The Government has poured cold water on the possibility of business flights between Wellington and Canberra taking off from July 1.
While business leaders have proposed the rapid trial of the trans-Tasman bubble, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters says the timeframe is “too early” . He adds that Wellington and Canberra wouldn’t be his preferred starting points for such a flight either.
Stuff reports Air New Zealand is also distancing itself from plans for trans-Tasman flights in July, saying there’s no intention to operate the proposed Canberra-Wellington service.
However, the Herald reports a separate detailed proposal compiled by the Trans-Tasman Safe Border Group has now been submitted to the Government for consideration.
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Embattled Air NZ sorry
Air New Zealand has apologised to its customers for confusion around refunds and credits and lengthy call centre wait times.
The airline says it simply can’t afford to pay everyone back following the mass cancellation of its flight schedules and is offering some customers credit.
However, many of those people are struggling to organise those credits through the company’s overwhelmed call centre.
Air New Zealand’s chief revenue officer Cam Wallace has apologised to customers, saying the airline will address the situation.
Consumer Affairs Minister Kris Faafoi has also asked customers to show some sympathy for the airline as it grapples with the logistics of an “extremely high number” of people wanting their money back.
TVNZ’s own consumer advocate, Fair Go, will address Air New Zealand customers’ rights to a refund when it returns to air on Monday night.
Memorial in Minneapolis
A memorial for George Floyd, the man whose death in police custody has sparked protests right around the world, is underway in Minneapolis.
Additional memorial services are due to be held in North Carolina and Texas in the coming days.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump has defended his controversial visit to a church earlier this week as his fellow citizens protested in Mr Floyd’s memory.
The White House earlier compared the visit as a “leadership moment” akin to Winston Churchill’s inspections of bomb-damaged London during World War II. President Trump simply said it was “a great idea” .
At the same time, his predecessor Barack Obama has held a virtual town hall event with young people to discuss the civil unrest following Mr Floyd’s death. He used the opportunity to tell them “that your lives matter and your dreams matter”.
The Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, has also addressed youth at her former high school about the situation.
She said she was “really nervous” about saying the wrong thing but maintained holding her silence was worse.
Madeleine McCann ‘assumed dead’
German prosecutors say they presume missing British girl Madeleine McCann is dead.
The development came after police in Britain and Germany identified a new suspect in the long-running case.
Prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters has told reporters the man is now being investigated on suspicion of murder.
However, Madeleine’s parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, say their hopes of seeing their daughter again have not yet faded.
NZ 'the envy' of others
With New Zealand potentially moving to Covid-19 Alert Level 1 next week, Director-General of health Dr Ashley Bloomfield says our current success in the fight against the virus is the envy of many other countries.
As he revealed New Zealand had hit 13 days without any new confirmed cases of the disease, Dr Bloomfield also said the highest number of cases reported in any one day globally was just four days ago.
“Globally, [Covid-19] has only just started,” he says.
As The Spinoff reports, this is why the border is the biggest danger facing New Zealand when it does move to Level 1. Here, they detail how the country’s already tough border restrictions are about to get even stricter.
Cantabs react to Carter move
Even Dan Carter’s grandmother is struggling to stomach the news the former Crusaders star has decided to play for the Blues in the revived Super Rugby competition.
Cantabrian rugby fans have been shocked by the move, with Carter’s “Super Nana” Pam only begrudgingly admitting she’ll have to become a Blues fan this season.
As for why Carter has signed up with the Blues, coach Leon MacDonald says it’s certainly not for money . (So, it’s safe to assume the relief funding announced for professional sport yesterday isn’t footing a large pay-out for the former All Black.)
Instead, MacDonald says the move is about Carter “giving back” to the game.
Other news of note this morning:
One person has died after an alleged assault on Auckland’s North Shore last night.
An investigation into how students in university accommodation were treated during the Covid-19 lockdown has been launched by Parliament.
National officials say small businesses have become the victim of "coalition dysfunction" between New Zealand First and Labour after a disagreement between the partner parties over commercial rent.
Tamati Coffey has come under fire from Judith Collins after calling National MP Melissa Lee “love”, while ACT leader David Seymour has been kicked out of Parliament for referring to Winston Peters as “grandpa” .
Waitomo Caves is the first key tourism attraction to qualify for special government support .
And Covid-19 is being blamed as 'feral' chickens re-invade a West Auckland community.
And finally...
Who can resist a joyous reunion between man and man’s best friend? Not me.
So, I’ll leave you this week with the story of Queenstown’s Brad Saville who was finally able to welcome home his avalanche rescue dog, Bomber, yesterday after Covid-19 separated them for two months.
The duo had been training in Colorado when the pandemic hit and while Mr Saville was able to get back to New Zealand before borders closed, Bomber was not.
But you can watch their happy reunion here , as well as an interview with Seven Sharp that proves Bomber really is the goodest of boys.
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