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While interest in psychedelic research has recently increased globally, little is known about use in Aotearoa New Zealand. Therefore, we sought to explore motivations, features of subjective experience, and impact of use. We also aimed to explore and compare positive, typical, and worst experiences. An online survey was completed by 997 individuals who had used at least one classical psychedelic in Aotearoa New Zealand. Worst, best, and typical experiences were compared, and logistic regression analysis was used to explore predictors of positive psychological health impact. Worst experiences differed substantially from best experiences across emotional, cognitive, and relational domains, while typical experiences more closely resembled best experiences. Motivations for use changed after initial experience, and motivations associated with different experience types varied. A higher number of psychedelic use occasions, as well as therapeutic and growth-oriented motivations, were significant predictors of positive psychological health impact. Consequences of psychedelic use were mostly positive, with best psychedelic experiences resulting in the most benefit. The findings highlight the potential of psychedelic experiences for personal growth and wellbeing and emphasize the need for an open-minded approach to drug education and policy development for the minimization of harm and maximization of benefit regarding psychedelics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Māori agribusiness collectives (MACs) and iwi (tribal entities) in Aotearoa New Zealand (AoNZ) are increasingly focused on enhancing their environmental intelligence capabilities. With advancements in environmental sensing technologies, artificial intelligence (AI), and data warehousing, it has become feasible for MACs and iwi to establish their own environmental sensor networks (ESNs). In response to this interest, the Kaitiaki Intelligence Platform project was launched to design an Indigenous ESN. This paper examines the types of environmental data that MAC and iwi partners aim to capture with an ESN, as well as their preferences for data structure, querying, and communication. The findings indicate that these partners seek to collect a wide range of biophysical data using both remote and in-situ sensing technologies, combined with Place-based intelligence informed by mātauranga (Māori knowledge/knowledge system). They prefer to structure data using Māori environmental ontologies and apply mātauranga to train AI systems that can identify environmental health indicators and model the balance between human and non-human environmental persons. Data communication is favoured through relational kin-centric metaphors, reflecting a culturally sensitive approach to environmental monitoring. Furthermore, the need for layered data security is emphasised to uphold Indigenous data sovereignty principles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we draw on qualitative methods from the medical humanities and quantitative approaches from corpus linguistics to assess the different mappings of pandemic risks by Twitter (X) users employing the #Covid19nz hashtag. We look specifically at their responses to government measures around vaccines between August and November 2021. Risk, we reveal, was a major discursive thread in tweets during this period, but within our tweets, it was the vaccine rather than the virus around which hazard perception and response were grouped. We find that the discursive stance of those opposed to the vaccine evoked entangled medical and political hazards, untrustworthy experts, obscure information, restrictions on sovereignty, threats to children, and uncertain future dangers, all of which positioned them within what Ulrich Beck termed the world risk society. We also found that these narratives of risk manifested in specific Twitter styles, which employed a consistently larger number of hashtags. The lack of conjunctions between the hashtags, we argue, encouraged a disordered reading of doubt and precaution, as the hashtags presented triggering phrases whose interconnections were hinted at rather than specified. By contrast, those who tweeted in support of government measures were rhetorically led by solutions rather than risks, with one exception: their perception of those who were vaccine opposed. We use scholarship on risk and precautionary logic to map out the contrasting positions in tweets addressing Aotearoa New Zealand's pandemic experience during the closing months of 2021. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aotearoa-New Zealand’s research community has been shifting towards more societally-engaged and responsible approaches to better address complex socio-ecological challenges like biodiversity loss. Such approaches to research benefit from workforces diverse in career stage, disciplinary background, age, gender, ethnicity and worldview. Yet exclusionary practices and processes, including disciplinary and epistemic hierarchies which devalue the ‘soft’ sciences and Indigenous knowledges, continue to undermine transformative system change. While these systemic inequities are well documented, less attention has been given to examining efforts that address such inequities. Over a ten-year period, New Zealand’s Biological Heritage National Science Challenge (BioHeritage) made a conscious effort to support the flourishing of diverse ways of doing, knowing and being in the research system. In this paper, we use reporting data, and an online survey conducted in 2021, to assess the initial outcomes of this approach. We find that BioHeritage’s conscious efforts to support early career, female, and Māori leadership, disciplinary diversity, and mātauranga Māori have meaningfully impacted the diversity and inclusiveness of BioHeritage’s workforce. We also reiterate the importance of engaging carefully and reflexively with systemic challenges in ongoing efforts to foster diverse and inclusive research spaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research provides insight into current te reo Māori (the Indigenous language of Aotearoa, New Zealand) use in English-medium ECE settings. We videoed naturalistic conversations between kaiako (educators) and tamariki (aged 15–28 months) at 24 English-medium BestStart ECE centres. Te reo Māori was quantitatively assessed across five routines: kai (food) time, book time, group time, free play, and nappy change. The highest rates of te reo Māori use per minute were observed during the kai time, book time, and group time routines, respectively, and lowest during free play and nappy change. Although scripted/prepared te reo Māori use (e.g. karakia and waiata; prayer and song) were well used, opportunities for more complex and elaborate te reo Māori use remain. This research provides insight into the current use of te reo Māori in English-medium ECE settings, an enhanced understanding of kaiako contributions to te reo Māori revitalisation goals, and applications for practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The diversity and distribution patterns of bryophytes and lichens have received little research relative to vascular plants. This is especially true in habitats perceived to be poorly suited for bryophytes. To increase knowledge of the bryophytes and lichens of one such overlooked habitat, ephemeral wetlands, we surveyed the bryophyte and lichen flora of 269 kettle hole tarns across the eastern South Island of Aotearoa New Zealand over November 2023 to June 2024. A total of 81 different bryophytes and lichens were identified. Five of these species were exotic, seven were endemic, 59 were indigenous non-endemic, one had an uncertain biostatus, and nine could only be identified to genus level. Of the indigenous species, 20 were classified as Not Threatened, three were At Risk – Naturally Uncommon, four were Data Deficient, and 39 had not been assessed for conservation status. We recorded two putative new species, and several unexpected occurrence patterns. Our findings provide a starting point for further research to either develop conservation management practices that benefit bryophyte and lichen flora, or to inform the conservation practices of a naturally rare and threatened ecosystem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non-medical use of nitrous oxide (N2O) is becoming increasingly popular globally, yet little data exists regarding N2O in Aotearoa New Zealand. We aimed to explore patterns of use and harm in those who consume N2O in Aotearoa, and related knowledge, perceptions and attitudes of those with and without N2O experience. A convenience sample of people with N2O experience (n = 466) and without (n = 510) completed an online survey about N2O. Most with N2O experience reported infrequent and low-dose consumption. Harm reduction behaviors were utilized by most consumers, and reports of adverse effects were relatively low. Self-reported acute or chronic harm (primarily psychological) was reported by only 5.8% of the N2O sample, whilst 9.2% reported ever experiencing persistent numbness (5.2% in the past 12 months). Self-reported knowledge about N2O varied and was greater in those with N2O experience. N2O knowledge was generally poor, although more accurate in those with N2O experience. Attitudes generally differed between those with and without N2O experience, and perceived harmfulness and experience significantly contributed to attitudes regarding N2O legality. Findings underscore the relative safety of N2O when used recreationally, but also highlight the need for greater drug education around potential risks of N2O use and harm reduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organizers of the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup event made explicit their aim to "be and do better" regarding the inclusion and representation of Indigenous peoples. This was particularly important because in seeking to jointly secure the right to host the event, both Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia made much of including and showcasing Indigenous cultures in their respective countries. Subsequently, organizers incorporated Indigenous flags, language, and rituals throughout the event. FIFA appointed cultural advisors to enhance cultural understanding among teams. However, the Spanish national team, "La Roja," sparked controversy by posting a video mocking the haka, "Ka Mate," a cultural treasure to Māori, the Indigenous people of Aotearoa New Zealand. This led to public outcry, calls for apology, and efforts to reconcile relations. In this commentary, we explore this incident, critiquing FIFA and the current state of event management regarding the inclusion of Indigeneity and engagement with Indigenous Peoples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through narrative interviews with 15 women with histories of imprisonment in Aotearoa New Zealand, this article explores the role of housing and 'home' in women's desistance. The article argues that safety and control are key psycho-social benefits of 'home' that support women's ontological security. The women's 'homes' – as sites of safety and control – could provide a space for them to construct drug and crime free identities and ultimately 'do' desistance. Moreover, their 'homes' became a physical manifestation or 'expression' of their changing identities which served to motivate and further reinforce their desistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Coastal active dunes provide vital biodiversity, habitat, and ecosystem services, yet they are one of the most endangered and understudied ecosystems worldwide. Therefore, monitoring the status of these systems is essential, but field vegetation surveys are time‐consuming and expensive. Remotely sensed aerial imagery offers spatially continuous, low‐cost, high‐resolution coverage, allowing for vegetation mapping across larger areas than traditional field surveys. Taking Aotearoa New Zealand as a case study, we used a nationally representative sample of coastal active dunes to classify vegetation from red‐green‐blue (RGB) high‐resolution (0.075–0.75 m) aerial imagery with object‐based image analysis. The mean overall accuracy was 0.76 across 21 beaches for aggregated classes, and key cover classes, such as sand, sandbinders, and woody vegetation, were discerned. However, differentiation among woody vegetation species on semi‐stable and stable dunes posed a challenge. We developed a national cover typology from the classification, comprising seven vegetation types. Classification tree models showed that where human activity was higher, it was more important than geomorphic factors in influencing the relative percent cover of the different active dune cover classes. Our methods provide a quantitative approach to characterizing the cover classes on active dunes at a national scale, which are relevant for conservation management, including habitat mapping, determining species occupancy, indigenous dominance, and the representativeness of remaining active dunes.

Hearing and vestibular research in Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ) spans basic sciences, clinical research, and public health. Equitable health care and sustainable research models are threatened by several factors including the increasing prevalence of hearing impairment and vestibular disorders, reforms to the NZ public health system, and funding challenges within the research environment. Our perspectives as early career researchers can shape the future of hearing and vestibular research, healthcare, and clinical practice in NZ. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microbes found in nectar and dispersed by animal visitors can mediate pollination and host fitness. While previous studies have characterised floral nectar microbiomes and their effects on invertebrate pollinators, fewer studies have focused on vertebrate pollinators, especially outside of the Northern Hemisphere. In Aotearoa New Zealand, vertebrates, such as birds and bats, are critical pollinators for many native plant species. Here, we present nectar microbiome profiles for two endemic, vertebrate-pollinated plant species in Aotearoa New Zealand, wharariki, mountain flax (Phormium cookianum), and pua o te Rēinga, wood rose (Dactylanthus taylorii). We used vertebrate exclusion treatments and camera traps to monitor visitation. Camera trap footage revealed silvereye (Zosterops lateralis), ship rat (Rattus rattus), and possum (Trichosurus vulpecula) visitation. We detected shifts in microbial species turnover in wood rose and varying relative abundances of fungal and bacterial taxa across the vertebrate exclusion treatments for both mountain flax and wood rose. However, we did not detect strong effects on floral nectar microbiome community composition or richness. Future work should move beyond profiling the microbial communities and identify fitness consequences and pollination outcomes, which could affect conservation and management decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background The COVID-19 pandemic exposed critical gaps in health system preparedness. This study, guided by a critical ecological model, examines the experiences of primary health and community services in Aotearoa New Zealand during the pandemic, focusing on their response to older people and their unpaid caregivers. The study aims to identify effective strategies for health system resilience. It addresses the question, what can we learn from the experiences of organisations supporting older people and caregivers during COVID-19, to prepare for other similar (emergency health) situations? Methods A multidisciplinary research team conducted cross-sectional qualitative research through semi-structured telephone interviews with service providers (SPs) delivering primary or community home-based services to older people and caregivers across Aotearoa New Zealand. SPs included national organisations, Māori, Pacific, or rural providers and dementia services. Data were collected between July and October 2020. Notes were taken during interviews using a Rapid Appraisal Procedure grid, which were later revised and validated by participants. Data were analysed using a hybrid deductive-inductive thematic analysis, following COREQ guidelines. Results Twenty staff (Chief Executive Officers and representatives) from national organisations (N = 4), Māori (N = 3), Pacific (N = 5), rural (N = 4), and regional dementia (N = 4) SPs were interviewed. SPs demonstrated resilience through collaboration, adapting delivery models, and upskilling staff. Key challenges involved inconsistent identification of vulnerable clients, limited access to aged residential care, and barriers relating to digital access which disproportionately affected older adults and staff, and clients in rural areas. Workforce shortages, and unclear public policy concerning travel across regions further complicated service delivery, highlighting the interaction between policy, community, interpersonal, and individual factors. Conclusions Aotearoa New Zealand managed COVID-19 effectively, but the pandemic exposed areas for improvement in health system resilience. The government demonstrated absorptive resilience through swift actions, including lockdowns and clear communication, while SPs exhibited adaptive resilience by modifying service protocols. Knowledge gained from this study can contribute to transformative resilience. Long-term strategic changes are necessary to improve emergency planning, such as developing a unified framework to inform a ‘Priority List’, enhancing workforce capacity, and addressing digital exclusion. These steps can strengthen health system robustness and preparedness for future crises.

Urban food growing has been promoted for its benefits of improved food security, governance and sovereignty, as well as providing opportunities for environmental education. Despite a resurgence of research into adults’ food-growing in urban environments, there is limited literature examining where and how children grow food, with whom, what it means to them, and what they want to know more about. Here we present the results of 20 focus groups with culturally-diverse urban primary school students (aged 5–11 years old) from across Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, conducted as part of the 2022 Soilsafe Kids Three-Day Programme on soil education. We find that most often experiential gardening knowledge is passed on to children by older family members (typically parents), at home or at a family member’s residence. This study shows the significant value and importance of family/whānau-oriented learning, and of providing spaces for intergenerational gardening teaching and learning outside of school environments. It also points to the need for revised educational paradigms that enable culturally inclusive, intergenerational transfer of gardening knowledge in appropriate and non-extractive ways. Acknowledging that familial connections are stronger than school-based ones, we provoke an exploration of how school-based programmes can support and extend familial learning.

We examined content posted on TikTok on the topic of kai Māori (traditional food and associated customs of the indigenous people of Aotearoa New Zealand) to inform strengths-based approaches to health promotion in Māori communities. We conducted a content analysis of 100 unique TikTok videos labelled with the hashtags #kai and #Maori and coded content characteristics and viewer engagement for each video. Twenty foods were determined to be key Māori identity foods from this analysis. We also undertook a reflexive thematic analysis of the content of all videos and user engagement from a sample of 40 videos. Three themes relating to the value of kai Māori were identified: Mauri ora (kai as an expression of pride in Māori identity), Ahikā kai (a means of keeping traditions alive) and Tūhononga (a means of connecting with Te Ao Māori). Māori used TikTok to celebrate Māori identity by sharing and discussing content about kai Māori that was informative and often humorous or self-deprecating. Health promotion in Māori communities should draw on the values of kai as more than food. Kai has an important role in strengthening wellbeing through facilitating cultural connections and linking healthy lifestyles with traditional practices like collecting seafood.Glossary of Māori words: Ahikā kai: keeping Māori traditions alive; Ahuriri: Napier, Aotearoa New Zealand; Aotearoa NZ: Aotearoa New Zealand; aroha: love; atua: deity, ancestor; ehe: e hē: an expression of no in Ngāi Tūhoe Iwi [tribe] dialect; hāngī: food cooked in an earth steam oven or gas steamer; he kai reka tenei: this food is yum or sweet; he tīno reka: very yummy; he reka: yum, sweet; huhu: huhu grub, Prionoplus reticularis; kai: food; kai Māori: traditional food and associated customs; kaimoana: food from the sea including fish and shellfish; kaitiaki: custodians, guardians; kānga wai/ kānga pirau: fermented ‘rotten’ corn; kamokamo: squash, vegetable marrow; kao: no; karakia: blessing, giving thanks; kare: an endearment; karengo /parengo: seaweed; kaupapa Māori: a Māori approach, Māori philosophy and principles guide practice; kia ora: hello, greetings, thank you; kina: sea urchin; koro:grandfather; kumara: sweet potato; kupu: word; kūtai: mussels; inanga: whitebait; mahinga kai: traditional food gathering place; mana whenua: Māori people who have customary authority and rights over identified land; manaakitanga: the act of showing support, caring for others; Māoritanga: Māori culture, way of life; mātua: parents; marae: a place of cultural significance to gather and meet; mauri: spirit, life essence; mauri ora: strong pride in having a unique Māori identity; meke: too much, good; mirimiri: to rub; moana: ocean; Ngāpuhi: northern iwi [tribe] of Aotearoa; noa: ordinary, unrestricted; ora: to be alive, healthy and well; Pākehā: New Zealanders of European descent; paraoa: fry bread; patu: traditional club used in warfare; paua: abalone; pikopiko: young fern shoots; pipi: shellfish, clam; puha: a sow thistle green; Rakiura: Stewart Island; rangatahi: Māori youth; rawe: excellent; reka: sweet; rēwana: fermented bread made with potato; Tā: Sir, Knight; tamariki Māori: Māori children; Tangaroa: the Māori atua (god) for the oceans; tapu: restricted, to be sacred, under atua protection; tautoko: show support; Te Ao Māori: the Māori world and its traditions; te taiao: the natural world; Te Whare Tapa Whā: a model of Māori health developed by Tā Professor Mason Durie; tēnā koe: greetings (speaking to an individual); tikanga: traditional customs or practices; tinana: body, physical self; tino reka: an expression of deliciousness; tino reka te kai: the kai is yum; tītī: mutton bird Puffinus griseus; toa: brave, accomplished, competent; toheroa: large clam;f toroi / whakamara: a fermented dish of cooked mussels and puha; tuatua: shellfish, clam; tūhononga: connecting with Te Ao Māori; tuna: eel; tūpuna / tīpuna: ancestors, grandparents; wahine: woman; Whaea: Mother, Aunty; whakaiti: look down on; whakapapa: lineage, genealogy, ancestry; a central concept in Māori culture of identity, relation and connection to people, place, and culture; whānau: family group, including extended family; whanaunga: relative, kin; whanaungatanga: relationship building; whenua: land, ground

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic exposed critical gaps in health system preparedness. This study, guided by a critical ecological model, examines the experiences of primary health and community services in Aotearoa New Zealand during the pandemic, focusing on their response to older people and their unpaid caregivers. The study aims to identify effective strategies for health system resilience. It addresses the question, what can we learn from the experiences of organisations supporting older people and caregivers during COVID-19, to prepare for other similar (emergency health) situations? Methods: A multidisciplinary research team conducted cross-sectional qualitative research through semi-structured telephone interviews with service providers (SPs) delivering primary or community home-based services to older people and caregivers across Aotearoa New Zealand. SPs included national organisations, Māori, Pacific, or rural providers and dementia services. Data were collected between July and October 2020. Notes were taken during interviews using a Rapid Appraisal Procedure grid, which were later revised and validated by participants. Data were analysed using a hybrid deductive-inductive thematic analysis, following COREQ guidelines. Results: Twenty staff (Chief Executive Officers and representatives) from national organisations (N = 4), Māori (N = 3), Pacific (N = 5), rural (N = 4), and regional dementia (N = 4) SPs were interviewed. SPs demonstrated resilience through collaboration, adapting delivery models, and upskilling staff. Key challenges involved inconsistent identification of vulnerable clients, limited access to aged residential care, and barriers relating to digital access which disproportionately affected older adults and staff, and clients in rural areas. Workforce shortages, and unclear public policy concerning travel across regions further complicated service delivery, highlighting the interaction between policy, community, interpersonal, and individual factors. Conclusions: Aotearoa New Zealand managed COVID-19 effectively, but the pandemic exposed areas for improvement in health system resilience. The government demonstrated absorptive resilience through swift actions, including lockdowns and clear communication, while SPs exhibited adaptive resilience by modifying service protocols. Knowledge gained from this study can contribute to transformative resilience. Long-term strategic changes are necessary to improve emergency planning, such as developing a unified framework to inform a 'Priority List', enhancing workforce capacity, and addressing digital exclusion. These steps can strengthen health system robustness and preparedness for future crises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

National Science Challenges (NSCs) were a decade-long science policy experiment for Aotearoa New Zealand. The leadership skills required to uphold the mission-led intent, build trust with stakeholders, support transdisciplinary research and invest in Māori knowledge have not previously been explored. We identify 15 elements of leadership common to NSCs, with a focus on New Zealand’s Biological Heritage Ngā Koiora Tuku Iho (BioHeritage). We draw parallels with global efforts to modernise contemporary science policy instruments to derive value from public investment in research, science and innovation and to value Indigenous knowledge as a critical contributor to addressing complex environmental crises. We conclude with 10 recommendations for the future of the Research, Science & Innovation (RS&I) sector in Aotearoa. Implementing the recommendations would ensure that leadership capability and capacity built by NSCs endures for the benefit of future generations of researchers, Indigenous knowledge holders, society and the environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID‐19 pandemic catalysed a time of significant upheaval and change at multiple levels of politics and society. Early on, connections were made with the climate crisis. This featured strongly in global calls for a green recovery and the opportunities for pandemic stimulus to spur co‐benefits with climate action. Highlighting the global and cascading nature of crises in the Anthropocene, the pandemic provided an opportunity to shed light on the political and societal determinants of multiple crises and the often temporary hopes for transformation that arise in their wake. While there is much literature on how crises provide these ‘windows of opportunity’ for attention and resources, there is much less attention on how the experience of, and discourses associated with, an emergent crisis reframe the politics of more chronic ones. This paper uses an analysis of media articles released during the pandemic in Aotearoa New Zealand to analyse the ways that COVID‐19 reframed narratives relating to climate change politics in four key ways: the possibilities for collective action, the need for greater ambition, threats to progress and premonitions of future crises. We argue that these new narratives offer insights into how the place‐specific experience and response to one crisis can reframe another, and which narratives may become elevated or obscured. In doing so, we demonstrate how the pandemic acted as more than a window of opportunity, becoming a temporary catalyst for new framings of the climate crisis and crisis‐driven political change more generally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and aims Design, setting and participants Measurements Findings Conclusions Child maltreatment is an important component of alcohol’s harm to others. No previous studies have assessed the association between multiple parental alcohol events and child maltreatment. This study aimed to measure the impact of parental alcohol‐attributable events on the incidence rate of child maltreatment events over the span of childhood and adolescence in New Zealand.Longitudinal analysis using the birth cohort data of all live births (n = 58 359) in New Zealand in 2000, with the cohort followed until age 17 years using linked data from the Statistics New Zealand Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI) from 1995 to 2017.Zero‐inflated negative binomial and count regression models were used to measure the association between the number of child maltreatment events [collected from publicly funded hospital discharges, Programme for the Integration of Mental Health Data (PRIMHD), Oranga Tamariki, Children’s Action Plan (CAP) and police data sets] and parental exposure to alcohol‐attributable hospitalization or service use for mental health/addiction. Potential confounders were included for parents and children.Of 58 359 children in the cohort, 86% (50 319) had not experienced any documented maltreatment events. Among those at risk of being maltreated children, the maltreatment incidence rate ratio increased by 35.2% (95% confidence interval = 18.1–55.6%) if a child was exposed to parental alcohol‐attributable hospitalization or service use for mental health addiction events. For each additional parental alcohol‐attributable hospitalization or service use for mental health or addiction, the risk of being maltreated children increased by 12.8%.In New Zealand, hazardous alcohol consumption by parents appears to be associated with child maltreatment alongside other contributing factors, in particular parental lower educational attainment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background In Aotearoa New Zealand, co-payments to see a general practitioner (GP, family doctor) or collect a prescription are payable by virtually all adults. Objective To examine the extent to which these user co-payments are a barrier to accessing health care, focussing on inequities for indigenous Māori. Methods Pooled data from sequential waves (years) of the New Zealand Health Survey, 2011/12 to 2018/19 were analysed. Outcomes were self-reported cost barriers to seeing a GP or collecting a prescription in the previous year. Logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) of barriers to care for Māori compared with non-Māori, sequentially adjusting for additional explanatory variables. Results Pooled data included 107,231 people, 22,292 (21%) were Māori. Across all years, 22% of Māori (13% non-Māori) experienced a cost barrier to seeing a GP, and 14% of Māori (5% non-Māori) reported a cost barrier to collecting a prescription. The age- and wave-adjusted OR comparing Māori/non-Māori was 1.71 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.61, 1.81) for the cost barrier to primary care and 2.97 (95% CI: 2.75, 3.20) for the cost barrier to collecting prescriptions. Sociodemographics accounted for about half the inequity for both outcomes; in a fully adjusted model, age, sex, low income, and poorer underlying health were determinants of both outcomes, and deprivation was additionally associated with the cost barrier to collecting a prescription but not to seeing a GP. Conclusions Māori experience considerable inequity in access to primary health care; evidence supports an urgent need for change to system funding to eliminate financial barriers to care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In Aotearoa New Zealand, midwifery mentoring aims to develop professional confidence and is formalised in a number of programmes to support sustainable midwifery practice in different settings. Mentoring is shown to be beneficial for mentee midwives, but little is known about the impact on the person who is doing the mentoring. Aim: To explore the key attributes that underpin midwifery mentoring in Aotearoa New Zealand from the mentors’ perspective; how these are applied by mentors within the mentoring relationship; and what impact this has on them professionally. Method: This qualitative research used focus groups with mentor midwives identified from the Find Your Mentor database. A semi-structured topic guide used seven simple open-ended questions to stimulate discussion. Discussions were transcribed and analysed using the 6 steps of Braun and Clarke’s (2006) inductive thematic analysis. Findings: Four main themes were identified. The mentors described Creating an empowered, safe space in which power was balanced with trust and respect, and confidentiality built so that experiences could be shared and reflections supported. The second theme identified the mentors’ role in Building a support infrastructure which focused firstly on the mentees’ development, ensuring professional knowledge and professional responsibilities were met, and secondly on building a network of professional relationships to enable safe practice. The third theme Supporting professional cohesion described how the mentors and the profession benefit from the understanding and acceptance of different ways of practising midwifery and different midwifery roles as seen through the mentees’ lens. The final theme Sustaining midwifery practice described how mentoring keeps mentors up to date and that, by supporting the work-life balance of the mentees, they also reflect on their own work-life balance and holistic wellbeing. The enthusiasm of the mentored midwives affirmed and fed the mentors’ own passion for their roles as both a midwife and a mentor, and reflected positively for the health of the profession. Conclusion: Midwifery mentoring relationships benefit both mentees and mentors, and support cohesion and sustainability within the profession. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Midwives in Aotearoa New Zealand, regardless of the setting, practise within a model of midwifery partnership. Soliciting feedback on practice provides an essential mechanism for midwives to work towards improving their practice. The New Zealand College of Midwives provides such a process for consumers of midwifery services to give feedback on their experiences directly to the midwife, via online consumer feedback forms. Aim: To identify the characteristics of midwifery care that contribute to positive and negative midwifery care relationships within the hospital setting. Methods: A retrospective mixed methods approach was used to analyse the consumer feedback on hospital midwives received between 1 January and 31 December, 2019. Quantitative data from feedback forms were analysed descriptively in combination with an iterative and reflexive thematic approach for the qualitative data. The analysis sought to identify characteristics of care that contributed to a positive or negative midwifery care experience in a hospital setting. Findings: There were 1,284 online feedback forms received for hospital midwives. The majority of respondents who completed feedback questionnaires were satisfied with their care (92%), reporting that hospital midwives provided information/explanations to support informed decision-making (94.0%), that they felt involved in planning/decisions about their care (93.7%) and that they experienced respect for decisions made (93.7%); these characteristics having the highest levels of agreement. Via qualitative analysis, we identified four key themes as contributing to the midwifery care experience in a hospital setting. Positive experience themes included: Building trust quickly, Respecting decision-making and Fostering maternal confidence, resulting in Meaningful partnerships. The negative experience themes were found to be the inverse of a positive midwifery care experience in a hospital setting. Specifically, these were: Not giving time and Judgement and disrespect, resulting in an Unsafe space and an Absence of partnership. Conclusion: The data from consumer feedback forms for 2019 affirm that the quality of the relationship with a hospital midwife is important in shaping the maternity care experience of women and birthing whānau in Aotearoa New Zealand. The characteristics of care that contribute to a positive midwifery care relationship in hospital reflect the principles outlined in the model of midwifery partnership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we continue Martin Thrupp's critical work in education policy in Aotearoa New Zealand by examining the policies of the Sixth Labour-led Government (2017–2023) and the Sixth National-led Government (2023-present). We consider their attempts to mitigate social injustice via education policy and the social imaginaries that underpin such efforts. Our conceptual framework draws on Nancy Fraser's tripartite analysis (redistribution, recognition, participation), the contributions of education policy scholars who have built upon her work, and others who offer alternative framings of social justice. To contextualise our analysis, we provide a historical account of the discursive shift from equality to equity in New Zealand education policy and the recent transition by the Left from the 'Third Way' (Giddens, The third way: The renewal of social democracy, Polity Press, 1999) to 'progressive neoliberalism' (Fraser, American Affairs 1:46–64, 2017, Fraser, The old is dying and the new cannot be born: From progressive neoliberalism to Trump and beyond, Verso, 2019). Examination of selected education policies by the most recent Labour and National governments reveals that, despite equity infusing the rhetoric of both governments, their actual policies have consistently adopted affirmative responses aimed only at ameliorating inequality's most visible effects. We conclude with a call for more intentionally transformative efforts in education based on holistic conceptions of social justice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we connect with Martin Thrupp's calls for class-based analysis in education policy by problematising the absence of social class in the refreshed New Zealand curriculum, Te Mātaiaho (2023). To contextualise this absence, we locate this curriculum policy in a historical perspective and interpret its 'identity turn' as an expression of what philosopher Nancy Fraser calls 'progressive neoliberalism'. We conclude our contribution with a reflection on the reactionary neoliberal response of the current National-led government and a call for educational researchers in Aotearoa New Zealand to more seriously consider social class in their analyses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Māori aspirations in education have not been served by past national policies. It is hard to extinguish the influence of monoculturalism, whereby schools were used to colonise Māori by enforcing linguistic and cultural assimilation. The history of debate on Innovative Learning Environments (ILE) and Flexible Learning Spaces (FLS) demonstrates the ongoing dominance of this Eurocentric, monocultural approach. Official New Zealand education policy and practice follows international trends in school design, moving away from traditional single-cell classrooms towards more open and inter-connected spaces, despite no real evidence concerning the relative effects on learning of each classroom type. Meanwhile, school marae have been around for several decades, but largely ignored in national ILE and FLS policy and research literature. Our experiences lead us to suggest that Māori identity must be 'built in' not 'added on' to monocultural ILE frameworks, and for this reason, spatiality is crucial in Māori teaching and learning spaces. This article explores the notion of 'Māori learning spaces.' [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The integration of pharmacists into general practice settings is increasingly common internationally. Within Aotearoa New Zealand, the role has evolved variably in different regions. Recent health policy and professional guidance support further development. Aim: To describe the current status of pharmacists working in primary healthcare settings other than community pharmacy. Methods: An online survey of all pharmacists in Aotearoa New Zealand primary healthcare settings was conducted in 2022, and covered employment, current services, patient consultations, relationships with other health professionals, and service costs and benefits. Descriptive statistical analyses were performed. Results: Responses from 39 pharmacists (~35% response rate) working in primary healthcare practice roles are reported. Most were female (84%), New Zealand European (81%), and 45% had <5 years' experience in this setting. The most common service provided was responding to medicines information queries from other health professionals (87%). Most also offered one or more medicines management services: medicines use review (44%), medicines therapy assessment (62%), and medicines optimisation (69%). One-third were prescribing or repeat prescribing pharmacists; non-prescribers expressed strong interest in future prescribing roles. Most (86%) undertook patient consultations with varied capacity to do more. Key perceived benefits for patients included improved health outcomes and medicines understanding; benefits for the health services included supporting the workloads of busy primary healthcare staff. Discussion: Practice pharmacists have both patient- and practice-facing roles. The proportion with a prescribing qualification has increased over time. There is some capacity for additional consultations, but this requires funding, space and time spent in a service/setting. What is already known: The integration of pharmacist roles into primary health care, including general practice, is growing in Aotearoa New Zealand, with geographical variation. Recent health policy and professional guidance support further development of these roles. What this study adds: There are more pharmacist prescribers in primary health care than there were in 2018, with strong interest in future prescribing roles, yet barriers to further expansion remain. Employers need to ensure that primary healthcare-based pharmacists are well supported in their role by other practice staff and that appropriate infrastructure is in place to facilitate this. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article addresses ‘transition’ within feminist media activism by exploring how archival material is reanimated and mobilized within contemporary forms of online activism. Recent scholarship examining the ‘archival turn’ in feminism has illustrated the potential of archives to intervene in the political present, yet the uptake of archival material within online media generates ambiguous and contentious outcomes. This article explores the controversial reanimation of the New Zealand feminist magazine Broadsheet (1972–1997) by a Facebook page titled ‘Broadsheet, New Zealand’s Feminist Magazine’ (2015). Using critical discourse analysis to examine comments made by followers of the page, I explore how the promotion of increasingly hostile trans-exclusionary radical feminist (TERF) discourses precipitated contention over the legitimacy of the page’s affiliation with Broadsheet. Conspicuously absent from these discussions is Broadsheet’s archival material itself, despite its recent digitization. Instead, commenters invoke experiences and memories of Broadsheet to either validate the Broadsheet Facebook page or to substantiate claims that it appropriates the magazine’s name and legacy. I argue, therefore, that feminists’ engagement with archival materials is structured by nostalgia, whether remembered, encountered, or culturally learned. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article interrogates historical photographs exhibited at public heritage sites in Aotearoa New Zealand. The analysis reveals that – by portraying 19th-century environmental change as a 'heroic' narrative of 'progress' – the photographs construct New Zealand national identity in opposition to nature, rather than promote a sense of connectedness with the natural environment. The article thus makes three important contributions to the literature on the visualization of environmental and climate change. First, the empirical case study demonstrates that visual narratives shape our social identities in relation to nature. Second, the article adds a rare socio-semiotic analysis to the environmental communication literature, highlighting that photographs have to be examined through multimodal methods and in relation to wider discursive processes of meaning making. Third, by borrowing ideas from the literature on collective memory, the article shows that, even though they depict scenes that are set in the distant past, historical photographs can still influence environmental attitudes and behaviours in the present. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although awareness and understanding of LGBTIQ+ people's experiences of homelessness are rising, their broader housing experiences remain under‐researched. This paper uses qualitative interview data to explore takatāpui and LGBTIQ+ people's experiences of housing instability in Aotearoa New Zealand. In expanding the focus to housing instability, this paper explores how LGBTIQ+ people experience and navigate the housing system, which sheds light on the upstream factors that contribute to the disproportionately high rates of homelessness amongst LGBTIQ+ communities worldwide. A reflexive thematic analysis of the data generated four themes to takatāpui and LGBTIQ+ people's experiences of housing instability; personal experiences are political, survival within inequitable systems is nuanced, instability is relational, and selfhood is mediated through instability. These results highlight the impact of policy and structural failures on LGBTIQ+ communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Queer ethnic young people in Aotearoa New Zealand are a multi-marginalized group, many of whom are met with racism and exclusion from a predominantly white queer community. Very little is known about how young ethnic queers in Aotearoa navigate a community that inheres the ideals and structures of racism. This in-depth qualitative study of 43 queer ethnic young people living in two of the largest metropolitan cities in Aotearoa investigates their experiences and relationships with the white queer community through Persadie and Narain's mash-up analytical process. For these young ethnic queers, disrupting the racist behaviors and practices within queer spaces and of white queers were crucial in helping them challenge, resist, speak up to and reflect on their experiences with white saviourism, objectification, patronization, and rejection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In November 2020, the first woman Indigenous Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nanaia Mahuta, was appointed in Aotearoa New Zealand. Mahuta has reinforced the message of taking a values-based Indigenous-centred approach to foreign policy and development. She has also recognised the mana of wāhine (the unique spiritual authority of women), "not defined by western feminist thinking, but the values that have long underpinned our culture, histories and traditions". Her appointment reflects the complicated intersections of Indigeneity, colonialism, Western feminist discourse, and foreign policy in a settler-hegemonic state, and the possibilities (and constraints) for reimagined futures. How, then, can the teaching of gender and development (GAD) be attentive to these politics of settler-colonialism in Aotearoa? How can the complexities of the colonial project be reflected in GAD, and how can GAD be responsive to settler-hegemonic and Indigenous spaces? This paper will explore these questions and look at GAD's role in perpetuating or unsettling settler-colonialism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The GeoNet programme at GNS Science has monitored and managed data for volcanoes, earthquakes, landslides, and tsunami in Aotearoa New Zealand since 2001. Volcano monitoring data are collected from seismometers, acoustic sensors, GNSS receivers, webcams, remote gas monitoring sensors, and a range of environmental sensors, as well as manually during visits to volcanoes. The primary user of volcano data is the internal cross-specialised Volcano Monitoring Group (VMG), which fulfils the role of the national volcano observatory. GeoNet concentrates on automatic data collection and analysis, while supporting members of the VMG with manual data collection and interpretation. The application of open-data principles to both data and metadata has always been a core aspect of GeoNet; responses have been overwhelmingly positive, despite concerns regarding some high value, manually collected datasets. The website www.geonet.org.nz represents the primary data access portal. Data analysis and delivery applications are organised by data type rather than hazard, with no volcano-specific data applications. Most datasets have web-based and API delivery application options; both provide standard data formats from a cloud-based archive. One of the challenges for volcano data collection and management has been shifting from a reliance on manually collected data to automatic collection. Additionally, awareness of important questions related to Indigenous Māori data governance is increasing, although the associated impact is not yet understood. Overall, the current centralised, cooperative volcano monitoring and data collection and management system, which benefits from improved efficiency, interoperability, and data quality, has proved effective in Aotearoa New Zealand. Ongoing work aims to ensure optimal data collection and management for volcano monitoring and downstream activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Located within feminist scholarship on sport, leisure and physical cultures, this article explores our attempts to understand what conducting 'research with responsibility' means as White, settler-coloniser, immigrant women researching surfing, place and community in Aotearoa New Zealand. Taking inspiration from Hamilton's 'intersectional reflexivity' and Māori feminist scholars' discussion of (de)colonizing methodologies, we discuss the development of our intersectional, collaborative methodology to understand our relationships to place, community and surfing. This co-ethnographic approach helped us navigate the ethics and challenges of knowledge production in Aotearoa New Zealand, and enabled us to be aware of, and open to, different worldviews and ways of knowing. We argue this methodology has value in developing better recognition of our own privileges; understanding of the intersectional politics-of-place we are part of as researchers, and as community members; and of the assumptions, motivations and values that inform our research practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In striving toward a target of 100% renewable electricity generation by 2030 as part of wider global concerns of climate change and the integral role that energy production plays within this, Aotearoa New Zealand will have to mitigate the increased strain on available land resources and look toward multi-use land initiatives in the uptake of utility-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) generation. Agrivoltaic systems, integrating PV arrays with agricultural production, have been defined and tested internationally and offer a solution to Aotearoa New Zealand in dealing with over-allocation of limited land resources, where 42% of the total land area, or over 11 million hectares, are already dedicated to agriculture. Owing to the relatively recent advancements in the technologies and prerequisites for agrivoltaic systems, as well as diverse agricultural practices and systems worldwide, agrivoltaics require customized guidelines for each specific location where they are introduced. The German DIN SPEC 91434 is an example of such a guideline. The goal of this research is to contribute to the development of a guideline for Aotearoa New Zealand. This guideline will look to understand key agrivoltaic technologies and configurations as they pertain to certain crop types and agricultural practices, aligning these with the key agricultural sectors and crop types within the country, then looking to how agrivoltaics can further integrate with the sector goals. The guideline definitions will flow into a matrix tool for the farming community wishing to implement agrivoltaic systems, streamlining the process in which such systems can be implemented in Aotearoa New Zealand.

As opposed to Western ideologies that promote unrestrained consumption of environmental resources, Indigenous or Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) encourages a more beneficial relationship with nature. In order to address underrepresented subjects and contexts, this article investigates the integration of TEK within political discourse by examining a corpus of speeches given by Aotearoa New Zealand former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nanaia Mahuta, between 2020 and 2022. The study refers to the frameworks of ecolinguistics and Positive Discourse Analysis (PDA) to understand how Māori culture shapes Mahuta’s linguistic choices. Particularly, it focusses the attention on lexical and figurative items, drawing on the concepts of metaphor, framing, and intertextuality. Results show a considerable concern over the state of the environment in Mahuta’s speeches. Furthermore, they reveal the presence of an adaptation framing inspired by Indigenous thinking that acknowledges nature’s agency and complexity. The latter is used to conceptualise current environmental challenges and international cooperation directed at tackling them. Mahuta’s language ultimately supports the idea of interconnectedness within nature and offers as an instance of positive discourse in institutional settings.

Traditional Māori arts are closely linked to nature, which accounts for the fascination they inspire among Europeans; in this sense, they are fully aligned with a double process of naturalisation, both in their inspiration and in their spectacular dimension, to which is added another dimension, in relation to their status as a cultural treasure (taonga). Contemporary artists draw on this tradition to answer the questions of their time, linked to their bicultural nation and its relationship to colonial history, to the ethics of cultural appropriation, to consumption in the globalised world… This paper examines the naturalist motif of the spiral in its different avatars—koru (the basic form of the spiral), kowhaiwhai (paintings), moko (tattoos)—to analyse these processes.

This article discusses the Wellywood Romantic Comedy series (2015-2016) by New Zealand author Kate O’Keeffe as localized versions of the global chick-lit format. The novels filter prototypical concerns of the genre through a specific cultural nationalist lens and explore questions of national identity through their unique urban setting. I read the novels in the context of the city-branding initiatives aimed at consolidating New Zealand’s capital, Wellington, as a creative city. I also argue that the novels construct their protagonists as prototypical Kiwi heroines who confront their problems displaying prototypical Kiwi values like ingenuity, resourcefulness and pragmatism. Whereas the Wellington setting serves to interrogate the dominance of western chick-lit mega-cities, the discussion of local identity predicaments reveals exciting thematic expansions of the original formula. Yet, the novels’ potential to innovate is limited because both the urban setting and the identity predicaments of the characters reinforce mainstream visions of the city and the country’s hegemonic cultural narratives.

Simple Summary: This research is the first comprehensive study in New Zealand to categorise and examine the characteristics of breast cancer based on HER2 status. We explored three HER2 categories: HER2-zero, HER2-low, and HER2-positive, in women diagnosed with invasive breast cancer. Utilising Te Rēhita Mate Ūtaetae (Breast Cancer Foundation NZ National Register), our study analysed data spanning 21 years, revealing that most women underwent HER2 testing. Significantly, many cases previously not recognised as having significant HER2 levels were in fact HER2-low, qualifying them for newer, targeted drug therapies. These findings are particularly crucial as they suggest that newer therapies could benefit a larger segment of patients, notably those with advanced breast cancer; approximately 60% of these women might now benefit from these innovative HER2-targeted treatments. The study underscores the urgent need for standardised HER2 testing to personalise and optimise treatment, enhancing outcomes for patients with invasive breast cancer. Objectives: To perform the first national analysis of demographic and clinicopathological features associated with the HER2 positive, HER2-low, and HER2-zero invasive breast cancers in New Zealand. The study will reveal the proportion of women who may benefit from new HER2-targeted antibody drug conjugate (ADC) therapies. Methods: Utilising data from Te Rēhita Mate Ūtaetae (Breast Cancer Foundation NZ National Register), the study analysed data from women diagnosed with invasive breast cancer over a 21-year period. The HER2 status of tumours was classified into three categories—HER2-zero, HER2-low, HER2-positive. Results: From 2009–2021, 94% of women underwent HER2 testing, with 14% diagnosed with HER2-positive breast cancer. For advanced-stage disease, 38% of those formerly classified as HER2-negative were reclassified as HER2-low. Including HER2-positive breast cancers, this indicates that 60% of women with advanced breast cancer may potentially benefit from the new HER2-directed ADCs (approximately 120 women per year). Conclusions: The findings suggest a significant proportion of women with invasive breast cancer in New Zealand could benefit from new HER2-targeted treatments. There is a need to standardise HER2 testing to enhance personalised treatment and improve outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aotearoa New Zealand children's literature rose as a genre per se from the 1950s onwards. Before the Second World War, Kiwi children and teenagers had access to British and American books and magazines, but were not represented in the texts they were given to read. The colonial heritage of children's literature continues to shape certain ethnic prejudices to this day, affecting the Indigenous people in particular, and non-whites in general. Whiti Hereaka (a Māori author of Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Te Arawa, Ngāti Whakaue, Tūhourangi, and Pākehā descent) is an award-winning author, whose novels Bugs and Legacy , respectively, received the 2013 New Zealand Book Honour Award and the 2019 New Zealand Book Award for Young Adult Fiction. Bugs can be read as a crossover text as its targeted audience is aged between fifteen and thirty (and more), and as it questions the intercultural relationships between Māori and Pākehā in Aotearoa New Zealand. Readers are indeed invited to follow a teenage Māori anti-heroine during her last year of high school, thus experiencing racial, sexist, and classist discriminations through her eyes. This article examines how Whiti Hereaka expresses the cultural trauma of the Māori community in Bugs. After studying the YA novel as the coming-of-age story of a Māori high school girl, I will focus on Hereaka's construction of a "dual address" to her readers, before analyzing the way Māori and Pākehā oral literary traditions intermingle in the text, opening a space for Māori teenagers to build a fairer society in Aotearoa New Zealand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]