The Bull Ring

  Wayne Brown's media ban attempt for Auckland Council budget speech an 'insult to voters' - Media Freedom Council Wayne Brown Photo: RNZ / Marika Khabazi The Media Freedom Council has called Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown's exclusion of certain media outlets from his budget speech on Thursday "unacceptable". In an appearance at Auckland Transport's Viaduct headquarters, Brown took time out of pitching his plan to sell the city's holdings in Auckland Airport to complain about road cones, his "not financially literate" councillors and target the "nasty" media. Brown's team invited journalists from only a few organisations to the announcement. RNZ was allowed in, but Stuff, TVNZ and Newshub were not. Stuff reported amongst those allowed in were "business leaders, former politicians and former rugby league coach Sir Graham Lowe". Some reporters threatened to walk out of the event in

ℂ𝕠𝕟𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕔𝕖𝕡𝕥𝕚𝕧𝕖 𝕡𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕡𝕣𝕚𝕔𝕖 𝕙𝕚𝕜𝕖: ℕ𝕒𝕥𝕤 𝕤𝕝𝕒𝕞𝕞𝕖𝕕 𝕚𝕟 𝕕𝕖𝕓𝕒𝕥𝕖 𝕋𝕙𝕖 ℕ𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕒𝕝 𝕡𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕪 𝕚𝕤 𝕓𝕖𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕤𝕝𝕒𝕞𝕞𝕖𝕕 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕒 𝕡𝕠𝕝𝕚𝕔𝕪 𝕚𝕥 𝕒𝕕𝕞𝕚𝕥𝕤 𝕨𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕣𝕖𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕣𝕠𝕕𝕦𝕔𝕖 $𝟝 𝕡𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕔𝕣𝕚𝕡𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕔𝕠𝕤𝕥𝕤 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕥𝕙𝕠𝕤𝕖 𝕠𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕡𝕚𝕝𝕝, 𝕠𝕣 𝕠𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕔𝕖𝕡𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕕𝕣𝕦𝕘𝕤. T he move is a response to the government’s budget decision to eliminate the $5 prescription fees last month. The restructuring, estimated to cost around $154 million per year, will see free prescriptions from July 1. Nats leader Christopher Luxon  told Newshub yesterday he is open to considering exemptions for Gold Card holders and low-income earners with Community Services cards, but made it clear that regular contraception users, and prescription holders in general, will go back to paying the fee. . . “We don’t want to see any change … We are making su

𝔸𝕚𝕣 ℕ𝕖𝕨 ℤ𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕟𝕒𝕞𝕖𝕕 𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕝𝕕'𝕤 𝕓𝕖𝕤𝕥 𝕒𝕚𝕣𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕖 𝔸𝕚𝕣 ℕ𝕖𝕨 ℤ𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕟𝕠𝕨 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕚𝕤𝕖𝕤 𝕛𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕨𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕔𝕒𝕟 𝕓𝕖 𝕡𝕠𝕤𝕤𝕚𝕓𝕝𝕖 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕒𝕟𝕪 𝕠𝕣𝕘𝕒𝕟𝕚𝕤𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕨𝕙𝕖𝕟 ℂ𝕙𝕣𝕚𝕤𝕥𝕠𝕡𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝕃𝕦𝕩𝕠𝕟 𝕕𝕖𝕡𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕤. 𝕀𝕥 𝕓𝕖𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕖𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕝𝕕𝕤 𝕓𝕖𝕤𝕥. A ir New Zealand says it is not just passengers who will be weighed during an upcoming regulatory survey, but onboard items such as cutlery and pillows too. The airline's chief executive Greg Foran told  First Up  about 10,000 of its international passengers would be anonymously weighed over the next three or four weeks as part of the five-yearly survey. "This is a regulatory requirement," he said. "It is about safety and safety is paramount to us as an airline." . . He said Air New Zealand, which has just been named Airline of the Year by airline safety and product rating web

𝔽𝕠𝕣𝕞𝕖𝕣 ℕ𝕦𝕥 𝕄ℙ ℙ𝕒𝕣𝕞𝕛𝕖𝕖𝕥 ℙ𝕒𝕣𝕞𝕒𝕣 𝕤𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕔𝕙𝕖𝕤 𝕥𝕠 𝔸ℂ𝕋 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝟚𝟘𝟚𝟛 𝕖𝕝𝕖𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝔽𝕠𝕣𝕞𝕖𝕣 ℕ𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕒𝕝 ℙ𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕪 𝕄ℙ ℙ𝕒𝕣𝕞𝕛𝕖𝕖𝕥 ℙ𝕒𝕣𝕞𝕒𝕣 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝔸ℂ𝕋 ℙ𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕪 𝕚𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕪𝕖𝕒𝕣'𝕤 𝕖𝕝𝕖𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟. P armar made New Zealand history in the 2014 general election as the first Indian-born woman elected to Parliament. She was a National list MP who held science and economic spokesperson roles until she was voted out in the 2020 election. Parmar, a scientist and businesswoman, has now joined the ACT Party and will stand as its candidate in the Pakuranga electorate, currently held by National's Simeon Brown who won it by large margins in the past two elections. . . She had previously run in the Mt Roskill electorate for National, but lost against Labour's Phil Goff in 2014, and Michael Wood in 2017. In 2020 she won less than a quarter of

𝔽𝕠𝕣𝕞𝕖𝕣 𝔻𝕚𝕣𝕖𝕔𝕥𝕠𝕣-𝔾𝕖𝕟𝕖𝕣𝕒𝕝 𝕠𝕗 ℍ𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕥𝕙 𝕊𝕚𝕣 𝔸𝕤𝕙𝕝𝕖𝕪 𝔹𝕝𝕠𝕠𝕞𝕗𝕚𝕖𝕝𝕕 𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕞𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕪 𝕜𝕟𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕖𝕕 𝔽𝕠𝕣𝕞𝕖𝕣 𝔻𝕚𝕣𝕖𝕔𝕥𝕠𝕣-𝔾𝕖𝕟𝕖𝕣𝕒𝕝 𝕠𝕗 ℍ𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕥𝕙 𝕊𝕚𝕣 𝔸𝕤𝕙𝕝𝕖𝕪 𝔹𝕝𝕠𝕠𝕞𝕗𝕚𝕖𝕝𝕕 𝕙𝕒𝕤 𝕓𝕖𝕖𝕟 𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕞𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕪 𝕜𝕟𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕖𝕕 𝕒𝕥 𝔾𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕟𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥 ℍ𝕠𝕦𝕤𝕖 𝕠𝕟 𝕎𝕖𝕕𝕟𝕖𝕤𝕕𝕒𝕪. S ir Ashley was joined by members of his whānau for the ceremony, highlighting his work in guiding Aotearoa through the COVID-19 pandemic. Speaking to the media after the ceremony, Sir Ashley was joined by the Prime Minister, providing a sense of Déjà vu to the heights of the pandemic when Chris Hipkins was the COVID-19 Response Minister. . . Sir Ashley said the honour is a "huge privilege". Watch: Ex-Director-General of Health Sir Ashley Bloomfield formally knighted https://t.co/39gUsUTZbP — Newshub (@NewshubNZ) May 30, 2023 "Every time I think about

ℕ𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕒𝕝 𝕘𝕖𝕥𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕤𝕦𝕔𝕜𝕖𝕕 𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕠 𝕣𝕖𝕘𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕤𝕚𝕧𝕖 𝕣𝕒𝕔𝕖 𝕕𝕖𝕓𝕒𝕥𝕖 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕆𝕡𝕡𝕠𝕤𝕚𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 ℕ𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕒𝕝 ℙ𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕪 𝕨𝕒𝕟𝕥𝕤 𝕥𝕠 𝕥𝕒𝕝𝕜 𝕒𝕓𝕠𝕦𝕥 𝕙𝕠𝕨 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝔾𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕟𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕙𝕒𝕤 𝕘𝕠𝕥 𝕚𝕥𝕤 𝕡𝕣𝕚𝕠𝕣𝕚𝕥𝕚𝕖𝕤 𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕨𝕣𝕠𝕟𝕘, 𝕓𝕦𝕥 𝕦𝕤𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕜𝕒𝕦𝕡𝕒𝕡𝕒 𝕄ā𝕠𝕣𝕚 𝕒𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕔𝕜 𝕥𝕠 𝕓𝕖𝕒𝕥 𝕞𝕚𝕟𝕚𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕤 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕚𝕤 𝕓𝕠𝕥𝕙 𝕝𝕒𝕫𝕪 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕣𝕖𝕘𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕤𝕚𝕧𝕖 L OTO  Luxon wants to talk about potholes so much that he’s shoe-horned them into a debate about bilingual road signs. As if saying potholes three times in the media mirror might make them the actual issue, Luxon is repeating the word ad nauseum to try distract from his transport spokesperson who thinks important road signs should be only in English. As one former politician put to me, “If they think we’re hard done by here they should try arriving at Tel Aviv airport at midnight to drive to Jerusalem only to find every road sign has Hebrew, Arabic,

ℂ𝕙𝕣𝕚𝕤 ℍ𝕚𝕡𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕤 𝕒𝕔𝕔𝕦𝕤𝕖𝕤 ℕ𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕒𝕝 𝕠𝕗 𝕕𝕠𝕘-𝕨𝕙𝕚𝕤𝕥𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕣 𝕓𝕚𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕦𝕒𝕝 𝕣𝕠𝕒𝕕𝕤𝕚𝕘𝕟𝕤 - 𝕆𝕡𝕡𝕠𝕤𝕚𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕗𝕝𝕚𝕡 𝕗𝕝𝕠𝕡𝕤... 𝕒𝕘𝕒𝕚𝕟 ℙ𝕣𝕚𝕞𝕖 𝕄𝕚𝕟𝕚𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣 ℂ𝕙𝕣𝕚𝕤 ℍ𝕚𝕡𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕤 𝕚𝕤 𝕒𝕔𝕔𝕦𝕤𝕚𝕟𝕘 ℕ𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕒𝕝 𝕠𝕗 𝕕𝕠𝕘-𝕨𝕙𝕚𝕤𝕥𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕚𝕟 𝕚𝕥𝕤 𝕔𝕣𝕚𝕥𝕚𝕔𝕚𝕤𝕞 𝕠𝕗 𝕓𝕚𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕦𝕒𝕝 𝕣𝕠𝕒𝕕 𝕤𝕚𝕘𝕟𝕤. 𝕆𝕡𝕡𝕠𝕤𝕚𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕕𝕖𝕡𝕦𝕥𝕪 𝕒𝕟𝕟𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕔𝕖𝕤 𝕪𝕖𝕥 𝕒𝕟𝕠𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝕗𝕝𝕚𝕡 𝕗𝕝𝕠𝕡 𝕠𝕟 𝕓𝕚𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕦𝕒𝕝 𝕣𝕠𝕒𝕕 𝕤𝕚𝕘𝕟𝕤. W aka Kotahi announced last Monday its bilingual traffic sign programme was going to public consultation. On Friday, National's transport spokesperson Simeon Brown said the party  did not support having road signs in both te reo Māori and English , saying it would be confusing for drivers. Speaking at a public meeting, Brown said the signs needed to be clear and while it was okay for place names - "we all speak English, and they should be in English" - &q

  Venice canal patch turns fluorescent green Fluorescent green waters below the Rialto Bridge in Venice's Grand Canal. Photo: STRINGER / ANSA / AFP) / Italy OUT Venetians woke up on Sunday morning to an unusual sight, as a patch of water in the city's central waterway appeared to have turned fluorescent green. Local authorities have collected water samples and opened an urgent investigation. Speculations were rife as to what might have caused the water around the famous Rialto Bridge to change colour. Theories range from the release of dye to a protest by environmental activists. Italian media reported that local police were examining CCTV to determine whether the release might have been a stunt to coincide with the Volgalonga regatta taking place this weekend. Many social media users said the images coming out of Venice were remindful of the 1968 stunt by Argentine artist Nicolás García Uriburu, who dyed the waters of the Grand Canal