eight-match losing streak to the Blues on Friday and end their winless record in away playoffs to advance.

Beaten 55-21 on their last visit to Eden Park and coming off a demoralising 33-24 home defeat to the previously winless Moana Pasifika, the Sydney side are up against it.

Buoyant after thrashing the Reds in Suva to sew up their first playoffs appearance in their second season, Fijian Drua head to Christchurch on Saturday seeking to pull off the unthinkable against the Crusaders.

Mick Byrne-coached Drua savoured a stunning home win over the Crusaders early in the season and have pledged to test Scott Robertson's injury-hit team with physicality.

However, the depth and playoffs experience of the home side at a graveyard for visitors should keep the Crusaders in the hunt for a seventh championship trophy in seven years.

- Reuters

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Can the New Zealand Super Pacific teams be stopped this weekend? - RNZ