The Crown has appealed the decision of a donations fraud trial that resulted in a not guilty verdict.

The high profile New Zealand First Foundation case wrapped last month. The two men, whose names are suppressed, were on trial over a series of donations obtained between 2015 and 2020.

As RNZ reported, Crown Law has since revealed it will appeal the decision.

Legal commentator and Spinoff guest writer, Graeme Edgeler, said the appeal was unexpected. “I could have seen an appeal on a question of law on the major issue in the case – the definition of party donation – but the judge also found the prosecution failed to disprove the absence of any claim of right,” he wrote on Twitter.

The number of new Covid-19 cases and hospitalisations has fallen once again.

There are 3,805 new community cases being reported today, with 466 people now in hospital with the virus. The seven-day rolling average of community case numbers today is 3,876 – last Friday it was 4,581. The seven-day rolling average of hospitalisations is 515, down from 609 a week ago.

There are now a total of 1,815 deaths confirmed as attributable to Covid-19, either as the underlying cause of death or as a contributing factor. The seven-day rolling average increase in total deaths attributable to Covid-19 is now 11.

The overnight death toll has risen by 16, with eight of these directly linked to Covid-19.

It’s that time of the week again! Test your knowledge in our weekly news quiz below.

Labour’s Kieran McAnulty has rejected “all” the allegations raised by under fire MP Gaurav Sharma.

The party will meet after the weekend to decide whether to expel Sharma after he went on a media tour and made serious claims of bullying and a political cover-up.

Sharma has named McAnulty as the “main bully” within caucus, an assertion refuted by the Wairarapa MP. “I took my job as chief whip incredibly seriously, particularly when concerns were raised by staff but I also made sure it was a fair process,” he told Newshub’s AM. 

McAnulty said he helped introduce a professional development programme for new MPs during his time as whip. “It is a difficult transition to go from outside world to being an MP.”

On claims he shouted at Sharma, McAnulty said that was not his point of view. “I’m not one for raising my voice. If anything, when I get wound up I go quieter, so I do not agree with that assessment at all.”

Kenzi realised she might be hairier than average as a teenager when her classmates started talking about shaving. It’s not one moment that teaches you what hair to feel ashamed of, but the accumulation of noticing what people say about body hair, and how New Zealand culture expects women to look.

But as she’s gotten older, she’s started to grow her leg and armpit hair out, and embrace the freedom from time consuming body hair removal. Initially, she was concerned that her partner might be worried about her hair, but she realised that her feelings about her body were something she had to navigate for herself. She isn’t apologetic about getting her eyebrows threaded and lash hairs lifted while letting her pit hair blow in the breeze.

Watch Kenzi talk about hair in the latest episode of Hair Now. Made with support from NZ On Air.

Journalist and presenter Rebecca Wright has been announced as Newshub Nation’s new co-host, replacing Oriini Kaipara who will step back from the show.

Wright, a former US correspondent, has been hosting Newshub’s 8pm bulletin since it launched earlier this year. She will continue to front that programme weeknights in addition to co-hosting Newshub Nation on Saturday mornings.

“I’m thrilled to be joining the team at Newshub Nation,” said Wright. “It’s a fascinating time with the political landscape changing so much and I’m looking forward to diving into the issues on behalf of our audience.”

Simon Shepherd will remain as the show’s other co-host.

New property data has revealed the biggest year-on-year jump for available houses ever, with prices continuing to fall.

Trade Me’s latest property index showed nationwide supply was up by 54% in July when compared with the year before. It was also the second month in a row where the number of listings increased by over 50%. Trade Me property sales director Gavin Lloyd said the market has flipped. “We’ve now seen property supply increase year-on-year for eight months straight,” he said.

“Every region saw an increase in the number of properties for sale when compared with the same month last year.”

Prices have also continued their slow descent, said Lloyd. “The national average asking price was $910,450 in July, down 2% when compared with June. After peaking at $971,450 in March, July marked the third month in a row where we saw prices fall from the month prior.”

Of course, as The Spinoff’s Alex Casey wrote about just last week, a drop in prices does not mean “affordable” housing.

Plans for US billionaire (and New Zealand citizen) Peter Thiel to build a luxury lodge in Wānaka have been shut down.

According to the Otago Daily Times, the partially concealed building was deemed too visible from a nearby walking track and, at 1165 square metres, would have been too large for the landscape.

An independent resource consent panel from the local council was “quite shocked” at how often “substantial parts of the proposal would be in plain, direct view,” said a decision released yesterday.

Thiel, a Trump-backer, has rarely visited New Zealand despite obtaining citizenship over a decade ago.

Electricity – something we arguably can’t live without at this stage in global growth. However, with expensive renewable supply, how do users and the industry match the demand? In this week’s episode of When the Facts Change, Bernard Hickey speaks with Octopus Energy’s Margaret Cooney about possible solutions to tweak and shift away from expensive peaks, and how an obscure law change might unleash a surge of retailing competition; all in the hopes of calming our collective low battery anxiety.

Listen below or wherever you get your podcasts. 

Nelson mayor Rachel Reese said the significance of the heavy rain that’s caused evacuations, road closures and property damage on the city “couldn’t be overstated” and that it will take years to recover. More rain is predicted to fall over the weekend which may lead to more surface flooding and slips due to the ground already being saturated.

The Far North is cut off with State Highway 1 closed at Rangiahua Bridge and State Highway 10 closed at Kāeo. Speaking to RNZ’s morning report this morning, Far North deputy mayor Anne Court said 1100 people in the area were without power overnight.

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It’s all anyone’s talking about – or maybe I live in a politics echo chamber – so we’re going to start today with the latest in the Sharma saga. You can also check out today’s edition of The Bulletin for a comprehensive wrap or read Toby Manhire’s latest piece for some analysis.

After sending another grenade into Labour last night during an interview with Newshub, rogue MP Gaurav Sharma has done the media rounds this morning where he has doubled down on his claims of bullying and alleged a cover-up that starts at the very top.

The main aspect of Sharma’s new allegations is that the secret Monday night “not-a-caucus” meeting pre-determined his fate. He claimed to have a recording of a Labour Party colleague saying exactly that. He’s accused the prime minister of covering it up and told RNZ she was a liar.

“There is no credibility… this is about the credibility of a nation’s prime minister, who every step of the way has been lying,” he said. “Even this week, lying and saying there is no predetermination while she called the meeting, in which everybody was invited, except me.”

On Newshub’s AM this morning, Sharma said he “may or may not” have more recordings of other MPs from within his caucus.

Despite the serious allegations levelled at the Labour leadership, Sharma told Newstalk ZB that nobody had reached out to him since the Newshub interview aired last night. “It’s about getting justice,” said Sharma when asked if he cared about being expelled. “I’m sure everyone will try to silence me one way or another, but [justice] is what matters most to me.”

A spokesperson for Labour leader Jacinda Ardern confirmed last night that expulsion was once again on the table. “The Labour Caucus will meet on Tuesday to consider a motion to expel Gaurav Sharma from the caucus,” they said. “Gaurav has repeatedly breached his colleagues trust, and caucus was clear that should there be further breaches such as this then further steps would be taken.”