Justin Giovannetti 
Australia’s decision to revoke the citizenship of a dual citizen, who has lived in Australia since the age of six, has prompted a furious response from the New Zealand prime minister. ‘They did not act in good faith,’ she said. In blunt and dramatic contrast to the typically cordial tone of trans-Tasman relations, Jacinda Ardern … Read more
The government faces a tough decision later this week: play it safe and extend the lockdown or relax restrictions. Justin Giovannetti looks at what factors are at play. Aucklanders are likely to learn around midday on Wednesday whether this snap lockdown will be a short blip or another long slog through the alert levels. The … Read more
‘We do not agree with the opinions expressed,’ said the Ministry of Education of the Te Kūiti High School acting assistant principal, who wanted to spark debate with an email attachment that included false claims around the ‘controlavirus’ and Bill Gates. The acting assistant principal at Te Kūiti High School shared conspiracy material that dismissed … Read more
The mojitos are memories and parliament’s bar is back to pulling pints as MPs return to business. Political editor Justin Giovannetti assesses the first week back in Wellington. Parliament’s first week after a long summer break set a different tone for 2021, dominated by a hectic schedule that bounced between serious and silly, with relatively … Read more
A surprisingly large number of people could be getting a Covid jab within the next few weeks – but don’t go marking it in your diary just yet. There’s light at the end of the tunnel as New Zealand’s medical regulator gave the thumbs up to a Covid-19 vaccine yesterday. With the jab from Pfizer … Read more
Jacinda Ardern calls 2021 the ‘year of the vaccine’ and New Zealand now has one it can use. Justin Giovannetti reports from the Beehive. New Zealand has given the green light to its first Covid-19 vaccine, with Medsafe announcing provisional approving for a jab from Pfizer and BioNTech that has become a cornerstone of the … Read more
Ardern says the government is ready to ‘accelerate’ to meet the ambitious demands of the emissions budget laid down by the Climate Change Commission. Every home and business in the country will need to see a substantial shift in behaviour under far-reaching guidance just released by the Climate Change Commission. The “emissions budget”, the first … Read more
The chair of the Climate Change Commission says he should have understood the challenge of the climate crisis sooner. On Sunday, the country’s first emissions budget will be released and everyone will understand, Justin Giovannetti writes. New Zealand is an international outcast. Its exports are boycotted around the world. Its leaders shunned. That’s a future … Read more
Telling a Rotary Club audience that housing is a serious problem and they should care deeply about it landed flat but took some daring from the National leader, writes Justin Giovannetti. Judith Collins’ level of control over the National Party is still a question best answered by a shrug. Elevated to her party’s leadership in … Read more
The chief executive of Oranga Tamariki is quitting, leaving behind an agency she’s admitted suffers from structural racism. Justin Giovannetti looks at the future of Oranga Tamariki. Grainne Moss’s tenure as head of Oranga Tamariki has been untenable since November when the government’s senior Māori minister wouldn’t express any confidence in her. Today she bowed … Read more
The issues political editor Justin Giovannetti will be keeping an eye on in 2021 (that have nothing to do with Covid-19). New Zealand will be busy in 2021. The border will remain closed to nearly all travellers and Covid-19 will continue to lead the news, but the country has a packed domestic agenda of issues … Read more
More infectious variants of Covid-19 are increasingly being intercepted at the country’s borders, but the minister running New Zealand’s response is resisting pressure to accelerate vaccination plans despite demands from health experts as well as political friends and foes, Justin Giovannetti reports. New Zealand’s first Covid-19 jabs will be administered in April to border workers … Read more
While New Zealand has been on holiday, Covid-19 has gotten much worse beyond our borders. Justin Giovannetti looks at the global situation and what we can expect in the year to come. It’s a new year, but the world remains locked in a very familiar crisis. Despite encouraging vaccine developments before Christmas, Covid’s spread has … Read more
Summer reissue: Shane Reti has emerged in recent weeks as the opposition’s most capable communicator in the age of Covid-19. Justin Giovannetti speaks with ‘Dr Shane’ about the changes he’s brought to National and how he’d seek to improve New Zealand’s response to the coronavirus. First published September 2, 2020. Independent journalism depends on you. … Read more
Summer reissue: The crowd’s attention wasn’t primarily on the ball when political editor Justin Giovannetti went to see his first rugby game. As the parliamentary team faced off against the local Centurions all eyes were on the director general of health, Ashley Bloomfield, starting at openside flanker. First published on July 26, 2020 Independent journalism … Read more
Cases of Covid-19 are being found daily in the country’s border facilities, but that won’t stop them from throwing together a Christmas like none before it, complete with face masks and social distancing. Following Jacinda Ardern’s decision to give Santa and his reindeer a pass to avoid a stint at a border facility, and presumably … Read more
More than two months ago, an urgent review of New Zealand’s Covid-19 testing system was delivered to the government as the country’s largest coronavirus cluster burned through Auckland. It still hasn’t been made public. New Zealand’s confidence in its Covid-19 border defences was at a low ebb in August as a cluster of cases in … Read more
An update to the NZ Covid Tracer app today adds bluetooth functionality, allowing your phone to automatically track other app users you’re near to. New Zealand’s Covid tracer app is getting a significant new feature tomorrow with the incorporation of bluetooth tracking. The additional tool on the app doesn’t replace your daily practice of scanning … Read more
The Royal Commission into the Christchurch attack has made 44 recommendations, including a sweeping overhaul and expansion of New Zealand’s national security state. Justin Giovannetti reports from parliament. New Zealand’s security services knew almost nothing about the the terrorist’s intentions before the Christchurch attack and could have done very little to stop him, the long-awaited … Read more
The first people in the UK will be getting a Covid-19 vaccine on Tuesday, while in New Zealand, the wait could be for several more months. Here’s the government’s plan to vaccinate Aotearoa. Mass vaccination efforts against Covid-19 are underway around the world, but in New Zealand the government is asking for patience as the … Read more
Threads of a political career, woven together: climate change, child poverty and global leadership. Within weeks of a history-making victory, Jacinda Ardern and the Labour party face a growing list of demands. Local government is in disarray, the housing market is out of control and the spotlight is once again on children being removed from … Read more
Pill testing at New Zealand’s festivals will be legal this summer as the Labour government prepares to rush legislation through parliament. And, as Justin Giovannetti writes, the new law could signal more significant changes next year for the country’s drugs. Most of parliament is supporting Labour’s move to make pill testing legal, taking it out … Read more
New Zealand will see some last-minute governing as Labour plans to rush through a legislative agenda before the summer break. Jacinda Ardern’s government is about to undertake a parliamentary sprint before Christmas, with plans to legislate a number of campaign promises and declare a climate emergency in only a few sitting days. The list of … Read more
The government has conceded that soaring house prices are increasing inequality and poverty, and the finance minister wants the Reserve Bank to do something about it. Justin Giovannetti writes from parliament. There’s been an invisible wall down the centre of Bowen Street in Wellington for a generation. On one side is parliament and elected officials, … Read more
Donald Trump has promised it’ll be free. So has Justin Trudeau. But the New Zealand government hasn’t yet decided whether we’ll have to pay for a Covid-19 vaccine. There’s a glimmer of hope in recent announcements from drugmakers Moderna and Pfizer that their vaccines are highly effective at preventing Covid-19 – but the pandemic’s end … Read more
The Commerce Commission is undertaking a year-long study of supermarkets to see whether consumers are getting a fair deal, but it seems even the prime minister knows the answer will be an emphatic no, Justin Giovannetti reports. There might be something rotten with New Zealand’s supermarkets. Food prices are high and increasing, producers are being … Read more
The masks are coming. New Zealand’s hard and early response to Covid-19 is finally adopting widespread mask use outside of lockdown. Justin Giovannetti writes about what changed in the halls of parliament to make it happen. Masks will become mandatory on Auckland transit and domestic flights next week following months of criticism by leading epidemiologists … Read more
The Greens won a sizeable share of the party vote, and Chlöe Swarbrick took Auckland Central. But the cannabis referendum campaign she championed, as captured in Three Ticks Chlöe, failed. For all the glorious victory, the final note is one of frustration, writes Justin Giovannetti. Three Ticks Chlöe is part of Frame, a series of short documentaries … Read more
The opposition leader appointed her shadow cabinet yesterday, and in doing so made some unexpected choices. Here are 10 Justin Giovannetti is pondering. Judith Collins has put her stamp on the National Party with a new shadow cabinet that breaks with her predecessors. With a small caucus of only 33, Collins has given each of … Read more