Whether it’s a grant or a wage subsidy, industry leaders say Auckland businesses need government support. With the mending glue barely having dried, some Auckland businesses will be cracking again under the pressure of the new level three lockdown. Now they are calling on the government to help. Finance minster Grant Robertson has already hinted … Read more
New Zealand’s unemployment rate has just fallen, defying experts and flying in the face of everything we expected. But according to Stats NZ, the devil is in the detail. What’s all this then? In a bizarre turn of events, New Zealand’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate has actually fallen from 4.2% to 4% for the June … Read more
It’s no secret that New Zealand’s Covid-19 response was one of the world’s most effective. But to get an idea of how eagerly parts of our economy have rebounded post lockdown, take a look at our electricity demand data. Despite an impending wave of unemployment and looming fiscal challenges down the road, New Zealand’s economy … Read more
When Elizabeth Heritage forgot how to read, poetry brought her back. This is the story of my reading of Funkhaus, the new poetry collection by Hinemoana Baker (Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Toa, Te Āti Awa) writing from Berlin. I sing of fear and confusion: mine not Baker’s. Let me start with my favourite poem … Read more
With roughly 97% of New Zealand enterprises categorised as small businesses – that is, 20 or fewer employees – accounting software platform Xero’s newly released analysis provides a stark picture of the severe impact of Covid-19 throughout the sector. What exactly does the data show? Essentially, the data shows that year-on-year revenue for small businesses … Read more
New Zealand has never experienced anything like the Covid-19 lockdown of the past seven weeks. Simon Day spoke to a University of Otago researcher analysing the way lockdown has affected New Zealanders’ perception of the world. When New Zealand went into lockdown at midnight on March 25, and the government demanded New Zealanders stay at … Read more
They’re calling level two a return to normality, but for many of us that’s not really true. Sam Brooks, for one, is anxious as hell about the prospect of a world that’s more open, and more dangerous. Less than two minutes after Jacinda Ardern announced we would be moving to level two, I messaged two … Read more
One of the success stories of the level four lockdown, SOS Business has provided a channel for incapacitated communities to send support where it is needed most. In the frenzied 48 hours before level four took effect, when packs of Cottonsoft were being ripped off supermarket shelves like the last lifejackets on a sinking ship, … Read more
Emergency departments nationwide are reporting a decrease in patients, but an increase in injuries from aspiring handyfolk. “Please,” said Southern DHB on April 2nd, “can we remind everyone to take care when undertaking DIY tasks and using power tools.” Less than a week into lockdown, its hospitals had seen an increase in orthopaedic presentations related … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Political positioning intensifies over post-Covid future, decision coming on whether to leave lockdown, and schools and ECEs in spotlight. ‘Don’t politicise the crisis’, came the calls. Well, that’s out the window now. As the lockdown inches closer to a possible end (more on that later) we’re … Read more
The government has just unveiled more detail about what life will be like for New Zealanders under level three restrictions. What will it mean for schools, business and day-to-day life? The first point – we still don’t know when we’ll move to level three. That has not been announced today, and an update won’t be … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: How the new alert system will work, dozens of new cases announced over weekend, and a great idea from several Wellington hotels. How will day to day life change with the new alert system aimed at combating Covid-19? To put it bluntly, it will have to … Read more