The Bulletin: The challenge ahead for Judith Collins

Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Dramatic leadership change for National, government rolls out millions more in business support, and several police raids ruled unlawful by IPCA. If you didn’t pay attention to the news yesterday from about 7.15am onwards, there’s a bit to catch up on. The big story is this: … Read more

The Bulletin: Labour’s turn to feel SFO heat

Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Serious Fraud Office announces investigation into donations made to Labour, deportations from Australia to resume, and retail businesses up against it on rent. In a short statement released yesterday afternoon, the Serious Fraud Office made it clear that donations to the Labour Party in 2017 … Read more

The Bulletin: Did Todd Muller lie about Boag and Woodhouse?

Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Self-inflicted story puts National on the defensive, another escape attempt from managed isolation, and a series of party events ahead of election. There’s a convention in journalism called Betteridge’s law of headlines. Basically what it means is that headlines that end in a question mark can … Read more

The Bulletin: Tiwai Point closing affects everything

Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Major implications from Tiwai Pt closure, diplomatic rift over Hong Kong deepens, and grim new approach to managed isolation. The story of Rio Tinto pulling out of the Tiwai Point smelter is one that shows the deep connections between regional stories and the rest of … Read more

The Bulletin: Changes coming in managed isolation after 2nd escape

Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Changes coming in managed isolation after 2nd escape, Hamish Walker’s political career over, and expert advice released ahead of cannabis referendum. Changes are being made to the way managed isolation facilities are run, after it emerged that a resident went for a wander around Auckland – and … Read more

The Bulletin: Hamish Walker, former Nat president in disgrace after Covid leak

Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Scandal for MP after leaking confidential Covid data, new bookings for return to country put on hold, and Islamic Women’s Council release evidence of being ignored. We now know exactly how the leak of private information of all active Covid-19 patients happened. National MP Hamish Walker, representative … Read more

The Bulletin: Tough times for thousands on temporary visas

Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Problems looming for temporary visa holders, state house waiting list balloons again, and US ban could hit NZ seafood exports. There are some real problems looming for temporary visa holders and their employers, with thousands set to expire all once, reports Nona Pelletier for Radio NZ. Automatic … Read more

The Bulletin: Who gets held to account?

Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Stories raise themes of political accountability, investigation launched after active case details leaked, and frustrating infrastructure failures hurt Auckland water system. There have been several stories involving the theme of political accountability for mistakes in recent days. So for a lead today, we’re going to pick … Read more

The Bulletin: Ups and downs at parliament as parties make final shuffles

Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. Clark out and Bridges back in, Chinese embassy warns NZ politicians to not speak out on Hong Kong, and terrible new revelations about Oranga Tamariki culture. It has been a day of reshuffling at parliament, with both major parties making significant moves. We’ll start with Labour, because theirs involves … Read more

The Bulletin: Auckland gets Waikato water, but long-term issues remain

Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Agreement reached in principle for Auckland to take Waikato water, beneficiary debt to MSD balloons, and Opportunities Party lose candidate in key seat. An agreement has been reached in principle for Auckland to take water from the Waikato River. As Radio NZ’s Jordan Bond reports, it is an … Read more

The Bulletin: New support, new taxes in effect from today

Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: New benefits and new taxes in effect from today, questions raised over whether a leading Brexiteer is getting into NZ politics, and contrasting polls on cannabis legalisation. Today is a big day for New Zealand, with a whole lot of previously announced policies coming into … Read more

The Bulletin: The battle over opening the borders

immigration auckland airport arrivals international

Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Battle over whether opening the borders is tenable, Christchurch mosque shooter interview concerns, and Paula Bennett leaves politics. The first thing to note about the opening of the borders is that it is unlikely to happen any time soon. The PM declared yesterday afternoon that the prospect was … Read more

The Bulletin: Fears for paramedic service after pay boost scrapped

Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Fears for paramedic service after pay boost scrapped, rapid report into managed isolation system released, and Greens release sweeping new welfare and tax policy. We’re going back to last week for today’s lead story, but it’s a deeply important one with wide implications for the … Read more

The Bulletin: Fascinating poll sets tone for the election

Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: New poll sets tone for election campaign, new testing criteria for Covid-19 outlined, and weirdness occurs around prisoner voting bill. We’re now three months out from the election, and the latest poll has returned to something approaching a balanced state of play. The One News Colmar Brunton survey … Read more

The Bulletin: Will the three-party government survive the term?

Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Questions over stability of the government, health minister throws top official under the bus, and concerns raised over dolphin protection plan. After several days of frantically knifing each other at parliament, you’d be forgiven for thinking the coalition government is on the verge of collapse. The … Read more

The Bulletin: New testing strategy aimed at borders, community surveillance

Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: New testing strategy unveiled by minister, Otago Regional Councillors preparing for leadership showdown, and PM dismisses Ihumātao reports. Every person known to have Covid-19 right now is in quarantine, including the two new cases at the border yesterday. With that said, Radio NZ’s Rowan Quinn reports the new … Read more

The Bulletin: Auckland drought leads to fears of severe water restrictions

Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Auckland drought leads to fears of severe water restrictions, exclusive new poll results on government’s Covid-19 response, and is a resolution coming at Ihumātao? The Auckland water crisis isn’t getting any better, and the city’s leaders are getting extremely nervous about the coming months. That is … Read more

The Bulletin: New Covid-19 case in isolation facility, system reaching capacity

Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: New case amid capacity concerns at isolation facilities, police mourn colleague who was killed, and vibrant weekend of party politics as election nears. Quarantine and managed isolation facilities are continuing to dominate the news, after a weekend of new developments. The news broke last night on Radio … Read more

The Bulletin: Government scrambles to fix quarantine bungle fallout

Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Fallout continues from quarantine system failures, new GDP figures released show first quarter drop, and ACC pouring millions into acupuncture treatments. It was another difficult day for the government yesterday, with new developments and assurances that problems would be fixed. Our political editor filed a report … Read more

The Bulletin: An avalanche of incompetence in quarantine system

Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Repeated blunders shake faith in quarantine system, report finds ministry was unprepared on PPE, and trade negotiations with Britain begin.  New measures will be taken around the border quarantine system after a series of idiotic failings. Our live blog has the details, including the news that the health … Read more

The Bulletin: Two new Covid-19 cases, serious questions about border

Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Failings around Covid-positive visitors who were allowed to travel, massive new report on health reform unveiled, and police executive redesign proposed. There are two new cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand, breaking a long streak of zero days. Our live updates page from yesterday has the details of … Read more

The Bulletin: Fast-tracked projects aimed at job-creation announced

Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: List of infrastructure projects for fast-tracking announced, Labour releases list for election, and concerns raised about police firearms vetting process. Get your shovels out – 11 projects have been announced to start imminently after being included in an infrastructure fast-tracking bill. As Stuff reports, the inclusion is aimed … Read more

The Bulletin: Muller makes his pitch for the middle

Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Todd Muller makes pitch for the middle, further BLM protests take place, and two pieces to illustrate the importance of science in public life. The opposition leader gets precious few chances to try and define themselves in the public eye, and Todd Muller has had … Read more

The Bulletin: A dozen stories to wrap the week

Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Review finds rest home with Covid outbreak breached care obligations, Coster clarifies rubber bullet comments, and Otago University forecasts heavy losses. Something slightly different today: Rather than a lead story with lots of detail, today’s Bulletin will be about rounding up a whole lot of news … Read more

The Bulletin: Billions needed to fix hospital infrastructure

Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Billions needed to fix poor state of hospital infrastructure, colonial era statues in the spotlight, and major problems emerge in modem rollout to students. Dozens of hospital buildings are in a poor condition, a new stocktake has found.Radio NZ’s Phil Pennington has a detailed report on … Read more

The Bulletin: How Australia sees the trans-Tasman bubble

Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: How Australia sees the trans-Tasman bubble, police Armed Response Teams scrapped for good, and cheese in the spotlight in Europe trade stoush. Today’s main story comes from a reader suggestion, who had spotted a gap in news coverage. Dan wrote in to ask how Australia was … Read more

The Bulletin: Level one, zero cases. Now what?

Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: What comes next after level one move, trade minister takes aim at Europe over deal offer, and harsh report into Oranga Tamariki released. Good morning, and welcome to the strange sense of unbridled freedom that you might have woken up with. The announcement that we would … Read more

The Bulletin: Can Shane Jones reclaim Northland and save his party?

Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Shane Jones confirms run in the crucial seat of Northland, Kiwifruit sales soar amid global pandemic, and questions on colonial monuments erupt around the world. The course of politics over the last five years was arguably set during the tumultuous Northland by-election of 2015. After the … Read more

Rat traps and carbon credits: The native forests offsetting your emissions

Simon Day discovers how the voluntary carbon market allows both individuals and companies to offset their emissions at the same time as investing in native forest regeneration. When Celia Wade-Brown sold her first batch of carbon credits earned from the native forest on her Wairarapa farm, she had two customers: Z Energy picked up 7,500 … Read more