Level 2 from Thursday morning for all but bars
New Zealand will move out of alert level 3 lockdown on Thursday this week, although there will be a phased approach that means no gathering of more than 10 people.

Pattrick Smellie: PATTRICK SMELLIE: NZME threatens govt with Bauer Mark 2
Today’s move by NZME to try to bully the government into urgently legislating to allow its rejected merger with Stuff may just work. That‘s because NZME and Stuff’s owner, Australian Nine Entertainment, are threatening a far larger, more politically damaging version of the ear...
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Pattrick Smellie: PATTRICK SMELLIE: 5 things to watch for in the Budget
Amidst a welter of commentary about how momentous this Thursday’s Budget will be, how about this for a prediction? Prepare to be disappointed.

Trans-Tasman bubble by July?
The Australian government has announced a path to near-normal life across the Ditch that could see the trans-Tasman travel bubble in operation as early as July.Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced a three-phase approach to returning the Australian economy to as near to normal...