Category: MIL-Submissions

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Northland News – ‘Find your future’ for teens

Source: Northland Regional Council

One hundred students destined for tertiary study and possible eventual careers in primary industries have taken advantage of ‘Find Your Future’ events in Whangārei and Kerikeri.
Northland Regional Council chair Tui Shortland says the recent interactive careers events were run in conjunction with the Whangārei A&P Society.
Chair Shortland says the first of the events took place in Whangārei on Tuesday 01 August at the Barge Showgrounds Event Centre.
“Participants were able to take part in interactive workshops run by inspiring industry professionals from Northland’s primary industries and get a taste of the exciting things happening in their working world.”
Workshop leaders included staff from the council (caring for Northland’s environment with environmental monitoring and land management), Rabobank (banking for farmers, growers and other food producers) and Beef and Lamb New Zealand (growing the sheep and beef industry).
Additionally, Whangārei participants were able to choose a site visit to one of three sites; Kotare Subtropicals (growing bananas, pineapples, papaya, figs and feijoas), the Hopua te Nihotetea Detention Dam (surveying, drone mapping and water testing) or Northpower (engineering, solar power and control room).
Chair Shortland says the Kerikeri event was held Friday 11 August at Pāmu Farms of NZ: Kapiro Station on Stanners Rd.
Participants worked with on-farm experts and off-farm advisors in bull beef (growing for sale and auctioneering), forestry (sustainably managing native and exotic forests), veterinary (applying good animal husbandry) and sheep (using research and technology to improve sheep returns).
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Northland News – Mangawhare wharf removed on safety grounds

Source: Northland Regional Council

A roughly 40-year-old wharf that had fallen into disrepair in the Kaipara has been removed by the Northland Regional Council on safety grounds.
Councillor John Blackwell, who represents the NRC’s Kaipara constituency, says the Mangawhare wharf was built in the early 1980s and authorised under the then Harbours Act 1950.
However, in the years that followed it had eventually fallen into disrepair and was declared abandoned by the Northland Regional Council which was unable to locate an owner.
Councillor Blackwell says the NRC had consulted with Kaipara District Council and Heritage New Zealand about the potential historical significance of the wharf.
“The wharf was not identified through Heritage NZ as a place of significance.”
He says the regional council had fielded a number of calls relating to the state of the wharf and it being a Health and Safety concern and it had been sealed with locked gates and safety warnings some time ago.
The council had obtained quotes to remove the structure but due to the significant removal cost quoted had removed the structure itself recently in collaboration with a local contractor.
“Compliance Monitoring staff collaborated with officers from the Maritime Team and the Water Quality Field Operations Team to safely and sequentially remove the decking and foundations of the wharf, with the participation of the local contractor who disposed of the timber appropriately.”
The structure was successfully removed earlier this month. 
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Consumer News – Half of New Zealanders are deeply anxious about savings, or have nothing tucked away

Source: Consumer NZ

Consumer NZ’s latest Sentiment Tracker has found 65% of New Zealanders save less than 5% of their income or nothing at all, raising concerns about saving levels.

“Half the population is either anxious about their level of savings, or have none to speak of, which is the highest level of concern that we’ve seen in two years,” said Gemma Rasmussen, Consumer NZ head of research and advocacy.

“It’s expected this situation will worsen with more than four in 10 New Zealanders anticipating their savings will decline in the coming year.”

People’s standard of living is also impacted.

“About a third of New Zealanders said their standard of living had declined compared with a year ago,” said Rasmussen.

Ashley*, the mother of a 3-year-old boy, is struggling with the ongoing high cost of living. Although she earns over $120k, after leaving an unhealthy relationship, she is feeling financial strain.

“I earn good money but with mortgage, daycare, insurances, living expenses and so on, I’m struggling to save – let alone replace insulation and a dodgy shower. I don’t meet eligibility for any support – and I’m worried about having a slush fund for emergencies.

“Twelve months ago, I was financially privileged. I had thousands in savings. Now I can only dream of saving $200 a fortnight,” said Ashley.

Being unable to save is now the reality for many New Zealanders. This has coincided with an increase in the number of people using Buy Now Pay Later services.

“Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) is surging in popularity, with users of the service jumping from 23% to 29% of the population in a year.

“Our latest banking survey found more than 40% of BNPL users were using the service to pay for essentials, like groceries.

“Households with incomes less than $50k are more likely to use BNPL to cover the cost of essentials.

“Spending on essential items like bills, groceries and fuel is now taking a broader chunk of paychecks with many New Zealanders racking up debt just to get by,” said Rasmussen.

Consumer’s Sentiment Tracker findings illustrate how this cost-of-living crisis is hitting people right now.

Notes

*Ashley’s name has been changed for privacy reasons

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Defence News – RNZAF’S NEW POSEIDON CUTS TEETH IN PACIFIC FISHERIES MISSION

Source: New Zealand Defence Force

The Royal New Zealand Air Force’s (RNZAF) newest aircraft has been involved in a significant multinational fisheries surveillance operation for the Pacific’s Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA).

 

Operation Island Chief was a 12-day operation covering 18.2 million square kilometres of FFA member nations’ exclusive economic zones and high seas.

 

It involved nearly 350 personnel from various multinational agencies, including navy, maritime police, air force and national fisheries bodies.

 

New Zealand, Australia, France and the United States provided aerial and surface surveillance support, with three ships, five aircraft and advanced remote sensing detection technology employed.

 

One of the RNZAF’s new P-8A Poseidon aircraft flew a total of just over 44 hours, covering around 1.8 million square kilometres of ocean.

 

The crew reported the activities and positions of 68 vessels to the FFA as part of Operation Island Chief.

 

Participation in the operation was part of the overall operational release of the new Poseidon aircraft fleet and the continuation of developing the capability.

 

Commander Joint Forces New Zealand, Rear Admiral Jim Gilmour, said the operation was a pleasing collaboration of nations and agencies, with a common goal.

 

“Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing threatens sustainable fisheries and the security and economy of our Pacific neighbourhood,” he said.

 

“The FFA has four significant surveillance operations each year and we are proud to commit to those, as well as support Pacific nations with separate requests for fisheries patrols, in order to protect that neighbourhood.”

 

As well as agencies from the FFA member nations, the operation also utilised the maritime surveillance capabilities and data intelligence analysis of Global Fishing Watch, International Monitoring Control and Surveillance Network, Canada’s Dark Vessel Detection system, the United States HawkEye 360 system (supported by the Australian Government), Starboard Maritime Intelligence system, Pacific Transnational Crime Network and the Western Central Pacific Fisheries Commission.

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Government News – Take care when merging – public datasets and privacy – Commissioner

Source: Office of the Privacy Commissioner

The manipulation of data from two different government data sets has created an educational opportunity for the wider community.
The creators of the website, whatdoesmylandlordown.org (WDMLO), a site that listed property owners and their address, built their web platform by merging two different data sets sourced from publicly available information held by Toitū Te Whenua Land Information New Zealand (LINZ).
“The WDMLO algorithm used to manipulate the data for publishing on the website created information that was inaccurate. As a result, people were identified as owners of properties that they did not own. Our office received complaints from people reporting emotional and reputational harm”, says Deputy Privacy Commissioner Liz MacPherson.
“This is an example of the perils of merging data without taking into consideration that what you end up with might no longer represent facts. Two data sets don’t always add up to what you think they should.”
“My Office started receiving complaints about information on the WDMLO website identifying individuals as owners of properties soon after,” says the Deputy Commissioner.
“The key message here for anyone using data from other providers is that they’re responsible for ensuring the data they’re creating is accurate.”
“While the source agency for the information you use has responsibilities, you must take care to ensure any data manipulation you may complete to get the data ready for your own use, doesn’t then alter the accuracy of the data.,” says the Deputy Commissioner.
The problem in this case is in the algorithm WDMLO used to combine the data sets. It identified people as owners of properties when they weren’t.
“The accuracy issues arose when people shared common names. The way the information was presented did not differentiate between them.
“We note WDMLO did try and remedy the situation, but we were not satisfied that the steps taken were enough to address this problem They have been found in breach of the Privacy Act.”
The Privacy Commissioner made the decision to provide public comment on the details of this case, because it provides a cautionary example in an increasingly data-driven world.
“This is a valuable lesson for everyone who uses data,” says Liz.
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Arts and Funding – SCREENRIGHTS ANNOUNCES $266K FUNDING FOR SIX PROJECTS SUPPORTED BY 2023 CULTURAL FUND

Source: Screenrights

Two New Zealand projects are among this year’s recipients – Screenrights has announced six projects will be supported by the 2023 round of its annual Cultural Fund, to total $265,763 in funding for this year’s focus of ‘New Visions’.

“It’s wonderful that the Screenrights membership is able to support the wider creative community through the Cultural Fund,” said Screenrights Board Director and Cultural Fund Working Group Chair Rachel Antony. “Our assessors had a wide range of compelling applications to consider, from across Australia and Aotearoa-New Zealand, and I’m inspired by the aims of all the selected projects and look forward to seeing the impact they create.”

For the second year running Screenrights provided an Expression of Interest process to assist applicants who might benefit from extra support during the application stage. Indicative of the success of this approach, five out of the six successful grant recipients had engaged with this process.

Two projects from Aotearoa, New Zealand are among this year’s recipients: The Queer Screen Development Toolkit aims to provide support, guidance and resources for teams developing screen projects that feature queer themes, storylines, characters and actors, and will be generated with the assistance of a $30,730 grant and in collaboration with the industry by Proud Voices on Screen. Another New Zealand project, Touch Compass’ Screen Production Programme for d/Deaf and Disabled Students, will receive $50,000 to engage and teach Deaf and Disabled aspiring filmmakers the skills required to tell their own stories and build careers.

Black Apple Productions will develop and deliver a bespoke national screen directing workshop for six First Nations women, with ‘THE LAB: First Nations Women Screen Directors Lab’ receiving a grant of $50,000. Pink Lake Creative will receive $45,000 for their Pathways and Connections Workshop Program, which will see 40 children from three isolated communities in western Victoria participate in screen industry workshops focused on augmented technology. Sound recordist Alicia Butterworth’s ‘Developing Diverse Screen Sound Practitioner Futures’ will receive $50,000 for a series of training workshops for under-represented emerging female and non-binary screen-sound professionals, supported by Griffith University and SAE Brisbane. And The Unquiet Collective will receive $50,000 for their Distribution and Impact Lab, an intensive social impact and non-theatrical planning lab for three films in the lead-up to their release.

Applications were assessed by a panel of professionals with both local and international expertise in screen, media and education.

https://www.screenrights.org/cultural-fund

ABOUT THE SUCCESSFUL PROJECTS

Screen Production Programme for d/Deaf and Disabled Students

Activity: Touch Compass with JPF Films and Ingot Films will run a disability-led programme that engages and teaches d/Deaf and Disabled aspirant producers/filmmakers the skills required to tell their own stories and build careers. The programme will be executed as a one-week intensive and immersive experience and a five-week post-production experience for up to 12 selected d/Deaf and Disabled students. Participants will learn a range of technical and creative skills across the week, including directing and assistant directing, production coordination, cinematography, sound, lighting, scriptwriting, art department, working and communicating with Deaf, disabled and diverse actors and crew, and editing.

Location: Auckland, New Zealand

Amount Funded: A$50,000

Recipient Quote: “‘Tukua kia tū takitahi ngā whetū o te rangi. Let each individual star take its own place.’ Kia ora! On behalf of programme leaders Jared, Corey and all of us here at Touch Compass we are grateful to the Screenrights Cultural Fund and honoured to open the screen industry up to participants from deaf/disabled communities. For them to learn, grow and in the near future, create their own stories, their way.” Jon Tamihere-Kemeys

Queer Screen Development Toolkit

Activity: The Queer Screen Development Toolkit (QSDT) aims to provide support, guidance and resources for teams developing screen projects that feature queer themes, storylines, characters, and actors. Across a 12-month period, Proud Voices on Screen, in collaboration with several creatives, will generate an online toolkit to aid in the development of authentic and inclusive queer screen stories.

Location: Wellington, New Zealand

Amount Funded: A$30,730.46

Recipient Quote: “As a newly formed organisation with huge dreams, this funding is a lifeline for us. We’re honoured to have the opportunity to bring a living document to life that will benefit the industry as a whole, but most importantly give voice and agency to queer practitioners and bring rich authenticity to queer stories that we look forward to seeing on screen.” – Eloise Veber

Pink Lake Creative Pathways and Connections Workshop Program

Activity: A place-based program that aims to break down barriers and empower 40 children from three rural and/or isolated communities in Western Victoria to access and engage with the screen industry through workshops across a 6-month period. The workshops will focus on accessible augmented reality technology and build towards an outcome where participants present their story output at places they value in their communities.

Location: 3x remote western VIC communities, Australia

Amount Funded: A$45,000

Recipient Quote: “Pink Lake Creative is passionate about empowering local communities here in western Victoria to access, celebrate and engage with our screen industry. We are deeply grateful to Screenrights for this support.  The young people and partner organisations we will be working with have extraordinary stories, skills and talents to share.” – Tracey Rigney

Developing Diverse Screen Sound Practitioner Futures

Activity: With Griffith University and SAE Brisbane’s support, sound recordist Alicia Butterworth and sound designer Tfer Newsome will oversee a series of training workshops for under-represented emerging female and non-binary screen-sound professionals to teach critical skills and encourage career development and longevity. The workshops will focus on sound for drama, location sound for documentary and unscripted TV, future sound, post-sound, and the sound business. Each workshop will be delivered to 15-20 attendees to allow for hands-on access to equipment. In conjunction with these workshops, a kit of equipment will be made available to emerging sound practitioners for use on low to no budget projects so that they can access industry-standard equipment as they learn the craft and establish their networks.

Location: Brisbane, QLD, Australia

Amount Funded: A$40,032.60

Recipient Quote: “We are immensely grateful to Screenrights for their generous funding, which will allow us to provide workshops, mentoring, and access to industry-standard equipment for emerging and under-represented screen-sound professionals. In the current landscape, less than 5% of sound recordists in Australia are female, and through this program, we hope the phrase ‘we’ve never worked with a female soundo before’ will become a thing of the past. Sound holds tremendous power as a storytelling tool in film and TV, and we are thrilled to be a part of bringing a richer tapestry of perspectives and experiences to the stories we tell. Together, we envision a future where diversity in the sound industry becomes the norm.” – Alicia Butterworth and Tfer Newsome

Unquiet Collective Distribution and Impact Lab

Activity: The Unquiet Collective will offer an intensive social impact and non-theatrical planning lab for three films in the lead-up to their release. The three film teams will be invited to work with Unquiet to develop their impact strategies and non-theatrical release plans. In addition to targeted advice with each film team, the lab will cover the following topics: development of impact strategy, sector mapping and partnership development, distribution strategy, non-theatrical tools and strategy, fundraising, PR, marketing, and theatrical release advice across three Zoom-based group calls. Each team will be equipped with a non-theatrical release toolkit which will include partnership MOUs, non-theatrical licence agreements, non-theatrical booking forms, screening guide templates and more to set them up to reach wide audiences with their films.

Location: Sydney, NSW, Australia

Amount Funded: A$50,000

Recipient Quote: “We are delighted to have the support of Screenrights to provide practical support to filmmakers through this lab. We love film and we care deeply about changing the world. We are excited about being in conversation with others who share these values and support them to reach the right audiences with their films.” – Lisa Sherrard

THE LAB: First Nations Women Screen Directors Lab

Activity: THE LAB aims to develop and deliver a bespoke national screen directing workshop for six First Nations women across a 3-day period with the aim of growing their skillset and confidence so that they are more likely to pursue a career as directors in the industry. The topics covered in the lab will include: how to feel safe as a director, who does what and why, what does a director really do, script analysis and preparation, finding the right production team, rehearsals, blocking, how to communicate with actors, and networking.

Location: Melbourne, VIC, Australia (with participants encouraged from regional communities nationally)

Amount Funded: A$50,000

Recipient Quote: “The Black Apple team is thrilled to have been selected as a recipient of the 2023 Screenrights Cultural Fund. We are dedicated to nurturing and developing underrepresented people within the Australian screen industry and believe a Screen Directors Lab aimed specifically at First Nations women will create many industry opportunities for its participants. Thank you Screenrights.” – Beck Cole

ABOUT SCREENRIGHTS

Screenrights is a non-profit organisation that provides rights and royalty management services to the screen industry, and facilitates access to screen content for licensees. Screenrights licenses Australian and New Zealand educators, and Australian government and pay TV retransmitters, to copy and communicate broadcast content. From the licence fees Screenrights collects, the organisation distributes royalty payments to rightsholder members for the programmes being used.

Screenrights also provides services to the screen industry such as worldwide royalty collection, film and television disbursements, performer residuals management, and an annual Cultural Fund.

www.screenrights.org

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Business News – Frucor Suntory increases sales revenue and boosts productivity with SAP Business Technology Platform

Source: Botica Butler Raudon for SAP

Auckland, New Zealand, 22 August 2023 — SAP SE (NYSE: SAP) today announced Frucor Suntory, a leading beverage manufacturer in Australia and New Zealand, has implemented SAP’s Business Technology Platform (BTP), boosting organisational productivity and driving an increase in sales revenue.

Frucor Suntory manufactures, markets and distributes iconic drinks including V Energy, Suntory BOSS Coffee, Ribena, Lucozade and Maximus and is a market leader in energy drinks in New Zealand and Australia – currently producing more than 30 million cases of drinks per year.

Until recently, its 200+ field sales workforce was using a legacy on-premise system to manage its sales processes. This created a fragmented view of its sales data with information scattered across multiple tabs and locations, which meant staff couldn’t access the right information at the right time to provide a seamless customer experience. Furthermore, the legacy system could not scale to meet the growing complexity of the business.

Following a successful transition to SAP S/4HANA, Frucor Suntory worked with SAP AppHaus Network partner Bourne Digital, part of Accenture, to implement a new iOS-based field sales tool called ‘My Sales Hub’ (MySH) on SAP BTP. Designed and built over a two-year period, MySH brings together four sales tools into one mobile application, which has standardised the sales process, improved analytics and reporting and provided staff with real-time access to customer insights through integration with other applications.

Since going live with the platform at the end of 2022, the organisation has driven a 13 per cent increase in staff productivity measured by sales call time saved as a result of a more simplified and guided process. Furthermore, access to an intuitive recommendation engine means staff now receive sales suggestions for their customers, including for new products based on their preferences or alternatives if a product is out of stock, which has helped to grow its customers’ basket size and supported a 3 per cent increase in sales revenue.

“As an organisation we’re always looking to simplify our digital processes and technology has improved since we first introduced some of our systems and processes. We knew that we needed to create a superior customer experience but also streamline and update the sales process in the backend. We needed to continue to remove inefficiencies in how we operate and create a more intuitive application to support our customers” said Barbara Ciancio, Head of Digital IT Solutions, Frucor Suntory.

“Bourne Digital’s highly specialised skillset in SAP BTP allowed us to develop a flexible platform that has freed up our sales teams from time-consuming administration and enabled staff to have more meaningful conversations. Additionally, smart selling capabilities that can be accessed in real time have enabled staff to grow their sales by driving an increase in the number of incremental cases sold” she continued.

Damien Bueno, President and Managing Director, SAP Australia and New Zealand commented on the partnership, “By implementing SAP BTP Frucor Suntory’s staff now have access to a simpler and faster platform that’s enabling them to improve the buying experience of their customers. With information now available at their fingertips staff employees can have more informed discussions with their customers, respond quicker and make recommendations based on their preferences and purchase history.

“The work done together with Frucor Suntory and our SAP AppHaus Network partner Bourne Digital demonstrates the power that next-generation technology has to drive significant business impacts for our customers.”

Selim Ahmed, CEO & Founder, Bourne Digital added, “Bourne Digital partnered with Frucor Suntory to provide the design-thinking and re-imagine the field sales journey. We’re delighted to partner with an innovative leader to transform how its staff engage with its customers through tailored product suggestions and promotions – while at the same time drive operational efficiencies and streamline legacy processes.”

Following the implementation of MySH on SAP BTP, Frucor Suntory is continuing to review ways to streamline its digital functionality including an elevated e-commerce experience and updated CRM platform. It’s also extending the usage of SAP across the organisation within its new +$400M manufacturing facility located in Swanbank Queensland which will include state-of-the-art technology and automation when it opens in mid-2024.

About Frucor Suntory

Frucor Suntory is a leading drinks company in Oceania and the market leader in energy drinks across Australia and New Zealand. Proudly part of Japanese beverage and food company Suntory, the company manufactures, markets and distributes a range of fruit juices, fruit drinks, energy drinks, waters and soft drinks. 

The company produces more than 30 million cases of drinks a year at its New Zealand-based manufacturing plant. The diverse beverage portfolio includes iconic brands such as V Energy, Suntory BOSS Coffee, Maximus, h2go, Just Juice, The Real McCoy, Fresh Up and it’s also the bottling partner to PepsiCo for its range of products in New Zealand.

Frucor Suntory employs a diverse team of over 1,000 people across Australia and New Zealand. Committed to Suntory’s vision of Growing for Good, at every opportunity the team aims to work in harmony with people and nature across our operations and community programs.

About SAP

SAP’s strategy is to help every business run as an intelligent, sustainable enterprise. As a market leader in enterprise application software, we help companies of all sizes and in all industries run at their best: SAP customers generate 87% of total global commerce. Our machine learning, Internet of Things (IoT), and advanced analytics technologies help turn customers’ businesses into intelligent enterprises. SAP helps give people and organisations deep business insight and fosters collaboration that helps them stay ahead of their competition. We simplify technology for companies so they can consume our software the way they want – without disruption. Our end-to-end suite of applications and services enables business and public customers across 25 industries globally to operate profitably, adapt continuously, and make a difference. With a global network of customers, partners, employees, and thought leaders, SAP helps the world run better and improve people’s lives. For more information, visit www.sap.com.

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Employment Disputes: Stripper Wins Battle Against Showgirls in Disputes Tribunal as Dancer Rights Group Builds Momentum – FUS

Source: Fired Up Stilettos 

Strippers all over Aotearoa are celebrating the win of an Auckland stripper in the Disputes Tribunal. The strip club she was working for, Showgirls, had refused to return a $1000 bond that paid at the outset of her employment, which had been paid with the expectation that it would be returned to her when she terminated her contract. 

The refusal to repay the bond is common practice both at the club Showgirls, and other clubs across the country. As a result of the hearing in the Disputes Tribunal, Showgirls has been sent an order to pay the dancer, Sienna.

Strippers’ rights activist group Fired Up Stilettos is working to outlaw fines and bonds in stripclubs. 

Fired Up Stilettos spokesperson Margot Embargot says: “Fines and bonds are nothing more than a tool that is used by the clubs as a way to ‘legitimise’ theft. Strippers have a long history of seeking justice in court and losing due to stigma and prejudice, where those with systemic power focus on what they do for work rather than treating them as legitimate workers with rights. This has deterred many from ever attempting to seek justice at all.”

Fired Up Stilettos has received numerous reports of bond theft since the beginning of its movement launch in February this year, and until now have not been able to provide a safe path to justice for the victims. “We want all strippers to know that they can take their club to the Disputes Tribunal over fines and bonds, and they have six years after the incident has occured to do so,” adds Fired Up Stilettos spokesperson Laura Phillips. Fired Up Stilettos is encouraging any dancer wanting to take action against their club to contact firedupstilettos@gmail.com for support or advice.

“Fines in our industry are not fines at all – they are just theft,” says Laura. “Sometimes a dancer will be fined before they’ve made an income, becoming indebted to the club. They then have to return to the club to work off a debt – this is modern day slavery.”

Fired Up Stilettos are working with Labor MP and Wellington Central candidate Ibrahim Omer to introduce a bill that criminalises wage theft against employees. Introduced in April, the Crimes (Theft by Employer) Amendment Bill had its first reading on 1 August. Once the Bill passes its first reading, Fired Up Stilettos plans to make submissions to amend the bill to protect contractors, and therefore strippers and other sex workers, against income theft as well.

“Clubs know that it takes time, and often money, for dancers to seek justice,” adds Margot. “They also know that they have social stigma working in their favour to keep the dancers silent. These clubs capitalise on the barriers to justice their workforce faces. For every dancer that is able to take them to court, there are many many more who can’t. They are still winning. Exploitation is still profitable for them until every dancer is able to fight back.”

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Climate News – Finity announces a strategic partnership with NIWA, New Zealand’s foremost source of climate, freshwater and ocean science

Source: Finity

Auckland, 21 August 2023 – Leading actuarial and analytics firm, Finity, has formalised a strategic partnership with the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA). The partnership leverages Finity’s knowledge of the financial aspects of natural perils modelling with NIWA’s extensive data and climate science expertise. This will give the insurance sector the highest quality view of risk at an address level for coastal inundation, storm, riverine and surface water flooding, and landslip, along with the most up to date projection of climate impacts.

“NIWA’s data and models will support insurance pricing, underwriting, reinsurance decision-making, and capital modelling both in New Zealand and the wider Pacific region. New Zealand is highly exposed to natural peril risk, making an understanding of perils critical for effective risk management and mitigation.” said Finity’s New Zealand Managing Principal John Smeed.

NIWA’s Dr Mark Bojesen-Trepka, Manager, Marketing and Industry Engagement, says “With this partnership NIWA can further extend the application of our world class climate and climate change science into the insurance sector to support risk and opportunity assessments at the asset, property and portfolio levels. Finity, being a leading provider of high-quality insurance solutions, can leverage our data and technical expertise to create informed and leading-edge advice and decision technologies that, ultimately, will benefit the New Zealand public.

“This is an exciting partnership for Finity that brings together a new and impressive array of technical skills, data and climate science in one place. Finity can translate this data to ensure our insurance sector clients are informed and empowered to make decisions about their products and services.” said Finity’s Climate and Sustainability Principal Rade Musulin. “We look forward to ongoing innovation and developing many more applications for NIWA’s science to secure the best outcomes for consumers of insurance services.”

About NIWA

NIWA, the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, is a Crown Research Institute established in 1992. NIWA’s purpose is to enhance the economic value and sustainable management of New Zealand’s aquatic resources and environments, to provide understanding of climate and the atmosphere and increase resilience to weather and climate hazards to improve safety and wellbeing of New Zealanders. NIWA’s mission is to conduct leading environmental science to enable the sustainable management of natural resources for New Zealand and the planet. https://niwa.co.nz/

About Finity

Finity is Australasia’s largest actuarial and strategic analytics firm working with large scale organisations and government through to tech start-ups across a range of insurance, climate, financial and healthcare industries. Finity is a proud recipient of the Insurance Industry’s Professional Services Firm of the Year award in both Australia and New Zealand. https://finityconsulting.co.nz

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Health News – Mesh pause a win for patient safety says College of Surgeons

Source: Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS)

The Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS) supports the move to build patient safety systems around the use of mesh to treat stress urinary incontinence.

The Director-General of Health has supported an immediate time-limited pause, effective 23 August 2023, to allow new safety measures to be put in place around the use of mesh sling to treat stress urinary incontinence (SUI).

RACS spokesperson and Christchurch urologist Dr Sharon English says the College has been advocating for some time on the issue.

“We have been calling for improvements that need to be made regarding the implantation, assessment and reporting of stress urinary incontinence surgery. These include the credentialling of surgeons, creation of a pelvic floor registry, development of a structured informed consent process and establishment of regional multidisciplinary meetings.

“We see this as a win for patient safety and look forward to a resumption of the use of mesh sling to treat SUI within a solid safety system as soon as possible.

“We have had the patient front of mind in our calls for measures to improve safety in the use of mesh sling to treat SUI and it is with patient interests foremost that we will work with government to ensure safety measures are implemented quickly and to the highest quality.”

Dr English accepts some patients waiting for mesh procedures may be disappointed by the news. She says RACS will work with its members and their affected patients to ensure they are informed and kept up-to-date with the latest developments.