The cross-party unity of putting the country into lockdown more than five weeks ago is very much a thing of the past after Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and National leader Simon Bridges clashed over leaving Alert Level 3 yesterday.
Following a second day with no new cases of Covid-19 , Mr Bridges continued to press the Government to move to Level 2 immediately during a fiery Question Time in Parliament.
Ms Ardern shot back , saying two days of zero cases is a reflection of Level 4, not where the country is right now.
She added that the Government doesn’t have “the luxury” of making the wrong move during the Covid-19 crisis.
Earlier in the day, Ms Ardern urged Kiwis to “double down” in the fight against Covid-19 this week, asking people not to “do anything that snatches our potential victory at this point”.
Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield has also warned Kiwis not to "celebrate before the full-time whistle" and to stick to Level 3 restrictions .
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National proposes GST cash refunds
Simon Bridges outlined National’s plans for dealing with the economic fallout of Covid-19 in a speech to Business NZ yesterday.
The party is proposing a GST cash refund of up to $100,000 for businesses that have lost over half of their revenue across two months due to the lockdown rules.
They say the plan would cost about $8 billion - three per cent of GDP – and benefit up to 160,000 businesses, saving “countless jobs”.
National’s proposals come as a bleak economic outlook continues to be painted around the country.
RNZ says it’s seen leaked documents that show the Ministry of Social Development is preparing for a tidal wave of extra benefit applications.
Many landlords with empty properties are also struggling to get tenants, with Tauranga’s CBD resembling a ghost town as 150 shops stand empty.
Westpac’s latest economic overview released this morning says Covid-19 will “cast a shadow over the economy” for years with high unemployment, falling house prices and repercussions for the farming sector to come.
However, despite those gloomy predictions, the bank is still forecasting a more rapid economic recovery than after the Global Financial Crisis.
QV also released their house price index results for April this morning - and they point to potential uncertainty in the housing market for the remainder of the year.
Greens: Fair pay for ‘essential heroes’
Meanwhile, the Green Party is proposing a package for essential worker “heroes” that ensures they’re paid a “dignified wage” .
Greens co-leader Marama Davidson says essential workers have stacked shelves, cared for the country’s most vulnerable in rest homes and transported goods around the country throughout the Covid-19 crisis and deserve to “earn enough to live on”.
Green Party Workplace Relations spokesperson Jan Logie is now calling on the Government to bring in legislation enabling Fair Pay Agreements for people in those essential work roles.
Baby steps for trans-Tasman bubble
The two-day streak of no new Covid-19 cases in New Zealand is set to add more pressure on the Government to open up borders to Australia.
Both countries revealed plans yesterday to introduce a trans-Tasman Covid-safe travel zone , which would cut out the current 14-day quarantine period, "as soon as it is safe to do so".
RNZ reports Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and Tasmanian Premier Peter Gutwein are already talking about new direct flights between the two countries.
The trans-Tasman move is aimed at assisting economic recovery, including a big boost for the ailing tourism industry.
Chris Roberts of Tourism Industry Aotearoa says tourism will be the last industry to recover from Covid-19 and could take between 3-5 years to get back on its feet.
His comments come as major tourism operator Skyline Enterprises says it’s slashing half its workforce at the end of next month. Their portfolio includes the popular Queenstown gondolas.
Canterbury’s tourism sector was also dealt another blow yesterday when organisers confirmed its popular A&P show is to be cancelled for the first time since World War II .
Cane gets the call-up
Nobody knows when the All Blacks might play again yet, but when they do step out on to the field, they’ll have a new captain .
Sam Cane, a 68-test veteran, has been named All Blacks captain after Kieran Read retired from the role last year. The 28-year-old has been called “a natural leader” by NZ Rugby.
But as sports fans ponder what kind of captain he’ll be , the game’s administrators continue to grapple with the effects of Covid-19.
Staff were advised earlier this week that job losses are imminent , while NZ Rugby chairman Brent Impey says rugby in the southern hemisphere could be “gone” if changes aren’t made to the game.
Other news of note this morning:
The United Kingdom now has the worst coronavirus death toll in Europe.
A kura principal has called the lack of Māori representation on the education Epidemic Response Committee “absolutely disgusting” .
Police have charged a third person in connection with the 1995 murder of Christchurch woman Angela Blackmoore.
CNN reports the coronavirus pandemic is creating a new tidal wave of plastic pollution, while a new study says climate change could see billions of people living in climates historically too hot to handle in just 50 years.
Just in case things aren’t bad enough, “murder hornets” with an appetite for honey bees and a sting that can be fatal, have emerged in the US.
And surveillance cameras put on a pest-free island in Auckland’s Hauraki Gulf to catch a rogue stoat have instead caught another illegal creature - humans .
And finally...
Look, it was only a matter of time before something like this happened.
After many weeks away from his favourite hairdresser and no appointments in sight yet, Seven Sharp’s Jeremy Wells was keen for a haircut.
Always keen to help where she can, his co-host Hilary Barry offered to trim his hair for him – with clippers taped to the end of a two-metre pole. And yes, it went about as well as expected .
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