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Australia’s new prime minister was sworn in Monday ahead of a Tokyo summit with President Joe Biden while vote counting continued to determine whether he will control a majority in a Parliament that is demanding tougher action on climate change. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor Party ousted predecessor Scott Morrison’s conservative coalition at Saturday’s election. The coalition had been in power under three prime ministers for nine years. “I want to lead a government that has the same sentiment of optimism and hope that I think defines the Australian people,” Albanese said in his hometown of Sydney before flying to the national capital Canberra to be sworn in. Albanese, who describes himself as the first ever candidate for the office of prime minister with a “non-Anglo Celtic name” and Malaysian-born Penny Wong, Australia’s first foreign minister to be born overseas, were sworn into office by Governor-General David Hurley before the pair flew to Tokyo for a security summit on Tuesday with Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Biden rang Albanese to congratulate him on his election win and express the president’s wish to make the countries’ alliance stronger, the White House said. Morrison’s decision to resign as prime minister during the early vote counting enabled Hurley, who represents Australia’s head of state, British monarch Queen Elizabeth II, to appoint his replacement without evidence that Albanese can control a majority of seats in parliament’s lower chamber where governments are formed. Read: Global Covid cases near 528 million Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles was also sworn in and will act as prime minister while Albanese is in Japan. Katy Gallagher and Jim Chalmers were sworn into economic ministries. Labor appears assured of 75 seats, one short of the majority in the 151-seat House of Representatives needed to form an administration. The conservative coalition was on track for 58, unaligned lawmakers 12 and six seats were too close to call, the Australian Electoral Commission said. Australia’s two major parties, Labor and the conservative Liberal Party, bled votes to independents and fringe parties in Saturday’s election, continuing a trend of dissatisfaction with the political establishment. Terri Butler, who would have been the new government’s environment minister, was replaced by Max Chandler-Mather, of the climate-focused Greens party that now holds as least three seats in the house, two more than in the last parliament. Former New South Wales state Premier Kristina Keneally’s bid to move from the senate to the house in what was considered a safe Labor seat in Sydney was defeated by Vietnam-born independent candidate Dai Le, who became the first refugee ever elected to parliament. Greens leader Adam Bandt supported a Labor minority government from 2010 until its election defeat in 2013 and was prepared to negotiate with Albanese again. Albanese had been the government’s chief negotiator with its outside supporters in the house during those three years and was praised for his collegial approach. “Liberal and Labor’s vote went backwards this election. Labor may get over the line with a majority and may not but their vote went backwards,“ Bandt said. “The Greens and independents said we need to take action on coal and gas which are the main causes of the climate crisis and people agree,’ Bandt added, referring to Australia’s major fossil fuel exports. “It’s the end of the two-party system as we know it,” he said. The conservative former government lost six traditionally safe seats to so-called teal independents, greener versions of the Liberal Party’s blue color. The teals want a more ambitious target that Labor’s promise to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 43% below the 2005 level by the end of the decade. Read: Russia presses Donbas attacks as Polish leader praises Kyiv The previous government had stuck with the same commitment they made at the Paris Agreement in 2015: 26% to 28% below 2005 levels by 2030. The Greens’ 2030 target is 75%.

Australia's Prime Minister-elect Anthony Albanese is a politician molded by his humble start to life as the only child of a single mother who raised him on a pension in gritty inner-Sydney suburbia. He is also a hero of multicultural Australia, describing himself as the only candidate with a “non-Anglo Celtic name” to run for prime minister in the 121 years that the office has existed. He has promised to rehabilitate Australia's international reputation as a climate change laggard with steeper cuts to greenhouse gas emissions. His financially precarious upbringing in government-owned housing in suburban Camperdown fundamentally formed the politician who has lead the center-left Australian Labor Party into government for the first time since 2007. He is still widely known by his childhood nickname, Albo. "It says a lot about our great country that a son of a single mom who was a disability pensioner, who grew up in public housing down the road in Camperdown can stand before you tonight as Australia’s prime minister,” Albanese said in his election victory speech on Saturday. “Every parent wants more for the next generation than they had. My mother dreamt of a better life for me. And I hope that my journey in life inspires Australians to reach for the stars,” he added. Albanese repeatedly referred during the six-week election campaign to the life lessons he learned from his disadvantaged childhood. Labor’s campaign has focused on policies including financial assistance for first home buyers grappling with soaring real estate prices and sluggish wage growth. Also read: Australian prime minister concedes election defeat Labor also promised cheaper child care for working parents and better nursing home care for the elderly. Albanese this week promised to begin rebuilding trust in Australia when he attends a Tokyo summit on Tuesday with U.S. President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Albanese said he will be “completely consistent” with Prime Minister Scott Morrison's current administration on Chinese strategic competition in the region. But he said Australia had been placed in the “naughty corner” in United Nations' climate change negotiations by refusing to adopt more ambitious emissions reduction targets at a November conference. “One of the ways that we increase our standing in the region, and in particular in the Pacific, is by taking climate change seriously,” Albanese told the National Press Club. Biden’s administration and Australia “will have a strengthened relationship in our common view about climate change and the opportunity that it represents,” Albanese said. Albanese blamed Morrison for a “whole series of Australia’s international relations being damaged.” He said Morrison misled the United States that a secret plan to provide Australia with a fleet of submarines powered with U.S. nuclear technology had the support of Albanese’s Labor Party. In fact, Labor wasn’t told of the plan until the day before it was announced in September. Albanese also accused Morrison of leaking to the media personal text messages from Emmanuel Macron to discredit the French president’s complaint that Australia had given no warning that a French submarine contract would be canceled. Also read: Int'l visitors reach two year high as tourists pour back into Australia In November, French Ambassador to Australia Jean-Pierre Thebault described the leak a “new low” and a warning to other world leaders that their private communications with the Australian government could be weaponized and used against them. Labor also has described a new security pact been China and the Solomon Islands as Australia’s worst foreign policy failure in the Pacific since World War II. Morrison's government had aimed to reduce Australia’s emissions by 26% to 28% below 2005 levels by 2030. Labor's goal is 43%. As a young child, to spare Albanese the scandal of being “illegitimate” in a working-class Roman Catholic family in socially conservative 1960s Australia, he was told that his Italian father, Carlo Albanese, had died in a car accident shortly after marrying his Irish-Australian mother, Maryanne Ellery, in Europe. His mother, who became an invalid pensioner because of chronic rheumatoid arthritis, told him the truth when he was 14 years old: His father was not dead and his parents had never married. Carlo Albanese had been a steward on a cruise ship when the couple met in 1962 during the only overseas trip of her life. She returned to Sydney from her seven-month journey through Asia to Britain and continental Europe almost four months pregnant, according to Anthony Albanese’s 2016 biography, “Albanese: Telling it Straight.” She was living with her parents in their local government-owned house in inner-suburban Camperdown when her only child was born on March 2, 1963. Out of loyalty to his mother and a fear of hurting her feelings, Albanese waited until after her death in 2002 before searching for his father. Father and son were happily united in 2009 in the father’s hometown of Barletta in southern Italy. The son was in Italy for business meetings as Australia‘s minister for transport and infrastructure. Anthony Albanese was a minister throughout Labor’s most recent six years in power and reached his highest office — deputy prime minister — in his government’s final three months, which ended with the 2013 election. But Albanese’s critics argue that it’s not his humble background but his left-wing politics that make him unsuitable to be prime minister. The conservative government argued he would be the most left-wing Australian leader in almost 50 years since the crash-or-crash-through reformer Gough Whitlam, a flawed hero of the Labor Party. In 1975, Whitlam became the only Australian prime minister to be ousted from office by a British monarch’s representative in what is described as a constitutional crisis. Whitlam had introduced during his brief but tumultuous three years in power free university education, which enabled Albanese to graduate from Sydney University with an economics degree despite his meager financial resources. Albanese’s supporters say that while he was from Labor’s so-called Socialist Left faction, he was a pragmatist with a proven ability to deal with more conservative elements of the party. Albanese had undergone what has been described as a makeover in the past year, opting for more fashionable suits and glasses. He has also shed 18 kilograms (40 pounds) in what many assume is an effort to make himself more attractive to voters. Albanese says he believed he was about to die in a two-car collision in Sydney in January last year and that was the catalyst for his healthier life choices. He had briefly resigned himself to a fate he once believed had been his father’s. After the accident, Albanese spent a night in a hospital and suffered what he described as external and internal injuries that he has not detailed. The 17-year-old boy behind the wheel of the Range Rover SUV that collided with Albanese’s much smaller Toyota Camry sedan was charged with negligent driving. Albanese said he was 12 when he became involved in his first political campaign. His fellow public housing tenants successfully defeated a local council proposal to sell their homes — a move that would have increased their rent — in a campaign that involved refusing to pay the council in a so-called rent strike The unpaid rent debt was forgiven, which Albanese described as a “lesson for those people who weren’t part of the rent strike: Solidarity works.” “As I grew up, I understood the impact that government had, can have, on making a difference to people’s lives,” Albanese said. “And in particular, to opportunity.”

Australia’s prime minister conceded defeat after an election Saturday that could deliver a minority government. Scott Morrison acted quickly despite millions of votes yet to be counted because an Australian prime minister must attended a Tokyo summit on Tuesday with U.S., Japanese and Indian leaders. “I believe it’s very important that this country has certainty. I think it’s very important this country can move forward,” Morrison said. “And particularly over the course of this week with the important meetings that are being held, I think it’s vitally important there’s a very clear understanding about the government of this country,” he added. Opposition leader Anthony Albanese will be sworn in as prime minister after his Labor party clenched its first electoral win since 2007. Labor has promised more financial assistance and a robust social safety net as Australia grapples with the highest inflation since 2001 and soaring housing prices. Also read: Int'l visitors reach two year high as tourists pour back into Australia The party also plans to increase minimal wages, and on the foreign policy front, it proposed to establish a Pacific defense school to train neighboring armies in response to China’s potential military presence on the Solomon Islands on Australia’s doorstep. It also wants to tackle climate change with a more ambitious 43% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Morrison's Liberal party-led coalition was seeking a fourth three-year term. It holds the narrowest of majorities — 76 seats in the 151-member House of Representatives, where parties need a majority to form a government. In early counting on Saturday, the coalition was on track to win 38 seats, Labor 71, seven were unaligned lawmakers and 23 were too close to call. Minor parties and independents appeared to be taking votes from the major parties, which increases the likelihood of a hung parliament and a minority government. Australia most recent hung parliaments were from 2010-13, and during World War II. A record proportion of postal votes because of the pandemic, which won’t be added to the count until Sunday, adds to the uncertainty in early counting. As well as campaigning against Labor, Morrison’s conservative Liberals fought off a new challenge from so-called teal independent candidates to key government lawmakers’ reelection in party strongholds. At least four Liberal lawmakers appeared to have lost their seats to teal independents including Liberal Party deputy leader Josh Frydenberg, who had been considered Morrison’s most likely successor. “What we have achieved here is extraordinary,” teal candidate and former foreign correspondent Zoe Daniels said in her victory speech. “Safe Liberal seat. Two-term incumbent. Independent,” she added. The teal independents are marketed as a greener shade than the Liberal Party’s traditional blue color and want stronger government action on reducing Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions than either the government or Labor are proposing. Also read: Australia to send armored vehicles to Ukraine after request The government’s Senate leader Simon Birmingham was concerned by big swings toward several teal candidates. “It is a clear problem that we are losing seats that are heartland seats, that have defined the Liberal Party for generations,” Birmingham said. “If we lose those seats — it is not certain that we will — but there is clearly a big movement against us and there is clearly a big message in it,” Birmingham added. Due to the pandemic, around half of Australia’s 17 million electors have voted early or applied for postal votes, which will likely slow the count. Voting is compulsory for adult citizens and 92% of registered voters cast ballots at the last election. Early polling for reasons of travel or work began two weeks ago and the Australian Electoral Commission will continue collecting postal votes for another two weeks. The government changed regulations on Friday to enable people recently infected with COVID-19 to vote over the phone. Electoral Commissioner Tom Rogers said more than 7,000 polling stations opened as planned and on time across Australia despite 15% of polling staff falling sick this week with COVID-19 and flu. Albanese said he had thought Morrison would have called the election last weekend because Australia’s prime minister is expected at a Tokyo summit on Tuesday with U.S. President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “If we get a clear outcome today then whoever is prime minister will be on a plane to Tokyo on Monday, which isn’t ideal, I’ve got to say, immediately after a campaign,” Albanese said. Analysts have said that Morrison left the election until the latest date available to him to give himself more time to reduce Labor’s lead in opinion polls.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern confirmed on Saturday that she had tested positive for COVID-19. "Despite best efforts, unfortunately, I've joined the rest of my family and tested positive for COVID-19," Ardern posted on social media on Saturday morning. Ardern has been isolating at home with her family since Sunday when her fiancée Clarke Gayford tested positive. "We've been isolating since Sunday when Clarke first tested positive. Neve (Ardern's daughter) tested positive on Wednesday, and I returned a weak positive last night and a strong one this morning," said Ardern. Also Read: New Zealand welcomes back tourists as pandemic rules eased "To anyone else out there, isolating or dealing with COVID, I hope you take good care of yourselves," said Ardern. New Zealand recorded 7,441 new community cases of COVID-19, 2,503 of which were reported in the largest city Auckland, the ministry of health said on Friday. To date, the country has reported 1,026,715 confirmed cases of COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic.   

With borders opening, Australia's reeling tourism industry has begun to see its first influx of international tourists in over two years. Managing director of the Australian Tourism Export Council (ATEC), Australia's peak tourism body, Peter Shelley said on Friday that a long period of uncertainty was beginning to come to an end. Australia's export tourism industry has endured two years of debilitating conditions where many businesses simply had no income or vision on when it would end, Shelley said. According to data released by Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) on Thursday, Australia's international visitors had reached their highest levels since February of 2020, when an estimated 647,000 international travelers arrived in Australia before its borders were shut in March. In April this year, 575,530 visitors arrived in Australia, 200,000 more visitors than the previous month. Also Read: Australian researchers make breakthrough in rare blood cancer treatment As a result, the pandemic has all but decimated Australia's 45 billion Australian dollars (about 31 billion U.S. dollars) export tourism industry, however, the ATEC said that government and industry would need to play an active role in its recovery. "Now we have our borders open we are seeing the green shoots of recovery and with export tourism businesses looking to rebuild their markets, this (is) an important time for government focus on investing in getting the industry back on its feet," said Shelley. The ATEC launched a tourism campaign dubbed "its time for tourism," which called for greater funding for peak tourism marketing body, Tourism Australia, and greater training for workers in the tourism industry. "While we rebuild our industry we also have the opportunity to innovate and improve business practices, support a more sustainable industry and create a tourism industry of the future," said Shelley.         

New Zealand welcomed tourists from the U.S., Canada, Britain, Japan and more than 50 other countries for the first time in more than two years Monday after dropping most of its remaining pandemic border restrictions. The country has long been renowned for its breathtaking scenery and adventure tourism offerings such as bungy jumping and skiing. Before the spread of COVID-19, more than 3 million tourists visited each year, accounting for 20% of New Zealand’s foreign income and more than 5% of the overall economy. But international tourism stopped altogether in early 2020 after New Zealand imposed some of the world’s toughest border restrictions. Also Read: New Zealand to remove pandemic mandates as Omicron wanes The border rules remained in place as the government at first pursued an elimination strategy and then tried to tightly control the spread of the virus. The spread of omicron and vaccinations of more than 80% of New Zealand’s 5 million population prompted the gradual easing of restrictions. New Zealand reopened to tourists from Australia three weeks ago and on Monday to about 60 visa-waiver countries, including much of Europe. Most tourists from India, China and other non-waiver countries are still not allowed to enter. Tourists will need to be vaccinated and to test themselves for the virus before and after arriving. “Today is a day to celebrate, and is a big moment in our reconnection with the world,” said Tourism Minister Stuart Nash. At Auckland Airport, flights bringing in tourists began landing from early in the morning, coming in direct from places including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Kuala Lumpur, and Singapore. The border reopening will help boost tourism ahead of New Zealand’s upcoming ski season. But the real test of how much the tourism industry rebounds will come in December, when the peak summer season begins in the Southern Hemisphere nation. Also Read: New Zealand reports the 1st Omicron XE variant Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said more than 90,000 people had booked flights to New Zealand in the seven weeks since the reopening was announced and 21 international flights were scheduled to land Monday in Auckland. “Our tourism industry have felt the effects of the global pandemic acutely, and are working hard to prepare,” she said.    

Australia's national postal service, Australia Post, has released two postage stamps to mark the platinum jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II, as the nation commemorates her 70th year as Head of the Commonwealth. The two stamps, unveiled to the public on Monday, depict portraits of Queen Elizabeth II from 1952, the year she rose to the throne, and 2019, highlighting her longevity as Head of the Commonwealth, which includes countries such as Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. Australia Post Group Philatelic Manager Michael Zsolt said the latest additions form part of the service's tradition of honoring Queen Elizabeth II. Also Read: Queen Elizabeth II tests positive for COVID; mild symptoms Queen Elizabeth II is the most featured person on Australian stamps, and the Australia Post was the first postal authority in the Commonwealth to produce a stamp for her birthday each year, Zsolt said. The Australia Post had previously released stamps to celebrate the golden and diamond jubilees of Queen Elizabeth II, marking 50 and 60 years of her service. While Queen Elizabeth II has very little involvement in the governance of Australia, she still plays a prominent cultural role in Australian life. Her image is also displayed on Australian coins and the five-dollar banknote. The postage stamps and associated collectables are expected to go on sale from Tuesday. Also Read: Queen Elizabeth II to skip Christmas trip amid omicron surge    

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Friday that Australia will send armored Bushmaster vehicles to Ukraine after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy specifically asked for them while appealing to Australian lawmakers for more help in Ukraine's war against Russia. Zelenskyy addressed the Australian Parliament on Thursday and asked for the Australian-made, four-wheel-drive vehicles. Morrison told reporters the vehicles will be flown over on Boeing C-17 Globemaster transport planes. He didn’t specify how many would be sent or when. “We’re not just sending our prayers, we are sending our guns, we’re sending our munitions, we’re sending our humanitarian aid, we’re sending all of this, our body armor, all of these things and we’re going to be sending our armored vehicles, our Bushmasters, as well,” Morrison said. Also read: Turkey offers to host more Ukraine talks Zelenskyy has been tailoring his message to individual countries through video appeals like the one shown to legislators in the Australian Parliament. Lawmakers gave him standing ovation at the start and end of his 16-minute address. Zelenskyy also called for tougher sanctions and for Russian vessels to be banned from international ports. “We need more sanctions against Russia, powerful sanctions until they stop blackmailing other countries with their nuclear missiles,” Zelenskyy said through an interpreter. Zelenskyy specifically asked for Bushmaster vehicles. “You have very good armed personnel vehicles, Bushmasters, that could help Ukraine substantially, and other pieces of equipment,” Zelenskyy said. While the Ukrainian capital Kyiv is 15,000 kilometers (9,300 miles) from the Australian capital Canberra, Zelenskyy said Australia was not safe from the conflict which threatened to escalate into a nuclear war. He suggested that a Russian victory over Ukraine would embolden China to declare war on Taiwan. Also read: Russia's ruble rebound raises questions of sanctions' impact “The most terrible thing is that if we don’t stop Russia now, if we don’t hold Russia accountable, then some other countries of the world who are looking forward to similar wars against their neighbors will decide that such things are possible for them as well,” Zelenskyy said. Zelenskyy also said Russia would not have invaded Ukraine if Moscow had been punished for the 2014 downing of a Malaysia Airlines plane in Ukraine. Two weeks ago, the Australian and Dutch governments launched a legal case against Russia at the International Civil Aviation Organization to hold Moscow accountable for its alleged role in the missile strike that killed all 298 people on MH17. Of the victims, 196 were Dutch citizens and 38 were Australian residents. Prime Minister Scott Morrison had earlier told the president that Australia would provide additional military assistance including tactical decoys, unmanned aerial and unmanned ground systems, rations and medical supplies. He later said the additional help would cost 25 million Australian dollars ($19 million). “You have our prayers, but you also have our weapons, our humanitarian aid, our sanctions against those who seek to deny your freedom and you even have our coal,” Morrison said. Australia has already promised or provided Ukraine with AU$91 million ($68 million) in military assistance, AU$65 million ($49 million) in humanitarian help and 70,000 metric tons (77,200 U.S. tons) of coal. Earlier Thursday, the government announced Australia was imposing an additional 35% tariff on all imports from Russia and Belarus starting April 25. Oil and energy imports from Russia will be banned from that date. Exports to Russia of Australian aluminum ore will also be banned. Sanctions have been imposed on more than 500 individuals and entities in Russia and Belarus. The sanctions cover 80% of the Russian banking sector and all government entities that handle Russian sovereign debt.

New Zealand will remove many of its COVID-19 pandemic mandates over the next two weeks as an outbreak of the omicron variant begins to wane. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Wednesday that people will no longer need to be vaccinated to visit places like retail stores, restaurants and bars from April 4. Gone, too, will be a requirement to scan QR barcodes at those venues. Read:Fishing boat sinks in New Zealand storm, 4 dead, 1 missing A vaccine mandate will be scrapped for some workers — including teachers, police officers and waiters — though it will continue for health care and aged-care workers, border workers and corrections officers. Also gone from Friday is a limit on outdoor crowds of 100. That will allow some concerts and big sporting events like marathons to resume. An indoor limit of 100 people will be raised to 200 people, and could later be removed altogether. Remaining in place is a requirement that people wear masks in many enclosed spaces, including in stores, on public transport and, for children aged 8 and over, in school classrooms. Ardern said the government's actions over the past two years to limit the spread of the coronavirus had saved thousands of lives and helped the economy. “But while we’ve been successful, it’s also been bloody hard," Ardern said. “Everyone has had to give up something to make this work, and some more than others,” she said. The changes mean that many restrictions will be removed before tourists start arriving back in New Zealand. Earlier this month, the government announced that Australian tourists would be welcomed back from April 12 and tourists from many other countries, including the U.S., Canada, and Britain, from May 1. International tourism used to account for about 20% of New Zealand’s foreign income and more than 5% of GDP but evaporated after the South Pacific nation imposed some of the world's strictest border controls after the pandemic began. Read: New Zealand to end quarantine stays and reopen its borders New Zealand continues to see some of its highest rates of coronavirus infections and hospitalizations since the pandemic began, with an average 17,000 new infections being reported each day. But Ardern said modeling shows that the biggest city of Auckland is already significantly past the peak of its omicron outbreak and the rest of the country will soon follow. Health experts warned that some countries which had dropped restrictions as omicron faded were now experiencing another surge of cases.

Rescuers on Monday were continuing to search for one person still missing a day after a chartered fishing boat carrying 10 people sank in a storm off the New Zealand coast. A helicopter rescued five people from the sea, and four bodies have been recovered. The 17-meter (56-foot) boat got into trouble and its emergency beacon was activated at 8 p.m. Sunday off North Cape on the northern coast. A helicopter became the first search and rescue vehicle to reach the remote location at 11:40 p.m., said Nick Burt, spokesman for Maritime NZ’s Rescue Coordination Center. Read:Shot 9 times at New Zealand mosque, survivor walks for peace “The weather really hampered the response from the aircraft. There was thunderstorms, dangerous flying conditions, so that was the earliest we could get to the scene," Burt said. The boat was confirmed sunk at 2:30 a.m., he said. Weather conditions were more favorable for the search Monday, with a navy patrol boat coordinating, helicopters in the air and ground crews scouring the shoreline, Burt said. Two bodies in the water were recovered by helicopter on Monday morning, and another two were recovered by search vessels, police said. The five people rescued by helicopter were admitted to Kaitaia Hospital and later discharged. Luis Fernandes, a meteorologist with New Zealand’s weather agency MetService, said gale-force winds had whipped up rough seas around North Cape at the time the alarm was raised. But conditions eased in the area later in the night as the search began and the storm system moved south, he said. The fishing boat had left the northern port of Mangonui on Thursday, the Stuff news website reported. Read: New Zealand to end quarantine stays and reopen its borders On board were the captain, a crew member and eight passengers from Auckland, New Zealand’s most populous city, Stuff said. The captain was among with survivors, the website said. No one else has been identified.