The sports minister has hinted at a possible public parade to commemorate the Black Ferns’ epic world cup victory.

Speaking at today’s post-cabinet press conference, Grant Robertson, who is currently the acting prime minister, said he was looking at options – and called Saturday’s game “one of New Zealand’s greatest sporting moments”.

However, Robertson admitted that organising a public event could be difficult. “We’ve been talking with the team and NZ Rugby today about an event here at parliament,” said Robertson. “We’ve done that before for the men’s rugby world cup [and] Silver Ferns netball team as well.”

The government has announced bolstered support for Ukraine, including an extension to the infantry training scheme for military personnel.

The Defence Force has been providing training support out of the United Kingdom for several months of the ongoing conflict. Alongside the continuation of this, the government has confirmed additional funding for equipment and supplies for Ukraine’s self-defence and to support global food security in the face of the conflict.

“The extended support builds on the package of military, diplomatic, legal and humanitarian assistance provided by Aotearoa New Zealand since Russia’s war of aggression began in February,” Jacinda Ardern, who is currently travelling through Asia, announced.

“Putin’s continued pursuit of this war is fundamentally wrong. We call on Russia to reverse course and withdraw from Ukraine. Ukrainians, both in uniform and civilians, die every day as Russia’s senseless attacks continue.”

The Defence Force’s existing intelligence contribution will also be extended and there will also be a deployment of up to eight personnel to Europe from the end of the month to assist deployed personnel supporting Ukraine’s self-defence efforts.

And an additional $1.85 million contribution will be made to the Nato Trust Fund for non-lethal military equipment and supplies for Ukraine’s self-defence during the northern winter.

“I am pleased the NZDF infantry can offer the skills and experience for further training. This deployment also provides an opportunity for NZDF personnel to gain valuable experience,” said defence minister Peeni Henare.

“The infantry training demonstrates the core skills and capabilities of our defence personnel. Utilising them in an offshore location, alongside key partners, helps encourage retention of frontline personnel. However I want to be clear that the NZDF will not be entering Ukraine.”

There were 21,595 new community cases of Covid-19 recorded over the past week – the highest case total for some time.

On average, about 3,079 new infections were registered each day. That’s up from 2,967 the week prior and the first time more than 3,000 cases has been confirmed each day for several weeks.

Hospitalisations now sit at 325, with seven people in intensive care.

The rolling seven-day average number of deaths is now five, with 56 new deaths officially added to the death toll in the past week. That number includes 21 deaths that cannot yet be definitively linked to the virus.

The overall number of Covid-related deaths from across the pandemic is now 2,154.

New Zealand Rugby says it wants to “do the right thing” and is considering giving the World Cup-winning Black Ferns bonuses for their success. Speaking to RNZ’s Morning Report, chief executive Mark Robinson said the organisation would like to doing something “pretty soon”.

World Cup winning bonuses are nothing new. The All Blacks each received $150,000 bonuses for winning the 2015 World Cup. In fact, last month it was reported that tournament favourites England were set to receive $30,000 bonuses if they won, while the Black Ferns had been offered no winning bonus. Robinson’s comments this morning suggest that may change “pretty soon”.

“We know there’s always expectation to do more and to do better and faster but we feel like we’re in a good space and now just have to … capture this momentum and move forward really quickly.”

The Black Ferns are the highest paid women rugby players in the world after a swathe of contracts and minimum retainers were announced in February this year. Retainers are between $35,000 and $70,000, with top earners bringing in between $60,000 and $130,000.

Viewing figures for the final on Saturday showed more than 1.3 million New Zealanders tuned in. The free-to-air broadcast set an all-time viewing record for Three, pulling a huge 64.% audience share for the night.

TVNZ has confirmed a permanent replacement head of news and current affairs following the fallout of the Kamahl Santamaria saga.

Phil O’Sullivan has been appointed as executive editor for news and current affairs, a role he’s held in an acting capacity since June. That was after Paul Yurisich resigned following an inquiry into the hiring of Santamaria, the short-lived Breakfast co-host that has faced numerous allegations of workplace harassment.

In a statement, TVNZ’s chief executive Simon Power cited O’Sullivan’s 25 years of experience in the news business in New Zealand and abroad.

“Phil has a proven track record of transformative leadership, resolute integrity, and a dedication to truth and trust,” said Power.

“He’ll play a critical role in continuing our focus on transformation, responding to the ongoing shift of audiences to digital, and embracing the opportunities the new Aotearoa New Zealand Public Media entity will bring.”

Jacinda Ardern is continuing her whirlwind Asian tour, heading to Vietnam alongside a business delegation and Damien O’Connor, the minister for trade and export growth.

Ardern has been in Cambodia for meetings with her Indo-Pacific counterparts at the East Asia Summit. During the conference, the prime minister managed to sneak in a brief sideline meeting with US president Joe Biden who was among the world leaders in attendance. According to the Herald, the pair followed up on topics they had discussed during a White House visit earlier in the year.

Meanwhile, Ardern said she used her visit to the East Asia Summit to ensure New Zealand had “a voice” on issues shaping our region.

“As a small country its important New Zealand takes part in these forums to express our views on the regional and global security conflicts and economic challenges that have real effects on New Zealanders and their families,” the prime minister said.

Also confirmed over the weekend was a boosted free trade deal with the Association of South East Asian Nations and Australia. Ardern said it will supercharge New Zealand’s economic and trading ties with those nations by cutting red tape and costs on businesses.

The subject of David Farrier’s new documentary appears to have bought himself a ticket to check out the film.

Mister Organ, which started life as a series of articles for The Spinoff, hit cinemas last week. It centres on a mysterious and manipulative figure called Michael Organ, who came to public attention after his overzealous clamping habits hit the headlines. 

Farrier tweeted over the weekend to share reports from movie goers that claimed Organ himself had been sitting in the back of a cinema watching the film.

“Michael was sitting at the back of the theatre talking (loudly),” claimed one person. Another described his talking more as “muttering”.

As the Herald reports this morning, health minister Andrew Little wants student nurses to be paid for hospital placements “as soon as possible”, with officials actively considering significant reforms. To become a registered nurse in New Zealand, students must complete 1,100 hours of placements in hospitals and “real” clinical settings. That work is currently unpaid.

Little said the placement stage is “where we see the biggest drop-off of nursing students”. National’s health spokesman Shane Reti was sceptical of the approach and questioned whether it would set a precedent for others like medical school students. Med students receive a $26,756 government stipend during their internship in their sixth year.

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Major electricity providers are directing billions of dollars in excess profits to their shareholders in a move that has some concerned about the impact on both consumers and the climate.

A report out this morning from First Union, the Council of Trade Unions and 350 Aotearoa has revealed that the four big “gentailers” (electricity generator-retailers) have paid out $3.7 billion more in dividends to their shareholders than they have earned in profits. That’s an average excess dividend of $459 million a year.

“Excess dividend distribution has starved our electricity network of the investment needed to build new generating capacity, hiking prices on households in the midst of a cost of living crisis, and keeping coal and gas-powered generating assets on life support,” said First Union researcher and policy analyst Edward Miller.

“As the largest gentailer shareholder, we’re calling on government to propose resolutions at shareholder meetings that will channel profits into building new renewable generating capacity, and using any dividends to buy back the gentailer shares.”

That’s a position shared by the Green Party, who have also called for a “fix” to the electricity market. Julie Anne Genter, the party’s energy and resources spokesperson, said the current state of play disadvantages both consumers and the climate – and things need to change.

“Massive electricity profits should be reinvested into renewables, action to reduce household bills, and local clean energy projects, such as shared or community energy,” said Genter.

There was also a jibe aimed at National, which under John Key partially privatised the electricity market. “Burning fossil fuels and keeping bills higher than necessary has become a strategy for profiteering that Mr. Luxon seems eager to promote,” said Genter.