My assessment is that there are about 150 to 300 core right-wing activists in New Zealand. This might sound modest – but proportionate to population, it’s similar to extremist numbers in Germany.
New Zealand’s government has hailed a fossil fuel ban for KiwiSaver default funds as part of its commitment to addressing climate change – but there’s scant detail about what exactly the ban covers.
COVID-19 has now been confirmed in New Zealand in one case, but as yet, there is no evidence of transmission to others. Pandemic planning is focused on keeping the novel coronavirus out.
In the wake of last year’s Christchurch mosque attacks, New Zealand’s intelligence agencies must become more transparent in their reporting on the risk of right-wing terrorism.
Young New Zealanders are less likely to use cannabis than their 1990s counterparts. But if New Zealand decides to legalise recreational use, teens will have easier access.
Michael Norris, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington
Classical music station RNZ Concert may have been saved by an outcry from music lovers – but as a composer, it’s clear to me that its management still doesn’t realise what a national treasure it is.
New Zealand has become more economically dependent on China than many nations in the past generation, with a 12-fold jump in trade in commercial services.
Tracing politicians’ use of the term ‘housing crisis’ reveals it came into common use only in recent years, and then only by opposition MPs. Governments prefer to frame the issues differently.
Ilan Noy, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington
The preliminary evidence suggests the Wuhan coronavirus is less deadly than SARS. But with social media, panic can now spread more rapidly and further.
When a male bluehead wrasse is removed from the group he dominates, the largest female changes sex, rapidly transforming ovaries into sperm-producing testes. Molecular research shows how.
British Columbia’s new law requires its parliament to align all laws with the UN declaration on indigenous rights. New Zealand and Australia should watch closely to see what it could mean for them.
December 25 is the least popular day to give birth in the US, Australia and New Zealand, and second only to Boxing Day on Dec. 26 in England, Wales and Ireland.
Chris Wilson, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau
Widespread protests have broken out against India’s Citizenship Amendment Act, which sanctions the recasting of India as a Hindu nation where minorities, especially Muslims, are second-class citizens.
The Boeing MAX disaster has already cost the company billions of dollars and will have ripple effects on suppliers and the wider US economy, with tens of thousands of jobs at risk.
New Zealand will pardon religious Māori leader Rua Kēnana, who was arrested more than a century ago for “moral resistance”, but the pardon fails to acknowledge the miscarriage of justice.
Under the Paris Agreement, countries have registered plans to meet emissions reductions, but the current pledges, if fully realised, would take us to 2°C by the 2050s.
The draft New Zealand cannabis law proposes a ban on advertising, but includes no reference to marketing via social media, where most alcohol marketing now takes place.
Adjunct Professor, Faculty of Health and Environmental Sciences, Auckland University of Technology, and Professor of Political Science, Charles Sturt University