Podcasts about new zealand's covid

On today's show, Simeon will discuss with Dean the top stories of the day in Australia. Later, Dr. Matt Shelton, a medical veteran, takes a stand against New Zealand's COVID policies, facing government and media backlash for his views on vaccine safety. This issue is now highlighted with the shocking NZ data leak by whistleblower Barry Young and his dramatic arrest. Young's data leak on vaccine deaths sparks legal battles, igniting a debate over government transparency and public health strategies. GUEST 1 OVERVIEW: Australian-born Aussie Cossack rose to prominence during the NSW lockdowns as an outspoken media personality notorious for his hilarious interactions with the NSW police and numerous large-scale campaigns against corrupt politicians. Boikov left Australia at the age of 18 to study at the Moscow Sretensky Seminary. It was here that he had his first posting as a journalist Whilst in Russia Boikov became heavily involved in the Russian Cossack movement. Upon returning to Australia Boikov was elected the Ataman of the Australian Cossack chapter and founded a pro-Russian political newspaper called Russian Frontier. In May of 2022 the Aussie Cossack was jailed for 10 months for breaching a suppression and non-publication order for content posted to his YouTube channel. After successfully winning an appeal against the severity of the sentence Aussie Cossack left prison. In December 2022 the Aussie Cossack defected to the Russian Consulate in Sydney where he was granted diplomatic asylum. From his studio within the Consulate building, he now broadcasts daily on TNT Radio. GUEST 2 OVERVIEW: Dr. Matt Shelton is a founding member of New Zealand Doctors Speaking Out with Science (NZDSOS), is a group of health professionals skeptical of official COVID-19 responses. He has been a medical doctor since 1985, mostly in primary care and general practice. He has been a lecturer and examiner in integrative medicine and believes passionately in ethical medicine that seeks to discover and resolve causes of health issues and in treating the whole person.

What is it like going from cabinet minister to Prime Minister? Are politicians in New Zealand more courteous than politicians in the UK? Why was New Zealand's Covid-19 response so effective? From the middle of his campaign trail for re-election, New Zealand's Prime Minister Chris Hipkins is here to discuss all these questions and more with Rory and Alastair in this week's Leading. TRIP Plus: Become a member of The Rest Is Politics Plus to support the podcast, enjoy ad-free listening to both TRIP and Leading, benefit from discount book prices on titles mentioned on the pod, join our Discord chatroom, and receive early access to live show tickets and Question Time episodes. Just head to therestispolitics.com to sign up, or start a free trial today on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/therestispolitics. Instagram: @restispolitics Twitter: @RestIsPolitics Email: restispolitics@gmail.com Producers: Dom Johnson + Nicole Maslen Exec Producers: Tony Pastor + Jack Davenport Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's been a big start to the week for Prime Minister, Chris Hipkins. New Zealand's Covid restrictions era has formally ended, with the lifting of mandates for the seven-day isolation period as well as masks in healthcare settings. Labour also released its new Parental Leave policy which would provide four weeks paid parental leave for partners, if Labour wins the election. And Sunday saw the announcement of Labour's tax policy, including removing GST from fruit and vegetables. Prime Minister Chris Hipkins spoke to Ingrid Hipkiss.

Dr Jonathan Howard says over 800,000 Americans would be alive today if the US had taken New Zealand's Covid approach.

Epidemioloigst Dr Michael Baker, who was a leading voice during New Zealand's Covid-19 reponse, is launching a new project aimed at strengthening communication between researchers and the wider community.  He'll be the Director of the Public Health Communication Centre, an independent organisation funded by the Gama Foundation.  He says New Zealand already has some of the best public health intiatives in the world, but there is still room to improve, especially for Māori and Pasifika.  He spoke to Guyon Espiner.  

The Government has recently announced that a Royal Commission of Inquiry into New Zealand's response to the Covid-19 pandemic will be taking place. This Royal Commission of Inquiry will be used to prepare the nation for future pandemics, and evidence will be considered from February 1st, 2023. Political editor Barry Soper has observed that this inquiry will conclude midway through 2024, and wonders if this decision is Labour betting on themselves for the upcoming election. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Next to China, New Zealand's Covid restrictions have been some of the most authoritarian and inhumane in the world. A once confident Prime Minister, Jacinda Arden, had no problem dividing her people and has now suddenly switched to supporting individual choice. Are people buying it?#NewZealand #JacindaArdern

Leading academics at the University of Otago are urging the Government to launch an inquiry into New Zealand's Covid-19 pandemic response before memories of it are lost. Since 1936, all sudden mass fatality events with more than 10 deaths have resulted in an official inquiry. At times, the Covid-19 pandemic has seen more than 10 people die every day in New Zealand. Otago University Professor Nick Wilson says it's fortunate the Government realises an inquiry will be needed, but it needs to start now. He spoke to Susie Ferguson.

Cabinet will today consider options for a New Zealand memorial service and Public Holiday to mark the death of Queen Elizabeth. The Prime Minister will reveal any changes to New Zealand's Covid-19 settings. RNZ political editor Jane Patterson spoke to Susie Ferguson.

The government is actively considering scrapping the traffic light framework completely. The system has guided New Zealand's Covid-19 response since December last year. But with Covid case numbers and hospitalisations at their lowest levels in months, the country's pandemic response is in for a shake-up. Here's our political reporter, Katie Scotcher.

Each week Nick Mills is joined by a member of the Newstalk ZB Parliament team for the Beehive Buzz.  Newstalk ZB chief political reporter Aaron Dahmen discusses expected changes to New Zealand's Covid restrictions, the Northland lockdown debacle, youth crime and 71 projects set for funding.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New Zealand's Covid rules look to be in for a shake-up, with the Prime Minister confirming the traffic light framework is up for review. Opposition parties are urging the government to scrap the system and focus on refining the mask mandate instead. It was revealed today one Ministry has already been in touch with stakeholders for feedback on narrowing where face masks need to be worn. Here's our political reporter, Katie Scotcher.

Antrim born Dr. Caroline McElnay was Public Director of Health in New Zealand until she decided to step back from the role earlier this year. She explained the approach New Zealand took during the pandemic, and described what it was like to be at the centre of the crisis.

In June, we hosted Research Fellow Alex Penk and Maxim Institute Senior Researcher Marcus Roberts at the MIC 14 event | COVID and Our Constitution: How A Pandemic Affected Our Body Politic and Culture. This podcast is a recording of the event, including the audience Q+A, so sound quality isn't our usual standard. Alex and Marcus both make valuable contributions discussing New Zealand's COVID-19 response, how the response affected our constitution, and how our country has fractured. They also offer some hopeful ways forward. We hope you enjoy the listen as much as we enjoyed the event. Head to our website at www.maxim.org.nz/sign-up to register for event emails, so you don't miss out.

An epidemiologist is predicting New Zealand's Covid-19 case numbers will rise again over coming months - resulting in increased hospitalisations and deaths. Professor Michael Baker isn't surprised at confirmation yesterday the BA.5 variant has entered Aotearoa via a person from South Africa and he expects it has already spread into the community. He says new variants such as BA.5 are among several factors that will force our Covid-19 numbers upwards this winter. Professor Baker spoke to Susie Ferguson.

This week, we've got the Orange light to have a good time. Kita updates Anita on her birthday in isolation and her time with Covid, but Anita has some good news on New Zealand's Covid response. Plus, which All Stars 7 contestant would be the most terrifying to go up against? Then beloved Kiwi drag queen Miss Geena joins the pod from her shared isolation with Kita to discuss if fans should still see the new Harry Potter movie, and some of the latest anti-trans legislation around the world. Finally, this week's Excuse has got a little spicier, and Kita and Anita have an exciting update. Follow Kita: @kitamean on Instagram @kitamean on Twitter @kitameanofficial on TikTok Follow Anita: @anitawiglit on Instagram @anitawiglit on Twitter Are you in need of an excuse? Email us all the details and Kita and Anita will help you out - kitaandanita@nzme.co.nz Kita is touring around Australia - and is about to bring it to New Zealand! Find dates for her Delightfully Camp tour at ITDevents.com Caluzzi Cabaret is open under Auckland's Covid Protection Framework settings to fully vaccinated customers - book here: https://www.caluzzi.co.nz/book-online See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The government has announced it's making exceptions to immigration rules to allow more than 1500 experienced primary sector workers to come to New Zealand. The jobs will be in the dairy industry, meat processing, and forestry. Agriculture Minister Damien O'Connor says the food and fibre sector is crucial in New Zealand's Covid-19 economic recovery and needs an experienced workforce. The Minister spoke to Corin Dann.

On World Health Day, we here in New Zealand are staring down the barrel of losing the head honcho of our public health system in about eight weeks' time.Dr Ashley Bloomfield, the Director-General of Health, announced yesterday that he's standing down. About a year before his current contract ends.I see fatigue is thought to be one of the reasons behind his decision. And who'd be surprised by that? I heard Chris Hipkins saying yesterday that if he needed to talk to Bloomfield, it didn't matter when it was - he was always available. Mornings, evenings, weekends - you name it.Others are also saying that with the Government restructuring the health system - getting rid of all the health boards and setting up two new health authorities - he's seen the writing on the wall and he's getting out because his role is about to become significantly different to what he signed up for in 2018.Newstalk ZB's Barry Soper is even suggesting that Dr Bloomfield's relationship with the Prime Minister could also be a factor. Writing in the NZ Herald today, Barry says they've had a somewhat “fractious” relationship behind the scenes.And that wouldn't surprise me at all - especially when you think back to the times that the Government has made a decision about something which we've found out later has been completely at odds with what the Director-General of Health recommended. The shift down in alert levels last year was one of them.A little bit like Donald Trump and Dr Anthony Fauci in the United States. Although their differences weren't just behind closed doors were they? How many times did we see Trump say or announce something and the cameras would hone in on Fauci and you could see him thinking ‘what the heck? Did that turkey really just say that?'.The only time we got close to that here in New Zealand was when mountain biking advocate and former Health Minister David Clark threw Ashley Bloomfield under a bus in front of the TV cameras.Remember that? Clark said Bloomfield had accepted responsibility for quarantine cock-ups at the border - and poor old Ashley looked very sad indeed. I think a whole lot more people fell in love with him at that point.Quite rightly, Clark eventually lost the health portfolio, Bloomfield held on to his job and now, as far as we know anyway, he is bowing out on his terms. So too are a couple of his top sidekicks - also getting out apparently because they're just worn out.And who can criticise them for that?The question now regarding Bloomfield is, what will his legacy be when he walks out of the Ministry of Health headquarters in July?There is no doubt that, over the past two years, he has become the most well-known and - quite possibly - the most well-liked public servant we've ever had in this country.We all know about the Ashley Bloomfield t-shirts, tea towels, coffee cups, paintings, tattoos - quite extraordinary really wasn't it? The club rugby games that wouldn't have even got a mention - but Ashley was in the starting line-up and all the news media was there too.There was a point where it felt like he could do no wrong. If you want evidence, though, that we didn't go completely ga-ga, I've got it. I've checked the Top 10 most popular baby names in 2020 and 2021 and “Ashley” does not feature.Nevertheless, he was idolised by some. Apparently, women especially “loved” him.But what will his legacy be?Will he be remembered as the calm, reassuring face of New Zealand's Covid-19 response?Or, will he be remembered for overseeing further downgrading of our health system? Particularly the hospital system.Remember, it was only two days ago that he admitted to Mike Hosking that the hospital system is under a lot of pressure - even without Covid.Remember too, that one of the main reasons there was no shift in traffic light settings this week was because we have just 0.014 percent of the population in hospital with or because of Covid - and the system can't cope. Which would be an absolutely app...

Former Prime Minister John Key has criticised the Government's "dog and pony show", in the way it is drawing out critical announcements on the future of New Zealand's Covid response. "Why do we have this dog and pony show where the Government basically wanders along and says I'm going to make an announcement to the announcement to the announcement," Key told Mike Hosking on Newstalk ZB today. He described the Government's motives as trying to "get the maximum theatre" by announcing its Cabinet decisions two days later "as if it's like completely independent to the lives of New Zealanders". He said there would be a small percentage of people who would want the likes of vaccine passes retained but the vast majority of New Zealanders were "over it". "They want to re-engage with the rest of the world. Why do you have restrictions on anything - the answer is to keep people safe and change their behaviour. Well guess what? We changed their behaviour - 95 per cent of the country is vaccinated, good on them, I have been a 100 per cent supporter of any effort to get to that point, it keeps them and their family safe. "But the 5 per cent who aren't vaccinated are never going to get vaccinated. And if we keep doing what we are doing, we will have to keep running the economy the way we are running it, which is on the national credit card. Grant Robertson says we don't need to make money anymore - we just borrow money." Key said the simple bottom line was that most restrictions and rules needed to be lifted. "No one is checking in anymore [with QR codes], and even if you do check-in, I don't even know what they do with that information anymore." Key said he was worried for New Zealand domestic tourism, in that many Kiwis would soon be heading overseas for a holiday after two years of pent-up demand. And young Kiwis would also be heading on their OEs. "In my day as PM we had about plus-80,000 people coming in a year, which is great for the workforce and for the skills we needed for the economy. Well, we're bleeding people to the world now. And I think that will get worse unless the government actually changes the rules." Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will this morning announce changes to vaccine pass and mandate settings, and the wider traffic light framework. Cabinet made the decisions on Monday but Ardern said at the time more work was needed on them before they could be unveiled. She also said they would not take effect immediately. The decisions, to be announced at 11am in Wellington, come as the Omicron wave starts to peak in Auckland, and slows across the rest of the country. With high vaccination rates and many of the unvaccinated now having had Covid-19, Ardern has said the Government could look to safely scale back some of the requirements around vaccine passes and mandates and overall settings. Act has been calling for the vaccine passes and mandates to be dropped immediately, while National wants them gone by the time Australian tourists can arrive: April 13. The Greens, meanwhile, say Covid protection measures should only be relaxed once the Omicron peak was well past, and instead of a fixation on a date, the focus should be on better protecting vulnerable people. Ardern has indicated the changes would likely not come into place until the Omicron peak had passed - in line with recommendations from experts. There were 15 deaths, 1016 people in hospital and 20,907 community Covid cases reported on Tuesday. Twenty-five people were in intensive-care units around the country. These deaths took the total number of publicly reported Covid-related deaths to 199 and the seven-day rolling average of reported deaths to 10. On Tuesday, director general of health Dr Ashley Bloomfield said it appeared the peak in daily case numbers had passed in Auckland and was starting to ease across the rest of the North Island. In the...See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Many changes are ahead for New Zealand's Covid response.Jacinda Ardern announced at a media standup in Queenstown that next week the traffic light and vaccine mandate settings will be reviewed.However, National say the restrictions should be dropped immediately.The forecourt of Parliament is being rededicated.This has slipped under the radar, as it occurred at the same time as National's rejections from the Justice Select Committee to question Police Commissioner Andrew Coster about the mandate protests.Newstalk ZB Political Editor Barry Soper joined Andrew Dickens.LISTEN ABOVE

Questions to Ministers Hon EUGENIE SAGE to the Minister for Oceans and Fisheries: Does he stand by his statement in October 2021 that "We have ambitions to lift New Zealand's marine protected area so that we get closer to that 30 per cent"; if so, when can New Zealanders expect to see new marine protected areas established to help us reach that target? CHRISTOPHER LUXON to the Prime Minister: Does she stand by her statement, "The debate is not whether inflation has increased and is impacting people. The debate is what we should do about it"; if so, will she adjust the income tax brackets to account for the last four years of inflation? Dr DUNCAN WEBB to the Minister of Finance: What recent reports has he seen on the New Zealand economy? DAMIEN SMITH to the Minister of Finance: Does he stand by his statement that the Government has "no intention" of giving tax cuts; if so, why? Dr EMILY HENDERSON to the Minister of Corrections: Does supporting a person to have a bank account upon release from prison help them to reintegrate into society; if so, how? Hon SIMON BRIDGES to the Minister of Finance: Does he stand by his statement yesterday that it's a "challenging period for many households"; if so, will he use a portion of his operating allowance in Budget 2022 for tax relief? Dr LIZ CRAIG to the Minister for COVID-19 Response: What recent announcements has he made on New Zealand's COVID-19 response? NICOLA WILLIS to the Minister of Housing: Does she have confidence that Kainga Ora is effectively exercising its obligations as a public sector entity, including delivering value for taxpayers' money? GREG O'CONNOR to the Minister of Transport: What recent announcements has the Government made on keeping New Zealanders safe on our roads? CHRIS BISHOP to the Minister for COVID-19 Response: Has he seen the official advice regarding vaccine certificates which states, "There are also issues around maintaining social licence over the management of the pandemic and social cohesion. Over time, this measure may no longer be justifiable as vaccination rates increase and the public health rationale becomes diminished", and has he received advice from officials on at what point vaccination certificates are no longer justifiable? TAMATI COFFEY to the Minister of Customs: What initiatives are Customs providing to small-to-medium importers? Hon PAUL GOLDSMITH to the Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety: What additional costs have been imposed on businesses, if any, as a result of Government decisions since November 2017 for which he is responsible, and what impact, if any, have those additional costs on business had on the cost of living?

The shift away from more sensitive PCR tests to rapid antigen tests marks a significant change in New Zealand's Covid-19 strategy. The Detail takes a closer look at what it means in the midst of the surging Omicron outbreak.

Today, February 20, marks exactly 1 year since New Zealand's Covid-19 vaccination program began – with first shots administered to border and MIQ workers.  We've heard a lot about the vaccines in those 12 months, but we don't know much about the intense and urgent race to develop them or the people behind the science.  Gregory Zuckerman is a special writer and investigative journalist at The Wall Street Journal and has gone behind the scenes and written the incredible story, it's called A Shot to Save the World.  Gregory Zuckerman joined Francesca Rudkin.  LISTEN ABOVE 

I couldn't believe it!I finished up on my Saturday radio show, last week. Cycled home. Made some lunch. Refreshed the New Zealand Herald, and whaddaya know? It was like Trevor Mallard had been listening to us all morning.The Speaker of the House was blasting protestors with Barry Manilow and the Macarena. Unbelievable. Apparently I didn't make it clear enough in my editorial last week. I was JOKING when I suggested they hit protestors with silly music. I was joking. I never for a moment thought it would actually happen.For me, that's been one of the interesting little hypocrisies in this whole episode. On one hand, politicians wanted to take a moralistic high ground by refusing to meet with protestors. How dare anyone dignify them with a response?! Only the moralistic high ground apparently didn't apply to the Speaker, his sprinklers, and his irritating playlist.Trevor Mallard's efforts can only have served to antagonise the protestors. And every bit of scorn and hate hurled upon them only reinforces their self-image. The Team of Five Million? Ha. This rabble, confused, misled, and deluded as they may be, felt well and truly left out of the Team of Five Million. They joined together to protest precisely because they felt like outsiders. They felt ostracised. Very little from the last ten days will have changed their minds.Hindsight's 20/20. I think politicians should have found a way to reach out to the protestors much sooner. It probably wouldn't have done much to end the protest, but some of these people have been prepared to completely alienate themselves from friends and family and the majority of our society, to lose their jobs and livelihoods over their misguided beliefs. Refusing to meet them was hardly going to make them feel any worse.Yes, there were terrible, hateful, threatening messages. As far as I'm concerned, anyone making death threats should have been arrested immediately. But in this morass of different grievances and complaints are some very reasonable and articulate concerns around extraordinary state mandates. Personally, I don't know why any right-thinking person who was only protesting the mandates would choose to stay and be associated with someone making death threats. But the mandate issue is worthy of protest. I don't agree with the protestors, but they do have a right to be heard.I'm very aware that many of those who want to see the protestors rounded up and arrested, whatever it takes, are the same people who supported the Black Lives Matter protests during the Level 2 lockdowns. They were prepared to break Covid laws to protest Police brutality but are now advocating for a potentially brutal police response to a group breaking Covid laws.They're the same people who revelled in the ‘Team of Five Million' and ‘Kindness' messages, and the adoring international media coverage of New Zealand's Covid-19 response. Have they actually looked at the crowd? I wonder what the headline in the New York Times wouldbe if a couple of kids were hurt in an almighty scuffle between Police and protestors on the steps of parliament.I'm no tactician, but I wonder if the best way to manage the protest is to slowly pick away at it. Police should cordon all the nearby streets. They should stop all but authorised cars from entering the area. No one can bring in tents or sleeping bags. They should target the protest organisers and arrest them one-by-one. It may take days or weeks.As with most of our Covid response, the rights and wellbeing of the majority should be prioritised. The protest should not have been allowed to grow to this size and should not be allowed to continue. Fundamentally though, when comparing an ongoing protest to the alternative, I am not convinced a potentially violent clash between protestors and Police is better for New Zealand.

Did you see that woman on the TV news last night, saying she was leaving her husband because he'd been and got his booster shot? She was angry. She was at Parliament, at the protest. And there's a suggestion being made today that she's not the only one. And that the other protesters at Parliament aren't the only other ones either. And that a lot of people around the country are furious with the Government - but they're just not turning up to protest. And I think that's true. I was watching that woman who was brassed off with her husband for getting his booster shot with one of the teenagers last night - we had a great laugh. And, of course, it wasn't long before someone had turned it into a Tik Tok video and away it went. I don't know why TV insists on putting nutbars like her in their news reports. Well, I do actually - they do it because it captures people's attention. But if you've got your head screwed on and you're one of the people either protesting at Parliament or cheering them on from the sidelines who is genuinely opposed to the vaccine mandates, then it must be gutting to see all the clowns getting all the attention. And I suspect, too, that a lot of genuine people who joined the convoy for part of the way but didn't go all the way to Wellington will be gutted to see how it's playing out. And they'll be horrified to see the extremists and the weirdos getting all the coverage and the politicians ignoring them completely. But that's how it's always been and how it will continue to be. Especially in situations like this, where the people involved appear to be protesting against all sorts of different things. Some of them peddling the same old conspiracy theories, which is never going to do anything on the credibility front, is it? If it was genuinely a single-issue protest, and the people involved weren't all the usual crowd who turn up to pretty much anything, then it would be quite different, wouldn't it? But there is a warning today that the Government shouldn't kid itself that the crowd camping outside Parliament is on its own, and that there aren't other people who are also incredibly angry with the Government. This is coming from Matthew Hooton in a piece he's written for the NZ Herald. He makes the point that despite the fact that so many of us are vaccinated, the Government and the bureaucrats in Wellington shouldn't kid themselves that - as he puts it - “only a deranged fringe is feeling enraged by the current situation”. He says after two years of the pandemic, there is a seething anger towards the Government from what he calls a “much larger and more reasonable segment of the population”. One of the things he puts this down to is the Prime Minister and her ministers talking to us as if we're children and seemingly making the protection of Jacinda Ardern's global brand as the “Covid vanquisher” their top priority. He writes: "The Wellington bureaucracy is under so much pressure from its political masters to support the Beehive narrative, that it increasingly provides information that is radically incomplete, contradictory or just plain wrong”.  I think he is spot on. And, as I've said before, I think the Prime Minister's eagerness to be the face - front and centre - of New Zealand's Covid response is going to come and bite her on the backside. If there's anything we've learned from the past, it's that leaders who lead their people through crises get the blame for everything that goes wrong and they suffer the consequences. Rudolph Giuliani - probably better known these days as Donald Trump's right-hand man - was mayor of New York when the September 11 attacks happened. Everyone loved him, but then they turned on him. Art Agnos - he was mayor of San Francisco when they had the big earthquake there in 1989 - loved and then loathed. Jacinda Ardern - the same thing happening perhaps? I think it could be. And that's why, despite what we might think of the freedom fighters who have wo...

This week's panel: 1News Senior Reporter Katie Bradford and political commentator Ben Thomas joined Francesca Rudkin. They discussed New Zealand's Covid-19 response, the reopening of the border and the 5-step plan, and MIQ. LISTEN ABOVE 

A strategic alliance at the Beijing Olympics. New Zealand's COVID plan. The Olympics amid COVID. A special U.S. athlete in China. Fashion sustainability. The Olympics from space. Jim Stevenson hosts VOA Asia.

A top epidemiologist thinks New Zealand could see a better Omicron scenario than what a highly respected overseas health research organisation is modelling.  New Zealand could be facing 50,000 daily Omicron infections by Waitangi weekend, peaking at about 80,000 each day just a few weeks later. The figures come from modelling by  overseas health research organisation, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. It predicts an Omicron outbreak here could last three months, with about 10 Covid-related deaths a day by mid March. Otago University professor Michael Baker, who contributed to the research, told Morning Report it doesn't factor in the nuances of New Zealand's Covid-19 response. Dr Baker said if New Zealand infections match the modelling, he expects it will happen about a week later than expected.

Questions to Ministers Dr DUNCAN WEBB to the Minister of Finance: What recent reports has he seen on the New Zealand economy? CHRISTOPHER LUXON to the Prime Minister: Does she stand by all of her Government's statements and actions? RAWIRI WAITITI to the Prime Minister: Does she stand by all her Government's statements and actions? BARBARA EDMONDS to the Minister of Housing: What action is the Government taking to get more houses built in Porirua? Hon SIMON BRIDGES to the Minister of Finance: Does he agree with economist Cameron Bagrie that "the economy is too hot", and, if he does, will he therefore adjust down his Government's spending in tomorrow's HYEFU to alleviate upward pressure on inflation and interest rates? Dr TRACEY McLELLAN to the Minister for COVID-19 Response: What recent progress has been made on New Zealand's COVID-19 vaccine programme? CHRIS BISHOP to the Minister for COVID-19 Response: How many fully vaccinated people, if any, who have travelled from Australia have tested positive for COVID-19 since 23 August 2021, and is the Government still committed to allowing fully vaccinated New Zealand citizens and other eligible travellers to enter from Australia from 11.59pm on 16 January 2022? TAMATI COFFEY to the Minister of Tourism: What announcements has he made recently about freedom camping? DAVID SEYMOUR to the Prime Minister: Does she stand by her answer "the Police" to my question last week, "Who will propose the times, locations, and protocols for checkpoints on public roads when iwi representatives are acting as enforcement officers under the COVID-19 public health Act amendments made last month"; if so, will these checkpoints be initiated by iwi, Police, or the Director-General of Health? NICOLA WILLIS to the Minister of Police: Does she stand by her statement in June in relation to Police reports of violence in or around emergency housing that "this information is not aggregated by Police"; if so, at the time she made this statement, had the Police generated any Intelligence Notification reports about offences and violence in MSD emergency accommodation? INGRID LEARY to the Minister of Transport: What progress has been made on transport projects in regional New Zealand? Hon EUGENIE SAGE to the Minister for Oceans and Fisheries: What advice, if any, has he received on measures to reduce the impacts of bottom trawling in New Zealand waters, which he said he would consider this year?

The outcry over travel bans on southern African countries is growing. Healthcare officials say the Omicron variant was already present in other parts of the world before South African scientists became the first to identify the new COVID-19 strain. Ntshepeng Motema reports from Johannesburg on calls to remove the bans and relieve their economic impact. Bryan Betty is a member of New Zealand's COVID-19 Technical Advisory Group. He explains the fine balance governments must strike when it comes to imposing COVID-19 restrictions. #SouthAfrica #OmicronVariant #TravelBans

New Zealand's Covid-19 outbreak looks to have peaked - but there are warnings a drop off in cases could be short lived. Cabinet will today confirm the country's move to the new Covid-19 Protection Framework - the traffic light system that will mean areas which have been under restrictions are much more open for business. There's already uncertainty about how that will affect case numbers - and now there's more to worry about as the new variant Omicron edges closer to New Zealand shores. Here's RNZ's Health correspondent Rowan Quinn.

There's lots of uncertainty around today as Cabinet confirms a move to the traffic light system, and a new Covid-19 variant is knocking on our door. We find out on Monday afternoon which regions will go red or orange on Friday. And while New Zealand's Covid-19  outbreak looks to have peaked - there are warnings ahead with the new Omicron variant already in Australia. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern spoke to Morning Report's Corin Dann.

There's lots of uncertainty around today as Cabinet confirms a move to the traffic light system, and a new Covid-19 variant is knocking on our door. We find out on Monday afternoon which regions will go red or orange on Friday. And while New Zealand's Covid-19  outbreak looks to have peaked - there are warnings ahead with the new Omicron variant already in Australia. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern spoke to Morning Report's Corin Dann.

New Zealand's Covid-19 outbreak looks to have peaked - but there are warnings a drop off in cases could be short lived. Cabinet will today confirm the country's move to the new Covid-19 Protection Framework - the traffic light system that will mean areas which have been under restrictions are much more open for business. There's already uncertainty about how that will affect case numbers - and now there's more to worry about as the new variant Omicron edges closer to New Zealand shores. Here's RNZ's Health correspondent Rowan Quinn.

AMONG the headlines for Wednesday, November 24, 2021, Malaysia today logged another 5,755 new COVID-19 infections. Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said via his Twitter account that there have been 2,602,835 cases in the country since the pandemic began last year. Also, New Zealand said it will not reopen to foreign travellers for at least another five months, as it slowly relaxes some of the world's toughest pandemic border restrictions. New Zealand's COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said New Zealanders stranded in Australia could return home from mid-January and Kiwis travelling from elsewhere would be allowed in a month later. Listen to the top stories of the day, reporting from Astro AWANI newsroom — all in 3-minutes. We bring you the headlines, weekdays at 5 pm. Stay informed on astroawani.com for these news and more.

Dr DUNCAN WEBB to the Minister of Finance: What recent reports has he seen on the New Zealand economy? Hon JUDITH COLLINS to the Prime Minister: Does she stand by all of her Government's statements and actions? NAISI CHEN to the Minister of Research, Science and Innovation: How is the Government backing high pay-off, innovative research projects, including those that support the fight against COVID-19 and climate change? DAVID SEYMOUR to the Prime Minister: Does she stand by all of her Government's statements and policies? Dr SHANE RETI to the Minister of Health: Does he stand by his September statement, “The reality is we have available at the moment roughly 325 ICU or ICU capable beds”; if so, how does he reconcile that answer with his response to written question No. 50686 that “there are 284 resourced ICU/high dependency unit beds”? VANUSHI WALTERS to the Minister for COVID-19 Response: What recent announcements have been made on New Zealand's COVID-19 vaccine immunisation programme? ANDREW BAYLY to the Minister of Finance: Have wages kept up with inflation in New Zealand over the last 12 months; if not, does this mean New Zealand households are worse off than they were 12 months ago? GINNY ANDERSEN to the Minister of Police: What recent reports has she seen regarding Police's efforts to disrupt organised crime? CHRIS BISHOP to the Minister for COVID-19 Response: On what date did the Ministry of Health sign a contract with MATTR to develop a vaccination pass for domestic use, and is he satisfied with progress in the development of a domestic vaccine pass? WILLOW-JEAN PRIME to the Minister for Economic and Regional Development: What announcements has he made regarding climate standards for new Government buildings? NICOLA WILLIS to the Associate Minister of Housing (Public Housing): Does she expect Kāinga Ora to evict public housing tenants where their ongoing anti-social behaviour is threatening the wellbeing of others, or does she agree with the decision of Kāinga Ora to not evict a tenant living in public housing in Whāngarei, despite the tenant reportedly subjecting their elderly neighbours to a “prolonged campaign of intimidation and fear”? TEANAU TUIONO to the Minister of Agriculture: Does he stand by his statement that, relating to PKE, “the New Zealand Government would not support importation that has led to illegal activity in foreign nations”; if so, why?

Questions to Ministers 1. BROOKE VAN VELDEN to the Minister of Housing: What actions, if any, will she take in response to revelations that an upcoming political candidate was used in a Kainga Ora promotion, and does she believe the culture of Kainga Ora is upholding what is expected of the Public Service? 2. Dr DUNCAN WEBB to the Minister of Finance: What recent reports has he seen on the New Zealand economy? 3. ANDREW BAYLY to the Minister of Finance: Is he satisfied with the level of openness and transparency around the Government's spending? 4. SHANAN HALBERT to the Minister for COVID-19 Response: What recent progress has been made on New Zealand's COVID-19 vaccine programme across the regions? 5. CHRIS BISHOP to the Minister of Health: What is the average length of time between someone testing positive for COVID-19 and public health staff getting in contact with them regarding isolation arrangements, and is he satisfied with the management of the home self-isolation system? 6. GINNY ANDERSEN to the Minister responsible for the GCSB: What recent announcements have been made in the GCSB portfolio? 7. JAN LOGIE to the Minister for Social Development and Employment: Is she confident the Government is adequately supporting whanau in hardship through COVID-19? 8. GREG O'CONNOR to the Minister of Transport: What recent progress has been made to improve transport in the regions? 9. NICOLA WILLIS to the Minister of Housing: How did she make it clear to Kainga Ora that she is "not comfortable with them using political candidates" in their advertising, and what actions have been taken by Kainga Ora to address her concerns? 10. NAISI CHEN to the Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs: What recent progress has been made towards regulating merchant service fees? 11. HARETE HIPANGO to the Associate Minister of Health (Maori Health): Will the Ministry of Health release Maori health data in the manner requested by the Whanau Ora Commissioning Agency, and how much have Government departments spent to date on legal costs in relation to this issue? 12. NICOLE McKEE to the Minister of Justice: How many prior convictions on average does a third-strike offender have?

Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield joins the show as the country's first ever 'vaxathon' takes place  with the target of getting a further 100,000 eligible people vaccinated with either their first or second dose.

Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield joins the show as the country's first ever 'vaxathon' takes place  with the target of getting a further 100,000 eligible people vaccinated with either their first or second dose.

1. Hon JUDITH COLLINS to the Prime Minister: Does she stand by her Government's plan to reopen our borders, and by when will the almost 25,000 people who missed out on MIQ spaces yesterday be able to come home? 2. Hon EUGENIE SAGE to the Minister for the Environment: Does he stand by his statement that "we as a Government decided that we needed to introduce strict rules to stop the further loss of wetlands"; if so, does he intend for the changes now proposed to the National Environmental Standards for Freshwater to make it easier to consent activities such as quarrying, mining, and landfills within or near a wetland? 3. GREG O'CONNOR to the Minister of Finance: What reports has he received on the resilience of the New Zealand economy to the impacts of COVID-19? 4. DAVID SEYMOUR to the Minister of Justice: What consultation, if any, and with whom, did the Government take on the commercial tenancy measures announced on 28 September 2021? 5. Dr TRACEY McLELLAN to the Minister for COVID-19 Response: What recent progress has been made on New Zealand's COVID-19 vaccine programme across regions? 6. Dr SHANE RETI to the Minister of Health: Why, as at 6 September 2021, did our public hospitals only have 327 resourced ICU beds, when there were 358 ICU beds and ICU-capable beds available at the end of April 2020? 7. WILLOW-JEAN PRIME to the Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage: What recent announcement has she made about support for the arts and culture sector? 8. CHRIS BISHOP to the Minister for COVID-19 Response: Does he stand by all of the Government's statements and actions responding to COVID-19? 9. GLEN BENNETT to the Minister of Health: What recent announcements has he made on support for youth mental wellbeing? 10. KAREN CHHOUR to the Minister for Children: Is 'the wellbeing and best interests of the child or young person' the first and paramount consideration of Oranga Tamariki, and does he believe that Oranga Tamariki has placed the wellbeing of the child before all other considerations in its actions? 11. NICOLA WILLIS to the Minister of Immigration: Does he stand by his statement that he is "confident that the border exception is meeting the needs in terms of the flow of critical health workers in"; if so, how many of the critical health workers who have been able to come into New Zealand since the border closed in March 2020 were intensive care nurses? 12. Dr EMILY HENDERSON to the Minister of Local Government: What feedback has she received in relation to the Three Waters Reform Programme?

Dr DUNCAN WEBB to the Minister of Finance: What do the latest reports on New Zealand's GDP show about the strength of the New Zealand economy, and how does this support the response to the Delta COVID outbreak? Hon JUDITH COLLINS to the Prime Minister: Does she stand by all of her Government's statements and actions? DAVID SEYMOUR to the Prime Minister: Does she stand by her statement, “We're in lockdown because we do not have enough New Zealanders currently vaccinated to stop an outbreak that would devastate our community”? Hon MICHAEL WOODHOUSE to the Minister of Finance: Does he stand by his statement, “Ministers have decided to use the greater fiscal headroom to top up the COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund by an extra $7 billion”; if so, does that indicate that the COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund would not have been topped up had that fiscal headroom not been apparent? GINNY ANDERSEN to the Minister of Police: What recent reports has she seen regarding Police's efforts to disrupt organised crime? TEANAU TUIONO to the Minister of Foreign Affairs: Does she stand by her statement that “We're acutely aware of the environmental risks associated with deep-sea mining”; if so, why did New Zealand abstain on a motion supporting “Protection of deep-ocean ecosystems and biodiversity through a moratorium on seabed mining” at the International Union for the Conservation of Nature last week? CHRIS BISHOP to the Minister for COVID-19 Response: What percentage of the eligible population in New Zealand had received two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine as at 7 August 2021, and what modelling, if any, has he seen relating to how the level of vaccination coverage could affect the severity of COVID-19 restrictions? IBRAHIM OMER to the Associate Minister of Research, Science and Innovation: What recent announcements has she made about helping New Zealand's COVID-19 response and preparedness for future pandemics? Dr JAMES McDOWALL to the Minister of Immigration: What communications, if any, has he received from Afghan translators who live in New Zealand about bringing their families to New Zealand, and what actions is he taking as a result? BARBARA EDMONDS to the Minister for Women: What support is the Government providing for women and girls adversely affected by COVID-19? Hon SCOTT SIMPSON to the Minister of Corrections: Is he confident that the Department of Corrections' policies are keeping New Zealanders safe from COVID-19; if so, why? ANGELA ROBERTS to the Minister of Conservation: What recent announcements has she made regarding Jobs for Nature projects in Otago and Southland?

After at first hailing New Zealand's Covid-19 response, some overseas media are now wrongly reporting - with some glee - that the government is admitting the elimination strategy has failed. A bestselling German author has compared our Covid-19 measures to "hunting terrorists" and MIQ to "camps". Anke Richter is a freelance correspondent and a member of FACT (Fight Against Conspiracy Theories). She spoke to Susie Ferguson.

Pacific Waves catch up with Nights host, Bryan Crump, on the Pacific stories making the news during New Zealand's Covid-19 lockdown. 

Pacific Waves catch up with Nights host, Bryan Crump, on the Pacific stories making the news during New Zealand's Covid-19 lockdown. 

Pacific Waves catch up with Nights host, Bryan Crump, on the Pacific stories making the news during New Zealand's Covid-19 lockdown. 

Pacific Waves catch up with Nights host, Bryan Crump, on the Pacific stories making the news during New Zealand's Covid-19 lockdown. 

New Zealand's COVID-19 response minister urged people to socially distance when they go outside and to DO WHAT?? How have you accidentally hurt your kid? Spicoli's four-year-old son had an "incident" Facebook news: Woman offers a mobile breastfeeding service...and the comment sections turns rotten. Women call to tell us the creepy ways dudes have hit on them "hey do you want to go 50/50 on a baby"

Pacific Waves catch up with Nights host, Bryan Crump, on the Pacific stories making the news during New Zealand's Covid-19 lockdown. 

Andrew Bensley talks to NZTR CEO Bernard Saundry about the implications of New Zealand's COVID-19 Response Alert Level 4 lockdown for racing.

New Zealand's Covid-19 outbreak has grown to 10 and the Prime Minister has warned there will be more. Jacinda Ardern also announced that, from midnight tonight, it will be mandatory to wear a mask when visiting essential services such as supermarkets, pharmacies and service stations. The vaccination programme will also restart from 8am Thursday - but in a socially distanced fashion. Here's RNZ deputy political editor Craig McCulloch.

New Zealand's ‘COVID-naive' population will offer unique data to global research as part of a new clinical study looking at how our bodies respond to the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

In this week's episode, Andrew is joined by veteran New Zealand thrower Wendy Harper. The pair discuss Wendy's recent run to the New Zealand Masters final, declining participation in ladies events in NZ, not knowing she'd qualified for the World Masters, New Zealand's COVID response and the issues that's caused, her lengthy experience with online darts, how her knee replacements affected her throw, aims of spending six months in Europe playing darts, a memorable event in Australia involving Phil Taylor, Russ Bray and a Haka, her plans for the rest of 2021 and much more. Enjoy!

New Zealand's Covid-19 response is swinging into action again after a positive case in Sydney was announced.  Auckland University Professor Des Gorman talks to Jesse about the bubble between New Zealand and Australia.

New Zealand's Covid-19 vaccine programme has a budget of $1.4 billion for the first two years. Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins revealed the number ahead of Budget 2021, reiterating that the vaccines will be free for all Kiwis. Deputy political editor Craig McCulloch has the story.

Hon JUDITH COLLINS to the Prime Minister: Does she stand by all of her Government's statements and actions? ARENA WILLIAMS to the Minister of Finance: What are the Government's priorities for Budget 2021? Dr SHANE RETI to the Minister of Health: Does he stand by all of his statements and actions? DAVID SEYMOUR to the Prime Minister: Does she stand by her statement that “Inequality has progressed almost as rapidly as development”? Dr GAURAV SHARMA to the Minister for COVID-19 Response: What investment has the Government made in New Zealand's COVID-19 vaccination programme? ANDREW BAYLY to the Minister of Finance: Does he stand by all of the statements he has made in his past Budget day speeches? HELEN WHITE to the Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage: What recent reports has she seen on the arts and culture sector? CHRIS BISHOP to the Minister for COVID-19 Response: What advice, if any, has he sought on the Controller and Auditor-General's report Preparations for the nationwide roll-out of the Covid-19 vaccine, and what is his response to the comment in the report, “I am not yet confident that all of the pieces will fall into place quickly enough for the immunisation programme to reach the level of vaccinations required for the Government to meet its goals”? Dr ANAE NERU LEAVASA to the Minister of Foreign Affairs: What support is New Zealand providing to the Pacific to help them recover from the impacts of COVID-19? CHRIS BAILLIE to the Minister of Education: Does he agree with the Prime Minister, who said in relation to New Zealand history being taught in schools, “This Government is committed to a better New Zealand that we can all be proud of and which recognises the value of every New Zealander”? RICARDO MENÉNDEZ MARCH to the Minister for Social Development and Employment: Does she believe the welfare system should aim to alleviate hardship or eliminate hardship? ANGELA ROBERTS to the Associate Minister of Education: What is the Government doing to promote bullying-free environments in schools?

New Zealand's Covid-19 crown is slipping - and we're running out of time to make the most of it. That's what Sir Peter Gluckman told a business conference in Auckland today - where the vaccine rollout and attracting high skilled workers was discussed. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern also spoke at the event called Auckland's Future Now, which also saw discussion on how the city can navigate the economic challenges of the pandemic. Our reporter Jean Bell was there.

New Zealand's Covid-19 vaccine rollout officially begun on February 20, with the first jabs going to border and MIQ workers. How will the vaccination programme proceed over the next few months? Kathryn gets the latest information from Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield.

New Zealand's Covid-19 vaccine rollout officially begun on February 20, with the first jabs going to border and MIQ workers. How will the vaccination programme proceed over the next few months? Kathryn gets the latest information from Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield.

New Zealand's approach to Covid-19 is back under the microscope. New Zealand has been knocked from its top ranking as the best place to be during Covid-19 times after being pipped to the post by Singapore.Singapore has overtaken New Zealand and is now rated number one due to the fast speed it has rolled out the Covid-19 vaccine and due to having virtually no local-transmission.Until now New Zealand held the top spot on the Bloomberg's Covid Resilience Ranking since it was launched in November 2020.The United States has jumped from 30th to 17th, thanks in part due to its vaccine rollout - with 200 million doses distributed. The speed of their rollout has seen the European Union announce today they will allow Americans who can prove they've been vaccinated to travel to the bloc. It has sparked some criticism about New Zealand's vaccine rollout plan. Speaking on The Huddle with Andrew Dickens, commentator Josie Pagani says that there is a lot of confusion around the vaccine rollout and how it will happen."It seems weird to me that they aren't involving the team of five million in talking about a plan. Even if they can't roll it out tomorrow, tell us what's happening as we are shifting psychologically from elimination to vaccination." However, political commentator Ben Thomas says that many New Zealanders are focused on keeping Covid out rather than moving "I don't think a lot of people in New Zealand actually understand that we are going to be a hermit state if we don't get a move on on this."LISTEN ABOVE

How have New Zealand's COVID-19 lockdowns affected children's rights and wellbeing? Erin Gough (Office of the Children's Commissioner) and Carol Mutch (University of Auckland) introduce us to the range of experiences which children have faced during these unprecedented times, emphasising that children who were experiencing hardship before COVID are likely to have been further marginalised by the lockdowns. Erin and Carol also discuss the challenges and opportunities that disaster can bring in terms of hindering or furthering children's rights and wellbeing.

Early estimates of New Zealand's Covid-19 vaccine rollout shows 390,000 vaccines were expected to have been administered by now, according to a "leaked document".That document – a page from what appears to be a Ministry of Health report from January – was used by National to criticise the Government's vaccine rollout today.The party's Covid-19 response spokesman Chris Bishop revealed the "leaked" information in the House this afternoon.He used it to attack the Government's vaccination record, saying it shows that New Zealand is 300,000 vaccines behind schedule.But Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said the document, referred to by Bishop, was "likely to be an early working document that was shared with some DHBs".Earlier today, director-general of health Dr Ashley Bloomfield revealed that to date just over 90,000 Covid jabs have been administered.This was, according to Hipkins, "slightly behind schedule".At this stage, however, it is not clear as to when this schedule was set.Hipkins told MPs in the House that he was "broadly satisfied" with the vaccine rollout so far, which was running at roughly 95 per cent to schedule.And, in the coming weeks, the rollout would "increase significantly," with DHBs forecast to deliver 55,000 doses over the next week – that's roughly 7500 a day on average.But even with this surge, New Zealand would still be behind where the "leaked" January document expected the country to be, when it comes to the vaccine rollout."We're miles behind where we should be," Bishop told media, "we need to catch up".Speaking to media, Hipkins said he did not know the document that Bishop was citing.But it was likely to be a "rough working model" from officials."Our modelling has changed over time as we have understood more around how many vaccines in a day a vaccinator can do," he said.He also said the Government's vaccine strategy had firmed up, after it was able to confirm that it had secured an additional 8.5 million Pfizer vaccines."Things have only really firmed up over the last month or so."Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was also challenged in the House this afternoon; Act leader David Seymour had questions about the rollout plan as well.But Ardern pointed out that New Zealand is in a very different position to other countries which are currently making strong inroads with their vaccination campaigns."People are literally not dying while they wait, so that means delivery has been different," she told the House.The speed of the Government's vaccine rollout is not the only area that has come under fire recently – there has been mounting pressure over vaccine data on the Ministry of Health's website.The Herald this morning reported that no vaccination progress numbers were on the Ministry of Health's website six weeks after the rollout had begun.But this afternoon, Bloomfield revealed that the ministry now has a much more up-to-date dashboard on its website.The dashboard will include information "such as the number of people receiving their first vaccination, the number receiving their second dose and a graph showing vaccinations administered each week compared to the total number that had been planned," the ministry said in a statement."Other information on the dashboard will include the number of vaccinations administered on a given day, the number of first and second doses given by individual district health boards, and vaccinations given by ethnicity, age and sex."

Dr JAMES McDOWALL to the Minister of Tourism: Does he stand by all of his statements and actions? ARENA WILLIAMS to the Minister of Finance: What reports has he seen of how the economy is performing a year on from the decision to move to alert level 4? Dr SHANE RETI to the Prime Minister: Does she stand by all her Government's statements and actions? GINNY ANDERSEN to the Minister of Housing: What reaction has she seen to the new supply side measures announced as part of the Government's housing package on Tuesday? CHRIS BISHOP to the Minister for COVID-19 Response: Is he satisfied with the management of the COVID-19 vaccine roll-out, and will the Government set an official target of how many New Zealanders should get the COVID-19 vaccine? Dr TRACEY McLELLAN to the Minister for COVID-19 Response: How have New Zealand's COVID-19 health protection measures improved over the past year? Hon DAVID BENNETT to the Minister of Agriculture: Does he stand by his comment in regards to horticulture worker shortages, “The Minister of Immigration has indicated … that at this stage there is no capacity to bring in any more RSE workers”; if so, has he asked Cabinet colleagues what progress has been made on the Pacific COVID-safe travel zone? RICARDO MENÉNDEZ MARCH to the Minister for Social Development and Employment: What is her response to the findings of MSD's Experiences of Money Management in the Youth Service report that payments are often inadequate, and that compulsory money management may lead to further debt, stigma, and hinders our young people? BARBARA EDMONDS to the Minister of Revenue: What reports has he seen about the proposed change to interest tax deductibility for existing residential rental properties? NICOLA WILLIS to the Minister of Housing: Can she confirm that neither the final design nor the criteria for the Housing Acceleration Fund have been decided on by Cabinet, and by what date will that scheme result in a single new house being built? INGRID LEARY to the Minister of Immigration: What recent reports has he seen on the additional 2,000 Recognised Seasonal Employer workers brought in under a class border exception to support the horticulture and wine industries? NICOLE McKEE to the Minister of Police: What actions, if any, have been taken to speed up the process for the approximately 10,000 people caught in a firearm licence application backlog?

Up until a year ago Dr Richard Chen had been running an urgent care facility, treating broken bones and acute medical problems.All that changed when Covid-19 hit our shores.In February last year, Dr Chen signed on to help run quarantine facilities at the Whangaparoa Naval Base – the facility that dealt with returnees of Wuhan and then from the Diamond Princess cruise ship.Since then he's been on the frontline of New Zealand's Covid-19 fight as the lead medical officer at the Jet Park Quarantine facility, where positive Covid-19 cases are sent to quarantine and recover from the virus.Dr Chen joined Francesca Rudkin to discuss his experiences over the last year, as the world this week marks the one year anniversary of the pandemic being declared.LISTEN ABOVE

The International Monetary Fund has praised New Zealand's economic performance in response to Covid-19, but warns it is vulnerable to a housing downturn.In its regular review of the country, it said the Government's swift moves to control the spread of Covid-19 and significant support for the economy have allowed a quicker than expected rebound in activity."On the fiscal side, I would particularly say the wage subsidy programme was very helpful during the initial lockdown and has helped [avoid] a much, much worse labour market outcome," IMF Australia New Zealand division chief Harald Finger said."It made sure that 60 per cent of wage earners in New Zealand could benefit from it and that actually is, from what we can see, the highest coverage in the world."However, the IMF report said the recovery had been uneven, with job losses felt most among low-skilled workers, young people, women and people from ethnic communities.Finger said active labour market policies, the reform of vocational training and expanding the eligibility of training subsidies would help support those affected.Additionally, the report noted the surging housing market could trigger a "pronounced correction", which needed to be tackled with specific measures to dampen speculative demand and unlock supply."Mitigating near-term housing demand, particularly from investors, would help moderate price pressures," it said."Introduction of stamp duties or an expansion of capital gains taxation could reduce the attractiveness of residential property investment."To address long-term affordability the IMF recommended policies that freed up land supply, improved zoning and allowed housing developments to be fast-tracked.But without some near-term measures to quell demand, while more houses come to market, prices would continue to rise, Finger said.In the near term, the IMF expected the economic growth would be moderate, wage growth would be slow and inflation would reach 2 per cent by 2023.The IMF said while additional stimulus is not needed, monetary and fiscal support should not be withdrawn too quickly because significant risks remain.Text by Nicholas Pointon of RNZ

A former Labour and ACT MP wants a Royal Commission into New Zealand's Covid-19 response.Richard Prebble - a six-term Labour and three-term ACT MP - says a Commission could look into such issues as New Zealand's pandemic preparedness.In a piece for the NZ Herald, Prebble highlighted a series of shortcomings that need further examination."The Government has concluded the political cost of refusing to hold an enquiry is less than the cost to its reputation of having one," he wrote.Prebble told Heather du Plessis-Allan we need to see what's to be learned so we're ready for future pandemics, and the Government doesn't need to be targetted. "I suspect if we got an inquiry, we would start to learn the lessons immediately."LISTEN ABOVE

Today Tom and Mel chat to Team New Zealand sailor and Olympic gold medalist Blair Tuke before he heads out on the water for training, about Team New Zealand's COVID lockdown plan, the challenges of crew weigh-in and Team New Zealand's top secret traditions. For more, visit newshub.co.nz/podcasts See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Latinx. If you're unsure of its beginnings or why it's used, listen to this episode. We go over myth of the 'Latinx monolith', offer hot takes on cultural appropriation, and go over New Zealand's COVID success. Victor: https://twitter.com/_victorito_ Skye: https://twitter.com/frescoqueso_ https://twitter.com/PodcastDime https://www.instagram.com/dimepodcast https://www.tiktok.com/@dimepodcast?lang=en https://www.facebook.com/dimepodcast/ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/dimepod/message

Covid. It ain't going away, and that is a hard thing to explain to kids.  Co-founder and creator of Nanogirl, Dr Michelle Dickinson, was an integral part of New Zealand's COVID response, working as an educator and advisor for the NZ Prime Minister, helping the NZ public, especially children, understand the science behind the virus and the different regulations. She joins us with some advice to help guide Aussie parents - especially families doing it tough in Victoria.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Stanford engineering alumnus Michael O'Sullivan, now at the University of Auckland, likes to say his business is the “science of decision-making,” and that expertise paid off handsomely in his native New Zealand's successful response to COVID-19.O'Sullivan pivoted his knowledge of computer modeling, usually reserved for optimizing business processes, to help predict how quickly the disease might have spread through the island nation's 5 million inhabitants, and to gauge various national response strategies. Based on expert models from a team of researchers that included O'Sullivan, New Zealand's leadership took an aggressive approach and quelled the disease after just a month of lockdown.O'Sullivan tells Stanford Engineering's The Future of Everything he is now turning his attention to highly detailed geographic models to better understand how COVID-19 could spread geographically if a future outbreak occurs. He is also putting his modeling to work to help analyze how response to the disease will impact the coming flu season and how the lockdown might have had negative effects on the treatment of other illnesses such as the early detection of cancer. Michael O'Sullivan, MS '97, PhD '01, would like to acknowledge the work of Kevin Ross, MS '01, PhD '04 (Precision Driven Health), and Pieta Brown (Orion Health), who have been instrumental in making a pipeline for the modeling work discussed in this podcast readily available to the New Zealand government.

It's the Guy Pigden birthday special, so we delve into his upcoming operation and recovery. Harley is unemployed but Guy has a job opportunity for him. We have some live raps and impassioned political rants as well as updates on all of our projects and Harley's upcoming move to Dunedin. Harley has some insider information about New Zealand's COVID response and we take some listener topics and give some shoutouts, so tune in! Support us on Patreon: http://bit.ly/PigvillePatreon This podcast is on Spotify: http://bit.ly/GuyHarleyPodcastSpotify Follow us on Facebook: http://bit.ly/GuyandHarleyFB ~ Guy & Harley

New Zealand's Covid-19 response has led to phenomenal results as the country heads into lockdown. Eighteen people have now died of Covid-19 in New Zealand after an Auckland woman in her 70s passed away on Friday night.The latest death came as the Ministry of Health reported five new Covid-19 cases - making it a week where just single-figure new cases were confirmed. Four of the cases are linked to existing clusters, and one is still under investigation. Political reporter Jason Walls joins Andrew Dickens to discuss what's next in the response, and what is allowed under level 3.LISTEN ABOVE

New Zealand's Covid-19 death toll doubled to four yesterday - amid fears it could grow even further after the second fatality from a cluster centred around a Christchurch rest home.But the overall number of cases continued its downward trend: The number of people recorded as recovered - 49 - was higher than the number of new cases recorded - 29.In eight days the Government is set to decide whether the country can come out of a four-week lockdown on or around April 23, or whether the restrictions need to continue to further eradicate the virus.The Covid-19 global death toll has risen to more than 106,000 and 1.7 million infected.US coronavirus deaths surpassed 20,000 overnight, the highest reported number in the world, although there are signs the pandemic may be nearing a peak. Italy has the second most reported deaths at 19,468 and Spain is third with 16,353.The World Health Organisation chief cautioned countries against lifting lockdown measures too early.Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said there had been a "welcome slowing" of the epidemic in some European countries and WHO was working with governments to form strategies for easing lockdowns."Lifting restrictions too quickly could lead to a deadly resurgence," he said. "The way down can be as dangerous as the way up if not managed properly."Health bosses confirmed yesterday two elderly people had died, including a man aged in his 70s who died in Christchurch's Burwood Hospital. He was among a group transferred from the Rosewood Rest Home to try to stop the spread of the virus.On Friday, it was revealed a 90-year-old woman from the Rosewood cluster had become the second Covid-19 fatality in New Zealand.Thirty people were in the cluster.Deaths linked to Covid-19 show the importance of an increasingly "agitated, frustrated and bored" public sticking with lockdown rules, experts say.Clinical psychologist Jacqui Maguire said the four deaths so far underlined the need to not start ignoring restrictions and stray outside one's "bubble" of social contact."It could be assumed that the declining daily Covid-19 case numbers will act as a collective motivation boost ... for some, this positive reinforcement will help them stay the course."However, these projected wins also coincide with the 'mid zone' of our four-week lockdown and Easter weekend. A period where many now agitated, frustrated and bored Kiwis are experiencing real loss: no family get-togethers at the bach, religious gatherings or community egg hunts."There is risk these falling case numbers provide a false sense of security ... moreover, with all four deaths occurring in the 70-plus age bracket, unhelpful beliefs that Covid-19 is only a risk for 'them' - the elderly - not 'us' may be strengthened."Director of public health Caroline McElnay said the vulnerabilities of the people in Rosewood Rest Home group meant further deaths or serious illnesses couldn't be ruled out."What we're seeing sadly in New Zealand, but also what we have seen overseas, is the impact Covid-19 has on that particularly frail and vulnerable group."The other confirmed death yesterday was a Wellington man in his 80s.The deaths served as a sad reminder of just how dangerous the virus could be to people who were elderly or had underlying health conditions, McElnay said.Whānau couldn't be with their loved ones for their final hours because of the alert level 4.McElnay thanked the healthcare workers who had stepped up to provide this support in their absence."On behalf of all New Zealanders, the ministry wants to sincerely thank frontline health staff who are also providing patients with comfort and support during these times."In New Zealand the downward trend of new infections continued yesterday, with 29 new cases reported. That brings the total infected to 1312, and 422 people recovered. Fifteen people are in hospital, including five in intensive care. One is in a critical condition.The Wellington man died in Wellington Public...