Alex Braae 
The massive dairy cooperative has released its fourth annual sustainability report, highlighting what it reckons is going right and wrong in controversial environmental and social areas. What’s all this then? The Tātou Tātou 2020 Sustainability Report is Fonterra’s attempt to bring together the strands that make up its wider strategy, to get a competitive advantage … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Who’s up and who’s down in Ardern’s new cabinet, new Covid-19 community case in Christchurch, and Ngāi Tahu taking Crown to court over freshwater. Throw out all those articles you read predicting who would get what ministerial jobs – they were pretty much all wrong … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Greens sign cooperation agreement with Labour, Ardern to make cabinet announcements today, and where to now for drug reform after referendum falls? Green party delegates have ratified a deal with Labour that will give them ministerial portfolios, but mostly outside of cabinet where the big … Read more
By a narrow margin, the cannabis legalisation and control bill has been voted down based on preliminary referendum results. There remains, however, a slim chance it could still win on special votes. On preliminary results, the cannabis legalisation and control bill will not become law, after falling short at the referendum. The Electoral Commision announced … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Referendum results day, problems abound for Air NZ, and what Labour’s manifesto included that wasn’t campaigned on. We’re finally going to get the provisional results of the two referendums today, on cannabis legalisation and assisted dying respectively. They’ll be announced at 2pm, and we’ll have immediate … Read more
It could be days or even weeks before we know the full outcome of the US presidential election between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, and it’s likely to be complicated. Here’s when we might start getting answers. When is the US presidential election? Officially, the election date is November 3, which is a Tuesday in … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Assessing some of the bizarre recent international interventions on NZ’s Covid policy, documents reveal what ministers knew about border staff testing, and Gerry Brownlee under pressure for deputy spot. Apologies in advance, because I don’t normally make a habit of using the Bulletin to magnify … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Should the government back Chris Liddell for OECD, testing and app scan numbers jump over long weekend, and an update on talks between Labour and Greens. The government’s decision on whether to back New Zealander Chris Liddell for the top job at the OECD looks … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Unaffordable dental care in the spotlight, update on the two crops of Covid cases, and Billy TK quits Advance NZ alliance. One of the weeping sores of the health system is the high cost of dental care, and the health effects that flow from that. It’s … Read more
They may be poles apart ideologically, but for TOP and the New Conservatives, the election campaign featured some remarkably similar successes and failures for both. On an ideological level, it doesn’t make sense to put The Opportunities Party (TOP) and the New Conservatives in the same category. But their electoral vote share around 1.5% isn’t … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Questions over how Greens should approach Labour relationship, Auckland pub patrons told to self-isolate, and highly leveraged investors send house prices higher. How lucky is the Green party, to have so many people giving advice and suggestions right now? As talks continue around the formation of … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: New report shows climate change already affecting New Zealand, new crop of managed isolation Covid cases, and National leader and ousted electorate MPs all staying on. As promised, today’s Bulletin will cover the government’s new climate change report, called Our Atmosphere and Climate. It was released … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: System springs into action on Port Covid case, Labour opens up initial talks with Greens, and New Zealand travellers creating headaches for Aussie states. A clarification on the new case of Covid-19 announced on Sunday – it was not in fact a case of community … Read more
We know Jacinda Ardern will be the PM, but what else needs to get sorted out in the coming weeks? Alex Braae runs down the questions we’ll get answers to soon, along with a few that you might be wondering about. The voters deliver the mandate, but then it’s up to the politicians to figure … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Wildly different caucus meetings loom for National and Labour, new case of community transmission announced, and anger mounts over wage subsidy piss-taking. The mood in the room will be very different when the Labour and National caucuses meet this week. For Labour, it’ll be a crowded … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to a special election edition of The Bulletin, by Alex Braae for The Spinoff. You’ll probably have heard by now, but the country is waking up this morning to a crushing Labour victory in the 2020 election. Labour has the numbers to govern alone, with a provisional count of 49% of the … Read more
Within the wider MMP contest for the party votes, results in individual seats could be telling. Here’s a selection to keep an eye on. We’ll know the big picture result very soon, but for a lot of individual MPs, their political future rests on what happens in their seats. Here are some of the big … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Pre-election poll shows massive lead for Labour, Advance NZ kicked off Facebook, and new developments in NZ First Foundation saga. A poll released just days before the election shows Labour is still in a clear position to form the next government. While the One News Colmar Brunton showed … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Campaign grinds to the finish line, claims about overseas donations to NZ Public Party account, and scandal uncovered over single use plastic dumping. It’s almost over. The extended cut of the 2020 general election is winding down, with a massive advance vote already cast, and the … Read more
An internal Green Party poll suggests that advance voters are more likely to oppose cannabis legalisation. Alex Braae reports. Internal Green Party polling provided to The Spinoff suggests that the massive number of advance votes are running against legalising cannabis, but it’s likely to be close. The poll, conducted between October 9-12, asked people if … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: NZ government adds voice in global encryption fight, a whole bunch of election stuff happens, and more than half the country believes house prices must fall. Should governments be able to access the encrypted data held by technology companies? That is being debated after New Zealand … Read more
We all know who’s going to come in 1st and 2nd place in the election. But what about 11th or 12th? Minor party correspondent Alex Braae predicts where every party will finish. Elections are fought on close margins, and sometimes the difference between winning and losing can be just a few hundred votes. That’s true … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Major purchase agreement in race for Covid-19 vaccine, compelling documentary on Billy TK Jr, and small town teens speak out about difficulty of getting drivers license. The first Covid-19 vaccine purchase agreement has been made by the government. Radio NZ reports the agreement is for 1.5 million … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Advance voting surges ahead of final week, poll shows John Tamihere in with a chance at Tāmaki Makaurau, and insights into modern drug smuggling revealed. With a week to go before election day, hundreds of thousands of people have already got their vote done and … Read more
Voting is under way in the New Zealand general election. Explore the main parties’ pledges at Policy.nz, but here’s a whistlestop tour of what parties on climate change and the environment. Read more two-minute policy wraps here Everyone wants to live in a country with a healthy environment, but how exactly do the parties plan on getting there? … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Minor parties push for positions, Gisborne beneficiary advocates raise alarm on emergency housing, and name suppression continues for NZ First Foundation accused. Last night’s TVNZ minor party debate was preceded by a poll which shows most are under serious pressure. First of all, the poll: The One … Read more
The loss of international tourism has hit the West Coast hard, amid population decline and a wider battle to keep jobs in the area. Alex Braae spent several days driving down the coast to cover the election. The Owen River Tavern just north of Murchison has bilingual signs alongside the usual trapping of a bustling … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Labour puts little new in climate policy, community cases once again down to zero, and Collins has a bad day out in Ponsonby. Labour’s climate change policy announcement has been received as a bit of a letdown by their potential allies in the next parliament. Newshub covered … Read more
More people are coming forward to say they found referendum campaign pamphlets in their EasyVote packs, but mystery continues to surround how they got there. Alex Braae reports. Stacey Hone’s routine with the mail is very simple. She goes to the mailbox, sorts it then and there, and only takes addressed mail inside the front … Read more