There’s no tsunami risk from this afternoon’s 7.3 magnitude earthquake in the Kermadec Islands, the Civil Defence has updated.

“Based on current information, the initial assessment is that the earthquake is unlikely to have caused a tsunami that will pose a threat to New Zealand.”

Civil Defence is assessing whether a magnitude 7.3 earthquake in the Kermadec Islands could trigger a tsunami in New Zealand.

The quake struck at a depth of about 10 kilometres, overseas media have reported. A tsunami risk for the area has been declared, but this doesn’t currently extend to New Zealand.

“We are assessing whether the M7.3 KERMADEC ISLANDS REGION earthquake has created a tsunami that could affect New Zealand,” Civil Defence said on Twitter. “Anyone near the coast who felt a LONG or STRONG quake should MOVE IMMEDIATELY to the nearest high ground, or as far inland as you can.”

This evacuation advice overrode current Covid-19 self-isolation requirements, the agency said.

A similarly strong earthquake hit the region last month. This did not trigger a tsunami on our coastline.

A further two people have come forward to RNZ alleging bullying by current Green Party MP Elizabeth Kerekere.

The new complaints have alleged that Kerekere’s targets were often Māori – pushing back against the suggestion made by some online that the MP was being scapegoated.

“The bullying that I have witnessed from Elizabeth Kerekere has mainly been targeted at young Māori,” one of the sources, a Māori member of the Greens, told RNZ’s Craig McCulloch. 

“When a Māori MP or staff member disagrees with her, she argues that her stance is the [only] Māori stance and belittles her opponent’s understanding of tikanga and te ao Māori.”

The new complaints follow allegations made by five anonymous Green members who spoke to RNZ about Kerekere’s behaviour last week. One of those original sources has been back in touch with RNZ to say they are Māori and the suggestion that Kerekere was being scapegoated was a “slap in the face”.

“I’ve witnessed her corrosive behaviour to other people of colour, and that includes myself,” they said.

An internal Green Party investigation is under way into Kerekere’s conduct. It initially stemmed from leaked messages in which the MP appeared to call her caucus colleague Chlöe Swarbrick a “crybaby”.

Kerekere has yet to comment.

Green members will begin voting this Friday on the final party list which will help determine who makes it into parliament come October’s election.

There’s been a lot of talk lately about the role of AI services like ChatGPT and the potential impacts on high school and university students. Think how easy it would be, for example, to ask ChatGPT to write an essay or answer some difficult questions?

But according to a study, which included thousands of responses from assessments at over 180 university, students were still outperforming artificial helpers like ChatGPT when it came to answering exam questions.

The study included 25,817 questions from 869 business assessments around the world, covering topics like accounting and tax. It determined that students scored an average of 76.7%, while ChatGPT only scored 47.4%. That’s based on fully correct answers, but even if you included partial responses, ChatGPT would only just have passed – and still been 20 points below the average human student.

Part of the reason for this result is that the study found ChatGPT would often make “nonsensical errors” or provide “descriptive explanations” for answers (even wrong ones).

University of Auckland accounting and finance academics Ruth Dimes was part of the study, meaning she provided questions from assessments that local students would be facing.

“I entered the exam questions into ChatGPT and recorded how it performed compared to the students’ grades. My findings were consistent with the study overall and I was surprised that ChatGPT didn’t perform as well as I thought it might have,” Dimes said.

As companies struggle to replace staff of all skill levels, is there a group of potential workers being overlooked by employers because they don’t fit the traditional mold? In this week’s episode of When the Facts Change, Bernard Hickey talks with Autism NZ CEO Dane Dougan about the benefits that come with hiring people with autism and what employers can do to make their workplace safer for autistic staff members.

Listen below or wherever you get your pods

Cabinet minister Kiri Allan has defended herself against allegations of impropriety over donations from race relations commissioner Meng Foon. Talking to Jack Tame on Q&A, she said she wasn’t required to declare a conflict of interest when she became justice minister, a role that involves appointing the race relations commissioner. “There’s been no breach… It’s been all open and above board and I haven’t made any decisions in respect to that particular donor.”

She said she’d forgotten that Foon had made such a hefty donation, the largest of her 2020 campaign. “I genuinely, hand over heart, swear on my child, I don’t remember all the people that donate. That’s just how these things work,” Allan said.

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There have been dozens of headlines out of Gore’s council since last year’s local elections and frankly most of them have focused on internal drama as opposed to actual politics.

If you’ve missed what’s been going on in the far south, the Herald’s Kurt Bayer has an extensive explainer today. It details how Ben Bell secured the mayorship, becoming the country’s youngest council leader, before becoming embroiled in a series of ongoing crises in the months since.

“Just six months into the job, his tenure as Gore mayor has been marred by controversy, leaks, boycotts, stand-offs and resignations,” Bayer wrote.

Most recently, reports have focused on a lack of communication between Bell and the council’s chief executive Stephen Parry. While both have remained defiant – and refused to step down – an independent review was ordered last week that will present possible resolutions to councillors. Bell talked about his relationships with councillors in a recent Newshub interview.

And one academic has told RNZ tthat Gore isn’t the first council to face issues such as this, suggesting the government could be forced to intervene. “There needs to be a fundamental shift in the position of the mayor and the CEO. My view would be that won’t happen because they’ve both dug themselves into positions now that they can’t back down from,” said local government expert Dr Andy Asquith.

“This is not the first time this has happened, if you go back to the last round of councils – you had the dysfunction in Invercargill, you had it in Wellington to a certain extent, you had it in Tauranga.”

In Tauranga, commissioners were appointed to take over following the resignation of the mayor.

In the meantime, in Gore, Asquith said it was the town’s citizens that would pay the price for the ongoing internal ructions at council.