I’ve been avidly following Stuff’s Harry Styles live blog today which has taught me several things. Firstly, I should have pivoted to entirely Harry Styles content at about 9am this morning. Secondly, it’s probably already too late to get a good spot in the stadium. And thirdly, I have nailed the dress code for the concert (head to toe holographic in case you were wondering, with a boa obvs).

Anyway, more importantly, I learnt further details on Styles’ mandatory census activities. He’ll have a form waiting in his hotel room!

The prime minister has formally corrected the record after bungling his own government’s numbers during a question on tax in his first question time.

Last month, Chris Hipkins incorrectly responded to a question by David Seymour by saying that “our government is actually taking less tax out of the economy as a proportion of the economy than when we became the government”.

The next day, he told media in Hawke’s Bay that he had been wrong. “I’ll own that”, he said, admitting he hadn’t been prepared for a “pop quiz”.

Two weeks on and Hipkins is back in parliament today for what is only his second question time as prime minister. But before the questions had even started, Hipkins raised his own point of order and asked to formally correct the record on his government’s tax record. His succinct response – “I said that government tax revenue as a proportion of GDP had declined under this government. It hasn’t” – drew jeers from opposition MPs.

Asked during the first question by Christopher Luxon whether he stood by all of his statements and actions, Hipkins, laughing, said: “most of them… the ones I haven’t corrected”.

Pharmac chair Steve Maharey has handed in his resignation to the health minister over a Stuff column that criticised the National Party. But, at this point, his job is secure.

Maharey’s offer of resignation followed the ousting of Health NZ chair Rob Campbell last week. He was sacked over a social media post taking aim at National’s three waters policy.

But according to Newshub, Maharey may be able to hold onto his job – with Ayesha Verrall, the health minister, opting to ask for further advice. “I haven’t seen anything that concerns me here,” she said.

“In terms of with Mr Campbell, he called the leader of the opposition stupid and he implied his policies were racist. While he apologised to me, he then doubled down on those criticisms in the press. Mr Maharey has reached out and been contrite.”

The Public Service Commission will now have a say in whether Maharey can keep his job.

Back on the Board is a brand new one-off documentary for The Spinoff taking audiences inside the life of skateboarder Amber Clyde. A lifelong advocate for women in the sport, Clyde founded Girls Skate NZ after being bullied as the only girl in the skate park in Birkenhead. Now a single mother of two who is juggling raising her young children with a packed teaching schedule, Clyde struggles to find time for herself to rebuild her own confidence in the sport. In this intimate observational documentary, Clyde explores the realities of being both a solo mother and a skater, and the mental and physical challenges that come with getting back on the board. 

Back on the Board is made with the support of NZ On Air. 

It’s always a big day when a new celebrity animal gets introduced into the pantheon of local icons. Five years ago The Spinoff ranked our top celebrity animals, placing the Canterbury panther in the top spot.

While I’m not sure this newest addition would quite crack the top five, there’s certainly a strong case to be made for their inclusion in the upper half of the ranking.

I’m talking of course about teapot cat, who entered the mainstream yesterday after this photo was shared by the NZ Police.

“It was pitch black when loud banging and clanging could be heard outside a Northland home about 10.45pm last night (Sunday). The suspicious activity prompted a call to Police,” a post on social media said.

“Two officers arrived and their enquires revealed an aluminium teapot used for watering plants was stuck on the head of a ginger cat. The cat was carefully extracted from the teapot without any cat-astrophy and scampered off into the night uninjured.”

Go far, teapot cat. I’ll see you on the Masked Singer in 2024.

The government is talking up its finances as the clean-up from Cyclone Gabrielle continues.

Finance minister Grant Robertson, who is also the minister in charge of cyclone recovery, said the Operating Balance before Gains and Losses recorded a deficit of $2.4 billion in the seven months through to the end of January. It was, said Robertson, close to forecast and down by $5.6b on last year’s post-lockdown deficit.

“This result reflects the resilience of the economy despite a challenging global environment and sound management of our finances and shows we are well positioned to respond to cost of living pressures and the impact of Cyclone Gabrielle,” Robertson said.

Core Crown tax revenue was $434 million – about 0.7 percent below forecast – at $64.7 billion. Core Crown expenses were $164 million below forecast at $71.7 billion.

Of course, as Duncan Greive wrote for The Spinoff just last month, it’s almost impossible for the government not to put out a press statement touting the state of its books.

He wrote: “Any search of the Beehive archives will bring up an almost unbroken list of press releases and speeches in which the finance minister of the day dutifully talks up our relatively low debt and the strength of the government books. What they mean is that we’re not spending too much more than we earn year-to-year, and the scale of our government debt relative to our asset register, the stuff we own, gets approving nods from people who buy and sell debt by the billion.”

Jobs are already on the line across the wider Auckland Council as mayor Wayne Brown works to get the books in order following his election last year.

The Herald’s reported that about 20 positions will be scrapped at Eke Panuku, while council chief executive Jim Stabback confirmed other roles were expected to be axed.

It’s in response to the nearly $300 million hole in the mayor’s first budget, triggered by ongoing inflationary pressures along with falling revenue from, for example, public transport.

Brown has been fairly open about his intentions to cut funding across the board if necessary to get the council’s finances up to scratch. Last week, while speaking to a crowd at the Auckland Art Gallery, Brown chose to address “misconceptions” about planned cuts to cultural funding. “There seems to be a false perception that I am threatening to cut funding for the arts which is not true,” he said, explaining that all community sectors that received council funding were under review.

“Early childhood centres, Citizens Advice Bureau and other community sectors face potential cuts under the current draft proposal,” he said.

Insurance Council head Tim Grafton says insurers have already paid out about $111m in claims relating to recent severe weather in the upper North Island. Insurers are expecting the Auckland floods and Cyclone Gabrielle to cost the industry more than $1b. Around 47,300 claims have been lodged for the Auckland floods and about 30,000 claims have been lodged so far from Cyclone Gabrielle.

The number of claims from those two weather events are around twice the number lodged after the Kaikoura earthquake in 2016, said Grafton. WaterCare, the council-controlled organisation that manages the drinking water and wastewater services in Auckland, have additionally estimated that the cost of the recovery for its network will come in at over $250m.

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Remember Rob Campbell? The former chair of both Health NZ and the Environmental Protection Authority was ousted from his positions last week following a politically charged social media post about National and Christopher Luxon.

He doubled/tripled/quadrupled down on those remarks across a catalogue of interviews and was ultimately dumped by both the health minister and environment minister in quick succession. The prime minister, too, was quick to criticise Campbell as going beyond what was acceptable for someone in his public positions.

Now, as was reported last night, there’s another public servant facing claims of political bias. Steve Maharey, board chair at Pharmac, ACC and Education NZ – and a former Labour minister – writes a Stuff column that has been called out for criticising the National Party. One example, from a January column, saw Maharey compare National with the Republican Party in the US and say “nothing seems new or fresh about the team National is offering”.

Speaking to Newshub’s AM this morning, prime minister Chris Hipkins indicated that Maharey’s job was safe. “The issue here if you go back to last week, Rob Campbell actually stood by his claims and said he would continue to make them,” Hipkins said.

The column was “regrettable” but Maharey has indicated he will stop writing it, Hipkins added. “I don’t expect perfection from people.”

It’s census day! I wrote a PSA yesterday afternoon that includes some tips and tricks on how to… make it fun.

According to Stats NZ, over 1.4 million New Zealanders have so far filled in their forms. “Every census becomes part of history and a picture in time of who we are as a country, and how we are changing,” said spokesperson Mark Sowden.

“There is no doubt the 2023 census will be remembered for the devastating impacts of Cyclone Gabrielle, and our thoughts remain with those impacted by the cyclone. I hope it will also be remembered for being the most inclusive census ever.

“Working on this census since 2019, Stats NZ has invested in removing barriers to census participation, and on ensuring more people are supported to take part and be represented in census data.”

You should have been sent your online code via the post already, meaning you can log on right this moment via census.govt.nz and fill it in immediately.