Category Archives: New Zealand

If it feels like the rugby season only finished a few weeks ago, you're not alone. Add to that the fact that Rugby Australia has this week been drip-feeding its 2021 awards, and you could be forgiven for wondering whether the players have had a break at all.

Or maybe you were able to switch off and enjoy the cricket and the Australian Open, at least after Novak Djokovic departed Tullamarine with his tail between his legs?

No matter which way it's been, the reality is that the official kick-off of the Australian and New Zealand rugby seasons is now just two weeks away.

A bumper 10-month calendar awaits, highlighted by the inaugural Super Rugby Pacific, the visits of Ireland and England to New Zealand and Australia respectively, Rugby World Cup 2021 [delayed from last year] and of course the Rugby Championship and spring tours.

As usual, there will be just as much happening off the field as on it as both nations continue to struggle with the realities of professional sport amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Read on as we cover some of the major storylines to across in 2022.

CAN MOANA PASIFIKA AND FIJIAN DRUA SAVE SUPER RUGBY?

After two years of separation - and the successful Aotearoa and AU tournaments - the five New Zealand franchises and their five Aussie counterparts are fully reunited in Super Rugby Pacific. They have been joined by fledgling outfits Moana Pasifika and Fijian Drua, with the teams to be based in New Zealand and Australia respectively.

Given the success of Super Rugby AU; the way the competition appeared to resonate with fans; the fact it supplied Australian winners week in, week out, and it's gripping finale; Rugby Australia faced pressure to retain the tournament on its own - and those calls only grew louder when the Kiwi franchises dominated the crossover Trans-Tasman series 23-2. But there was always the belief from both NZR & RA that the competition was better - and stronger - together. Certainly the other school of thought for Australian rugby is that its franchises needed to be playing their Kiwi counterparts more, not less.

Fast forward six months, and the competition draw has already been revised, while this week NZR sent its six teams south to Queenstown to mitigate the risk of COVID infection across its playing cohort. Western Force, meanwhile, have headed east to escape Mark McGowan - or the state's hard border at least - and there remains the very real possibility the tournament will have to be finished in Australia once the Kiwi teams head to Melbourne for Super Round. All options remain on the table.

The hope is, however, that the two new Pacific teams bring a different element to the tournament and that there is considerable improvement across the five Australian franchises. If the wider Australian sporting audience is to be engaged at all, the Brumbies, Reds, Waratahs, Force and Rebels must mix it with the Kiwis. While that will be a key indicator of the tournament's success, there is a quiet belief that Super Rugby at last has its props in a row: A tournament that rugby supporters actually want to watch.

WHAT IS GOING ON WITH THE GITEAU LAW?

For a few months last year, the vagaries of Rugby Australia's updated Giteau Law appeared hugely beneficial for Australian rugby. Samu Kerevi and Quade Cooper first returned to the Wallabies, having an instant impact across a four-Test winning streak during the Rugby Championship, while Sean McMahon also joined the party but only managed a short cameo.

The whole scenario smelt of roses, until Wallabies management decided to select the trio despite the lack of a firm guarantee they would travel onto Europe after the team's Japanese stopover. Almost inevitably, the three men got cold feet and instead opted to do right by their clubs and prepare for the League One preseason.

So out went Cooper, Kerevi and McMahon, and in came Rory Arnold, Tolu Latu, Will Skelton and, later, Kurtley Beale. While none of the quartet had the same impact as Cooper or Kerevi, all but Latu suggested they were worth persisting with if the situation presents.

And that's exactly the problem: What is the situation? The Giteau Law has been under review by RA board members Phil Waugh and Daniel Herbert, alongside chief executive Andy Marinos who told ESPN in late October that "we are going to be looking at our eligibility policy at the end of this year".

That was to involve a report from Wallabies coach Dave Rennie, who was clearly chastened by the dramas in Japan, which also may have played a part in the non-renewal of director of rugby Scott Johnson's contract. But the report is still a no-show.

The sooner the updated restrictions are released, the better.

EDDIE RETURNS HOME, WITH ENGLAND; IRELAND TO NZ

Just what shape the Giteau Law eventually takes will determine which of Australia's overseas based players will be eligible to face England in a huge three-Test series in July. Japan's League One season will have concluded by then, so it's reasonable to suggest that Rennie will have presented a case that sees Kerevi available at least [Cooper was already eligible under the original guidelines].

Whatever the case, the series represents Australia's best opportunity to snap a run of eight straight defeats by England. After he oversaw a 3-0 sweep in 2016 - which started the miserable run for the Wallabies - Eddie Jones will bring his usual mind games and mischief Down Under, alongside a squad that has already undergone some transition, and has since been forced into even more for the Six Nations following a raft of injuries.

Meanwhile, Ireland head to New Zealand for three Tests of their own, coming off an impressive last-start win over the All Blacks when they largely dominated Ian Foster's side. But Ireland have never won a Test in New Zealand, and the All Blacks will be intent on revenge after a poor outing in Dublin in November.

All in all, for three straight weeks in July, it's a rugby paradise.

FOSTER TO FEEL THE HEAT?

It won't be paradise for All Blacks coach Ian Foster if he drops even one of those Tests against Ireland, however.

Having retained the Bledisloe Cup and Rugby Championship last year, Foster had quietened the doubters who believe he is not the man to get the best out of this current bunch of All Blacks. But then they lost to the Springboks, so too Ireland and France, and suddenly the wolves were barking once more.

Any other nation would largely be thrilled with 12 wins from 15 Tests. But not New Zealand. One defeat is understandable, even two ... but three? That's cause for alarm.

Certainly the expectation will be that they sweep Ireland 3-0 in July, deal with the Wallabies as per usual, so too the Pumas, and then battle with the Springboks for Rugby Championship supremacy. That would leave just the spring tour, when they came unstuck last year.

If things don't go to plan, then you can expect calls for Scott Robertson to be catapulted into the top job a year out from the World Cup won't just be coming from the South Island. Foster believes he knows where he went wrong last year - the proof will be in the All Blacks' 2022 results.

PRIVATE EQUITY DEBATE WILL ROLL ON

Having already dragged on for much of 2021, New Zealand Rugby's dalliance with private equity continues as the fight between the governing body and the Players' Union shows no sign of abating.

NZR is desperate to secure the investment from PE firm Silver Lake to reinvest into its grassroots, but the Players Union believe a better solution is to have NZR listed as a public company and be truly owned by the fans.

Silver Lake, who recently invested $130mAUD for 33% of Australia's A-Leagues football competition, was to buy 12.5% of a newly created commercial arm of NZR, while the Players Union proposed an initial 5% public floating as a means to raising badly needed capital.

Meanwhile, across the ditch, Rugby Australia is keeping a close eye on developments in New Zealand having already engaged Silver Lake in discussions of its own. There is, however, a seemingly more accepting acknowledgment from all stakeholders in the game that without PE investment the Australian game, from the professional right down to grassroots, is on borrowed time.

Australian rugby has also long courted the big end of town so a deal with an international PE firm perhaps appears less frightening. We are, however, yet to hear from Australia's Rugby Union Players Association on the matter, and that may be where a deal hits the same stumbling block as it has across the ditch.

It's very much a "watch this space" situation.

A MASSIVE YEAR FOR WOMEN'S RUGBY

Delaying Rugby World Cup 2021 wasn't ideal, but it was the only possible solution amid the COVID-19 pandemic and New Zealand's international border restrictions.

What the postponement to 2022 has done, however, is give each of the competing 12 nations an extra year of preparation, which will be particularly valuable for both the Black Ferns and Wallaroos. Both playing cohorts have been short on rugby in recent times, the Wallaroos in particular whose 2022 Test calendar was wiped completely.

The Black Ferns did travel north to Europe, where they were walloped by both France and England in a huge reality check before they host the tournament later this year. The launch of Super Rugby Aupiki will be the first point of improvement, with New Zealand's women at last having a proper professional tournament of their own.

Australia's Super W has been up and running for a few years, but was shoehorned into a tighter window and shifted to Coffs Harbour amid the pandemic last year. ESPN has been told the 2022 draw isn't too far from being released and that the "intention" is to include a Fijian Drua team as part of the tournament as well.

Both the Wallaroos and Black Ferns will then contest the Pacific Four series with the United States and Canada later this year, alongside other Test matches in their build-up for the World Cup.

If all goes to plan, this should be a watershed year for women's rugby in both New Zealand and Australia.

WHO WILL TOUTAI KEFU ENTICE OVER TO TONGA?

Firstly, it has been brilliant to see the global rugby community rally around Tonga since the tsunami struck the Pacific island a few weeks to go. Money has been raised in all corners of the globe, while on Saturday the Queensland Reds are staging a fundraising legends match as the curtain-raiser for their trial against the Force.

Playing in that match will be Tonga coach Toutai Kefu, who has recovered from a violent home invasion in Brisbane last year, and who also now has access to an even greater talent pool following World Rugby's Test eligibility change that was mandated last year.

Suddenly the likes of former All Blacks Charles Piutau, Vaea Fifita, Steven Luatua and potentially Ngani Laumape are all eligible - or they will be by the time the 2023 World Cup rolls around -- so too exiled former Wallabies fullback Israel Folau.

Kefu is a beloved figure not just in Australian rugby, but far beyond it, too. And he may yet bring together a squad that will have the likes of Pool B - where Tonga will land providing they qualify - rivals Scotland and Ireland looking over their shoulder.

Samoa and Fiji, too, will have access to a greater playing pool, but it's Tonga who look like being the big beneficiaries of World Rugby's historic decision.

The rest is here:

The rugby storylines to follow in Australia & New Zealand in 2022 - ESPN Australia

The prime minister today gave a speech outlining the five-step plan to reopen the countrys borders and close the MIQ system. This is what she said.

Kia ora koutou katoa

It is an honour to be hosted by Mind Lab in conjunction with Business New Zealand today. A special thank you and acknowledgement to CEO, Frances Valintine.

I recall first meeting Frances several years ago when she was chief executive of the media design school. It would be fair to say that those several years now feel like another lifetime entirely.

And thats probably because many of us feel like time is in two parts. There was life before, and now life with Covid.

Butthat also means there will be life after Covid too. A life where we have adapted. Where we have some normality back, and where the weather can once again take its rightful place as our primary topic of conversation.

We are well on our way to reaching that destination. Were just not quite there yet.

Today I want to talk about the next set of changes that will take us a long way on that journey back to a new normal, and that is our reconnection with the world.

I can vividly remember the early days of the Covid pandemic. I recall the emergency cabinet meeting where we discussed the very first border closure which in the first stages was country by country.I remember the moment we decided to require every traveller to self-isolate. I remember the cases that arose from people who then didnt self-isolate. And I remember the establishment of our managed isolation and quarantine system on the 10th of April almost two years ago.

Its easy to hear the word MIQ and immediately associate it with heartache. There is no question that for New Zealand it has been one of the hardest parts of the pandemic. But the reason that it is right up there as one of the toughest things we have experienced, is in part because large-scale loss of life is not.

The anguish of MIQ has been real, and heartbreaking. But the choice to use it undeniably saved lives.

Some of the letters I have received over the past two years have summed up the hard trade-off that had to be made.One just this summer captured that well. It said: As a Kiwi living in Japan, I was sitting in my two-plus year remote-work home, thinking of the happy day when I could fly back and see my family when it made me wonder if anyone took the time to say thank you. While I desperately want to return and visit my retired folks, I am heartened by the rules and guidelines in place Thanks for keeping them all safe.

MIQ meant not everyone could come home when they wanted to. But it also meant that Covid could not come in when it wanted to either.

And thats meant we have been able to build our defences.

To become one of the most vaccinated countries in the world.

To set up public health measures that we know work.

To get our children vaccinated and our adults boosted.

To keep our economy strong.

To see people stay in work with unemployment at a record low of 3.2%.

To return growth to pre-Covid levels and a return to surplus three years ahead of forecast.

To have debt well below many of the countries we compare ourselves with, using the IMF measure of 24.1% in 2024, compared to Australia at over 44%, the UK at more than 98% and the Euro Area at 80%.

All of these markers of success in this pandemic that has hit everyone around the world, they have been hard-earned by every Kiwi here, and every Kiwi abroad too.

But the tools we used yesterday to help us battle this health crisis wont stay the same.

You might remember that before omicron arrived we talked about moving to self-isolation for returning Kiwis. On the 17th of January we were due to start that new way of operating with Kiwis travelling to and from Australia first.

With omicrons arrival, we pushed that change in border settings out, to give ourselves the chance to roll out boosters a chance most other countries never had. And a chance for Kiwis to take a breath after a hard year, and prepare for the next phase.

Yesterday we reduced the time between second doses and the booster which means over 3 million New Zealanders are able to get boosted from this weekend and that, by the end of February, 3,345,173 people will be eligible to be boosted. Thats 92% of the population over 18.

With our community better protected we must then turn to the importance of reconnection. Families and friends need to reunite. Our businesses need skills to grow. Exporters need to travel to make new connections.

Its time to move again.

And so today, in five steps, we move forward with our plan to reconnect New Zealand to the world.

Beginning with step 1.

Today I am announcing that fully vaccinated Kiwis and other currently eligible travellers from Australia will be able to travel to New Zealand from 11.59pm Sunday 27 February, and instead of going into MIQ, will be able to self-isolate.

In step 2, just two weeks later, fully vaccinated New Zealanders and other currently eligible travellers from the rest of the world will also be able to travel into New Zealand without going through MIQ.

The two weeks between each of these steps has been requested by our public health advisors to give time for our systems to adjust for the likelihood of more cases in our community, and for our border systems to keep scaling up in the safest way possible.

At step 2 at 11.59pm on Sunday 13 March, there will also be an expanded border exception for critical workers, and skilled workers earning at least 1.5 times the median wage, who will also be eligible to enter New Zealand, along with highly skilled workers family members who may have been separated from their loved ones.

This means that health workers, farm managers, horticultural workers, tech sector professionals, those working for accounting services, in education and construction will all be eligible to enter New Zealand, self-isolate for a short period and then go about their business. Adding to the more than 17,000 critical workers who have already come to New Zealand since our borders closed.

Our working holiday schemes will also reopen in stages from step 2.

Step 3 begins from 11.59pm on Tuesday 12 April. Here we further extend our border extension to include a large international student cohort of up to 5,000 students for entry ahead of semester two and temporary visa holders who still meet relevant visa requirements.

Step 4 sees the biggest expansion yet, and includes our Australian cousins and all other visitors and business travellers who can normally enter New Zealand without a visa. This stage is likely to begin when we have much larger case numbers than we have now. For planning, we anticipate this stage will begin no later than July. I want to place strong emphasis on this being the latest we expect this to begin. There is a high likelihood of this date coming forward as we progress through the next stage of the pandemic.

From July those on the new accredited employer work visa will open including for workers offshore. At this point, the critical worker border exception will be removed. The new work visa will be mainly available to workers earning over the median wage as part of the Immigration Rebalance changes. The minister of immigration will have more to say about this and other immigration rebalance measures soon.

And finally, step 5 begins in October and includes all other visitors and students who require a visa to enter New Zealand, with normal visa processing resuming.

Two important questions I know travellers and Kiwis will have. The first is isolation requirements.

While we will no longer require people to enter managed isolation, at this stage travellers will be asked to follow broadly the same requirements we have in New Zealand for close contacts at the time of their travel. Thats because, as travellers, it is highly likely that theyll come in contact with the highly transmissible omicron variant on their journey, a fact you can see in our current numbers at the border, even with pre departure testing in place.

That means currently, returning New Zealanders will need to self-isolate for 10 days. But as the isolation period drops for close contacts here in New Zealand, as it does in phase two of our omicron response, so too will returnees only need to isolate for seven days.

And so our system for travellers and contacts will be broadly aligned.

When it comes to testing, all arrivals will be given three rapid antigen tests upon arrival at the airport, to take home. One for use on day zero/one, and one for use on day five/six, with one extra for backup. That gives us the best chance of identifying cases that have come across the border.

If a positive result is returned at any point, returnees will be asked to get a follow up PCR test at a community testing station. That will help us to monitor any possible variants that may emerge. It will also help us assess when its safe to lift self-isolation requirements.

I know while many will celebrate todays reopening, others will feel anxious about the resumption of people across our border. But here are the safeguards, we will be as boosted as possible at the end of February, the phasing reduces the risk of a surge in cases, and travellers will be testing and isolating, with MIQ remaining for the unvaccinated. This means we will know quickly if a traveller has the virus including any new variants.

And on that point I want to note that we will be continually monitoring the need for and the value of self-isolation.The strong advice from our public health officials is that we still need it to manage our way through omicron, but there will be a time in the not too distant future when that will not be the case.For now though we must continue to heed the public health advice that has served us so well.

Overall, opening back up in this managed way balances inflows of travellers so people can reunite and fill our workforce shortages, while also ensuring our healthcare system can manage an increase in cases. After all, our strategy with omicron is to slow the spread, and our borders are part of that.

As for MIQ, it will continue to be used for high-risk travellers such as those who are unvaccinated.

That means the Defence Force will begin the process of withdrawing from MIQ, with some hotels returning to traditional use to support the return of our tourists. A core quarantine capacity will be maintained that can be scaled up as required, which will form the basis of a future National Quarantine Service. More on this in the future.

But for now, I do want to pause and say thank you to a very special group of people. Our MIQ workers. For almost two years you have welcomed home over 200,000 Kiwis and critical workers, and 3,600 people from within our community who have had Covid-19. Thats more than the population of Napier, Masterton, Invercargill, Whanganui, Wanaka and Otaki put together.

You have done it with care, professionalism and at considerable risk to yourselves. You worked at the frontline of Covid when there was no way to protect yourself other than rigorous infection controls some of which meant you gave up your normal lives to protect others. I cant imagine the burden that presented.

No story for me sums up what you have done better, than that shared with me by a Kiwi who came home after spending the first wave of Covid overseas. As she stepped on New Zealand soil, a member of the Defence Force gave the newest arrivals a briefing and concluded with: Welcome home, you are all safe now. It was enough to make that returning Kiwi break down and cry.

Thank you. You made all of us safe at a time when we needed you most. And we owe you a debt of gratitude.

But for now, its time to keep moving.

To continue with our plan that has seen us through each stage of Covid, and beyond.

Reconnecting New Zealand is of course more than the family and friends who will be reunited.It is also a critical element in our plan for a high wage, low carbon economy.The New Zealand economy has shown remarkable resilience through Covid-19, and I am determined that we will build on this base to deliver prosperity and security to all New Zealanders.

Our exporters have worked hard during the pandemic, achieving some incredible results and returns. I am proud of the contribution that we made to the air freight subsidy scheme that has kept planes flying in and out of New Zealand. I am equally proud that we have secured a free trade agreement with the UK at a crucial time in our Covid recovery. And as we scale up the movement of our people, the physical support of our exporters will only grow.

I see this as a key part of my role, and thats why I am confirming today that I will lead trade delegations and trade-supporting visits into four key markets this year Australia, Asia, the United States and Europe.

New Zealand is in demand. Our exports are at record highs, people want to live and work here, international students want to study here, our friends and whnau want to return.

Todays reconnecting plan will help grow an already strong export base, bring in new skills, address the shortages standing in the way of growth, and build new connections with the world.

Its part of moving forward. But that doesnt mean a return to life before Covid when we can be better than that.

Covid laid bare our unsustainable reliance on temporary migrant labour. Immigration will continue to be a part of our economic story, but we have the opportunity now to build resilience into our workforces while also attracting the skills and talent we need.

We have a chance to do things differently.

I hear much talk of a return to business as usual. But we are better than business as usual.

And in the same way we cut our own path in our Covid response, saving lives and our economy, we must now carve our own recovery. On our terms. A recovery that began with $23 billion invested in our Covid economic support schemes.

A recovery where our focus is on creating higher wage jobs through lifting our productivity, growing our skills and investing in our innovation.It is a future where the environmental challenge of climate change is matched by the economic opportunities of low emissions technology and regenerative agriculture.

And thats a job we have already started.

Underpinning our approach is a record investment in infrastructure. We will continue to push forward having already secured record numbers of building consents and the largest house building programme in modern times.

Having already set out a plan to future proof Auckland transport links, including an additional Waitemat Harbour crossing, CBD to airport light rail and a linked-up rapid transport network.

We have also started the work on rebuilding our hospitals, and our schools, and securing our renewable energy supply.

And weve already made a dent in upskilling New Zealanders for jobs of the future, with 171,000 people taking up free trades training, including 81,000 apprenticeships, and Industry Training Plans that make that crucial connection between training our workers of the future, for the jobs of the future.

In fact, when we look back in 20 years time at this period in our countrys history, I dont want people to just see Covid. I want them to see an economy and country that was fundamentally repositioned to become more sustainable and resilient and taking on the challenges of poverty, inequality, climate change and mental health, problems the world is grappling with.

These are challenges I know we can tackle head on because we already are.

But as I conclude today, I want to acknowledge that we are in a new phase in our Covid response. Covid as an illness hasnt touched many of us to date. But with the transmissibility of omicron we know we will experience the virus more directly. But the difference here is that we have all the tools possible now to prepare.

We are vaccinated, increasingly boosted, and continue to prepare ourselves at home and work with a plan.

And so now it is time to move forward together, safely.

More here:

Jacinda Ardern: Our plan to reconnect New Zealand to the world - The Spinoff

The Government has chosen its preferred option for a new mass transit service from the city centre to Mngere. It's a light rail line that will run in tunnels all the way from Wynyard Quarter to Mt Roskill.

OPINION:

There is something to commend in the latest version of light rail for Auckland. If we ignore the additional cost for the moment, as this Government seems blithely able to do, putting a line underground is vastly preferable to light rail on streets.

It removes the nightmare of trams running between lanes of traffic in already congested streets such as Dominion Rd, stopping with the traffic at intersection lights and forcing traffic to stop for people crossing to tram stops in the middle of the road.

That was a nightmare that could only be dreamed up by city planners who believe light rail marketing art depicting streets miraculously cleared of all but the odd car. Next time these dreamers are in London, Tokyo, Melbourne or anywhere with an enviable urban rail system, they should look at the streets. They are full of cars.

The reason should be obvious most people prefer to travel by car. It is not until their route becomes too congested for their patience that they might use public transport, and if enough of them switch to create available space on the road, others will quickly fill.

Road traffic thus tends to remain at an optimum tolerable capacity and, as Aucklanders know, the optimum is fairly high. Traffic on the city's motorways is crawling at peak times. Drivers constantly complain about this but their actions belie their words. They continue to take the car.

They will say, if guilted, they would use public transport if it was any good, which means they have probably never tried it. Auckland's bus service is surprisingly good. I live in a small, fairly distant suburb and a bus comes every 20 minutes. It passes the Northern Busway where I've waited at most three minutes for a connection that gets to the CBD in eight minutes.

Those who say they would use public transport if it was better are probably comparing it to their car, which the best public transport could never match for convenience, comfort, privacy and the ability to go anywhere they might need to go. I usually take the car.

Opponents of more roading implicitly acknowledge its optimum use when they point out, quite rightly, new roads quickly fill up with cars. But they do not realise the same thing happens if they reduce a busy road's capacity. Displaced traffic will find another.

So it is better that the latest light rail scheme puts the line underground from the city to Mt Roskill, before surfacing to continue alongside (not on) the motorway to the airport. But the cost cannot be ignored. The long tunnel would lift the line's estimate from $9 billion to $15 billion.

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Whenever we talk billions, we are making a very big bet for an economy or our size. The right infrastructure can add to a country's productive capacity, the wrong sort subtracts wealth. Broadband cable has created wealth, railways lose it. Our national railway survives from one capital injection to the next and governments no longer pretend the next tranche will turn it around.

Rail costs more than it can earn because fixed tracks severely limit the destinations trains can serve. Beats me why anyone would want to convert the Northern Busway to a railway, which has been the plan. Buses can, and do, range more widely when required.

But whether we're contemplating buses or trains, this is a bad time to be making a major investment in public transport. As everyone has noticed, buses are being driven around Auckland these days mostly empty because the roads are within their optimum capacity.

Lockdowns have given more people a taste for working at home. This looks likely to be the most significant social change wrought by Covid-19.

Roads will be less congested, cars will continue to be preferred, owned or on-call, with climate friendlier fuel, self-driven or with sensors enabling drivers to form trains, joining and exiting at will. That, I suspect, is the future for urban transport.

Beware of "visions" though. It's not 10 years since Len Brown persuaded Auckland a rail tunnel from the CBD to Mt Eden was the key to an integrated public transport system.

Now, with that tunnel under way, we're told we need another, longer, duplicating a stretch of an existing line.

Its viability depends on persuading more people to live in an area of the western isthmus that has never attracted much development. I doubt the reason was a lack of public transport. The municipal bus depot was right there.

Let bigger, richer countries indulge in light rail. We are the smallest and most remote of trading nations, we can't afford to lumber our trim little economy with unnecessary costs.

Read the rest here:

John Roughan: Why light rail is the wrong road for New Zealand - New Zealand Herald

In a small caravan in regional Western Australia, stranded Kiwi holiday-maker Ashley Smith is hunched over his laptop screen.

"This is it, let the hunger games begin," he says to himself.

Mr Smith is desperate to secure a place for himself and his wife, Kerry, in the New Zealand Government's hotel quarantine system through a controversial online lottery system.

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"I've had to get up at 4am so I could enter the lottery. Even in my own mind, I knew I would fail," Mr Smith told A Current Affair.

Mr Smith is one of the thousands of so-called grounded Kiwis, stranded Down Under by Jacinda Ardern's strict government border measures.

"We are like a black plague on the outside trying to get back in," Mr Smith said.

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Mareta Cardwell and her husband Sio moved out of their Sydney home, withdrew their kids from school, and sold the car to be closer to family in Christchurch.

But they've been stonewalled by the managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) lottery system which only offers up 4500 places every week for around 30,000 hopefuls.

"It is like you see on the TV as far as numbers all jumble up and a ball comes out and that's your number," Ms Cardwell said.

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Some personal tales are harrowing, with New Zealanders either holidaying or living overseas unable to return home to be with dying family members, or to be part of milestone moments.

Last month the situation was made even worse when NZ stopped the lottery system altogether amid the Omicron scare.

No one has any idea when a new prized tranche of quarantine spots will be offered up next.

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"There's meant to be an announcement in late February, but they are not going to announce you can come," Mr Cardwell said.

Ninety per cent of New Zealanders are vaccinated and just eight people with the virus are in hospital.

Ms Ardern's tough stance to combat COVID-19 has been described as draconian and dysfunctional.

"The fact is there is day after day, there are too many areas where this is a demonstrable failure," former Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters told A Current Affair.

The lockout has triggered unprecedented legal action.

The "Grounded Kiwis" group has raised over $180,000 to take the NZ Government to court in a last-ditch bid to cross the ditch.

"We are alleging the way they have operated the system amounts to a breach of the bill or rights', Grounded Kiwis spokesperson Alexandra Birt said.

The case is due to be heard in the High Court on February 14 and 15.

Read the original here:

Kiwis stranded in Australia resort to legal action against NZ Government - 9Homes

FORMER HURRICANES BACK-ROWER Toa Halafihi will make his Italy debut in this weekends Six Nations trip to France.

Halafihi, 28, qualifies for the Azzurri on residency grounds after joining Treviso in 2018.

The number eight, originally from Gisborne on New Zealands north island, benefits from injuries to the likes of Jake Polledri and Johan Meyer as well as Sergio Parisses potential return later in the tournament.

His club team-mate and winger Tommaso Menoncello is another uncapped player named in Kieran Crowleys starting lineup for Sundays fixture.

Here is the @federugby squad that will challenge @FranceRugby at the Stade de France this Sunday. #FRAvITA #GuinnessSixNations pic.twitter.com/FQ204nUwMl

Two further Treviso squad members in 21-year-old flanker Manuel Zuliani and teenage fly-half Leonardo Marin are set to win their first caps from the bench.

The work done in these weeks of preparation, towards the start of the Six Nations, has been intense and of quality, Crowley said.

There is a lot of energy in the group and awareness of taking the field in one of the most important tournaments in the world of rugby and sport.

Earlier on Friday, France head coach Fabien Galthie told AFP he had tested positive for Covid-19 and team manager Raphael Ibanez will take hands on charge of the team for the game in Paris.

15. Edoardo Padovani

14. Tommaso Menoncello

13. Juan Ignacio Brex

12. Marco Zanon

11. Monty Ioane

10. Paolo Garbisi

9. Stephen Varney

1.Danilo Fischetti

2. Gianmarco Lucchesi

3. Tiziano Pasquali

4. Niccolo Cannone

5. Federico Ruzza

6. Sebastian Negri

7. Michele Lamaro (captain)

8. Toa Halafihi

Get closer to the stories that matter with exclusive analysis, insight and debate in The42 Membership.

Replacements:

16. Epalahame Faiva

17. Ivan Nemer

18. Giosue Zilocchi

19. Marco Fuser

20. Giovanni Pettinelli

21. Manuel Zuliani

22. Callum Braley

23. Leonardo Marin

AFP 2022

Source: The42 Rugby Weekly/SoundCloud

Bernard Jackman, Murray Kinsella and Gavan Casey discuss Irelands 23 to face Wales, look ahead to the Six Nations generally, and give their thoughts on Malakai Fekitoas move from Wasps to Munster.

See more here:

New Zealand-born Halafihi to make Italy debut in France Six Nations opener - The42

New Zealand has announced it will reopen its border to visitors in stages, starting at the end of February, after its earlier plans to do so were derailed by Omicron. It will be the first time the country has opened up since prime minister Jacinda Ardern announced its snap closure in the first month of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. The countrys borders have been closed, apart from a short-lived travel bubble with Australia, for nearly two years.

With Omicrons arrival, we pushed that change in border settings out to give ourselves the chance to roll out boosters a chance most other countries never had, Ardern said in a speech on Thursday.

With our community better protected we must turn to the importance of reconnection. Families and friends need to reunite. Our businesses need skills to grow. Exporters need to travel to make new connections.

The border will initially open to vaccinated New Zealand citizens and visa holders coming from Australia, then from the rest of the world, and finally to all other vaccinated visitors. They will still have to self-isolate at home for 10 days, but will no longer have to pass through the countrys expensive and highly space-limited managed isolation facilities, known as MIQ.

Its easy to hear the word MIQ and immediately associate it with heartache. There is no question that, for New Zealand, it has been one of the hardest parts of the pandemic. But the reason that it is right up there as one of the toughest things we have experienced, is in part because large-scale loss of life is not, Ardern said.

Fully vaccinated New Zealanders and other eligible travellers from Australia will be able to enter New Zealand without staying in MIQ from Sunday 27 February. Two weeks later, they can come from all other countries. Critical workers and skilled workers will be eligible to enter New Zealand from this date. The working holiday scheme will also resume.

Ardern said the two-week gap will enable public health systems to adjust for the likelihood of more cases in the community, and will allow the border systems to keep scaling up in the safest way possible.

From 12 April, 5,000 international students and other eligible temporary visa holders will be allowed to enter. After that, the border opens to Australians and other travellers who do not require a visa to enter New Zealand.

This stage is likely to begin when we have much larger case numbers than we have now. For planning, we anticipate this stage will begin no later than July. I want to place strong emphasis on this being the latest we expect this to begin, Ardern said.

All other international visitors will be allowed to enter New Zealand from October.

The self-isolation period will align with New Zealands current system for managing close contacts of cases. As the isolation period drops for close contacts, so too will returnees only need to isolate for seven days. Anyone entering will be given three rapid antigen tests to take home. All non-vaccinated travellers and other high-risk travellers will still be required to enter MIQ.

The announcement will provide relief for many New Zealanders overseas. A group that represents some of this cohort, Grounded Kiwis, said the move to self-isolation will enable more people to return home.

Kiwis will no longer need to endure a stressful lottery to get home. Many people in our network are overwhelmed with emotion right now. This moment has been a long time coming.

But it believes 27 February should be open to New Zealanders from across the globe, not just Australia: Many of these individuals have been waiting for months already, are due to start new jobs or university in February, and in many cases are coming from locations with lower levels of Omicron than Australia.

Grounded Kiwis has urged the government to show more flexibility over allocating MIQ places for people in emergencies, until the self-isolation requirements come into effect.

Professor Michael Plank, at Te Pnaha Matatini and the University of Canterbury said 50 border cases per day could easily turn into 500, if travel restrictions were removed completely and the number of arrives sharply increased. The timeframe for the first re-opening step on 27 February looks reasonable.

By that time, it is likely that daily case numbers will be in the thousands and the vast majority of vaccinated adults will be eligible for their booster. Self-isolation and testing requirements for arrivals will dampen the effect of border cases on community transmission, while removing the bottleneck of MIQ and allowing us to monitor for possible new variants.

STEP 1 27 February 2022, from 11.59pm:

Reopen to New Zealanders and other eligible travellers under current border settings (e.g. people with border exceptions) from Australia

STEP 2 13 March 2022, from 11:59 pm:

Reopen to New Zealanders and other eligible travellers under current border settings from the rest of the world

Open to skilled workers earning at least 1.5 times the median wage

Open to Working Holiday Scheme visas

STEP 3 12 April 2022, from 11:59 pm:

Open to current offshore temporary visa holders, who can still meet the relevant visa requirements,

Open to up to 5,000 international students for semester two

Further class exceptions for critical workforces that do not meet the 1.5 times the median wage test will be considered

STEP 4 By July 2022:

Open to anyone from Australia

Open for visa-waiver travel

The Accredited Employer Work Visa will open, meaning the skilled and health worker border exception can be phased out

STEP 5 October 2022:

Border fully reopens to visitors from anywhere in the world, and all visa categories fully reopen.

Excerpt from:

New Zealand border will open in stages from end of ...

In 2012, New Zealand's Aoraki Mackenzie community successfully applied to the IDA to become an accredited dark sky reserve. An inland plain region about 180km south-west of Christchurch, where large country sheep stations have been the norm for more than a century, Aoraki Mackenzie is rugged, isolated country dominated by mountain and lake scenery.

Today, Aoraki Mackenzie's 4,300sq km dark reserve is the only one of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere and just one of 18 in the world. Two New Zealand communities, Great Barrier Island and Rakiura Stewart Island, have since become sanctuaries, with Wai-iti, a 135-hectare hunk of council land in Tasman District, now an IDA-certified dark sky park. Another 20 New Zealand dark sky communities including the Wairarapa are looking to follow suit and gain some form of certification.

You may also be interested in:Australia's answer to the Northern LightsThe tiny island of shooting starsNew Zealand's 180-million-year-old forest

In 2019, it was Dark Skies Group Director at the Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand, Steve Butler, who daringly announced the country's plans to become the world's first dark sky nation. "It was more of an aspirational rather than a hard-and-fast goal," he told me recently. "The IDA doesn't yet have an official dark sky nation designation. But when it does New Zealand will be first in line."

"Are we obsessed as a people? Probably. We're definitely uniquely advantaged," he explained. "Look, Kiwis are an outdoor people with easy access to the natural dark skies of the Southern Hemisphere. Very few of us have grown up without being awed by New Zealand's night skies, particularly those you see in national parks like Aoraki Mackenzie or Rakiura Stewart Island. Sure, not all of us know how to find the Southern Cross, but we're a far cry from 80% of the world's population who can't even see the stars of the night sky."

That's why when New Zealanders were asked to comply with the IDA's rigorous requirements to restrict outdoor lighting and switch to low-powered yellow lighting in regions such as Aoraki Mackenzie and elsewhere, by-and-large they were up for it, Butler explained. It's why Butler is confident even the country's urban centres, over time, will find ways to limit artificial light spilling into natural areas and reduce light use generally. It's also why more and more New Zealanders are joining the global chorus to save the world's night skies.

Go here to read the rest:

Saving the night sky: New Zealand's craziest experiment yet? - BBC News

There are 147 new cases of Covid-19 in the community and 44 at the border, the Ministry of Health is reporting today.

Photo: 123RF

In a statement, the ministry said the new community cases were in Northland (14), Auckland (90), Waikato (15), Rotorua (8), Taup (1), Bay of Plenty (8), Hawke's Bay (7) and Wellington (4).

A person admitted to Wellington Hospital has tested positive for Covid-19, Capital and Coast DHB confirmed this morning. The ministry said there were another 12 people in hospital in Auckland, rotorua and Hawke's Bay.

There are no people in intensive care.

Today's 44 new cases at the border came from Italy ,Pakistan, Egypt, Singapore, Australia, India, USA, Fiji, UAE, Turkey Saudi Arabia, Canada, Thailand, Qatar and Nepal.

On Wednesday, there were 142 new cases reported in the community and 54 at the border.

There have now been 16,630 cases of Covid-19 reported in New Zealand since the pandemic began.

There were 1113 first doses, 2030 second doses, 5725 paediatric doses and 36,230 booster doses given yesterday.

The ministry said the Waikato region will today reach 90 percent first dosed for Mori.

With the long weekend ahead for Waitangi Day, the ministry also warned New Zealanders to have plans in place in case they are identified as a close contact, get Covid-19 symptoms, or find out they have the coronavirus.

"You are likely to need to self-isolate wherever you become a close contact or test positive, so there may be extra costs involved in paying for accommodation and changing your travel plans.

"There are limited alternative accommodation options for those who are unable to safely isolate in their own homes or if they have travelled elsewhere, and as case numbers rise, the accommodation will be focused on those with high needs."

The ministry said travel could also contribute to the spread of Covid-19 and anyone with any symptoms should not travel.

"The most common early symptoms of the Omicron variant are a sore or scratchy throat, and a runny nose. If you have any of these symptoms, please get a test."

Go here to read the rest:

Covid-19 update: 147 new community cases reported in New Zealand today - RNZ

Sunrise co-hosts Natalie Barr and David Koch have been left horrified by New Zealands ridiculous hotel quarantine system after speaking to a family stuck in isolation for a month.

The Williamsons, consisting of mum Casey, dad Glen, and children Sam, Luca and Maya, flew into Auckland on January 16 after spending Christmas with family in Sydney.

Watch their story in the video player above

Five days into their mandatory 10-day lock-up, Luca tested positive, extending the whole groups quarantine period.

The family was told that while she could leave 14 days after her positive test, everyone else must complete a further 10 days of isolation after that date.

In a devastating blow, the clock then reset again on Friday when Sam received a positive result.

Basically, if you test positive here, you have to stay in the facility for 14 days and then as a close contact you need to stay in here for 10 days after their 14 days, mum Casey told Sunrise.

So as each person in our family tests positive, we have to spend 24 days in here.

Casey said the lengthy stay in a hotel room was starting to wear the family-of-five down, admitting it was getting difficult to cope.

Her husband has moved to another room in the hopes he can leave at the same time as the first two daughters scheduled to be released.

If Maya and I test positive tomorrow, the 24 days resets again.

So were kind of hoping we test positive together and then we can be out of here in 14 days, Casey admitted.

The bizarre situation left Kochie and Nat shocked.

Oh my goodness, I cant believe it resets and then theres another 10 days, Barr said.

Thats ridiculous isnt it.

Kochie described the Williamsons situation as every familys worst nightmare.

So as each person in our family tests positive, we have to spend 24 days in here. - Casey Williamson

New Zealands Managed Isolation and Quarantine (MIQ) system has been in the spotlight in recent weeks.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is yet to ditch the scheme or move to home quarantine options despite COVID-19 circulating in the community and an adult vaccination rate over 90 per cent.

New Zealanders have been forced to enter a lottery system to score a coveted spot in one of the limited number of rooms, with thousands missing out each time the online draw is held.

The move makes New Zealand the only country in the world that still stops its citizens from returning to their home country.

Earlier this week, a pregnant journalist even had to ask the Taliban for help after the New Zealand government rejected her application to return home from Afghanistan.

Casey said while she was grateful her family got a spot in MIQ, she believes its time the cruel system was ditched.

MIQ served New Zealand well at the beginning, but I think the toll is just starting to get too high for everybody, she said.

There are thousands of Kiwis who have been stuck overseas now for years in far worse situations than us.

Its just starting to get cruel, we cant stay isolated forever, we need to learn to live with the virus.

The mum-of-three said she hopes her story creates awareness around the troubled MIQ system and will help others hoping to return home.

Prime Minister Ardern has indicated that she will make an announcement on the nations quarantine system this Thursday.

Read this article:

Sunrise hosts shocked by New Zealand COVID rules after family forced to spend month in quarantine | Sunrise - 7NEWS

Sport

1 Feb, 2022 01:00 AM3 minutes to read

The 2022 New Zealand Open at Millbrook golf resort has been cancelled. Photo / Photosport

One of New Zealand's preeminent international events has been given the red light.

The New Zealand Open, scheduled to be played on March 31 to April 3 at Millbrook Resort, has been cancelled.

Organisers have reluctantly come to that decision due to the continued border entry restrictions for international players, coupled with the prohibitive restrictions operating under the current red traffic light setting, which means it is no longer possible to hold the event in 2022.

Tournament chairman John Hart acknowledged that the challenges of putting on major events in New Zealand in the current environment had created barriers that cannot be overcome.

"We have done everything within our power to make this event happen," said Hart. "However, with the current Government restrictions in place, running an event that includes 250 players, 250 caddies, 500 volunteers, nearly 100 tournament staff and officials, plus numerous contractors, as well of course spectators, is just not possible.

"After announcing in December that the New Zealand Open would proceed, including having direct entry into the prestigious 150th Open Championship at St Andrews for the leading three players, we are devastated to have now come to this decision.

"We know how important this tournament is for the Queenstown Lakes region, tourism in New Zealand, and in particular for golf in New Zealand. We would like to thank our tournament partners and sponsors and in particular our underwriter Millbrook Resort for their unwavering support throughout the difficulties of the past few months.

"We remain fully committed to the tournament and the Queenstown region and we are now setting our sights on holding the 102nd New Zealand Open in 2023."

Golf New Zealand chief executive Dean Murphy noted the impact this decision will have on New Zealand professionals.

"This cancellation only adds to the extremely difficult past two years that many of the leading New Zealand professionals and leading elite amateur players have had," Murphy said. "Opportunities have been severely limited, and we will be doing all we can in the immediate term to see if we can add a small event for domestic players, within the current restrictions, during the week that was set aside for the New Zealand Open."

31 Jan, 2022 05:00 AMQuick Read

30 Jan, 2022 09:40 PMQuick Read

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The 102nd New Zealand Open will now be played from March 2 to 5, 2023, at Millbrook Resort and will include a full field of players from the PGA Tour of Australasia, the Asian Tour and the Japanese Tour.

Read the rest here:

Golf: New Zealand Open cancelled due to Covid-19 restrictions - New Zealand Herald