It’s thought that Daya (11), of the South East Asia Jungle Track high canopy habitat, knocked a sprinkler head, triggering an alarm which caused two brigades from Fire and Emergency New Zealand to arrive within minutes. 

Daya has been in this habitat for about two weeks. She arrived from Ouwehands Zoo in The Netherlands mid-July, and then spent 30 days in quarantine. Monique de Wit who accompanied Daya on her move said “it will naturally take her some time to properly settle in,” in July. 

Today a spokesperson from the zoo told Stuff that “Orangutans are highly intelligent, curious, and dextrous, and the zoo will be looking into how to prevent this from happening in the future.”

Today The Spinoff published the 55th and final instalment of The Side Eye by Toby Morris. First launched in 2017, The Side Eye has been a visual history of Aotearoa; its people, its landscapes, the highs and the lows. Wholly original in his style, Toby has educated hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders about everything from inequality and crime, to dental policy and renters’ rights, to maunga and porn.

Side Eye comics have been taught in classrooms around the country, printed out and hung up in public libraries, and used as references in parliament offices. As far as impactful work goes, Toby’s is near unrivalled.

The final edition of The Side Eye is a personal one that speaks to universal trends (something Toby has always been exceptional at portraying). Errol Johnstone, 82, is a sign-writer in Paeroa, responsible for some of the best and most original signs in the country. His work spans decades, but tech advancements and digital design have had their own impacts on his work opportunities. Toby travelled to Paeroa to speak to Errol and walk through the town that he has helped visualise. A fitting send-off for Toby, who could walk anywhere in this country and know he has helped visualise it.

Read all 55 editions of The Side Eye here.

A group of protesters brandishing bright pink flags and declaring, “too many cows” have disrupted parliamentary question time. The banners, dropped from the public gallery above the government benches by three people, read “Climate election now” and sported the logo for the lobby group Greenpeace.

The speaker of the house, Adrian Rurawhe, called for security and urged the protesters to leave, which they did as security guards arrived. Today is the last sitting day before parliament breaks for the election, with adjournment debate soon to begin.

Today is the last day that parliament sits before dissolving tonight ahead of the election. As part of the agenda for the final day of New Zealand’s 53rd parliament, the Parole Amendment Act was passed under urgency. This law targets the parole conditions of 27 of New Zealand’s highest-risk sexual and violent offenders so they can be kept under close supervision. The Herald’s Derek Cheng reported the law responded to a June High Court decision “that found an extended supervision order could not require a high-risk offender to reside with their rehabilitation/reintegration programme provider.” 

This change – which will be applied from midnight tonight and have retrospective authority – allows offenders to reside with their programme providers, with parole conditions set for review every two years. Corrections minister Kelvin Davis says the bill enables corrections to maintain public safety by ensuring “these offenders have wrap-around support and supervision during their reintegration in a stable and structured environment.”  

Act, Labour and National voted in favour of the bill, whereas the Greens, Te Pāti Māori and independent MPs voted against it. The law was passed under urgency in just over two hours this morning, sidestepping the usual process for bill’s ascending that takes at least several months – so fast that Labour MP Liz Craig’s speech during the third reading today only lasted 34 seconds. 

Green party justice spokesperson Golriz Ghahraman called it a “rushed job” and lousy lawmaking. In response to the June High Court ruling, Davis explains this act was passed urgently so parole conditions for high-risk offenders would be upheld to maintain public safety.

Award-winning musician Rob Ruha says he is grateful to be alive after a recent heart attack. Although Ruha initially brushed off his condition as a bad case of heartburn or indigestion, after testing discovered it was a heart attack, he was rushed to Whakatāne hospital and later transferred to Tauranga’s cardiology unit. An operation in Tauranga implanted two stents into Ruha’s arteries, bringing their flow back to 100% – up from 10% during his heart attack ordeal. Ruha thanks the nurses, specialists, tohunga and whānau who saved his life. 

He is now safe and sound at home with his whānau and tamariki, where he has heeded words of warning to other New Zealanders. “I share this with you because there is so much stigma and whakamā (shame) associated with heart disease that stop our people reaching out before it is too late.” Ruha thinks we should all listen more intently to what our bodies tell us – as it took a week for his condition to be identified as a heart attack. “I never once believed what I experienced was a heart attack because that’s not the picture I had in my head of what it might be like.”, adding, “This is not what the pictures and media conditioned me to think it was.” The acclaimed artist is now taking a well-deserved break from his mahi to focus on recovery and suggests other New Zealanders shouldn’t be afraid to do the same during times of need. 

The smash hit of the 2020 election returns with Youth Wings season two, premiering on The Spinoff September 5. Following passionate members of five of Aotearoa’s political youth wings, the six part documentary series meets them out on the campaign trail and in their everyday lives. Find out their political aspirations for the future, and what drives anybody to join a political party at such a young age. 

Season two features Dallas Kete from Young Nats, whose political ambition was born in a Robert Harris. Lily Chen and Ryan Blackmore from Young Greens are on the frontlines of the year’s most talked-about protest. Young NZ First’s Keegan Langeveld is caught between two political worlds in the south. Ollie Murphy from Young Act is prepping for the political debate of his career. Jas McIntosh joined Young Labour because of Jacinda Ardern, so what now? 

Youth Wings is made with the support of NZ On Air. 

Minister for Racing Kieran McAnulty and Revenue Minister Barbara Edmonds hit out at National’s proposed online gambling tax, claiming it would require a massive increase in the number of Kiwis gambling to bring in the revenue National forecasts.

For a so-called “fiscal hole” it’s a bit hard to know for sure who is right. National’s plan is targeted at overseas online casinos, which are a black market in New Zealand and therefore no one knows exactly how much money they bring in.

McAnulty put forward figures from the DIA and TAB which estimated that Kiwis spend $351 million per year on offshore online casinos and sports betting. GST and Point of Consumption Charges on that spend would bring in just $38 million, he said, well short of the $180 million forecasted by National.

National’s Nicola Willis claimed Labour was mistaken: National’s plan wouldn’t just be focused on GST but also a whole raft of other corporate taxes, which would bring in a higher dollar figure. She refenced other market studies which put the offshore casino spend as high as $700m and growing – though capturing that entire spend seems unlikely in the age of VPNs.

Two protesters from the group Restore Passenger Rail caused traffic disruptions on State Highway 1 in central Wellington this morning, hanging a banner from a gantry near Bowen Street and blocking accessways to the structure.

It is the second protest by the group this week, the first taking place on Tuesday morning on SH1 in Kilbirnie. Tuesday’s protest resulted in three arrests, including Rosemary Penwarden who earlier this year was found guilty of forgery for a fake letter she sent to oil executives saying their annual conference was cancelled.

This morning both protesters were arrested. Police and emergency services used an electric grinder and a cherry picker to remove them and the banner by about 8.30 this morning, reported RNZ. 

While all motorway lanes are now open, Waka Kotahi said “significant southbound delays remain with queues back to Johnsonville. Please be patient while delays ease”.

Further to the reactions covered in The Bulletin this morning, One News and Stuff political commentators have added their two cents to the kōrero about the National Party’s proposed tax policy. Stuff’s chief political correspondent, Tova O’Brien, summed up the situation, saying the plan gets a slow clap rather than riotous applause. Politically, though, middle New Zealanders have given National’s finance spokesperson Nicola Willis a standing ovation, O’Brien reports.

“Tax cuts paid for with bureaucracy cuts and by stinging online gambling operators, foreign buyers and immigrants… What’s not to love if you’re ‘squeezed” middle New Zealand?’ she says. O’Brien argues that those very same voters will decide this election, clearly highlighted by Labour and National courting their votes. National has implied it would institute a three-yearly review of tax thresholds that create tax cuts during “election bribe season, starting in 2026”. O’Brien comments.

But she reports, National’s “standing ovation gets sat down pretty damn quick though if you’re less ‘squeezed middle’, more ‘flat out broke’. Giving the example of a politician earning $160,000 versus a minimum wage earner on $48,000, O’Brien explains the former will receive a weekly tax cut tenfold the size the latter will receive. However, she acknowledges that National has other plans targeting low-income households, although these are “still-not-whopping” but better than Labour’s “even-less-whopping” GST off fruit and vegetables scheme. 

O’Brien also says, “Where the applause slows, and the awkward shuffling comes in, is how National plans to pay for this $14.6 billion vote winner”, noting that Labour has questioned National’s ability to pay for its policies. Labour gave the example that National suggesting they could rake in $180m from online gambling operators would, in reality, only amount to $40-50m. Additionally, the plan would require nearly $600m in public service cuts, which O’Brien believes “could start cutting into the meat, if not the bone, of the public service”.

One News political editor Jessica Mutch McKay called National’s tax policy a political good move during a cost of living election but identified other leaking holes in National’s tax bucket. She says the plan to allow overseas buyers to purchase New Zealand homes above $2m while paying a 15% tax will be targeted by Labour. Mutch McKay reports that New Zealanders not only already feel iffy about overseas buyers, but Labour believes National’s suggestion that the policy will raise $3bn over four years is impossible because of tax treaties with other countries. Labour argues many countries would be exempt from this 15% tax because of tax treaties. 

She also identified provisions for landlords as another political hole in National’s plan that Labour will do everything to enlarge. The government will say the cost will be passed on to tenants and that National is simply propping up wealthy landlords. Mutch McKay argues, “When you only have a few sentences to convince voters, these attack lines can resonate.” However, she adds the timing of National’s announcement allows it to sell this policy on the campaign trail, not the debating chamber. 

As reported in The Bulletin this morning, a Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) briefing to education minister Jan Tinetti forecasts a $107.7m shortfall for tertiary education providers off the back of falling student enrolment numbers.

The Post’s Gianina Schwanecke reports this morning that TEC will cut its funding to the institutions by $52m as a result of the fall in student numbers, despite Victoria and Otago universities asking the commission to hold off.

RNZ’s John Gerritsen reports that the TEC briefing also revealed that the commission thinks previously announced plans for 400 job losses at Te Pūkenga did not go far enough and it’s more concerned about the national polytech’s long-term plans for transformation than about its most recent and current deficits. The Tertiary Education Union said the commission had overstepped its brief and its statements about job losses had alarmed its members.

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