Nau mai, haere mai - welcome to your New Zealand newsletter.

It’s an unusual, challenging but exciting time to be joining The Conversation. As we know, New Zealand’s media industry is facing enormous challenges, with the closure of the Bauer stable of magazines (including the Listener, which I once edited), and the financial strain so many other titles are under making these perilous times.

While no one publication can fill the gap left by great titles and equally great journalists, it’s clear to me The Conversation will have an increasingly important role as New Zealand enters unknown territory in a COVID-19 world. As others have noted already, expert knowledge and analysis have never been more in demand – so that’s our challenge and our mission.

Speaking of challenges, with formal discussions now happening about a trans-Tasman travel bubble, tourism experts Freya Higgins-Desbiolles (University of South Australia) and James Higham (University of Otago) explore what this would mean in practice for Australia and New Zealand.

And international trade researchers Hongzhi Gao and Monica Ren, at Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington, argue for Australia and New Zealand taking a longer view and cooperating more to reduce our economic over-dependence on China.

In the meantime, New Zealand’s tourism industry will likely be purely domestic for some time. AUT tourism expert Michael Lueck says this is also an opportunity to re-imagine how we see and treat our own backyard and to set the groundwork for a more sustainable industry before overseas tourists return.

You can read a lot more analysis this week relating to the coronavirus pandemic, including about accusations that Pacific governments are using the crisis as cover for a media crackdown, how COVID-19 is already creating new (and deepening existing) social divides and inequalities, what we can do to keep healthy while we wait for a vaccine, and why so many of us have such strange dreams.

But this week, we also share a series to mark the 250th anniversary of Captain James Cook’s arrival in the Pacific, with contributions from several New Zealand scholars, including Massey University lecturer Peter Meihana, who explores his ancestors’ encounters and painful history, and University of Canterbury historian Katie Pickles, who asks why the commemorations remain silent on intimate encounters and their profound impact on Indigenous women.

On a more personal note, it’s been a novel experience starting a new job and not even leaving the house. But we’ve all had to adapt one way or another, and I’m looking forward to making the most of this great opportunity.

Thank you for reading, noho ora mai.