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Greenpeace slams late release of redacted Fast Track seabed mining documents

Source: Greenpeace

Greenpeace is slamming the government’s late release of heavily redacted documentsfrom Trans-Tasman Resources’ Taranaki seabed mining application, including a discredited impact assessment carried from 2016.
Seabed mining spokesperson Juressa Lee (Te Rarawa, Ngāpuhi, Rarotonga) says, “TTR has just regurgitated the same old documents from 2016, which failed to show that its seabed mining project would cause no material harm to the South Taranaki Bight.
“Experts have shown that seabed mining would be a significant threat to marine life, including blue whales, Māui and Hector’s dolphins, little blue penguins, and critical fishing grounds, but now under the fast track, it has a new lease of life.”
Lee adds: “This government has cynically released these documents just days before the summer break and only after the Fast Track Bill’s second reading.
“The fact that TTR has just thrown up its old documents reaffirms that the Luxon government has set the bar so low for these fast-track projects that companies like TTR can get away with regurgitating a failed application and still be allowed on the process.
“The amount of redaction in these documents shows that the government can’t be trusted over any claims of supposed economic benefits that TTR’s seabed mining project would bring.
“It is so cynical that the government has redacted these figures, given that the whole point of the Fast-Track process is its supposed economic benefits.
“We already know that the inflated $1bn figure that TTR originally gave is spurious, as shown by the withdrawal of that figure by TTR’s Australian owners, Manuka Resources,” says Lee.
Trans-Tasman Resources plans to mine up to 50 million tonnes of iron sands and dump 45 million tonnes of waste back into the ocean every year – for 30 years.
TTR’s application has been rejected time and again in the open court process and is opposed by local iwi and hapū, an increasing number of local councillors, the fishing industry, scientists and marine experts.
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Universities – Researcher defines kindness in healthcare – UoA

Source: University of Auckland (UoA)

A researcher has defined kindness in healthcare, and found it could hold the key to better care

A researcher has defined kindness and believes this could hold the key to better communication within healthcare teams and improve care for patients.

“Kindness has been strongly linked to patient experience and outcome measures, including safety, better engagement with healthcare services and reduced readmissions to hospital,” says Nicki Macklin, a doctoral candidate in the School of Population Health at Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland.

“On the flip-side, unkindness in healthcare teams – rude manners, unclear or abrasive communication – has been shown in large studies to be the root cause of three out of four patient harm events in hospital settings.

“So, while kindness may sound like a lovely, soft, concept, it’s actually a very serious tool for enhancing patient safety, experiences and outcome measures.”

Macklin came up with a definition of kindness through a structured analysis of published research papers, and found it was action-oriented, positively focused and purposeful in nature.

“The foundation of kindness is civility and choosing actions that show respect, generosity, openness and inclusion,” says Macklin.

“When we get into conflict, which happens a lot in healthcare but also in the wider world, it’s a mindset and an approach where you are actively maintaining that other person’s respect through the ways you are choosing to respond.”

Macklin found that researchers often conflate kindness with compassion and empathy. Her new paper, with her supervisors Dr Laura Wilkinson-Meyers and Prof Tony Dowell as co-authors, has just been published in the highly respected British Medical Journal Leader [paywalled, but paper available on request].

However, distinguishing the terms is important because kindness exists regardless of other people’s emotional states and can be taught in medical education.

Empathy is an internal, emotional response of wanting to share another’s feelings or situation, whether suffering or joy, and informs action, rather than being an action itself.

Compassion is responding to others’ suffering with a desire to alleviate that suffering, but that may or may not result in outwards action.

Kindness is a set of actions in response to a desire to help others flourish, informed by either an empathetic response or proactively chosen.

Macklin sees potential for greater kindness to be embedded in the culture of teams and organisations, which would improve communication within healthcare teams and with patients, as well as improving patients’ experiences of safety and trust.

“This is something practical that we can measure and expect, for example, in medical education, in policies or in organisations,” she says.

Kindness can exist when clinicians are too burnt-out to be compassionate.

However, organisations need to create environments and cultures that individuals and teams to sustain kindness, before they can expect it from employees, Macklin adds.

Macklin has a background in quality improvement and trained as an occupational therapist.

However, it was dealing with the healthcare system when she had an unwell child that prompted her interest in kindness and led to her patient advocacy work.

“It was not so much the kindness or the absence of kindness to us that affected us the most. What had the biggest impact on our outcomes was kindness displayed within healthcare teams.

“Witnessing our healthcare team undermining each other, not communicating respectfully during conflict, giving us contrasting treatment advice and not working together had the biggest impact on us.

“And, then on the other hand, we witnessed really effective healthcare teams.

“In terms of patient safety and trust, watching our healthcare teams interact with each other had a bigger impact on our sense of safety and trust than how we were treated ourselves.”

Macklin’s next planned publications will report on her subsequent PhD studies involving surveys and interviews with people working in health systems globally and those specialising in patient-centred care in the hope of kindness becoming a principle of healthcare at every level.

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Finance Sector – Jingle bells can wait as consumers hold out for next mortgage cut – FAMNZ

Source: Finance and Mortgage Advisers Association of New Zealand (FAMNZ)

Kiwi mortgage holders are counting on a belated Christmas gift – eight weeks after December 25 – from the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ), when the central bank’s board next meets, according to the Finance and Mortgage Advisers Association of New Zealand (FAMNZ).

FAMNZ country manager Leigh Hodgetts said that while Christmas is a time when consumers often spend too much, this year many will be cutting back due to the pressures from high interest rates.

“We know that New Zealanders are still doing it tough and are sacrificing, but if economists are correct and there is another 50 basis point cut on February 19, this will be the Christmas present they want, and they won’t mind waiting.”

“This will be the fourth cut in recent times and we will see mortgage repayments become more manageable for most borrowers,” she said.

Ms Hodgetts pointed out that RBNZ has signalled the likelihood of further rate cuts in early 2025, with a long-term goal of achieving a neutral OCR (around 3 per cent) by mid-2026.

“If this happens, the reduction is expected to influence shorter-term mortgage rates, which are already trending down.

However she fears banks may decide to be the late-Christmas grinch and not pass on the full cuts, if and when they occur.

“Banks have a habit of passing on rate increases immediately and in full, but they don’t always act this way when rates fall.

“If this happens, there will be some consumers seeking a better deal elsewhere.”

She said lower rates in 2025 will benefit mortgage holders who have opted for floating rates and provide opportunities for fixed-rate borrowers to secure lower rates as they renew.

“Lower rates could also help property prices stabilise further and this will encourage activity from first-home buyers and investors.

“It will certainly be positive for consumers and the overall economy, so let’s hope Santa comes late and we can extend the festive season to February.”

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Fast-track application publication throws bricks at democracy

Source: Kiwis Against Seabed Mining

The government has added more insults to the New Zealand public and democracy today with the redcated publication of the fast-track project applications, released only after the bill’s second reading, said Kiwis Against Seabed Mining.

“The government has thrown more fast-track bricks through the glasshouse of democracy today, publishing redacted documents about a bunch of projects proposed by privately owned offshore companies, only AFTER the scrutiny of a second reading in Parliament. It is disgusting,” said Cindy Baxter Chairperson of Kiwis Against Seabed Mining.

“It beggars belief that the government has redacted the wannabe seabed miner Trans Tasman Resources application’s economic benefits to Aotearoa New Zealand, for a bill whose only purpose is the economic benefit to Aotearoa New Zealand.”

“The government appears to claim there would be no benefit of releasing TTR’s purported claims of economic benefit to the public. But that is supposed to be the ONLY purpose of the fast-track legislation in the first place. So essentially they’re saying the purpose of the bill is commercially sensitive.”

She noted that TTR had also cut and pasted the economic sections (section 4) of its 2016 application to the EPA into the fast-track application form, but even this had been redacted. The entire section  is publicly available here on the EPA website (page 73).

KASM called on the government to unredact the entire document, but had a warning for the opposition too:

“We need to hear from Labour,  what they will do with any project that get consented under fast-track legislation. Labour especially needs to signal to investors and the like that any project consented might be subject to further scrutiny.  

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Employment Issues – “A long fight” – Woolworths supermarket workers ratify new wage agreement – First Union

Source: First Union

Over 10,000 FIRST Union members at Woolworths have ratified a new Collective Agreement (CA) after almost six months of “difficult” negotiations that have included the first full withdrawal of labour by the supermarket chain’s retail workers following an escalating campaign of strike actions.
“I want to thank our bargaining team of Woolworths delegates and union organisers for their many hours of hard work at the negotiating table,” said Rudd Hughes, FIRST Union National Secretary for Retail.
“Their patience, creativity and solidarity during industrial actions have significantly improved the company’s initially poor offer and made meaningful steps forward with this new agreement. It was far from easy, but we have reached an agreement supported by a majority of members.”
Highlights of the new agreement include includes wage increases of approximately 6.8% over the two years of the term (3.3%/3.5%), the establishment of a quarterly working group that includes staff Health and Safety representatives to deal with safe staffing levels in stores, a one-off payment for all workers before Christmas, and early backpay for union members.
“Crucially, we have also avoided a series of Woolworths’ proposed reductions to existing conditions in the new agreement, involving changes to night-fill earnings and the removal of fixed-term and casual workers from our coverage,” said Mr Hughes.
Michelle McKenzie, a Woolworths duty supervisor and member of the FIRST Union bargaining team, said it had been a difficult series of negotiations that required more than twenty days at the bargaining table, but supermarket works had stayed united throughout.
“Taking our first national walkout together was a huge moment for our team,” said Ms McKenzie. “It was a big ask for everyone and quite scary for some, but it ended up being very positive and we got a lot of support from customers.”
“We had never walked off the floor before, but it was absolutely necessary to let people know about some of the issues we’re dealing with in stores like understaffing and burnout.”
“I’m proud that we’ve been able to secure a commitment to work together with the company on safe staffing levels, because it remains a major issue in supermarkets, and I’m pleased with what we’ve achieved.”
Partial strike actions by supermarket workers began in July after the union bargaining team rejected an unacceptable offer from the company and assessed that negotiations were no longer productive. Workers voted for a media and social media strike and wore strike stickers for a week in August in an attempt to build public awareness of low pay rates and unsafe staffing levels, with specified stores around the country also handing out “ receipts” with shoppers’ purchases. A “ Woolworths walkout” took place in September, with thousands of workers withdrawing their labour for two hours across the country and a central rally of hundreds held outside the company’s store in Ponsonby, Auckland.
Rudd Hughes said that while he was pleased that pay negotiations had been completed before Christmas so that supermarket workers had certainty for the year ahead, the new agreement did not establish a minimum living wage or penalty rates for nights and weekends and had not re-established Woolworths as the wage leader for supermarket workers.
“Significant pressure has been placed on Woolworths workers and union organisers during these six months of negotiations,” said Mr Hughes. “Woolworths did not want us to query their profitability or the relative financial impact of their $400m rebrand, and we lost many hours at the bargaining table before meaningful negotiations began.”
“It took an escalating course of industrial action to let the company know workers were serious about better pay and safer staffing, and I’m proud of our members’ courage and belief.”
“We have significant work to do over the next two years and will engage constructively with Woolworths over safe staffing levels while building union density in supermarkets and preparing for the next agreement in 2026.”
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Govt announces no Christmas for children in persistent poverty for the next 10 years

Source: Child Poverty Action Group

Louise Upston, Minister for Child Poverty Reduction has set New Zealand’s first persistent child poverty reduction target at one per cent over the next 10 years.
‘Speechless.’
This was the first reaction of CPAG’s Executive Officer Sarita Divis at the Minister’s lack of ambition for families living in persistent poverty.
‘When the Child Poverty Reduction Bill was first read in the house, Louise Upston challenged the then-government to be “more aspirational in terms of the targets”. Fast-forward to Upston being in a position of power and we see a complete lack of ambition for children and families in Aotearoa’.
As noted in the official press release, the government’s chosen policies will not result in any meaningful change for children experiencing persistent poverty for at least 10 years.
‘Shockingly, the government has given itself the option to increase persistent poverty from 9.4 per cent to 10 per cent within the next three years’. [1]
‘The government should change its policies if it doesn’t think they will be enough to unlock children from poverty’, Divis states.
‘They are essentially saying that Christmas is cancelled for the next 10 years, for the 10 per cent of New Zealand children experiencing persistent poverty.’
The government cannot set a three year reduction target because they defunded the study that would allow them to do that
CPAG not only questions the government’s aspirations for our country’s children, but the excuses they made in not setting a three year reduction target.
The government’s fact sheet states ‘persistent poverty is a newly developed measure and cannot yet be reliably modelled or forecasted like some other child poverty measures’.
However, as CPAG Researcher, Harry (Yu) Shi points out, ‘The government is actually sitting on years of data collected through the now-defunded Living in Aotearoa Survey and is choosing not to use it. Put simply, the government slashed Statistics NZ’s funding which then led to Stats NZ scrapping the Living in Aotearoa Survey (an annual survey designed to gather longitudinal data on families in New Zealand).’
‘That decision also led to $20.7 million of wasted investment and the missed opportunity to better understand the key drivers of child poverty in New Zealand. For instance, the survey was designed to help us understand how housing, unemployment and natural disasters contribute to people’s life satisfaction, sense of purpose and anxiety. Combined with household income and material hardship data, the longitudinal insights from the Survey would’ve served as a foundation for wellbeing-centred policies, including lifting children out of persistent poverty’.
Different policies needed – now
‘Children have limitless potential, but powerful interventions are needed to unlock families from poverty to allow them to realise it’, says Divis.
‘The Minister’s proposed solutions will not unlock these families from experiencing poverty and their paltry target is proof of this.’
CPAG calls on the current government and all political parties to work towards a future where all tamariki grow up surrounded by loving, thriving whānau within supportive communities where there are resources, opportunities and systems to enable them to live self-determined lives and futures.
In order to get there, CPAG has a suite of policy recommendations. Chief amongst them is the need to fundamentally redesign the welfare system so that dignity and respect are at the centre.
‘With nearly one in nine New Zealanders receiving income support, it is needed now more than ever. Far from preventing or even alleviating poverty, the current welfare system has been designed to hold people in poverty. The result is that families are overloaded with stress. But we can redesign a more inclusive system that allows people to actively participate in society. It starts with understanding our history, understanding the complexity of people’s lives, and working with people rather than punishing them’, says Divis.
CPAG is calling on all political parties that were part of the bipartisan agreement bringing in the Child Poverty Reduction Act (Labour, Greens, NZ First and National) as well as those in support of action on child poverty (Te Pāti Maori) to speak up for tamariki in persistent poverty. Now is the time to put forward the policies that will bring forward the future that New Zealanders all care about – halving child poverty by 2028 and ending it for good.
[1] See the Government’s Fact Sheet which states ‘…we have set a target that aims to prevent this from climbing above 10 per cent.’ 
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Weather News – Wet and windy, with a cooler midweek – MetService

Source: MetService

Covering period of Monday 16 – Thursday 19 December – MetService is forecasting changeable weather for most of Aotearoa/New Zealand, as a front sweeps up the country today (Monday) and tomorrow, followed by strong southerlies and cooler temperatures.

Several Severe Weather Watches for heavy rain and strong winds have been issued for the upper North Island and central New Zealand.

MetService meteorologist Alwyn Bakker says, “Auckland northwards, the Bay of Plenty and the Coromandel, will see periods of heavy rain until late on Monday, with thunderstorms possible. Further south, a strong southerly change will be particularly gusty from late Monday afternoon for the Kaikōura Coast, Marlborough Sounds, Wellington and coastal Wairarapa.”  

A Heavy Rain Watch has been issued for the Wairoa District for the entirety of Tuesday, and that rain will stick around for the eastern North Island for a few more days. Bay of Plenty, from Ōpōtiki southeastwards, can expect strong southeasterly winds from late Tuesday evening.

In contrast to last week’s balmy temperatures, the start of this week will be rather cooler for many.  

“A few locations will see around a ten degree temperature drop from Monday to Tuesday. Masterton’s maximums plummet from 27°C to 15°C, and Hastings from 29°C to 18°C,” Bakker says. After that dip, temperatures will return to a more summery average later in the week.

Later in the week, rain is looking likely for the eastern South Island. With parts of Canterbury recording less than 5mm of rain since the start of December, it will hopefully be a welcome relief.

We are starting to see the first glimpses of the potential Christmas day weather appearing on MetService.com. However, there is still plenty of variability in the forecasts until we find out if we’ve been put on the naughty or nice list for the festive period.  

The current story looks to be favouring westerly winds across the country, bringing cloudier skies and wetter weather to the west of Aotearoa New Zealand. Which location gets the best of the weather depends on a ridge of high pressure and how strong the system remains over the country. At this range, the forecast is best used as a general guide for the festive period and the best advice is to keep up with the latest updates on metservice.com as more information becomes available heading towards Christmas.

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Employment Issues – Woolworths New Zealand supermarket team agree to 6.8% wage increase over two years in new collective agreement

Source: Woolworths

16 December 2024: Thousands of Woolworths team members working in supermarkets will benefit from a new collective agreement ratified today which includes minimum wage increases of 6.8% over the next two years, and the introduction of a multi-skilled hourly rate to support varied and rewarding retail careers.

Under the new agreement, the team will receive a minimum pay rise of 3.3% in the first year, increasing the minimum hourly rate for supermarket team members up to $25.85, and 3.5% in the second year. The agreement also includes a new multi-skilled hourly rate where team members will be specially trained to work across three or more departments and rewarded with a rate of $26.35.

The 18,000 team members working in Woolworths supermarkets will also benefit from a special, one-off payment as part of the offer, with team members contracted to 32 hours or more per week getting $175 and those under 32 hours per week receiving $80 (excluding casuals). These one-off payments will be made in time for Christmas.

Woolworths New Zealand’s Managing Director, Spencer Sonn, says it’s important to have this agreement finalised and ratified by FIRST Union members.

“At Woolworths, we want to be an employer of choice and make sure our team can have long and fulfilling careers with us. That’s why we’re investing in our team’s learning with a multiskilling programme that gives lifelong skills, more flexibility and critical foundations for a highly rewarding retail career.

“We’ve also improved our team benefits over the last couple of years with additional grocery discounts, industry-leading parental leave and wellbeing partnerships. This agreement is another critical part of ensuring we retain great people, and will have a truly positive impact on our team’s day to day life.

“We’re pleased to have landed this agreement in a place that fairly rewards our team for the work they do every day, and balances the current economic climate. We would like to thank FIRST Union for representing team members’ views throughout this process and look forward to a constructive working relationship over the coming months and years,” adds Spencer.

Woolworths’ supermarket team also have access to the following benefits:

  • 5% off on all grocery items, 10% off fresh and own brand products and two 10% discount days per month, as well as special Everyday Rewards member offers
  • Parental leave that includes an industry-leading 12 weeks of paid leave for the primary caregiver, and secondary caregiver leave of four weeks
  • Coaching and support from Grace Papers, who provide services to team members going on and returning from parental leave
  • Sonder, a 24/7 employee mental health support service.

The new Collective Agreement comes into effect immediately with backpay to 1 July 2024.

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Universities – 20 years on: has the Supreme Court delivered? UoA

Source: University of Auckland (UoA)

Two decades after its creation, is the Supreme Court hearing the right cases and meeting its statutory objectives?

Before the Supreme Court’s establishment in 2004, New Zealand’s highest court of appeal was the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London.

Sitting more than 18,000 kilometres away, it heard less than ten appeals annually. This arrangement was often criticised for being remote and disconnected from New Zealand’s unique legal and cultural context.

The Supreme Court was established to recognise New Zealand as an independent nation with a distinct identity, and to improve access to justice and address legal matters, including Te Tiriti o Waitangi issues, with a better understanding of the country’s past, present, and interconnected laws.

Two decades later, a new book, The Supreme Court: the second ten years, co-edited by University of Auckland law professors Michael Littlewood and Janet McLean, critically evaluates whether the Court has fulfilled these goals. (ref. https://store.lexisnexis.com/en-nz/the-supreme-court-the-second-ten-years.html?srsltid=AfmBOopk-aB9x4QkRjhZiRR4p5lu8EmSdDTMf6eWny91Zfu8ysHBCSUS )

The book builds on a volume published ten years ago: ‘The Supreme Court: the first ten years’ but adopts a more critical lens.

“This book invites readers to engage with the Court’s performance and its role in shaping New Zealand’s legal landscape,” say McLean and Littlewood. “The contributors – a mix of practitioners and academics – see the Court as robust enough to withstand the critiques presented.”

Contributors include Chief Justice Dame Helen Winkelmann, senior King’s Counsel Jack Hodder, and legal experts from Auckland Law School. Together, they examine the Court’s institutional development and its decisions in areas such as Māori legal issues, criminal law, public law, contract, and torts.

“It was valuable to have so many of our legal scholars contribute to this examination from different research angles and standpoints,” says McLean.

“They play an important constitutional role in scrutinising the decisions of the New Zealand courts.”

The book explores questions of statutory objectives and case selection, the Court’s relationship with other courts in Aotearoa New Zealand, and its approach to the delicate boundary between law and politics. It also investigates when the Court adopts “minimalist” or “maximalist” approaches and how it balances its incremental common law role with its broader influence on society.

In their opening chapter, the editors describe the Court’s establishment as an event of immense constitutional significance. However, they note that its early years were not without controversy.

“For its first few years, some judges worried the Court might not survive,” they write. “A centre-left government established it, and some on the political right favoured abolishing it and restoring appeals to the Privy Council.

“But the Court has survived, and calls for its abolition, if made at all, seem no longer to trouble the judges or anyone else.”

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Animal owners urged to make a list and check it twice these summer holidays – NZVA

Source: NZ Veterinary Association

Are your dog’s vaccinations up-to-date if you’re checking them into a boarding kennel over the festive break? Does the cat sitter have your vet’s contact details and know what to do in an emergency? And, how exactly do you keep a camelid cool on a long, hot summer’s day?
Answers to these questions and more are featured in the New Zealand Veterinary Association’s (NZVA) Te Pae Kīrehe Summer Holiday checklists, which animal owners are encouraged to read ahead of the summer break. 
Whether animals will be staying in pet accommodation; enjoying a staycation at home with their owners; travelling with them to their holiday destination; or remaining at home in the care of a house sitter, the guides support owners to plan ahead for the holiday season. 
The NZVA is also sharing a wide range of resources that support animal owners to keep their animals healthy during the holiday period and understand what to do if they have an animal health emergency.
The summer holidays can be a busy time for veterinary teams as animals face hot conditions and potential festive and summer-related health emergencies. NZVA Head of Veterinary Services (Companion Animal) Sally Cory reminded animal owners to think P.E.T. which stands for Pause. Emergency call. Take.
“During the summer holiday period your regular vet clinic may be closed, so in an animal emergency, it’s important owners first Pause and think for a moment about whether their pet needs emergency care or could be seen by their vet during normal business hours,” she said. 
“If you think your pet needs emergency care or you’re unsure, make an emergency call by phoning your vet clinic for advice. Then, follow the advice you receive to either take your animal to an emergency clinic, or book an appointment during normal business hours. Keeping emergency clinics for emergencies only means very sick animals can get the treatment they need quickly and vet teams are not overwhelmed.”
The NZVA’s Summer Holiday campaign provides information for both companion animal and lifestyle block owners. On the companion animal front, Sally says a little forward planning goes a long way to making sure everyone – including our furry friends – enjoy a safe and happy festive season.
“The first thing to tick off on the checklist is to make sure you’re registered with your local veterinary practice, and you know their opening hours and contact details if there’s an emergency,” she said. 
“This includes having contact details handy for the vet clinic at your holiday destination if you’re taking your pet with you. Taking good care of your animals helps to prevent them from getting sick and needing emergency care in the first place, so make sure you’re up-to-date with vaccinations and they’re safe and secure both at home and out and about.”
Other resources being shared by the NZVA include advice on foods to keep away from pets that are toxic or unsafe to them; arrangements to be made if you’re leaving pets with a sitter; reminders to check for warnings about toxic algae and water quality; keeping an eye out for Karaka berries that can be fatal to dogs; keeping pets away from shellfish and jellyfish at the beach; and general advice, such as never leaving pets in cars.
NZVA Head of Veterinary Services (Large Animal) Cristin Dwyer said advice for lifestyle animals varies between species, but the main message is to ensure cows, sheep, camelids, chickens, pigs and horses are kept cool and comfortable during the heat, and owners and property sitters monitor animals for signs of heat stress.
“If you’re going to be away from your property over the holiday break, make sure you arrange for a responsible, experienced person to mind your animals and that the sitter has everything they need to do this during this time,” she said. 
“This includes knowing what to feed each type of animal and how much; that there is sufficient feed to cover the time period; medications or supplements are labelled with clear instructions; and each day they check that the water troughs are full and clean.”
Lifestyle block owners are encouraged to review the NZVA’s checklist ahead of the summer break and if a property sitter is going to be looking after animals, make sure they are provided with contact details, a summary of any health conditions, and have a support person they can contact if they need assistance, i.e. a trusted neighbour.
Animal owners are also urged to prepare for fireworks that are likely to be set off around New Year’s Eve. To reduce stress and anxiety in companion animals, keep pets indoors in a cosy place where they can hide, like a crate; ensure the property is secure; and check on them regularly. Move horses and other large animals to a paddock, stable or area away from fireworks, secure fences and gates, and check on them regularly.
About the NZVA
The New Zealand Veterinary Association Te Pae Kīrehe (NZVA) is the only membership association representing New Zealand veterinarians. We’re proud to have served and supported our members since 1923. We are committed to safeguarding the high skills, continuing development and ethical standards of the New Zealand veterinary profession, helping veterinarians be better recognised and valued for the unique role they play in society. The NZVA currently represents a membership of 2345 New Zealand veterinarians.