The worst sporting clash this weekend? New Zealand vs New Zealand
An error by New Zealand Rugby pits two of its own teams against each other in a battle for eyeballs at a crucial juncture for women's rugby
Mōrena and welcome to The Bulletin for Thursday, October 27, by Anna Rawhiti-Connell. Presented in partnership with Z Energy.
In today’s edition: nurses on strike today; expectations of more action on Iran now travelling influencers safe; company contracted to do national transport ticketing involved in weapons training; but first, rugby scheduling clash labelled “disgraceful”
Blacks Ferns v All Blacks: a choice that could have been easily avoided (Image: RNZ/Tina Tiller)
Unforced scheduling error
It’s been quite the week for gender equality milestones. We have a parliament of MPs that’s now made up of more women than men. RNZ’s Anneke Smith did a beautiful job documenting the road to this moment in time. Marilyn Waring recalled being marched down to sit directly in front of Robert Muldoon and told that “he can't ignore you there, dear”. Perhaps someone should’ve deployed that strategy with New Zealand Rugby (NZR) and plonked the Black Ferns within viewing distance. It might have avoided an unforced error in scheduling the All Blacks game against Japan at the same time as the Black Ferns’ Rugby World Cup quarterfinal.
Disgraceful error, says minister
News of the scheduling clash emerged at the beginning of the week. As Madeleine Chapman writes, it turns out it was not malevolence at play here but incompetence, which is actually worse. NZR sort of…forgot about the Black Ferns. In its statement it said “Unfortunately, when Japan Rugby set the kick-off time for the All Blacks Test NZR did not take into account the Rugby World Cup stipulation that the host nation would play in the Quarterfinal 2 timeslot regardless of pool results and may inadvertently cause a clash.” Minister Kiritapu Allan has called the error “disgraceful” while sports minister Grant Robertson has said he expects better from NZR.
Black Ferns forced to front with no proactive statement from NZR
New Zealand Rugby didn’t proactively explain this error despite realising what had happened on Sunday night. They left senior Black Ferns and well-versed media spokesplayers to “cheekily” suggest people watch the All Blacks game on replay. They probably shouldn’t have had to cheekily suggest anything. NZR could have front footed it. Or just avoided it completely. Columnist, player and member of the strategic advisory group for Women in Rugby Aotearoa, Alice Soper, had this to say on Twitter: “This is just the top rung of inadequate oversight that you can climb all the way down the grassroots.”
Mean and unnecessary test on home turf for Black Ferns
As much as this tournament has been about the play, commercially important metrics like crowd size and broadcast eyeballs matter. Arguments about why women’s rugby isn’t given the same priority as the All Blacks often boil down to its commercial viability and popularity. It’s a point the Herald’s Gregor Paul makes very well (paywalled) when looking for an upside in all this. Paul writes that the assumption that the All Blacks will win the battle for eyeballs might be proven wrong, and even if it's not, at least the Black Ferns will know how they stack up as commercial competitors to the men’s team. The Black Ferns are playing on home turf in a World Cup we’re hosting and need to leverage off the success of the tournament, so it still seems like a mean and unnecessary test. Even if the jousting for eyeballs pays off, NZR has potentially jeopardised outcomes for one of its own teams. All of it could have been avoided by nipping down the Warehouse and buying a $3.99 2022 wall planner.
Journalism is an essential part of society and shouldn’t be a privilege of those who can afford it. The support of readers like yourself helps to ensure The Spinoff remains freely accessible to all, regardless of their ability to pay. If you value what we do and have the means to do so, please make a donation today.
Many nurses set to strike today
Plunket and primary healthcare nurses will strike for four hours today. It’s the first time Plunket nurses have gone on strike in at least 35 years. Plunket is the largest provider of care to families with young children in New Zealand. The nurses are seeking pay parity with their DHB colleagues and have rejected a previous offer of a 3% pay rise. The Public Service Association (PSA) also got an agreement this week to begin negotiations for a cost of living pay increase for all union members across the public service and crown agencies. That has halted planned industrial action from five government agencies. To round this industrial action segment out, the Fair Pay Agreements bill passed into law yesterday afternoon.
More action on Iran expected now social media influencers safe
Newshub’s Jenna Lynch writes that we should exect more action from the government on condemning what’s happening in Iran. For the past several months Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade officials have been involved in ensuring two social media influencers who had their movements restricted in Iran were safely released. The couple were warned not to travel there. Lynch says we will likely see the government “more overtly back calls for an independent impartial UN-type investigation into what's going on in Iran.” Yesterday, security forces in Iran reportedly opened fire on protesters who were gathered to mark the end of the official 40-day mourning period for Mahsa Amini.
As consumers demand sustainability, finance is evolving to fit
Across all sectors – from energy generation and transport to fashion and food – customers are demanding that businesses do more to consider their environmental impact. For smaller businesses, securing finance for sustainability measures has always been a challenge, which is why Kiwibank have retooled their approach to make it more accessible. Liam Ratana spoke to a handful of local small businesses about how they’re changing with the times, and learned from Tom Williams, Kiwibank’s head of sustainable finance, about what they’re doing differently. Get the full story here (sponsored)
National ticketing system contract awarded to company that trains US military in using drones
Transport minister Michael Wood announced a new public transport ticketing system last week. It will allow people to use one simple system across the country to pay for their public transport. Cubic Corporation won the contract to roll out a $1.388b system. As RNZ’s Phil Pennington reports, that company also makes software to train the US military in using drones. One of its videos promoting the product features men who look distinctly Arabic as targets. The company also has deals with Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman. Both those companies are on the NZ Super Fund’s list of banned companies due to nuclear weapons and civilian firearms manufacture.
Click and collect
Biggest year-on-year jump in methane concentrations in atmosphere since measurements began almost 40 years ago
12 things the National Party says it will repeal, reverse and scrap
Five years of Labour government and what they could do to turn polling around
The arguments for and against the climate protests that involve throwing food on art
Why New Zealanders can’t see a movie shot here that’s gaining rave reviews
Got some feedback about The Bulletin, or anything in the news? Get in touch with me at thebulletin@thespinoff.co.nz.
If you liked what you read today, share The Bulletin with friends, family and colleagues.
Hayden Donnell calls for the council to defund Ponsonby (and spend more on infrastructure for the suburbs that need it most). Charlotte Muru-Lanning talks to one of the Uber drivers involved in yesterday’s landmark Employment Court ruling. Claire Mabey considers the literary tradition of Whanganui after the Booker prize win by Shehan Karunatilaka. And Toby Manhire adds his two cents to the speculation that the prime minister is going to resign any day now.
Thatcher’s legacy as observed by a leaflet writer
“While Soho whiz-kids were dreaming up slogans to assist in the sell-off of Britain’s public sector, I was writing leaflets such as What to Do When Someone in Your Family Has Died for the Department of Social Security.”
This is a brilliantly written account of being a writer in the civil service in the United Kingdom under a Thatcher government from Simon Petherick. He worked in the Central Office of Information which we’d probably call government communications nowadays. Petherick argues that the administrations of Tony Blair, David Cameron, Boris Johnson and Liz Truss would be difficult to imagine “without the preparatory demolition of the foundations that Thatcher carried out”.
TOP leader argues MMP “has congealed”
Back home, Toby Manhire talks to Raf Manji, the leader of The Opportunities Party (TOP) in the latest episode of Gone by Lunchtime. I swear I am not recommending this because some cats trampled my tomatoes on Monday night, although they do talk cats. Manji argues MMP “has congealed” and thinks next year’s election could be a good one for the party as TOP needs the main parties to be in balance to succeed. He likens them to a choice between coffee and tea, suggesting TOP is something different. He lays out the party’s strategy for growth, gaining influence and some of the party’s policies.
I took great pleasure in not watching the All Blacks!!! Take that NZR!