Category Archives: New Zealand

On the streets of Kyiv, an ambulance emblazoned with a New Zealand flag is treating and transporting the war-wounded.

Paul Demyanov in front of his new ambulance and part of the NZ flag that has been painted on to it. Photo: Give-a-Little

It follows a campaign by Ukraine-born New Zealander doctor Olga Dubnytska, whose brother, Paul, is an ambulance driver in the Ukrainian capital city.

His old, clapped-out ambulance was not in good condition when the Russian invasion occurred and - just when it was badly needed to help the injured - it broke down.

Olga appealed to her fellow Kiwis for help to raise the $20,000 needed to replace the vehicle, starting a fundraiser on Givealittle.

In just over a week, she had raised more than enough to get Paul back on the road.

"I'm very excited and I would like to say from the bottom of my heart and [on] behalf of my brother ... a big thank you to each and every one for your generous donation," Olga said.

"We did it. We did make a difference. We have helped my brother ... to get a new functional ambulance and he's now in [his ambulance in] Kyiv with a New Zealand flag on the side [and it will] go with him everywhere."

Paul Demyanov and some colleagues before the old ambulance broke down. Photo: Give-a-Little

She said it meant the world to her brother.

"He was sitting at home ready to do something but couldn't, because he had no wheels. And now he has this brilliant car. I mean, I saw the photos and he's so excited - and he's already done his first on-call."

Speaking to First Up with his sister translating, Paul said he loved the new vehicle - a 2017 ambulance fully equipped with everything he needed, including an air conditioner - although he still has a bit of work to do getting the radio communications up-to-scratch.

He said he managed to source the New Zealand flag through an advertising company.

Paul sent a message through after speaking with First Up host Nathan Rarere: "I could not convey in the interview the emotions that fill me. I feel respect for the people of your country, you are wonderful people!

"I want to wish you a peaceful sky above your head!"

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Ukraine war: New Zealand donors pay for new ambulance to help treat injured - RNZ

What you need to know before heading back overseas, as borders around the world open up. Video / NZ Herald

Flights to popular destinations such as Sydney and Fiji are rapidly selling out as New Zealanders secure their long-awaited holidays, OEs and trips to see family and friends.

Demand is skyrocketing as New Zealand moves through a phased re-opening of the border and MIQ requirements are scrapped for most travellers and New Zealanders returning home.

While travel agents have reported being "overwhelmed" with bookings in recent weeks, a smaller pool of carriers has meant flights appear to be pricey and scarce this month.

House of Travel chief operating officer Brent Thomas said the outbound market had "come back with a vengeance" in the past four to six weeks, and demand is expected to continue as Kiwis start to plan winter getaways to warmer climates.

"There's been pent-up demand for two years. In fact, a lot of people haven't been able to travel for three to four years because they might have been planning in 2018 and 2019 to go in 2020 and those travels got curtailed."

Air New Zealand flights to Sydney this month are booking out fast and will set travellers back around $700. One flight on April 27 is priced at $1044. Prices drop to around $240 next month.

The websites states there are no seats available on any flights between April 11 and 16, or between April 22 and 26.

It's a similar story for Air New Zealand flights to Fiji - a destination proving to be "incredibly" popular among families, along with the Cook Islands, Thomas said.

Most dates in April are already booked out, and seats left are going for between $200 and $400.

"As those planes fill up, they're certainly not going to be shy in putting those prices up and what we need is competition, because ultimately competition will bring pricing back to what is more appropriate.

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"If we've only got one or two carriers, capacity gets filled quite quickly and they will yield margin on it."

Thomas said Europe and the UK are popular destinations as well.

"There's certainly going to be a significant number of people who will head overseas for their OE. Those people have had their plans derailed for the last two years so we'll definitely see a lot of young people heading overseas and traditionally that's to Australia and the UK."

But because of a lack of international carriers operating in New Zealand currently, there are limited flight and stopover options to the northern hemisphere at a reasonable price.

While Air New Zealand flights to London remain similar to pre-Covid prices (around $1100 to $1500), Singapore Airlines is charging about $1000 more, and Emirates is offering two stopovers instead of one.

Cheaper options such as Malaysia Airlines, Philippine Airlines and China Southern are nowhere to be seen.

There was an air capacity issue with a limited number of carriers coming into New Zealand currently, Thomas said, and more were not expected until later this year.

"Capacity is going to become an issue later this year, so if people are thinking of a holiday in the next six months they should start booking now.

"It does take some time for an airline to get a crew back on board, but Air New Zealand, Qantas, Jetstar will respond for short-haul travel to Australia and the islands as demand comes in.

"It will certainly increase as Australians can travel to New Zealand more freely."

Thomas said pre-departure and post-arrival testing had to be scrapped in order to save New Zealand's tourism and export demands.

"If New Zealand doesn't move away from that we will be left off the world scene for tourism and that's to the detriment of the tourism sector, but also from an exporting point of view.

"To bring [exporting] back in you need passengers coming back to make it viable for the carriers."

Tourists will choose to visit Australia instead, Thomas said, because pre-departure rapid antigen test are being scrapped on April 17.

"Minister Nash and the Prime Minister need to understand the value of tourism to New Zealand. It's about the ability to export as well, and we need those aircraft to come back."

He said testing requirements were prohibiting New Zealand's recovery.

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Demand 'back with a vengeance': Flights sell out as travel bug hits - New Zealand Herald

A visitor from 66 million years ago - the first Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton to be displayed in Aotearoa - will be on show at Tmaki Paenga Hira (Auckland War Memorial Museum) this month.

Peter the T rex is 47 percent complete by bone density. Photo: Supplied/ Auckland War Memorial Museum

Museum-goers will have the chance to stand up close to one of history's most notorious predators from 15 April.

The skeleton is from an adult T rex, and is set up in hunting position, 4m-high and 12m-long.

It is the first time this T rex skeleton has been displayed anywhere, and the first time real T rex fossils have been shown in New Zealand.

Museum spokesperson Timothy Hart said Peter met a grim end in life. His legs were gnawed on by something big.

"It looks like he was probably killed by another T rex, possibly a mother and a baby T rex, 'cause there's evidence of feeding from a large animal and a smaller animal, but still a T rex.

"[They] can tell from the spacing of the teeth. So it looks like together they finished him off."

Peter is one of about 32 adult T rex skeletons to ever be discovered.

The giant fossil is on display until 4 September, and alongside it the museum will run an immersive dinosaur performance, junior palaeontology programme and two other educational programmes on dinosaurs and fossils.

Peter the T rex was found in 2018 in a fossil-rich area called the Lance formation, near Wyoming in the western United States.

Tyrannosaurus rex lived between 66 and 67 million years ago, paleontologists said in a report prepared about Peter's skeleton.

That means his bones have been fossilised, and subject to tens of millions of years of erosion, compression and movement within the Rarth.

By bone density, Peter the T rex is 47 percent complete and is "one of the top 10 most complete T rex in the world," said Dr David Burnham of the University of Kansas, one of the report's authors.

"We are fortunate in having a significant number of Peter's largest bones, many of which are incredibly well-preserved."

Peter's skeleton has a distinct special feature - it has taken on a black colour from organic material that surrounded it as it lay in the Earth.

"Peter is an incredibly rare and visually stunning obsidian black in colour," said Dr John Nudds, of the University of Manchester, another of the report authors.

"Only four black T rex have ever been discovered."

Originally posted here:

Auckland to host New Zealand's first Tyrannosaurus rex - RNZ

Join the bird bonanza on Kapiti Island

Its not easy to spot wild kiwi. Stewart Island is your best bet but, if youre not heading that way, Kapiti Island a nature sanctuary and marine reserve accessible from Wellington is a good option. Visitor numbers are limited, giving Kapiti an exclusive feel. With a local guide, learn about the Maori, whove inhabited this island for centuries; kayak and snorkel the protected waters; and stay overnight in a safari tent, cabin or classic bach bungalow for the chance to see endemic birdlife including bellbirds, takahe, parakeets, weka and, perhaps, little spotted kiwi.

A 21-night Wildlife Encounters self-drive with Discover the World (01737 214250; discover-the-world.com), visiting Kapiti, costs from 4,077pp excluding flights.

New Zealand is a really long way to go. So make the most of all that travel by contrasting the country with the equally far-flung South Pacific. After hopping around the Bay of Islands, raising a glass or three of Hawkes Bays finest and going full-throttle in adventure capital Queenstown (try mountain biking, rafting and kayaking), jet to Laucala, a private Fijian island retreat where villas sit amid lush mountains, white sand and coconut palms, and the diving and snorkelling is out of this world.

A 14-night Ultimate New Zealand and Fiji tailor-made trip with Abercrombie & Kent (01242 547760; abercrombiekent.co.uk) costs from 27,995pp including flights.

Virgin Atlantic (0344 874 7747; virginatlantic.com) flies to Auckland from London via San Francisco on a codeshare from 981 return.

Air New Zealand (0800 028 4149; airnewzealand.co.uk) flies to Auckland from London via Singapore on a codeshare from 1,113 return.

Fully vaccinated adults and children under 17 will be able to visit from 23:59 on May 1 without needing to isolate on arrival. However, they will be required to take three Covid tests: one before departure (PCR, LAMP or rapid antigen), another rapid antigen test on arrival, and a third on day five or six.

More information here.

This article is kept updated with the latest information.

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20 reasons to visit New Zealand, now that we finally can - The Telegraph

Jared Leto and Anne Hathaway play Adam and Rebekah Neumann in the Apple TV+ series WeCrashed. Photo / Supplied

Originally published by The Spinoff

An Auckland branch of global co-working giant WeWork was announced with great fanfare. Its Auckland demise has unfolded quietly.

It was definitely happening. The biggest player in the global co-working office space market was coming. Major renovation plans for a prominent central Auckland building were announced on February 13, 2020. WeWork, a $47 billion Silicon Valley unicorn that has since become the subject of a best-selling book, a documentary, a podcast and an Apple TV+ show called WeCrashed, was 100 per cent planning on expanding into New Zealand.

New Zealand's first WeWork operation was set to take over eight floors of 131 Queen Street, a heritage building and the former site of department store Milne & Choyce, smack bang in the middle of Auckland. In conjunction with the building's owner Andrew Krukziener, and his company Krukziener Properties, WeWork's renovation plans would take about a year, eventually allowing 1,300 people pay up to $1,000 a month for a small spot to work in 8,400 square metres of office space.

For their money, WeWork customers would be given access to a desk, chair, wifi and reportedly all-you-can-drink kombucha. They were here for the long haul. A lease was signed for 10 years. WeWork Auckland was expected to open for business in mid-2021. Major publications including Stuff, NZ Herald and NBR covered the news. "Struggling US co-working firm WeWork launches in NZ," read RNZ's headline.

At the time, WeWork's Australia New Zealand general manager Balder Tol sounded buoyant. "We look at the vacancy rates and demand for real estate in general, and that shows a very healthy market in Auckland," he told RNZ. With WeWork offices in 37 countries, including 19 locations in Australia, the company was continuing with its grand expansion plans, despite eccentric founder Adam Neumann being forced out of his own company in 2019 with a $1.2b payout.

SoftBank, which came to WeWork's rescue in the wake of Neumann's departure, had approved the company's expansion into Auckland, Tol told RNZ. "Our performance on this side of the world is so strong so that we want to reinvest in the depth of those markets." He downplayed the negative headlines surrounding WeWork's failed IPO and its plummeting valuation. "What you have seen is sentiment around valuation and corporate governance, but not about the actual product and service that we deliver," he said.

Two years on from WeWork's lofty announcement, as the pandemic continues to send a wrecking ball through Auckland central and the co-working office market shrinks as more people work from home, WeWork's Auckland renovations haven't happened. Exactly when the company decided to pull the plug on Auckland isn't clear. But one thing's for certain: WeWork's not coming. No press release was issued about it.

Covid wasn't to blame, a WeWork spokesperson told The Spinoff. But they agreed the pandemic had fast-tracked the company's decision-making. "WeWork has continued to rationalise its global real estate portfolio as a part of the company's plan to achieve profitability," they said. "As part of this, WeWork has made the decision not to advance with a location in Auckland at this time." The Spinoff asked when the decision was made, but that question wasn't answered.

The news comes as WeWork's story is turned into a big-budget TV show starring A-list actors Anne Hathaway and Jared Leto for Apple TV+. It tells the rise of WeWork in all its glory, from its scrappy startup beginnings in New York to its rapid global expansion backed by big money investors, to be valued at $47b by 2019.

Neumann, played by Leto, is portrayed as an intense, personable and kooky salesman, abled by his wife Rebekah (Hathaway), who spouts nonsense yoga-babble that's turned into corporate rhetoric. It also follows its fall from grace, including staff abuse, financial misadventure and expanding corporate expenses, such as staff parties and private jets. Much of the detail, like Run DMC performing as Neumann fired staff, is accurate. (Lorde also performed for 8,000 WeWork staff at a retreat in 2018.)

More recently, WeWork has focused on making its current locations profitable and expanding options for existing members, including weekly, daily and hourly desk rates. It also launched Workplace, a platform that allows companies to manage their own office space and staff. That, says Marcelo Claure, executive chairman of WeWork and chief operating officer of SoftBank, has helped WeWork survive through Covid, with demand "higher than it was prior to the pandemic", he said, according to a report by NBC News.

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The Spinoff: WeWork's New Zealand dreams have WeCrashed - New Zealand Herald

Sport

31 Mar, 2022 04:00 PM3 minutes to read

Team New Zealand will not be racing in local waters in 2024. Photo / Getty Images

News that the 2024 edition of the America's Cup would not be held in New Zealand hit fans hard across the country.

In a sport that has given us other high-profile betrayals such as the departure of Sir Russel Coutts, this left a sour taste in the mouths of many.

Newstalk ZB sport director Matt Brown tells the Front Page podcast it's hard to rank among the greatest betrayals in New Zealand sports history, but it definitely hurts.

Sign up to follow the Front page podcast here.

"New Zealand has an incredible affinity with the America's Cup," Brown says. "When I was a kid, we grew up thinking if we win the cup, we get to defend it at home.

"We have all these benefits that flow from that. Just look at [Auckland's] viaduct and all the infrastructure that's been built. It wouldn't be there if it wasn't for the America's Cup So I think there is a sense of a betrayal, especially since we won't get those benefits now. And it certainly hurts."

The decision to take the cup to Europe has ultimately come down to money. While the New Zealand Government offered $99 million to have the event here, the offers that came from abroad exceeded that.

"The winning bid from Spain was 70 million euros. So that's about $112 million. It doesn't sound like that much more, but the key difference here is none of that's for the infrastructure. That's all already built in Barcelona.

"That money goes straight to team New Zealand to effectively do what they want to fund the team, to help build the boat, to get this campaign going. The Auckland bid was effectively $31 million going to the team to run its operations. The rest was on infrastructure and everything around organising the event. So that's a big gap of around $70 or $80 million."

The Kiwi Home Defence campaign offered to put another $40m toward the bid, but that bridge was still too far for Team New Zealand.

Brown says it's important to remember that Team New Zealand is a private enterprise, so it isn't entirely surprising that they're looking for the biggest financial gain.

In that case shouldn't the "New Zealand" reference simply be dropped from the name and replaced with the more fitting Team Emirates?

"I've seen a lot of [that idea] that floating around on social media," says Brown.

"Look, Emirates Team New Zealand is a company. It's not like the All Blacks, which we kind of own.

"But [Team New Zealand] has grown as such a brand that New Zealand identifies with without a doubt. It's a really interesting situation."

Brown also notes that there are still benefits for New Zealand to be associated with the prestigious sailing outfit.

"The reality is that Team New Zealand is still a very marketable brand and there are benefits for the New Zealand sailing, yachting and boating industries by having the New Zealand name at the America's cup."

The bigger question now is whether fans will see things that way come 2024.

The Front Page is a new daily news podcast from the New Zealand Herald, available to listen to every weekday from 5am.

You can follow the podcast at nzherald.co.nz, iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

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The Front Page: Should 'New Zealand' be removed from Emirates Team NZ's name? - New Zealand Herald

A prominent doctor says the flu season could be particularly bad this year because the country has far lower natural immunity.

Dr Bryan Betty of Porirua Union and Community Health. Photo: RNZ / Karen Brown

College of General Practitioners medical director and Porirua GP Dr Bryan Betty told Morning Report the influenza virus had barely been in New Zealand for two years, because of the closed border.

"The thing we need to understand about the flu - it's brought in from overseas by aeroplanes."

He said the flu was not a mild illness - about 500 people die of it in New Zealand in a normal year.

"New Zealand I think is particularly vulnerable because our borders were so closed we actually had no flu essentially in the country the last two seasons. As a result of that we think our natural immunity is down, which means we're far more susceptible to a bad flu season this year than perhaps we normally would be."

Dr Betty said it was especially important for older, younger and immunocompromised people to get their vaccinations, which were available from today.

"If you're European over the age of 65, Mori and Pacific from the ages of 55 are eligible for a free vaccination, then anyone who is essentially living with a chronic disease be it diabetes, maybe rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, some sort of condition that is chronic and ongoing."

"The other group to really really highlight this year is children, children can be very badly affected by the flu, especially children over the age of three living with conditions such as asthma or respiratory conditions or underlying health conditions such as Type 1 diabetes."

He said the flu vaccine was safe, effective and one we have had for years.

There was no doubt you could get some minor side effects from the flu vaccination, such as slight cold-like symptoms, as the immune system clocked up but getting the flu was a far worse outcome, he said.

"The flu vaccination reduces severity, again it reduces [risk of] death."

Masking was something to think about to reduce the spread of the flu too, he said.

More:

Doctor warns tough flu season ahead and New Zealand is 'particularly vulnerable' - RNZ

New Zealand 264 for 9 (Latham 140*, van Beek 4-56, Klaassen 3-36) beat Netherlands 146 all out (de Leede 37, M Bracewell 3-13, Sodhi 2-17) by 118 runs

Tom Latham cracked a career-best 140*, producing a batting masterclass in a near single-handed effort to take his side to 264 - and eventually a comfortable win - after they were 32 for 5 at one stage. New Zealand collapsed from 22 without loss to lose 5 for 10 inside six overs, as Netherlands sniffed a miracle only for the opposition captain to spoil their party.

On a day when his team-mates should have rather given him a gift, it was instead birthday boy Latham himself who was forced to do some favour to them. But his bowlers, led by allrounder Michael Bracewell, ensured that the total was safely defended, with all six of them taking at least a wicket each.

Netherlands' reply started with both openers gone inside the first two overs itself, after which Vikramjit Singh and Bas de Leede steadied the ship. The 77-run stand that followed looked like the only while during which the visitors were in the chase, as the pair kept finding the fence with repeated boundaries.

Vikramjit hit seven in his knock of 31, displaying an array of shots in the process: from the punch to the pull, from the slice to the slash. But once he deposited a Colin de Grandhomme full toss - a slower delivery bowled at 98kph - to long-on, the wheels soon started to come off for Netherlands.

What was 81 for 2 at one stage became 146 all out, with Michael Bracewell grabbing three of the wickets to fall, two of those with an offspinner's dream deliveries. He looped one up wide outside off to lure Pieter Seelaar to drive, as the Netherlands captain got forward only to see the ball turn back in sharply to hit off stump.

Michael Bracewell continued dealing with flight, dip and turn when he had Michael Rippon stumped off an identical delivery, with Latham behind having all the time in the world to whip the bails off.

But it was earlier in the day that Latham gradually dragged the game away from the bowling side. Watching from the dressing room, he saw Logan van Beek and Fred Klaassen rule with the ball after Netherlands had elected to bowl first on a brown-looking pitch.

Despite his side being in trouble, Latham kept ticking the scoreboard by rotating the strike as well as striking the occasional boundary in the company of de Grandhomme, who played a more sedate role. By the 23rd over, when the latter departed after a brief recovery for a 40-ball 16, Latham had already reached 37 off 42 balls, never allowing the Netherlands' bowlers to capitalise on the momentum by being content to just see them off and holding one end up.

He next got an able partner in Michael's cousin Doug Bracewell, who took after a quiet start of 9 from 23 deliveries. When he fell for a more-than-handy 41 off 51 balls in the 40th over, New Zealand still had only 179 on the board with just three wickets remaining.

But Latham was in no mood to give up. After having added 90 with Doug Bracewell, he put on 42 with Ish Sodhi, racing to his sixth ODI hundred on the way, which came from his 101st delivery. The last six overs yielded 61 for the hosts, with their captain pressing the accelerator by clobbering five sixes and a four.

All those maximums went over the leg-side boundaries, with three of those - where he fell on his back while smashing - a tribute to the modern expert Rishabh Pant's methods: the one off van Beek in the 48th over saw Latham step across to a wide delivery outside off, and swipe him over deep square leg; and when Brandon Glover was called upon to bowl the last over, Latham refused singles off the first three deliveries before ramping successive sixes past the short boundary over fine leg and jamming his bat down for four between short third man and point.

Who knew what kind of day his 30th birthday would turn out to be?

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Recent Match Report - New Zealand vs Netherlands, Netherlands tour of New Zealand, 2nd ODI - ESPN

It may only be a small difference on the clocks but Daylight Saving has been linked to US$434 million of lost productivity and a downturn in crime for the day. Video / NZ Herald

Originally published by The Spinoff

America is trying to end daylight saving once and for all. Here's how New Zealand can do it too.

This weekend is shaping up nicely. On Saturday, you'll probably have a blast. In Auckland, the autumn weather has been fantastic. Temperatures remain in the mid-20s. You might go out for brunch, or enjoy a sunny walk up Mt Eden. You could cool off with a delicious swim at Pt Chev Beach. It's a delightful time of year, so get out there and enjoy it. You might as well, because it's all about to be ruined.

Sunday? That's another story. Sunday's going to be a shocker. The day after your blissful Saturday, you're going to wake up messy. Get ready for it. Stock up on Powerade. Get some hash browns out of the freezer, because you're going to feel woozy. Discombobulated. Kind of jet-lagged. A tad hungover. You'll feel like eating lunch at the wrong time. Same with dinner. Basically, you're going to feel terrible, and there's nothing you can do about it.

Why? When the clock strikes 3am on Sunday, we all jump in our DeLoreans like dumb-asses and travel back in time, to 2am. We're all going to be forced to repeat that hour, then deal with the consequences in the morning. It's the completion of a sick six-month cycle that began on September 26 to maximise sunshine hours, minimise darkness, and let farmers milk their cows at a reasonable time of day.

Bollocks. Screw the farmers. I don't even eat dairy, so I don't care. If you can't already tell, I am not a fan. Passionate hate is what I have for this time of year. Across my 43 years, I have experienced daylight saving 85 times and I have never gotten used to it, understood it, worked out why it exists, or who it is for. All I know is that my body hates it. Forget about thriving. When Dr Strange mucks around with the multiverse timeline, I can barely function.

Twelve years ago, when I became a parent, my hatred for this twice-yearly ritual only got worse. Kids are light sleepers at the best of times. You try telling a toddler to go back to bed because gremlins secretly changed the clocks and it's only 6am. It doesn't work. My kids aren't going to let me enjoy that extra hour's snooze. So don't tell me this is the good one. When you have kids, there is no good daylight saving.

Don't listen to my sleep-deprived anecdotal evidence. Listen to the experts. Research shows it really is bad for you. Car accidents go up. So do heart attacks and strokes. American hospitals report admission rates rise 24 per cent when the clocks change. "That's how fragile and susceptible your body is to even just one hour of lost sleep," sleep expert Matthew Walker told Business Insider recently.

You know who else hates daylight saving? America. Right now, the country that is doing so many things wrong is doing one thing dead right. The US senate has passed the Sunshine Protection Act, and if it passes the house of representatives too, all Joe Biden has to do is rubber stamp the thing and it becomes law. From 2023, daylight saving time could become permanent. Canada and Britain are wisely exploring similar options.

We could do the same thing in New Zealand, but we don't need laws, bills and Biden. There's a solution so simple I don't know why we haven't put it in place already. Jacinda, I hope you're reading. Are you ready? It's going to blow your mind. Here goes.

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Next time we decided to do this cooked clock clusterf*** of a thing, we change the time for just half an hour. Next April, we could all just put our clocks forward 30 minutes and be done with it. Not a second more, or less. It's a meeting in the middle, Switzerland in the daylights savings war. Morning risers will get their sun, evening lovers will too, and the farmers will be fine.

What's half an hour? It's an episode of The Simpsons, with ads. It's a family feast, according to this popular Jamie Oliver cookbook. It's a decent walk, a solid bike ride, a great swim. It's a nice nap. Just half an hour. Then we never do daylight saving again. It's done. Over. Finished. We never have to tinker with our clocks again.

Sure, Shihad's opening lyrics of 'Home Again' "Put your clocks back for the winter" would be rendered obsolete. But I'll still sing along and remember all the times we did dumb things with our clocks twice a year, until we didn't.

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We can solve NZ's daylight saving debacle in half an hour - New Zealand Herald

Jacinda Arderns Government has introduced legislation to enable industry-wide collective bargaining

Jacinda Arderns Labour Government in New Zealand has introduced legislation to enable industry-wide collective bargaining where unions can demonstrate worker support, or it passes a public interest test.

New ZealandsWorkplace Relations Minister Michael Wood introduced theFair Pay Agreements Billinto Parliament, delivering on a Labour campaign pledge at the 2020 election.

New Zealands industrial relations system currently only permits collective bargaining at an enterprise level, between individual employers and unions.

The UK Labour Party has identified the New Zealand proposals as a possible model for their promised legislation to introduce legally underpinned collective bargaining contained in the New Deal For Workers which was pushed through by National Trade Union & Labour Party Liaison Organisation unions in the run up to last years party conference.

Keir Starmer has promised to introduce legislation to enact the policies in the New Deal For Workers in the first 100 days of the next Labour Government including banning zero hours contracts and fire and rehire, introducing employments rights from day one for all workers, and a Fair Pay Bill.

The New Zealand legislation enables a union to initiate bargaining for a Fair Pay Agreement if it meets either a representation test of at least 1,000 employees or 10% of the employees in proposed coverage, or a public interest test based on specified criteria such as low pay, limited bargaining power, or lack of pay progression.

The chief executive of the Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment will assess applications based on either test and can request further evidence and information from the initiating union if required.

The Bill creates a framework for bargaining for Fair Pay Agreements (FPA) bysetting outa general duty of good faith, and good faith obligations that apply to bargaining parties (within the same bargaining side and between bargaining sides);prescribing processesfor initiating bargaining (including when a default bargaining party may be required), carrying out bargaining, and finalising a fair pay agreement;introducing dispute resolutionprocesses to settle issues that may arise during bargaining for a Fair Pay Agreement andgiving effect toregulation-making powers in Fair Pay Agreements.

Once a Fair Pay Agreement is struck, it will apply to all employees in an industry or occupation with a prohibition on employers seeking to sidestep the FPA by engaging workers as an independent contractor.

Minister Michael Wood in astatementsaid workers in critical roles like cleaners and bus drivers, had long lacked bargaining power to seek better wages and conditions. He said, We want to turn that around and ensure workers get a fair go again.We acknowledge that a balanced approach is needed and have designed FPAs to enable unions and employer associations to bargain together to set minimum standards for all employees and employers in an industry or occupation.

These changes will help employers by stopping the race to the bottom weve seen in various industries and encourage competition that isnt based on low wages but on better products, services, and innovation.

New Zealand Council of Trade Unions president Richard Wagstaffarguedthat employer groups opposed the legislation because it would lift wages.

FPAs set a minimum standard for pay and conditions in an industry, he said.They still allow people to have their own employment conditions and pay, but they help lift the floor in an industry.

But the Opposition National Partysaidit stridently opposed the Bill, arguing it would reduce flexibility and harm New Zealands economy. Theirworkplace relations spokesperson, Paul Goldsmith, said the Bill is an ideological overreach, deliberately going to war with employers at a time when were facing huge economic challenges that would move towards rigid national awards.

Its another example of this governments belief that central government knows bestbetter than employees and employers trying to arrange things for themselves in a way that works for them.

Employers body BusinessNZ saysthat it will not accept the legislations payments of $250,000 a year for supporting compulsory bargaining in major sectors of the economy and their Chief executive Kirk Hope says the FPA scheme was unacceptable and the legislation should be canned.

Despite squealing from employers and the opposition, the Ardern government expects the legislation to pass all stages this year after going through a full select committee process.

Labour and unions in the UK will be watching developments in New Zealand as will UK employerswho are expected to oppose Labours plans in the same way they did the introduction of the national minimum wage and other pro-worker legislation introduced by previous Labour governments.

The Fair Pay Agreements Bill can be found here.

Tony Burke is the President of the CSEU and chair of the Campaign For Trade Union Freedom.

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What the UK could learn from New Zealand's planned labour laws - Left Foot Forward