Editor's note

Kia ora koutou - and welcome to your latest New Zealand newsletter.

As MPs are about to cast the deciding vote today on whether to send the question of voluntary euthanasia to a public referendum next year or whether to abandon the issue, historian Catherine Abou-Nemeh at Victoria University of Wellington looks at the arguments for and against medically-assisted dying through the ages, right back to the Hippocratic oath doctors still swear today.

New Zealanders are a wasteful lot. Each of us produces five times the global daily average of waste – and we produce 35% more waste than a decade ago. Plastic waste is particularly problematic, but Trisia Farrelly, at Massey University, argues that waste-to-energy incineration technology that is often hailed as a solution would likely add to pollution and delay a necessary transition to a circular economy.

Population growth, combined with an increase in consumption, is seen as the main driver of changes in Earth systems, but as Michael Petterson, at AUT, writes in this week’s Climate Explained, discussions about climate change often skirt around the topic.

The 1881 government invasion of Parihaka, the small settlement that had come to symbolise peaceful resistance to the confiscation of Māori land, was one of the most brutal events in New Zealand’s past. Alexander Gillespie, a law expert at the University of Waikato, looks at how the colonial government wrongfully applied laws as instruments of power to crush non-violent dissent.

Please also check The Conversation’s Australian edition for updates and indepth reporting on the devastating bush fires - and you will find many more articles on all international editions. Many thanks for reading. Ka kite anō a tērā wiki.

Veronika Meduna

New Zealand Editor

Top stories

Since the Chinese plastic recycling market closed, 58% of New Zealand’s plastic waste goes to countries in South-East Asia. from www.shutterstock.com

Why municipal waste-to-energy incineration is not the answer to NZ’s plastic waste crisis

Trisia Farrelly, Massey University

Waste-to-energy incineration has been raised as a solution to the global plastic waste problem, but the technology adds pollution and greenhouse gas emissions and encourages more waste production.

Critics of assisted suicide often raise moral objections while proponents focus on the trauma of terminally ill patients. But all arguments have a long history. from www.shutterstock.com

As NZ votes on euthanasia bill, here is a historical perspective on a ‘good death’

Catherine Abou-Nemeh, Victoria University of Wellington

The arguments in favour or against euthanasia have a long history, going back to the Hippocratic oath that doctors still swear today.

Rapid population growth and increased consumption are now seen as the main drivers of environmental changes. from www.shutterstock.com

Climate explained: how growth in population and consumption drives planetary change

Michael Petterson, Auckland University of Technology

Discussions about climate change often skirt around the issue of population growth, but it is the main driver of rising carbon dioxide levels and many other environmental changes on a planetary scale.

Armed constabulary gather at Parihaka. Wikimedia Commons

How NZ’s colonial government misused laws to crush non-violent dissent at Parihaka

Alexander Gillespie, University of Waikato

Almost 140 years after armed government troops crushed peaceful protests at Parihaka, New Zealand is beginning to make amends with the signing of a reconciliation law and a compensation agreement.

From The Conversation's international editions

If you’ve given your DNA to a DNA database, US police may now have access to it

Jane Tiller, Monash University

A US judge has allowed police access to the major DNA database without users' consent (including Australian users). It's a timely reminder that we urgently need genetic privacy legislation.

What did the High Court decide in the Pell case? And what happens now?

Ben Mathews, Queensland University of Technology

The High Court has referred Cardinal George Pell's application for special leave to appeal his convictions to the full bench of the High Court.

Apollo 12: Fifty years ago, a passionate scientist’s keen eye led to the first pinpoint landing on the Moon

Timothy Swindle, University of Arizona

Apollo 11 tends to steal the spotlight when it comes to lunar landings. But Apollo 12 was the first mission to make a precise pinpoint landing on the Moon - and without the aid of computers or GPS.

DACA argued at the Supreme Court: 6 essential reads

Aviva Rutkin, The Conversation

On Nov. 12, the Supreme Court heard arguments on the Trump administration's decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

Why leaders who bullshit are more dangerous than those who lie

Hamid Foroughi, University of Portsmouth; Marianna Fotaki, Warwick Business School, University of Warwick; Yiannis Gabriel, University of Bath

From Boris Johnson to Donald Trump, a new breed of bullshitting politicians is flourishing.

Robinson Crusoe 300 years on: Defoe’s unreliable narrative set up enduring colonial myths

Daniel Cook, University of Dundee

Published in 1719, Robinson Crusoe was one of the first novels (in the modern sense) written in English. Some 300 years later, the complicated castaway and his misadventures continue to shape culture.

Ice Age footprints of mammoths and prehistoric humans revealed for the first time using radar

Matthew Robert Bennett, Bournemouth University

Scientists have worked out a new way to scan beneath the ground for footprints – and it's revealing traces of an ancient world.

What’s going on in South America? Understanding the wave of protests

Lenin Cavalcanti Guerra, University of Saskatchewan

In the last century, several South American countries faced coups, military dictatorships and social uprisings. Despite economic improvements in recent years, the continent remains mired in unrest.

Antibiotic-resistant infections could destroy our way of life: New report

Gerry Wright, McMaster University

A new report estimates that by 2050, 40 per cent of all infections will be resistant to antimicrobial treatment. This will directly cause 13,700 previously preventable deaths.

Tanzanian girls need support, not threats, to avoid pregnancy

Kate Pincock, University of Oxford

Tanzania's government must focus on the drivers of teenage pregnancy, which are entirely overlooked in current punitive policies, instead of expelling and arresting schoolgirls.