“Employment matters” are at the heart of an extraordinary attack issued by first-term Labour MP Gaurav Sharma this afternoon, according the party’s chief whip.

In an angry but cryptic opinion piece for the Herald, the MP for Hamilton West opened with an allusion to the Sam Uffindell saga faced by the National Party and a reference to the speaker of the house, Trevor Mallard. “Much has been said this week about bullying and the abysmal culture of our political parties which, in my opinion, continue to betray the trust of our voters,” he wrote. “Over the past few years and under the outgoing Speaker Trevor Mallard there have been a lot of press releases to indicate that the broader work culture in the halls of parliament is being changed for the better. While this does sound like the right thing to do, it is – in my experience – a PR exercise to placate some of the backlash from the public in recent years.”

Noting Louisa Wall’s complaints about being unsupported in parliament, Sharma wrote: “If any of my more recent colleagues could speak freely, I am sure the list of similar stories with no support for MPs being bullied and no consequences for MPs bullying their colleagues would easily fill a book or two.”

He went on to name Parliamentary Services, the Whips Office, the Office of the Leader of the Opposition and the Prime Minister’s Office. He concluded with what appears to be a blast at his party leader, Jacinda Ardern. “Politicians especially at top of our current system and from parties across the political spectrum often talk about ‘changing the system’ and ‘kindness’, but as the saying goes ‘charity must start at home’.”

The speaker declined to comment “at this stage”. A statement from the chief whip, Duncan Webb, issued via the prime minister’s office, reads: “We’ve been working with Parliamentary Services and Gaurav to address employment matters in his office. We had been working to provide support for Gaurav and find a solution. We’re committed to reaching an outcome everyone is happy with.”

For the 16th month in a row, New Zealand has recorded a net migration loss – raising concerns of a “brain drain”.

There were 49,200 migrant arrivals and 60,700 migrant departures in the year to June, according to Stats NZ figures released today. “Migrant arrivals and departures are both at their lowest levels for a June year since the 1990s,” population indicators manager Tehseen Islam said.

The latest stats include a net migration loss of 4,600 for New Zealand citizens, compared with a gain of 13,800 a year ago. However: “Migrant departures of New Zealand citizens were still significantly lower than pre-Covid levels,” Mr Islam said.

Historically, the largest net migration loss of New Zealand citizens was 44,400 in the February 2012 year.

National’s immigration spokesperson Erica Stanford said the new numbers proved the government had failed to attract skilled migrants from overseas. “Businesses across all sectors are crying out for workers, but it’s clear that the grass looks far greener elsewhere and more and more New Zealanders are seeing their future lies overseas, under this government,” Stanford said.

Two new polls released today show the race between National and Labour remains tighter than ever – and it will likely all come down to the minor players.

A Horizon poll reported on by Stuff had Labour on 34% and National on 31%, with Act on 11% and the Greens on 10%. New Zealand First was creeping towards the 5% threshold needed to return to parliament, on four points, with the New Conservatives sitting on 3%.

On these numbers, a coalition comprised of Labour, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori would get a winning 63 seats in parliament, while an unlikely combo of National, Act and Te Pāti Māori would get 60.

Meanwhile, Newstalk ZB has obtained the latest Talbot Mills poll that has National on 37% and Labour biting at its heels on 36%. This poll effectively produced a deadlock, with the only path to government involving Te Pāti Māori backtracking on its commitment not to partner up with Act.

The most recent televised poll, Monday’s 1News Kantar Public poll, showed a National-Act coalition just out in front with a combined 62 seats.

The Talbot Mills survey also revealed just how pessimistic New Zealanders are about the direction of the country. For the first time in 14 years, the right track-wrong track indicator was heading negative. The poll’s commentary noted that 42% believed the country was heading in the right direction and 50% on the wrong track.

Consumer NZ says it is concerned that passengers affected by Air New Zealand schedule changes “may not be given the full picture about their rights”.

This morning the airline announced a reduced schedule for both its international and domestic services that will see a 1.5% drop in seat numbers across the network.

It said that if a passenger’s flight is cancelled and they have not been rebooked for the same day, they can “request a change online under ‘Manage my booking’, opt into credit or request a refund”.

However Consumer NZ has pointed out that, under New Zealand law, when a domestic flight is cancelled for reasons within an airline’s control, passengers are entitled to reimbursement of up to 10 times the cost of the ticket or the actual cost of delay, whichever is lower.

“So, if Air NZ cancels or delays your domestic flight, in addition to getting your flight refunded, you may also be able to claim other expenses, such as meals and accommodation, and any additional costs you incur in getting to your destination,” the watchdog said.

“Similar rules apply for international flights, but vary depending on where you are, where you’re heading and where the airline is based.”

New Zealand has its fourth monkeypox case – and the second in the South Island.

Like the previous three, the infected individual recently returned from overseas. There is currently no evidence of community transmission of monkeypox in the country and health officials said the risk from the new infection was low.

Just this afternoon, the Greens called for an elimination strategy to stop the spread of monkeypox.

The Green Party has called for the government to introduce a monkeypox elimination strategy, citing our success with the “hard and early” approach to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Just three cases of monkeypox have been confirmed in New Zealand so far. All have been unlinked, with two in Auckland and one in the South Island.

But Green health spokesperson Elizabeth Kerekere said without control measures, the virus could spread quickly. “An elimination approach is the best and only way to protect people’s health,” she said.

“We have the tools and the knowledge we need to ensure monkeypox never starts to spread in Aotearoa New Zealand, including world class contract tracing and border testing capacity. Putting these tools to use early will be essential for protecting people’s health, particularly our Rainbow whānau.”

There are 4,818 new community cases of Covid-19, another drop on recent days. It brings the seven-day rolling average of daily cases down to 4,750. Last Thursday it was 6,142.

There are 571 people now in hospital with Covid-19, including 13 in intensive care. Of those, 70 are in Auckland and 61 are in Waikato.

The rolling average of Covid-attributed deaths has dropped also, down to 12. There are now a total of 1,726 deaths confirmed as attributable to Covid-19, either as the underlying cause of death or as a contributing factor.

Overall, the death toll has risen by 23 overnight and that includes 21 that have been linked directly to the virus.

Documents proactively released by the Treasury have confirmed the government was made aware back in March that a cost of living payment was a risky move and unlikely to counter the impacts of inflation.

The $350 cash sweetener was the headline policy of the May budget and designed to help middle income earners impacted by growing living costs.

But officials warned that the untargeted payment would do little to help struggling households and could contribute to inflation.

“The Treasury recommends caution with progressing such a significant policy in accelerated timeframes, as there are significant risks associated with designing this proposal at speed,” the March 25 document, addressed to revenue minister David Parker and finance minister Grant Robertson, stated.

“While the current acceleration in cost of living is certainly resulting in an increase in hardship for a large number of lower-income households, a broad-based payment targeted based on individual income is unlikely to be the best way to provide of support to those who are struggling the most.”

Concerning factors cited by the Treasury included that inflation was expected to be widespread and persistent. “This makes a one-off payment a poor mechanism for supporting households with a longer-term problem,” the document said.

The possibility of using the money allocated for the payment on other government priorities, such as child poverty, was also suggested by Treasury.

The document concluded by saying that neither Treasury nor the Inland Revenue recommended a cost of living payment, and signalled that more targeted options had already been raised by the Ministry of Social Development.

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It’s been a year since the government launched its free period products in school drive, and the minister in charge has today touted its success.

Almost 2,100 schools, ranging from primary to secondary, are now involved in the scheme and associate minister Jan Tinetti said that meant 96% of menstruating students were being reached.

“The results speak for themselves backed up by the feedback we hear from students, principals and teachers across the country who are unified in describing the positive impact the free period products in schools is having,” she said.

Between 2021 and 2024, the government will spend about $25 million on the initiative.

Last month, as part of The Spinoff’s bleed week, writer Shanti Mathias checked in on how the free products scheme was going. You can read her report here.

Newstalk ZB’s late night host Marcus Lush has confirmed he’s running to become Invercargill’s next mayor.

Bluff-based Lush is already on Invercargill’s council having won a by-election last year in a landslide.

But, oddly enough, while some local councils have struggled to find anyone wanting to run for the top job, Invercargill will now have nine candidates. That includes long-serving incumbent Tim Shadbolt who is running for a tenth time.

Speaking to fellow ZB host Heather du Plessis-Allan, Lush confirmed he would continue hosting his weeknight show should be win the mayoralty. “I’ll keep doing it. I think that’s really valuable,” he said. Based on his ability to shut down offensive debates, I reckon it’s valuable too.

The broadcaster welcomed further candidates entering the race. The deadline for candidacy is this Friday and you can read more about that in today’s edition of The Bulletin.

Police are investigating after a man used fake credentials to secure a job as a doctor at one of the country’s most under the pump hospitals.

As Stuff reports, the man allegedly worked in Middlemore’s respiratory department for about six months months in a role that saw him deal with patients and work in research.

A spokesman for the hospital said the man was employed in February “on the basis of documentation that was not authentic”.

Health minister Andrew Little was aware of the concerning incident, and said he knew that an investigation was under way into how it was allowed to happen.

Te Whatu Ora Counties Manukau did not answer Stuff’s questions on the vetting process the hospital used in its hiring of the man.

Read the full report here

Tourism minister Stuart Nash launched a draft plan yesterday focused on strengthening tourism and hospitality workforces. Speaking at a national tourism conference, Nash said New Zealand tourism needs to attract “discerning travellers” and not those travelling on a shoestring. The plan is the first phase of a wider piece of work being undertaken to transform the tourism industry and was developed in a partnership between the government, industry, union and Māori.

The plan was well received by the tourism operators that spoke to RNZ’s Checkpoint, but they want to see “the rubber hit the road”. Nash has also suggested making changes to the university year to address worker shortages over the summer. That plan has been received with some scepticism.

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Embattled National Party MP Sam Uffindell is back in his electorate of Tauranga as he awaits the outcome of an investigation into his past.

Uffindell admitted earlier this week to beating a younger student during his time at King’s College in the late 1990s. He disputes, however, a second allegation of intimidating behaviour while he was studying at Otago University in 2003. That accusation has prompted a QC-led investigation ordered by National Party leader Christopher Luxon.

According to the Herald, Uffindell has returned to Tauranga and was driven there from Wellington by his political mentor – fellow MP Todd Muller.

Thomas Coughlan, writing for the Herald last night, argued that Uffindell’s time in parliament will likely be over even if the report lets him off the hook – unless he agrees to entirely drop the law and order topic he’d been vocal on.

Luxon has so far refused to comment on whether Uffindell’s political career is over, saying he’ll wait for the results of the inquiry first. He did signal that he had lost trust in the rookie MP, after previously being assured the King’s incident was the only skeleton in Uffindell’s closet.

Travellers may notice some disruption on Air New Zealand services over the next six months to the ongoing impacts of the pandemic.

The airline has announced a reduced schedule for both its international and domestic services to help cope with staff sickness.

As reported by RNZ, that reduced service will see a 1.5% drop in seat numbers across the network. Domestic travellers with shifted flights will likely still be able to travel on the same day, but international travellers may find their flights moved to the day before or after their original booking.

The airline has been under significant pressure across the three years of the Covid pandemic, but the recent influx of travellers caused by the border reopening and the lack of domestic restrictions has led to particular strain.

Greg Foran, Air New Zealand chief executive, said reducing services would allow for standby staff to cover short notice changes. “Looking at the disruptions our customers and staff have faced over the past five weeks, we’ve made some adjustments to reduce short notice cancellations in the months ahead,” he said.

“We see those challenges [from sickness] continuing not just for crew, but for our whole operation, so are making proactive changes to address them.”

The airline was also considering a lease on a “crewed widebody aircraft for the busy summer period”.