Category Archives: New Zealand

Businesses in New Zealand are scrambling to find workers and competitively pushing up wages as they do, increasing the central bank's challenge in fighting inflation

WELLINGTON, New Zealand New Zealand video game developer PikPok found a solution to prolonged difficulty in finding experienced workers: Colombia.

The company, which is behind such mobile game apps as Clusterduck and Into the Dead, bought a studio in Medellin, Colombia, in February, increasing its staff of 180 by 35.

Its incredibly difficult to get to people with experience, said Mario Wynands, managing director of PikPok. By acquiring the studio in Colombia, thats given us the opportunity to recruit talent from Latin America and scale up that way.

Other industries do not have that solution. Businesses from farms to retirement villages and hotels are scrambling to find workers and competitively pushing up wages as they do, increasing the central banks challenge in fighting inflation.

In many cases, activity is simply disrupted by a lack of people exacerbated by suspension of immigration in the pandemic and, now, the slowness of its revival.

The unemployment rate was just 3.3% in the second quarter. Wages in the quarter were 3.4% higher than a year earlier, rising at the fastest rate in 14 years.

The aged-care sector had only 78% of the 5,000 registered nurses it needed, said Rhonda Sheriff, co-owner of Chatswood Retirement Village and clinical advisor to the NZ Aged Care Association. As a result, there are aged-care beds throughout the country that cannot be used, she said.

Her solution is higher pay. The government should pay nurses in aged care as much as it paid those in public hospitals, she said.

The meat processing sector has been raising concerns about labor shortages for months. According to the Meat Industry Association, the sector has 23,000 staff but needs 25,000.

At peak times, not all carcasses could be processed on time, and plants could not run at capacity, it said.

Willie Wiese, general manager manufacturing at red meat cooperative Alliance, said this year his staff had gone to help in processing plants because of the shortages.

New Zealands nursing and agricultural industries have long relied on immigrant labor, the supply of which dried up when the country closed its border during the pandemic.

In 2021, the government said it was simplifying immigration, but it also made changes that raised barriers to low-wage migrants. The immigration minister at the time said this was to help transition the country to a higher-wage, higher-skill economy.

Borders were reopened partially in February and fully this week, but New Zealanders are also leaving for other countries, especially Australia. Wynands and Sheriff both said they were losing staff to overseas employers offering higher pay.

Economists do not expect to see net immigration until next year, because recruiting foreign workers, getting visas for them, and moving them into the country takes time.

That leaves challenges for now. Dairy farmer Richard McIntyre, the spokesman for farming lobby group Federated Farmers, said his industry had been short-staffed for a year. Farmers had to work longer hours, and some jobs, such as pasture management, were being missed.

The real difficulty is if I attract someone on to my farm, there are only so many people and Im really just taking a staffer off someone else and that creates a problem for them, he said.

Theres just this fundamental shortage of people. Rappler.com

The rest is here:

Help wanted: New Zealand industries struggle to find workers - Rappler

New Zealand health officials have revealed they are stuck in the queue to order monkeypox vaccine and are unsure when it will arrive.

Monkeypox cases continue to rise globally more than 23,000 people in at least 75 countries have caught the virus. New Zealand confirmed a third case this week.

The director of the National Public Health Service, Dr Nick Chamberlain, said New Zealand agencies have been working to procure vaccines and antiviral treatments since we had our first case of monkeypox, which was on 9 July.

By that point, cases of monkeypox had already appeared in more than 30 non-endemic countries.

The vaccine is only manufactured by one company in the world and theres a global shortage and there is considerable international demand, Chamberlain said. We are part of a large number of countries who are endeavouring to access vaccine. Many have been unsuccessful.

Unlike New Zealand, Australia has received vaccine doses already, and on Thursday announced it had secured 450,000 doses of third-generation vaccine, which can also act as a treatment.

On Thursday afternoon, associate health minister Ayesha Verrall said vaccines would be just one part of a multi-factorial public health response.

Were working to develop a public health response that includes all elements of keeping people safe, she said, saying New Zealand was pushing very hard to get a vaccine.

This week, the Burnet Foundation Aotearoa and Sexual Health Society sounded the alarm on New Zealands lax response to the global outbreak, calling for a suite of measures.

The most at-risk community is men who have sex with men.

Verrall said she had been very clear with officials my expectation is that they work with members of the affected community to make sure that we do have effective and human rights compliant health promotional approach.

Meanwhile, thousands continue to catch Covid-19 every day. Health authorities, however, are still to sign off on expanding eligibility for a second booster shot, which remains unavailable to those under 50.

Opposition Covid spokesperson Chris Bishop said that was the wrong decision. Australia has gone to 30-plus. I dont understand why we wouldnt do that here, he said.

Previous director of health Ashley Bloomfield had said a decision on vaccine eligibility was due this week, but on Thursday the deputy director general of health, Andrew Old, said it was still being considered.

The evidence for repeat boosters for over-50s is pretty good, in younger age groups its less clear, he said.

Old said the current wave looked to have peaked, but hospitalisations and deaths may continue to rise. On Thursday, 49 New Zealanders were added to the death toll, with 140 deaths over the last week having Covid-19 as a contributing factor.

Read the original here:

New Zealand unable to say when monkeypox vaccines will arrive - The Guardian

Its a familiar scene Saturday night out on the town, a few drinks too deep, stumbling into the old faithful karaoke bar.

What will you bless the other equally intoxicated patrons and bar staff trying to make money to pay rent with tonight?

ABBA and Shania Twain have never failed you before, but after reading the room youre thinking perhaps a ballad.

While youre mulling over your options, the hens party on the other side of the bar has already swarmed to the microphone. You hear the beginning of Taylor Swifts Love Story start up and the squealing begin.

Purple Rain will have to wait until the next round.

READ MORE:* The ultimate karaoke playlist (according to me and my mates)* Victoria Beckham transforms back into Posh Spice during karaoke night* Nicolas Cage says karaoke is 'supposed to be private' after his viral 2019 performance of 'Purple Rain'

From Celine Dion and Queen to Neil Diamond and the Spice Girls, this nation of supposedly shy small poppies seems to love a late-night croon.

So, what is New Zealands go-to karaoke song?

I asked around some of New Zealands favourite karaoke bars to find out what keeps Kiwis singing through the night and into the early hours of the morning.

As it turns out, the overall winner wasnt so clear. There were songs that popped up over and over again, but many answers tended to differ in terms of style and age depending on where in the country you asked.

Getty Images

Which karaoke songs are Kiwis belting out into the night?

A bar I talked to in Queenstown said Fergies Fergalicious and Britney Spears Toxic were frequently on repeat, while no other bar mentioned these songs at all.

Up in Northland, another bar told me theyd always get Tennessee Whisky, while one bartender in Auckland said she has to listen to Frank Sinatras My Way every night.

In Wellington, the most played song on one bars karaoke machine was Queens Bohemian Rhapsody, while another bar keeps a Valerie jar in the back kitchen to track how many times the Amy Winehouse hit is requested.

Alexander Koerner/Getty Images

The popularity of Robbie Williams Angels is one of the worlds many wonders.

And through it all, this song seems to have a choke hold on karaoke-goers, particularly those of the white male variety.

As a Gen Z, can someone please tell me if this song was actually popular when it was released? Ive only ever heard it played in karaoke bars. Does it exist outside of karaoke?

Supplied

Amy Winehouses Valerie is beloved by tone-deaf drunks and talented vocalists alike.

Sure, those notes arent made for everyone, but the great thing about singing karaoke in New Zealand is that if you suck, people probably wont try to boo you or kick you offstage (although you might catch some shady looks).

Of all the overdone karaoke songs out there, Valerie is pretty harmless. The lyrics are sweet and simple, the song is danceable, and its a tune beloved by many.

Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Darius Rucker covered Old Crow Medicine Shows Wagon Wheel in 2013.

Where did this song come from? Ive never heard it before, but apparently Kiwis across the country are belting it out like their life depends on it.

After giving it a listen I see the karaoke potential in it the chorus is catchy, the vocal range required isnt demanding, and I can imagine exactly the kind of crowd this song would be a hit with.

There must be a reason why New Zealanders are so drawn to those classic all-American country songs: Tennessee Whisky; Take Me Home, Country Roads; and apparently Wagon Wheel.

Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

At six minutes long, Queens Bohemian Rhapsody is test of stamina.

Many people underestimate the value of adding theatrics to their karaoke performance, and Bohemian Rhapsody provides an outlet for your inner performer to run wild and free.

Its a three-part act, first operatic-rock, then art rock, and then a slow-burn ending to draw in the crowd to an emotional finale. You dont even need the vocal range of Freddie Mercury, but good stamina and lung capacity will help.

I do have one gripe with Bohemian Rhapsody being played at karaoke requesting this song automatically makes you a microphone-hog.

Seriously, a six-minute song? When someones aunty and uncle are at the bar demanding Here Is My Heart from Once Were Warriors and the drunk girls want to sing ABBA for the fifth time? Read the room, people!

Mark Davis/Getty Images

Ive been inclined to believe Neil Diamonds Sweet Caroline will never fade in popularity.

From the football pitch to the karaoke stage, people around the world seem to love chanting this Neil Diamond classic released 53 years ago.

Even Atlanta rap group Migos sang it during their Carpool Karaoke feature with James Cordon if that isnt a sign of how far-reaching this song is, I dont know what is.

Its a safe choice as it doesnt require a lot of vocal ability and the voices of other karaoke-goers inevitably joining in will drown you out, but maybe thats why this song works so well.

The draw of Sweet Caroline seems to be its simplicity, nostalgia, and synonymity with the sports field.

Visit link:

The most requested karaoke songs in New Zealand - Stuff

');});jQuery('.entry-content p.watermarked > div.watermarked_image > img').each( function() {if ( jQuery(this).hasClass('alignnone') ) {jQuery(this).parent().addClass( 'alignnone' );}if ( jQuery(this).hasClass('alignleft') ) {jQuery(this).parent().addClass( 'alignleft' );}if ( jQuery(this).hasClass('alignright') ) {jQuery(this).parent().addClass( 'alignright' );}if ( jQuery(this).hasClass('size-medium') ) {jQuery(this).parent().addClass( 'has-size-medium' );}if ( jQuery(this).hasClass('aligncenter') ) {jQuery(this).parent().addClass( 'aligncenter' );jQuery(this).parent().children().wrapAll('');}});}});});

U.S.Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Shermanwill travel to Samoa,Tonga, Solomon Islands, Australia, and New Zealand from August 3-9. The Deputy Secretarys travel to the region reflects the United States commitment to engage meaningfully with fellow Pacific nations in the spirit of partnership and friendship.

In Apia, Samoa,Deputy Secretary Sherman will be the first senior U.S. official and among the first foreign officials to visit the country following the August 1 reopening of Samoas international borders. She will meet with Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mataafa.

In Nukualofa, Tonga, Deputy Secretary Sherman will meet with King Tupou VI and other seniorTongan government officials to commemorate 50 years of bilateral relations between the United States and Tonga. The most senior U.S. official to visit Tonga in the history of our relationship, the Deputy Secretary will discuss bilateral cooperation, including the United States interest in beginning discussions to establish a U.S. embassy in Tongaannounced by Vice President Kamala Harris at the Pacific Islands Forum in Julyas well as ongoing recovery efforts from the volcano eruption and tsunami in January, for which the United States has provided over $2.6 million in assistance. She will also deliver remarks at an event with Tongan students and young people, meet with members of Tongan civil society, and visit U.S. Peace Corps staff. The Peace Corps has been active in Tonga for 55 years and will return volunteers to the field in 2023.

In Honiara, Solomon Islands, Deputy Secretary Sherman will lead an interagency U.S. delegation to participate in the commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Guadalcanal. She will deliver remarks at a U.S.-hosted ceremony on Skyline Ridge, the site of the U.S. Guadalcanal Memorial, as well as at a Solomon Islands-hosted ceremony at Bloody Ridge. The Deputy Secretary and the U.S. delegation will additionally attend memorial events hosted by Solomon Islands and Japan that will focus on commemorating the sacrifices and lives of those whofought in the Battle of Guadalcanal from the United States and its allies, the people of Solomon Islands, and the people of Japan. The Deputy Secretary will also meet with Solomon Islands government officials, including Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare, to highlight the enduring relationship between the United States and Solomon Islands and the recent announcement of plans to open a U.S. Embassy in Honiara.

Deputy Secretary Sherman will then visit Canberra, Australia, where she will meet with Foreign Minister Penny Wong, Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Trade Jan Adams, and other senior Australian officials to discuss U.S.-Australia collaboration for a secure and prosperous region, the bilateral trade partnership, and our work to combat the climate crisis. The Deputy Secretary will also meet with young Australians to discuss the importance of further strengthening the U.S.-Australia Alliance.

In Wellington,New Zealand, Deputy Secretary Sherman will meet with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade Chief Executive and Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Trade Chris Seed, and other government officials. The Deputy Secretary will discuss the strong bilateral partnership between the United States and New Zealand and ongoing cooperation on a range of regional and global challenges.

See original here:

Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman to Visit Samoa, Tonga, Solomon Islands, Australia, and New Zealand - United States Department of State -...

We are closing on to the group stage of women's T20 cricket at the ongoingCommonwealth Games 2022. In the 12th match of the mega event, New Zealand women and England women will take each other. Expect it to be a high-octane contest. NZ Women beat Sri Lanka by 45 runs to jump to top 2 in points table in Group A. The stars in that game for White Ferns were Hayley Jensen who finished with 3 wickets and batter Suzie Bates who smashed 34, the highest individual score in the game.

England, on the other hand, will be without their captain Heather Knight, who has been ruled out of the CWG as well as The Hundred due to a hip injury she picked up in the 1st match vs South Africa. England are Group B toppers at the moment and are favourites to beat NZ despite their captain missing. They beat SA by 26 runs in their last game. All-rounder Alice Capsey and Amy Jones are in good form and expect them to deliver the goods in this encounter as well.

Match Details

The England Women vs New Zealand Women Group A Commonwealth Games 2022 match will be played on Thursday (August 4).

The England Women vs New Zealand Women Group A Commonwealth Games 2022 match will be played at Edgbaston, Birmingham.

The the England Women vs New Zealand Women Group A Commonwealth Games 2022 match will start at 10.30 PM IST.

The the England Women vs New Zealand Women Group A Commonwealth Games 2022 match will be available on Sony Six Network in India.

The the England Women vs New Zealand Women Group A Commonwealth Games 2022 match will be streamed live on SonyLiv website and app.

Original post:

ENG-W vs NZ-W Group A Commonwealth Games 2022 LIVE Streaming Details: When and Where to Watch England Women... - Zee News

Jo Palmer,Minister for Primary Industries and Water

While in New Zealand this week promoting Tasmanias world-class produce and building trade opportunities, I prioritised meeting with Stuart Anderson, Deputy-Director General for Biosecurity New Zealandand his key staff, to share and learn what we are both doing to protect our uniquely beautiful islands.

As islands heavily reliant on primary industry, New Zealand, like Tasmania, understands the importance of strong biosecurity.

Although New Zealand Parliament was sitting, I was very pleased that Damien OConnor, New Zealand Minister for Biosecurity, Agriculture and Trade and Export Growth, was also able to take time out from his busy schedule to join our meeting.

Foot and Mouth Disease was front and centre of discussions including current monitoring and surveillance operations, industry engagement and stakeholder management.

It was very pleasing to note the activities being implemented by New Zealand are aligned with Tasmania and I am confident we are doing our utmost to protect the industry.

Other issues discussed in our comprehensive meeting included Fruit Fly, Blueberry Rust and National Animal Identification systems, and community and stakeholder engagement around the shared responsibility of biosecurity.

With existing direct air and sea links, and more promising trade opportunities being realised, it is important we have strong collaboration with Biosecurity New Zealand.

With Tasmanias borders once again open to the world, the Tasmanian Liberal Government is taking action to grow and diversify our economic opportunities across the globe.

New Zealand is already one of our most important trading partners, with annual exports valued at over $100 million.

This trade mission is further identifying opportunities across key areas for our future economic growth including advanced manufacturing, defence, food, agribusiness, energy, tourism, and, of course, our world-class primary industries.

Trade missions are one of the best ways to boost sales for businesses, and there was a very strong response from businesses eager to be involved and showcase their products.

The trade mission is an initiative of our New Zealand Integrated Trade Strategy, which is a key part of meeting our overall international trade target of $15 billion by 2050.

More Media Releases from Jo Palmer

More Media Releases from the Minister for Primary Industries and Water

Link:

Meeting with Biosecurity New Zealand to help further protect Tasmania - Premier of Tasmania

A 1912 report in the Rodney & Otamatea Times is being shared everywhere. Is it real, where did it come from, and why is it proving so popular?

On Wednesday August 14, in the winter of 1912, a reader of the Warkworth-based Rodney & Otamatea Times (incorporating the Waitemat & Kaipara Gazette) who had shelled out the thruppence for the newspaper and made it as far as the seventh of its eight pages, might have scanned their eye across to the third column and arrived at Science Notes and News, a collection of short items from around the world. Beneath snippets on a very deep hole in Germany, on nickel kitchen utensils, and on a new machine for skipping that not only turns the rope but records the number of skips, came a paragraph-long report that more than a century later has achieved a status the very description of which would have baffled its reader and writer alike. It has gone viral.

COAL CONSUMPTION AFFECTING CLIMATE, was the headline. The furnaces of the world are now burning about 2,000,000,000 tons of coal a year, it began. When this is burned, uniting with oxygen, it adds about 7,000,000,000 tons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere yearly. This tends to make the air a more effective blanket for the earth and to raise its temperature. The effect may be considerable in a few centuries.

And that was it. Science Notes and News proceeded without pause to other matters of the day, such as a new tunnel in Russia and the qualities of asparagus in light of the awful odor which the use of this article of food causes in one of the bodily excretions.

But it was the succinct, matter-of-fact 1912 nugget on carbon and climate that survived, or was reborn, in the leadup to its 110th birthday, shared by tens of thousands and viewed by millions on social media in response to this:

British Conservative MP Chris Skidmore, who recently opposed a plan to open a new coal mine in Cumbria, joined the party.

They were not the first, however, to disinter the August 14, 1912 edition of the Rodney & Otamatea Times (incorporating the Waitemat & Kaipara Gazette). The same 67-word report circled the digital world in 2016, in 2018 and again in 2021.

The report is authentic, certainly, and has passed every fact-check examiner it has faced. You can read it yourself on New Zealands best website, Papers Past. But, sadly, it was not the work of an industrious Warkworth journalist. It had earlier appeared in both British and Australian titles. The entire page, in fact, was published four weeks earlier by the Braidwood Dispatch and Mining Journal in New South Wales: holes, tunnels, skipping machine, coal consumption, everything. Even the layout and typography is identical, suggesting the plate may have been shipped over the Tasman after they were done with it.

That version of the story has had its viral moments, too, albeit not on the scale of the Rodney & Otamatea Times. A 2016 Facebook post on the Dispatch and Journal report by the Braidwood Museum reached over 180,000 people, according to the Braidwood Times (the Dispatch folded in 1958). The most common comment has been Wow, a Braidwood Historical Society committee member told the paper.

Whether Braidwood, Rodney or wherever, the words of the item have since been traced by science writer Alex Kasprak back to Popular Mechanics magazine, then published out of Chicago, and its March 1912 edition, where they can be found in the caption to an image illustrating an article on the Remarkable weather of 1911.

Even by the remarkable-weather year of 1911, the central tenets of the climate science that endures today had been around for some while. In 1824, French mathematician Joseph Fourier crunched numbers that suggested our planet, given its distance from the sun, should be cooler, and posited the existence of a blanket-like layer in the atmosphere. In 1856, the American scientist Eunice Foote published a paperthat identified the predominant ingredient of that heat-absorbent blanket: carbon dioxide.

Given all that, why did the Rodney & Otamatea Times clipping catch the social media tide? It has the advantage of concision and clarity, sheeting crisply home just how long our species has known about global heating since long before the denialism and inaction became a talking point in keeping with the observation by Benjamin Franklin on the failures to address the dangers of lead despite six decades of evidence: You will observe with concern how long a useful truth may be known and exist, before it is generally received and practised on. As for the Rodney masthead, the fact it emanates from a country largely isolated at the bottom of the world just emphasises that. And even when its not wholly true, the idea of New Zealand as a progressive pioneer prevails.

More prosaically, it may just be a matter of right time, right place and it seems it was a New Zealand group, the Sustainable Business Network, that first shared the report on social media, in 2016. Whether something goes viral on social media typically depends on factors like timing, novelty, irreverence or use of humour, the ease to share, public understanding of the message, etcetera, said Alex Beattie, a specialist in media and climate change based at the Centre for Science in Society, Victoria University of Wellington. But theres no exact science or proven formula.

If you look through news archives and scientific journals there are many of these warnings dating back to the 1800s, said Rebecca Priestley, a historian of climate change and associate professor at Victoria University of Wellington.

She joins the dots between one example from the Christchurch Press in 1957, headlined Threat From Melting Of Polar Ice Caps, and this weeks policy announcements in New Zealand. The Press report warns of global warming leading to sea level rise, said Priesley, but its only now, in 2022 when we can see and measure the effects of sea level rise, and make projections about what the next few decades will bring that were really starting to take sea level rise seriously and start planning for it with measures outlined in the just published National Adaptation Plan.

Priestley continued: When we see old news reports like this, its important that we dont just beat ourselves up for not responding to climate change sooner. These early warnings and hypotheses led to decades of scientific research that has provided us with evidence of why and how and how fast our global climate is changing. And that evidence is now clear. The first IPCC report was published in 1990, and the evidence for climate change has been getting stronger with every report.

The latest report, in April this year, came with a press release that read, The evidence is clear: the time for action is now. We can halve emissions by 2030, noted Priestley. But those of us encouraging change, and trying to enact change, are really aware that there are businesses, governments and individuals with such vested interests in the status quo that they are working against action on climate change.

Priestley, whose PhD is in the history of science, admitted to finding old news reports on climate change fascinating, but urged us to face the right way. The only thing we can change is the future. The climate is changing, the oceans are warming, the ice sheets are melting, but what happens next is not inevitable, its up to us, collectively, she said. We need to do everything we can to meet our Paris Agreement targets, because two degrees warming is not as bad as 3 degrees warming, and three degrees warming is not as bad as four degrees warming. And so on. As the Extinction Rebellion call says, the science is clear, our future is not.

As for the Rodney & Otamatea Times (incorporating the Waitemat & Kaipara Gazette), it was bought up by Fairfax in 2005 and today continues, as the abbreviated Rodney Times, published weekly on a Thursday. It noted its own moment in the social media spotlight back in 2016, remarking, half a tongue in cheek: The Rodney Times has always provided insightful content to readers. In fact, we even predicted climate change more than 100 years ago!

Go here to read the rest:

The New Zealand news nugget circling the globe 110 years after publication - The Spinoff

Sport

3 Aug, 2022 07:40 PM4 minutes to read

Cheree Kinnear catches up with Newstalk ZB Sports reporter Kate Wells on the latest at the Commonwealth Games. Video / NZ Herald / Photosport

All the action from day six of the Commonwealth Games.

For the full schedule and results for all the New Zealand teams and athletes, click here.

For Android users click on this link.

A superb day for the New Zealand judo team with Kody Andrews leading a three medal haul with a silver in the men's 100kg event. He was pinned by Canada's Marc Deschenes early in the gold medal bout to lose by Ippon.

Moira De Villiers claimed bronze in the women's -78kg after defeating Ayuk Otay Arrey Sophina of Cameroon by Ippon with 28 seconds left. It's her second medal after winning silver in Glasgow eight years ago. She defeated fellow Kiwi Hayley Mackey in the quarter-finals, one of her students at the judo club she runs with husband Jason Koster in Christchurch. She was then defeated by England's Emma Reid in the semifinals. The bronze bout was a close thing but de Villiers kept her calm and got the win just at the end.

"Super special. It wasn't what I wanted but I'm still glad I was able to represent New Zealand and get us another medal. I just knew she would gas after a minute I just had to keep going and be a little bit of a dogfight. I'm ruthless on the ground so I knew I was going to get it," she told Sky Sport.

Gisborne's Sydnee Andrews also claimed bronze with the 19-year-old promising gold in four years' time after defeating Sarah Hawkes of Northern Ireland in their women's +78kg bronze bout.

Lewis Clareburt's quest for a third gold medal fell just short as he picked up a bronze to end his campaign.

The Kiwi finished third in the 200m individual medley final with Scotland's Duncan Scott taking the gold ahead of Tom Dean of England.

New Zealand will have another medal chance in the pool in Erika Fairweather, with the 18 year old qualifying fastest for the 400m freestyle final.

Fairweather hunted down Canadian Summer McIntosh in the final 50 metres of her heat, beating the 15-year-old silver medallist at this year's world championships by 0.09 seconds.

Fairweather finished sixth at the world champs earlier this year, and while she is proven to be a medal hopeful, McIntosh may have plenty in the tank for the final after a relatively slow heat.

The heat won was in 4.07.27, and while Fairweather's personal best of 4.02.28 suggests she has much more to give, McIntosh is one of two in the field who have gone under the four-minute mark.

The other is Australia's Ariarne Titmus, who swam a stunning world record time of 3.56.40 earlier this year, and cruised to victory in her heat in a comparatively glacial 4.08.25.

While Fairweather will likely need to set a personal best to oust Titmus and McIntosh in the final at 7.48am, a bronze medal is a realistic possibility if she performs near her best.

There will be two Kiwis in the final, with Eve Thomas' time of 4.11.50 good enough to qualify seventh.

New Zealand will win at least one judo medal after a productive morning at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

Kody Andrews has qualified for the gold medal bout in the men's +100kg competition, where he will take on Marc Deschenes of Canada.

Andrews beat Dominic Dugasse of Seychelles in his quarter-final after receiving a bye in the round of 16, and then beat Sebastien Perrinne of Mauritius in the semifinal.

There are also chances for bronze medals from Moira de Villiers and Sydnee Andrews.

de Villiers beat fellow New Zealander Hayley Mackey in the quarter-finals in the women's 78kg category, of which there were only eight competitors entered.

She then was defeated in the semifinals but will be favoured to win bronze against Cameroonian repechage recipient Ayuk Otay Arrey Sophina.

Andrews earned a bye into the quarter-finals of the women's +78kg competition, where she was victorious before, like Koster, losing her semifinal.

She goes up against Northern Ireland's Sarah Hawkes in the bronze medal match.

Continue reading here:

Commonwealth Games 2022: All the New Zealand teams and athletes on day six - as it happened - New Zealand Herald

A New Zealand bar has been subject to backlash after posting a job advert which required any female candidates to have DD breasts.

The advert, stuck on to a window at Stumpers Bar & Cafe in the small West Coast town of Hokitika, has been dubbed sexist and disgusting by locals and social media users alike.

The sign read: Wanted: Part-time bar staff. Apply within. Must have double D breasts, a great smile and good attitude, the sign read, adding that men were also welcome to apply.

The shocking advert spread rapidly on social media and its contents split opinion, with some people trying to defend it as humourous, while others called it out as being sexist.

One man wrote on Twitter: Its clearly a joke to get attention. People need to chill.

While a woman quipped: See, if it said must have double D breasts, a great smile and a good attitude, but women can also apply that could almost be funny. This is just gross.

Another woman tweeted: Im only a single D, and also Id rather gouge my own eyes out with a rusty spoon than work anywhere that has an ad like that.

The Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment told the NZ Herald that the ad was in breach of The Human Rights Act 1993, which prohibits publishing a job advertisement that could reasonably be understood as indicating an intention to discriminate.

Stumpers told the NZ Herald that they did not wish to comment. The Independent has approached Stumpers for comment.

Visit link:

Must have double D breasts: New Zealand bar faces backlash for its sexist job advert - The Independent

Friday, 5 August 2022, 5:54 amPress Release: Federated Farmers

04 August

Many would say yes to a warming singlemalt whisky on one of these cold winter evenings - how aboutone made from purple wheat, black oats, or even blackbarley? Thats the offer from Southlands Auld FarmDistillery, awarded the Innovation title at tonights NewZealand Arable Awards sponsored by Rabobank in Christchurch.Rob and Toni Aulds enterprise - the couple also make arange of three gins from a base alcohol of oat, wheat, andbarley - is typical of the diversity, entrepreneurship andcommitment to quality being displayed so often in thenations arable sector. Auld Farm Distillery has achievedseveral world firsts with their products, and thats notuncommon from an arable sector that leads the world inseveral categories of the international seed market and hasset world records in wheat and barley yields. FederatedFarmers arable executive member David Birkett, who farms atLeeston, Canterbury, was named Arable Farmer of the Year.Davids citation noted he was a recognised leader inenvironmental/sustainable farming, with a focus on improvingsoil quality. He is open to trialling any approach to reducesynthetic inputs, such as biological products, cover crops,retaining straw etc, and is always willing to share hisknowledge and resultsgood or bad. The immediate pastnational Vice-President of Federated Farmers Karen Williams,and husband Mick, won the Environment & SustainabilityAward. The 2022 Food Champion is Angela Clifford, apassionate advocate for the arable industry. She formed theorganisation EatNZ, and through this, she promotes NZgrown/produced food. Angela set up the EatNZ grain food hui,where NZ grain growers have been able to talk about thegrain-based food products they produce and showcase them infront of an audience of chefs and food critics. FederatedFarmers twice had to expand plans and venue arrangements forthe awards as ticket demand grew and eventually had to becapped just shy of 400. Feds and other arable groups haveheld awards before, but this was the inaugural combinedevent backed by Federated Farmers, the Foundation for ArableResearch, United Wheatgrowers and the Grain & Seed TradeAssociation. Feds Arable Chair Colin Hurst said he wasabsolutely delighted with the high calibre of the 80nominations, and by the keenness of growers, food processorsand industry players to celebrate the best of their sector.The full list of 2022 Arable Award winners, with awardsponsors in brackets, is: Agronomist of the Year RogerLasham, Ashburton ( TheNew Zealand Grain & Seed Trade Association (NZGSTA)) Grower of the Year - Grain David & Anna Irving fromLanark Downs, South Canterbury. ( Bayer) Grower of theYear - Small Seed Hamish Marr, Methven. ( PGG WrightsonSeeds) Grower of the Year - Maize Chris Pellow PellowProduce, Waikato. ( Pioneer)Emerging Talent Award, Lauren Beattie, Rakaia, SouthCanterbury (BallanceAgri-Nutrients) Environment & Sustainability Karen &Mick Williams Ahiaruhe Farm, Wairarapa. ( MPI, Ministry for PrimaryIndustries) Arable Farmer of the Year David Birkett fromBirkett Farming, Leeston. ( FederatedFarmers ) Innovation Rob and Toni Auld from AuldDistillery, Southland. ( FAR(Foundation of Arable Research)) Arable Food ChampionAngela Clifford Eat New Zealand. ( Countdown) Notes forjournalists Fullmedia release with photographs here The Total productionfrom the arable sector in 2021 was 2.3 million tonnes. Thiswas a 31 per cent increase from 2018 when total arableproduction was 1.8 million tonnes. Total grain and pulseproduction of 2.2 million tonnes was a 30 per cent increasefrom 2018. Meanwhile, seeds for sowing production grew by 40percent from 58,268 tonnes in 2018 to 81,470 tonnes in 2021.In 2021 the arable sector directly produced crops worth $1billion. These sales went upstream of the arable sector andcreated total sales of all goods and services of $2.2billion. These total sales were equivalent to a contributionof $932 million to New Zealands gross domestic product(GDP). This has seen the arable sector increase itscontribution to GDP from 0.3 percent of national GDP to 0.34percent. The contribution to GDP is sufficient to support7,687 full-time equivalent employees(FTEs).

Scoop Media

See the original post here:

Whisky In The Jar At New Zealand's Arable Awards | Scoop News - Scoop