Alexander Gillespie, University of Waikato Reaction to the New Zealand government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and resultant lockdown has ranged from high praise to criticism that its actions were illegal and its management chaotic. Partly in response to the concerns, and to put the continued containment of the disease on a firmer legal footing, the COVID-19 Public Health Response …

Mahmoud Elkhodr, CQUniversity Australia New Zealanders finally have access to the Government’s new tracing app to help people monitor their movements as lockdown continues to ease. As businesses can now open, the NZ COVID Tracer app allows people to keep a register of the places they visit. This “digital diary” can be used to contact people if it finds they …

Victoria Plekhanova, Massey University The New Zealand government’s recently announced NZ$50 million subsidy package to support local media was necessary and urgent – even if it came too late to save the Bauer magazine titles from closing. But the injection of government cash did not address the underlying cause of the decline of New Zealand’s media, which predates the COVID-19 …