Alex Braae 
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Health worker representatives outline string of problems, millions more going to food banks, and mayoral pay in the spotlight. If you were watching the Epidemic Response Committee yesterday, one thing would have become very clear, very quickly. The health sector is in serious trouble, viewed from … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Auditor general to investigate PPE supply, NZ man dies in Peru reportedly after testing positive for Covid-19, and government criticised over lack of small business analysis. The auditor-general will investigate the health ministry’s handling and distribution of personal protective equipment, after weeks of health worker concerns … Read more
The economy is facing its worst crisis in almost a century, with the prospect of hundreds of thousands of people imminently losing their jobs. So why is the sharemarket chugging away at its own recovery? Alex Braae speaks to some experts to get an explanation. How’s the economy doing? In normal times, the most regularly … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Contact tracing in focus as NZ prepares to leave lockdown, how businesses should manage level three, and Winston Peters fails in bid to sue National MPs. The decision is in, and we will be leaving level four – just not until next Monday night. PM Jacinda … Read more
Oil markets are in turmoil, energy demand has been hammered by Covid-19, and economic crises loom all over the world; so why is energy economist Michael Liebreich optimistic? He talked about the current state of the world with Alex Braae. In the world of energy economics, there are no simple answers. Decisions made in one … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Political positioning intensifies over post-Covid future, decision coming on whether to leave lockdown, and schools and ECEs in spotlight. ‘Don’t politicise the crisis’, came the calls. Well, that’s out the window now. As the lockdown inches closer to a possible end (more on that later) we’re … Read more
The final verdict is in on how electorates will change for the 2020 election. So what’s different? And will the changes affect the place where you live? What’s all this then? Because the population of New Zealand isn’t normally forced to stay in exactly one place for extended periods of time, the Representation Commission changes … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: New report paints dire picture for freshwater, outline of life in level three given, and bad times looming for property investors. The latest major report on freshwater quality has shown our rivers and lakes are still in a perilous state. As the NZ Herald reports, the stats revealed … Read more
The government has just unveiled more detail about what life will be like for New Zealanders under level three restrictions. What will it mean for schools, business and day-to-day life? The first point – we still don’t know when we’ll move to level three. That has not been announced today, and an update won’t be … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Term 2 starts with kids at home, media takes spotlight at ERC, and lockdown concern for those in overcrowded housing. Going back to school is always hard, but the start of term two has been something else entirely. With schools still closed because of Covid-19, and … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Bleak Treasury scenarios show massive unemployment looming, rest home cluster claims more lives, and students disappointed at support package. The scenarios are in for how Treasury expects Covid-19 to affect GDP and unemployment rates, and they’re pretty bleak. You can read a report on them here, but … Read more
A range of scenarios has been released by Treasury, modelling the potential impact of Covid-19 on the economy. How bad could the damage be? Here’s a cheat sheet. What is the starting point for these scenarios? Treasury has looked at several different scenarios for how lockdown measures to fight Covid-19 will affect the economy, and … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Questions over how environmentally friendly Covid-19 recovery will be, consistent daily updates of new cases, and repatriation flights from India organised. There has been an increasing amount of commentary about the state of the environment during and after the pandemic. Air quality in cities has improved dramatically, … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Quarantine announcement expected today for arrivals, John Tamihere accused of test-seeking dishonesty, and Cyclone Harold smashes Pacific. An announcement is expected today on mandatory 14-day quarantine for all arrivals at the border, in an effort to prevent outbreaks of Covid-19. That comes from Newshub’s political editor Tova O’Brien, … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Dire warnings about water levels, tentative good news on Covid-19 case numbers, and local government struggles for funding. The seriousness of this issue has largely gone unnoticed amid everything else, but if we don’t address it now things could get pretty bad. The state of water … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Health minister David Clark suffers major demotion, government launches mental health tools, and more outline given on decision to leave lockdown. In breaking news, health minister David Clark has been severely demoted by the Prime Minister. Last week, a story came out about him driving to … Read more
If and when New Zealand exits alert level four and its restrictions, contact tracing becomes the most important tool we have to prevent having to lockdown all over again. So what does it involve, and are we doing enough of it? Just quickly – what is contact tracing? Contact tracing is what happens to determine … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Debate over leaving lockdown fires up, how the tax system could change after Covid-19, and concerns as cyclone bears down on Vanuatu. Over the last few days, a debate has started to fire up about leaving level four restrictions, and restarting some of the economic activity … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Media reels after horror week, Wellington Council facing massive budget crunch, and highest single day of new Covid-19 cases. It had always been clear that this was going to be a difficult time for the media, with the Covid-19 downturn hitting already battered budgets. But could … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Rising tide of hardship putting strain on services, big wage cuts coming at Fletchers, and fears many hospitality businesses won’t be viable after lockdown. We’re beginning to get a picture of how the Covid-19 economic shock will hit those living in the most hardship, and … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Government approach to testing faces serious scrutiny, second Queenstown nurse tests positive, and PM rejects curfew call. The government’s approach to fighting the Covid-19 outbreak has faced a robust bout of scrutiny, both from MPs and experts. It only took one sitting day for the new … Read more
National carrier Air New Zealand has been shattered by Covid-19, and it will likely be years before it recovers. Alex Braae reports on a sobering letter from the CEO. What’s the latest? Air New Zealand CEO Greg Foran has been in the job for a matter of months, but already he is being forced to … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Queenstown nurse tests positive for Covid-19, more detail emerges on case clusters, and NZers in Australia score moderate victory. A Queenstown nurse has tested positive for Covid-19, bringing to light wider fears of health workers. The Otago Daily Times reports the nurse worked at the Lakes District Hospital, where … Read more
The Covid-19 crisis in media has claimed New Zealand’s last surviving radio station solely dedicated to sport. Amid a wider crisis in media funding right now, the first outlet has been forced to close the doors – and it isn’t likely to return. Staff at Radio Sport have been told that the station has been … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Conditions for leaving lockdown explored, nation’s first death from Covid-19 reported, and Australian govt continues to discriminate against NZers. When will the Covid-19 lockdown across New Zealand end? Short answer – when it’s actually safe to do so. Officially, the current state of level four restrictions … Read more
It’s a town where people often feel the rest of the country has given up on them, in the middle of a region where every place feels isolated. So how did Ohura become an unlikely centre of Medieval Combat sports in New Zealand? Alex Braae spent three days there finding out. This story was made … Read more
Since the country has been told to Unite against Covid-19, many people have been putting their hands up in an effort to help out. But how? Here’s a guide to which organisations have the capabilities to put your energy to good use, and what practical steps you can take to support the community. Important note … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Covid case numbers rise again, modelling shows the toll taking no action could have had, and warnings of logistical crunch at ports. As the number of cases of Covid-19 rises into the hundreds, clusters are starting to emerge. There are now 283 cases, with seven people … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Pulling the threads of fairness in a crisis, state of national emergency declared, and case numbers top 200. New Zealand is now officially in a state of lockdown, with level four restrictions coming into place at midnight last night. There are plenty of pieces of news … Read more