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17 April 1820 · The American sealer General Gates – named for a War of Independence general and commanded by Captain Abimileck Riggs – had sailed from Boston in October 1818. After Riggs persuaded 11 convicts to sign on as crew, the General Gates brought the missionaries Samuel Marsden and John Butler from Sydney to the Bay of Islands in July 1819. · Riggs dropped off two of these men with a sealing gang on an isolated island in the Southern…

Do you struggle to sleep through the night without disruptions? If so, you’re far from alone. Sleep disturbances are something of an epidemic in the UK, with almost one in five people in the country getting insufficient sleep, according to the charity Mental Health UK. · But it isn’t just nodding off which is the problem but actually staying asleep. According to the not-for-profit Benenden Health, which recently commissioned a sleep survey of…

With the Treaty Principles Bill voted down in Parliament last week, the coalition government is now moving ahead with a broader programme to review how Treaty clauses are used across dozens of existing laws. · Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith confirmed that officials have completed policy work reviewing Treaty-related provisions in 28 laws. · Rather than using an omnibus bill, changes will be introduced one by one, with options ranging from…

One of the most enduring human needs is the desire to be understood. From ancient philosophy to modern psychology, this longing for recognition has shaped the way we interact with other people – and now increasingly with machines. · The more artificial intelligence advances, the more the line between conversation and understanding blurs. Can a machine not only answer our questions, but also understand who we are? This question is at the heart…

The Supreme Court has overturned a Court of Appeal ruling that found the New Zealand Defence Force’s internal COVID vaccine mandate breached the Bill of Rights. · The ruling reinstated the military’s authority to discharge unvaccinated personnel and ordered four former servicemen to pay $30,000 in legal costs. · The case centred on the NZDF’s 2022 Temporary Defence Force Order (TDFO), which declared unvaccinated members “ineffectual” and made…

Trust in New Zealand’s news media has fallen to its lowest level since AUT’s Journalism, Media and Democracy (JMAD) centre began tracking it in 2020. · According to the latest Trust in News in Aotearoa New Zealand report, just 32% – less than one third – of New Zealanders say they trust “most of the news, most of the time.” That’s down from 53% in 2020 and now sits below the international average. · Trust in the news people personally consume…

Leadership & Democracy · In my opinion our Prime Minister has shown only that he doesn’t understand the meaning of either word. · Our system of governance is based on EQUALITY of all citizens regardless of race colour or creed yet if we take the example set by the current Prime Minister you would argue that Maori have more rights than all other races in New Zealand. · The National Party and its coalition government partners made many promises…

A fossilized jawbone found off the coast of Taiwan more than 20 years ago belonged to a group of ancient humans, called the Denisovans, first identified in a Siberian cave. · The finding, published today in Science1, is the result of time-consuming work to extract ancient proteins from the fossil. It also expands the known geographical range of the group, from colder, high-altitude regions to warmer climates. · “I’m very excited to see this,”…

Auckland’s Queen Street riot was by far the most destructive of the disturbances that rocked the four main centres in the ‘angry autumn’ of 1932. Trouble first flared in Dunedin in January and again in April. · Worse soon followed in Auckland on 14 April, when a large crowd of unemployed relief workers joined Post and Telegraph Association members marching to a Town Hall meeting, swelling their numbers to around 15,000. Angry at being turned…