It seems we went from "new innovations in digital money are being tentatively explored by a small team..." to "TIME TO GET READY FOR THE CBDC NEW ZEALAND: ITS COMING" in a period of about 6 months.

It's not looking good for privacy and human rights. Interestingly it looks like they already have an internal project titled "Digital Cash Campaign" designed to push this narrative out there:

I have heard that the RBNZ's unelected oafdom are also beginning the rounds in the local media to plant the seeds for their new magic money.