Thursday, 15 July 2021, 11:57 am
The Government today announced a $2.5 billion package to
support local government transition through the reforms to
New Zealand’s drinking water, wastewater and stormwater
services. The package will also stimulate local economies
while creating jobs and unlocking infrastructure for
housing.
“New Zealand’s water systems are facing a
significant crisis and will continue to do so without major
transformation. Overhauling our drinking, waste and
stormwater services will benefit all New Zealand
communities, no matter where they are in the country,”
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said.
“The support
package announced today will ensure that no council is worse
Thursday, 15 July 2021, 12:13 pm
Yesterday Wednesday 14th July local climate group 350
Auckland joined grassroots climate justice groups across
Aotearoa in an action calling for Accident Compensation
Corporation (ACC) to immediately halt all investments in
coal, oil and gas companies. Currently, fossil fuel
investments account for over $200 million of ACC’s total
investment fund. 350 Auckland took action outside ACC’s
Newmarket branch.
ACC’s investments in fossil fuels
are simply “hypocrisy”, according to 350 Auckland member
Olivia Maher. “ACC is supposed to ensure the health and
recovery of New Zealanders and investing in fossil fuels is
the complete antithesis of that. Our public institutions
Thursday, 15 July 2021, 12:35 pm
An Essential Media poll released today shows that 62 per
cent of Australians believe the Australian government should
support the effort to temporarily waive World Trade
Organisation patent rules for COVID-19 vaccines to enable
quicker and fairer access to vaccines for low-income
countries. There was majority support across Coalition,
Labor and Green voters. Only 10 per cent were opposed, with
27 per cent undecided. Full poll results including
methodology are attached.
The poll was commissioned by
Friends of the Earth, Amnesty International, the Australian
Fair Trade and Investment Network (AFTINET), the Australian
Council of Trade Unions, and Union aid Abroad
Thursday, 15 July 2021, 2:33 pm
Stories examining issues of importance to a wide range of
communities, and programmes designed to upskill and increase
the number of journalists are among projects approved in the
inaugural round of the Public Interest Journalism
Fund.
Established in February with a $55m government
allocation to NZ On Air, the fund aims to support at-risk
public interest journalism, meeting local, regional and
national audience needs.
In the first round a wide
range of journalism projects from in-depth investigations to
a proposal to revisit the impactful
Inside Child
Poverty documentary 10 years since it first aired have
been supported. Also funded is a bilingual Te Reo Māori
Thursday, 15 July 2021, 11:03 am
A new digital radio system from Motorola
Solutions (NYSE: MSI) and communications partner Central
Radio Services (CRS) is helping New Zealand’s City Forests
to work more safely and efficiently while complying with
COVID-19 work requirements.
NZ City
Forests
Initially deployed to replace an outdated
analogue radio network, the system delivers many additional
benefits. Among them are contact-free communication and
social distancing in the field, replacing the need for
drivers to exchange paper job dockets with a digital
docketing system.
The new solution incorporates MOTOTRBO
SLR5500 digital two-way radio repeaters across four
sites with TRBOnet radio dispatch software providing