The Bull Ring

𝕄𝕚𝕟𝕚𝕞𝕦𝕞 𝕨𝕒𝕘𝕖 𝕣𝕚𝕤𝕖, 𝕟𝕖𝕨 𝕥𝕒𝕩 𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕖, 𝕓𝕖𝕟𝕖𝕗𝕚𝕥 𝕚𝕟𝕔𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕖𝕤: 𝔹𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕜𝕕𝕠𝕨𝕟 𝕠𝕗 𝔾𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕟𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥'𝕤 𝕜𝕖𝕪 𝕖𝕞𝕡𝕝𝕠𝕪𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥, 𝕥𝕒𝕩 𝕔𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕘𝕖𝕤 𝔸 𝕞𝕚𝕟𝕚𝕞𝕦𝕞 𝕨𝕒𝕘𝕖 𝕙𝕚𝕜𝕖, 𝕒 𝕟𝕖𝕨 𝕥𝕠𝕡 𝕥𝕒𝕩 𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕖, 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕒𝕟 𝕚𝕟𝕔𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕖 𝕚𝕟 𝕙𝕠𝕨 𝕞𝕦𝕔𝕙 𝕓𝕖𝕟𝕖𝕗𝕚𝕔𝕚𝕒𝕣𝕚𝕖𝕤 𝕔𝕒𝕟 𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕟 𝕓𝕖𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕚𝕣 𝕓𝕖𝕟𝕖𝕗𝕚𝕥 𝕚𝕤 𝕕𝕠𝕔𝕜𝕖𝕕 - 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕤𝕖 𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕛𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕤𝕠𝕞𝕖 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕔𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕘𝕖𝕤 𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕠 𝕖𝕗𝕗𝕖𝕔𝕥 𝕠𝕟 𝕋𝕙𝕦𝕣𝕤𝕕𝕒𝕪 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕞𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝕚𝕞𝕡𝕒𝕔𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦. It's April 1 and the Government has made a raft of changes affecting hundreds of thousands of Kiwis across the country. Here's a rundown of some the key measures: . . 𝕄𝕚𝕟𝕚𝕞𝕦𝕞 𝕨𝕒𝕘𝕖 𝕚𝕟𝕔𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕖 As promised back in 2017, the Government will on Thursday fulfil its promise to raise the minimum wage to $20 an hour. It previously sat at $18.90.  In 2017, when Labour took the Treasury ben...

ℝ𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝕨𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕜𝕚𝕨𝕚 𝕓𝕦𝕤𝕚𝕟𝕖𝕤𝕤𝕞𝕒𝕟 𝕒𝕕𝕞𝕚𝕥𝕤 𝕥𝕠 𝕡𝕠𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕤𝕤𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕔𝕙𝕚𝕝𝕕 𝕤𝕖𝕩𝕦𝕒𝕝 𝕒𝕓𝕦𝕤𝕖 𝕞𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕚𝕒𝕝 Sir Ron Brierley and his mate Mike Halliday ℙ𝕣𝕠𝕞𝕚𝕟𝕖𝕟𝕥 ℕ𝕖𝕨 ℤ𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕓𝕦𝕤𝕚𝕟𝕖𝕤𝕤𝕞𝕒𝕟 𝕊𝕚𝕣 ℝ𝕠𝕟 𝔹𝕣𝕚𝕖𝕣𝕝𝕖𝕪 𝕙𝕒𝕤 𝕡𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕕𝕖𝕕 𝕘𝕦𝕚𝕝𝕥𝕪 𝕥𝕠 𝕡𝕠𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕤𝕤𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕠𝕗 𝕔𝕙𝕚𝕝𝕕 𝕤𝕖𝕩𝕦𝕒𝕝 𝕒𝕓𝕦𝕤𝕖 𝕞𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕚𝕒𝕝 𝕒𝕥 𝕒 𝕊𝕪𝕕𝕟𝕖𝕪 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕣𝕥 𝕙𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕞𝕠𝕣𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘. Brierley pleaded guilty to three charges in the Downing Centre Local Court with a number of charges withdrawn. Brierley's barrister admitted he possessed "some images" but the exact figure is "in dispute". . . The New Zealand businessman was arrested in December 2019 on six counts of possession of child abuse material. Border officials had found child sexual abuse material on his laptop and electronic storage devices. Brierley will be sentenced on 30 April. Feel relieved about alert levels? ...

𝕊𝕚𝕠𝕦𝕩𝕤𝕚𝕖 𝕎𝕚𝕝𝕖𝕤 '𝕡𝕣𝕠𝕦𝕕' 𝕒𝕟𝕕 '𝕡𝕣𝕚𝕧𝕚𝕝𝕖𝕘𝕖𝕕' 𝕥𝕠 𝕓𝕖 𝕔𝕣𝕠𝕨𝕟𝕖𝕕 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟙 ℕ𝕖𝕨 ℤ𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕣 𝕠𝕗 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕪𝕖𝕒𝕣 𝕎𝕙𝕖𝕟 ℂ𝕠𝕧𝕚𝕕-𝟙𝟡 𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕤𝕥 𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕠 𝕓𝕦𝕚𝕝𝕕 𝕤𝕡𝕖𝕖𝕕, 𝕊𝕚𝕠𝕦𝕩𝕤𝕚𝕖 𝕎𝕚𝕝𝕖𝕤 𝕤𝕒𝕪𝕤 𝕤𝕙𝕖 𝕗𝕖𝕝𝕥 𝕕𝕦𝕥𝕪𝕓𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕕 𝕥𝕠 𝕙𝕖𝕝𝕡 𝕡𝕣𝕖𝕡𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕂𝕚𝕨𝕚𝕤 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕨𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕨𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕡𝕖𝕟 𝕚𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕞𝕠𝕟𝕥𝕙𝕤. Now the newly crowned New Zealander of the Year is "proud" and "privileged" to have been able to make an impact in the country’s Covid-19 response. She’s particularly delighted of the work done alongside The Spinoff cartoonist Toby Morris, helping to unpack the key concepts relating to Covid-19 and were picked up by the World Health Organization (WHO). . . “As a scientist who really admires the WHO, it does feel a little weird that the things I wrote for The Spinoff are now appearing on the World Health’s website. Like wow,” s...

 

ℕ𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕒𝕝’𝕤 𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕕𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕙𝕚𝕡 𝕡𝕣𝕠𝕓𝕝𝕖𝕞𝕤 𝕡𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕚𝕤𝕥 ℙ𝕣𝕠𝕓𝕝𝕖𝕞𝕤 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕟𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕒𝕝 𝕡𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕪 𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕕𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕙𝕚𝕡 𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕡𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕚𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕝𝕠𝕟𝕘𝕖𝕣 𝕁𝕦𝕕𝕚𝕥𝕙 ℂ𝕠𝕝𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕤 𝕣𝕖𝕞𝕒𝕚𝕟𝕤 𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕕𝕖𝕣 Call me biased but I cannot think of a time where National has been more messy.  It used to be a highly disciplined party.  Leaks were rare and were evidence of extreme factional tension. This has been blown out of the water by events over the past couple of years.  Jami-Lee Ross did the country a favour by showing what was really happening in the background. Judith Collins’ selection as leader was evidence of two things, no faction was in control and the leadership was seen as a poisoned chalice.  Leader of the Opposition is rightfully said to be the worst job in politics and being the leader of the opposition after receiving an electoral trashing must really suck. . . The sharks are circling.  La...

  Red Fox Tavern verdicts recalls era of armed robberies Jeremy Rees ,  Executive editor of business, economics, sport and rural. @JeremyReesnz   jeremy.rees@rnz.co.nz First person  - The verdict in the Red Fox Tavern murder brought back memories of the time. As a young reporter I sat in front of the carpark of that low-slung building, with its beer hoardings and knot of trees behind, waiting for detectives to give their first, sad briefing. The Red Fox Tavern, Maramarua, Waikato.  Photo:  Google Maps Mostly I remember the swish of cars on State Highway 2 running in front. The perfect spot for an armed robbery; get-away roads heading in most directions. I'm glad, as a reporter who had to cover this murder all those years ago, that police finally got their verdicts. Maybe that the family now know what happened. But after 33 years, details have faded. There were the regular off-the-record briefings by police assuring us they were almost, this time, just about...

  Auckland light rail: New unit to consult Aucklanders for late-2021 report   The government is going back to the drawing board on Auckland Light Rail. Transport Minister Michael Wood has announced the establishment of a unit tasked with getting Auckland light rail back on track. "Today's announcement marks a fresh start on the project for Tamaki Makaurau." The project, one of Labour's flagship promises in 2017, came to a screeching halt because New Zealand First refused to support it. "We had partners in government who fundamentally didn't agree on this project, that did make very different to progress in that term of government," Wood said. He said the previous process did not involve Aucklanders enough, leaving them feeling shut out. He said the government received a letter last about the matter from disparate groups including the EMA, Bike Auckland, Greater Auckland, Generation Zero, and Heart of the City. "All of whom said that they supported t...

Mainzeal former directors' penalties overturned, but not ruling The former directors of collapsed construction company Mainzeal have failed to overturn a decision that they were liable for reckless trading. Former prime minister Dame Jenny Shipley giving evidence in court in 2018.  Photo:  RNZ / Tom Furley However, they have succeeded in overturning penalties of $36 million. The former directors - Jenny Shipley, Clive Tilby, and Peter Gromm - and the former chief executive Richard Yan  appealed a 2019 High Court ruling  that they were liable for losses incurred because they allowed the company to trade recklessly and while insolvent. The original case was taken to Mainzeal's liquidators and resulted in the three named directors being ordered to pay $6m each, and Yan $18m because he was found to be more culpable. The directors appealed on the grounds the High Court decision was "deeply flawed" and would set a precedent that would deter people from becoming company dir...