-
New Zealand holds position as world's largest single-country dairy exporter
-
Firearms owners group pushes back at Safety Authority over trust survey criticism
-
Poultry remain clear despite second wild bird flu detection
WANT TO LISTEN TO THE SHOW LIVE (11am-1pm NZST) ON THE GO? Download CountryWide Connect mobile app to stream the show via Apple Car Play or Android Auto. Or try the voice command ‘Play CountryWide Connect’ on Amazon Alexa or Google Home.
Apple: https://apps.apple.com/nz/app/countrywide-connect/id6761033881
Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nz.co.countrywide&hl=en_NZ
New Zealand holds position as world's largest single-country dairy exporter
New Zealand has retained its position as the world's largest single-country dairy exporter, accounting for twenty-two-point-one percent of global dairy exports in 2025, according to the 2026 World Dairy Map.
New Zealand's contribution has held remarkably steady over eight years at around twenty-two billion kilograms, and the country remains dominant in whole milk powder — accounting for fifty-six percent of global exports, a share stable over time.
China's dairy imports have softened significantly, with milk powder imports halving over four years as domestic production grows. New Zealand has adapted well, becoming China's largest supplier of imported liquid milk and cream since 2024, while Middle East, Southeast Asian and Brazilian markets are filling the gap.
The EU remains the world's largest overall dairy exporter at twenty-seven percent, followed by New Zealand and the United States.
Firearms owners group pushes back at Safety Authority over trust survey criticism
The Council of Licensed Firearms Owners is pushing back after the Firearms Safety Authority publicly dismissed its annual trust survey, calling out Acting Director Superintendent Bruce Bird for attacking the messenger rather than addressing the substance of the concerns raised.
COLFO says its 2026 survey received one-thousand-five-hundred-and-seventy-five responses from an estimated two-hundred-and-twenty-thousand licensed owners — giving it a margin of error of around two-point-five percent, modelled on the Authority's own survey format.
The organisation says Bird's claim that the survey invariably finds licensed owners want less regulation misrepresents their position. COLFO says it has always supported robust licensing — what members reject is Police administering the Arms Act, a view shared by the Justice Select Committee, which recommended removing sworn officers from day-to-day firearms regulation.
COLFO says the Authority chose not to contest the substance of the complaints — declining trust, standover tactics, registry errors and armed home visits to law-abiding licence holders — and instead attacked the survey methodology.
Poultry remain clear despite second wild bird flu detection
New Zealand now has two confirmed cases of H5 bird flu, with a second detection confirmed on Thursday in a kāhu swamp harrier found near Carterton in the Wairarapa — following the initial detection in a seabird on Petone beach in Wellington.
No further detections have been recorded, and there is no evidence of mass wildlife mortality and no detections in poultry. Chicken and eggs remain safe to eat and the risk to human health remains very low.
MPI has staff on the ground in Wellington's south coast and Wairarapa carrying out checks, and is offering one-on-one support and advice to poultry and egg operations in both regions. A technical advisory group of expert scientists is also being established.
DOC's vaccination programme for three-hundred core breeding birds from five of New Zealand's most endangered species continues.
Anyone finding three or more sick or dead wild birds together should not touch them and should call the MPI hotline on 0800 80 99 66 immediately.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
