Chris Hipkins

The entire country will stay at the red traffic light setting for at least another ten days as the Prime Minister warns New Zealand is not out of the woods yet.

Cabinet ministers reviewed the… Video, Audio

A bill by any other name (would be utterly confusing). We decode the naming rules for Parliament’s bills and laws. Audio

The Covid-19 Response Minister is assuring parents only a small number of unvaccinated teachers will return to the job when mandates are lifted on April the 5th.

The Education Ministry says schools… Audio

The government has announced that Managed Isolation and Quarantine, or MIQ, will be all but over by the end of June.

By then, 28 of the 32 MIQ facilities will have returned to being hotels.

Philippa… Audio

Isolation times for Covid cases is being cut from 10 days to seven.

It's to help keep the wheels turning around country as more people with the virus and their household contacts are stuck at home… Video, Audio

Creating new laws takes years, except when it happens at break-neck pace. This week Parliament will consider a  Russia Sanctions Bill under urgency. Necessity means it was also written under urgency. 

It may sound like something from Hammer House of Horror but The Hybrid Chamber is a plan for Parliament to go semi-virtual when MPs go down with Covid. Audio

The country is ending the week with more record numbers from the Covid outbreak.

New community cases announced today were almost double yesterday's figure at just over a whopping 12,000 and the… Audio

As of this morning we're at phase three of the red Covid traffic light setting, which requires far greater self-management for covid positive cases and their contacts. If you find yourself testing… Audio

Aotearoa moves to Omicron Phase 3 at 11.59pm tonight after daily cases cracked more than 6000 today.

That means only Covid cases and their household contacts have to isolate and RATs are rampant.

… Video, Audio

Like ‘a pub with no beer’, a Parliament almost empty of MPs is an odd thought. But it seems likely in the near future. Audio

Isolation requirements for those entering the country from Australia are about to become much more flexible.

A seven day self isolation period will begin at the end of the month, for vaccinated New… Video, Audio

Under new government rules some returnees can get a temporary pass out of self isolation to visit a terminally ill relative, go to court or get medical attention.

And sports teams or performers who… Video, Audio

Who is a critical worker and who is not? For business it could literally be a multi million dollar question.

From today they can decide for themselves if they fit the bill and register for the… Video, Audio

Parliament's new year has begun in the traditional fashion with a very wide debate that is a multi-party pep rally. And it's no short booster. This one takes 13 hours. Audio