The Bulletin: 5 million Covid vaccines on the way in major new agreement

Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: 5 million Covid vaccines on the way in major new agreement, new tourism minister confirms change in industry focus, and an outstanding outline of the current drug law mess. There is now the possibility that every single New Zealander who wants a Covid vaccine will … Read more

The Bulletin: Bridges on the brink

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Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Rumblings grow of a coup against Bridges, police dogs being set on people in mental distress, and government’s contact tracing app ready early. The long-threatened coup attempt at National leader Simon Bridges seems to be finally here. Many times over his tenure there have been murmurings … Read more

The Bulletin: How Covid-19 has affected the Pacific

Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Spotlight on the Pacific and Covid-19, health minister in yet another spot of bother, and schools reopening to very limited numbers. For a lead today, I thought it would be useful to check in on our nation’s neighbours in the Pacific, and how they are … Read more

Covid-19 live updates, April 9: Decision on ending lockdown in 11 days; drop in active cases

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 four. The country is shut down, apart from essential services. For updated 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 here. 7.00pm: … Read more

Covid-19 and the Pacific: How the island nations hope to fend off the pandemic

Widespread community transmission of Covid-19 would be calamitous in the Pacific Islands, where health infrastructure is limited. What steps are they taking to fend it off? The Spinoff’s coverage of the Covid-19 outbreak is funded by Spinoff Members. To support this work, join Spinoff Members here.  Update 19/03, 2:45pm: Fiji has confirmed its first case of … Read more

The Bulletin: Ardern’s important international week

Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Ardern gets diplomatic, fuel market legislation released, and police pinged over employment records breach. There hasn’t really been much coverage of it in The Bulletin, but it’s worth looking back at quite an important diplomatic week for the PM. She has been in Fiji for several … Read more

Bulletin World Weekly: Coronavirus goes global

Welcome to the Bulletin World Weekly, an email exclusively for The Spinoff Members. As a one-off, we’ve put today’s edition up for everyone to read. If you want to get this every week, sign up to The Spinoff Members here. In the last week, outbreaks of the Covid-19 coronavirus have shaken countries well beyond the … Read more

From kia ora to kimono: the trademarks accused of ‘cultural appropriation’

Western companies trademarking culturally significant words and phrases? It’s not as uncommon as you think. Here are just four examples from the past year.  Air New Zealand & Kia Ora No word in te reo has had more mainstream cut through than our national greeting. Now, Air New Zealand is attempting to go one step … Read more

The Bulletin: 50 murder charges, no terrorism charges

Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Christchurch mosque attack accused to appear in court, threats made against Muslim prayer for ANZAC service, and tense hearings on gun law reforms. The police have confirmed they will be charging the man accused of carrying out the Christchurch mosque attack over every single person killed. The NZ … Read more

The Bulletin: Shareholders approve, so what will TradeMe sale mean?

Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Shareholders approve of sale of TradeMe to private equity firm, family ties between Shane Jones and logging boss, and Newsroom journalists detained in Fiji. TradeMe shareholders have given overwhelming backing to a takeover offer from a British private equity firm called Apax Partners, reports Business Desk. It’s the … Read more

Pacific players dominate rugby. So why still can’t they stay and play at home?

Nearly a quarter of players at the last Rugby World Cup were of Pacific Island descent. But, 23 years since the game turned professional, players born in Fiji, Samoa and Tonga still have to leave home to make a living from the sport. For Insight, RNZ Pacific’s Sports Editor Vinnie Wylie asks whether a Pacific Super Rugby … Read more

The Korean cult accused of brutalising slaves in Fiji

A cult leader arrested in Korea has been accused of forcing devotees into slave labour in Fiji. And the Fijian government is staying tight-lipped about their own links to the Grace Road Church. Jamie Tahana writes for RNZ Pacific. There’s an apocalypse coming and only one place will escape it: Fiji, the so-called “centre of … Read more

For Tagataese’s sake NRL, stop butchering Polynesian names

What’s in a name? Once again not much, if you’re an NRL commentator. The 2018 edition of the NRL kicked off last night, with a new look St George-Illawarra Dragons drawing a packed house for their clash with the Brisbane Broncos. Things have changed down in the land of the famed Red V, with a … Read more

Indigenous youth say ‘pass the mic’ to decolonise COP23 climate talks

Kera Sherwood-O’Regan (Kāi Tahu) is an Aotearoa Youth Leadership Institute delegate to COP23, the United Nations Climate Talks in Bonn, Germany, reporting over the three-week conference. This week: she’s tired and no one’s listening to indigenous people. If you were looking for a nice and neat overview of the COP23 UN Climate Talks, I’ll save you … Read more

Letter from Viti Levu: One year on, Cyclone Winston is still battering communities

A year ago this week, the strongest cyclone in recorded history to make landfall in the South Pacific Basin hit Fiji. Unicef NZ’s Lachlan Forsyth travelled to the tiny village of Rakiraki to see how a devastated community is slowly rebuilding. It’s a modest collection of buildings. A couple of classrooms, some homes for the … Read more

Blacklisted in coup coup land: why one journalist won’t be accompanying the PM to Fiji

When John Key flies out to Fiji today, one journalist who won’t be joining the delegation is old Pacific hand Michael Field, who is banned from entering the country. He explains how he got added to Bainimarama’s blacklist. I’ve a long history of being banned in the Pacific. The reason why I’m unable to join … Read more