Alex Braae 
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Parliament hears dire data on ocean plastics, Provincial Growth Fund to spend millions for 3 jobs, and minister Clare Curran on personal leave. The spread of microplastics in New Zealand’s coastal waters is increasing, to the point where 80% of samples taken in a study were … Read more
In a case of terrible timing, one set of The Boys are playing at the same time as the other set of The Boys on Saturday night. Which to watch? Alex Braae assesses the options. 7.30pm. Saturday 8 September. The room looks on as you hold the TV remote in an iron grip, visibly sweating … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: PM put on the back foot over refugee quota, police reject pay offer, and some juicy local government drama unfolds in Cromwell. Plans to increase the refugee quota appear to be in jeopardy, after a public intervention from deputy PM Winston Peters, reports Newshub. Mr Peters set events … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Harness racing rocked by police raids, reporter detained in Nauru, and former Māori Party co-leader deep in debt. Multiple properties relating to harness racing have been raided by police, amid a sting action against alleged race fixing, reports Stuff. Police have long been investigation the industry, and following … Read more
Helen Clark is back, with a new book collecting her speeches from four decades in public life. She sat down with Alex Braae to discuss her extraordinary career, and where she’s headed next. In the many years Helen Clark has been involved in politics, firstly in New Zealand, and later at the United Nations, she … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Spy agencies want ways around encrypted devices, rift opens in government over refugee quota, and Bridges rules out supporting compulsory te reo. Internet NZ has issued a warning against a Five Eyes push to force vendors and service providers to give law enforcement more access to … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: AirBnb rates hike ire sums up Auckland housing, health minister accused of cronyism, and calls to change Hamilton’s name. To start the week, we’re going to put the spotlight on an issue that is a microcosm for a lot of Auckland’s housing issues. Auckland homeowners who rent … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Government loses another minister within a week, plans to override the Auckland Unitary Plan, and methane in focus for new climate change report. Another minister has stood down from PM Jacinda Ardern’s government, just a week after she had to sack a minister from Cabinet. Customs minister Meka … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Regulator flame grills fast food company over minimum wage breaches, swampy rental property exposed, and dodgy door to door sales tactics revealed. Burger King has been banned from hiring migrant workers for a year after being found to have breached minimum wage laws. Newshub reports that a salaried … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Government makes moves on business confidence, National wants US military whistleblower kept out of NZ, and schools strugging with stand-down rates. The Prime Minister has made a big push to bring business back onside, after the government has spent much of the year dogged by low … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Government signals intent on renting and tenancy laws, gang tensions in Whanganui, and the humanities are under pressure at two universities. The government has released a discussion document, with the aim of changing renting in New Zealand. Released by Phil Twyford and Marama Davidson, it will … Read more
All Blacks coach Steve Hansen has suggested the government should help the All Blacks retain key players. Here’s why that would be such a terrible idea. Now, in fairness, he may have been joking – it’s never particularly easy to tell with Steve Hansen. After meeting PM Jacinda Ardern and minister of finance and sport … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Animal rights concerns hit the agenda, tenancy law changes set to be announced, and PM Ardern gives her first minister the boot. Animal rights has been big news over the weekend, with a 500 strong protest in Auckland. Māori TV was there, and the quotes they gathered … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Something major is going down in Australia today, two stories of troubling inaction on sexual assault, and m. bovis fears at massive feedlot. In Australian politics today, something will happen. Sorry, I can’t really be any more specific than that, because the events of yesterday were so … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Two day justice summit wraps up, Winston Peters gets up to mischief in Australia, and voting in the Howick by-election gets underway. A two day summit on justice, crime and rehabilitation has concluded in Porirua. Senior ministers heard a range of views about what was wrong with … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: NZ MPs have ringside seats to Australian chaos, Catholic Bishop of Dunedin apologises to city, and red zone ‘quake outcasts’ to be paid out. It’s all going off in Australian politics right now, and in a weird coincidence, some New Zealand MPs have had ringside seats. Deputy … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Distribution of extra police officers announced, MPs put on a pay freeze, and the price of milk is in the spotlight at Stuff. The distribution of new police officers has been announced, at a delicate time for justice and crime prevention politics. During the election campaign, Labour … Read more
Australian prime ministers are like a well functioning train system. If you miss one, there’s always another one just around the corner. In today’s cheat sheet, could the lucky country be about to see a another PM booted? Hang on, what is a spill? A spill (pronounced speeeeel) is when a parliamentary caucus all gets … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Greens have their weekend in the spotlight, sharp rise in international visitor spending, and drums beating for Fonterra breakup. The Green Party have had their annual weekend in the spotlight, and have pushed out some new policy wins. They’re areas where the party has promised to make … Read more
Refugees will once again be resettled in Christchurch as the government moves ahead with long delayed plans to raise the quota. But will the small number of initial placements make a difference? The new government – particularly Labour and the Greens – came into office promising to raise the refugee quota from 1000 to 1500 … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: MP expenses have been revealed – and they’re up, National hints towards RMA change bill, and protesters dressed as cows attempt accountant office invasion. MP travel expenses have been released. Here’s a full list, topped by National leader Simon Bridges, and followed up largely by MPs who represent … Read more
In the second story in a series on the future of work, Alex Braae looks at the vulnerability of our data, and the cyber security industry whose job it is to protect it. About a year ago, a Californian company started crowdfunding for the Smalt – a ‘smart salt dispenser.’ It streams music, helps you … Read more
If you’re a fan of the Bulletin, help us bring our daily curated guide of the most important NZ news to a wider audience. And, we’ll give you some sweet prizes too. Since The Bulletin was launched around the start of the year, we’ve had thousands of people sign up. Hundreds of people have got … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: No resolution to teacher pay dispute despite strike, Fonterra gets a new boss for now, and some interesting bits from the NBR Rich List. Tens of thousands of teachers went on strike yesterday, and it doesn’t appear to be the end of the matter. Rallies were … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: The mystery around Simon Bridges’ travel expenses going public deepens, teachers go on strike, and Morgan letter rocks Kingitanga movement. The leak of National leader Simon Bridges’ travel expenses has turned into a massive Parliamentary story in its own right. Nobody seems all that concerned about the … Read more
Good morning, and welcome the The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Low growth in the Māori roll, property managers slammed for their memes, and a big cash injection for the billion trees programme. The Māori electoral roll has grown, but not by all that many voters. The option to change between the Māori and the general roll opens … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Major US decision on weedkiller has NZ implications, ACT wants to abolish the Māori seats, and NZ and Saudi Arabia strengthen trade ties. Here’s a story from overseas that could have big implications for New Zealand. A jury in California has awarded a former school groundskeeper $289 … Read more
The ACT Party wants to abolish the Māori seats, and lower the number of MPs wholesale. Do they have any chance of getting it through? At the 2017 election, out of about 13,000 party votes the ACT Party picked up nationwide, 239 came from Māori seats. It’s fair to say from those numbers that the … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Hits keep coming in Wally Haumaha story, firefighting foam contaminates Taranaki streams, and nurses release voting numbers. The Wally Haumaha appointment inquiry story isn’t going away any time soon, with a raft of new developments. First of all, let’s recap, because it has been a long and … Read more