Category Archives: New Zealand

Record rise in Italy Covid-19 death toll, Irish PM says stay home for two weeks – as it happened

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I’m handing over to the team in Australia now. Thanks so much for joining me. Here are the developments in the global coronavirus outbreak this evening:

After many delays, and then a series of tweets earlier today, US President Donald Trump is invoking the Defense Production Act to compel General Motors to built ventilators for hospitals, he announced at the White House’s daily coronavirus briefing.

The Defense Production Act gives the president powers to direct domestic industrial production to provide essential materials and goods needed in a national security crisis. It allows the president to require businesses and corporations to prioritize and accept contracts for required materials and services.

Related: Coronavirus US live: Trump signs $2.2tn stimulus bill after invoking Defense Production Act

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New Zealand in lockdown: a surreal experience when you can’t see the enemy

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In Wellington it felt downright bizarre as people took exaggerated arcs on the footpath to avoid each other, while near-empty buses sped past

By the time they locked down Italy, it seemed like it was already too late. Hundreds of people there had died of Covid-19 , with thousands infected. Over the next two weeks, the death toll soared. In New Zealand, we have oddly been in the opposite position: no one has died from the virus. Seven people are in hospital but they’re not in intensive care or on ventilators. There are more than 280 people confirmed to have the disease.

Yet this country has begun at least four weeks of some of the strictest restrictions anywhere in the world to fight Covid-19, clamping down on most movement, association and – to the chagrin of some – shopping, in the hope that a tragedy like the one unfolding in Italy and elsewhere can be avoided.

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Christchurch gunman pleads guilty to New Zealand mosque attacks that killed 51

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Sudden change of plea by Australian attacker accused of killing dozens of worshippers comes as a shock to victims’ families

The Australian man charged with murdering 51 people in two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, has suddenly changed his plea to admit all charges at a hastily arranged court appearance.

On 15 March last year, a man dressed in military fatigues and armed with several automatic weapons shot dead 51 worshippers at Al Noor and Linwood mosques in inner-city Christchurch. Forty-nine people were also injured in the attacks, which were livestreamed on the internet.

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Coronavirus live news: global death toll passes 15,000 as WHO warns spread of virus is accelerating

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Edouard Philippe, the French prime minister, has said that country’s lockdown could last several more weeks, with new restrictions – including limits on daily exercise outside the home – now in place:

Any morning constitutional/jogging now has to be within 1km of home, 1 hour max, alone, and only once per day. https://t.co/3CvQzDtZpb

The International Olympic Committee is facing almost irresistible pressure to postpone the Tokyo Olympics this week rather than wait until its mid-April deadline – with a growing number of athletes, governments and national federations saying it is unfair to keep them in limbo during the coronavirus pandemic.

Veteran IOC member Dick Pound told USA Today that the Games would be postponed, likely to 2021, with the details to be worked out in the next four weeks. “The parameters going forward have not been determined, but the Games are not going to start on July 24, that much I know.”

Related: Athletes across globe call for Olympic postponement as countries pull out

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Coronavirus: thousands who left cruise ship in Sydney told to self-isolate after three people test positive

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Authorities fear that passengers from Ruby Princess might be unaware Covid-19 cases were onboard and be ‘wandering around’ city

About 2,700 passengers who disembarked a cruise ship in Sydney have been told to self-isolate after three people who were onboard tested positive for Covid-19.

Confirming the news on Friday, the NSW health minister, Brad Hazzard, said the doctor onboard had conducted 13 tests on the Ruby Princess, which had completed a relatively short cruise around the Pacific to New Zealand.

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Taxi! Endangered New Zealand seabirds get a lift to safety after crash landing in fog

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Volunteer army led by a local taxi driver scours the streets in the middle of the night to save endangered birds

A taxi driver in New Zealand has swapped drunken revellers for wayward seabirds in an attempt to halt the decline of one of the nation’s endangered species.

Local cabbie Toni Painting leads a volunteer army that scours the streets of the South Island town of Kaikoura in the middle of the night in search of Hutton’s shearwater chicks that crash-land onto the road – mistaking the shiny bitumen for the sea.

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This week we have brought New Zealand’s abortion laws into the 21st century | Andrew Little

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Seeking an abortion was a crime until now, but new legislation has removed the stigma and given women a choice

New Zealand’s current abortion laws are more than 40 years old and were enacted when there were more MPs in Parliament named Bill than MPs who were female. This week we brought the laws into the 21st century.

Up to now, women seeking an abortion in New Zealand were committing a crime under our main criminal statute but had a defence if they followed the requirements of the abortion legislation. These requirements included the woman being referred by their doctor to two specialists who each had to certify she faces a serious danger to her life or physical or mental health. Other conditions also applied, such as whether the pregnancy was a result of incest or the woman lacked capacity to consent. For abortions after 20 weeks, conditions were more stringent.

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As an MP in self-isolation, I’ve seen New Zealand’s collective power to respond to a crisis | Chlöe Swarbrick

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Everything that was once an urgent priority has evaporated. What matters right now is people’s health, and their family’s futures

It’s day three of my self-isolation. I returned to Aotearoa New Zealand on Monday night from a long-planned family wedding in Australia, itself book-ended by apocalyptic circumstance. Fires and floods rolled out the red carpet, while rapid global escalation of Covid-19 brought it to a finale.

I had booked flights back directly into Wellington, our capital city, because I’d intended to return immediately to work on Tuesday morning with the sitting of Parliament. Those intentions had been wiped clear on the weekend, with calls between caucus members and staffers confirming all arrivals back into the country would be required to quarantine themselves for a fortnight. To limit further travel, it transpired I’d be locking myself into a Wellington apartment, the opposite end of the North Island from my home of Auckland.

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Ardern has shone in the coronavirus crisis but a recession could still doom her re-election chances

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Her blend of steel and kindness is praiseworthy but come voting time in September the state of the economy will be the deciding factor

In her short tenure as prime minister, Jacinda Ardern has shown herself to be extremely good in a crisis.

After taking on the leadership of the Labour party just seven weeks before the 2017 general election, Ardern has put together a disparate coalition government, had a baby while in office, dealt with the Christchurch terrorist attacks, guided the nation through a deadly volcano eruption, and now this.

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New Zealand passes landmark law to decriminalise abortion

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Campaigners hail move that will reclassify abortion as a health issue rather than a crime

New Zealand has passed a landmark bill to decriminalise abortion after decades of campaigning.

Andrew Little, the justice minister, said it was long overdue that the procedure would become classified as a health matter and not a criminal one.

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Grace Millane: man convicted of British backpacker’s murder to appeal

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Man, whose identity is suppressed in New Zealand, will appeal against both his conviction and his life sentence

The man found guilty of the murder of British backpacker Grace Millane will appeal his conviction and life sentence, lawyers said on Wednesday.

In November a jury of seven women and five men took just five hours to unanimously agree that the accused, whose name is suppressed, murdered Millane in his hotel room after the pair met on a date in Auckland’s CBD.

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New Zealand’s coronavirus stimulus leaves the working poor most exposed | Brad Olsen

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Though significant, Jacinda Ardern’s measures will not avert a downturn, and lower-income workers will be hardest hit

The New Zealand government’s announcement of a NZ$12.1bn spending package is massive – that’s undeniable. But the economic downturn that New Zealand faces will be even larger. The downturn is going to cause economic chaos, and it will see job losses. The key to limiting the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the economy is supporting employment and businesses, and although the package assists these aims, it doesn’t go far enough.

The stimulus package mirrors similar measures around the world, with wage support and paid self-isolation leave. It boldly focuses on businesses, with support for employment as we enter a downturn – and that’s exactly the right area to be targeting. In New Zealand, increased payments to those already out of work have been announced, as have measures to free up business cashflow. It also includes a suite of additional measures. However, there is a glaring gap, with little support for lower-income workers themselves.

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Samoan chief found guilty of enslaving villagers in New Zealand over 25 years

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Joseph Auga Matamata, who brought people to Hastings where they were forced to work without pay and subjected to abuse, also convicted of slavery

A New Zealand-based Samoan chief has been found guilty of human trafficking and using 13 of his countrymen as slaves over a 25 year period.

Joseph Auga Matamata, 65, also known as Villiamu Samu, was found guilty on 10 counts of trafficking and 13 counts of slavery following a five-week trial at the High Court in Napier.

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Coronavirus: cruise passengers stranded as countries turn them away

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Thousands in limbo around the world as vessels seek a port at which to dock

As countries scramble to close their borders in response to the global Covid-19 pandemic, thousands of cruise ship passengers are stranded on the high seas while their vessels seek a port at which to dock.

The Norwegian Jewel, sailing under the flag of the Bahamas, has been refused permission to dock in French Polynesia, Fiji, New Zealand and Australia, and is piloting to American Samoa to refuel.

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West Saharan group takes New Zealand superannuation fund to court over ‘blood phosphate’

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Independence movement lodges documents in high court arguing $45bn fund invests in illegally mined fertiliser

The Western Sahara liberation movement has taken New Zealand’s superannuation fund to the country’s highest court over its investments in farms that use phosphate illegally mined in the occupied territory.

New Zealand is one of the few remaining countries – and last western nation – that accepts imports from the contested territory in West Africa, forcibly occupied by Morocco since 1975. Morocco’s claims to the territory are largely unrecognised internationally.

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’15 March is about keeping people safe’: New Zealand cancels Christchurch attacks memorial – video

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New Zealand has called off a national remembrance service to mark a year since the attacks on two Christchurch mosques because of concerns about the coronavirus outbreak. The event, which was to be held in the city on Sunday, was expected to attract a large crowd of people from across the country and overseas

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Far-right extremists still threaten New Zealand, a year on from the Christchurch attacks

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I worry we don’t have enough resources and skills locally to adequately monitor threats in our community

In the hours after the Christchurch mosque attacks on March 15 last year, I wrote that I hoped New Zealand would finally stop believing it was immune to far-right extremist violence. A year on, I’m not sure enough has changed.

I’ve researched far-right extremism for decades – and I would argue it remains a high-level threat in New Zealand, not just overseas.

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One year after the Christchurch attack, we are determined to be happy | Maysoon Salama

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Maysoon Salama, whose son was killed in the massacre, says survivors miss their loved ones, but are working hard to bring the community together

At the childcare centre my husband and I run in Christchurch, most of the children would have had somebody in their family who was injured during the attack or knew somebody who was injured.

Five of the children lost parents; lost their fathers. One of them was my granddaughter, Aya. And we had several whose parents were traumatised or injured. Some of the children were hearing a lot of things at home.

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In New Zealand, we are starting to value women’s work fairly. It’s time for the world to follow

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On International Women’s Day, let’s commit to properly compensating women for the unpaid and underpaid work they have always done

The world would stop running were it not for the unpaid and underpaid work undertaken by women. It is past time for our contribution to be recognised, and remunerated fairly. Here in Aotearoa New Zealand, we are creating a new process to appropriately value the caring work traditionally undertaken by women.

It started in 2013, when a care and support worker named Kristine Bartlett, supported by her union (E Tū), filed a pay equity claim under the Equal Pay Act 1972. She made the case that the caring work she did was undervalued because it was mainly performed by women. This was compared to work that was male-dominated but required a similar level of skill, effort and responsibilities.

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Brutalised but defiant: Christchurch massacre survivors one year on

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As the first anniversary of the atrocity that shocked New Zealand looms, victims struggle with enduring trauma – but also carry a sense of hope

At first, Hisham al Zarzour couldn’t remember what had happened. Later, he tried to forget. Lying beneath the bodies of other worshippers at Al Noor mosque in Christchurch last March as a gunman fired again and again, he prayed that Allah would send him back to Syria to die.

There, war had been a way of life. Chaos became normal. But the violence in peaceful New Zealand came just seven months after the sleepy, leafy city had become his home. That something so barbaric could happen in his place of refuge was unbearable.

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