Dubious Dubai
In watching the men's and women's rugby sevens in Dubai, and living in Wellington makes one very frustrated.
Ok, a little history. Wellington Regional Stadium staged a leg of the international sevens tournament for years and though it dwindled in spectator numbers due to a number of fixable factors, upwards of 38,000 people had turned up each day of the two day event.
Then it went to Hamilton and good year-on-year numbers went through their stadium gates.
But now - from the 2023-24 internationals series on into the near future at least, neither Hamilton nor any other part of NZ gets to host the sevens. And yet Dubai hosts the event in conditions that can reach an unhealthy, sticky 40c and with several hundred spectators watching main;y from the back of sub-standard stands in largely less than enthusiastic conditions that are dispossessed of such things as ridiculously dressed-up and/or gentle beer swilling people.
And just now like in many other years, NZ is the world number one in both women's and men's rugby sevens.
I enjoyed the international rugby sevens at our stadium both as a spectator and in the capacity as a volunteer. One year my wife and I dressed up in Fijian garb and sat among the Fijian supporters and thoroughly loved it. Another time we dressed as dignified Indians and that was fun too.
But I wouldn't be travelling to Dubai to watch rugby sevens anytime soon. The international rugby sevens in Dubai is not a joke and of course money is finding its way into the coffers of world rugby though not via the turnstiles of the park used for rugby in that city.
Poll: 🤖 What skills do you think give a CV the ultimate edge in a robot-filled workplace?
The Reserve Bank has shared some pretty blunt advice: there’s no such thing as a “safe” job anymore 🛟😑
Robots are stepping into repetitive roles in factories, plants and warehouses. AI is taking care of the admin tasks that once filled many mid-level office jobs.
We want to know: As the world evolves, what skills do you think give a CV the ultimate edge in a robot-filled workplace?
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52.6% Human-centred experience and communication
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14.8% Critical thinking
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29.8% Resilience and adaptability
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2.8% Other - I will share below!
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Some Choice News!
DOC is rolling out a new tool to help figure out what to tackle first when it comes to protecting our threatened species and the things putting them at risk.
Why does this matter? As Nikki Macdonald from The Post points out, we’re a country with around 4,400 threatened species. With limited time and funding, conservation has always meant making tough calls about what gets attention first.
For the first time, DOC has put real numbers around what it would take to do everything needed to properly safeguard our unique natural environment. The new BioInvest tool shows the scale of the challenge: 310,177 actions across 28,007 sites.
Now that we can see the full picture, it brings the big question into focus: how much do we, as Kiwis, truly value protecting nature — and what are we prepared to invest to make it happen?
We hope this brings a smile!
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