The government says the economy has taken a “knock” after severe weather at the start of the year and it’s not a surprise we’ve fallen into a recession.

GDP contracted by just 0.1% in the last quarter, but given it followed another contraction in December, we’re technically in a recession.

A statement from finance minister Grant Robertson mentions the word recession once, saying the economy is resilient and will bounce back.

“New Zealand can handle these testing times and grow out the other side. Record numbers of people are in work, and wages are rising faster than inflation to help households with cost of living pressures,” Robertson said. “Tourists are returning in greater numbers, overseas workers are filling vacancies, and our public debt levels are among the lowest in the world. Our budget in May also invests in skills, research and development and infrastructure to grow a more productive economy.”

But the National Party’s less than impressed, labelling this a “red-light recession” that could threaten New Zealanders’ livelihoods. Nicola Willis, the party’s deputy leader and finance spokesperson, blamed Labour’s “mismanagement” of the economy for the situation we’re now in.

“While the government continues to make excuses, the data does not lie: New Zealand is now in worse shape than many of the countries we compare ourselves with including Australia, Canada and the US, all of which have faced similar global challenges but none of which face the toxic economic predicament we now find ourselves in,” she said.

The bill for the extensive review into the handling of the Auckland anniversary weekend flood response totalled $185,380, mayor Wayne Brown has confirmed.

The review, conducted by former police commissioner Mike Bush, was delayed due to subsequent severe weather caused by Cyclone Gabrielle.

In a statement, the mayor said many of the recommendations from the lengthy review had already been implemented, or were in the process being implemented.

National’s candidate for the Māori seat of Tāmaki Makaurau thinks her party is often misunderstood when it discusses concerns around co-governance.

Hinurewa te Hau is one of two National candidates standing in Māori electorates this election, the first time in 22 years the party has competed for the seats.

Asked at a public meeting last night to comment on the issue of co-governance and her concerns around it, te Hau suggested the government had failed to properly explain it to the wider public. “When it comes to co-governance, yes that’s a big discussion, what we’re really talking about is what we’ve always had since Te Tiriti was signed in 1840,” she said. “That is, about co-management, partnership, leadership, and how you and I work together to get the best possible outcome for our communities… so I think for me Labour has made it complicated by using the word ‘co-governance’.”

The Spinoff later asked Te Hau to clarify her position, questioning whether it was the framing of the issue or the issue itself that she disagreed with. She said it was fair to characterise her position as being against the way the government had argued for co-governance. “I think the Labour government has framed co-governance in a way that puts fear into people, especially non-Māori,” she said. “For me, co-governance is not a word I would normally use. For me, co-governance means partnership or management. We have so many examples in Aotearoa where Māori have been doing that.”

The John Key-led government, which had a relationship with the Māori Party, was an excellent example of this, said te Hau. “We’ve got history in that space, that was all about creating partnerships with iwi and hapu.” Examples included the treaty settlement process, she said, noting that partnership was about seeking the “best possible outcome” for all parties involved and didn’t have to involve a “50/50” power split.

National’s leader Christopher Luxon has vigorously argued against co-governance, saying it could drive division. “We have a principal objection because New Zealand has one government,” he said at Rātana earlier in the year.

But Te Hau said her position aligned with the views of Luxon and others in the National Party. “I think National gets misunderstood,” she said. “We get misunderstood and that’s not fair to the party.”

For as long as any of us can remember, older generations have blamed young people for not caring about “the issues of today”. But maybe it’s just that the issues are being discussed differently. 2 Cents 2 Much is a show about the meaty topics in Aotearoa for those who don’t tune into talkback radio or sit down and watch the 6pm news bulletin every night.

From the cost of living crisis to the monarchy, vaping to the revitalisation of te reo Māori, comedian Janaye Henry hosts a bite-sized chat show for young people in Aotearoa today.

2 Cents 2 Much is made with the support of NZ On Air.

Kiwibank’s chief economist has forecast further economic contractions, following the news the New Zealand economy dipped into recession during the March quarter.

Jarrod Kerr said today’s news wasn’t surprising, owing to a rough few months caused by severe weather, manufacturing issues and the ongoing teachers strike. “The outlook remains awkward, to put it politely,” said Kerr. “We expect further contractions in economic activity over 2023, and possibly into 2024. Government tax revenues have come in well below forecast, with both GST and corporate tax undershooting,” he said. “If businesses pull back on their hiring and investment, which is what we’re hearing, then the economy will contract harder.

At the end of the day, said Kerr, it’s all about inflation – and that is slowly falling. “It’s homegrown inflation that concerns the [Reserve Bank]. Inflation is only forecast to fall below 3%, late in 2024. It’s still a long journey back to the 2% target. The good news is, we’re on the way.”

Welcome to the recession. New figures out this morning confirmed the economy has dipped into a technical recession, with a second back-to-back quarter of negative growth.

Stats NZ reported economic activity – meaning GDP – fell by 0.1% in the March 2023 quarter, following a 0.7% drop in December. Annually, GDP was up 2.9% over the year ending March 2023. It’s worth noting that this data is retrospective, meaning we don’t actually know what state the economy is in right at this very moment.

“The December 2022 and March 2023 quarter declines follow growth in the June and September 2022 quarters,” said Stats NZ’s Jason Attewell.

“The adverse weather events caused by the cyclones contributed to falls in horticulture and transport support services, as well as disrupted education services. Fewer teaching days led to falls in primary and secondary education services.”

The Greens, first out the gate with response to this morning’s figures, argued that the news of a recession showed why their proposed income guarantee scheme was necessary.

“We know that a recession will hit lower-income New Zealanders who spend the majority of their income covering the essentials like food and rent the hardest. The time is now to lift every single family out of poverty through our Income Guarantee and to pay for it with a fair tax system,” saids the party’s finance spokesperson, Julie Anne Genter.

National, meanwhile, condemned Labour’s “economic mismanagement”.

Confused about wtf a recession actually is? Look no further.

The international promoters responsible for a series of “unauthorised” concerts across New Zealand that led to mass walkouts have hit back at concerns from attendees.

Musical tributes to the likes of Harry Potter, Hans Zimmer and the Lord of the Rings were widely condemned on social media last month, with reports dozens of people left at half time and, per a Reddit post, at least one person was brought to tears.

A month after we requested comment from Star Entertainment, a spokesperson has responded to The Spinoff. In a lengthy comment, the promoters claimed they received “such positive feedback with standing ovations” during the New Zealand tour, which goes against much of the online commentary surrounding the event.

A number of wild claims are levelled in the statement, including: “Our ‘Lord of the Rings’ concert series was started 15 years ago by Saruman actor Sir Christopher Lee with perfect music arrangements and visuals created by the Queen of Denmark.” Video footage of Lee, who died several years ago, was played at the recent NZ concerts, confusing some attendees.

The promoters also said it was “fake news” that the concerts weren’t authorised. “Here we suggest you complain directly with the sources of desinformation [sic] – with the news media and on social media directly with the trolls, asking not to spread fake news from market competitors, who themselves were not able to present to you the wonderful music and the great presenters like we do since 15 years successfully all over the globe to millions of people. Our shows have been hailed on numerous occasions as the best film music concerts in the world.”

In fact, the source of the “fake news” is Lord of the Rings film composer Howard Shore, who asked fans of the film series not to attend the shows. A lawsuit is already under way, he said.

Star Entertainment also blamed the Russian invasion of Ukraine and difficulties securing visas for performers. “There is no reason why visa process should take weeks in the digital age and it should be forbidden that express visas are only granted at a horrendous fee (and still come with a delay!), and that visa agencies make horrendous money for procedures which the governments should give for free,” the statement read. “In our case several artists were denied visa in time and we had to substitute them, our Ukranian crew visas were given in New Zealand only after the concerts started and it was too late to fly them in.”

Regardless, Star didn’t seem hugely prepared to accept the criticism from fans. The statement concluded: “Our shows have been hailed on numerous occasions as the best film music concerts in the world.”

Read more: Were these the worst concerts… of all time?

The annual Fieldays kicked off yesterday with politicians from across the spectrum descending on Mystery Creek. As I reported, it was an opportunity for political leaders to try and convince rural voters they had the right credentials to represent them in government. Both Chris Hipkins and Christopher Luxon told me they led the “party of farmers”, a comment that somewhat irked Act’s Mark Cameron (who is actually a farmer). Read more on that here.

Today, Act will indeed launch its own agriculture policy. But ahead of that, the party has pledged to “cut red tape” in the rural sector. “Act would shake up MPI, and other government agencies, going line by line and weeding out unnecessary programmes and wasteful spending,” a statement from Cameron said.

Leader David Seymour will be at Fieldays to formally unveil the party’s policy. As an aside, I highly recommend you read Toby Manhire’s in depth feature looking at the rise and rise of the Act Party since 2020.

As Stuff’s Gianina Schwanecke reports, details have emerged of the proposed restructure at Te Pūkenga, the national polytechnic. Staff are feeling “shocked” and “gutted” after hundreds found out their roles have been cut. They still don’t know how many jobs might be left to reapply for. In a Nine to Noon interview in March, Te Pūkenga CEO Peter Winder indicated the number of jobs on the line was “a number that will be more than 200 and less than a thousand, considerably less than a thousand.” Polytech staff consulted an employment lawyer after that on the basis of hearing about the job losses on live radio, before being consulted.

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