Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Unaffordable dental care in the spotlight, update on the two crops of Covid cases, and Billy TK quits Advance NZ alliance.

One of the weeping sores of the health system is the high cost of dental care, and the health effects that flow from that. It’s not free like other healthcare is, and as a result many people cannot choose to get dental treatment. For an explanation of the funding system, and an explanation of the effects of that on poorer communities, it’s worth going back to this edition of The Side Eye from March.

Over the weekend, the issue was thrown into stark relief by an exploration of how the cost of dentistry affects Northland, by The Hui. Even those who are working full time in Kaikohe can’t necessarily afford to get dental care, and existing services are stretched to their limits. It leaves people resorting to drastic and dangerous measures, like attempting to pull their own teeth out with pliers. Others simply live in constant, chronic pain. The problems are well known – as Newshub reported months ago, the government received a report in 2018 on how to improve access to adult dental care, and simply sat on it for well over a year.

It briefly looked like the issue might become part of the election campaign, but then both major parties chose not to offer anything major. National’s package involved $30 million for dental education, including a free toothbrush. Labour promised to triple the emergency grant available to low income people, but stopped well short of bringing dental care into the wider free health system. Not doing so may well be a short-sighted decision – as journalist and lawyer Cat MacLennan wrote on Newsroom at the start of the year, “our refusal to provide free dental care to adults carries with it costs for the entire country.”

An update on Covid-19 from over the weekend: We had a live updates page running from Saturday through to Monday, with the number of active cases rising to 74 over the whole country. In total, 32 mariners in the hotel in Christchurch have now tested positive. Genome sequencing has also revealed that all three cases connected to the Sofrana Surville ship in Auckland are identical, suggesting they came from a common source.

Billy Te Kahika has withdrawn from the alliance with Advance NZ, following a poor showing in the election, reports the NZ Herald. He’ll be taking the NZ Public Party component of it with him, and presumably a huge chunk of the membership as well, given they provided the serious numbers for the alliance. It leaves Advance leader Jami-Lee Ross somewhat adrift, and as text messages released to Stuff show, he seems to have been aware throughout the campaign that NZPP momentum was his only possible path back to parliament, and was willing to overlook financial issues around the component party to get there.

We’ve had a big weekend of election analysis on The Spinoff, so I’ll share it all up top here. Jihee Junn reports on the digital spend of parties and candidates over the campaign, particularly on Facebook. Joe Nunweek writes about the swing to Labour, and how it could signal a widespread shift in what the electorate wants to see from politicians. Ben Thomas reviews the post-election wreckage for the National party, and where they have to go from here. Liam Hehir argues that National’s self-reflection should involve a reexamination of their policies around social welfare. And on the coming decisions for the Greens, we’ve got former MP Kevin Hague urging them to throw themselves into cooperation with Labour, while member and activist Justine Sachs argues that a seat at the table isn’t worth selling out the party’s soul.

We’ll get a full range of ministerial announcements in a few weeks, when the shape of parliament is finalised. But in the meantime, there’s a lot of speculation about who will be the next foreign minister, now that Winston Peters is out of parliament. Politik this morning reports that it’s likely to come down to Andrew Little or David Parker – but at the same time, both have significant long-term domestic responsibilities in Treaty negotiations and the environment respectively, which they may not be willing to give up.

Staying in foreign policy, there’ll be an upcoming headache for the government over whether to back Chris Liddell’s candidacy for the top job at the OECD. Liddell is a New Zealander who is currently working at the heart of the Trump White House, having been there for pretty much the entire term. Newsroom’s Sam Sachdeva has analysed whether it is in the NZ government’s interests to support him, not least because the Trump administration has spent four years gleefully trampling all over international agreements and institutions.

In otherworldly news, a form of water has been discovered on the moon. Radio NZ reports the NASA announcement has raised hopes of being able to sustain a lunar base in the coming years, as the frozen water would potentially also provide people with oxygen to breath and hydrogen for fuel. It doesn’t necessarily indicate anything about life on the moon, which also has no atmosphere to hold water together in liquid form.

Got some feedback about The Bulletin, or anything in the news? Drop us a line at thebulletin@thespinoff.co.nz

Right now on The Spinoff – a whole long weekend of great reads to catch up on. We’ll start with stuff in a vaguely medical vein: Alex Kazemi writes about the history of plagues, and the challenges for systems to overcome short-term thinking. Nick Eichler and Siddhartha Mehta write about how Covid has exposed health iniquities, and what to do about that. Helen Glenny writes about the resurgence of study into the medical uses of psychedelic drugs like LSD. James Dann explores how the Covid lockdown helped clear the air and potentially eased water pollution, and follows that up with a piece about the wider societal and health effects. Hassan Vally of La Trobe University writes about Melbourne’s long lockdown, and how the city is finally ready to start opening up again. Simon Day writes about his experience of postnatal anxiety, and how increasing awareness is needed of mental health issues for new fathers.

And in a whole bunch of other stuff: Tara Ward looks back at one of the great unifying moments in New Zealand’s history – the televised grand final of Top Town. Michelle Langstone speaks to Claire Mabey, who as a festival director has come through an absolute horror year. David Hill reflects on the life and death of the real boy who inspired his heartbreaking novel See Ya, Simon. Christopher Smol writes about Letterboxd, a New Zealand website changing the way the world talks about movies. Michael Andrew meets Ian Swney, the unlikely vandal who spray-painted wage subsidy messages all over a Briscoes, and asks what he’s planning next. Emily Writes marks the brief life of streaming site Quibi, which is now gone after launching to great fanfare only months ago. Duncan Greive reviews his underwear. And Sam Brooks speaks to Sophie Henderson, who brought her own experiences of pregnancy to bear in writing the newly released film Baby Done.

For a feature today, an unusually told story of an unusual haven for activists and artists in Wellington. Writing on the Pantograph Punch, Airini Beautrais has looked back on 128 Abel Smith, the old house in the middle of the city that recently burned to the ground. It blends personal experience with what was happening in the wider scene at the time, in a way that helps get a sense of the place across. Here’s an excerpt:

When 128 burned down it brought up a lot of memories for a lot of people. Some of these were good; some were less good. There were photos of the TACO street party shared on social media. We made connections: who we know now, who we crossed paths with then. For others, the rose-tinted nostalgia was less appealing. 

There were fights at 128. There were meetings that devolved into screaming matches. There were men who abused women. There were creeps. There were cliques and campaigns against particular people; there were friendships that fell apart. There was an element of holier-than-thou – the newcomer with new leather shoes might not be welcomed as warmly as the one with safety-pinned clothing. None of this was good; none of it was particularly surprising to me. I had grown up in a religious community with core values of peace and love, and I had seen all of this happen before. It continues to happen wherever people live and work together.

In sport today, a fascinating story of a young athlete who is stepping up where politicians are failing. Writing on Sportsfreak, Aiden McLaughlin has discussed the state of school lunches in the United Kingdom, and how footballer Marcus Rashford has been leading the charge to ensure that kids in poverty would still be able to access food over the summer holidays. He’s 22 and famous for kicking a ball around, and yet Rashford clearly has a stronger moral compass than many of those elected to run the country.

That’s it for The Bulletin. If you want to support the work we do at The Spinoff, please check out our membership programme

Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: What we know – and what we don’t – about the Covid-19 community cases; an America’s Cup spat threatens how Aucklanders can watch; and late election donations are revealed.

It’s now been five days since we learnt that Covid-19 was back in the community, and the missing pieces of the puzzle are gradually falling into place. With hundreds of community tests taking place in Auckland’s Greenhithe suburb yesterday – following the news a man who went on to test positive spent an evening in a pub there while he may have been infectious – we should have a good idea today if it’s spread any further. Some pretty big questions still remain, however.

Jamie Morton of the Herald has delved into how New Zealand’s 1,530th case of Covid-19 came to be, and highlights a point earlier covered by RNZ: the 27-year-old marine  technician boarded the Sofrana Surville on Tuesday, October 13, the same day as eight crew members who had flown in from the Philippines a few days before, and had isolated at the Novotel facility for only “a brief period”. None had been tested. Public health experts are asking why crew in transit like these aren’t subject to the usual border rules, and the Ministry of Health has promised to review its measures. All crew of the Sofrana Surville, which is currently moored off Queensland, have now been tested, and this afternoon results revealed three crew members were at different stages of infection – something health minister Chris Hipkins yesterday told Checkpoint “lends itself to the idea that the virus had been circulating around that ship”.

On Wednesday, it emerged that two workplace contacts of the technician had tested positive. While one was a close contact and already in quarantine, the other was considered only a casual contact as he had spent just a few minutes in the same room with the technician on the Friday. Health experts such as Siouxsie Wiles had expressed surprise that someone could be infected in such a brief period.

As Morton reports, this man had in fact been tested and returned a negative test result on Sunday but by Tuesday he was feeling sick, so got retested – and it came back positive. As our live updates yesterday reported, however, Ashley Bloomfield revealed the man also boarded the Sofrana Surville on October 12, so may have been infected there, rather than through his subsequent contact with the technician on land. This would also suggest that Covid-19 was already on board the ship before the arrival of the eight crew from the Philippines, who didn’t board until the day following. Yet another possibility is that the casual contact (let’s call him, as Hipkins did on Checkpoint last night, case C) was infected by the close contact (case B) of the original case (the technician, case A), who Hipkins said had spent a longer period of time with case C on the Friday afternoon.

On Wednesday night, Auckland Regional Public Health alerted the public that a case had visited The Malt pub in Greenhithe on the Friday night, the day before the technician returned his positive result, when no one was any the wiser. It appears that this was case C, and ARPHS said that while he wasn’t symptomatic, the man may have been infectious, so anyone who was at the pub that night should get tested and self-isolate for 14 days. The man’s contact with the technician (case A) was that very morning, so if that was indeed the source of infection, it would have been very early in the incubation stage of the virus, and even earlier if the source was case B. If he had caught it when on board the Sofrana Surville, however, the virus would have been incubating for a few more days.

The Ministry of Health, which initially said anyone who was at the pub at the same time as case C should be tested, is now advising household contacts of those people to be tested as well. Hipkins defended the change in messaging, telling Checkpoint that new information was coming to light all the time. He didn’t know how many people had been tested at the pop-up centres in Greenhithe yesterday, but the Herald said by early afternoon, there had been around 200. There were reports of waits of up to three hours. Presumably the results will come back today, and we’ll hear if any are positive – keep an eye on our lives updates for that one. Last night the Herald reported that the man who had been at The Malt had also been to a fishing supplies store in Gulf Harbour twice on the Sunday, but the visit was deemed low risk, and a Browns Bay gym had closed for deep cleaning following a visit from a Covid case on Saturday.

With all this uncertainty around the exact source of infection and the potential spread, it’s probably understandable that the government is urging people to take extra precautions like wearing masks on public transport – what Bloomfield referred to yesterday as “level one plus”. It’s not a legal requirement, however, and many of us seem reluctant to wear them unless we absolutely have to. Hipkins has asked Bloomfield to present evidence for and against a national mandate to wear masks on public transport and flights under all alert levels, and Bloomfield said work was under way on preparing it.

The America’s Cup arbitration panel has ruled out the use of two inner-harbour courses for the Prada Cup challenger series of races to be run between January 15 and February 22 next year, which effectively ends the public’s ability to watch the races from shore. The decision has outraged Team New Zealand, which blames a campaign being waged by challenger Luna Rossa. It’s a “typically confused and bitter America’s Cup spat”, write Chris Rattue and Matt Brown in the Herald. NZ yachtsman Brad Butterworth, who now works for Luna Rossa, told the Herald that as the challengers would not have access to those areas during the Prada Cup, they handed a tactical advantage to the home team defenders, and the British and American teams supported the decision, which he said was made without the knowledge of the challengers. “It’s pretty obvious to everybody who is wrong here,” Butterworth said, blaming Team New Zealand. “It’s a bit of bad behaviour and they’ve been caught out by the arbitration committee.”

Team New Zealand boss Grant Dalton, meanwhile, told Stuff Luna Rossa would “do anything to take the cup from New Zealand, and if that means hurting the event in the process, so be it”. Ports of Auckland spokesperson Matt Ball told BusinessDesk’s Pattrick Smellie the decision to remove the courses from the Prada Cup was to reduce disruption to shipping. Auckland mayor Phil Goff has asked the teams to work together to find a solution that makes the event more accessible to Aucklanders.

A complainant in the sexual assault allegations against a group of Wellington musicians has spoken to Sophie Cornish and Mandy Te of Stuff, saying the process of filing a complaint with police of historical indecent assault had made her feel stronger, and she was encouraged by the support she had received from police and other complainants. “I feel like this massive weight has been lifted off my shoulders,” she said, calling for others to come forward and go to the police. Multiple allegations were made public on social media earlier this week and police have opened an investigation, dubbed Operation Emerald.

Anyone who has information can contact police via 105, and reference Operation Emerald. If you need support, visit confidential sexual harm helpline safetotalk.co.nz.

Donations disclosed in the last weeks of the election campaign reveal Labour went ahead with its usual art auction fundraiser, despite questions about how it was disclosing the donations, reports the Herald’s Claire Trevett and Jason Walls. There has been speculation the SFO probe into 2017 donations to Labour could relate to the art auctions, and electoral law specialist Andrew Geddis told the Herald the law in this area should be tightened up to disclose who buys the artworks.

Late donations also revealed Winston Peters – or someone with the same initials – appeared to have lent $60,000 to New Zealand First, Sam Sachdeva reported for Newsroom.

RNZ’s Meriana Johnsen has been reporting from the Waitangi Tribunal hearing into why there is a disproportionate number of tamariki Māori in state care. Yesterday, the Māori Women’s Welfare League told the tribunal that Māori initiatives to reduce the number of tamariki in their care have been short-lived because the Crown has all the control. Earlier in the day, the National Urban Māori Authority called for Oranga Tamariki to make way for a Māori-led “Mokopuna Authority”.

We’d love it if you, beloved Bulletin reader, to take part in our latest audience survey, conducted by UMR research.

It’ll help us take the pulse of New Zealand across a range of political and social issues, and will be used to inform what stories we tell on The Spinoff.

It shouldn’t take more than 10 minutes of your time and will help us keep producing great journalism, free to everyone. Thanks!

Got some feedback about The Bulletin, or anything in the news? Drop us a line at thebulletin@thespinoff.co.nz

Right now on The Spinoff: Ben Thomas asks what’s next for the National Party, finding one small ray of light. UK-based NZ journalist Richard Adams writes about his life as a human guinea pig on the Oxford Covid vaccine trial. Former Green MP Kevin Hague urges his former party to work with Labour for nature’s sake. Duncan Greive reviews Borat 2, in which Sacha Baron-Cohen’s most successful character returns to a pandemic-stricken middle America. Simon Day writes about anxiety and depression in new dads. Alex Braae compares two minor parties that polled similarly on election day but are ideologically poles apart. Michael Andrew looks at how permanently low interest rates are killing the home ownership dream for many. And Leonie Hayden reviews great new Rose Matafeo flick Baby Done.

For a feature today, check out Emma Espiner’s speech to at Waitohu: Women Reclaiming The Ink, a celebration of mana wāhine hosted by the National Library, republished in full by Newsroom. It’s about Māori women taking ownership of the written word and is well worth a read.

That’s it for The Bulletin. If you want to support the work we do at The Spinoff, please check out our membership programme.