The prime minister has labelled comments made by one of his ministers over the weekend as inappropriate, and revealed his office asked her to walk them back.

Marama Davidson, co-leader of the Green Party and a minister, was captured on video ahead of a rally against anti-trans speaker Posie Parker saying “white cis men” were responsible for “violence in the world”.

A statement from Davidson was released earlier this afternoon in which she stated that the comments were made shortly after she had been struck by a motorcycle and she was in shock. Violence was unacceptable “in any community”, added Davidson in her updated remarks.

Speaking at a post-cabinet press conference this afternoon, PM Chris Hipkins said he accepted the context in which the comments were made was unpleasant for his minister and some leeway was acceptable. “[Davidson] had just been hit by a motorcycle [and] was being harassed by a right wing conspiracy group,” he said. “I don’t expect perfection from people and particularly not when they’ve just experienced a trauma like that.”

However, he added that the comments were inappropriate. “There have been conversations this morning with Marama and her office… I think it’s appropriate that she clarified the statement that she made.”

Bringing “race” into the issue of domestic violence was unhelpful, said Hipkins, and it was his expectation as prime minister that a minister should make their comments clear if they have been misinterpreted. “Through my office, [I] made it clear that it would be beneficial if [Davidson] was able to clarify what it was she was intending to say.”

On the events in Albert Park on Saturday morning, Hipkins said he did not believe the right to free speech extended to violence – and that included people throwing things. However, he said he did observe a “significant number” of New Zealanders exercising free speech.

Labour ministers had not been ordered to stay away from the counter-protests over the weekend, said Hipkins. He did not know if any chose to attend.

The co-leader of the Green Party has clarified comments she made at Saturday’s counter-protest against anti-trans speaker Posie Parker.

Caught on camera by a representative for the conspiracy theorist website Counterspin, Marama Davidson claimed: “I am the prevention violence minister, and I know who causes violence in the world, and it’s white cis men”.

That comment prompted both Act leader David Seymour and former deputy PM Winston Peters to call for Davidson’s resignation, saying it was untrue and offensive.

In a statement, Davidson said the comments were made shortly after she had been hit by a motorcyclist and she was in shock.

“I was not as clear in my comments to the conspiracy theorists Counterspin as I should have been,” Davidson said.

“Violence is unacceptable in any community and as the minister responsible for Aotearoa’s first ever plan to eliminate family violence and sexual violence, I am committed to an Aotearoa where all people are safe and can live peaceful lives. My top priority is to support, protect and believe all victims and survivors of violence.”

Davidson added: “I should have made clear in my comments that violence happens in every community. My intention was to affirm that trans people are deserving of support and to keep the focus on the fact that men are the main perpetrators of violence.”

While the minister said she will not be making further comments, prime minister Chris Hipkins will almost certainly be questioned on the issue at his 4pm post-cabinet press conference.

The official Covid-19 death toll has risen by 33 this week, bumping the total to 2,662.

The Ministry of Health’s latest update reports 76 new Covid-attributed deaths, but the overall death toll rises by 33 when adjusted to include non-Covid and other unrelated deaths.

The daily average number of new cases is now around 1,605, with 11,258 new infections reported over the past week.

There are now 211 people in hospital with the virus and seven in intensive care.

This Saturday just been marked three years since New Zealand entered into a level four lockdown as Covid-19 arrived on our shores for the first time.

One of New Zealand’s spy agencies foiled three possible terror events on our shores, it’s been revealed.

The Security and Intelligence select committee met today, with bosses from the SIS and GCSB facing questions from MPs including prime minister Chris Hipkins.

It was during this hearing that Andrew Hampton, the director general of the GCSB, revealed interventions in three separate proposed domestic terror attacks.

One operation involved an individual making bomb threats with “an implied ideological motivation”, while the second and third involved possible white supremacists. In one of these cases, the individual had been displaying behaviour of “increasing concern” online. The other had threatened to use firearms and explosives at a public event.

“In all three operations, the GCSB was able to combine lead information from other agencies with our unique technical capabilities to help identify the individuals who had each taken great care to anonymise themselves online,” said Hampton.

In the case of one of those incidents, which has been publicly reported already, Hampton confirmed there charges had been laid.

Hampton later added that there had been about 350 cyber incidents reported last year, down from the 404 the year prior.

As banks face scrutiny over the size of their profits, it’s been revealed the finance minister looked at a possible “bank tax”.

The Herald’s Jenée Tibshraeny reported this morning that Grant Robertson asked for advice from the Reserve Bank on whether it would be possible to save the Crown money – potentially billions – by paying banks less interest on the settlement cash it holds.

Here’s how Tibshraeny reported it, to make sure I don’t get any of the technicalities wrong: “The issue, from a public finance perspective, is that programmes the RBNZ used to lower interest rates in 2020 and 2021 – the Large-Scale Asset Purchase programme and Funding for Lending Programme – saw the balances of banks’ settlement accounts rise seven-fold to $49 billion.

These balances are expected to fall as the programmes are unwound. But in the meantime, the RBNZ is paying increasing rates of interest… on a large sum of money.”

You can read the full report here.

Bluebridge’s Connemara ferry was back in service yesterday after a mechanical issue caused a string of cancellations on Saturday. It was the third time Connemara had broken down in less than two months of service, according to the NZ Herald. “We understand this is very disruptive to our customers’ travel plans and we are sorry,” Bluebridge said on its website, adding that passengers would be refunded only if there was no available vehicle space on its ferries over the coming weeks.

“Meanwhile, rival operator Interislander has advised its customers that all passenger bookings on Kaitaki are now cancelled until the end of this month because work to repair its gearbox is taking longer than expected,” the Herald reported.

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The scenes that unfolded at Auckland’s Albert Park on Saturday morning were, according to counter-protesters, largely peaceful and non-violent.

British anti-trans campaigner Kellie-Jay Keen Minshull (or Posie Parker) fled New Zealand after her attempts to host a rally in Auckland city were stopped by thousands of protesters.

Keen-Minshull has claimed she feared for her life, but on the ground reports, such as by The Spinoff’s Anna Rawhiti-Connell, suggest the counter-protest was “joyful, life-affirming and full of love”.

That’s the view shared by Auckland Pride executive director Max Tweedie who told RNZ this morning that Keen-Minshull’s messages were simply drowned out by noise.

“There was no real reason for her to fear for her life. Ultimately she got out completely unscathed,” he said.

“I think the thing that we saw at Albert Park was thousands of people coming out in support of trans communities. There were a couple of times when tensions were running high… but this is what happens when you’re putting someone who has come to this country with the intention of spreading hatred and division.”

At least three people subscribing to Nazi ideology were seen in attendance at the rally. Asked whether discussing their appearance could be a distraction to the key issues regarding the transgender community, Tweedie said it was worth interrogating why neo-Nazis have showed up at two Keen-Minshull rallies.

While Keen-Minshull has left the country, questions over her tour will likely continue this week down in Wellington. Green MPs were visibly in attendance at counter-protests over the weekend, while deputy prime minister Carmel Sepuloni said she believed attending wasn’t the right move. “In my mind, that woman and her views are abhorrent and actually, in some ways, quite ridiculous,” she told Q&A’s Jack Tame. “I don’t want to give her a platform, because I think we’re much more progressive and we’ve moved beyond those views mostly in this country.”

The Act Party has condemned what it saw as violent scenes at Albert Park and National’s Christopher Luxon has claimed the principle of free speech needed to be upheld (perhaps ignoring the fact that Keen-Minshull was free to speak, but ultimately not free to be listened to).