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At the end of this week, New Zealand is back in a situation we hoped to have left behind. With Auckland in lockdown and the country on alert, Covid-19 is back. Read more

With the number of Auckland’s Covid cases increasing exponentially, there is every chance the Government will extend the city’s Alert Level 3 lockdown for several weeks. How we got here and the lessons we can learn are questions for another day. Read more

Even with the best of practices at the border, eventually something will get through. And something now has – though officials are still trying to figure out whether it came in with a passenger, or through refrigerated transport. Read more

Presented as an engineering or operations management problem, it would seem almost impossible to solve. Thinking about it as that kind problem is now part of the problem at New Zealand’s border. Read more

Over the past fortnight the border issue troubling politicians and the media has been whether Kiwis returning from overseas should contribute to the costs of their managed isolation. But even with its half-billion-dollar price-tag, the cost of quarantining returning Kiwis is the least of the country's border concerns. Read more

Last week, The New Zealand Initiative released a new research report: Pharmac: The Right Prescription? Pharmac’s core role is to get the best health benefits from medicines for New Zealand within a fixed budget. Read more

Family coming to stay for the weekend is hardly a reason for home renovations. In a pinch, folks can bunk in together for a while. Read more

This week, the Government announced that the real price of entering New Zealand for many returning Kiwis, for loved ones trapped abroad, and for others who might wish safely to join this lifeboat, is infinite. No amount of money will get anyone else into the country. Read more