Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Concern from the Cook Islands over travel bubble, inquiry clears Iain Lees-Galloway of any spending impropriety, and Oranga Tamariki facing further damaging report findings. A draft agreement on a travel bubble with the Cook Islands is close to being finalised, the PM revealed yesterday. Stuff reports it … Read more
Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas dust off the bazookas scattered around New Zealand politics in this week’s Gone By Lunchtime. A new Newshub poll has put Judith Collins’ National Party on 25.1%, Jacinda Ardern’s Labour on 60.9%, and many jaws on the floor. Gerry Brownlee has dismissed it as a “rogue poll”. Annabelle, … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Why the relationship with China is so complicated, significant new NPS on urban development, and Stats NZ breaks down emissions by region. At long last, there has been a quiet enough day to introduce a more slow-burn topic as a lead story. So today, The Bulletin … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: PM sacks Iain Lees-Galloway, Winston Peters makes stirring contribution to day of chaos, and Tarras locals not thrilled about potential new airport. By now, you’ll probably have heard the news that Labour MP for Palmerston North Iain Lees-Galloway’s political career is over. PM Ardern dismissed him from all … Read more
From a ministerial sacking to a ‘bombshell’ allegation in the house, yesterday was a rollercoaster even by recent standards, writes Spinoff political editor Justin Giovannetti It was deflection day at parliament. Dawn broke over a country where questions were still swirling around the misconduct of former National MP Andrew Falloon. But in keeping with the … Read more
The number of active cases remains astronomical. Hopes of curbing community transmission of political disgrace in New Zealand are fading, with a succession of new reported cases raising fears that the so-called “Bowen cluster” is out of control. At a press briefing this morning the director general of parliamentary misconduct announced there was one new … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Govt makes business-friendly migrant worker changes, PM off overseas to talk trade, and the cost of Christchurch water in China revealed. A range of changes around the immigration system have been announced, reports Newshub. Among the biggest headline grabbers was the decision that low paid migrants will … Read more
The government’s reluctance to front up about support for mentally traumatised mosque shooting survivors has shone a spotlight on the limitations of ACC, writes RNZ’s Veronica Schmidt. The difficulty with being held up as a symbol of empathy and compassion is trying to live up to the image forever after. In the days after the … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Pressure put on refugee policy over discriminatory clause, man stood down by Parliamentary Services speaks out, and Fox River cleanup going badly. New Zealand’s refugee policy stands accused of being racist and discriminatory, in the same vein as US President Donald Trump’s Muslim ban. This has been … Read more
There were more strikes last year than in any of the previous 10 years. RNZ political reporter Gia Garrick looks at why and whether Labour’s historic relationship with the unions could lose the party its public support. Labour’s Andrew Little gazes at the framed black and white picture of his idol Peter Fraser, one of … Read more
A group of Indian students who were kicked out of New Zealand say their lives are ruined, and that electioneering Labour MPs, including Jacinda Ardern, promised help but went silent after coming to power. This story was originally published on RNZ Few people celebrated Labour’s 2017 return to power more than a broke, unemployed IT … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Serious fallout from inquiry into government agency use of spy firm, changes announced to migrant worker system, and new developments in Karel Sroubek saga. An inquiry has confirmed that ordinary New Zealanders were spied on by a security firm, on behalf of the government. The inquiry … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Shift in media mindset shown by Stuff’s climate change coverage, GCSB blocks Chinese telco tech company, and Greens push for prisoner voting rights. We’re going to lead off today with something a bit different to the usual – we wouldn’t normally start with a story about … Read more
The immigration minister has revealed that Czech convicted drug smuggler Karel Sroubek is liable for deportation after all. Does it all mean Lees-Galloway should resign, as some have demanded? Toby Manhire battles it out with Toby Manhire A review of evidence in the case of Karel Sroubek, the Czech drug smuggler who Iain Lees-Galloway decided … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Karel Sroubek’s mother speaks out, Fonterra abandons quantity target in favour of quality, and striking court workers warned they’re risking injustices happening. The mother of convicted drug smuggler Karel Sroubek has spoken out about her sons case, in a remarkable and dramatic interview. Mila (first name only … Read more
Jacinda Ardern has so far said Iain Lees-Galloway’s job is not under threat but pressure is growing for her to sack the immigration minister over the controversial decision to allow Karel Sroubek in New Zealand. Former long-serving minister Peter Dunne explains what will determine Lees-Galloway’s fate. The one constant about the Karel Sroubek case is that … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Farmer shareholders give Fonterra a serve, Czech drug dealer breaks his silence, and Auckland Councillor attendance rates are in focus. Fonterra management has been given a serve by their shareholders, in the form of a brutal financial report. Covered on the NZ Herald, the Shareholders Council report says … Read more
Toby Manhire is joined by iconic duo Annabelle Lee and Ben Thomas to rake the leaves of the JLR saga – and the mini-crises confronting the government, too. The overlord of all successful television in New Zealand, Annabelle Lee, restores equilibrium to the Gone By Lunchtime universe by sitting down with Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire … Read more
In the case of Karel Sroubek, the immigration minister can insist on his blamelessness but seems denied the means of proving it. That may be frustrating or convenient for him – depending on how cynical you are, writes Liam Hehir There is this Alfred Hitchcock movie, I Confess, about a priest named Michael Logan who hears, in … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Karel Sroubek case gets even stranger, industrial action rumbles away among court staff, and letting fees to be gone by Christmas. The residency decision on Czech drug dealer Karel Sroubek is starting to look stranger and stranger by the day. The NZ Herald’s Jared Savage has broken the latest: … Read more
In which the immigration minister is owned by his own Twitter account. Iain-Lees Galloway has faced mounting pressure this week over his decision to grant permanent residency to a convicted drug smuggler and repeat offender from the Czech Republic Karel Sroubek. The immigration minister refused to give media interviews and offered only opaque justifications for … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Regulator flame grills fast food company over minimum wage breaches, swampy rental property exposed, and dodgy door to door sales tactics revealed. Burger King has been banned from hiring migrant workers for a year after being found to have breached minimum wage laws. Newshub reports that a salaried … Read more
Refugees will once again be resettled in Christchurch as the government moves ahead with long delayed plans to raise the quota. But will the small number of initial placements make a difference? The new government – particularly Labour and the Greens – came into office promising to raise the refugee quota from 1000 to 1500 … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Government moves to address construction worker shortage, data on regressiveness of fuel tax released, and Sir John Key pops up as a lobbyist. It’s been a big 24 hours of news about the logistics of the Kiwibuild programme, in which the government intends to build 100,000 … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Immigration NZ’s racial profiling algorithm slammed by critics, showdown at Select Committee over Radio NZ meeting, and the Christchurch re-repairs cost gets even bigger. Immigration NZ has been piloting a data modelling programme to identify groups of overstayers “who are likely to commit harm in the … Read more