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Nau mai, haere mai.
It’s probably fair to say most of us pay less attention to regional government and local politics than we should, given the direct influence they have on our day-to-day lives. When big change is proposed, it’s often met with a collective shrug.
And big change has been a constant in the sector ever since regional councils were created as part of the Labour government’s reform of local government in 1989 and the passage of the Resource Management Act two years later.
Some 35 years on, those councils’ days may be numbered. Both Regional Development Minister Shane Jones and Prime Minister Christopher Luxon have questioned the need for them now their own government’s resource management reforms are under way.
Writing about it today, Massey University’s Jeffrey McNeill argues this would be just another ad hoc response to changing priorities and policies – and which would only shift responsibility for service delivery from local to central government.
“The regional level of administration will not go away,” he says. “But the overriding question remains: who should speak for and be accountable to their communities for what are ultimately still political decisions, whoever makes them?”
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Finlay Macdonald
New Zealand Editor
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Jeffrey McNeill, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa – Massey University
Rather than get rid of regional councils, maybe the government should look at expanding their role to deliver core services – something common in many other countries.
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Lynne Chepulis, University of Waikato
Type 2 diabetes is more aggressive in young people, harder to manage and more likely to lead to a premature death.
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Rosemary Overell, University of Otago
Lorde’s Virgin explores the nature and meaning of value in a pop culture where vulnerability, realness and being ‘raw’ are all part of the brand.
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Dr Cindy Towns, University of Otago
Some dementia patients present with severe behavioural symptoms, requiring specialist care. But New Zealand has a severe shortage of psychiatric beds for older adults.
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Timothy Welch, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau
Converting open-air car parks and creating green cooling corridors on transport routes is an easy and affordable way to beat the city heat as the climate changes.
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Jose Antonio Lara-Hernandez, Auckland University of Technology; Gregor H. Mews, University of the Sunshine Coast
NZ playgrounds are often separated from city life, constraining children’s spontaneous play. Planners can learn from car-free urban spaces where children are free to roam.
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Mark Bloomberg, University of Canterbury; Steve Urlich, Lincoln University, New Zealand
Even when forestry companies fully comply with current standards, slash discharge and erosion can happen. New rules must set size and location limits on clear-felling.
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Vanesa De Pietri, University of Canterbury; Paul Scofield, University of Canterbury; Trevor H. Worthy, Flinders University
A fossil discovery of an ancient relative of the Australian magpie which lived in New Zealand some 19 million years ago challenges the understanding of ‘native’ species.
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Jaimie Monk, Motu Economic and Public Policy Research
While young people who spent the first year of their lives in public housing started with higher levels of behaviour difficulties, by 12 they had closed the gap.
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Olli Hellmann, University of Waikato
Museum exhibits only tell part of what happened in the past. Visitors need to consider what is being included – and what is being left out.
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From our foreign editions
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Daniel Binns, RMIT University
What if instead of trying to detect and avoid AI glitches, we deliberately encouraged them instead?
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Mariah Meek, Michigan State University
Caribou, migrating birds and many other types of wildlife rely on this expanse of wetlands and tundra. Humanity and the climate depend on a healthy Arctic, too.
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Dilnoza Ubaydullaeva, Australian National University
The US president wants separate spheres of influence dominated by the US, China and Russia. For small states, this new world order poses both risks and opportunities.
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Alessandro Silvano, University of Southampton
Scientists once thought Antarctica might hold onto its sea ice as the world warmed. No longer.
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Daniel O'Brien, University of Essex
The trilogy has thankfully avoided the common traps of remakes and the sprawling expanded universe trend, which has diluted so many other beloved franchises
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Benjamin Zala, Monash University
Both Israel and the US claim a nuclear-armed Iran would pose an existential threat. It wouldn’t. Here’s why.
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Paul Wawrzynkowski, Universitat de Barcelona; Josep Lloret, Instituto de Ciencias del Mar (ICM-CSIC)
Offshore wind farms threaten local biodiversity, but also protect it by reducing emissions.
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Karmvir K. Padda, University of Waterloo
Gender identity–driven violence is the most common ideological theme across ‘lone-actor’ extremist manifestos in a recent study.
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University of Technology, Sydney
Sydney NSW, Australia
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Full Time
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Charles Darwin University
Darwin NT, Australia
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Contract
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Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research
Parkville, Melbourne, Australia
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Full Time
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Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research
Parkville, Melbourne, Australia
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Contract
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