The Bull Ring

𝕊𝕠𝕔𝕚𝕒𝕝 𝕤𝕡𝕖𝕟𝕕𝕚𝕟𝕘, 𝕥𝕒𝕩𝕖𝕤 𝕠𝕟 𝕓𝕦𝕤𝕚𝕟𝕖𝕤𝕤, 𝔹𝕚𝕕𝕖𝕟'𝕤 𝕡𝕣𝕠𝕡𝕠𝕤𝕖𝕤 𝕥𝕣𝕚𝕝𝕝𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕕𝕠𝕝𝕝𝕒𝕣 𝕓𝕦𝕕𝕘𝕖𝕥 ℙ𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕚𝕕𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕁𝕠𝕖 𝔹𝕚𝕕𝕖𝕟 𝕚𝕤 𝕡𝕣𝕠𝕡𝕠𝕤𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕒 $𝕌𝕊𝟞 𝕥𝕣𝕚𝕝𝕝𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕓𝕦𝕕𝕘𝕖𝕥 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕟𝕖𝕩𝕥 𝕪𝕖𝕒𝕣 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥'𝕤 𝕡𝕚𝕝𝕖𝕕 𝕙𝕚𝕘𝕙 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕟𝕖𝕨 𝕤𝕒𝕗𝕖𝕥𝕪 𝕟𝕖𝕥 𝕡𝕣𝕠𝕘𝕣𝕒𝕞𝕞𝕖𝕤 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕡𝕠𝕠𝕣 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕞𝕚𝕕𝕕𝕝𝕖 𝕔𝕝𝕒𝕤𝕤, 𝕓𝕦𝕥 𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕘𝕖𝕟𝕖𝕣𝕠𝕤𝕚𝕥𝕪 𝕕𝕖𝕡𝕖𝕟𝕕𝕤 𝕠𝕟 𝕥𝕒𝕩𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕔𝕠𝕣𝕡𝕠𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕤 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕨𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕥𝕙𝕪 𝕥𝕠 𝕜𝕖𝕖𝕡 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕟𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟'𝕤 𝕤𝕡𝕚𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕕𝕖𝕓𝕥 𝕗𝕣𝕠𝕞 𝕤𝕡𝕚𝕣𝕒𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕠𝕥𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕪 𝕠𝕦𝕥 𝕠𝕗 𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕥𝕣𝕠𝕝. Biden inherited record pandemic-stoked spending and won a major victory on Covid-19 relief earlier this year. Today's rollout adds his recently announced infrastructure and social spending initiatives and fleshes out his earlier plans to sharply increase spending for annual Cabinet budgets.  This year's projected d...

𝕋𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖'𝕤 𝕟𝕠 𝕤𝕔𝕚𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕚𝕗𝕚𝕔 𝕤𝕠𝕝𝕦𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕤𝕖𝕝𝕗𝕚𝕤𝕙𝕟𝕖𝕤𝕤, 𝕘𝕣𝕖𝕖𝕕 𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕣 ℂ𝕝𝕚𝕞𝕒𝕥𝕖 ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕘𝕖 𝕄𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕊𝕞𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕚𝕤 𝕕𝕠𝕦𝕓𝕥𝕗𝕦𝕝 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕤𝕔𝕚𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕡𝕣𝕠𝕧𝕚𝕕𝕖 𝕒 𝕤𝕠𝕝𝕦𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕥𝕠 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕤𝕚𝕫𝕖 𝕠𝕗, 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕖𝕞𝕚𝕤𝕤𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕤 𝕗𝕣𝕠𝕞, ℕ𝕖𝕨 ℤ𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕕’𝕤 𝕤𝕙𝕖𝕖𝕡 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕔𝕠𝕨𝕤 𝕒𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕥𝕣𝕪 𝕥𝕣𝕚𝕖𝕤 𝕥𝕠 𝕥𝕒𝕔𝕜𝕝𝕖 𝕔𝕝𝕚𝕞𝕒𝕥𝕖 𝕔𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕘𝕖. The Iwi Chairs Forum’s climate spokesperson told Q+A during a special on Climate Change that he had "heard the arguments that science might find a solution, but … there is no scientific solution to selfishness and greed. "The selfishness in the aspect that 12,000 farmers expect to have special treatment in a country of five million people. And greed in the sense that you can continue to produce dairy products for an elite market in Europe and other places and that’s an adequate way of using our lands.” . . On Monday the Climate Change ...

ℙ𝕦𝕓𝕝𝕚𝕔 𝕤𝕦𝕡𝕡𝕠𝕣𝕥 𝕤𝕖𝕖𝕤 𝕗𝕒𝕤𝕥-𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕔𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕠𝕗 𝕞𝕠𝕣𝕖 𝕋𝕖 ℍ𝕦𝕚𝕒 𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕚𝕟 𝕤𝕖𝕣𝕧𝕚𝕔𝕖𝕤 𝕓𝕖𝕥𝕨𝕖𝕖𝕟 ℍ𝕒𝕞𝕚𝕝𝕥𝕠𝕟, 𝔸𝕦𝕔𝕜𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕕 Hamilton to Auckland train service Te Huia. Source: 1 NEW 𝕄𝕠𝕣𝕖 𝕋𝕖 ℍ𝕦𝕚𝕒 𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕚𝕟 𝕤𝕖𝕣𝕧𝕚𝕔𝕖𝕤 𝕓𝕖𝕥𝕨𝕖𝕖𝕟 ℍ𝕒𝕞𝕚𝕥𝕠𝕟 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝔸𝕦𝕔𝕜𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕠𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕨𝕒𝕪, 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕪 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕓𝕖 𝕥𝕣𝕚𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕖𝕕 𝕤𝕠𝕠𝕟𝕖𝕣 𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕟 𝕡𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕟𝕖𝕕, 𝕒𝕗𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕒 𝕘𝕣𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕕𝕤𝕨𝕖𝕝𝕝 𝕠𝕗 𝕡𝕦𝕓𝕝𝕚𝕔 𝕤𝕦𝕡𝕡𝕠𝕣𝕥. Waikato Regional councillors decided yesterday it would be trialling an inter-peak service for 12 months after submissions to its 10-year long-term plan to 2031 showed many were in favour of improving the service sooner than the proposed 2023 timeframe.  Of those 1240 submissions, 95 per cent were in favour of improving the commuter service.  Once in place, it will extend service times beyond the current weekday 5.45am and 6.30am services from Hamilton to Papakura in Auckland...

ℕ𝕖𝕨 ℤ𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕟𝕕𝕤 𝕒𝕝𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝕒𝕤 𝕠𝕟𝕝𝕪 𝕞𝕒𝕛𝕠𝕣 𝕖𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕠𝕞𝕪 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕥 𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕞𝕦𝕟𝕚𝕥𝕪 𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕟𝕤𝕞𝕚𝕤𝕤𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕠𝕗 ℂ𝕆𝕍𝕀𝔻-𝟙𝟡 ℕ𝕖𝕨 ℤ𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕙𝕒𝕤 𝕣𝕖𝕘𝕒𝕚𝕟𝕖𝕕 𝕚𝕥𝕤 𝕟𝕦𝕞𝕓𝕖𝕣 𝕠𝕟𝕖 𝕤𝕡𝕠𝕥 𝕒𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕓𝕖𝕤𝕥 𝕡𝕝𝕒𝕔𝕖 𝕚𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕝𝕕 𝕥𝕠 𝕓𝕖 𝕕𝕦𝕣𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕙𝕖 ℂ𝕆𝕍𝕀𝔻-𝟙𝟡 𝕖𝕣𝕒. Bloomberg's  COVID Resilience Ranking  looks at how major countries around the world are handling the pandemic, taking into account social and economic disruption, mortality and infection rates, freedom of movement and how the vaccine rollout is going. Despite the tardy start to our rollout - upheld by the  switch to a single supplier , and global demand - New Zealand is back on top, following outbreaks in other countries that until now, were doing just as well.  "Lauded for its handling of the pathogen, the Asia-Pacific region accounted for all seven of the biggest declines this month in the measure of the best and worst...

𝕋𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕨𝕒𝕤 ≋2≋0≋1≋8≋ - ℂ𝕙𝕦𝕔𝕜𝕪 ℂ𝕠𝕝𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕤 𝕤𝕖𝕥𝕤 𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝕠𝕨𝕟 𝕤𝕒𝕔𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕡𝕠𝕚𝕟𝕥: 𝟛𝟝 𝕡𝕖𝕣 𝕔𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕚𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕡𝕠𝕝𝕝𝕤 𝕆𝕡𝕡𝕠𝕤𝕚𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 ℙ𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕪 𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕕𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕙𝕚𝕡 𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕥𝕖𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕣 ℂ𝕙𝕦𝕔𝕜𝕪 ℂ𝕠𝕝𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕤 𝕙𝕒𝕤 𝕤𝕖𝕥 𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕖𝕝𝕗 𝕒 𝕡𝕖𝕣𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕞𝕒𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕙𝕠𝕝𝕕 𝕠𝕗 𝟛𝟝 𝕡𝕖𝕣 𝕔𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕚𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕡𝕠𝕝𝕝𝕤 𝕚𝕗 𝕤𝕙𝕖 𝕨𝕚𝕟𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕕𝕖𝕣𝕤𝕙𝕚𝕡. And she has also promised a review of all National's policies, including questioning one of its key promises of 2017: tax cuts. National is still polling at about 44.5 per cent and a new leader's job will be trying to hold that. She said Labour had shown what the tipping point was before a leader ran into trouble . . "Once things start getting under 35 per cent people start saying 'can we win?' And I know I am putting a mark up there which at some stage in the future, if I am successful this time, that people will say 'well, you set that mark. ...

𝕋𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕨𝕒𝕤 ≋2≋0≋1≋4≋ - ℂ𝕙𝕦𝕔𝕜𝕪 ℂ𝕠𝕝𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕤 𝕒𝕔𝕔𝕦𝕤𝕖𝕕 𝕠𝕗 𝕡𝕠𝕥𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕚𝕒𝕝 𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕗𝕝𝕚𝕔𝕥 𝕠𝕗 𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕥 𝕁𝕦𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕔𝕖 𝕄𝕚𝕟𝕚𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣 ℂ𝕙𝕦𝕔𝕜𝕪 ℂ𝕠𝕝𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕤 𝕙𝕒𝕤 𝕓𝕖𝕖𝕟 𝕒𝕔𝕔𝕦𝕤𝕖𝕕 𝕠𝕗 𝕡𝕠𝕥𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕚𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕪 𝕓𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕔𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕗𝕝𝕚𝕔𝕥 𝕠𝕗 𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕥 𝕣𝕦𝕝𝕖𝕤 𝕗𝕠𝕣 ℂ𝕒𝕓𝕚𝕟𝕖𝕥 𝕞𝕚𝕟𝕚𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕤 𝕒𝕗𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕒 𝕧𝕚𝕤𝕚𝕥 𝕥𝕠 𝕒 𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕡𝕒𝕟𝕪 𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝕙𝕦𝕤𝕓𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕚𝕤 𝕒 𝕕𝕚𝕣𝕖𝕔𝕥𝕠𝕣 𝕠𝕗 𝕨𝕙𝕚𝕝𝕖 𝕚𝕟 ℂ𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕒. One News reported that while Ms Collins was in China last October she visited the offices of Oravida, a New Zealand company which exports milk products to China. Her husband, David Wong Tung, is a director of Oravida and the company later put up a photo of Ms Collins claiming she had tasted and endorsed their products. . . It is against Cabinet Manual rules to endorse any product. Labour MP Grant Robertson said there was a perception of a conflict of interest. "Ministers have to be up front. Perception...

𝕃𝕒𝕓𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕨𝕖𝕝𝕝 𝕒𝕙𝕖𝕒𝕕 𝕚𝕟 𝕝𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕤𝕥 𝕡𝕠𝕝𝕝 𝕃𝕒𝕓𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕚𝕤 𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕗𝕒𝕣 𝕒𝕙𝕖𝕒𝕕 𝕠𝕗 ℕ𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕒𝕝 𝕚𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕝𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕤𝕥 𝟙 ℕ𝕖𝕨𝕤-ℂ𝕠𝕝𝕞𝕒𝕣 𝔹𝕣𝕦𝕟𝕥𝕠𝕟 ℙ𝕠𝕝𝕝, 𝕒𝕝𝕥𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙 𝕚𝕥’𝕤 𝕝𝕠𝕤𝕥 𝕤𝕠𝕞𝕖 𝕤𝕦𝕡𝕡𝕠𝕣𝕥, 𝕨𝕙𝕚𝕝𝕖 ℕ𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕒𝕝 𝕙𝕒𝕤 𝕡𝕠𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕕 𝕤𝕠𝕞𝕖 𝕤𝕞𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕘𝕒𝕚𝕟𝕤. Labour is on 46 per cent in the poll, dropping three points on the last poll, taken in March. National is on 29 per cent, up 2 points from the last poll. ACT is on 9 per cent, up 1 point, while the Greens are on 8 per cent, dropping 1, and Te Pāti Māori holds its support at 2 per cent. Translated to seats in Parliament, Labour would have 59, losing its outright majority, while National would have 36 seats.  ACT would have 12 seats, the Greens 11, Te Pāti Māori would have 2, assuming Rawiri Waititi holds the seat of Waiariki. . . The poll is the first to be taken since the Budget was delivered a week ago. It’s also the first 1 News-Colma...