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News of Zealand

News of Zealand: Australia Rejects NZ's Offer to Take Manus Island Refugees, Again

Plus Ardern considers retaliation for higher uni fees across the ditch, mental health concerns at Otago and NZ slips in gender equality rankings.

Everything you need to know today curated by 95bFM and VICE NZ.

LOCAL NEWS

Australia Wants Manus Island Refugees to Go to US, Not NZ
New Zealand's offer to take 150 Manus Island refugees has been turned down by the Australian Government. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern posed the issue to Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull this weekend, who said Australia was concentrating on an agreement to resettle 1250 people in the United States. Ardern has ruled out negotiating directly with Papua New Guinea, despite New Zealand's offer being rejected, as she said the offer is still under active consideration by Australia. Papua New Guinea is now having to deal with the 600 men detained in the centre, who have no food, water or access to health services. However, Malcolm Turnbull did not shut the door completely, saying Australia may consider it at a later date. The two leaders also met to discuss education, among other issues, and say the relationship between our two countries is strong.

Jacinda Ardern Considering Retaliation Regarding Uni Fees
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says she may retaliate if Australia continues with plans to end subsidies for New Zealanders studying across the ditch. The Australian government is set to stop subsidising New Zealanders' tertiary education from 2018, which will more than triple the costs for many of those studying there. Currently, Australians studying in New Zealand pay the same university fees as locals—but before the election, Ardern said that New Zealand should consider retaliatory measures if the policy plays out. At a press conference in Sydney between the two leaders, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said he understood New Zealand's criticism, but is not looking to withdraw the policy. He said that he wants New Zealand to respect Australia's right to manage their own affairs and determine their university arrangements. After the meeting, Ardern said it would only be fair that if New Zealanders in Australia incur higher fees, Australians in New Zealand experience the same system.

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New Zealand Ranks Ninth in the World for Gender Equality
A report published by the World Economic Forum shows New Zealand has fallen four places since 2009 in the ranking for gender equality worldwide, only reaching the ninth position on the list. Gender Equal New Zealand spokesperson, Vanisa Dhiru, says the drop in the ranking is shameful. Dhiru told 95bFM that even though it's still a rather high ranking, New Zealand's past —such as being the first country to equality in the voting—shows the country has a responsibility to do better, and should not underplay the issues it is facing regarding gender inequality. Vanisa Dhiru said everyday sexism has a huge, yet widely unnoticed effect on gender inequality.

Rise of Mental Health Needs at Otago University
Support services at Otago University are responding to a major increase in calls for help with mental health after a string of suicides in the past year. There have been at least six suicides in the wider campus area, and with university exams happening now, the stress of deadlines is building up. A new student mental health project at the University, called Silverline Otago, has been organising events to help de-stress students. Since starting in June, Silverline has organised a conference attended by 400 students. One of the project's founders said many students have been affected by suicide in one way or another, and that had made the desire for change more urgent. The government is currently moving to put counsellors in all primary schools to help with child mental health, and while on the campaign trail, Jacinda Ardern said student mental health is an important issue.

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330 New Zealand Schools Operate Half Empty
Education Ministry figures show that one in seven state and integrated schools have filled less than 51 percent of their classrooms. A third of these establishments are located in rural or isolated areas, with Northland registering the highest percentage of under-capacity schools. Principals believe these figures are due to wrongly positioned schools and allocated funds. The Education Ministry is considering removing rooms from schools with a significant surplus of space, and allocating certain areas like halls and libraries to the benefit of the wider community.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

'Paradise Papers' Reveal World's Elite Secret Hidden Money
Some of the world's ultra-rich who have sheltered their wealth in secretive tax havens to take advantage of lower taxes, have been exposed in a new leak of 13.4 million documents, dubbed the 'Paradise Papers'. Those implicated by the leak include Queen Elizabeth, who has about £10million pounds of her private money invested offshore into funds in the Cayman Islands and Bermuda. President Donald Trump's commerce secretary is shown to have a stake in a firm co-owned by Vladimir Putin's son-in-law, which has been sanctioned by the United States. The material was sourced from two offshore service providers and the company registries of 19 tax havens, and initially obtained by a German newspaper. It's a bad look for some world leaders, including Trump and British PM Theresa May, who have pledged to curb aggressive tax avoidance schemes. However, many of those named in the documents have not committed any legal wrongdoings.

Catalan officials Turn Themselves In to Belgian Police
Catalan ex-President Carles Puigdemont and four other Catalan officials have turned themselves in to Belgian police over the weekend. They will go before a judge who will decide what happens next—which could include executing arrest warrants against the men or imposing bail requirements. A Spanish judge issued an international arrest warrant for Puigdemont on Friday, a day after eight members of the dissolved Catalan government were jailed in Spain. Puigdemont, who still considers himself the rightful leader of Catalonia, claims he went to Belgium to seek European support for his region's independence bid, not to flee the justice system. He tweeted on Saturday to say that he and his associates are "prepared to fully cooperate with Belgian justice following the European arrest warrant issued by Spain."

World Leaders Meet in Germany for COP23 Summit
The 23rd annual environmental summit COP, or Conference of the Paris, is opening today in Bonn, Germany. This meeting is the first full gathering of climate negotiators since Donald Trump said he would remove the US from the Paris Treaty, which was concluded two years ago. The topic of fossil fuels could be on the negotiation table, with promotion of coal and gas as climate solutions already on the US delegation's agenda. Thousands of people have taken to the streets of Bonn on Saturday to call for a phasing out of all fossil fuels. The main topic, however, will be the review of mechanisms of the Paris Agreement, which pledges for cuts of carbon emissions worldwide.

Trump to meet with Putin for help on North Korea
Donald Trump plans on meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin while on a 13-day trip to Asia. The US President is looking for Putin's help on an increasingly tense situation with North Korea. The planned meeting comes as the investigation into Trump's ties to Russia's 2016 campaign meddling is heating up in the United States. Just before Trump left for Asia, three of his campaign aides entrapped in the enquiry. A campaign led by Democrat billionaire and activist Tom Steyer is even seeking to convince left-wing lawmakers to impeach the US President, as the one-year anniversary of the election approaches.

Reporting by Stewart Sowman-Lund, Lisa Boudet.