Dave

• Unemployment picked to hit near nine year high of 5.3 percent
• Labour market lags economic performance, reflecting last year's recession
• Economy may have shed as many as 40,000 jobs in past couple of years
• Annual wage growth seen just above 2 percent - tough on household budgets, eases inflation pressures
• If numbers as expected, they will back another RBNZ rate cut

The government announced sweeping changes to school qualifications on Monday morning, including the end of the NCEA system that has been in place for more than 20 years.

NCEA Level 1, which typically takes place in Year 11, will be abolished. Students in Year 11 will be required to take English and Mathematics and sit a new 'Foundational Skills Award' test that documents achievement in literacy and numeracy, or te reo matatini and pāngarau.

It is not yet clear if the new Foundation Certificate for Year 11 will simply be the current online literacy and numeracy tests.

Two new qualifications replace NCEA Level 2 and Level 3. Year 12 and 13 students will now qualify with the New Zealand Certificate of Education (NZCE) and the New Zealand Advanced Certificate of Education (NZACE) respectively.

Students will be required to take five subjects and pass at least four to attain each certificate in Years 12 and 13.

A to E pass fail grades will return instead of "excellent, merit, achieved and not achieved" rankings, and the government says plans include "working with industry to develop better vocational pathways so students are getting the skills relevant to certain career pathways".

The changes will be phased in over the next five years, starting in 2026.

The proposal is open for public consultation until 15 September before final decisions are made.

A young girl was found in a suitcase in a bus luggage compartment this afternoon, and a woman has been charged with ill-treatment of a child.

Detective Inspector Simon Harrison said police were called at 12.50pm, after a passenger asked for access to the luggage compartment during a planned stop in Kaiwaka.

"The driver became concerned when he noticed the bag moving. When the driver opened the suitcase, they discovered the two-year-old girl." Harrison said the little girl was reported to be "very hot", but otherwise unharmed. She has been taken to hospital in a "minor" condition for an extensive medical assessment.

A 27-year-old woman was arrested and has been charged with ill-treatment/neglect of a child.

Wellington mayoral candidate Graham Bloxham has announced he is quitting the race.

It appears Bloxham has announced he is quitting before submitting his nomination, which has not appeared on the Wellington City Council website.

Bloxham runs the Facebook page WellingtonLive and has faced controversy in recent months after being arrested for failing to stop for police, and being told by the Employment Relations Authority to pay a former employee $30,000.

In a LinkedIn post, Bloxham said he will not be running for the mayor of Wellington.

"After much research 'talking to the neighbours cat over the fence', I feel I can do a much better job outside of council."

The Labour Party is ridiculing the government's consultation over what chores children can do on family farms, describing it as a solution in search of a problem.

Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden has announced the start of consultation with the agriculture sector on the rules surrounding children collecting eggs or feeding small animals.

Farmers had told her they wanted the law to recognise that the farm was both their workplace and home, she said.

But Labour's Workplace Relations and Safety spokesperson Jan Tinetti said the government was focusing on a non-existent problem.

National ministers, questioned about the announcement on Monday morning, also seemed somewhat bemused by the announcement.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon framed the move in the context of wider consultation on health safety to prevent over-compliance.

Northland MP Grant McCallum said he suspected most farmers would not have considered the issue to be a problem but encouraged farmers who felt differently to get in contact with his party's rural caucus.

"The thought that farmers can't take their kids out into the farm and help them with chores is just ridiculous."

Chris Bishop said he doubted the government would be regulating the collection of eggs and watering plants: "I can't say I've ever collected an egg from a hen house myself. I'm an urban boy, but you never rule anything out - all sorts of things happen in this job."

Last week the government announced legislation to overhaul electoral laws it said had become "unsustainable".

On Monday morning, Newsroom reported Attorney-General Judith Collins, had said the proposed law changes clashed with constitutional rights in a report.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, told Morning Report, Collins had a statutory responsibility to review legislation to make sure it was consistent with the bill of rights.

"We want everyone to participate but it's just done two weeks before elections day. It's not uncommon, it gives people plenty of time to get enrolled and get sorted. "All we're saying is we want everybody to participate in our democracy... not an unreasonable request."

An Auckland woman who gave tents and sleeping bags to a group of rough sleepers says she stopped council workers from removing the items a few days later.

A few days later, Scott was walking past, when workers exited an Auckland Council van with black rubbish sacks and started collecting the belongings.

She said the men who slept there were absent, but had stashed the tents and sleeping bags in a small pile under the shelter.

"They had found the place where the people had stashed all their warm stuff to sleep in and they were pulling it down out of its place. I walked straight up to them and said, 'Do not take their stuff - what are they going to do? They've got nothing else to keep them warm and it's been freezing this week'."

Scott said the council workers left without taking the rough sleepers' belongings, but she was horrified they had tried to collect it.

"It's upsetting and I don't know what the answer is, but taking people stuff from them is definitely not the answer," she said. "Imagine coming back from your day and you're about to bed down to sleep on some concrete stairs, and someone's taken your last warmth or barrier for that.

"I just think it's cruel."

On Tuesday, Auckland Council's Community Committee will discuss a report that updates the number of homeless living on Auckland's streets. The number of homeless people rose to 809 in May this year - a 90 percent increase since last September.

Same-day enrolment for elections is set to be scrapped, with the government announcing legislation to overhaul electoral laws it says have become unsustainable.

Previously, voters have been able to turn up to the booth at any time during the advance voting period and enrol at the same time, as well as on election day, with their vote being counted as a special vote.

Justice minister Paul Goldsmith said late enrolments, while well intentioned, were resource intensive and had placed too much strain on the system.

The Electoral Amendment Bill contains some other changes, including the introduction of automatic enrolment updates so the Electoral Commission can update a person's address directly following a data match.

Free food, drink or entertainment within 100m of a voting place will be made an offence, punishable with a fine of $10,000.

The ban on prisoner voting, which the government had already announced, will also be included in the bill.

In addition, the donation threshold for reporting the names of donors will be adjusted from $5,000 to $6,000 to account for inflation.

Last weeks thread here

Welcome to this week’s casual kōrero thread!

This post will be pinned in this community so you can always find it, and will stay for about a week until replaced by the next one.

It’s for talking about anything that might not justify a full post. For example:

• Something interesting that happened to you
• Something humourous that happened to you
• Something frustrating that happened to you
• A quick question
• A request for recommendations
• Pictures of your pet
• A picture of a cloud that kind of looks like an elephant
• Anything else, there are no rules (except the rule)

So how’s it going?

Last weeks thread here

Welcome to this week’s casual kōrero thread!

This post will be pinned in this community so you can always find it, and will stay for about a week until replaced by the next one.

It’s for talking about anything that might not justify a full post. For example:

• Something interesting that happened to you
• Something humourous that happened to you
• Something frustrating that happened to you
• A quick question
• A request for recommendations
• Pictures of your pet
• A picture of a cloud that kind of looks like an elephant
• Anything else, there are no rules (except the rule)

So how’s it going?

New Zealand singer Daphne Walker has died, aged 94.

Walker was best known for songs likes ‘Haere Mai (Everything is Kapai)’ popular in the 1950s.