The Bull Ring

𝕃𝕒𝕓𝕠𝕦𝕣'𝕤 𝕗𝕚𝕤𝕔𝕒𝕝 𝕡𝕝𝕒𝕟 𝕝𝕠𝕠𝕜𝕤 𝕥𝕠 𝕣𝕖𝕕𝕦𝕔𝕖 𝕘𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕟𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕤𝕡𝕖𝕟𝕕𝕚𝕟𝕘, 𝕞𝕒𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕒𝕚𝕟 𝕚𝕟𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕖 𝕥𝕒𝕩 𝕤𝕖𝕥𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕤 𝔸𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕥𝕣𝕪 𝕒𝕨𝕒𝕚𝕥𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕟𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕒𝕝 𝕡𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕪 𝕗𝕚𝕤𝕔𝕒𝕝 𝕡𝕝𝕒𝕟, 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕪 𝕡𝕣𝕠𝕞𝕚𝕤𝕖𝕕 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕓𝕖 𝕣𝕖𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕖𝕕 𝕓𝕖𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕖 𝕧𝕠𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕖𝕕. 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕡𝕠𝕟𝕤𝕚𝕓𝕝𝕖 𝕃𝕒𝕓𝕠𝕦𝕣 ℙ𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕪 𝕥𝕠𝕕𝕒𝕪 𝕣𝕖𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕚𝕣𝕤. L abour has released its fiscal plan stating now is not the time for additional taxes and acknowledged the next few Budgets would be tight. Labour is calling its fiscal plan responsible, balanced and credible. Its numbers have been reviewed by Infometrics that have concluded the costings appear reasonable and fit within the Budget allowances. . . Party's finance spokesperson Grant Robertson acknowledged the next few Budgets would be tight but said there was room for a limi...

𝕆𝕡𝕡𝕠𝕤𝕚𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕡𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕪'𝕤 𝕡𝕣𝕠𝕞𝕚𝕤𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕨𝕒𝕣 𝕠𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕞𝕠𝕤𝕥 𝕧𝕦𝕝𝕟𝕖𝕣𝕒𝕓𝕝𝕖 𝕚𝕗 𝕖𝕝𝕖𝕔𝕥𝕖𝕕 ℕ𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕒𝕝 𝕥𝕠 𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕣𝕠𝕕𝕦𝕔𝕖 𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕗𝕗𝕚𝕔 𝕝𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝕤𝕪𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕞 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕓𝕖𝕟𝕖𝕗𝕚𝕔𝕚𝕒𝕣𝕚𝕖𝕤 𝕚𝕗 𝕖𝕝𝕖𝕔𝕥𝕖𝕕 N ational wants to introduce a traffic light system that could see some beneficiaries docked income, and NZ First wants to cap the job seeker benefit at two years over a person's lifetime. National leader Chris Luxon spoke to Corin Dann. . . ℕ𝕖𝕨 ℤ𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝔽𝕚𝕣𝕤𝕥 𝕨𝕒𝕟𝕥 𝕥𝕨𝕠-𝕪𝕖𝕒𝕣 𝕔𝕒𝕡 𝕠𝕟 𝕛𝕠𝕓 𝕤𝕖𝕖𝕜𝕖𝕣 𝕓𝕖𝕟𝕖𝕗𝕚𝕥 Social welfare policies released by the New Zealand First and National parties are being described as counterproductive. New Zealand First wants to impose a two-year cap on the length of time a person can receive the job seeker benefit, over their lifetime. After that, benefits would be cut, or people would be forced t...

𝕃𝕒𝕓𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕡𝕣𝕠𝕞𝕚𝕤𝕖𝕤 $𝟙𝕓 𝕓𝕠𝕠𝕤𝕥 𝕥𝕠 ℙ𝕙𝕒𝕣𝕞𝕒𝕔 𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕣 𝕗𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕪𝕖𝕒𝕣𝕤 𝔸𝕚𝕞𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕠 𝕗𝕦𝕟𝕕 𝕞𝕠𝕣𝕖 𝕞𝕖𝕕𝕚𝕔𝕚𝕟𝕖𝕤, 𝕃𝕒𝕓𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕕𝕖𝕣 ℂ𝕙𝕣𝕚𝕤 ℍ𝕚𝕡𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕤 𝕙𝕒𝕤 𝕒𝕟𝕟𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕔𝕖𝕕 𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕣 $𝟙 𝕓𝕚𝕝𝕝𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕠𝕗 𝕟𝕖𝕨 𝕗𝕦𝕟𝕕𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕗𝕠𝕣 ℙ𝕙𝕒𝕣𝕞𝕒𝕔, 𝕚𝕗 𝕣𝕖-𝕖𝕝𝕖𝕔𝕥𝕖𝕕. H e said Labour would "turbocharge Pharmac funding". "Our boost will increase Pharmac's funding by more than $1b over the next four years, a total increase of 62 percent since Labour took office in 2017." Hipkins said it would provide access to more cancer treatments. . . It would provide $181 million of funding a year from 2024/25 "so Pharmac can continue to meet the ongoing cost of the additional treatments we've funded in recent years". "In addition, we will pump in an extra $50 million for new treatments from 2024/25, rising to $100 million per year in 2...

𝕎𝕖 𝕒𝕣𝕖𝕟'𝕥 𝕡𝕣𝕖𝕡𝕒𝕣𝕖𝕕 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕟𝕖𝕩𝕥 𝕡𝕒𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕞𝕚𝕔 - ℍ𝕖𝕝𝕖𝕟 ℂ𝕝𝕒𝕣𝕜 𝕎𝕙𝕖𝕟 𝕒𝕟𝕠𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣 𝕡𝕒𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕞𝕚𝕔 𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕡𝕖𝕟𝕤, 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕝𝕕 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕒𝕘𝕒𝕚𝕟 𝕓𝕖 𝕦𝕟𝕡𝕣𝕖𝕡𝕒𝕣𝕖𝕕. T hat's the bleak assessment of former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark, who co-chaired the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response, after the UN General Assembly held a high-level summit aimed at heading off another pandemic.  The upshot: Have another meeting. Other pandemic experts who tracked months of negotiations on the 13-page declaration adopted by the assembly's 193 member nations were disappointed, too. . . "I think it's fair to say that the declaration is a missed opportunity," Clark said in an interview with The Associated Press on the sidelines of the General Assembly's high-level leaders' meeting.  "It has many pages and paragraphs and ...

ℙ𝕆𝕃𝕃: 𝕎𝕚𝕟𝕤𝕥𝕠𝕟 ℙ𝕖𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕤 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕓𝕖 𝕂𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕞𝕒𝕜𝕖𝕣 𝕃𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕤𝕥 𝕡𝕠𝕝𝕝 𝕙𝕒𝕤 𝔾𝕣𝕖𝕖𝕟𝕤 𝕕𝕠𝕦𝕓𝕝𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕤𝕙𝕒𝕣𝕖 𝕠𝕗 𝕤𝕖𝕒𝕥𝕤 O n current polling, Labour would be out of government, but their support partner the Greens look set to nearly double their share of seats in parliament. Newshub's Reid Research poll showing the party's up at 14.2 percent. It received 7.9 percent of party votes in 2020. Greens' co-leader James Shaw spoke to Corin Dann. . . 𝕃𝕒𝕓𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕕𝕠𝕨𝕟 𝕥𝕠 𝟚𝟞.𝟝 𝕡𝕖𝕣𝕔𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕤𝕦𝕡𝕡𝕠𝕣𝕥 𝕚𝕟 𝕝𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕤𝕥 𝕡𝕠𝕝𝕝 The latest political poll has Winston Peters back in parliament. On the same day Chris Luxon said he wouldn't rule out working with New Zealand First, the Newshub Reid Research poll had Peter's party over the 5 percent threshold on 5.2 percent. Both National and Labour have dropped in the poll. RELATED: POLL: Voters think Nation...

  Council puts down Gisborne family's pet dog after mistaking it for another dog Soumya Bhamidipati , Journalist @soumyabebe soumya.bhamidipati@rnz.co.nz The Gisborne family said 'Sarge' was collared and chipped and was taken from a fenced area at their house. Photo: Supplied A Gisborne family's beloved pet dog has been killed after authorities mistook it for another dog due to be put down. Gisborne District Council is investigating the "very unfortunate incident", which happened on Friday. It said the dog was being held at the pound and appeared to have been mistakenly identified for another dog which was scheduled to be put down on the same day. In a social media post, the family said 'Sarge' was "the victim of gross negligence, [incompetence] and the most disgusting behaviour you could ever imagine". They said the collared and chipped dog was taken from a fenced area at his house...

  Road workers race to restore SH6 link to West Coast Muddy Creek bridge on SH6, near Makarora. Photo: Waka Kotahi Transport Agency Waka Kotahi says road repair crews are working hard to restore a flood-damaged highway, as West Coasters face a 1000km detour to get to Queenstown. State Highway 6, north of Makarora, has been closed since Thursday, when torrential rain swept mud and debris from a slip across a kilometre of the highway at Muddy Creek. Waka Kotahi spokesperson Robert Choveaux said at least 20,000 cubic metres of material needed to be removed before the road could reopen. "We've had two excavators, five trucks, two loaders and a [bull]dozer all working on it. It is a national park, so we also need to be careful where we're dumping our material. He said the debris at the bridge was up to four metres deep and had turned "concrete hard" after snowfall since Thursday. "The material's stacked about three ...