Covid-19 forced both shoppers and small businesses to quickly adapt to a digital-only world. As life returns to something closer to normal, Visa’s Marty Kerr explains how businesses can respond to consumers’ changed habits. It’s a situation so outlandish, not even the most doomsday-prepared could’ve had a plan in place. Before March 25, when the … Read more
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 World Health Organisation pulled its support for acupuncture in 2014. The Ministry of Health has found barely any evidence of its efficacy. So why is ACC still paying out millions for acupuncture treatment? This investigation is made possible by Spinoff Members. To support independent, homegrown journalism, donate today. There are about 650 practitioners of … 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 one – read about what that means here. For official government advice, see here. The Spinoff’s coverage of the Covid-19 outbreak is made possible thanks to donations from Spinoff Members. To support this work, join The Spinoff … Read more
The support and guidance for this year’s Callaghan Innovation C-Prize finalists proved invaluable as Covid-19 turned the challenge on its head. Starting a business in the midst of a global pandemic could seem like a really bad idea. But as businesses across the country battled the effects of Covid-19, the Callaghan Innovation C-Prize organisers were … Read more
In a massively ironic piece of timing, international research group The Economist Intelligence Unit declared the New Zealand’s government response to Covid-19 the best in the OECD on the same day that massive health ministry failings were revealed. The Economist Intelligence Unit has ranked 21 countries throughout the OECD on how well they’ve responded to … Read more
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
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 one – read about what that means here. For official government advice, see here. The Spinoff’s coverage of the Covid-19 outbreak is made possible thanks to donations from Spinoff Members. To support this work, join The Spinoff … Read more
Nedal Ebrahim never thought he would be forced to flee his home and start all over again. But now, as a former refugee, supermarket assistant, passionate cook and Covid-19 essential worker, Nedal has become an important and valued member of his new community. Taste Nature in Dunedin is a favourite stop for organic and sustainable … Read more
Māori leadership throughout the Covid-19 crisis has looked different from iwi to iwi, and hapū to hapū. In Whanganui, as before, iwi have taken their lead from Rangi, Papa and the sacred River, writes Āneta Rāwiri. Just over three months ago, on March 11, the World Health Organisation declared the Covid-19 coronavirus a global pandemic. … Read more
The system of managed self-isolation has failed in the case of the two women who arrived from the UK, David Clark said, and the government wants to ‘strengthen the oversight’ of the process. The “failing in the system”, which saw a recent arrival from Britain who later tested positive for Covid-19 being approved to drive … Read more
New Zealand has been lauded for its response to Covid-19, but the fastest country to act was Taiwan, which has gone 64 days without a new locally transmitted case. So why has it been overlooked? When New Zealand announced on June 8 that it had reached the significant milestone of zero active Covid-19 cases, the … Read more
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 government says it’s providing an essential service as the country emerges from Covid-19; the opposition says it’s election propaganda in disguise. Which side is right about Unite for the Recovery? Being the opposition to a first-term New Zealand government simply isn’t fair. Voters historically appear minded to give whoever is in charge the benefit … Read more
Sabira Nouri exemplifies fierce determination to never give up. A former refugee, nurse, avid traveller, cancer survivor and Covid-19 essential worker, Sabira has been defying the odds her whole life. When 15-year-old Sabira Nouri’s plane touched down at 1am on the tarmac of an eerily quiet Auckland International Airport, she had already faced more than … 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 one – read about what that means here. For official government advice, see here. The Spinoff’s coverage of the Covid-19 outbreak is made possible thanks to donations from Spinoff Members. To support this work, join The Spinoff Members … Read more
If you own a small- or medium-sized business, finding and accessing financial support amid all the noise and information can be overwhelming. So we’ve put together a list of what’s out there. Government support The Covid-19 wage subsidy With $11 billion paid out over the past three months, the government’s wage subsidy is the first … Read more
The Simpson report into the health and disability sector has finally been released, proposing major changes to the way the health system is organised and governed. Alex Braae reports on the most important bits. What’s all this then? About two years ago, Heather Simpson was tasked with leading a massive review into the health and … Read more
Thank goodness for Wendyl Nissen and her chooks. After my second miscarriage, the counsellor at Fertility Associates told us to think about what our ideal lives would look like if we were unable to have a second child. The only thing I could think of was: chickens. I would like chickens, maybe five or six … Read more
Fifth survey by Stickybeak for The Spinoff shows support for the government response solid as we enter level one – and the highest number yet give top marks. Popular support for the response to the coronavirus crisis is undimmed as New Zealand enters its second week of a mostly restriction-free alert level one, a 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 one – read about what that means here. For official government advice, see here. The Spinoff’s coverage of the Covid-19 outbreak is made possible thanks to donations from Spinoff Members. To support this work, join The Spinoff Members … Read more
Based on the latest Kiwi Economics data, Kiwibank senior economist Jeremy Couchman explores what fresh economic shoots could be growing in the fertile ground left by Covid-19. New Zealand has done extremely well to crush the Covid-19 curve and allow the rapid reopening of the economy. At Kiwibank we have been pleasantly surprised at the … Read more
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
In most of the world, the idea of gathering with thousands of strangers in a stadium is completely unthinkable. Many forests have been lost to internal reviews and newspaper columns diagnosing the plight of the Blues, and how to reinvigorate the fan base, but not one of them included “appalling global pandemic”. That 43,000 filled … 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 one – read about what that means here. For official government advice, see here. The Spinoff’s coverage of the Covid-19 outbreak is made possible thanks to donations from Spinoff Members. To support this work, join The Spinoff Members … Read more
Over lockdown, the daily Covid-19 update became appointment viewing. As the country returns to normality, Fiona Rae looks back on how the 1pm briefing became a nationwide ritual. It was a low-budget show that screened every day at lunchtime. There were only two starring roles and about the same number of camera angles. The scripts … Read more
Covid-19 led to a shift for a New Zealand family into the heart of the Irish capital. Julia Mahony on her new view of the city. I was in the kitchen at the convent of the Sisters of Charity in Dublin, when Ireland’s taoiseach (prime minister) announced on the radio that schools would close due … Read more
The health arguments are sound, and the economic and cultural imperatives are clear. The Pacific islands need to be prioritised post-Covid over the trans-Tasman bubble, writes public health expert Collin Tukuitonga. Much has been made about the need to open a trans-Tasman travel bubble as a priority. This is despite the fact that Australia continues … Read more
As we face what seems to be the tail end of the first (and hopefully final) wave of Covid-19 in Aotearoa, research is being done to examine whether people of different ethnic and socio-economic statuses have the same ability to respond to the crisis. New Zealand’s response to Covid-19 has been heralded all over the … Read more