Built in 1846, the Taranaki Cathedral Church of St Mary is New Zealand's oldest stone church and was undergoing earthquake strengthening and upgrades.

The project has a budget of $28.8 million, which is up on early estimates of $20m. This includes a $5m Government contribution towards building an educational space, Te Whare Hononga (the house that binds), which was completed in 2021.

Lead contractor Clelands Construction recently completed testing on a portion of the southern wall using seismic strengthening techniques proposed for the entire building, but estimated costs for the work have increased dramatically. Read more

Te Kura Kaupapa Maori o te Whanau Tahi, based in Christchurch, has been waiting more than a decade for their dilapidated mouldy and leaky school to be rebuilt.

The school was told by the Ministry of Education a rebuild would happen. But in June ministry officials then told them it would not happen due to having "no money" because of the pandemic.

The ministry has since apologised for that inaccurate and inconsistent information and says all options are still on the table. Read more

In an interview on RNZ's Nine to Noon programme on Monday, he said the profits from gambling are distributed to NGOs and various community organisations including sporting groups and church groups.

"So the very groups that would be the critics and conscious that would raise concerns about this [damaged caused by addictive gambling] are also addicted to it because they depend on them for revenue.

And it's very difficult to find alternative sources of revenue," he said.

As a remedy, Abbott suggests something along the lines of what was done when tobacco company sponsorship of sport was banned.

When this happened a fund was set up to compensate groups who lost tobacco company sponsorship.

Abbott is the director of the Gambling and Addictions Research Centre based in the Auckland University of technology.

The research is funded by the Ministry of Health.

On Monday the centre released The latest National Gambling Study (NGS)

In a press release announcing, the publication of the study Abbott says that the number of electronic gaming machines (EGMs) in pubs and clubs has declined.

But the rates of harm they cause have not fallen.

Abbott thinks EGMs should be removed from all clubs and pubs.

As thing stand they remain heavily concentrated in high deprivation communities.

He considers it likely that the combination of deprivation and high exposure to EGMs contributes to persistent ethnic differences in gambling-related health and social problems.

The report also notes an accumulating pool of past problem gamblers are relapsing over time and are being joined by first-time problem gamblers from high deprivation groups and neighbourhoods.

Source

• radionz.co.nz
• scoop.co.nz
• Image: stuff.co.nz /Kirk Hargreaves

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced the funding under the "Gonski 2.0" plan model last week.

Under this model, he says government funding will be allocated on the sole basis of the needs of particular students, in a way that is "sector blind".

This is a big change from the model used for decades, where funds are provided by both Federal and State governments and spent on three education sectors - Catholic, government and independent schools.

It will result in fee increases, the Catholic schools' sector argues.

This is nonsense, says Education Minister Simon Birmingham.

He is accusing Catholic schools of scaring parents and falsely claiming the need for fee hikes.

"It's very disappointing to see some sectors are choosing to scare principals, teachers, parents with what appear to be absolutely blatant falsehoods," he said in Adelaide.

"I urge leaders in the Catholic schools system to stop seeking special treatment and to embrace needs-based funding for Australian schools."

Where Birmingham claims the new model will see an extra $3.4 billion given to Catholic schools over the next 10 years, Deputy Labor leader Tanya Plibersek has a different view.

She says thousands of public and small systemic Catholic schools will lose funds while some of the wealthiest schools will pocket more.

She says the Gonski 2.0 reforms will cost $22 billion from schools and will force parents of children at Catholic schools to have to fight to protect the funding they have.

Source

• The Sydney Morning Herald
• 9News
• SSBS
• The Guardian
• Image: Conservative Country

Anti-Greens flyers have been attached to Catholic school newsletters across the state.

The campaign is targeting school communities in marginal seats, electorates where members are retiring or where the Greens have a strong winning chance.

All in all, the pamphlet was distributed in about 100 schools.

The pamphlet noted that both major parties in the election have committed to fund the Catholic school system.

"Unfortunately, Catholic schools don't have the same commitment from the Greens."

Currently, 62 cents in every dollar of funding comes from government.

The Greens' funding proposals would consider a school's resources and its capacity to generate income from other sources including fees and contributions.

The impact on fees would "undermine our ability to welcome disadvantaged students and their families into our educational community", the pamphlet warned.

The Catholic Education Commission's Stephen Elder also criticised the Greens for seeking to "abolish our ability to hire staff on religious grounds".

"Their education policy explicitly applies this proposal by linking government funding for Catholic schools to 'non-discrimination in the hiring of staff'," he said.

He said this could lead to Catholic principals being forced to employ staff who were critical of their faith.

Their plan was an "affront to the religious liberties currently exercised by the Church and our schools".

Mr Elder said there was a "real chance" the Greens could hold the balance of power after the election.

The Greens argued that under their plan, Catholic schools would actually be better resourced than they would be under the Liberal-National Coalition.

Sources

• Herald Sun
• Sydney Morning Herald
• Image: Sky News

The Timaru District Council's economic development agency will be getting a "please explain" letter from Mayor Damon Odey.

Aoraki Development, Business and Tourism's chairman Ken McKenzie said there would be no funding application for a parade, after the council did not give the agency an inflation-adjusted funding boost.

The agency said it was facing rising costs, but its income is static, so it has to reduce services.

"St Joseph's School currently delivers this service and it is recommended that they are provided with the opportunity to retain this," Mr McKenzie wrote.

Mr Odey said he would be meeting with McKenzie and ADBT chief executive Wendy Smith next week to "clarify" its stance.

"Business development and tourism is 12,000 people lining Stafford St, I would have thought," Mr Odey said.

"They subcontract it to St Joseph's so I can't see it is that much of a chore."

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Ms Parata has revealed that she is looking to fund schools according to the progress their pupils made.

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Recent mass protests across Brazil — against the lack of investment in public services compared with the 2014 World Cup, the 2016 Olympics and the WYD — may have discouraged attendance.

Pope Francis will visit the July 23-28 celebrations, in the country with the world's largest Catholic population.

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