The Bull Ring

𝔸 𝕓𝕝𝕠𝕠𝕕𝕪 𝕤𝕥𝕦𝕡𝕚𝕕 𝕚𝕕𝕖𝕒 ℕ𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕒𝕝 𝕚𝕟𝕔𝕝𝕦𝕕𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝔸𝕔𝕥’𝕤 𝕋𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕥𝕪 𝕡𝕣𝕚𝕟𝕔𝕚𝕡𝕝𝕖𝕤 𝕓𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕚𝕟 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕔𝕠𝕒𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕒𝕘𝕣𝕖𝕖𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕨𝕒𝕤 𝕒 𝕞𝕒𝕛𝕠𝕣 𝕞𝕚𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕜𝕖, 𝕨𝕣𝕚𝕥𝕖𝕤 𝔻𝕒𝕞𝕖 𝔸𝕟𝕟𝕖 𝕊𝕒𝕝𝕞𝕠𝕟𝕕 I n issuing his proclamations about Te Tiriti o Waitangi, David Seymour has a disconcerting habit of naming famous dead people as his supporters. In August 2023, for instance, he told a crowd at the Moutere Hills Community Centre, “I daresay if Nelson Mandela was alive today he would be campaigning for Act.” Nelson Mandela’s grandson Kweku Mandela hastened to issue a denial: “My grandfather loved the people of New Zealand and I can say categorically he would not campaign for this today or any other day in the past.” At a Business NZ conference in Wellington a month later, Seymour went on to claim Kate Sheppard, who led the historic campaign for women’s suffrage in New Zealand, as an Act party supporter: “I have read some of ...

𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕡𝕦𝕓𝕝𝕚𝕔 𝕤𝕖𝕣𝕧𝕚𝕔𝕖 𝕒𝕘𝕖𝕟𝕔𝕚𝕖𝕤 𝕒𝕤𝕜𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕠 𝕔𝕦𝕥 𝕤𝕡𝕖𝕟𝕕𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝔽𝕚𝕟𝕒𝕟𝕔𝕖 𝕄𝕚𝕟𝕚𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕋𝕣𝕚𝕔𝕠𝕝𝕒 𝕎𝕚𝕝𝕝𝕚𝕤 𝕚𝕤 𝕝𝕠𝕠𝕜𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕠 𝕤𝕝𝕒𝕤𝕙 𝕒𝕟𝕟𝕦𝕒𝕝 𝕡𝕦𝕓𝕝𝕚𝕔 𝕤𝕖𝕣𝕧𝕚𝕔𝕖 𝕤𝕡𝕖𝕟𝕕𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕒𝕟𝕟𝕦𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕪 𝕓𝕪 $𝟙.𝟝 𝕓𝕚𝕝𝕝𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕙𝕒𝕤 𝕒𝕤𝕜𝕖𝕕 "𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕕𝕖𝕡𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕤" 𝕥𝕠 𝕚𝕕𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕚𝕗𝕪 𝕤𝕒𝕧𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕤. N ational campaigned on slashing "back-office expenditure" across 24 public agencies, as part of its "Back Pocket Boost" tax plan. The Public Service Association says it is a  "very short-sighted approach" . Labour public services spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says the minister is " sneaking in larger cuts than she signalled  before the election". . . Agencies have been asked to identify savings options of either 6.5 or 7.5 percent. If their full-time equivalent staff numbers (FTE) have increased by...

ℍ𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕥𝕙 𝕄𝕚𝕟𝕚𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣 '𝕚𝕟𝕔𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕝𝕪 𝕒𝕟𝕩𝕚𝕠𝕦𝕤' 𝕒𝕓𝕠𝕦𝕥 𝕡𝕠𝕤𝕤𝕚𝕓𝕝𝕖 𝕞𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕝𝕖𝕤 𝕠𝕦𝕥𝕓𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕜 ℍ𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕥𝕙 𝕄𝕚𝕟𝕚𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕊𝕙𝕒𝕟𝕖 ℂ𝕚𝕘𝕒-ℝ𝕖𝕥𝕚 𝕚𝕤 𝕚𝕟𝕔𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕝𝕪 𝕒𝕟𝕩𝕚𝕠𝕦𝕤 𝕒𝕓𝕠𝕦𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕡𝕠𝕤𝕤𝕚𝕓𝕚𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕪 𝕠𝕗 𝕒 𝕞𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕝𝕖𝕤 𝕠𝕦𝕥𝕓𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕜 𝕚𝕟 ℕ𝕖𝕨 ℤ𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕕, 𝕤𝕒𝕪𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕥𝕣𝕪 𝕨𝕒𝕤 𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕪 𝕝𝕦𝕔𝕜𝕪 𝕟𝕠𝕥 𝕥𝕠 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕕𝕖𝕒𝕥𝕙𝕤 𝕗𝕣𝕠𝕞 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕧𝕚𝕣𝕦𝕤 𝕚𝕟 𝟚𝟘𝟙𝟡. M easles cases have been on the rise overseas, with  cases in Europe up 45 times in the past year and hundreds of cases in Britain since October. Cases have also shown up in Australia, including one a fortnight ago who  had contact with 15 people travelling to New Zealand , which clinicians said should be a "wake up call". . . Measles is highly contagious, spreading much faster than Covid-19 - particularly among populations with low level...

ℂ𝕠𝕒𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕠𝕗 ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕠𝕤 𝔾𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕟𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕤𝕔𝕣𝕒𝕡𝕤 𝔹𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕥𝕠 𝕝𝕠𝕨𝕖𝕣 𝕧𝕠𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕒𝕘𝕖 𝕚𝕟 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕔𝕚𝕝 𝕖𝕝𝕖𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕤 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕔𝕠𝕒𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕠𝕗 ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕠𝕤 𝔾𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕟𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕙𝕒𝕤 𝕤𝕔𝕣𝕒𝕡𝕡𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕡𝕣𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕠𝕦𝕤 𝕘𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕟𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥'𝕤 𝔼𝕝𝕖𝕔𝕥𝕠𝕣𝕒𝕝 𝕃𝕖𝕘𝕚𝕤𝕝𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝔹𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕨𝕙𝕚𝕔𝕙 𝕨𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕕 𝕙𝕒𝕧𝕖 𝕒𝕝𝕝𝕠𝕨𝕖𝕕 𝟙𝟞-𝕪𝕖𝕒𝕣-𝕠𝕝𝕕𝕤 𝕥𝕠 𝕧𝕠𝕥𝕖 𝕚𝕟 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕔𝕚𝕝 𝕖𝕝𝕖𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕤. L ocal Government Minister Peewee Herman look-a-like Simeon Brown said the Government "does not intend to support" the Bill through further parliamentary stages and requested the committee ends its consideration of the Bill.  "I have written to the Chairperson of the Justice Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Electoral (Lowering Voting Age for Local Elections and Polls) Legislation Bill through further parliamentary stages," he said in a statement. . ...

ℂ𝕠𝕒𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕠𝕗 ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕠𝕤 𝔾𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕟𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕒𝕔𝕔𝕦𝕤𝕖𝕕 𝕠𝕗 𝕢𝕦𝕚𝕖𝕥𝕝𝕪 𝕖𝕩𝕡𝕒𝕟𝕕𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕣𝕖𝕞𝕚𝕥 𝕠𝕗 𝕡𝕦𝕓𝕝𝕚𝕔 𝕤𝕖𝕣𝕧𝕚𝕔𝕖 𝕔𝕦𝕥𝕤 𝕋𝕙𝕖 ℂ𝕠𝕒𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 𝕠𝕗 ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕠𝕤 𝔾𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕣𝕟𝕞𝕖𝕟𝕥 𝕚𝕤 𝕓𝕖𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕒𝕔𝕔𝕦𝕤𝕖𝕕 𝕠𝕗 𝕢𝕦𝕚𝕖𝕥𝕝𝕪 𝕖𝕩𝕡𝕒𝕟𝕕𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕔𝕙 𝕠𝕗 𝕚𝕥𝕤 𝕡𝕦𝕓𝕝𝕚𝕔 𝕤𝕖𝕣𝕧𝕚𝕔𝕖 𝕔𝕦𝕥𝕤 𝕥𝕠 𝕡𝕒𝕪 𝕗𝕠𝕣 𝕡𝕣𝕠𝕞𝕚𝕤𝕖𝕕 𝕥𝕒𝕩 𝕓𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕜𝕤. I t comes as one of the largest public agencies, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, puts the call out to staff, offering voluntary redundancies. National campaigned on slashing spending across 24 public agencies, as part of its "Back Pocket Boost"  tax plan . The policy proposed an annual reduction in back-office expenditure by an average of 6.5 percent; on top of  Labour's $500 million in annual public sector savings . National identified two dozen agencies which could spend less including the transport, conservation and justice ministries. ...

  Health advocates, opposition slam Associate Health Minister Casey Costello's proposed tax freeze Associate Health Minister Casey Costello is proposing a three-year freeze on CPI-related excise increases for smoked tobacco. Photo: 123RF Anti-smoking advocates and politicians are taking aim at Associate Health Minister Casey Costello after RNZ revealed she was looking into a three-year freeze on a tobacco tax. Currently, tobacco excise is increased each year in line with the Consumer Price Index (CPI). RNZ has learned Costello is proposing a three-year freeze on CPI-related excise increases for smoked tobacco . But when RNZ put that to her in an interview, Costello said she had not looked at it. Former Health Minister Ayesha Verrall said Costello needed to clear the air about what was going on. "Her story doesn't add up. There's a discrepancy between her claim that she did not seek specific advice on stopping the inflation adjust...

  The $1m PR and lobbying campaign to overturn livestock export ban Guyon Espiner , Investigative reporter, In Depth @GuyonEspiner guyon.espiner@rnz.co.nz A ban on livestock exports will almost certainly be lifted - but the industry is wary of opposition Photo: RNZ A $1 million lobbying campaign to persuade the government to restart live animal exports has been launched by key players in the agriculture industry. The previous Labour government announced a ban on live animal exports by sea in 2021, which came into effect in April 2023. The new government intends to change course, with the coalition agreements saying it will, "reverse the recent ban on live animal exports while ensuring the highest standards of animal welfare". But Livestock Export New Zealand (LENZ) says without a major lobbying campaign, and a PR pitch to allay public concern about animal welfare standards, the government's pledge could stall ...