Business are still predicting a rocky road ahead, though slightly fewer are pessimistic now about the state of the economy than they were in the last quarter.

The latest business confidence survey from the NZ Institute of Economic Research shows 59% of businesses expect deterioration in economic conditions in the coming months. That’s just down on the 63% that felt that way at the time of the last survey.

According to the institute, a net 13% reported reduced activity in the June quarter, while an increased proportion predicted declining activity was on the way.

Kiwibank’s economists noted a “bright spot” in the latest report was the continued cooling in costs. “Over the June quarter, the proportion of the firms that reported rising costs shrunk to 67% from 68.3% in [quarter one],” the bank said. “We would expect to see further easing in cost pressures in the coming quarters. Wages are a major driver of firms’ total costs. And wages have been pushed higher by the scarcity of labour. But as labour shortages are resolved, that should provide firms with relief on the cost front.”

The Reserve Bank will next week reveal whether or not it will shift the official cash rate, with expectations that it won’t choose to hike it again. “We expect the cash rate to remain at 5.50% next week, and for the remainder of the year,” said Kiwibank. “The economic pendulum is clearly swinging towards downside risks, rather than upside risks.”

I’m a massive Twit-head and yet everyday it feels like my favourite social media platform is continuing to crumble. From the nonsensical decision to remove verified ticks unless you pay to have one, through to the latest move to limit how many tweets can be viewed on the daily, Twitter has increasingly become a hell site.

Enter Instagram: The Meta-owned photo-sharing app has teased the arrival of Threads, which looks suspiciously like Twitter. It’s available on the app store now with an anticipated launch date of July 6.

Described on the app store as a “text-based conversation app”, Threads will be a place to “discuss everything from the topics you care about to what’ll be trending tomorrow”. Sound familiar? “You can follow and connect directly with your favourite creators and others who love the same things,” said Meta.

Whether or not it’ll have the ability to disrupt Twitter remains to be seen. Other alternative options (remember Mastadon?) have failed to take flight.

The death of Queen Elizabeth II reignited the debate around New Zealand’s relationship with the monarchy. What would Aotearoa look like without it? For ringa toi The Hori, it would look like a more Tiriti-focused and coherent way of living. In the third episode of 2 Cents 2 Much, he talks to Janaye Henry about money, decolonisation and, of course, land back. And Janaye pens a desperate letter to our deadbeat treaty partners. Plus, who would we put on our money if not British royalty?

Watch the latest episode below

The prime minister says he still doesn’t know how one of his MPs ended up at a meeting organised by the Mongrel Mob. 

Otago-based Ingrid Leary revealed yesterday that she had attended an election hui being run by the mob over the weekend, mistakenly believing it to be an Electoral Commission event.

Chris Hipkins was questioned about the mishap this morning on Newstalk ZB and said he doesn’t know what happened. “Clearly she attended a meeting thinking it was something that it wasn’t. If it was me, I think I would have turned around and left straight away,” Hipkins said.

However, he wouldn’t be drawn on whether or not Leary’s excuse was a valid one. Hipkins said he believed he had a good “bullshit” detector and had chosen to accept Leary’s story. “It’s not an event that I would have attended. She’s indicated to me that she attended the meeting by mistake, I accept that,” he said.

“I have to deal with situations as they arise at the time and this particular case around Ingrid Leary it’s not something I’m going to spend a lot of time on.”

The Spinoff’s editor Madeleine Chapman has just returned on the NZDF workhorse from covering Chris Hipkins’ big week in China. She sat down with Toby Manhire yesterday for a bonus episode of Gone by Lunchtime to describe the scene in the Great Hall of the People, how Hipkins managed the tricky political challenges from Xi Jinping to Kiri Allan and the prime minister’s suboptimal approach to snacking.

Listen below or wherever you get your pods

Once again emphasising the importance and “bread and butter-ness” of trade, moules-frites are on the menu this week as prime minister Chris Hipkins heads to Brussels on Friday to sign a New Zealand-European Union (EU) Free Trade Agreement. Newsroom’s Sam Sachdeva reports from Brussels that “better late than never” might be an appropriate official slogan for the deal, with the signing five years in the making. Hipkins will sign the agreement with EU executive vice president and trade commissioner Vladis Dombrovskis and EU president Ursula von der Leyen.

He will then head to the Nato Summit in Lithuania where a slight gear change may be required after his China trip. Our last (and first-ever formal) address at Nato came from former prime minister Dame Jacinda Ardern last year, where she urged democratic nations to stand strong against an increasingly assertive Beijing.

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The prime minister’s defending his decision not to have an in-depth conversation with cabinet minister Kiri Allan this week, saying it would not be logistically possible.

Allan is taking time off for the next couple of weeks while parliament’s in recess and it’s the school holidays. But it comes after reports of workplace issues within her office.

So far, Chris Hipkins hasn’t expressed confidence in Allan but told a post-cabinet press conference yesterday that she was an exceptional minister.

Speaking to RNZ, Hipkins said he had “several” phone calls with Allan yesterday in which she indicated she’d like some extra time away from parliament. “I agreed that was a good thing for her to do this week, and the logistics mean we will catch up when I’m back from the Nato summit,” he said.

Asked why he was happy for this issue to potentially drag on until he’s back from Europe, Hipkins said it was important for him to have a catch-up in person with Allan. “Ultimately these are historic issues and the feedback I’ve had is they were dealt with at the time. These are issues that were some time ago,” he said.

“With all ministers when issues are raised of this nature, then I’ll sit down and have a conversation about it – that’s what anyone would expect the prime minister to do.”

Appearing on Newshub’s AM, Hipkins said he wouldn’t go into the detail about what he had talked about with Allan yesterday, but said the minister had not admitted to any additional issues within her office. “I’m reserving some of that conversation until we’ve had the chance to meet face-to-face.”

In a tweet last night, Allan made it clear her decision to take time off work was not for “mental health” reasons as had been suggested by one journalist during the post-cabinet press conference. It later emerged that a senior government advisor had told 1News that was the case.