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My Kitchen Rules star dies at just 46

<p><em>My Kitchen Rules New Zealand </em>contestant Michael Murray has passed away at just 46. </p> <p>An extended family member, who asked not to be named, has confirmed his death on Monday afternoon. </p> <p>“It’s a shock to all those who know him,” the relative told <em>Daily Mail Australia</em>. </p> <p>No cause of death has yet been released. </p> <p>Murray, of Ngāti Maniapoto heritage, competed in the 2024 season of the popular cooking show with his cousin Piki Knap. </p> <p>According to their biography for the series, the pair grew up together in Te Kūiti, south of Auckland, and developed their love of cooking from entertaining family guests.</p> <p>Murray was a huge Jamie Oliver fan, and was comfortable in front of the camera, after spending 12 years in Mexico where he worked on telenovela soap operas and did small stints on other shows. </p> <p>He returned to New Zealand after the pandemic. </p> <p>“My background is modelling and acting,” he told <em>The New Zealand Herald</em>.</p> <p>“I was Mr New Zealand back in 2005, and that’s what took me overseas and eventually to Mexico. Obviously, I’m not Mexican, but they thought I was Latino! </p> <p>"I did some great work there, then to come home and be a part of this whole journey with MKR is a blessing in disguise. I’ve always put my hand up to opportunity.”</p> <p>Murray's family are now dealing with the devastation of losing another loved one after Murray's aunt passed away from terminal cancer a few months after the duo started filming for MKR. </p> <p><em>Images: My Kitchen Rules NZ</em></p> <p> </p>

Caring

Walking or running: for the same distance, which consumes more energy?

<div class="theconversation-article-body"><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/clement-lemineur-1529211">Clément Lemineur</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/universite-cote-dazur-2917">Université Côte d’Azur</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/clement-naveilhan-1495411">Clément Naveilhan</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/universite-cote-dazur-2917">Université Côte d’Azur</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/francois-dernoncourt-1495410">François Dernoncourt</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/universite-cote-dazur-2917">Université Côte d’Azur</a></em></p> <p>It’s Monday morning, the alarm goes off and it’s already 7:30 a.m. – and you’re 30 minutes late. Normally you need 45 minutes to walk the 3 kilometres to work, but this morning you’ll be running for 20 minutes. Yes, but by lunchtime you’re feeling more tired and you have the impression that you’ve expended more energy than usual on the trip. Yet you’ve covered the same distance as on the other days. How can this be?</p> <p>The calorie expenditure associated with any activity is called the “metabolic cost”, and corresponds to the energy consumed by our organs to cover a given distance. This metabolic cost can be determined by analysing the oxygen our bodies consume and the carbon dioxide they produce, we can estimate the amount of energy expended, and thus the metabolic cost. It was using this method that <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/692303/">researchers had already answered our question back in the 1970s</a>.</p> <p>Perhaps not surprisingly, running consumes more energy than walking for the same distance covered. But why?</p> <h2>Energy lost when running</h2> <p>Imagine you’re watching someone running. Now look closely at the vertical movement (up and down) of their pelvis and head. As you can see from the diagram below, when we run, the distance that our body moves up and down is greater than when we walk. To produce this vertical movement, the muscles of the lower limbs have to generate more force, and that consumes more energy, yet doesn’t bring us any closer to our destination. So when running, part of the energy expended is used to move our bodies <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16029949/">upward rather than forward</a>. The energy needed to cover those 3 km is therefore higher for running than for walking.</p> <figure class="align-center zoomable"><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/602769/original/file-20240625-18-xilv63.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/602769/original/file-20240625-18-xilv63.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/602769/original/file-20240625-18-xilv63.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=287&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/602769/original/file-20240625-18-xilv63.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=287&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/602769/original/file-20240625-18-xilv63.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=287&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/602769/original/file-20240625-18-xilv63.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=361&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/602769/original/file-20240625-18-xilv63.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=361&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/602769/original/file-20240625-18-xilv63.png?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=361&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" alt="Illustration of the oscillations of running and walking" /></a><figcaption><span class="caption">Running involves much greater vertical oscillation of the centre of mass than walking. This is the main reason why running consumes more energy than walking for the same distance covered.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">François Dernoncourt</span>, <span class="license">Fourni par l'auteur</span></span></figcaption></figure> <p>This difference between walking and running is not confined to what happens during the activity itself. In fact, each physical exercise causes a delayed expenditure of energy, which is added to the expenditure during the activity.</p> <p>Taking this into account, it’s once again running that uses more energy than walking. Immediately after running your 3 km, the increased energy consumption (compared with resting) lasts for several minutes, mainly because of the increase in body temperature and the replenishment of energy reserves. This additional expenditure after running is <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22446673/">more than twice that observed after walking</a>, due to the difference in intensity between the two exercises.</p> <h2>It all depends on speed</h2> <p>Running therefore involves a higher calorie expenditure than walking for the same distance covered. But this is on condition that the walking speed considered is “normal” (around 5 km/h). So, if we walk very slowly, it will take us so long to cover the 3 km that the calorie expenditure will be greater in the end. This is because the body expends a certain amount of energy per unit of time no matter what, regardless of the activity performed (known as the “basal metabolic rate”).</p> <p>The same applies if the walking speed is very fast (<a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29925582/">more than 8 km/h</a>): running is more energy-efficient. Here, the coordination required to walk at such a speed means that we need to activate our muscles more, without being able to take advantage of the elasticity of our tendons, as is the case with running.</p> <p>Moreover, we have a very precise intuitive perception of the energy efficiency of a particular style of movement. If we’re on a treadmill whose speed gradually increases, the point at which we spontaneously switch from walking to running coincides with the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S096663622100120X">moment when it would become more energy-consuming to walk than to run</a>.</p> <figure class="align-center zoomable"><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/604700/original/file-20240703-17-4dlrj.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/604700/original/file-20240703-17-4dlrj.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/604700/original/file-20240703-17-4dlrj.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/604700/original/file-20240703-17-4dlrj.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/604700/original/file-20240703-17-4dlrj.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=395&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/604700/original/file-20240703-17-4dlrj.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/604700/original/file-20240703-17-4dlrj.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/604700/original/file-20240703-17-4dlrj.jpg?ixlib=rb-4.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=497&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" alt="" /></a><figcaption><span class="caption">Modelling of metabolic cost (kilocalories expended per kilogram per kilometre covered) as a function of speed (kilometres per hour) for walking and running. The curves cross at a certain speed (purple line; around 8 km/h): this means that above this speed, walking becomes more energy-intensive than running. It’s at around this threshold speed that people spontaneously switch from walking to running.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">François Dernoncourt, Adapted from Summerside et al</span>, <span class="license">Fourni par l'auteur</span></span></figcaption></figure> <p>In conclusion, because of greater oscillation of the centre of mass and increased energy expenditure after exercise, running to work is more energy-intensive than covering the same distance by walking. But remember, whether you choose to walk or run to work, the most important thing is that you’re already saving energy!<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/233943/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /></p> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/clement-lemineur-1529211">Clément Lemineur</a>, Doctorant en Sciences du Mouvement Humain, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/universite-cote-dazur-2917">Université Côte d’Azur</a>; <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/clement-naveilhan-1495411">Clément Naveilhan</a>, Doctorant en Sciences du Mouvement Humain, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/universite-cote-dazur-2917">Université Côte d’Azur</a>, and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/francois-dernoncourt-1495410">François Dernoncourt</a>, Doctorant en Sciences du Mouvement Humain, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/universite-cote-dazur-2917">Université Côte d’Azur</a></em></p> <p><em>Image credits: Shutterstock </em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/walking-or-running-for-the-same-distance-which-consumes-more-energy-233943">original article</a>.</em></p> </div>

Body

Plastic Free July is a waste of time if the onus is only on consumers

<div class="theconversation-article-body"><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/bhavna-middha-1061611">Bhavna Middha</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/rmit-university-1063">RMIT University</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/ralph-horne-160543">Ralph Horne</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/rmit-university-1063">RMIT University</a></em></p> <p>Every year, the <a href="https://www.plasticfreejuly.org/">Plastic Free July</a> campaign asks us to refuse single-use plastic. The idea is that making a small change in our daily lives will collectively make a big difference. And hopefully, better behaviour will stick and become a habit.</p> <p>The intent is good, but consumers shouldn’t have to bear full responsibility for plastic pollution. Individual sacrifices – particularly temporary ones – <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0301421509004728">won’t make a significant difference</a>.</p> <p>Governments, manufacturers and retailers need to get serious about tackling this problem. If Plastic Free July put pressure on the supply side of the equation, rather than demand, it could be more successful.</p> <p>Our research spans food packaging including plastics, waste, sustainable consumption and social practices. We know consumer demand is only one part of the picture. Eliminating plastic waste requires broader systemic changes.</p> <h2>The cabbage dilemma</h2> <p>Research shows consumers generally want to do the <a href="https://www.sustainability.vic.gov.au/news/news-articles/the-conversation-on-sustainability-has-changed">right thing by the environment</a> but find it <a href="https://theconversation.com/households-find-low-waste-living-challenging-heres-what-needs-to-change-197022">challenging</a>.</p> <p>Coming out of a supermarket with no packaging is difficult. There are few unpackaged food items and even when there is a choice, the unpackaged item may be more <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/want-your-fruit-and-veg-without-the-plastic-you-ll-have-to-pay-more-20231107-p5eib4.html">expensive</a>.</p> <p>Have you ever been stuck in the supermarket, choosing between the large head of cabbage you know you won’t finish before it goes bad, or the plastic-wrapped half-cabbage you really need?</p> <p>Consumers should not be forced to choose between food waste (another huge problem) or plastic waste. Maybe there’s another way. For example, why not sell cabbages of different sizes? Why do we need to grow such large heads of cabbage anyway?</p> <p>Both plastic consumption and food waste can be addressed by changing how we produce and distribute certain foods.</p> <h2>Governments, manufacturers and retailers must drive change</h2> <p>The onus for reducing plastic consumption and waste should be placed firmly on those who make plastic and profit from selling their products, as well as those who make and sell products wrapped in plastic packaging.</p> <p>Research has shown just <a href="https://www.csiro.au/en/news/All/News/2024/April/Global-study-finds-more-than-half-of-branded-plastic-pollution-linked-to-56-companies?utm_source=pocket_shared">56 companies</a> globally are responsible for more than half of the branded plastic pollution that ends up in the environment.</p> <p>Companies profit from using plastics because it is cheaper to use than changing to alternatives, such as cardboard or compostable materials, or using less packaging. This means companies choosing to avoid using plastics face unfair competition.</p> <p>It’s a tough habit to kick. Industry-led <a href="https://productstewardship.us/what-is-epr/#:%7E:text=Stewardship%20can%20be%20either%20voluntary,product%20stewardship%20required%20by%20law">voluntary schemes</a> are <a href="https://www.insidewaste.com.au/91038-2-product-stewardship-schemes/">limited in terms of both participation and outcomes</a>. Many companies are failing to meet their own <a href="https://www.asyousow.org/report-page/2024-plastic-promises-scorecard">plastic reduction goals</a>.</p> <p>Governments need to step in and force companies to take responsibility for the plastic and packaging they manufacture. In practice, this could involve similar schemes to the container deposit scheme for beverage containers, or returning plastics to stores.</p> <p>Replacing voluntary schemes with mandatory regulations and increased producer responsibility means companies will have to <a href="https://www.insidewaste.com.au/91038-2-product-stewardship-schemes/">invest in long-term changes designed with care</a>.</p> <figure><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/UnXVU-06ciI?wmode=transparent&start=1" width="440" height="260" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe><figcaption><span class="caption">What’s Plastic Free July?</span></figcaption></figure> <h2>Cities are built around plastic</h2> <p>Our previous research has shown plastic performs an essential role in some, <a href="https://rgs-ibg.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/geoj.12457">constrained circumstances</a>. We found vulnerable householders often rely on plastic to make life manageable, such as using plastics to cover belongings on the balcony, or using plastic cutlery and plates in student apartments with minimal kitchen space. This includes people with accessibility needs, people relying on public transport to shop for groceries, or people who are financially constrained or living in small high-rise <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-cant-keep-putting-apartment-residents-waste-in-the-too-hard-basket-200545">apartments</a>.</p> <p>Unsustainable lifestyles are not so much a choice as a product of poorly planned cities, housing and regulations. It is all very well if you are mobile and well-located, but if you live in a <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-07-08/food-deserts-have-serious-consequences-for-residents-experts/6605230">poorly serviced</a> distant suburb and <a href="https://www.unsw.edu.au/newsroom/news/2023/01/are-you-living-in-a-food-desert--these-maps-suggest-it-can-reall">transport groceries or takeaway food</a> or buy things on the go, then plastic is perhaps the only current affordable way to make it work.</p> <p>So campaigns and solutions that do not consider how <a href="https://rgs-ibg.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/geoj.12457">everyday lives and economy</a> are intertwined with plastics can <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s42949-024-00149-w">exclude people and spaces</a> who can’t access the alternatives.</p> <p>For example, there are ways to make <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1745-5871.12464">convenience eating more sustainable</a> in education settings. We have shown how <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1745-5871.12390">canteens and microwaves</a> in shared spaces can enable people to access affordable food with their friends, as in <a href="https://www.charlesabroad.cz/post/german-university-canteens-why-do-they-beat-the-czech-ones">University Mensa in Germany</a>.</p> <p>Our <a href="https://cur.org.au/project/tackling-food-related-single-use-plastics-in-diverse-consumption-contexts/">new research</a> will explore how single-use food-related plastics and packaging form an integral part of our daily lives, including shopping, work, cooking and storage.</p> <p>Sometimes new policies inadvertently disadvantage certain groups and communities, such as the aged, less mobile, people living in apartments, or low socio-economic groups. Before we roll out new policies and regulations, we need to understand the roles these materials play and the kinds of services and value they provide.</p> <p>We aim to develop a framework to inform policies and strategies that enable a just and inclusive transition to reduced plastic use.</p> <h2>What about after July?</h2> <p>Plastic Free July and similar campaigns are based on idea that making a temporary change will lead to more permanent lifestyle changes. But research shows temporary shifts are <a href="http://www.demand.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/DEMAND2016_Full_paper_42-Shove.pdf">very different</a> to <a href="https://pure.manchester.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/32468813/FULL_TEXT.PDF">structural, permanent shifts</a> in <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781315816494-1/introduction-social-practices-intervention-sustainability-beyond-behaviour-change-yolande-strengers-cecily-maller?context=ubx&refId=d608abad-39f9-4bb2-8754-56e9e2000c5e">practices</a>.</p> <p>Supermarkets will still wrap items in plastic and sell single-use plastic, even if we try to buy less during Plastic Free July.</p> <p>Ultimately, the focus should be on designing effective infrastructure and policy solutions for lasting results, considering how demand for plastic is produced in the first place.</p> <p>Some of these changes will require a shift in community expectations and food culture.</p> <p>Rather than pointing the finger at consumers, let’s get to work on redesigning our cities. We need to rethink how everyday practices, manufacturing and distribution systems are structured to eliminate plastic waste.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/233436/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /></p> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/bhavna-middha-1061611">Bhavna Middha</a>, ARC DECRA and Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Urban Research, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/rmit-university-1063">RMIT University</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/ralph-horne-160543">Ralph Horne</a>, Associate Deputy Vice Chancellor, Research & Innovation, College of Design & Social Context, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/rmit-university-1063">RMIT University</a></em></p> <p><em>Image credits: Shutterstock </em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/plastic-free-july-is-a-waste-of-time-if-the-onus-is-only-on-consumers-233436">original article</a>.</em></p> </div>

Home & Garden

Why prices are so high – 8 ways retail pricing algorithms gouge consumers

<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/david-tuffley-13731">David Tuffley</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/griffith-university-828">Griffith University</a></em></p> <p>The just-released report of the inquiry into <a href="https://pricegouginginquiry.actu.org.au/">price gouging and unfair pricing</a> conducted by Allan Fels for the Australian Council of Trades Unions does more than identify the likely offenders.</p> <p>It finds the biggest are supermarkets, banks, airlines and electricity companies.</p> <p>It’s not enough to know their tricks. Fels wants to give the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission more power to investigate and more power to prohibit mergers.</p> <p>But it helps to know how they try to trick us, and how technology has enabled them to get better at it. After reading the report, I’ve identified eight key maneuvers.</p> <h2>1. Asymmetric price movements</h2> <p>Otherwise known as <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/25593733">Rocket and Feather</a>, this is where businesses push up prices quickly when costs rise, but cut them slowly or late after costs fall.</p> <p>It seems to happen for <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0140988323002074">petrol</a> and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S105905601730240X">mortgage rates</a>, and the Fels inquiry was presented with evidence suggesting it happens in supermarkets.</p> <p>Brendan O’Keeffe from NSW Farmers told the inquiry wholesale lamb prices had been falling for six months before six Woolworths announced a cut in the prices of lamb it was selling as a “<a href="https://pricegouginginquiry.actu.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/InquiryIntoPriceGouging_Report_web.pdf">Christmas gift</a>”.</p> <h2>2. Punishment for loyal customers</h2> <p>A <a href="https://theconversation.com/simple-fixes-could-help-save-australian-consumers-from-up-to-3-6-billion-in-loyalty-taxes-119978">loyalty tax</a> is what happens when a business imposes higher charges on customers who have been with it for a long time, on the assumption that they won’t move.</p> <p>The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has alleged a big <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-qantas-might-have-done-all-australians-a-favour-by-making-refunds-so-hard-to-get-213346">insurer</a> does it, setting premiums not only on the basis of risk, but also on the basis of what a computer model tells them about the likelihood of each customer tolerating a price hike. The insurer disputes the claim.</p> <p>It’s often done by offering discounts or new products to new customers and leaving existing customers on old or discontinued products.</p> <p>It happens a lot in the <a href="https://www.finder.com.au/utilities-loyalty-costing-australians-billions-2024">electricity industry</a>. The plans look good at first, and then less good as providers bank on customers not making the effort to shop around.</p> <p>Loyalty taxes appear to be less common among mobile phone providers. Australian laws make it easy to switch <a href="https://www.reviews.org/au/mobile/how-to-switch-mobile-carriers-and-keep-your-number/">and keep your number</a>.</p> <h2>3. Loyalty schemes that provide little value</h2> <p>Fels says loyalty schemes can be a “low-cost means of retaining and exploiting consumers by providing them with low-value rewards of dubious benefit”.</p> <p>Their purpose is to lock in (or at least bias) customers to choices already made.</p> <p>Examples include airline frequent flyer points, cafe cards that give you your tenth coffee free, and supermarket points programs. The purpose is to lock in (or at least bias) consumers to products already chosen.</p> <p>The <a href="https://www.accc.gov.au/consumers/advertising-and-promotions/customer-loyalty-schemes">Australian Competition and Consumer Commission</a> has found many require users to spend a lot of money or time to earn enough points for a reward.</p> <p>Others allow points to expire or rules to change without notice or offer rewards that are not worth the effort to redeem.</p> <p>They also enable businesses to collect data on spending habits, preferences, locations, and personal information that can be used to construct customer profiles that allow them to target advertising and offers and high prices to some customers and not others.</p> <h2>4. Drip pricing that hides true costs</h2> <p>The Competition and Consumer Commission describes <a href="https://pricegouginginquiry.actu.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/InquiryIntoPriceGouging_Report_web.pdf">drip pricing</a> as “when a price is advertised at the beginning of an online purchase, but then extra fees and charges (such as booking and service fees) are gradually added during the purchase process”.</p> <p>The extras can add up quickly and make final bills much higher than expected.</p> <p>Airlines are among the best-known users of the strategy. They often offer initially attractive base fares, but then add charges for baggage, seat selection, in-flight meals and other extras.</p> <h2>5. Confusion pricing</h2> <p>Related to drip pricing is <a href="https://www.x-mol.net/paper/article/1402386414932836352">confusion pricing</a> where a provider offers a range of plans, discounts and fees so complex they are overwhelming.</p> <p>Financial products like insurance have convoluted fee structures, as do electricity providers. Supermarkets do it by bombarding shoppers with “specials” and “sales”.</p> <p>When prices change frequently and without notice, it adds to the confusion.</p> <h2>6. Algorithmic pricing</h2> <p><a href="https://pricegouginginquiry.actu.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/InquiryIntoPriceGouging_Report_web.pdf">Algorithmic pricing</a> is the practice of using algorithms to set prices automatically taking into account competitor responses, which is something akin to computers talking to each other.</p> <p>When computers get together in this way they can <a href="https://www.x-mol.net/paper/article/1402386414932836352">act as it they are colluding</a> even if the humans involved in running the businesses never talk to each other.</p> <p>It can act even more this way when multiple competitors use the same third-party pricing algorithm, effectively allowing a single company to influence prices.</p> <h2>7. Price discrimination</h2> <p>Price discrimination involves charging different customers different prices for the same product, setting each price in accordance with how much each customer is prepared to pay.</p> <p>Banks do it when they offer better rates to customers likely to leave them, electricity companies do it when they offer better prices for business customers than households, and medical specialists do it when they offer vastly different prices for the same service to consumers with different incomes.</p> <p>It is made easier by digital technology and data collection. While it can make prices lower for some customers, it can make prices much more expensive to customers in a hurry or in urgent need of something.</p> <h2>8. Excuse-flation</h2> <p><a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-03-09/how-excuseflation-is-keeping-prices-and-corporate-profits-high">Excuse-flation</a> is where general inflation provides “cover” for businesses to raise prices without justification, blaming nothing other than general inflation.</p> <p>It means that in times of general high inflation businesses can increase their prices even if their costs haven’t increased by as much.</p> <p>On Thursday Reserve Bank Governor <a href="https://www.afr.com/policy/economy/inflation-is-cover-for-pricing-gouging-rba-boss-says-20240215-p5f58d">Michele Bullock</a> seemed to confirm that she though some firms were doing this saying that when inflation had been brought back to the Bank’s target, it would be "much more difficult, I think, for firms to use high inflation as cover for this sort of putting up their prices."</p> <h2>A political solution is needed</h2> <p>Ultimately, our own vigilance won’t be enough. We will need political help. The government’s recently announced <a href="https://treasury.gov.au/review/competition-review-2023">competition review</a> might be a step in this direction.</p> <p>The legislative changes should police business practices and prioritise fairness. Only then can we create a marketplace where ethics and competition align, ensuring both business prosperity and consumer wellbeing.</p> <p>This isn’t just about economics, it’s about building a fairer, more sustainable Australia.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/223310/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /></p> <p><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/david-tuffley-13731"><em>David Tuffley</em></a><em>, Senior Lecturer in Applied Ethics & CyberSecurity, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/griffith-university-828">Griffith University</a></em></p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images </em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-prices-are-so-high-8-ways-retail-pricing-algorithms-gouge-consumers-223310">original article</a>.</em></p>

Money & Banking

The 4 biggest gift-giving mistakes, according to a consumer psychologist

<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/julian-givi-1395671">Julian Givi</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/west-virginia-university-1375">West Virginia University</a></em></p> <p>A good gift can elicit a surge of happiness and gratitude in the recipient. It also feels great to give, <a href="https://theconversation.com/whats-the-point-of-holiday-gifts-173306">with psychologists finding</a> that the joy of giving a gift is more pronounced than the pleasure of receiving one.</p> <p>Unfortunately, there are times when you receive a gift and you have to force a smile and fake your gratitude.</p> <p>I’m a consumer psychologist <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=wjAq_TcAAAAJ&hl=en">who specializes in gift-giving research</a> – in particular, gift-giving mistakes.</p> <p>Here are four of the most common ones.</p> <h2>1. Prioritizing the big reveal</h2> <p>One way givers can err is by focusing too much on <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721416656937">the moment the recipient will open the gift</a>.</p> <p>Givers want their gift to be <a href="https://doi.org/10.1086/675737">desirable</a>. They hope <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2011.03.015">to surprise</a> the recipient and <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2733341">put a smile</a> on their face.</p> <p>A chocolate fondue fountain might meet these criteria – it’s quirky and sure to elicit curiosity and smiles from onlookers.</p> <p>However, when people receive a gift, they care less about the moment the bow comes off, and instead think about the weeks and months ahead.</p> <p>People want gifts that are <a href="https://www.acrwebsite.org/volumes/1023703/volumes/v45/NA-45">useful</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1086/675737">reliable</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2011.03.015">meet their needs</a>.</p> <p>How often would a chocolate fondue fountain realistically be used?</p> <p>Compare that to a new coffee maker, which could see action every day. Sure, it isn’t a novelty – and probably won’t elicit “oohs” and “ahhs” on Christmas Day – but the recipient will be quite happy to have it on hand when their alarm rings each morning.</p> <h2>2. Unique and new are overrated</h2> <p>Another factor that can lead givers to go wrong involves unwritten rules for what constitutes good gift-giving practices.</p> <p>Givers often focus on these rules more than they should. For example, they may <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.05.023">avoid giving the same gift</a> to someone in back-to-back years because this goes against the norm of giving a unique gift each year. Givers also often <a href="https://doi.org/10.1348/014466604x23428">refrain from giving used products</a> as gifts because this violates the unspoken rule that a gift should be brand new.</p> <p>In contrast, recipients are quite open to gifts that violate these norms.</p> <p>If someone loves a certain type of wine, they’re <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.05.023">more than happy to receive it</a> in subsequent years. And if one digital camera is lightly used but possesses several innovative features, while another is new but has fewer features, people <a href="https://doi.org/10.1348/014466604x23428">are happy to receive the used one</a>.</p> <h2>3. Being risk-averse</h2> <p>Givers can make missteps when they avoid gifts that they see as too risky.</p> <p>Consider sentimental gifts, like a scrapbook or a nostalgic memento.</p> <p>Studies have shown that recipients <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcps.2017.06.002">love these gifts</a>; they <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/pspa0000036">elicit happiness for extended periods of time</a>.</p> <p>Givers, however, tend to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcps.2017.06.002">shy away from sentimental gifts</a> because they see them risky – sure, they could be a home run, but they could also whiff. Doubts can creep into shoppers’ heads as they consider sentimental gifts: What if it comes across as sappy? What if the recipient thinks I’m being cheap?</p> <p>And so people tend to opt for <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S105774081730044X">safer, superficial gifts</a> that they assume will be at least somewhat well-liked. Or, to continue with the baseball analogy, givers are happy to take the sure single.</p> <p>As another example, consider material goods versus experiences.</p> <p>When giving gifts, people often opt for <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/jcr/ucy010">tangible objects over experiences</a> because material goods are on the safer side – almost everyone could use a new appliance or a new shirt. Experiences are trickier; they require a bit more of an understanding of who the recipient truly is – not everyone loves going to see the symphony.</p> <p>Yet recipients tend to be <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/jcpy.1281">more open to experiences than givers anticipate</a> – and these gifts <a href="https://www.acrwebsite.org/volumes/1017575/volumes/v42/NA-42">are actually more likely to make people happier</a> than material goods.</p> <h2>4. Does the thought really count?</h2> <p>Givers can also err by wanting their gift to appear especially thoughtful.</p> <p>Of course, recipients appreciate thoughtfulness – but not when it comes at the expense of receiving something that’s actually useful.</p> <p>This plays out when givers are shopping for multiple people. They’ll often <a href="https://doi.org/10.1086/674199">choose unique gifts for each recipient</a>, rather than give the same gift to everyone, because a distinct gift for each person will make them feel as though they put more time and effort into gift selection. People do this even if they realize that some recipients will be receiving less desirable gifts.</p> <p>You’ll also see this happen with <a href="https://www.acrwebsite.org/volumes/1020146/volumes/v43/NA-43">gift cards</a>. Givers often choose specific gift cards – to a particular clothing store or restaurant, for example – that reflect the interests or tastes of the recipient.</p> <p>But recipients are more open to gift cards that give them more flexibility and freedom – think an Amazon or Visa gift card. That way, they can decide whether to splurge on a new sweater, dine out at their favorite restaurant – or do both.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/195169/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /></p> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/julian-givi-1395671">Julian Givi</a>, Assistant Professor of Marketing, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/west-virginia-university-1375">West Virginia University</a></em></p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images </em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-4-biggest-gift-giving-mistakes-according-to-a-consumer-psychologist-195169">original article</a>.</em></p>

Money & Banking

World’s Best Airline crowned for 2023

<p dir="ltr">Air New Zealand has received the top honour from the <a href="https://www.airlineratings.com/news/passenger-news/air-nz-named-airline-of-the-year-for-2023/">AirlineRatings.com Airline Excellence Awards</a>, taking home the coveted title of World’s Best Airline. </p> <p dir="ltr">It’s the seventh time the airline has been commended since 2013, for the likes of its innovative and multi-award-winning SkyNest economy beds, its operational safety, environmental leadership, and staff motivation.</p> <p dir="ltr">Competition was tough for the top five, with five editors looking at everything from major safety and government audits to 12 key factors including “fleet age, passenger reviews, profitability, investment rating, product offerings, and staff relations.”</p> <p dir="ltr">And while Air NZ had taken out second place to two-time-consecutive champ Qatar Airways in 2022, the situation flipped in 2023, with the airline beating out Qatar, Etihad, Korean Airlines, and Singapore for the prestigious win. </p> <p dir="ltr">As AirlineRatings’ Editor-in-Chief Geoffrey Thomas said, “in our objective analysis Air New Zealand came out number one in many key areas although it was a very close scoring for the top five.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Air New Zealand’s commitment to excellence in all facets of its business starts at the top with outstanding governance and one of the best executive teams in aviation through to a workforce that is delivering consistently to the airline’s strategy and customer promise.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Like all airlines across the globe Air New Zealand has faced severe disruptions during and after the pandemic and this year huge challenges from storms and cyclones. The airline has responded well.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Our editorial team was impressed by the airline’s commitment to the economy passenger and on long haul offers more comfort options than any other airline.”</p> <p dir="ltr">In response to the win, Air NZ’s CEO Greg Foran shared that the airline owed its success to the 12,000 members of staff “who wake up each morning to connect Kiwis with each other and the world.” </p> <p dir="ltr">He remarked that “it is a sign that we have got our swing back”, and like with many other airlines around the world, “we understand that our fantastic team faces difficulties in providing the service we strive for and that our customers expect. We’re working hard to address these challenges. </p> <p dir="ltr">“There is no doubt that we have more work to do to tackle customer concerns like wait times, on-time departures and arrivals, lost baggage, and refunds. We want to thank our customers for their patience and support as we work towards delivering the greatest flying experience on Earth.” </p> <p dir="ltr">Just missing out on the top five were Australia’s own Qantas and Virgin - coming in at sixth and seventh place respectively - although both airlines snagged number one positions in other categories. </p> <p dir="ltr">Qantas took out Best Lounges with its network of over 51 lounges across Australia and the rest of the world. Meanwhile, Virgin Australia/VirginAtlantic took home the title of Best Cabin Crew - in what marked their fifth victory in the category.</p> <p dir="ltr">And for anyone wondering how the rest of world’s top 25 premium airlines stacked up, here’s the complete list: Air New Zealand, Qatar Airways, Etihad Airways, Korean Air, Singapore Airlines, Qantas, Virgin Australia/Virgin Atlantic, EVA Air, Cathay Pacific Airways, Emirates, Lufthansa / Swiss, SAS, TAP Portugal, All Nippon Airways, Delta Air Lines, Air Canada, British Airways, Jet Blue, JAL, Vietnam Airlines, Turkish Airlines, Hawaiian, KLM, Alaska Airlines, and United Airlines.</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Images: Getty</em></p> <p> </p>

International Travel

Why Air NZ is asking passengers to hop on the scales

<p dir="ltr">Until July 2, passengers departing on international Air New Zealand flights from Auckland International Airport are being asked to step on the scales before their trip. </p> <p dir="ltr">New Zealand’s Civil Aviation Authority are making the request as part of a “weight survey” program - one required to take place every five years - and hoping to gather more information on the weight loads and distributions for aircrafts.</p> <p dir="ltr">“We weigh everything that goes on the aircraft - from the cargo to the meals onboard, to the luggage in the hold,” Air NZ’s load control improvement specialist Alastair James explained. “For customers, crew and cabin bags, we use average weights, which we get from doing this survey.”</p> <p dir="ltr">James went on to note that they are aware “stepping on the scales can be daunting”, as weight is a personal issue that many do not want to make public knowledge. And for any passengers with such concerns, the airline has promised to protect their privacy, with the data being kept anonymous. </p> <p dir="ltr">“We want to reassure our customers there is no visible display anywhere," he said. “No one can see your weight - not even us! It’s completely anonymous.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Two scales are to be set up in Auckland International Airport’s gate lounges - one that travellers will be asked to stand on, with their weight submitted for the survey, and another for their luggage in a separate weighing process. </p> <p dir="ltr">In order for the survey to be effective, 10,000 passengers must participate over the course of five weeks. </p> <p dir="ltr">“It’s simple, it’s voluntary,” James added, “and by weighing in, you’ll be helping us to fly you safely and efficiently, every time.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Air NZ’s project also means that passengers experiencing one of the world’s longest flights - the 17-hour flagship trip from Auckland to New York City’s JFK Airport - for the first time may find themselves asked to participate. </p> <p dir="ltr">It isn’t the first time the airline has requested its passengers hop on the scales before their trips either, with a similar survey taking place in 2021. And while the international research was meant to be conducted at an earlier date as well, the pandemic brought those plans to a temporary halt. </p> <p dir="ltr">And similar surveys are undertaken all across the globe, with Flight Global revealing that a survey by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency in 2022 discovered that the average weight of passengers has remained “relatively unchanged” for the past 15 years.</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Images: Getty</em></p>

International Travel

Busting a king-sized myth: why Australia and NZ could become republics – and still stay in the Commonwealth

<p>The imminent coronation of King Charles III is an ideal time for Australia and New Zealand to take stock of the British monarchy and its role in national life – including certain myths about what becoming a republic might mean.</p> <p>In particular, there is a common assumption that both nations must remain monarchies to retain membership of the Commonwealth of Nations. It might sound logical, but it’s entirely wrong. </p> <p>There is no basis for it in the rules of the Commonwealth or the practice of its members. Australia could ditch the monarchy and stay in the club, and New Zealand can too, whether it has a king or a Kiwi as head of state. </p> <p>Yet this peculiar myth persists at home and abroad. Students often ask me about it when I’m teaching the structure of government. And just this week a French TV station interpreted the New Zealand prime minister’s opinion that his country would one day <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/may/01/new-zealand-will-ideally-become-a-republic-one-day-says-chris-hipkins">ideally become a republic</a> to mean he would <a href="https://www.bfmtv.com/international/oceanie/nouvelle-zelande/nouvelle-zelande-le-nouveau-premier-ministre-souhaite-que-son-pays-quitte-le-commonwealth_AN-202305010328.html">like to see</a> it leave the Commonwealth.</p> <h2>What does ‘Commonwealth’ mean?</h2> <p>The implication that breaking from the Commonwealth would be a precursor to, or consequence of, becoming a republic relies on a faulty premise which joins two entirely separate things: the way we pick our head of state, and our membership of the Commonwealth. </p> <p>It would make just as much sense to ask whether Australia or New Zealand should leave the International Cricket Council and become a republic.</p> <p>The confusion may derive from the fact that the 15 countries that continue to have the British sovereign as their head of state are known as “Commonwealth Realms”. </p> <p>What we usually refer to as the Commonwealth, on the other hand, is the organisation founded in 1926 as the British Commonwealth of Nations. This is the body whose membership determines the competing nations of the <a href="https://www.commonwealthsport.com/">Commonwealth Games</a>, the highest-profile aspect of the Commonwealth’s work. </p> <p>King Charles III is the head of state of the 15 Commonwealth Realms and the head of the international governmental organisation that is the Commonwealth of Nations. The Commonwealth has 56 members – but only 15 of them continue to have the king as head of state.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said Monday he personally favors his country becoming a republic, though it’s not a change he intends to push for as leader. <a href="https://t.co/1XEiFFtqPT">https://t.co/1XEiFFtqPT</a> <a href="https://t.co/aftsZ0hHmV">pic.twitter.com/aftsZ0hHmV</a></p> <p>— The Diplomat (@Diplomat_APAC) <a href="https://twitter.com/Diplomat_APAC/status/1653406552693395457?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 2, 2023</a></p></blockquote> <h2>Joining the Commonwealth club</h2> <p>To be fair, confusion over who heads the Commonwealth is nothing new. A <a href="https://www.royalcwsociety.org/_files/ugd/e578ea_5642f282aad345faa0b39c9eebd465e5.pdf">2010 poll</a> conducted by the Royal Commonwealth Society found that, of the respondents in seven countries, only half knew the then queen was the head of the Commonwealth. </p> <p>A quarter of Jamaicans believed the organisation was led by the then US president, Barack Obama. One in ten Indians and South Africans thought it was run by former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan.</p> <p>Given the king’s overlapping leadership roles and the different use of the word in the contexts of Commonwealth Realms and the Commonwealth of Nations, these broad misunderstandings are perhaps understandable. In fact, it was this ambiguity that allowed for the development of an inclusive Commonwealth during the postwar years of decolonisation.</p> <p>However the confusion arose, it is also very simple to correct. The Commonwealth relaxed its membership rules regarding republics when India became one in 1950. </p> <p>According to Philip Murphy, the historian and former director of the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, this decision was based on the erroneous idea that India’s huge standing army would underwrite Britain’s great-power status in the postwar world. </p> <p>From that point on the Commonwealth of Nations no longer comprised only members who admitted to the supremacy of one sovereign. To make the change palatable, a piece of conceptual chicanery was needed. Each country did not need a king, but theking was to be head of the organisation comprising equal members.</p> <h2>Monarchy optional</h2> <p>Since then, the number of Commonwealth members has steadily increased to the 56 we have today.</p> <p>As early as 1995, membership was extended to countries with no ties to the former British Empire. With the support of Nelson Mandela, Mozambique became a member, joining the six Commonwealth members with which it shared a border. </p> <p>Rwanda, a former German and then Belgian colony, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/oukwd-uk-commonwealth-rwanda-idAFTRE5AS1C520091129">joined in 2009</a>. It became an enthusiastic member and hosted the biennial meeting of states known as CHOGM (Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting). The most recent countries to take up Commonwealth membership are the <a href="https://thecommonwealth.org/news/gabon-and-togo-join-commonwealth">former French colonies of Togo and Gabon</a>. </p> <p>According to the <a href="http://www.thecommonwealth.org/shared_asp_files/GFSR.asp?NodeID=174532">Commonwealth’s own rules</a>, membership is based on a variety of things, including commitment to democratic processes, human rights and good governance. Being a monarchy is entirely optional. </p> <p>The new king offers the chance for a broader debate on the advantages of monarchy. But let’s do so knowing Commonwealth membership is entirely unaffected by the question of whether or not the country is a republic.</p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p> <p><em>This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/busting-a-king-sized-myth-why-australia-and-nz-could-become-republics-and-still-stay-in-the-commonwealth-204750" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>. </em></p>

Legal

"Mateship in action": NZ survivors of helicopter crash praise Aussie compassion

<p>Two couples from New Zealand who survived the deadly helicopter collision on the Gold Coast have shared their condolences for those who died during the accident.</p> <p>Edward and Marle Swart along with Riaan and Elmarie Steenberg spoke of how the "fun five-minute joy ride on vacation to Australia turned into a nightmare" and said their "hearts are so heavy" for those who died in the other aircraft that fell to the ground.</p> <p>"Our deepest sympathies and sincere condolences to the injured and the deceased and their families," they said in a joint statement released on Wednesday night.</p> <p>"We are grateful and blessed to have been spared but very sad for the people who lost loved ones and the little ones and mum fighting for their lives in hospital.</p> <p>"Our hearts are so heavy for them."</p> <p>The couples also praised the 52-year-old pilot who managed to land their damaged helicopter safely "through all the chaos", while also commending the actions of witnesses who rushed to help on the scene. </p> <p>"Our gratitude goes out to every bystander who ran to help, every police officer and emergency services personnel who helped us with our immediate needs keeping us calm and making us comfortable," they said.</p> <p>"We saw mateship in action. Australians come together to help in time of need."</p> <p>"We would like to extend our great thanks to the hospital staff taking care of us for their kindness and compassion during this traumatic experience."</p> <p>The New Zealand couples, all in their 40s, were among the six people in the second helicopter who all survived the crash with minor injuries.</p> <p><a href="https://oversixty.com.au/news/news/helicopter-crash-victims-identified" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Four people</a> on the first helicopter died while the remaining three survivors remain in hospital.</p> <p><em>Image credits: Nine News</em></p>

Travel Trouble

"Dear leg, I'll miss you so much": Boy's tragic farewell

<p>A young boy has left a heartbreaking message on his leg after learning that it had to be amputated due to a rare cancer.</p> <p>Chandler Tran, 8, from Australia, and his family first discovered the illness when they found a “pea-sized” bump on his leg and noticed he was walking with a limp when he returned from holiday care around Easter time.</p> <p>Seeking an X-ray at the local hospital, he was then taken to a children’s hospital in Sydney and was given the devastating diagnosis of osteosarcoma, which is a rare bone cancer.</p> <p>The following months comprised of chemotherapy treatment. Doctors then wanted to amputate his leg to alleviate the pain, but the amputation will not cure him.</p> <p>Chandler’s dad Cong Tan, 42, recalled the moment. He said: “Can you take a photo of my leg on my tablet?”</p> <p>“He drew a little love heart over his leg and wrote a little message.”</p> <p>“He wrote: ‘Dear leg, I’ll miss you so much when you’re gone, love Chandler.’</p> <p>“He was sad about the prospect of losing his leg, but he was like, ‘If that’s what I need to do to not have pain, then that’s okay.’</p> <p>“For us seeing him coping so well, that really helped us.”</p> <p>Days after recovering from that operation, his family were told the tumours in Chandler’s lungs had grown and the doctors couldn’t do anything more to save his life.</p> <p>“They said any treatment would just be palliative, to try and slow the cancer down,” his mother Trang said.</p> <p>The family has set up a <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/jwxjw-support-the-trans" target="_blank" rel="noopener">GoFundMe</a> page to help cover eventual funeral costs but also to fund any LEGO that Chandler wants.</p> <p>“The sickness is coming on and we are at the point where we can’t treat it and so it is about keeping him happy,” Mr Tran said.</p> <p>“We appreciate everyone who has donated and is helping us give Chandler whatever his heart desires to make the last bit as enjoyable as possible.”</p> <p><em>Image: NZ Herald </em></p>

Body

Boat tragedy claims five lives after whale flips vessel

<p>New details have emerged pertaining to the accident that involved a whale, which was understood to have flipped over a boat at Goose Bay, claiming the lives of five photographers near Kaikōura in New Zealand’s South Island.</p> <p>The fatal accident occurred at 10 am on a Saturday, when the whale breached directly underneath the boat causing the vessel to capsize. Six people were thrown overboard including the skipper; five others were left trapped and did not survive.</p> <p>According to their website, the 10 photographers from the Nature Photography Society had been planning the three-day field trip for months. Everyone made their way to the popular seaside village on Friday September 9, before setting out to photograph landscapes, seascapes and birdlife. </p> <p>The group embarked at 9 am in an 8.5m aluminium boat, leaving South Bay at Kaikōura and heading down the coastline to Goose Bay near the well-known twin road tunnels on State Highway 1.</p> <p>The three-hour charter had taken the group out on the water to capture photos of the snow-capped Kaikōura landscape in the background and the birdlife along the coast, with whale watching not even on the agenda.</p> <p>An hour later, the charter headed north towards Barneys Rock, a popular spot for photographers and tourists. As it motored slowly north it appears it was on the edge of the famous deep trench that is home to whales, where the canyon quickly drops away to a depth of 500 metres and as far down as 3km.</p> <p>The boat was about 500 m from shore when the emerged from directly beneath the boat, flipping the vessel, throwing the skipper and passengers into the water.</p> <p>The Transport Accident Investigation Commission is investigating, in conjunction with Maritime New Zealand and the police.</p> <p><em>Image: Getty</em></p>

Travel Trouble

“Kia Ora NZ!”: First cruise ship returns to New Zealand

<p dir="ltr">After more than two years, the first cruise ship has returned to New Zealand’s shores, sailing into Auckland’s Waitemata Harbour on Friday.</p> <p dir="ltr">The P&O Cruises flagship <em>Pacific Explorer</em>, decked out with a banner reading, “Kia ora NZ”, was carrying passengers on a 12-night round-trip cruise from Sydney to New Zealand and Fiji, who were greeted with a traditional Māori welcome before heading ashore for locally-run tours.</p> <p dir="ltr">Multiple Kiwi businesses welcomed the return of cruising to New Zealand and hope it will bring a boost to the local economy and their business.</p> <p dir="ltr">David Lee, who owns five eateries in the shopping and hospitality precinct in Auckland City, said the return of cruising has brought him hope after the lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc when he opened in March 2020.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Without tourists, it was really hard to keep our restaurants afloat,” he said in a statement. “Our projected revenue amounted to less than half of what it should have been - we hung on by the skin of our teeth.</p> <p dir="ltr">“The return of cruise ships and the tourists they bring has given me hope for our business. I can’t wait to see the city abuzz with tourists and energy again.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Clinton Farley, the general manager of The Hotel Britomart, a boutique hotel in downtown Auckland, said the return of tourists through cruising isn’t just welcome financially, but also from a community aspect.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Along with our industry peers, we are extremely excited to see the maritime border reopening and tourists returning – they are such an important part of the fabric within our community,” Mr Farley said.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Tourists are crucial not just to the hotel but also to the wider Britomart precinct and the New Zealand economy. The return of cruise is a big part of our reopening to the world, and we are thrilled to see downtown Auckland coming back to life.”</p> <p dir="ltr">P&O Cruises Australia and Carnival Australia president Marguerite Fitzgerald thanked the Ardern government for enabling the cruising industry to return following the pandemic, </p> <p dir="ltr">“<em>Pacific Explorer</em>’s arrival in Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland today is a signal that cruise tourism is poised to make a significant contribution to the restoration of the tourism economy,” Ms Fitzgerald said. </p> <p dir="ltr">“We are looking forward to our ships also being able to return to beautiful destinations in New Caledonia and Vanuatu and to the progressive return to New Zealand ports of ships from our other cruise lines as the tourism sector continues to rebuild.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Ms Fitzgerald added that they were already planning for the <em>Pacific Explorer</em> to return to Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland, in 2023 for the ship’s first home-ported cruise in three years.</p> <p dir="ltr">“This is an exciting day for P&O and an exciting day for cruising and we thank New Zealand for today’s warm welcome,” she said.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-6ef01876-7fff-913a-4d2c-c7fb74120603"></span></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: P&O Cruises (Supplied)</em></p>

Cruising

Australia’s wellbeing budget: what we can – and can’t – learn from NZ

<p>Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers has <a href="https://twitter.com/JEChalmers/status/1545191023386951680" target="_blank" rel="noopener">confirmed</a> Australia will follow Aotearoa New Zealand’s example and put wellbeing at the centre of the national budget.</p> <p>So what is a wellbeing budget? To understand that requires a short explanation of how Australia’s budget works now, and how wellbeing goals will change the process.</p> <p><strong>How the budget has worked till now</strong></p> <p>Governments around the world budget in different ways. Some deliver little more than a statement of economic policy aspirations. Others, like Australia and New Zealand, publish detailed and useful information.</p> <p>The standard Australian budget since the 1980s has included an economic outlook, official estimates of likely revenue and expenses, and details on proposed changes to taxes and spending. There are sections on risks, estimates of debt, and much else besides.</p> <p>Preparing the budget is a mammoth undertaking by bureaucrats, ministers, and ministerial offices.</p> <p>Nevertheless government decisions actually only affect the budget at the margins.</p> <p>The bulk of spending is locked in to programs that roll on year after year – such as aged pensions, health and defence. Budgeting is incremental. Cabinet’s key budget decision-making body, the <a href="https://www.finance.gov.au/about-us/glossary/pgpa/term-expenditure-review-committee-erc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Expenditure Review Committee</a>, will work for months to shift just 2-3% of spending.</p> <p>There are exceptions. When a major new tax such as the GST is introduced, for example. Or when a government spends big in response to a global financial crisis or pandemic. But these are rare.</p> <p>Government budget decisions at the margin are, however, what the media and political debate focuses on, because they show the government’s priorities.</p> <p>These priorities typically change each year, reflecting political imperatives.</p> <p>The grab-bag of disparate spending increases in the Morrison government’s last budget, <a href="https://budget.gov.au/2022-23/content/overview/index.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">for example</a>, reflected an impending election. Its <a href="https://archive.budget.gov.au/2021-22/download/glossy_overview.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2021-22</a> budget reflected the pandemic. Its <a href="https://archive.budget.gov.au/2019-20/download/overview.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2019-20 budget</a> reflected its long-term plan to deliver a surplus.</p> <p><strong>New Zealand makes the shift</strong></p> <p>Until 2019 and its first wellbeing budget, New Zealand’s process was so similar to Australia’s that observers lumped them together as the “Antipodean” model of budgeting.</p> <p>No longer. The New Zealand government’s policy decisions still remain mostly at the margins. But the way those marginal decisions are made has changed.</p> <p>Priorities are no longer just set according to the government’s whim but are more constant – reflecting long-term goals identified as important to national wellbeing. These priorities aren’t meant to change significantly between years, or terms, or even decades.</p> <p><strong>Setting national priorities</strong></p> <p>New Zealand first wellbeing budget in 2019 set out five priorities for budget funding:</p> <ol> <li>transition to a sustainable and low-emissions economy</li> <li>social and economic opportunities</li> <li>lifting Maori and Pacific peoples’ opportunities</li> <li>reducing child poverty</li> <li>improving mental health.</li> </ol> <p>These priorities have stayed the same over four wellbeing budgets – albeit with some minor changes, such as adding physical wellbeing to the mental health objective.</p> <p>Extra funding has been allocated to these priorities in each of the four years. The 2022 budget, for example, had <a href="https://www.beehive.govt.nz/speech/minister-finance-wellbeing-budget-2022-speech" target="_blank" rel="noopener">an extra NZ$580 million</a> (about A$525 million) for health, social and justice program contributing to Māori wellbeing.</p> <p><strong>Has it made a difference?</strong></p> <p>It is not yet apparent what wellbeing budgeting has achieved for New Zealand. But that’s to be expected.</p> <p>Challenges such as child poverty, greenhouse emissions or mental health need decades of sustained effort, not four years of the standard budgeting cycle. These are areas that have often been neglected precisely because they can’t provide some “announceable” outcome in time for an election.</p> <p>Criticisms of the New Zealand process for <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/australia-shouldn-t-blindly-follow-nz-wellbeing-budget-model-20220708-p5b084.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">not yet improving outcomes</a> thus fail to appreciate the point of the reform. They are even more unfair given the context of the past two years, with the challenges of COVID-19, supply chain disruptions and global inflation.</p> <p><strong>Evidence from Scotland</strong></p> <p>A sense of the long-term benefits of wellbeing measures comes from Scotland.</p> <p>It has not yet gone as far as New Zealand with a wellbeing budget, but for 15 years it has had a “<a href="https://nationalperformance.gov.scot/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">well-being framework</a>” helping to shape spending priorities.</p> <p>The <a href="https://nationalperformance.gov.scot/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">National Performance Framework</a> was adopted in 2007 with a ten-year vision to measure and improve wellbeing outcomes.</p> <p>Updated in 2018, it covers 11 major outcomes – from “a globally competitive, entrepreneurial, inclusive and sustainable economy” to children growing up “loved, safe and respected” – with 81 measures of improvement (such as social and physical development scores as measures <a href="https://nationalperformance.gov.scot/measuring-progress/national-indicator-performance" target="_blank" rel="noopener">of child well-being</a>).</p> <hr /> <figure class="align-center zoomable"><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473524/original/file-20220712-16-97lchi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473524/original/file-20220712-16-97lchi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473524/original/file-20220712-16-97lchi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=595&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473524/original/file-20220712-16-97lchi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=595&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473524/original/file-20220712-16-97lchi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=595&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473524/original/file-20220712-16-97lchi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=747&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473524/original/file-20220712-16-97lchi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=747&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473524/original/file-20220712-16-97lchi.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=747&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" alt="Main goals of Scotland's national performance framework." /></a><figcaption><span class="caption">Main goals of Scotland’s national performance framework.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://nationalperformance.gov.scot/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Scottish Government</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure> <hr /> <p>Public policy researcher <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-02230-3_3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jennifer Wallace</a> (and current director of the Carnegie UK Trust) says the Scottish experience:</p> <blockquote> <p>tells a strong story of how a focus on wellbeing can reorientate government by creating a shared language for public services and a sense of unity of purpose.</p> </blockquote> <p><strong>Not perfect, but a step in the right direction</strong></p> <p>New Zealand’s wellbeing budget is not a complete departure from a standard budget. It still has economic content and, like any set of papers produced by a government, cannot escape politics.</p> <p>Nonetheless it puts wellbeing spending at the forefront of the government’s most important policy statement of the year. It is working on measuring progress in more sophisticated ways than standard indicators such as GDP.</p> <p>It encourages departments and their ministers to prepare policy bids with a view to these priorities. It makes wellbeing a benchmark by which to judge the budget – even by critics.</p> <p>New Zealand has long been a budget innovator. It led the world in introducing outcomes and outputs budgeting – categorising spending according to desired results rather than inputs such as staff and buildings. This is now considered standard good practice for a developed country.</p> <p>In Australia the wellbeing budget could turn out to be an equally useful model – though there will always be more work to be done.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/186725/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /></p> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/stephen-bartos-901192" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Stephen Bartos</a>, Professor of Economics, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-canberra-865" target="_blank" rel="noopener">University of Canberra</a></em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-wellbeing-budget-what-we-can-and-cant-learn-from-nz-186725" target="_blank" rel="noopener">original article</a>.</em></p> <p><em>Image: Getty Images</em></p>

Money & Banking

New Air NZ exhibit celebrates Māori culture

<p dir="ltr">A new exhibition promises to take visitors through the skies of New Zealand by combining virtual reality with the real world.</p> <p dir="ltr">The exhibition, launched by Air New Zealand, sees a virtual version of Pou Tikanga, Pou Pūrākau (cultural leader, storyteller) Joe Harawira take guests through the story of Matariki, the celebration of the Māori new year.</p> <p dir="ltr">"Attendees will board the waka rererangi (canoe in the sky) to visit the Guardians Tanē Mahuta (forest), Tangaroa (sea), Papatūānuku (land), and Ranginui (sky) to experience the Matariki story, all without moving an inch,” Air New Zealand Senior Cultural Development Manager Jahmaine Cummings-Hodge said in a <a href="https://www.airnewzealand.com.au/join-araraurangi-air-new-zealand-in-the-waka-rererangi-for-a-matariki-journey" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a>.</p> <p dir="ltr">"A full 3D virtual version of Joe has been created which appears in the experience at a human scale. We have also replicated the carved waka in its entirety digitally using similar techniques, mimicking intricate carvings and textures."</p> <p dir="ltr">A combination of facial motion capture, photogrammetry, and scanning techniques was used to bring the virtual versions of Joe and the waka to life, which can be viewed using Magic Leap headsets.</p> <p dir="ltr">The technology used by Magic Leap layers digital objects onto the real world, meaning that light enters the eye just like it would if a real object were being viewed.</p> <p dir="ltr">The virtual reality experience comes after the airline worked with Harawira for a new safety video celebrating Māori culture, released in May this year, and as part of the company’s efforts to support te ao Māori (the Māori worldview).</p> <p dir="ltr">"As the national carrier, Air New Zealand has a responsibility to demonstrate an authentic and holistic support of Māori culture,” Cummings-Hodge said.</p> <p dir="ltr">The experience, launched at the Canterbury Museum on June 18-19, will be live at Te Puia in Rotorua from June 22.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-73e10ed5-7fff-2715-1fe5-c9fa598026d9"></span></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: @canterburymuseum (Instagram)</em></p>

Domestic Travel

ACCC says consumers need more choices about what online marketplaces are doing with their data

<p>Consumers using online retail marketplaces such as eBay and Amazon “have little effective choice in the amount of data they share”, according to the <a href="https://www.accc.gov.au/publications/serial-publications/digital-platform-services-inquiry-2020-2025/digital-platform-services-inquiry-march-2022-interim-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">latest report</a> of the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) Digital Platform Services Inquiry.</p> <p>Consumers may benefit from personalisation and recommendations in these marketplaces based on their data, but many are in the dark about how much personal information these companies collect and share for other purposes.</p> <p><a href="https://www.accc.gov.au/media-release/concerning-issues-for-consumers-and-sellers-on-online-marketplaces" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ACCC chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb</a> said:</p> <blockquote> <p>We believe consumers should be given more information about, and control over, how online marketplaces collect and use their data.</p> </blockquote> <p>The report reiterates the ACCC’s earlier calls for amendments to the Australian Consumer Law to address unfair data terms and practices. It also points out that the government is considering <a href="https://www.ag.gov.au/integrity/consultations/review-privacy-act-1988" target="_blank" rel="noopener">proposals for major changes to privacy law</a>.</p> <p>However, none of these proposals is likely to come into effect in the near future. In the meantime, we should also consider whether practices such as obtaining information about users from third-party data brokers are fully compliant with existing privacy law.</p> <p><strong>Why did the ACCC examine online marketplaces?</strong></p> <p>The ACCC examined competition and consumer issues associated with “general online retail marketplaces” as part of its <a href="https://www.accc.gov.au/focus-areas/inquiries-ongoing/digital-platform-services-inquiry-2020-2025" target="_blank" rel="noopener">five-year Digital Platform Services Inquiry</a>.</p> <p>These marketplaces facilitate transactions between third-party sellers and consumers on a common platform. They do not include retailers that don’t operate marketplaces, such as Kmart, or platforms such as Gumtree that carry classified ads but don’t allow transactions.</p> <p>The ACCC report focuses on the four largest online marketplaces in Australia: Amazon Australia, Catch, eBay Australia and Kogan. In 2020–21, these four carried sales totalling $8.4 billion.</p> <figure class="align-center "><em><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/460716/original/file-20220502-18-4pvx0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/460716/original/file-20220502-18-4pvx0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460716/original/file-20220502-18-4pvx0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460716/original/file-20220502-18-4pvx0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460716/original/file-20220502-18-4pvx0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460716/original/file-20220502-18-4pvx0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460716/original/file-20220502-18-4pvx0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" alt="" /></em><figcaption><em><span class="caption">Online marketplaces such as Amazon, eBay, Catch and Kogan facilitate transactions between third-party buyers and sellers.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/new-york-usa-november-1-2018-1219079038" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Shutterstock</a></span></em></figcaption></figure> <p>According to the report, eBay has the largest sales of these companies. Amazon Australia is the second-largest and the fastest-growing, with an 87% increase in sales over the past two years.</p> <p>The ACCC examined:</p> <ul> <li>the state of competition in the relevant markets</li> <li>issues facing sellers who depend on selling their products through these marketplaces</li> <li>consumer issues including concerns about personal information collection, use and sharing.</li> </ul> <p><strong>Consumers don’t want their data used for other purposes</strong></p> <p>The ACCC expressed concern that in online marketplaces, “the extent of data collection, use and disclosure … often does not align with consumer preferences”.</p> <p>The Commission pointed to surveys about <a href="https://www.accc.gov.au/system/files/Consumer%20Policy%20Research%20Centre%20%28CPRC%29%20%2818%20August%202021%29.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Australian consumer attitudes to privacy</a> which indicate:</p> <ul> <li>94% did not feel comfortable with how digital platforms including online marketplaces collect their personal information</li> <li>92% agreed that companies should only collect information they need for providing their product or service</li> <li>60% considered it very or somewhat unacceptable for their online behaviour to be monitored for targeted ads and offers.</li> </ul> <p>However, the four online marketplaces analysed:</p> <ul> <li>do not proactively present privacy terms to consumers “throughout the purchasing journey”</li> <li>may allow advertisers or other third parties to place tracking cookies on users’ devices</li> <li>do not clearly identify how consumers can opt out of cookies while still using the marketplace.</li> </ul> <p>Some of the marketplaces also obtain extra data about individuals from third-party data brokers or advertisers.</p> <p>The <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3432769" target="_blank" rel="noopener">harms from increased tracking and profiling</a> of consumers include decreased privacy; manipulation based on detailed profiling of traits and weaknesses; and discrimination or exclusion from opportunities.</p> <p><strong>Limited choices: you can’t just ‘walk out of a store’</strong></p> <p>Some might argue that consumers must not actually care that much about privacy if they keep using these companies, but the choice is not so simple.</p> <p>The ACCC notes the relevant privacy terms are often spread across multiple web pages and offered on a “take it or leave it” basis.</p> <p>The terms also use “bundled consents”. This means that agreeing to the company using your data to fill your order, for example, may be bundled together with agreeing for the company to use your data for its separate advertising business.</p> <p>Further, as my research has shown, there is <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3905693" target="_blank" rel="noopener">so little competition on privacy</a> between these marketplaces that consumers can’t just find a better offer. The ACCC agrees:</p> <blockquote> <p>While consumers in Australia can choose between a number of online marketplaces, the common approaches and practices of the major online marketplaces to data collection and use mean that consumers have little effective choice in the amount of data they share.</p> </blockquote> <p>Consumers also seem unable to require these companies to delete their data. The situation is quite different from conventional retail interactions where a consumer can select “unsubscribe” or walk out of a store.</p> <p><strong>Does our privacy law currently permit all these practices?</strong></p> <p>The ACCC has reiterated its earlier calls to amend the Australian Consumer Law to prohibit unfair practices and make unfair contract terms illegal. (At present unfair contract terms are just void, or unenforceable.)</p> <p>The report also points out that the government is considering proposals for major changes to privacy law, but <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-new-proposed-privacy-code-promises-tough-rules-and-10-million-penalties-for-tech-giants-170711" target="_blank" rel="noopener">these changes</a> are uncertain and may take more than a year to come into effect.</p> <p>In the meantime, we should look more closely at the practices of these marketplaces under current privacy law.</p> <p>For example, under the <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.au/Series/C2004A03712" target="_blank" rel="noopener">federal Privacy Act</a> the four marketplaces</p> <blockquote> <p>must collect personal information about an individual only from the individual unless … it is unreasonable or impracticable to do so.</p> </blockquote> <p>However, <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3905693" target="_blank" rel="noopener">some online marketplaces</a> say they collect information about individual consumers’ interests and demographics from “<a href="https://www.ebay.com.au/help/policies/member-behaviour-policies/user-privacy-notice-privacy-policy?id=4260&mkevt=1&mkcid=1&mkrid=705-53470-19255-0&campid=5338596835&customid=&toolid=10001#section4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">data providers</a>” and <a href="https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=202075050&ref_=footer_iba" target="_blank" rel="noopener">other third parties</a>.</p> <p>We don’t know the full detail of what’s collected, but demographic information might include our age range, income, or family details.</p> <p>How is it “unreasonable or impracticable” to obtain information about our demographics and interests directly from us? Consumers could ask online marketplaces this question, and complain to the <a href="https://www.oaic.gov.au/privacy/privacy-complaints" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Office of the Australian Information Commissioner</a> if there is no reasonable answer.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/182134/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /></p> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/katharine-kemp-402096" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Katharine Kemp</a>, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Law & Justice, UNSW, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/unsw-sydney-1414" target="_blank" rel="noopener">UNSW Sydney</a></em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/accc-says-consumers-need-more-choices-about-what-online-marketplaces-are-doing-with-their-data-182134" target="_blank" rel="noopener">original article</a>.</em></p> <p><em>Image: Getty Images</em></p>

Technology

Aus-NZ refugee deal is a bandage on a failed policy

<p>Australia has finally accepted New Zealand’s offer to settle some of the refugees from the <a href="https://www.kaldorcentre.unsw.edu.au/sites/kaldorcentre.unsw.edu.au/files/factsheet_offshore_processing_overview.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">offshore processing</a> regime – about nine years after it was first made in 2013.</p> <p>The NZ deal will provide certainty for <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/mar/24/australia-agrees-450-refugees-can-be-resettled-in-new-zealand-nine-years-after-deal-first-offered" target="_blank" rel="noopener">450 people</a> who have been in limbo, many for more than a decade.</p> <p>But in the March 24 <a href="https://minister.homeaffairs.gov.au/KarenAndrews/Pages/australia-new-zealand-resettlement-arrangement.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announcement</a>, Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews made clear the deal does not change Australia’s <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/australia-and-new-zealand-reach-refugee-resettlement-agreement/20vyv2d8w" target="_blank" rel="noopener">hard-line approach</a>.</p> <p>This makes the deal a bandage on a <a href="https://www.kaldorcentre.unsw.edu.au/sites/kaldorcentre.unsw.edu.au/files/Policy_Brief_11_Offshore_Processing.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">failed policy</a> that continues to haemorrhage cash, destroy lives and erode the international system for refugee protection.</p> <p><strong>Who is – and isn’t – included in the NZ deal?</strong></p> <p>The original offer, made by the then NZ Prime Minister John Key in 2013, was refused by the Australian government until now. The Coalition government claimed the deal could be a “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/nov/01/decision-to-bring-children-from-nauru-an-admission-of-failure-by-government" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pull factor</a>” for asylum seekers coming by boat to Australia.</p> <p>Under the agreement, NZ will settle up to 150 of Australia’s “offshore processing” refugees per year for three years. These refugees arrived in Australia by sea between 2012 and 2014 and were sent to Nauru or Manus Island “offshore processing” detention centres.</p> <p>The deal can include the <a href="https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/about-us-subsite/files/population-and-number-of-people-resettled.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">112 people</a> who are in Nauru or those temporarily in Australia under offshore processing arrangements.</p> <p>Some <a href="https://www.unhcr.org/en-au/news/press/2022/3/623a66584/unhcr-news-comment-on-the-australia-new-zealand-refugee-deal.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">1,100</a> people have been returned temporarily to Australia, mostly for medical treatment. They mostly live in the community with <a href="https://www.amnesty.org.au/potential-return-of-refugees-and-people-seeking-asylum-to-nauru-and-png-proof-of-policy-failure/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">no support and insecure visa status</a> but some remain in detention.</p> <p>Those already being considered for settlement to another country, such as the United States or Canada, aren’t eligible for the NZ program.</p> <p>More than 100 men who remain in Papua New Guinea aren’t included in this deal.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">The always wise, always insightful <a href="https://twitter.com/BehrouzBoochani?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BehrouzBoochani</a> on Australia, the NZ refugee resettlement offer, and why it took nine years...<a href="https://t.co/IdxPBGpAz0">https://t.co/IdxPBGpAz0</a></p> <p>— Ben Doherty (@BenDohertyCorro) <a href="https://twitter.com/BenDohertyCorro/status/1508944829509926915?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 29, 2022</a></p></blockquote> <p>Under current known arrangements, people remaining in PNG could be <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/25/australia-new-zealand-refugee-deal-everything-we-know" target="_blank" rel="noopener">referred</a> by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to NZ through its regular refugee programme.</p> <p>Even after the NZ and US options are exhausted, it’s estimated at least <a href="https://www.refugeecouncil.org.au/australians-welcome-nzs-generosity-to-refugees-in-offshore-processing/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">500 refugees will be without a solution</a>.</p> <p>And they’re not the only ones. There are some <a href="https://www.kaldorcentre.unsw.edu.au/sites/kaldorcentre.unsw.edu.au/files/Factsheet_Legacy%20Caseload_final.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">30,000 people</a> in what’s called the “legacy caseload” who arrived by sea between 2012 and 2014 and weren’t transferred to Nauru and PNG. They remain in Australia subject to harmful measures. They’re stuck in limbo on temporary visas, unable to reunify with family members, and receive <a href="https://humanrights.gov.au/about/news/urgent-call-government-protect-asylum-seekers-and-refugees" target="_blank" rel="noopener">inadequate support</a> to secure housing or health care.</p> <p><strong>Australia distorts the global refugee system</strong></p> <p><a href="https://www.refworld.org/docid/51af82794.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Australia has primary responsibility</a> for refugees who seek its protection. The Australian government has repeatedly tried and failed to find countries willing to settle refugees it refuses to protect. It reportedly offered multiple countries, from the Philippines to Kyrgyzstan, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/may/08/australias-refugee-deal-a-farce-after-us-rejects-all-iranian-and-somali-asylum-seekers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">millions of dollars</a> to settle refugees from Australia’s offshore camps – without success.</p> <p>Resettlement to a third country is an important solution, available to less than 1% of refugees globally whose lives, liberty, safety, health or other fundamental rights are at risk <a href="https://www.unhcr.org/46f7c0ee2.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">in the country where they have sought refuge</a>. This isn’t the case for refugees seeking asylum in Australia, where there’s a well-established asylum system.</p> <p>It’s difficult to think of the NZ solution as “resettlement” in its true meaning.</p> <p>Resettlement places are important to <a href="https://www.unhcr.org/en-au/news/press/2021/6/60d32ba44/un-refugee-agency-releases-2022-resettlement-needs.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">relieve pressure on developing countries</a> that host almost 90% of the world’s refugees. Conflicts in Syria, Yemen, Myanmar, South Sudan, Afghanistan, plus now Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, have created a need for resettlement in a third country for almost <a href="https://www.unhcr.org/en-au/news/press/2021/6/60d32ba44/un-refugee-agency-releases-2022-resettlement-needs.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">1.5 million</a> refugees worldwide. Resettlement has been disrupted over the last two years due to COVID, leaving even more people in urgent need.</p> <p>Under these extraordinary “refugee deals” with the US and NZ, the Australian government is trying to solve a political problem of its own making at the expense of people in desperate need.</p> <p>Like Australia, the US and NZ offer only a limited number of resettlement spots each year. When these spots go to Australia’s refugees, who are Australia’s responsibility, someone else misses out.</p> <p><strong>Continuing damage</strong></p> <p>This is Australia’s second go at offshore processing. Its first iteration, the “Pacific Solution”, lasted from 2001 until 2008. The second commenced in 2012 and continues.</p> <p>Offshore processing remains costly. Australian taxpayers have spent, on average, around <a href="https://www.kaldorcentre.unsw.edu.au/sites/kaldorcentre.unsw.edu.au/files/Policy_Brief_11_Offshore_Processing.pdf#page=14&zoom=auto,-135,786" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A$1 billion per year</a> to maintain offshore processing since 2014.</p> <p>This is despite a dramatic drop in the number of people held in Nauru and PNG. At the peak in April 2014, Australia detained a total of 2,450 people. By December 2021, there were <a href="https://www.refugeecouncil.org.au/operation-sovereign-borders-offshore-detention-statistics/2/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">219 people remaining offshore in Nauru and PNG</a>.</p> <p>People transferred to Manus Island and Nauru suffered mandatory and indefinite detention in harsh conditions. Their treatment has been called out by the United Nations repeatedly as <a href="https://www.unhcr.org/en-au/united-nations-observations.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cruel and inhuman</a> and described by Amnesty International as <a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/checkpoint/audio/2018835563/amnesty-international-celebrates-deal-for-nz-to-take-refugees" target="_blank" rel="noopener">torture</a>.</p> <p>The abuse of men, women and children in offshore processing centres has been thoroughly documented in a <a href="https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/b743d9_e4413cb72e1646d8bd3e8a8c9a466950.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">communiqué</a> to the International Criminal Court, <a href="https://bills.parliament.uk/publications/43063/documents/791#page=27&zoom=auto,-134,1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">parliamentary inquiries</a> and domestic legal challenges.</p> <p>Australia’s offshore processing sets a bad regional precedent for <a href="https://humanrights.gov.au/sites/default/files/20160913_Pathways_to_Protection.pdf#page=20&zoom=page-fit,-625,841" target="_blank" rel="noopener">refugee protection in Southeast Asia</a> and beyond.</p> <p>The policy objective of using cruelty as a deterrent to “stop the boats” and “save lives at sea” didn’t work. If boats didn’t arrive, this was due to Australia’s <a href="https://www.kaldorcentre.unsw.edu.au/sites/kaldorcentre.unsw.edu.au/files/Policy_Brief_11_Offshore_Processing.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">interception and turnback of boats at sea</a>.</p> <p><strong>What needs to change?</strong></p> <p>Refugee policy can be <a href="https://www.kaldorcentre.unsw.edu.au/publication/principles-australian-refugee-policy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">principled</a> and driven by compassion while protecting borders and respecting international law.</p> <p>Australia should formally end offshore processing. The small number of people still held offshore in Nauru and PNG should be transferred back to Australia.</p> <p>Everyone who has been subject to the policy since 2012 who doesn’t have a permanent solution could be offered settlement in Australia. This <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/about_parliament/parliamentary_departments/parliamentary_library/pubs/bn/2012-2013/pacificsolution" target="_blank" rel="noopener">occurred</a> in the first iteration of offshore processing and could happen again.</p> <p>Money and lives can be saved.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/180241/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /></p> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/natasha-yacoub-1259499" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Natasha Yacoub</a>, International refugee lawyer and scholar, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/unsw-sydney-1414" target="_blank" rel="noopener">UNSW Sydney</a></em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/aus-nz-refugee-deal-is-a-bandage-on-a-failed-policy-its-time-to-end-offshore-processing-180241" target="_blank" rel="noopener">original article</a>.</em></p> <p><em>Image: Getty Images</em></p>

Legal

Buckle up! Number of Australia-NZ flights set to rise

<p dir="ltr">Flights from Australia to New Zealand <a href="https://travel.nine.com.au/latest/new-zealand-qantas-and-jetstar-to-ramp-up-flights-to-new-zealand/39f3aa8c-3bc7-42e5-a0c3-360843a3ae3f" target="_blank" rel="noopener">are set to increase</a> after it was announced vaccinated Aussies would be allowed to travel to their Kiwi neighbour from mid-April.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-8e056de9-7fff-a6cb-d336-5249d82c3299"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced that the border would reopen from 11.59pm on April 12, nearly a year after the short-lived trans-Tasman bubble between the two countries first opened.</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/tv/CbJMv83lJrA/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/tv/CbJMv83lJrA/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by New Zealand (@purenewzealand)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p dir="ltr">In response, Qantas and Jetstar plan to run up to 30 return flights a week from mid-April.</p> <p dir="ltr">Though nowhere near the more than 170 return services offered a week before the global pandemic, it’s a significant increase after the closure of the travel bubble and a sign of the industry’s recovery.</p> <p dir="ltr">In a statement, Qantas said it would be operating daily flights between Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney to Auckland, and between Sydney and Christchurch.</p> <p dir="ltr">Meanwhile, Jetstar will be offering three weekly flights from the Gold Coast to Auckland.</p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-b2773d88-7fff-c776-2c08-2762470eadd0"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">But the travel opportunities will continue to grow during May and June, when the airlines will resume flights to Queenstown and Wellington.</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CbJ2QwbO56Y/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CbJ2QwbO56Y/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Jetstar Australia (@jetstaraustralia)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p dir="ltr">It is also said that Qantas will continue to offer a flexible booking policy for trans-Tasman flights which allows for unlimited flight date changes on flights booked before June 30 for travel until December 31, 2022.</p> <p dir="ltr">With Aussies accounting for 40 percent of the tourists entering New Zealand each year, it’s sure to be a decision welcomed by the local tourism industry and those who have been itching to travel for the last two years.</p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-7b8399b4-7fff-e02a-41fd-362d5429a347"></span></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: @jetstarnz (Instagram)</em></p>

Domestic Travel

Qantas’ eight-year streak as safest airline ended by Kiwi rival

<p dir="ltr">In the wake of some of its toughest years during the pandemic, the airline industry has welcomed the gradual return of travelling by announcing the safest airlines in the world for the year ahead - with the top prize going to Air New Zealand.</p> <p dir="ltr">The 2022 rankings were compiled by <a href="https://www.airlineratings.com/news/air-new-zealand-worlds-safest-airline-2022/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">AirlineRatings.com</a>, which considered the number of serious incidents over the previous two years, safety initiatives, fleet age and COVID-19 safety protocols in each airline’s score.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-5b66640e-7fff-fcac-f0d3-d051d525fdce"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">Air New Zealand was lauded for its technical innovation and young fleet of planes, with the website’s editors noting that the airline operates in “some of the most challenging weather conditions and remote environments”.</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CagcvZXlCNq/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CagcvZXlCNq/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Air New Zealand ✈️ (@airnz)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p dir="ltr">“The last two years have been extremely difficult for airlines with COVID-19 slashing travel and Airline Ratings editors have particularly focused on the lengths airlines are undertaking to re-train pilots ahead of a return to service,” said Editor-in-Chief Geoffrey Thomas, </p> <p dir="ltr">He added that Air New Zealand was a leader in the field thanks to its “comprehensive retraining”..</p> <p dir="ltr">This year’s rankings has also seen the end of Qantas’ eight-year streak, with the website stating that an incident at a Perth airport in 2018 caused the drop in its ranking.</p> <p dir="ltr">Despite this, the Aussie airline still made the top 20 of the 385 airlines included in the ranking, coming in seventh place.</p> <p dir="ltr">The top 20 ranking, in full, is as follows:Air New Zealand, Etihad Airways, Qatar Airways, Singapore Airways, TAP Portugal, SAS, Qantas, Alaska Airlines, EVA Air, Virgin Australia/Atlantic, Cathay Pacific Airways, Hawaiian Airlines, American Airlines, Lufthansa/Swiss Group, Finnair, Air France/KLM Group, British Airways, Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and Emirates.</p> <p dir="ltr">Meanwhile, the safest low-cost airlines have also been ranked, with Jetstar, Ryanair, Vietjet, Westjet and Wizz were among those that made the top ten list for 2022.</p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-3f917cbd-7fff-1d64-ce8c-c859b68bbbc3"></span></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: @qantas (Instagram)</em></p>

Domestic Travel

All the tunes used to repel NZ anti-vaccine mandate protesters

<p dir="ltr">As a protest against vaccine mandates enters its sixth day outside New Zealand’s Parliament House, Speaker of the House Trevor Mallard adopted a rather unconventional way to send protesters packing.</p><p dir="ltr">With the rain and wind brought on by Cyclone Dovi not appearing to deter protesters, Mallard first attempted to shoo them away by turning on the sprinklers.</p><p><span id="docs-internal-guid-f82cf814-7fff-e818-6559-7d38f879e1c9">When that didn’t work either, he <a href="https://theconversation.com/three-unconventional-forms-of-travel-you-should-try-if-you-cant-go-abroad-this-summer-163776" target="_blank" rel="noopener">began blasting</a> widely disliked tunes instead at full volume, along with repeated pro-vaccination messages.</span></p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Last night the lovely govt played on loop Macarena, vax messaging, & Trevor Mallard warning protesters that erecting structures on parliament lawns was unlawful. All night long. Despite this audio torture & the howling gale, the protest continues. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Parliament?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Parliament</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/convoy2022NZ?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#convoy2022NZ</a> <a href="https://t.co/QCtK4T69N7">pic.twitter.com/QCtK4T69N7</a></p>— @victoria_dlV (@victoria_dlV) <a href="https://twitter.com/victoria_dlV/status/1492654821325041668?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 13, 2022</a></blockquote><p><span id="docs-internal-guid-b77720af-7fff-0fcb-4eeb-15ff52cf4603">To start with, Mallard’s playlist featured a selection of <em>Copacabana </em>singer Barry Manilow’s songs, <em>Macarena </em>by Los Del Rio, and the children’s tunes including <em>Baby Shark</em> and <em>Let it Go</em> from Disney film <em>Frozen</em>.</span></p><p> </p><p><span id="docs-internal-guid-612e419e-7fff-31e0-24fb-a66484f0e4cf">As news of the Speaker’s playlist spread online, singer James Blunt even weighed in, taking to Twitter to suggest that the NZ government include his music if Manilow’s proved ineffective.</span></p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Give me a shout if this doesn’t work. <a href="https://twitter.com/nzpolice?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NZPolice</a> <a href="https://t.co/AM2dZ6asMS">https://t.co/AM2dZ6asMS</a></p>— James Blunt (@JamesBlunt) <a href="https://twitter.com/JamesBlunt/status/1492586180226990083?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 12, 2022</a></blockquote><p><span id="docs-internal-guid-ba2a5a6f-7fff-4d23-91b7-5f187d5ada53">Mallard saw Blunt’s “very kind offer” and quickly added the Brit’s smash hit, <em>You’re Beautiful</em>, to the playlist.</span></p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en"><a href="https://twitter.com/JamesBlunt?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JamesBlunt</a> we will take up your very kind offer. My only doubt is whether it is fair to our <a href="https://twitter.com/nzpolice?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@nzpolice</a> officers but I think they will be able to cope. <a href="https://t.co/spb1BDK50u">https://t.co/spb1BDK50u</a></p>— Trevor Mallard (@SpeakerTrevor) <a href="https://twitter.com/SpeakerTrevor/status/1492612830935531521?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 12, 2022</a></blockquote><p></p><p><span id="docs-internal-guid-9d371e47-7fff-83cd-8801-ca7e94339b79">Other entries on Mallard’s playlist included a humorous rendition of Celine Dion’s <em>My Heart Will Go On</em>, featuring musician Matt Mulholland playing a recorder quite poorly, as well as Randa’s <em>Vaccinate the Nation</em>.</span></p><p></p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">This is another suggestion………Crybabies Caravan With Full Band <a href="https://t.co/zjxaet7Wn1">https://t.co/zjxaet7Wn1</a> via <a href="https://twitter.com/YouTube?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@YouTube</a></p>— Trevor Mallard (@SpeakerTrevor) <a href="https://twitter.com/SpeakerTrevor/status/1492607298476605440?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 12, 2022</a></blockquote><p><span id="docs-internal-guid-1cbcfc2f-7fff-a4cd-ec9b-49137fb64bc8"></span></p><p dir="ltr">Social media users have also been sending in recommendations for what has been described as Mallard’s “counter protest”, while others have compiled playlists of annoying tunes guaranteed to irritate.</p><p dir="ltr"><em>Image: Getty Images</em></p>

Music

Shocking notice left at a Christchurch Airbnb

<p><em>Image: Getty </em></p> <div> <div class="reply-list-component"> <div class="reply-component"> <div class="reply-body-component"> <div class="reply_body body linkify"> <div class="reply-body-wrapper"> <div class="reply-body-inner"> <div class="body_text redactor-styles redactor-in"> <p>Shock and fear went through a guest’s mind when he noticed signs at an Airbnb property in Christchurch, saying Māori is not to be spoken and not to refer to their country as Aotearoa.</p> <p>Ameen Makani, had been chatting with the owner of the house for at least half an hour last weekend when he noticed three signs printed and pasted on each glass door in the living room.</p> <p>The “Important Notice to Visitors” contained four rules, including ‘No Maori to be spoken on these premises’, and ‘We live in NEW ZEALAND. Please don’t refer to our country as ‘Aotearoa’.’</p> <p>Makani said he was struck by fear because the Pakeha man, aged about 70, was the most unsuspecting individual.</p> <p>“He’s charismatic, he’s well-travelled and he’s kind. You could strike up a conversation with this man and probably chat for hours,” said Makani, saying he found it difficult to stay composed and contain his reaction after seeing the notices.</p> <p>Makani said he was taught when growing up to consider what conversations are worth engaging in and decided not to ask the host about the signs.</p> <p>“What I most certainly have never seen before and never hope to again, is the absolute confidence in which this man has blatantly showcased his instructions for his guests to see.</p> <p>“I made a last-minute booking on the day and he wasn’t home when I checked in. So<br />it makes you wonder how long these signs have really been up and do they ever come down?” the guest said about the incident.</p> <p>Makani also realised a simple Airbnb complaint was not going to cut it, saying the<br />issue was bigger than a house being taken off a website.</p> <p>Derek Nolan, Airbnb’s Head of Public Policy for New Zealand and Australia, said discrimination is unacceptable and has no place in our community. </p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div>

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