The shortcomings seem to reflect a broader problem with how Māori have been overlooked in the plans to move to level two. On Tuesday and Wednesday, parliament raced into law the “new normal” framework for our lives until Covid-19 is finally vanquished. That sounds dramatic, but it’s true. The now in force Covid-19 Public Health … Read more
In celebration of both level two day and budget day, Emily Writes puts on her business reporting hat to take a look at the winners (and one potential loser) of the post-lockdown economy. As New Zealand begins to reopen from today, a number of industries and businesses will rise. In the past seven weeks many … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: A day of concern about police overreach, budget to be announced today, and rules on tangi changed after pressure. Plenty of concerns have been raised about the powers that police will hold under enabling legislation for alert level two. The bill to make level two possible … Read more
Budget 2020: The Labour government must not forget the unjust bailouts of the first Great Depression when it decides New Zealand’s path out of the current one. Whakapapa is the long and never-ending line of connection from the deities to earth to us. It is the long memory of indigenous people in a world that … Read more
Budget 2020: While the cost of Covid-19 means crown debt will increase dramatically, setting the right priorities means the economy can recover sooner. The government should have two priorities in this budget. First, and most importantly, the health system needs to be ready for the medium-to-long term changes that the pandemic has forced on the … Read more
Siouxsie explains the state of Covid-19 in New Zealand, the risks we face in alert level two, and some simple ways we can keep safe. The Spinoff’s coverage of the Covid-19 crisis is made possible thanks to the support of members. If you can, please consider joining Spinoff Members here (and score a Toby Morris … Read more
For all The Spinoff’s latest coverage of Covid-19 see here. Read Siouxsie Wiles’s work here. New Zealand is currently in alert level three – read The Spinoff’s giant explainer about what that means here. For official government advice, see here. The Spinoff’s coverage of the Covid-19 outbreak is funded by The Spinoff Members. To support this work, join The Spinoff Members … Read more
After moving back home to Clyde in Central Otago for the Covid-19 lockdown, George Driver wonders how the tiny town on the edge of Queenstown’s tourism boom and bust will survive. Growing up, Clyde always felt like a quiet backwater. Cut off from the main road and in the shadow of the 100m concrete wall … Read more
A willingness to see health and economy as interwoven, as part of something larger, is at the core of thinking around wellbeing, and it is strikingly absent in the White House, writes David Hall. It was a bleak event. The conference title was “Averting Systemic Collapse” but, truth be told, there wasn’t much talk of … Read more
Gaming consoles, exercise bikes, DVDs and paint – turns out what New Zealand is buying says a lot about what we’ve been doing in lockdown. Last week, I finally bought a TV. Nothing fancy, just your stock standard 30-inch telly to replace my cheap tablet that was starting to splutter to the end of its … Read more
The legislation soon to be signed into law allows the government to keep doing what it’s done so far – while also giving it controversial new powers, writes political editor Justin Giovannetti. The government is currently attempting to quickly push through legislation that provides ministers and police with sweeping powers to battle Covid-19 for years … Read more
After nearly two months of working from home, many people will relish the change of scene when they return to their actual work places on Thursday. But how has this bizarre period influenced employees’ perception of work? Sent out through our daily live blog, social media, and our daily Bulletin, a new Stickybeak survey asked … Read more
Budget 2020: With the unemployment rate growing and predicted to rise further, many more people face financial hardship and poverty. Alan Johnson explores how the government could address this in Thursday’s budget. In previous budgets the finance minister Grant Robinson proved himself a fiscal conservative, suggesting that it wasn’t time to fully address our various … Read more
Fear and vulnerability, plus plenty of spare time to head down internet rabbitholes, means fake conspiracy theories are seeing the light more than ever. Here are some simple steps you can take to combat them. Right now, in Aotearoa and the world, we’re seeing an increase in conspiracy theories, and sometimes, real-world damage because some people … Read more
Beginning today, The Spinoff kicks off a weekly round-up of data tracking the effects and response of Covid-19 around the world – and how New Zealand stacks up. This data and the visualisations of it are both drawn from Our World in Data’s work on the Covid-19 pandemic, which is freely available for re-use. Not … Read more
The rules for level two will be introduced in three phases. Here’s our bumper collection of the restrictions that will apply when we jump down from alert level three. When does New Zealand move into alert level two? Mostly on Thursday May 14. Or, more specifically, if you’re desperate to burst that bubble, at 11.59pm … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Previewing the budget we’ll get tomorrow, tangihanga rules further clarified, and Peters doesn’t believe Taiwan war of words will harm China relationship. We’re increasingly getting a sense of the sort of budget Grant Robertson will deliver tomorrow. The country is facing an economic downturn which could … Read more
In alert level two, a slew of hospital and GP services become available again. That presents a challenge to get back to normal, and ‘normal’ should not be what we are seeking in any case, write Richard Hamblin and Carl Shuker of the Health Quality & Safety Commission. Surgeries have been halted. Hip and knee … Read more
It’s election year, but thanks to the not insignificant matter of a global pandemic, we’ve barely heard from the minor parties. So we decided to give them a chance to explain how they would have handled the Covid-19 response had they been in parliament. Getting attention from the opposition benches is hard enough in politics. … Read more
For all The Spinoff’s latest coverage of Covid-19 see here. Read Siouxsie Wiles’s work here. New Zealand is currently in alert level three – read The Spinoff’s giant explainer about what that means here. For official government advice, see here. The Spinoff’s coverage of the Covid-19 outbreak is funded by The Spinoff Members. To support this work, join The Spinoff Members … Read more
Hatch GM Kristen Lunman shares some dos and don’ts for investing during a big market decline. Covid-19 has sent share prices from New Zealand to New York tumbling, sparking a wild ride over the last couple of months and into a volatile bear market. If you’re not familiar with the term bear market, it refers … Read more
With the government yet to announce its preferred contact tracing technology, the market is being flooded with private options. Alex Braae reports on an app developed for the local hospitality industry that has caught the eye of Wellington City Council. The Wellington City Council has officially adopted a contract tracing app of choice, with a … Read more
Expected to be the most significant in a generation, Thursday’s budget will reveal how the government will offset the monstrous cost of Covid-19. Terry Baucher explores the likelihood of tax changes. As usual, the finance minister is not lacking for advice in the run-up to this week’s budget. It ought to be something of a … Read more
Dr Alex Kazemi, an ICU specialist, writes here in his personal capacity on the opportunity Covid-19 provides to rebuild our healthcare system. The tooth fairy never showed. My daughter had written a note – “You are invited to a tea party on Saturday at 10.30. If you cannot come please leave this note behind” – … Read more
Over lockdown, a small team of music industry professionals have become emergency response workers. Josie Adams visited Spark Arena to meet them. Behind Spark Arena is a line of shipping containers filled with food and hygiene products. “Only a few months ago this was filled with Tool’s stuff,” said Tom Anderson, a coordinator of Auckland … Read more
Made by a single family sewing together bits of old shows, Leigh Hart’s Big Isolation Lockdown was the funniest and most oddly comforting television created in level four, writes Duncan Greive. It takes a special kind of ego to make what is functionally a career retrospective about yourself, with your family as extras and directors, … Read more
They’re calling level two a return to normality, but for many of us that’s not really true. Sam Brooks, for one, is anxious as hell about the prospect of a world that’s more open, and more dangerous. Less than two minutes after Jacinda Ardern announced we would be moving to level two, I messaged two … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: level two is coming but some of the rules have changed, Work and Income could be facing class action suit, and China issues strong warning to NZ over Taiwan. So we got the announcement yesterday – we will be moving to alert level two this … Read more
The average wait for a jury trial in New Zealand is 425 days – and the coronavirus just made the problem a whole lot worse, write Nessa Lynch and Yvette Tinsley of Victoria University of Wellington. In a recent interview on Māori Television, chief district court judge Taumaunu described the Covid-19 pandemic as an unprecedented … Read more