Universities NZ says it would welcome an independent inquiry into the handling of student accommodation during the Covid-19 crisis.
The Green Party says there’s growing support in Parliament for such a move, following months of issues with students paying rent for empty rooms and communication bungles.
The most recent incident saw AUT sending an email to students this week, threatening to cut them off from student services and exclude them from receiving their grades if they don’t pay rent debt accrued during lockdown.
Green MP Chlöe Swarbrick says the party has begun the process for a select committee inquiry into student accommodation. It is currently managed differently across all eight of New Zealand's universities, with a mix of owner and operator models.
Ms Swarbrick says the commercial model of some accommodation means there's little accountability for the wellbeing of students.
Sign up to get the Morning Briefing delivered direct to your inbox – here.
Big win for teacher aides
Teacher aides have won a significant salary boost after years of negotiations over a pay equity claim.
Education Minister Chris Hipkins announced the new pay rates last night, which will apply to more than 22,000 teacher aides across New Zealand’s schools.
While the settlement has been agreed by the Ministry and the New Zealand Education Institute, NZEI members will now vote on whether to accept the historic deal.
Joy as missing trampers found
Police and searchers are hailing the survival skills of two trampers who were missing in the Kahurangi National Park for 19 days.
Dion Reynolds and Jessica O'Connor, both 23, stayed put and waited for rescue after suffering minor injuries in a fall, police confirm. The pair had got lost "fairly early on” in their tramp due to fog.
Police say it’s “pretty rare” to have a positive outcome after such a long search, however Ms O'Connor’s parents told 1 NEWS they "never had a doubt" they would find her alive.
AOS under review
The Armed Offenders Squad is under a major review, with investigations into whether the police unit remains fit for purpose .
It comes as 1 NEWS revealed police knew its trial of a new Armed Response Team had problems before it even started.
A localised review of how police should respond to armed incidents is already underway in Auckland.
Meanwhile, police in other parts of the country were dealing with firearms incidents yesterday with a man taken into custody following a dramatic car chase in the Bay of Plenty. Police allege the driver pointed a gun at officers.
Meanwhile, police in Levin are appealing for information following a second firearm incident in their area in a week.
Trans-Tasman bubble edges closer
With New Zealand recording a fifth day in a row without any new cases of Covid-19, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has revealed the country is moving closer to a travel bubble with Australia.
Ms Ardern says experts from both sides of the Tasman will report back in two weeks about how the merged travel bubble would work.
Her comments come after Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters said New Zealand has been "too cautious for too long" by staying at Alert Level 2, and that the country should be at Level 1 , allowing travel to and from Australia.
Buyers ‘gutted’ at KiwiBuild delays
First home buyers caught up in ongoing KiwiBuild delays in Wellington say they wish they’d never heard of the scheme.
The capital’s Monark development has been repeatedly delayed, with its original completion date of July this year now pushed to June 2022 .
One buyer told 1 NEWS he was initially delighted when he won a ballot for a Kiwibuild home in the complex, however he and his wife are now “quite gutted” with how things have progressed.
The Government is advising buyers who want out of the Monark development to approach developers directly about getting their money back.
However, National's housing spokesperson Nicola Willis says it's unacceptable for people investing in a government housing programme to be treated this way.
"They put their faith in the KiwiBuild brand, they paid their money and now they've been left high and dry,” she says.
Other news of note this morning:
NASA is gearing up for its big SpaceX launch just after 8.30 this morning (NZ time).
The Government has announced changes to the Construction Contracts Act to better protect people when firms go under.
Pressure is mounting on banks to slash payWave fees or explore alternative payment options like facial recognition technology in a bid to help struggling businesses.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says Hong Kong is “no longer autonomous from China”.
Twitter has flagged some of US President Donald Trump's tweets with a fact-check warning . Mr Trump has responded by threatening to shut down social media platforms.
And Kensington Palace has issued a rare and strong statement over a story about the Duchess of Cambridge published online by British magazine Tatler.
And finally...
Kiwi director Taika Waititi has been delighting fans all over the world (and raising money for charity) with his typically unique , star-studded retelling of the children’s classic, James and The Giant Peach.
Already featuring some of the biggest names in Hollywood, including Meryl Streep, Ryan Reynolds and Benedict Cumberbatch, his YouTube series had a new storyteller for its latest episode: The Duchess of Cornwall.
SHARE ME