Love to see this: www.rnz.co.nz/news/te-manu...

tough to overstate how quickly science funding in New Zealand has been blown to pieces - on Friday the NZ govt straight up disbanded the Marsden fund (our version of the NSF) it'll be replaced by a 'transition fund' with less money and zero information, as of yet, about what it will support #nzpol

Trans rights are human rights Trans women are women Can socially liberal National party people please do something about their party’s descent into imported culture war nonsense that is cruel and harmful.

Big penguin fan here. I'm so lucky to have seen quite a few of these amazing birds and we need to protect the mainland population

Have just updated my backgrounder on data sovereignty in New Zealand. The previous version was 13 years old and well out of date. billbennett.co.nz/data-soverei...

Currently editing all our teaching materials

Just had the absolute privilege of being there for our medical school tauira oath reading before their graduation today. They work so hard and are a credit to the profession. E.g. www.facebook.com/share/p/18mw...

This government is noxious to nursing - an explanation of why nurses are so vexed with Simeon Brown and others. #nzpol newsroom.co.nz/2026/05/07/n...

‘If you do not count people, you do not see them. If you do not see people, you cannot serve them,’ critics says of Government’s census changes I think that's the idea .....

NEW: Babies Are Bleeding to Death as Parents Reject a Vitamin Shot Given at Birth The vitamin K shot, a lifesaving injection given to newborns to prevent uncontrollable bleeding of the brain and intestines, has become collateral damage of the anti-vaccine movement.

Will be interesting to see how this work out

May 5th is the International Day of the Midwife, and this year's theme is, 'One Million More Midwives'. This day highlight a global need for more midwives in the workforce, ensuring quality outcomes for women, newborns, and families.

I am working on the Women's Health bus today in Tokomairiro | Milton. Upskilling and maintaining my extended scope of practice. Vital skills for rural mahi

More than 600 global Indigenous leaders have gathered in Tāmaki Makaurau, calling for urgent action to address inequities in cancer care, access and outcomes for iwi taketake.

AI Chatbot Told Users That Herbal Remedies Can Treat Cancer www.medpagetoday.com/practicemana...

Some good news. “A vaccine during pregnancy which protects newborns against nasty chest infections (RSV) is cutting hospital admissions of babies by more than 80%, UK health officials say.”

Seeing this story prompted me to get on with extending my rural drop in maternity/women's health clinic services to Rakiura. Hoping to start in May www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...

Tapping the sign

I've been thinking a lot about how "Care Closer to Home" is becoming more vital especially in light of the fuel crisis. What moves are being made to support this?

Thank you for recognising the travel rural midwives do as well "Labour MP Kieran McAnulty told reporters he was surprised the government had yet to provide support for those carers and others like rural midwives." www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...

Come work with me otago.taleo.net/careersectio...

The world is feeling very shakey right now. Have decided to keep running my rural outreach until fuel issues make it impossible

Health systems blog ‘Otaihanga Second Opinion’ discusses the relationship between the ethics of convictions and the ethics of responsibilities in the context of health system restructuring in New Zealand’s health system. otaihangasecondopinion.wordpress.com/2026/03/22/e...

Privileged to know Jacquie

🔊 We're very excited to share a recently published new article from @chetibby.bsky.social on "Incoherent Violent Extremism in a New Zealand Cohort". This excellent and timely article is well worth your time and can be found here ➡️ doi.org/10.1080/1833...

Abortion Law Reform in Aotearoa New Zealand! Six years ago, women no longer had to jump through hoops & ask permission to get an #abortion before 20 weeks. The fight to keep our right to bodily autonomy is never over. If re-elected, this #antichoice govt will attack abortion access. #nzpol #NZ

We're busy packing suitcases of medical aid to bring to Cuba tomorrow. 🇮🇪 🇨🇺 GRMA to all who've assisted us source it (special thanks to Dr David Hickey). The USA is illegally and savagely strangling the island and crippling its people.

This has dire implications for medical autonomy in general.

We'd like to hear from people using the Tokanui maternity clinic, families, the wider community, local health care providers, policy makers and any one else in rural Southland interested in women's health care. Please share Link for survey at QR code below of here tinyurl.com/z2xby266

Sometimes you have a run of excellent academic luck/news

Green Party corrections spokesperson Tamatha Paul said “unexplained disproportionality” was a euphemism for systemic racism and misogyny. " it’s clear to me that Māori women are carrying the criminal consequences of poverty,” she said. #nzpol

#rstats Here's a useful guide to creating publication-ready #ggplot figures to journal specifications, which is often quite fiddly. jaquent.github.io/2026/02/crea...

#nzpol needs to note - Countries that have strong primary care systems spend less overall on health, have better health outcomes, and enjoy greater equity. Those that neglect primary care pay for it through hospital pressures, workforce burnout and widening inequities. www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/5...

FYI I’ve opened this one up for full public reading, listening & sharing after requests from paying subscribers. Their support allows me to do this public interest journalism on Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate & poverty in public. #nzpol open.substack.com/pub/thekaka/...

So just to talk to this. Homelessness is probably more a design feature of capitalism and Imperialism than a "broken system" but from my mindset firmly planted in te ao Māori this is an absolute broken system. This is not how our rangatira treated people.

Health systems blog ‘Otaihanga Second Opinion discusses the threat to public safety of planned political interference in the regulatory authorities for New Zealand’s health system. otaihangasecondopinion.wordpress.com/2026/02/11/p...

Helen Petousis-Harris's piece on how the WHO is vital for New Zealand just nails it. While I am here, can I also just say that @helenp-h.bsky.social is a national treasure. theconversation.com/who-membersh...

Spent Friday at Whangaruru North, helping at Tuparehuia on the Ngatiwai health van. Scenic...but a 1hr50min ride to whangarei hospital. Very expensive for many residents to afford, especially those on a fixed income. The community stepped up with volunteer medication deliveries. Dog's name is Kai. 😁

I just thought everyone should see this

Once again Maori across NZ are gathering to help those affected by floods, opening their marae, making Kai and beds available. www.instagram.com/reel/DTv68K2...

'“Embedded precarity” in higher education is diminishing research quality as staff on short-term contracts favour “safer” work to secure future employment, according to the author of a new report.' Royal Geographical Society maps important connections between precarity and research topics. 1/3

"Data sovereignty isn’t about where servers are located. It’s about who has ultimate authority when conflict arises. When New Zealand data sits on American infrastructure, American law is the final authority."

I'm not a fan of LinkedIn but it did point me to this article . www.nature.com/articles/d41...

This is bonkers, neoliberalism destroying our healthcare system on purpose. www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/3609...

Hospitals asked to save $510 millions despite $538 million going unspent

Academia is a daily gauntlet of criticism, rejection, & excessive workload demand. It's normal to feel like a failure when the main feedback is negative. And you're constantly doing a rushed job. That's why it's critical to have supportive managers. Alas, bullying & neglect are more common.