Yes they’re annoying and mostly wrong, but the Covid sceptics fulfill a vital societal role, argues Danyl Mclauchlan. Most contrarian coronavirus theories go something like this. The response to the virus – the lockdowns, global panic, border closures, economic meltdown – is a huge over-reaction. Governments have made decisions based on scientific models forecasting mass … Read more
The prime minister has announced a staged, and adjusted, shift from alert level three. Here is what she said. I want to start today by acknowledging the sacrifices New Zealanders have made over the six and a half weeks we have been in alert levels four and three in order to beat Covid-19. Be it … Read more
Following a meeting of the full cabinet, Jacinda Ardern has announced New Zealand will begin a phased move from alert level three to level two on Thursday. Bubbles can be broken, but there is one major condition. Read Ardern’s speech in full here. New Zealand will move to alert level two in phased stages, Jacinda … 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
Since Covid-19 hit the hospo industry hard, the tide has been turning against Uber Eats. Jean Teng looks at why people are increasingly anti the app, and checks out some (hopefully) less problematic alternatives for sating level three hunger. Even before Covid-19, we thought food delivery was pretty damn great. For the time-poor among us, … Read more
With shovels preparing to break ground on Covid-19 recovery projects, Mark Thomas writes why the rebuild should focus on addressing New Zealand’s systemic challenges. When the government put out a call for shovel ready projects on April 1, it was inundated with about 1,800 initiatives worth many billions of dollars. Not surprisingly, most of these … Read more
With the coronavirus putting a halt to in-person gatherings, climate activists are having to get creative to keep up the momentum from last year’s hugely successful strikes. In Lambton Quay, Aotea Square, the Octagon and dozens of other hot zones across the country, 170,000 protestors packed together in intergenerational crowds to chant, hug and share … Read more
As the question of whether the lockdown notices were lawful continues to fester, Andrew Geddis takes a deep dive into the issues at play. Now that the threat of Covid-19 has been vanquished like The Beast in Krull – apparently struck down, but always threatening to rise again – we can pause and take stock … Read more
As New Zealanders start to consider the end of the Covid-19 outbreak here, it’s time to look outward, to the many refugees in overcrowded, underfunded settlements worldwide. In Cox’s Bazar on the southeast coast of Bangladesh, refugees fleeing war, famine and death live in one-room bamboo structures with plastic sheet roofs. Toilets are shared between … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Mass of documents dumped by government on Friday afternoon, pre-Budget announcements start rolling out, and Work and Income accused of not following the law. On Friday afternoon, at the moment of the week the longest possible time away from the next scheduled press conference, the … Read more
Jacinda Ardern, Ashley Bloomfield and thousands of anonymous comms workers just accomplished what we all would have thought impossible just weeks ago. Duncan Greive looks back at the historic lockdown, and how it was achieved. It came in the early evening of Wednesday March 25 – an angry, violent buzzing, all around the nation. The … Read more
When we appointed Justin Giovannetti as our first press gallery journalist, it meant an adventure from Canada to New Zealand. When Covid-19 ripped around the world, the trip took on an altogether different dimension. Justin picks up the story from his temporary home in mandatory isolation in Auckland. The world as I knew it came … Read more
Jacinda Ardern will announce today if and when we go down the ladder to alert level two. If anything, the decision is even pricklier this time. Just as it did 19 days ago, cabinet meets today to decide whether, and when, to loosen the shackles. So encouraging are recent days’ Covid-19 new case numbers that … 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
His toughness is legendary, but how is the man recently voted the world’s best rugby player of the last decade holding up now? Richie McCaw had vowed to quit lifting weights once he hung up his boots. He changed his mind. Instead, he told me, he decided to stick with it, to keep his remarkably … Read more
Contrary to claims, there is a sound legal foundation for community checkpoints organised by iwi, write legal scholars Max Harris and Professor Emeritus David V Williams. New Zealand’s response to the coronavirus crisis has involved significant community cooperation. Household bubbles have observed physical distancing rules. People have helped each other understand what’s prohibited at level … Read more
The public policy response to the Covid-19 crisis has been a great and instructive success, and Jacinda Ardern has proven herself a class above all predecessors as a communicator, writes former prime minister Sir Geoffrey Palmer QC. Plus: a note on the legal questions. The global phenomenon Covid-19 poses challenges for New Zealand public policy. … 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
Engineer Keith Jacob, from Northland, is one of 11 New Zealand crew members spending the winter at Scott Base in Antarctica. It’s the only continent free of Covid-19, yet one where isolation is part of the usual drill. Anke Richter: How was your last weekend, Keith? Keith Jacob: Very social. We had a whole … Read more
This is our final daily compilation of Covid-19 charts, graphics and data visualisations for the moment. David Garcia will continue to make some daily charts for The Spinoff team. Chris McDowall will switch to a bumper weekly round-up from next week. These posts collate the most recent statistics and present them as charts and maps. … 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
One of the success stories of the level four lockdown, SOS Business has provided a channel for incapacitated communities to send support where it is needed most. In the frenzied 48 hours before level four took effect, when packs of Cottonsoft were being ripped off supermarket shelves like the last lifejackets on a sinking ship, … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Peters throws New Zealand into the fray over Taiwan’s WHO inclusion, more detail emerges on legality of lockdown, and a potentially major decision for the courier industry. The government wouldn’t frame it in such a way, but they’ve made several recent moves which indicate they’re … Read more
Let’s get on with it, writes New Zealander turned Tasmanian Ryk Goddard – we’ve got a lot in common, starting with our suspicion of mainland Australia. I have a pitch to make. I know the idea of being in a bubble with Aussies raises some serious trust issues for you guys. But I think … 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
The latest in our series of charts, graphics and data visualisations by Chris McDowall. David Garcia worked with Chris to create today’s charts. These posts collate the most recent statistics and present them as charts and maps. The Ministry of Health typically publishes data updates in the early afternoon, which describe the situation at 9am … Read more
We still don’t know when we’ll be moving out of level three, but we do now know a lot more about what life will be like. Here’s what Jacinda Ardern has just revealed will change under alert level two. What’s all this then? As the slow march towards normality continues, we just got a lot … Read more
The legality of the actions taken in response to Covid-19 are coming under question. And some are very reasonable questions to ask, writes law professor Andrew Geddis. Questions over the legality of the various notices issued by the director general of health to enforce New Zealand’s Covid-19 “lockdown” have reached something of a critical mass … Read more
Working in customer service has never been easy, but now it’s pushing workers to the brink. Emily Writes talks to those on the other side of online shopping. Katie* has cried every day for the last few weeks. It’s a good day if she can make it to the end of the day before she … Read more