Recent events in Auckland have resurfaced memories of when being gay was considered a neurotic personality disorder…

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Our cash-strapped, underfunded, overspent defence force is in line for a budget boost, and experts say it can't come soon enough

From peacekeeping on the Russia-Ukraine border to defending our own waters, experts say it can't come soon enough

Two defence experts are warning that New Zealand’s ageing navy is woefully inadequate and underfunded when it comes to protecting our waters.

Warnings like this have been shrugged off before because we are too far away to worry, but yesterday came news that three Chinese navy ships were sailing in international waters east of Sydney, and could be headed toward Pacific Islands countries, in a move that’s been called “unusual” and “provocative”.

“We seem to think that if it all goes wrong we’ll be safe down here,” former defence minister and NZ First MP, Ron Mark tells The Detail.

“The world is a volatile space and it’s been increasingly so and the one thing that you can absolutely bank on is that what you think today is going to be the situation tomorrow, will not be.”

New Zealand’s exclusive economic zone covers 4 million square kilometres of the earth’s surface but Mark says the country is not doing enough to look after it.

“We think we can protect it by penny-pinching our way forward. The only people who pay are our military personnel,” he says.

Victoria University’s director of the centre for strategic studies David Capie says the increasingly dangerous world means New Zealand will “have to do a lot for ourselves and working with our ally Australia”.

Their warnings came on the same day as it was revealed China’s naval ships were sailing 150 nautical miles off Sydney. Defence Minister Judith Collins said the Chinese naval task group was being monitored.

Professor Rory Medcalf, of the Australian National University National Security College, told Australia’s ABC that “a confronting strategic future is arriving fast”.

“It would be hard to find a more tangible sign of the need for Australia to increase defence spending and to sustain our campaign of statecraft aimed at stopping China establishing a military base in the Pacific,” he said.

New Zealand’s own defence budget is in the spotlight again with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon this week responding to questions about raising it to 2 percent of GDP, which would nearly double the current funding and bring it in line with Australia’s allocation. At the same time, US President Donald Trump has been pushing for Nato members to raise their defence spending from 2 to 5 percent…

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Experts agree that advances to GMO technology means laws need to change. But just how those changes look is contentious.

Changes are coming to our gene editing laws. Whether they'll help future-proof our economy or ruin our international reputation is up for debate.…

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Ecogas is New Zealand's only plant of its kind processing food waste. Its co-founder says that's embarrassing. …

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New health minister Simeon Brown is presiding over a list of resignations from high-ranking health officials…

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She says her government is delivering for workers, but Brooke Van Velden won't meet with the biggest worker organisation we have - the Council for Trade Unions …

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Strong parental control seems to be the key to keeping insta-famous and highly visible YouTube kids safe…

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Despite a model based on choice, New Zealanders options for birth are limited based on post code.

The World Health Organisation has called for a community midwife model - just like New Zealand's. But in some areas of the country, that model is far from the reality.…

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As the US looks to be leaving the Pacific, and New Zealand is rowing with Kiribati and the Cook Islands, experts worry about Chinese influence …

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Why the palliative care sector feels under fire, under-funded and under pressure to allow assisted dying practitioners into its facilities

A government proposal to axe the only two jobs in New Zealand's health sector of people who were working on a national strategy for palliative care has angered those in the sector, which is already under immense strain.

It's put another wedge between those who want terminally ill patients to live well before they die; and those who want to give them the option of dying earlier.

Yes, this is another story about the stretched New Zealand health service.

But it's one that will affect the 89 percent of us who will die naturally and will require nursing at the end of their lives.

- The palliative care sector, much of it provided through the efforts of volunteers, has felt under attack lately. Here's why:

- The plan to dispense with the jobs of two people who had been giving palliative care a voice in the health service, and in government

- Recent critical news stories about two patients who had to be moved from their aged care facility and hospice because they wanted an assisted death, which wasn't allowed on the premises.

- A commentary in The Listener by End-of-Life Choice Society president Ann David titled "Dignity Denied" that said some doctors, health care facilities and hospices are obstructing patients' rights when it comes to dying. (The law says that doctors are not allowed to bring the subject up themselves, but the accusations here went further.)…

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The president, the tech oligarchs, the media and AI - why we can expect a new wave of information you just can't trust …

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