Jacinda Ardern and her cabinet yesterday chose the middle and least bad option. The next week will be critical in assessing whether the right choice was made, writes Justin Giovannetti from parliament. The sense of relief in the basement of the Beehive was unspoken but plain yesterday as Jacinda Ardern and Ashley Bloomfield took their … Read more
Auckland is at alert level three, and the rest of the country level two, until midnight tonight. At 5.30pm this evening, we’ll find out what happens next. These are the factors cabinet is likely to consider in making the decision. During the first wave, the announcement we were moving into lockdown felt sudden. This time, … Read more
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
A new New Zealand-made drama about life in lockdown was dropped from Prime’s schedule, just days before it was due to start. What’s going on? Peter Salmon reckons the perfect time to watch a New Zealand drama about a second-wave Covid lockdown is during a second-wave Covid lockdown. Prime disagrees, having removed new short drama … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Collins calls for a delay in the election, an update on community transmission and testing, and businesses fearing the fallout of another lockdown. At this stage, the election is still scheduled to take place on September 19. But with the country’s largest city currently in level … Read more
Today at noon, Auckland moves into alert level three while the rest of New Zealand moves into alert level two. Here’s how it will affect businesses and what you can do to help. Three days at a higher alert level may not seem like much, but for many fragile businesses still recovering from the devastating … Read more
The prime minister has announced Auckland will go into alert level three, and the rest of the country alert level two, after four cases of the coronavirus were detected in a family with no known link to overseas travel or existing cases. Via the Science Media Centre, the experts on what it means. Shaun Hendy: … Read more
With more than 1,000 local businesses on its books, MyHR saw firsthand the pressure the Covid-19 fallout put on New Zealand’s SMEs, as well as having its own business model tested to the limit. New Zealand’s Covid-19 lockdown had a seismic effect on human resources departments. In order to stay afloat through the chaos, thousands … Read more
When Covid-19 forced New Zealanders to live most of their lives online it exacerbated the effects of digital exclusion. Jean Teng spoke to the organisations that kept vulnerable communities connected during the pandemic. From job hunting and banking to watching TV and scrolling through the news, there is hardly a corner of modern life untouched … Read more
Data released by Stats NZ today shows the impact of Covid-19 on New Zealand jobs during the June quarter was disproportionately felt by women. Mary Jo Vergara from KiwiEconomics breaks down what it all means. Women have historically fared well in times of war and crisis. During the Second World War, there was a dramatic … 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
Putting the entire state under stage four restrictions, rather than just Melbourne, would give Victoria the best chance of success, writes Siouxsie Wiles. The restrictions in place for metropolitan Melbourne now are in some ways stricter than those that were in force during New Zealand’s Covid-19 lockdown. A curfew is in place and most people … Read more
After months trying to get back to her husband and daughter in Hungary, Daisy Coles is finally on her way home. So why is it so hard to say goodbye? In April, I wrote about what happened to my family when Covid-19 came crashing into 2020 like the Kool-Aid Man. Our Hungarian-Kiwi family was split … Read more
It’s estimated about 6700 babies were born in New Zealand during alert levels four and three. Emily Writes spoke to new mothers around the country to find out what that experience was like. Preparing to give birth is a moment of intimidating uncertainty. Under Covid-19’s isolation and restrictions, as mothers around the country approached their … Read more
In the sixth part of a series sharing the stories of families learning from home during lockdown, Arihia Latham reflects on the life lessons her daughters will take into a new future. This month we acknowledged te wā o Matariki me Pūanga, the Māori new year. It’s been a year huh. I have heard people … Read more
Two days before alert level four lockdown, Unity Studios was meant to open its doors for the very first time. First-time business owners Caitlin Day and Sophie Lax were forced to quickly become a virtual studio hosting classes and consults online. If you’ve never been on a Pilates reformer, the large machines look a bit … Read more
While there are increasing examples of a return to some lockdown measures, there is little evidence to demonstrate the success of a second lockdown, because it’s too early to tell, write Maximilian de Courten, Bojana Klepac Pogrmilovic and Rosemary V Calder of Victoria University, Melbourne. The World Health Organisation reported more than 230,000 new Covid-19 cases … 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
At midnight last night, metropolitan Melbourne returned to lockdown and is scheduled to stay there until late August. Melbourne-based New Zealander Joe Nunweek reports from a city finding itself once more in the grip of Covid-19. On Monday morning I got a parking ticket. Previously I only used to use my car to try and … Read more
Despite dark clouds on the horizon, New Zealand’s post-lockdown spending spree is still going strong. Mary Jo Vergara from Kiwi Economics shares insights into what’s driving it – and how long it will last. Covid-19 and the level four lockdown has bought about some dramatic shifts in New Zealanders’ spending and consumption habits, and many … Read more
With Shortland Street’s 7,000th episode screening tonight, Tara Ward salutes the soap for keeping calm and carrying on through level three lockdown. It’s been one heck of a week on Shortland Street. Leanne lost her winning $8 million Lotto ticket, Louis slipped over in a pile of vomit, and Desi tried to convince Dawn that … Read more
Nadia Lim taught Sam Brooks to cook. He talks to the beloved celebrity chef about her new cookbook, and filming an entire TV show in lockdown. Lockdown brought us together as a nation. Together with our team of five million, together with our families and flatmates, but most importantly? Together with our ovens. As supermarkets … 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
Communication issues and policy changes exacerbated students’ uncertainty during the lockdown period, reports Ellen Sinclair. The level four announcement on March 24 signalled the start of a period of upheaval for all New Zealanders, but few groups faced more challenges over lockdown than university students. From the rush to get home at short notice, to … Read more
The journey fleeing home in search of safety and settling in Christchurch has led former refugee Masood Chakari to be an advocate for New Zealanders in need. While most New Zealanders stayed at home during the level four lockdown, a few essential people were allowed to carry on with their front-facing work to ensure the … 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
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
On March 23 prime minister Jacinda Ardern announced that in 48 hours the country would go into lockdown. New Zealanders had a primal reaction: they called their loved ones. The moment New Zealand was faced with lockdown, adversity did what it always does: acted as a catalyst on some base element of the human psyche, … Read more
Dietary Requirements is The Spinoff’s monthly podcast in which we eat, drink and talk about it too, with special thanks to Freedom Farms. This month, we’re joined by The Spinoff’s resident poutine authority (and politics editor) Justin Giovannetti for our second together-but-apart Zoom pod. On this month’s Dietary Requirements, we’re still physically apart but together in … Read more