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November 04, 2025
By Catherine McGregor
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Mōrena, and welcome to The Bulletin
In today’s edition: New company launched to tap KiwiSaver savings for infrastructure investment; What can Aotearoa learn from Canada’s mammoth Indigenous housing project? But first, with cases rapidly ticking up, a national "immunisation week" campaign hopes to encourage more New Zealanders to get their kids – and themselves – vaccinated for measles.
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Only 82% of NZ two-year-olds are fully immunised with two doses of the vaccine, leaving at least one in five unprotected. (Image: Archi Banal)
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17 cases and counting
New Zealand’s measles outbreak has grown to 17 confirmed cases as of Sunday, with infections now reported in Northland, Auckland, Taranaki, Wellington and Nelson. RNZ reports that the latest case, located in Auckland, is linked to an earlier overseas-acquired infection. Wellington remains the hardest-hit region with six cases, including a student at Wellington Girls’ College, where more than 900 people are considered close contacts and younger students have been told to stay home until mid-week. Auckland Grammar is also affected, after a person with measles was on campus on
October 24. Acting prime minister David Seymour came under fire over the weekend for holding a media event at the school while testing was underway, a move Labour’s Ayesha Verrall, an infectious diseases specialist, said showed “poor judgement” and risked further spread.
The vaccination push
Measles is so contagious it requires a 95% immunisation rate for herd immunity. Data from June 2025 shows only 82% of two-year-olds are fully immunised with two doses of the vaccine, leaving at least one in five unprotected.
The drive to get more people vaccinated, especially children, is quickly ramping up. A national immunisation week starts today and health minister Simeon Brown has confirmed to 1News that measles vaccines are now free for all people aged over one, including adults who are not eligible for funded healthcare. About 15,000 measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) doses are typically used each month, but that figure is
expected to rise sharply in response to the outbreak. Brown said 117,000 doses are currently in storage, with another 28,000 on the way; Pharmac says there is a “significant safety buffer” in supply.
The Herald’s Jaime Lyth reports that Brown is also seeking advice on a potential MMR zero programme to allow infants under 12 months to receive early vaccination during outbreaks. It’s not a clear-cut decision, director of public health Corina Grey said. “It does provide some protection – but the proportion is lower the younger the child is and they still need to get two doses after that."
What the experts say
National public health service director Nick Chamberlain has called measles “one of the most contagious diseases on the planet”. If you are unvaccinated and exposed, there is “a 90% chance you’ll get it,” he said, adding that each infectious person typically spreads the virus to 12 to 18 others. University of Auckland public health expert Sir Collin Tukuitonga warned that one in three children who catch measles are hospitalised, and some suffer brain damage. Other experts contacted by the Science Media Centre emphasised that the MMR vaccine is safe, effective and provides lifelong protection after two doses. With the outbreak spreading, Chamberlain said the public health system is prepared for up to 100 new cases a week but hopes early immunisation will prevent that.
What it’s like to have measles as an adult
For The Spinoff, Emma Gleason spoke to her father about contracting measles during an outbreak in 2011. At 57, he was one of the oldest people in Auckland to have ever contracted the disease. At first, he thought he had the flu and tried to sleep it off. Days later, covered in a rash and running a 40-degree fever, he was diagnosed and told to isolate. “My memory of an entire week is basically gone… That was the worst period,” he recalled. “I became incoherent and totally debilitated.” Too contagious to visit the hospital, he stayed home, hallucinating and drifting in and
out of consciousness until his fever finally broke. He suffered from nerve pain and sore eyes for a long time after, and was left with a profound belief in the importance of vaccinating for herd immunity. As he told his daughter: “Contracting measles as a child, let alone an adult, is not something you would wish on anyone.”
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| What’s it like to have adult measles? I asked my father |
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Juggernaut 2: Available November 11 |
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After the tempestuous 80s, New Zealand wanted that cup of tea and a lie down. Instead, the Juggernaut was reborn for the 1990s with fresh crisis, brutal cuts and blizzard of reforms, including an historic new chapter in Crown-Māori relations, a Beehive coup and the gravity-defying advent of an entirely new electoral system.
In the second season of the Spinoff’s award-winning podcast we bring that story to life with the people who were in the room.
Available November 11 at thespinoff.co.nz or wherever you get your podcasts.
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What can Aotearoa learn from Canada’s mammoth Indigenous housing project?
In a Spinoff cover story this morning, Joel MacManus travels to Vancouver to find out what the colossal Sen̓áḵw housing project might be able to teach Aotearoa about creating large-scale iwi-led housing developments. Built by the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation) on reclaimed reserve land, Sen̓áḵw will soon house 9,000 residents in 6,000 apartments.
"It will be the most densely populated new development in North America; the population of Morrinsville in a land area smaller than five rugby fields," writes MacManus. "The tallest tower will be 171 metres tall, the same height as the Vero Centre in central Auckland. It’ll be a massive influx of housing in a city that desperately needs it – an enormous monument to indigenous ambition in the modern age.
"That’s why I’ve flown 11,400 kilometres across the world to visit some half-built apartments. I want to learn what made this development possible, and what it would take to replicate it in New Zealand. Is this the new model of mana motuhake? Could honouring te Tiriti o Waitangi be the key to solving the housing crisis?"
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| Read more: Inside the Canadian apartments redefining indigenous housing |
New company launched to tap KiwiSaver savings for infrastructure investment
A new company backed by Simplicity founders Sam Stubbs and Rob Everett is aiming to channel KiwiSaver money into New Zealand’s long-neglected infrastructure sector. As the Herald's Anne Gibson reports, the pair have announced the launch of InfraKiwi, which plans to raise billions to buy and operate completed assets before listing on the NZX. The company will be restricted to New Zealand shareholders and focus on sectors including energy, water, transport, data and social infrastructure such as schools and hospitals. Stubbs said just 30% of KiwiSaver funds are invested domestically, arguing that shifting more of the $123b Kiwisaver pool into local projects could help close the $210b infrastructure deficit forecast over the next 30 years. Infrastructure minister Chris Bishop
welcomed the move, calling it “a great opportunity for investors and a great outcome for Kiwis”. InfraKiwi’s founders say the company will prioritise long-term returns and “intergenerational fairness” over short-term profits.
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Juggernaut: Live! A special one-night-only event |
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The most talked-about podcast of last year is returning – join Toby Manhire and guests for a special one-night-only event in Wellington to launch Juggernaut 2: The Story of the Fourth National Government.
After the tempestuous 80s, New Zealand wanted that cup of tea and a lie down. Instead, the Juggernaut was reborn for the 1990s with fresh crisis, brutal cuts and blizzard of reforms, including an historic new chapter in Crown-Māori relations, a Beehive coup and the gravity-defying advent of an entirely new electoral system. In the second season of the Spinoff’s award-winning podcast we bring that story to life with the people who were in the room.
Get an exclusive look at what is to come and discussion around the legacy of a whiplash chapter in political history at Juggernaut: Live!
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