Budget 2020: What does this year’s budget mean for one of the hardest-hit sectors post-lockdown? Those in the industry give their initial reactions. As the country braces for the inevitable Covid-19 economic slump, today the government announced its “once in a generation” $50 billion budget. From that $50bn, $3.2bn has been set aside to extend … Read more
Budget 2020: The government has unveiled a massive $50bn spending package, including an eight week extension to the wage subsidy. Duncan Greive asks the business community: is it enough? The government this afternoon unveiled a massive new $50bn programme of spending – “much bigger than anyone expected”, according to Kiwibank senior economist Jeremy Couchman. The … 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
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
Where is the ‘other’ Treaty partner in this pandemic response, asks public health expert Rhys Jones. Looking at the outward face of the Covid-19 pandemic response in Aotearoa/New Zealand, you’d be forgiven for wondering where one of the Treaty partners is. No matter where you look – cabinet, those delivering official communications, experts informing the … 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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
With the global economy due for another slowdown, coupled with major economic disruption caused by Covid-19, we’re standing on the precipice of what looks to be a long and hard global recession. So what can we do to protect ourselves? Accountant and financial blogger Sam Harith has some advice. 1. Identify your personal income stream(s) … 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
With Ardern and New Zealand in headlines for what promises to be a successful elimination strategy, we have an opportunity to use that influence in international relations, write Nina Hall, Max Harris, Evelyn Marsters, Thomas Nash and Arama Rata of New Zealand Alternative. The international praise of Jacinda Ardern’s response to Covid-19 means that New … 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
In the third part of a new series sharing the stories of families learning from home during lockdown, Jessie Moss observes her daughters learning at each step of their lockdown journey. As Covid-19 began to sweep the world, our family started looking for a new house. We finally moved on March 20 and a few … Read more
It’s all about the lag. We’d be idiots to throw away what we’ve achieved. The Spinoff’s coverage of the Covid-19 crisis is only possible because of the support of members. If you can, please consider joining Spinoff Members here (and score a Toby Morris tea-towel) What a milestone: two days in a row with no new … 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
We’re beginning to solve a crucial part of the puzzle: just when, and for how long, are people infectious? I’ve pointed this out before, but it’s worth repeating. With Covid-19 we are trying to understand a virus and disease we’ve never encountered before. That means there are many gaps in our knowledge. All around the … 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
Benjamin Kingsbury is the author of The Dark Island, an account of New Zealand’s experience with leprosy in the early 1900s. Here he writes about what quarantine was like for those suffering from the disease. Early in 1906, Christchurch Hospital admitted a man whose face and arms had become a mass of angry sores. Hospital … Read more
Hopes of success for ‘elimination strategy’ grow as for the first day since mid-March no new cases are announced. ‘We cannot afford to squander all the hard work’, warns Bloomfield. The Spinoff’s coverage of Covid-19 is made possible thanks to donations from Members. Please join to support our work. For the latest developments see here. … Read more