The Bull Ring

𝔹𝕦𝕝𝕝𝕪𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕚𝕤 𝕣𝕒𝕞𝕡𝕒𝕟𝕥 𝕚𝕟 𝕆𝕡𝕡𝕠𝕤𝕚𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕡𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕪 𝕒𝕤 𝕧𝕖𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕒𝕟 𝕄ℙ 𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕚𝕘𝕟𝕤 𝕒𝕞𝕚𝕕 𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕖𝕘𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕤 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕆𝕡𝕡𝕠𝕤𝕚𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 ℙ𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕪 𝕕𝕠𝕖𝕤𝕟’𝕥 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕒 𝕓𝕦𝕝𝕝𝕪𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕡𝕣𝕠𝕓𝕝𝕖𝕞, 𝕚𝕥𝕤 𝕕𝕖𝕡𝕦𝕥𝕪 𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕕𝕖𝕣 𝕤𝕒𝕪𝕤, 𝕒𝕗𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕚𝕥 𝕖𝕞𝕖𝕣𝕘𝕖𝕕 𝕒 𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕗𝕗𝕖𝕣 𝕙𝕒𝕕 𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕡𝕝𝕒𝕚𝕟𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕧𝕖𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕒𝕟 𝕄ℙ ℕ𝕚𝕔𝕜 𝕊𝕞𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕙𝕒𝕕 𝕓𝕦𝕝𝕝𝕚𝕖𝕕 𝕙𝕚𝕞. It comes as Smith announced yesterday afternoon he would be resigning from Parliament. He cited personal and professional reasons for the resignation, including a Parliamentary Services inquiry into an employment issue. "Parliamentary Services have been conducting a confidential inquiry into a verbal altercation in my Wellington office last July that has not concluded," Smith said in a statement.  1 NEWS understands that Smith had a complaint from a male staffer saying he was being bullied by the veteran MP. . . However, the situation caught

ℚ𝔸𝕟𝕠𝕟 𝕚𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕓𝕚𝕘𝕘𝕖𝕤𝕥 𝕤𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕝𝕖 𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕣𝕠𝕣 𝕥𝕙𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕥 𝕥𝕠 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕌𝕊, 𝕔𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕤 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕧𝕚𝕠𝕝𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕒𝕣𝕞𝕖𝕕 𝕣𝕖𝕓𝕖𝕝𝕝𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕤 𝔸 ℚ𝔸𝕟𝕠𝕟 𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕗𝕖𝕣𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕣 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕨𝕖𝕖𝕜𝕖𝕟𝕕 𝕔𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕧𝕚𝕠𝕝𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖, 𝕒𝕣𝕞𝕖𝕕 𝕣𝕖𝕓𝕖𝕝𝕝𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕕𝕖𝕒𝕥𝕙 𝕠𝕗 𝕡𝕣𝕠𝕞𝕚𝕟𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕌𝕊 𝕡𝕠𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕚𝕔𝕚𝕒𝕟𝕤 𝕞𝕒𝕜𝕖𝕤 ℚ𝔸𝕟𝕠𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕓𝕚𝕘𝕘𝕖𝕤𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕥 𝕥𝕠 𝕌𝕊 𝕕𝕠𝕞𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕔 𝕤𝕖𝕔𝕦𝕣𝕚𝕥𝕪. A  QAnon  conference over the weekend featured calls for violence and armed rebellions, highlighted by  former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn's  now-infamous declaration that the American military should launch a coup against the government. . . Vice News reports  that Jason Sullivan, a social media adviser to Trump ally and convicted felon Roger Stone, called for Hillary Clinton's execution during the conference, which was titled "For God and Country: Patriot Roundup." "Having sp

𝕆𝕡𝕡𝕠𝕤𝕚𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 ℙ𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕪 𝕄ℙ ℕ𝕚𝕔𝕜 𝕊𝕞𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕥𝕠 𝕣𝕖𝕥𝕚𝕣𝕖 𝕗𝕣𝕠𝕞 ℙ𝕒𝕣𝕝𝕚𝕒𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕚𝕟 𝕕𝕚𝕤𝕘𝕣𝕒𝕔𝕖 𝕆𝕡𝕡𝕠𝕤𝕚𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 ℕ𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕒𝕝 ℙ𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕪 𝕄ℙ ℕ𝕚𝕔𝕜 𝕊𝕞𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕙𝕒𝕤 𝕒𝕟𝕟𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕔𝕖𝕕 𝕙𝕖 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕣𝕖𝕥𝕚𝕣𝕖 𝕗𝕣𝕠𝕞 ℙ𝕒𝕣𝕝𝕚𝕒𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕒𝕞𝕚𝕕 𝕒 𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕗𝕚𝕕𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕚𝕒𝕝 𝕚𝕟𝕢𝕦𝕚𝕣𝕪 𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕠 𝕒 𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕓𝕒𝕝 𝕒𝕝𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕔𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕙𝕖 𝕙𝕒𝕕 𝕚𝕟 𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕠𝕗𝕗𝕚𝕔𝕖 𝕝𝕒𝕤𝕥 𝕪𝕖𝕒𝕣. He says he will retire on June 10 for "personal and professional reasons", one of which is the inquiry. "Parliamentary Services have been conducting a confidential inquiry into a verbal altercation in my Wellington office last July that has not concluded," he says. . . "I was advised on Friday that the inquiry and its details have been leaked to the media for release tomorrow. It is inappropriate for employment disputes to be litigated in public. "I will put on the record that I regret the incident, I apologised at the time and I

𝕁𝕒𝕔𝕚𝕟𝕕𝕒 𝔸𝕣𝕕𝕖𝕣𝕟, 𝕊𝕔𝕠𝕥𝕥 𝕄𝕠𝕣𝕣𝕚𝕤𝕠𝕟 𝕞𝕖𝕖𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕤𝕙𝕠𝕨𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕟𝕤-𝕋𝕒𝕤𝕞𝕒𝕟 𝕣𝕖𝕝𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕤𝕙𝕚𝕡 𝕤𝕥𝕣𝕠𝕟𝕘 - 𝕖𝕩𝕡𝕖𝕣𝕥𝕤 𝕀𝕟𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕟𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕒𝕝 𝕣𝕖𝕝𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕤 𝕖𝕩𝕡𝕖𝕣𝕥𝕤 𝕤𝕒𝕪 𝕁𝕒𝕔𝕚𝕟𝕕𝕒 𝔸𝕣𝕕𝕖𝕣𝕟 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕊𝕔𝕠𝕥𝕥 𝕄𝕠𝕣𝕣𝕚𝕤𝕠𝕟'𝕤 ℚ𝕦𝕖𝕖𝕟𝕤𝕥𝕠𝕨𝕟 𝕞𝕖𝕖𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕨𝕒𝕤 𝕒 𝕔𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕣 𝕕𝕖𝕞𝕠𝕟𝕤𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕟𝕤-𝕋𝕒𝕤𝕞𝕒𝕟 𝕣𝕖𝕝𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕤𝕙𝕚𝕡 𝕚𝕤 𝕤𝕥𝕣𝕠𝕟𝕘 The Prime Ministers of New Zealand and Australia met in person on Sunday and Monday for the first time since February last year when COVID-19 was just beginning its global march and was yet to send the two countries into strict lockdowns.  Over the last 15 months, key differences between the countries have persisted, such as their leaders'  attitudes towards deportations , while new issues have emerged, like the  citizenship of accused terrorist Suhayra Aden . But Monday's bilateral and the subsequent press conference was domi

𝔸𝕦𝕤𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕝𝕚𝕒 𝕨𝕖𝕝𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕖𝕤 ℕ𝕖𝕨 ℤ𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕕'𝕤 𝕤𝕦𝕡𝕡𝕠𝕣𝕥 𝕠𝕟 ℂ𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕒 𝕕𝕚𝕤𝕡𝕦𝕥𝕖 𝔸𝕦𝕤𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕝𝕚𝕒 𝕙𝕒𝕤 𝕨𝕖𝕝𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕖𝕕 ℕ𝕖𝕨 ℤ𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕕'𝕤 𝕕𝕖𝕔𝕚𝕤𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕥𝕠 𝕤𝕦𝕡𝕡𝕠𝕣𝕥 𝕚𝕥𝕤 𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕕𝕖 𝕕𝕚𝕤𝕡𝕦𝕥𝕖 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 ℂ𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕒 𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕣 𝕓𝕒𝕣𝕝𝕖𝕪 𝕥𝕒𝕣𝕚𝕗𝕗𝕤, 𝕒𝕙𝕖𝕒𝕕 𝕠𝕗 𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕞𝕒𝕝 𝕥𝕒𝕝𝕜𝕤 𝕓𝕖𝕥𝕨𝕖𝕖𝕟 𝕡𝕣𝕚𝕞𝕖 𝕞𝕚𝕟𝕚𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕤 𝕊𝕔𝕠𝕥𝕥 𝕄𝕠𝕣𝕣𝕚𝕤𝕠𝕟 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕁𝕒𝕔𝕚𝕟𝕕𝕒 𝔸𝕣𝕕𝕖𝕣𝕟. Mr Morrison touched down in Queenstown o n Sunday, with the two leaders taking part in a traditional Maori greeting known as 'hongi.' They emphasised the close relationship between the two countries, pointing to the trans-Tasman travel bubble as an example of co-operation and shared achievement in response to COVID-19. But with China expected to be in focus during today's bilateral meeting, New Zealand's Trade Minister told local media that his country  would participate in Australia's World Trade Organisation row with

Morrison defends New Zealand stance on China As formal talks between Jacinda Ardern and Scott Morrison continue, the Australian prime minister says the relationship between New Zealand and Australia is more than a "partnership". Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern arriving at a reception for the annual Australia-New Zealand Leaders' meeting in Queenstown on May 30, 2021. Photo: Mark Tantrum / Visits and Ceremonial Office / AFP Speaking to media this afternoon, Morrison said New Zealand's attitude to China was not harming the Five Eyes relationship. He said there were some countries who would seek to undermine the relationship and security, but the two nations were working together in many fields and at an international level in the WHO and for trade, for example. He played down the risk of conflict between China and Australia, saying he wanted to ease tensions and facilitate

  New Zealand 'not asked by Australia' to join WTO action on China dispute Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has denied New Zealand is supporting Australia in a barley trade dispute with China to soothe relations with our closest neighbour. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern (file photo). Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone New Zealand will be a third party in an ongoing trade dispute between the two countries, after China last year introduced an 80 percent tariff on Australian barley imports. Australia later appealed to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and claimed China had breached international trading rules. It asked for the decision to impose the significant tariff to be reviewed. The WTO agreed on Friday to establish a dispute settlement panel to resolve the row . Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told Morning Report the government had agreed to be a third party in the dispute but denied that it was to get in Australia's good books. "I

𝕁𝕒𝕔𝕚𝕟𝕕𝕒 𝔸𝕣𝕕𝕖𝕣𝕟 𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕡𝕠𝕟𝕕𝕤 𝕥𝕠 𝔸𝕦𝕤𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕝𝕚𝕒𝕟 𝕞𝕖𝕕𝕚𝕒'𝕤 '𝕡𝕖𝕣𝕔𝕖𝕡𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟' 𝕠𝕗 ℕℤ-ℂ𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕒 𝕣𝕖𝕝𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕤𝕙𝕚𝕡 ℙ𝕣𝕚𝕞𝕖 𝕄𝕚𝕟𝕚𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕁𝕒𝕔𝕚𝕟𝕕𝕒 𝔸𝕣𝕕𝕖𝕣𝕟 𝕙𝕒𝕤 𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕡𝕠𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕠 𝟞𝟘 𝕄𝕚𝕟𝕦𝕥𝕖𝕤 𝔸𝕦𝕤𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕝𝕚𝕒'𝕤 𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕥𝕣𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕚𝕒𝕝 𝕖𝕩𝕡𝕝𝕠𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕠𝕗 ℕ𝕖𝕨 ℤ𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕕'𝕤 𝕣𝕖𝕝𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕤𝕙𝕚𝕡 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 ℂ𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕒, 𝕣𝕖𝕛𝕖𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕚𝕥𝕤 𝕗𝕣𝕒𝕞𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕒𝕤 𝕒 "𝕡𝕖𝕣𝕔𝕖𝕡𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕚𝕤𝕤𝕦𝕖" 𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕟 "𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕪" The episode, which aired on Sunday night, put New Zealand's alliance with China under the spotlight after months of debate regarding Aotearoa's position on the latter's alleged human rights abuses.  There has been speculation that the Government is remaining quiet in order to protect its $33 billion two-way trade partnership with the Asian powerhouse, while Australia - a nation that has publicly condemned China's re