Category Archives: New Zealand

AUCKLAND, New Zealand For a year and a half, New Zealand has pursued a strategy of Covid zero, closing its borders and quickly enforcing lockdowns to keep the coronavirus in check, a policy it maintained even as other Asia-Pacific countries transitioned to coexisting with the viral threat.

On Monday, New Zealand gave in.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern acknowledged an end to the elimination strategy seven weeks into a lockdown that has failed to halt an outbreak of the Delta variant, announcing that restrictions would be gradually lifted in Auckland, the countrys largest city.

Were transitioning from our current strategy into a new way of doing things, Ms. Ardern told reporters. With Delta, the return to zero is incredibly difficult, and our restrictions alone are not enough to achieve that quickly. In fact, for this outbreak, its clear that long periods of heavy restrictions has not got us to zero cases.

What we have called a long tail, she added, feels more like a tentacle that has been incredibly hard to shake.

Overall, New Zealands approach to the virus has been a spectacular success, giving it one of the lowest rates of cases and deaths in the world, and allowing its people to live without restrictions during most of the pandemic.

But the mood among many in Auckland has soured as the most recent lockdown has stretched on, with thousands of people breaking a stay-at-home order on Saturday to demonstrate against the restrictions in the countrys largest such protest of the pandemic.

The countrys vaccination program has also been a source of consternation. The campaign began in earnest only last month, and fewer than half of people 12 and older have been fully vaccinated, leaving New Zealand far behind most developed countries.

Ms. Ardern began to acknowledge the public discontent two weeks ago, when she announced, after more than a month of a highly restrictive stay-at-home order, that some rules would be relaxed in Auckland even as much of the lockdown order remained in place. About 200,000 people were allowed to return to work, and restaurants and cafes could reopen for takeout orders.

At the time, Ms. Ardern said the country was still trying to eliminate the virus. But to epidemiologists, who believed it was still possible to beat Delta and who were encouraging New Zealand to stick with the zero-Covid strategy, it was a gamble.

Now, they say, it is clear that easing restrictions ended any chance of wiping out the virus again. New Zealand is still reporting dozens of new cases a day, almost all of them in Auckland, after the latest outbreak began in mid-August.

The modeling said basically that going into Level 3 was going to be a big risk, said David Welch, a Covid-19 modeler at the University of Aucklands Center for Computational Evolution, referring to the move away from Level 4, the highest alert level.

Its turned out that elimination is not going to work at Level 3, he said. Thats not that surprising, just because Delta is so transmissible. The question now is: Will Level 3 be enough to contain it with less than 20, 30, 40, 50 cases a day for a while?

Oct. 7, 2021, 2:14 p.m. ET

A more permissive approach, Dr. Welch said, could allow the number of cases to rise much higher, letting the outbreak spiral out of control.

To prevent such spread of the virus, epidemiologists said people in Auckland would most likely still face as many as two months in lockdown. That will leave them in a limbo much like those experienced in Australian cities like Sydney and Melbourne, where leaders have said they are abandoning a zero-Covid approach but have left heavy restrictions in place.

Singapore, too, has shifted to what it calls living with the virus, using metrics like hospitalizations and deaths instead of caseloads to guide its reopening now that it has vaccinated much of its population. The change in strategy by Singapore and other countries in the region has left China as perhaps the last major country to pursue a Covid-zero approach.

On Monday, Ms. Ardern offered a three-stage map out of lockdown, in an effort to make everyday life a little easier.

Starting on Tuesday, residents of Auckland, for the first time since August, will be permitted to meet with members of other households outdoors. Younger children will return to classrooms, and there will be a more permissive approach to outdoor exercise at the citys parks, nature reserves and beaches.

To move away from lockdowns altogether, New Zealand will have to achieve widespread vaccination, Ms. Ardern said. Some 79 percent of people 12 and older have received at least one dose, and 48 percent have received two doses, according to data from the Ministry of Health. Full immunization of the population New Zealands stated aim could take months as the country struggles to persuade the final 20 percent to receive a first dose of a vaccine.

The countrys most at-risk communities are also its least vaccinated. While more than 95 percent of people of Asian descent and 80 percent of white people have received at least one dose, the figure falls to about 73 percent for Pacific Islanders and less than 57 percent for Maori people.

Minimizing Aucklands outbreak has been complicated by a surge of cases among vulnerable people, including those living in emergency or transitional housing, said Dr. Michael Baker, an epidemiologist at the University of Otago.

We should have recognized the entrenched transmission in marginalized and deprived groups thats what basically sustained the outbreak, he said. That transmission is relatively impervious to the alert level system and the restrictions, because these are people in a precarious position.

Some of Aucklands latest cases have been detected incidentally in hospital wards or after people were taken into police custody, suggesting widespread transmission among people who are not being tested.

In a post on Twitter, the Maori writer and political commentator Morgan Godfery expressed concern about what abandoning the elimination strategy might mean for those in disadvantaged communities.

The PM says we must now live with the virus, he wrote. But the we means these same lines of inequality. The virus will now burrow in gangs, the transitional housing community, and unvaccinated brown people. In 2020, Jacinda asked for shared sacrifice. In 2021, its a particular sacrifice.

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Battling Delta, New Zealand Abandons Its Zero-Covid Ambitions - The New York Times

International travel: U.S. easing restrictions for vaccinated tourists

Foreign nationals will need to show proof of vaccination before getting on planes to the U.S.

Staff video, USA TODAY

New Zealand will add a vaccine mandate for international travelers next month. But don't pack your bags for Auckland quite yet;the country doesn't plan to reopen its borders to most international traveluntil at least2022.

Starting Nov. 1, New Zealand will require non-citizens to be fully vaccinated before they can enter the country.Children under 17, New Zealand citizens and people who are unable to be vaccinated for medical reasons are exempt.

Initially, the new rule will apply only to a limited number of travelers.Travel has remainedseverely limited in the country since March 2020;those who aren't residents or citizensneededa critical purpose to enter.

Most travelers will still need to complete a 14-day quarantine upon arrival next month and show a negative coronavirus test within 72 hours of their first international flight.

Story continues below

Australia travel: When will Australia allow international travel? For foreign visitors, not until at least 2022

New Zealand COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said in a statement Sundaythat most visitors are already vaccinated, but the mandate aims to provide an extra layer of protection at the border.

Even a single case presents a risk, Hipkins said. However, high and wide-spread vaccination rates will mean more freedoms, fewer restrictions, and the day-to-day confidence that protection from the virus brings."

Air New Zealand also announcedthat starting in February 2022, all passengers must be fully vaccinated.

Mandating vaccination on our international flights will give both customers and employees the peace of mind that everyone onboard meets the same health requirements as they do, Air New Zealand's CEO Greg Foran said in a news release. "As with anything, there will be some that disagree. However, we know this is the right thing to do to protect our people, our customers and the wider New Zealand community.

Entry requirements are set to ease next yearas thecountryreopens its borders to "low risk" countries. The timing of the reopening is not clear, and New Zealand has yet to publish a list of countries it considers low-risk.

"Our ultimate goal is to get to quarantine-free travel for all vaccinated travelers," Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said this month.

Bali welcomes some international flights: But American tourists still have to wait

Follow USA TODAY reporter Bailey Schulz on Twitter: @bailey_schulz.

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New Zealand adding vaccination requirement as it prepares to reopen its international borders - USA TODAY

New Zealand hopes to vaccinate as many as 350,000 people in a single day next week, the countrys largest Covid inoculation effort to date, as it pushes closer to reopening its economy.

Vaccination clinics will be open all day on Saturday, Oct. 16, said Chris Hipkins, the minister leading New Zealands Covid-19 response. The facilities will be able to vaccinate 350,000 people about 8.3 percent of the eligible population of people 12 and older, he said.

Like on Election Day, well be asking all of our civic and political leaders to contribute to our efforts to turn people out, Mr. Hipkins said.

New Zealand has had one of the most successful responses to the pandemic, recording just 28 deaths from the virus. And though it was late to begin its vaccination campaign, the country is now on pace to fully vaccinate about 90 percent of its eligible population by the end of November.

New Zealand is the latest country to focus its intense vaccination efforts into a single day. In August, Tunisia vaccinated more than 500,000 people in one day, and this month India said it had given 25 million shots on a single day to mark Prime Minister Narendra Modis birthday.

As of Wednesday, 50 percent of New Zealands eligible population had received two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech shot, the only vaccine the country is using, while 80 percent had received a single dose.

New Zealand is also cutting the time between receiving a first and second dose, to three weeks, from six a shift that means more people can be fully vaccinated sooner, increasing our community immunity, a health ministry official said in a statement.

The country is currently administering about 17,000 first doses and about 46,000 second doses a day, according to the most recent data. Its rate of first vaccination doses has been dwindling, down more than three-fourths from an August high of about 67,000 doses a day.

New Zealand has not set a vaccine target or a date at which to ease restrictions, although Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Tuesday that the country would introduce a national vaccine certificate that would be required for entry into high-risk settings like summer music festivals.

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New Zealand Aims to Vaccinate Up to 350,000 People in a Day - The New York Times

Pedestrians walk near the main entrance to the Reserve Bank of New Zealand located in central Wellington, New Zealand, July 3, 2017. REUTERS/David Gray/File Photo

WELLINGTON, Oct 6 (Reuters) - New Zealand's central bank hiked interest rates on Wednesday for the first time in seven years and signalled further tightening to come, as it looks to get on top of inflationary pressures and cool a red-hot housing market.

The 25 basis point rate hike marks the start of a tightening cycle that had been expected to begin in August, but was delayed after an outbreak of the coronavirus Delta variant and a lockdown that is continuing in its biggest city Auckland.

The increase in the cash rate to 0.50% by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) had been forecast by all 20 economists polled by Reuters.

The New Zealand dollar briefly rose after the announcement but fell back to $0.6930, in line with broader market moves.

"It was pretty much in line with what everyone was picking," said Jason Wong, senior market strategist at BNZ in Wellington. "We're on a path towards a series of rate hikes and the market is well priced for that."

Announcing its decision, the RBNZ said further removal of monetary policy stimulus was expected, with future moves depending on the medium-term outlook for inflation and employment.

The rate hike puts New Zealand ahead of most other developed economy nations as central banks look to wind back emergency-level borrowing costs, although countries including Norway, the Czech Republic and South Korea have already raised rates.

In neighbouring Australia, the central bank held interest rates at a record low 0.1% for an 11th straight month on Tuesday.

Economists expect the benchmark rate to reach 1.50% by the end of next year and 1.75% by the end of 2023, the Reuters poll showed.

CAPACITY STRAINS

The South Pacific nation has enjoyed a rapid economic recovery since a COVID-driven recession last year, partly because it eliminated coronavirus and reopened its economy before others.

But with its borders still shut, labour and goods shortages are pushing up inflation, as well as contributing to a surging property market, which has been driven by ultra-low interest rates.

"Demand shortfalls are less of an issue than the economy hitting capacity constraints...," the RBNZ Committee noted in the minutes of the meeting.

The central bank said headline CPI inflation is expected to increase above 4% in the near-term but return towards its 2% midpoint over the medium term.

Recent COVID-19 restrictions have not materially changed the medium-term outlook for inflation and employment, and economic activity will recover quickly when the measures are eased, it added.

But economists said the RBNZ may not race ahead with its hiking cycle in view of the current global uncertainty and the Delta variant outbreak dragging on in Auckland.

"(We) remain of the view that further rate hikes will be in 25 basis point increments rather than 50 basis point moves," said Citibank economist Josh Williamson.

New Zealand abandoned its strategy of eliminating COVID-19 this week, with the government saying it will have to live with the virus and step up vaccination rates to control it. read more

In August, a central bank official confirmed it had also considered a 50-basis-point move that month, before taking a rate hike off the table altogether due to the lockdown.

Additional reporting by Tom Westbrook in Singapore; Editing by Richard Pullin

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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New Zealand raises rates for first time in seven years, more to come - Reuters

A tiny candy-stick coloured pygmy pipehorse, discovered in a small area off New Zealands north coast has been given a Mori name by the local iwi (tribe) in what is believed to be the first time an indigenous group has formally named a new species of animal.

The 6cm long fish is closely related to the seahorse, and inhabits the rocky reefs off the north-east coast. It is the first pygmy pipehorse discovered in the country.

The Ngtiwai tribe worked with biodiversity scientists Dr Thomas Trnski from Tmaki Paenga Hira Auckland Museum and Graham Short of the California Academy of Scientists to name the pipehorse Cylix tupareomanaia.

Cylix is a new genus name and is derived from the Greek and Latin word for a cup or chalice; it refers to the cup-like crest on the top of the head of the new species.

The second prong of the name tupareomanaia refers to the garland of the manaia manaia is the Mori name for a seahorse and also means ancestor, or tupuna.

The common name for Cylix tupareomanaia is manaia pygmy pipehorse.

The Ngtiwai tribe said it was pleased to have gifted the new species a name.

The naming of this taonga [treasure] is significant to Ngtiwai as we know there are stories from our tupuna about this species, but the original name has been lost as a result of the negative impacts of colonisation, a Ngtiwai tribe kaumtua (elder) Hori Parata said.

Dr Trnski from the Auckland Museum said it was a privilege to be able to incorporate mtauranga Mori (knowledge) into the naming process.

As far as we know, this is the first animal in the world to have the naming authority include a tribal name. It is overdue recognition of traditional knowledge that can contribute to the discovery of new species.

Cylix tupareomanaia had been observed by divers at the Poor Knights Islands Marine Reserve in 2011, when it was initially thought to be the rare seahorse species Hippocampus jugumus.

But when a photo was posted on Facebook in 2017, Short recognised it as possibly new, and Trnski joined him in the effort to confirm that it was a new species.

The authors of the new name, Short, Trnski and Ngtiwai, will be permanently linked to the species name, as required under the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature the rulebook for naming new species.

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Pygmy pipehorse discovered in New Zealand given Mori name in world first - The Guardian

New Zealanders are grieving for the end of the countrys Covid elimination strategy and anxious about what the future holds, a day after prime minister Jacinda Ardern announced the country would switch to a suppression approach.

Its kind of a grieving for what we are losing, microbiologist Siouxsie Wiles, one of the pandemic responses most prominent science communicators, said. We are very clearly losing alert level one, and the freedoms and privileges that come with [it].

The country has held fast to a Covid-zero strategy for the past 18 months. That has been rewarded with some of the worlds best outcomes through the pandemic: extremely low hospitalisations and deaths, little in the way of day to day restrictions, low unemployment and robust economic survival. But on Monday, almost two months into a Delta outbreak, the country stepped into the unknown, pivoting for the first time away from strict elimination despite vaccination rates that remain low.

The shift was introduced by Ardern with a three-step plan to let people gather outdoors and reopen early childhood education, before reopening retail and hospitality. It comes at a time when just 40% of the full population and 47% of the eligible population (those aged 12 and over) are fully vaccinated, while 65% of the full population and 77% of the eligible population have had at least one dose.

Vaccination rates are particularly low among Mori, who are around two thirds behind the wider population. Health experts agree it will probably result in a further rise in cases a proposition journalist Marc Daalder termed level three: now with picnics and hospitalisations. For a country that has never had to reckon with widespread transmission or illness from Covid-19, any excitement over loosened restrictions has been tempered with apprehension and, in some cases, anger at the toll that could lie ahead.

We have actually had an incredible pandemic so far, Wiles said, with open schools and businesses, and the continuation of relatively normal life. Most of the rest of the world havent had that. Or if theyve had it, its been really dangerous and people have gotten sick and some people have died. Its not clear to me whether people have really got their head around that.

Part of the sadness, Wiles said, was that elimination had proven to be a highly equitable strategy it protected almost all New Zealanders. As the country shifted gears to allow an outbreak to spread through the community, outcomes would take the same course as it had across the rest of the world skewed against poor people, those with disabilities, or ethnicities experiencing other forms of disadvantage.

Our change in strategy is not going to be felt the same by every New Zealander. Those who are wealthy and privileged are going to still live a wealthy and privileged life, where they may not be touched compared to other communities that may well end up being devastated by it. And thats the hardest bit for me to get my head around, Wiles said. Here was a chance where we could have made things different. And we havent.

Announcing the changes, Ardern said, the activities that are being allowed are not considered high risk in our current situation. But, they will make a material difference in Aucklanders ability to maintain the restrictions that do make a difference. Many Aucklanders will no doubt be relieved to once again see friends and family, and send young children to childcare although with a week of rain forecast, picnics may not be imminent.

But on social media, others expressed frustration and sadness. Psychologist Dr Sarb Johal said People are apprehensive and grieving for the security that the old alert level system brought us for so long. Make no mistake, it is hard to let go.

Some criticised the latest announcement as confusing a departure from the countrys extremely clear pandemic communications. Communications consultant Neale Jones, an ex-Labour staffer, called the announcement a long and confusing surrender note and both a policy and a political failure. Strategy and communications professional Asher Wilson-Goldman said: Todays announcement is messy, complex and wont keep people safe. This feels like capitulation at a time when weve still got plenty of vaccinating left to do.

The Green party typically the Labour governments closest partner broke with Ardern on Monday to say they opposed the policy, which would have too high a cost for vulnerable New Zealanders. Elimination has protected thousands of lives in Aotearoa. We have to stay the course to keep everyone safe. Now is not the right time to change our approach, particularly when so many of our vulnerable communities are still at risk, Green co-leader Marama Davidson said.

The governments planned roadmap out of Covid-19 has serious risks for our vulnerable communities including Mori and Pasifika, she said. Elimination is still possible if we work together to stop the spread. Our public health system has held up so far, but we worry that easing restrictions too early could overwhelm the hard-working nurses, doctors and all health system workers who we rely on to keep us safe.

Other political parties were also harsh on the decision. Libertarian Act party leader David Seymour said: Being told we could afford a slow vaccine rollout because we didnt have Covid in the community is one of the most reckless things any government in New Zealand has ever done and we are now paying the price.

A previous version of this story switched the number of eligible New Zealanders that had had one or more doses of the vaccine with those fully vaccinated. As of Monday, 47% were fully vaccinated and 77% had had one dose.

See more here:

Anger and grief: New Zealanders fearful as Covid elimination strategy ends - The Guardian

Our names are a critical part of our identity. They are a personal and social anchor tying us to our families, our culture, our history and place in the world.

For Mori, a name is intrinsic to, and linked by, our whakapapa (genealogy), often reflecting the elements observed, such as a river (awa), at the time of birth before entering Te Ao Mrama, the world of life and light.

In law, names matter too. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which Aotearoa New Zealand accepted in 1993, states that every child has the right to a name. The law governs the naming of individuals as well as the changing of names.

But no such laws exist for countries. Nations can and do change their own names (such as when they gain independence), or have them changed by others (such as after a war). What worked for an earlier generation may not for later ones, as national values and identities evolve.

This is the challenge presented in a petition organised by Te Pti Mori (Mori Party). As well as calling for Aotearoa to become the countrys official name, the party also wants to restore all original Mori place names by 2026.

As these and other lands were colonised, so too were their original place names, with the colonisers seeking to assert their authority and versions of history.

Power, the politics of language and the naming of places are all closely related. As the old saying goes, the namer of names is the father of all things.

Many European explorers preferred to name what they discovered after something they were familiar with. New York was named by the British after they defeated the Dutch, who had named their settlement New Amsterdam, part of the region they called New Netherland.

Read more: Removing monuments to an imperial past is not the same for former colonies as it is for former empires

Before the arrival of the Dutch and British, the wider area was called manahhtaan, from the Indigenous Munsee language of the Lenape people, which lives on in the name Manhattan.

Closer to home, the Dutch name New Holland was slowly phased out in the early 19th century by the colonial authorities in favour of Australia, from the Latin Terra Australis (Southern Land), a reference to the mythical great unknown southern land terra australis incognita.

Over the years there have been various petitions and attempts to change the name of New Zealand, including in 1895 a call to officially adopt Moriland, already a common unofficial name for the country.

When Abel Tasman sighted these well-populated shores in 1642, he called the place Staten Land in the belief it was somehow connected to an Isla de los Estados (Staten Island) in what is now modern Argentina.

Read more: Bilingual road signs in Aotearoa New Zealand would tell us where we are as a nation

Later, however, a Dutch East India Company cartographer conferred the name Nieuw Zeeland (or Nova Zeelandia in Latin).

Zee in Dutch translates as sea, and its English etymology is complicated. It seems to be of Gothic origin, emerging from Germany, and was adopted into the languages of Northern Europe where, for example, Sjlland (sea-land) described a place closely connected to the sea.

Our country was not named directly after the link between land and sea, but rather after the Dutch place that already had this name specifically, Zeeland in the south-west of the Netherlands. Forts in modern-day Taiwan and Guyana were also called Zeelandia by early Dutch explorers.

When James Cook arrived in 1769, Nieuw Zeeland was anglicised to New Zealand, as can be seen in his famous 1770 map. Cook renamed Te Moana-o-Raukawa as Cook Strait, and imposed dozens more English place names.

He did, however, attempt to retain Mori names for both main islands: his map records Eaheinomauwe (possibly He-mea-h-n-Mui, or the things Mui fished up) for the North Island and T Avai Poonamoo (Te Wai Pounamu, or greenstone waters) for the South Island.

The first reference in legislation to New Zealand was in the Murders Abroad Act of 1817, passed by parliament in England in response to increasing lawlessness in the South Pacific including the maltreatment of Indigenous sailors aboard European ships.

Paradoxically, perhaps, the act demonstrated a British view that New Zealand was not truly part of the British realm.

Read more: Matariki: reintroducing the tradition of Mori New Year celebrations

By 1835, a number of iwi (tribes) engaged in international trade and politics were using the name Nu Tireni to describe New Zealand in their correspondence with Britain.

Nu Tirene then appeared in the 1835 Declaration of Independence of the United Tribes of New Zealand, and then Te Tiriti o Waitangi in 1840.

The Mori Legal Corpus, a digitised collection of thousands of pages of legal texts in te reo Mori spanning 1829 to 2009, contains around 4,800 references to Nu Tirene, Niu Tirani and Niu Tirene.

The translation into te reo Mori of the Maori Language Act 1987 refers to Niu Tireni, as does the Mori Language Act 2016.

Read more: Let's choose our words more carefully when discussing mtauranga Mori and science

The precise origin of the composite term Aotearoa is not known. But if we translate Ao as world, tea as bright or white, and roa as long, we have the common translation of long bright world or long white cloud.

Sir George Grey used Aotearoa in his 1855 Polynesian Mythology, and Ancient Traditional History of the New Zealand Race, and in his 1857 Mori proverbs work, Ko nga whakapepeha me nga whakaahuareka a nga tipuna o Aotea-roa.

The Mori Legal Corpus mentions Aotearoa 2,748 times, with one of the earliest written references being Wiremu Tamehanas hui invitation to other chiefs in October 1862.

The popularity of Aotearoa can be gauged from William Pember Reeves 1898 history of New Zealand: The Long White Cloud Ao Tea Roa.

Today, government departments commonly use Aotearoa, and it appears on the national currency. One of the commonest expressions of personal and national identity is the Uruwhenua Aotearoa New Zealand passport.

Whether enough New Zealanders want a formal change isnt clear. A recent poll showed a majority wanting to retain New Zealand, but a significant number interested in a combined Aotearoa New Zealand.

Nor is there consensus on Aotearoa being the best alternative, with some debate about whether the name originally referred only to the North Island and Aotearoa me Te Waipounamu being used in the south.

At the same time, there is a growing awareness of te reo Mori (as an official language, including among Pkeh) and understanding of our national names and their significance. This allows us to better understand where we have come from and where we want to go.

By also acknowledging Mori names, we give substance to our distinctness as a nation. In time, perhaps, it will lead to us embracing a name that better reflects our history, our place in the world and our shared future.

Originally posted here:

Putting Aotearoa on the map: New Zealand has changed its name before, why not again? - The Conversation AU

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ramiz Raja has hinted at "good news" in the coming week, saying the New Zealand cricket board was working on a new schedule to tour Pakistan after it abandoned the series last month citing "security threats".

The New Zealand cricket team had arrived in Pakistan on September 11 for the first time in 18 years to play three ODIs and five Twenty20 Internationals.

The Kiwis had, however, devastated Pakistan's cricket fraternity on Sep 17 by opting out of their tour of Pakistan minutes before the first ODI was to be played. They had cited a 'security threat' as the reason without divulging any further information. The tour cancellation was followed by England also deferring their tour.

Briefing the Senate Standing Committee on Inter-Provincial Coordination on Thursday, Raja said the New Zealand cricket board was "now rescheduling the tour" after being pressured by Pakistan.

However, committee chairman Raza Rabbani suggested the PCB chief to turn down New Zealand's tour of Pakistan.

"What if we do not allow the New Zealand tour?" asked Rabbani.

He advised the PCB not to accept the tour as a sign of protest.

Raja, however, replied with a slight discord, saying, "We have to live with them. But we can tell them that Pakistan can find a time window for the tour at some point in 2022."

He added that if New Zealand were ready to play according to Pakistan's conditions, "then we should have no problem".

He also informed the committee that Pakistan's cricket affairs were managed through 50 per cent funding from the International Cricket Council (ICC), while 90pc of the ICC funding was provided by India.

The PCB chairman also said he would unveil the blueprint for cricket by next week.

Asked about the tour cancellation, the PCB chief informed the committee that the Kiwi officials didn't inform him about the nature of the threats, adding that "it's not our fault".

He lamented that no one from the cricket fraternity helped Pakistan at its time of need, while recalling that the national team had toured different countries even during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Raja said the PCB had also written a "strong letter" to the ICC on the matter, while quoting experts as saying that a lot of politics was underway at the ICC.

During the briefing, the PCB chief said that the board could collapse if the Indian government wanted.

He explained that the PCB receives 50pc of its funding from the ICC. "ICC funding means that the body conducts tournaments and distributes the money among member boards," he said.

"Ninety per cent of ICC's funding comes from Indian markets," he said. The PCB chairman said that in a way, Indian business houses were keeping Pakistan cricket going.

He said that if the Indian prime minister decides to stop funding at any point, the cricket board could "collapse".

During the briefing, the PCB chairman stressed the need for fixing the system, adding that the salaries of domestic cricketers had been raised and they will now earn Rs40 million annually.

"No cricketer will have to drive a rickshaw anymore," he said.

He said he had held "positive meetings" with various investors, adding that they were willing to offer money for the betterment of national cricket.

Raja said work at the schools level would soon begin with an aim to overhaul the cricket structure.

The PCB chairman also said those cricketers who had tarnished the country's image by being involved in match fixing should not be included in the team, adding that unfortunately, "our society sides with such cricketers".

Excerpt from:

'Good news in the offing': New Zealand rescheduling Pakistan tour, Ramiz Raja tells Senate body - DAWN.com

New Zealand will send a special representative to the Middle East to help extract more than 1000 New Zealanders and visa holders stranded in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan.

Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta announced on Thursday the representative would lead discussions with countries that neighbour Afghanistan and help other New Zealand staff verify people who have crossed borders out of the country.

We are focused on the second phase of our response in Afghanistan. This means working through the financial, legal, health and security challenges that Afghan nationals who try to travel will face, as well as the practical realities of travelling to New Zealand in a global pandemic, Mahuta said, in a statement.

The representative has not yet been appointed. National Party foreign affairs spokesman Gerry Brownlee said the Government needed to move with haste.

Bernat Armangue/AP

Taliban fighters escort women's march in support of the Taliban government outside Kabul University, Afghanistan, in September.

READ MORE:* Route out of Afghanistan remains uncertain as allied countries meet without NZ * Afghanistan: 375 New Zealanders, visa holders stranded as Government considers 'second phase' of evacuation effort* Former Kiwi soldier says Taliban already hunting down Afghan allies

We need to move fairly quickly. We dont have any diplomatic presence in the region at the moment. Weve got no-one in Pakistan, weve got limited representation in other Middle Eastern jurisdictions, he said.

The statement issued by Mahutas office did not name a country in which they would be based, or when the representative would leave for the region. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) last week confirmed it had sent more staff into the region to help with the ongoing response.

The detail of the second phase of the effort to evacuate New Zealand citizens, residents and visa holders from Afghanistan came after weeks of deliberations within the Government.

The Defence Force managed to airlift 393 people out of Afghanistans capital, Kabul, during an initial evacuation that was launched in the days after the Taliban took control in August.

ROBERT KITCHIN/Stuff

Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta has appointed a diplomat to oversee ongoing extraction of New Zealanders and visa holders from Afghanistan.

Mahuta, in the statement, said a further 35 people had made it to New Zealand since then.

The Government had, since the initial evacuation, granted hundreds of visas for Afghans who are close family members of New Zealanders, or helped New Zealands military, police, aid work, or the Operation Burnham inquiry, during the two decades of conflict in the country.

At the latest tally, there were 1253 visas granted, and more than 970 were in Afghanistan. MFAT had also estimated, in late-August, that more than 100 New Zealand citizens and permanent residents remained in the country.

Among visas granted were nearly 500 for Afghans who had supported the Defence Force in Afghanistan, and their family members. However, not one of these visa holders had been evacuated during the airlift in August.

While we cant go into specifics of individual visas granted given privacy and security considerations, I can note that while granting visas ministers supported members of the judiciary, human rights workers and prominent women who required assistance, and we have supported visas like this in a number of cases, Mahuta said, in the statement.

I am appointing a Special Representative for Afghanistan to support our efforts on the ground and work closely with our partners to secure onward travel out of the region and on to New Zealand.

This operation is highly dependent on multilateral cooperation with like-minded partners and countries neighbouring Afghanistan who have borne the brunt of those fleeing the Taliban.

The Government continued to consider using its refugee quota to bring Afghans to New Zealand on humanitarian grounds.

Brownlee said it was important to have a go-to person in the region to re-build connections in the effort.

"It's clearly not going to be a diplomatic niceties deal. We don't have formal recognition of the Taliban government, and so any communications that we might have that might facilitate these people moving out safely is going to have to be done through parties that do have those connections.

Or through some kind of private security arrangement and that's got its risks, and so we need to have someone who's right over the top of all that stuff.

Brownlee said he hoped the Government had a plan beyond appointing a representative.

- For supporting MFAT in Afghanistan: 272 (arrived in New Zealand, 50)

- For supporting the Defence Force in Afghanistan: 495 (arrived in New Zealand, 0)

- For supporting the Operation Burnham inquiry: 54 (arrived in New Zealand, 6)

- For supporting the New Zealand police in Afghanistan: 13 (arrived in New Zealand, 0)

- Visas granted by the associate minister of immigration: 105 (arrived in New Zealand, 11)

- Critical purpose visas granted to close family members of New Zealanders, or visas issued on evacuation: 314 (arrived in New Zealand, 213)

More here:

New Zealand to send Afghanistan 'special representative' to the Middle East - Stuff.co.nz

Anyone looking to cruise to New Zealand this season is out of luck there are no plans to resume cruising into New Zealand until late next year at the earliest.

Cruising will not resume into New Zealand until the nation has achieved its 90 per cent vaccination rate, which is well above Australias target of 80 per cent before international borders re-open.

The New Zealand Cruise Association Chief Executive Officer Kevin OSullivan told Cruise Passenger that cruising will not return to New Zealand until 90 per cent of New Zealanders have rolled up their sleeves and had their vaccination.

90 per cent of cruises are cancelled. The cruise lines are still booking but the cruises are being cancelled, he said.

Mr OSullivan said that the New Zealand cruise industry had not yet spoken to the Health Minister Chris Hipkins, and that talks were unlikely until the governments desired vaccination rate was achieved a mirror of the treatment being metered our to the industry body in Australia.

Well have to discuss a phased re-entry. That could be smaller ships. Its hard to say. NZ will follow what Australia does, said Mr OSullivan. Fifty per cent of those cruising into New Zealand are Australian.

He said that before Delta there was talk of a cruise bubble. We looked at cruising New Zealand only, or Australia and New Zealand cruising.

We were looking at 60 per cent capacity but at the moment its hard to say. There are some countries with a higher vaccination rate and there are pre-travel COVID tests so theres no reason we wouldnt accept vaccinated passengers.

At the moment we cant discuss cruising. It will depend on other countries.

The impact of no cruising in New Zealand has been widely felt and the ripples will hit Australia.

Lines like Princess relied on trips to Milford Sound as a draw card. Without visits to New Zealand and with Pacific nations still to reach vaccination targets, itinerary planning is difficult.

The New Zealand economy has also taken a hit.

It was worth $600 million and it was on its way to $1 billion, said Mr OSullivan. All international tourism has ground to a halt.

An attempt by Ponant to restart cruising in New Zealand in January was rebuffed at the last minute when the Immigration Department tried to insist some crew members should be replaced by New Zealanders.

The Le Laperouse was turned away at enormous cost to the line a full season had been booked by New Zealander passengers because of the 11th hour intervention.

More here:

No cruising in New Zealand before October 2022, association reveals - Cruise Passenger