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News of Zealand

News of Zealand: Your Midnight Purchases 'At Risk' If Online Retailers Snub GST

Revenue Minister informing international companies of law change, plus EQC's culture problem and action plan for water quality.

Everything you need to know about the world today, curated by 95bFM and VICE NZ.

LOCAL NEWS

Stuart Nash Optimistic Online Retailers Won’t Pull Out of NZ
Revenue Minister Stuart Nash appeared before a committee yesterday to field questions about New Zealand’s decision to impose GST on goods bought from overseas. The questioning was spurred on by Amazon’s decision to block Australians’ access to their international website in response to changes in the country’s GST laws. Nash acknowledged that Australia showed there was an inherent risk in dealing with big international companies, and said that it would not be in the interest of consumers to see these companies pull out of New Zealand. However, he maintained that he was confident that the new laws would not force major changes for these companies, and said that the government remained open to talking with online businesses. Nash said that the IRD had already begun contacting international companies to inform them of the upcoming law change. Currently, 200 companies are registered with the IRD for GST on online services, with Chinese super-group Ali Baba being among them.

Earthquake Commission Set to Undergo Serious Overhaul
Megan Woods, the Minister Responsible for the Earthquake Commission, has called for immediate changes to the organisation following a damning report released earlier this week. The report, filed by Ministerial Advisor Christine Stevenson, states that EQC staff have no confidence in their own data, fail to treat customers with respect and honesty, and need to dramatically overhaul the way in which they communicated with customers. The report also makes a number of recommendations, which Megan Woods says she will be enforcing immediately. These recommendations include hiring more staff, establishing a claimant referencing group, and giving files on request, rather than expecting claimants to seek them out under the Informations Act.
The EQC has been plagued by mismanagement and poor public relations since its inception. Just last May, the EQC revealed that it had accidentally missed around 1,000 claims. In fact, it later turned out that the EQC had misinterpreted their data, and that more than 3,600 claimants were yet to be processed. It is hoped that the recommendations made in the report will help streamline the much maligned EQC.

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55,000 Seedlings Seized Due to Faulty Paperwork
Ministry of Primary Industries has seized 55,000 fruit tree cuttings because of defective paperwork. The fruit seedlings, imported from the US, has had its imports halted and all imports seized. The ministry says there's no evidence of bugs or biosecurity dangers, but the seized plants are being held at quarantine anyway, and may be destroyed. Chief executive of New Zealand Plant Producers Inc, Matthew Dolan says that the value of the losses of the potentially destroyed plants would grow over time. Dolan says the loss of the plants would represent over 10 years of breeding work.

Government to Launch New Fair Pay Agreement Working Group
The government has announced a new Fair Pay Agreement Working Group to make recommendations around fairer employment standards for workers. Council of Trade Unions President, Richard Wagstaff, says the policy is long overdue after the impact of employment deregulation following the neo-liberalism era of the 1980s. Speaking to 95bfm, Wagstaff said that while “the employment relations act that was introduced under Helen Clark's government was a major step in the right direction”, there still existed “a situation where there were no real industry standards across the workforce which is a real hole and has kept New Zealand wages low as a result”. The new Fair Pay working group is led by former Prime Minister Jim Bolger.

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House Owners Demand Compensation for Meth Testing
People evicted from their homes due to methamphetamine testing are waiting to find out if they're owed compensation. The government has ordered Housing New Zealand to deliver a comprehensive report on the homes after recent findings showed that those houses posed no risk to residents. Housing NZ chief executive, Andrew McKenzie said yesterday that they were looking into compensating tenants who had been forced to pay for testing. However, Drug Foundation executive director, Ross Bell says the compensation needs to extend further than housing costs. Bell says many of the tenants had furniture and belongings destroyed in the clean ups.

New Water Quality Action Plan
A new Action Plan for Water Quality has been released thanks to a joint effort between central government, regional councils and primary agricultural industries. This Action Plan is a public demonstration of these groups' work to improve New Zealand's water issues. Horticulture New Zealand Chief Executive, Mark Chapman says there is a need for the same level of action from other industries that contribute to water pollution. “Of course, one of the main water polluters in this country is urban and so the urban areas also need to focus on their pollution.” The Action Plan aims to bring attention to the need for a nationwide effort to change practices across all sectors.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

North Korea Blows Up More Testing Sites
A new report released by 38 North, a John Hopkins University group devoted to analysing the situation in North Korea, claims that satellite imaging shows North Korea may be in the process of destroying testing plants. Among other things, the report says the images show a stand used for missile ejection testing was demolished in Kusong. 38 North believes that these sites have been demolished in an attempt to curry favour with US President Donald Trump. The news comes shortly after North Korea invited journalists to witness the historic implosion of one of its primary nuclear test sites.

Cambridge Analytica CEO Apologises for Lying in Previous Apology
Alexander Nix, the former CEO of Cambridge Analytica, appeared before MPs in the UK this morning to defend the company against allegations that it misused private information given to it by Facebook. During his appearance, Nix stated that Christopher Wylie, the man responsible for unveiling the company’s misuse of private data, was a “bitter and jealous” whistleblower who “lied over a great many issues”. Nix went on to say that he believed that his organisation was the victim of a “coordinated and effective attack” by “the liberal media” to discredit his company through false reporting.
Nix also apologised for claiming in an initial hearing that the company had not had any dealings with Facebook. Since that hearing, it has come out that Nix and Cambridge Analytica did hold information given to it by Facebook, and that Analytica had destroyed the information in preparation for the first hearing.
This second hearing was held after it was revealed that Cambridge Analytica may have been complicit in Vote Leave’s alleged campaign fraud, which saw them circumvent campaign spending laws by moving money through a smaller, supposedly independent party. Nix said that he could not speak on the matter since it was under investigation, but added that Cambridge Analytica had nothing to do with the British Brexit vote.

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Pollution Causing Tree Malnutrition in European Forests
A new study published in the journal Nature reveals that pollution is causing tree malnutrition trends in Europe’s forests. According to the study, pollution damages fungi living on the roots of trees which allow the uptake of nutrients and water. The study used samples from more than 13,000 trees from over 20 countries, including the UK. Signs of poor tree health, including discoloured and missing leaves, have been observed in forests across Europe. Scientists warn that current pollution limits may not be sufficient to protect Europe’s trees from nutrient starvation. The fungi, called mychorrizhal fungi, receive carbon from the trees roots. The trees wouldn’t be able to uptake important nutrients from the soil if it weren’t for the fungi, which make the nutrients, such as potassium, nitrogen and phosphorus, bioavailable through its roots.

Fuego Volcano Continues to Erupt as Death Toll Rises
The death toll has risen to 75 with nearly 200 people missing as the Fuego volcano in Guatemala continues to explode. The unpredictable situation has made search-and-rescue operations difficult and halting. The volcano erupted unexpectedly on Sunday for the first time in over four decades. On Tuesday the volcano erupted again, spewing gray ash and molten mud. Seven communities have been evacuated as eruption warnings have been reinstated. Black smoke and ash has covered the surrounding area and as far as Guatemala City 30 kilometers away.

EU to Revise Legislation in Wake of Iran Pull Out
The European Commission has revised a piece of EU legislation in response to recent sanctions imposed by the US on businesses operating in Iran. The move is intended to protect EU companies continuing to do business with Iran from suffering financial harm and to cover loss of damages inflicted due to the US sanctions. Against the pleading of his European Allies, President Trump announced last month the US would be withdrawing from the Iran deal. The deal, signed in 2015, lifted international sanctions on Iran in exchange for the country's commitment to scale back its uranium enrichment programme.

Iraqi Officials Demand Election Recount
Iraq officials have ordered a full recount of ballots in the country's recent parliamentary election. The election last month resulted in a victory for Shiite leader, Muqtada al-Sadr. The outgoing parliament voted in favour of a manual recount of the 11 million ballots in response to charges of electoral fraud. The outgoing parliament also sacked the nine-member electoral commission that oversaw the election process and replaced it with judges. Incumbent prime minister Hider al abadi, backed the allegations of ballot tamping and blamed untested electronic vote counting devices used by the electoral commission.

Additional reporting: Daniel Meech, Leah Garcia-Purves, Ella Christensen