Leaks of NZ First Foundation records raise big questions about the party’s funding, and there’s every chance of more to come. A glance at history suggests the scale of the problem. An early election may not be a bad idea at all, suggests Danyl Mclauchlan It’s happening. During its time in government New Zealand First … Read more
Documents and correspondence dripping out of NZ First paint a picture of a party in turmoil and invite questions about the mysterious foundation which funds it, writes Danyl McLauchlan. The email landed in the very early hours of Thursday morning, sent by an anonymous account, addressed to a handful of senior rightwing politicians and newsrooms … Read more
Otago University professor James Flynn says the ‘banning’ of his book by the publisher that rejected it is an attack on free speech. That’s an obtuse understanding of what free speech really is, writes Danyl Mclauchlan. James Flynn, an emeritus professor at Otago University, is one of New Zealand’s most renowned social scientists. His work … Read more
The crisis surrounding Labour’s response to alleged sexual assault by a staffer lays bare the inadequacy of our current system, writes Danyl Mclauchlan I’ve worked at, or been involved with progressive organisations where someone gets accused of – well, something: no one is quite sure what. The details are disputed. Lawyers are involved. If the … Read more
Cameron Slater’s mendacious, bullshit-ridden site has finally been shut down – and yet, somehow, the grift goes on, writes reformed blogger Danyl Mclauchlan I once had a blog on the internet. This was during the golden age of blogging, the late 2000s and early 2010s; a window when blogs were new and interesting and – … Read more
Psychiatry always thinks it’s on the verge of understanding and curing mental illness, but its real history is a story of torturers and frauds, a new book shows. Danyl Mclauchlan reviews Mind Fixers by Anne Harrington. If you visit your GP and tell them you have the symptoms of a mental illness – maybe your … Read more
The 700-page Thomas Piketty economic treatise Capital in the 21st Century was a surprise blockbuster five years ago. Now it’s been made into a documentary film, directed and produced by New Zealanders. The message is out there, Danyl Mclauchlan writes – but are enough people listening? Thomas Piketty’s Capital in the 21st Century enjoyed about … Read more
Out of all of the people responsible for global inaction on climate change, why on earth would you point the finger at environmental NGOs, asks Danyl Mclauchlan. Medical students often succumb to a form of hypochondria called ‘intern’s syndrome’ in which they convince themselves they’re infected with the diseases they’re studying. If they’re tired and … Read more
What is a beltway issue? In the Treasury data breach story, as so often, it seems to be a byword for ‘a political event which is embarrassing for the party that I like’, writes Danyl Mclauchlan Since last week’s release of the budget and the subsequent media feeding frenzy about the so-called Treasury hack – … Read more
Grant Robertson should apologise, and the Treasury secretary should offer his resignation, writes Danyl Mclauchlan Information Technology, or IT is not an ancient discipline, like politics or the law, but it has its own traditions and the most hallowed tradition of all, held sacred by engineers and other technical specialists the world over is to … Read more
A brief technical explanation about what the ‘hack’ amounted to would be a lot more useful than all the bluster and nebulous waffle we’ve heard so far, writes Danyl Mclauchlan. Treasury’s budget documents are – potentially – very valuable information. They might affect currency valuations, or bond prices, or company share prices, or any number … Read more
Last week Treasury hosted a ‘social lab’ which used decks of cards to explore ideas around wellbeing. Danyl Mclauchlan went along Fiona Ross is a thought leader in the public service; an articulate and engaging public speaker. She stands at the front of the room: a seminar space on the third floor of Treasury. The … Read more
Just after 2pm today, the capital gains tax proposal was pronounced dead by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. It’s just the latest in a run of bad news for the government’s much-vaunted policy projects, writes Danyl Mclauchlan. At the start of the year Jacinda Ardern declared that 2019 was her government’s ‘year of delivery’. Last year … Read more
A new movement that quantitatively measures charitable causes is sweeping the world of philanthropy. But does Effective Altruism necessarily have better answers to the problems the world is facing? And can it bring people with it? Danyl Mclauchlan writes. In June of 2018 I went to a protest outside the US Embassy in Wellington. It … Read more
Danyl Mclauchlan stares into the abyss that is Google and wonders if we are about to experience the birth of a new, even more terrifying capitalism. I feel it most when I’m at the supermarket. I’m standing there looking at jellymeat but at the same time, I’m aware of being embedded in a web of … Read more
Winston Peters has spent decades gaming MMP to keep himself in the position of king (or queen) maker. Asks Danyl Mclauchlan, are we really going to make it even easier for politicians like him? The Green Party has put forward a members bill which, among other things, advocates lowering the MMP threshold from 5% to … Read more
Literally decades worth of untaxed capital gains have created a political nightmare for the government. Is there any way they can navigate a capital gains tax through it, asks Danyl Mclauchlan? Part of the problem is that this government is trying to unshit the bed. We’ve had a deeply unfair tax system with its grossly … Read more
Danyl Mclauchlan on the ‘ersatz enlightenment’ of Jordan Peterson, who opens his New Zealand speaking tour with tonight’s sold-out event in Auckland. “Oh people still buy his book,” a Wellington bookseller told me when I asked her if Jordan Peterson was still even a thing. “And they’re also buying his recommended books. He’s published a … Read more
Everyone is ripping into the National mansplaining-KiwiBuild-barbecue ad online. But what, wonders Danyl Mclauchlan, if that was exactly what they wanted to happen … Sometimes the New Zealand National Party makes great political ads. Think about the now famous ‘pretty legal’ rowing ad from the 2014 election. Yes, that led to the party being sued … Read more
Research points towards an unconscious, cognitive basis for racism and other forms of discrimination, suggesting that even the super-woke can be secret and subconscious racists, writes Danyl Mclauchlan I thought about this story a lot over the summer break. It wasn’t one of the huge scandals or rolling controversies from last year, or even one … Read more
Environmentalism occupies a place outside the conventional left-right political axis. But for the kind of party envisaged by Vernon Tava to work, it would have to win its place by courting voters from the left, writes Danyl Mclauclan This was the week aspiring centre-green politician Vernon Tava learned a vital but probably terminal lesson in … Read more
Does the way we approach drug law form fundamentally overlook what addiction is all about, asks Danyl Mclauchlan It’s been a long time since I smoked pot. My friends and I used to smoke it at school. We were bored, I suppose, but in retrospect this was a terrible place to take drugs. My prevailing … Read more
‘The world is divided into two principles: order and chaos. Order is male and chaos is female.’ Danyl Mclauchlan investigates the strange philosophy of number one best-selling author and thinker Jordan B Peterson, author of 12 Rules for Life. This article was originally published on February 8, 2018 Professor Jordan B Peterson is having a moment. I’d … Read more
We love to hate the media but it’s social media we should be concerned about, writes Danyl Mclauchlan. This piece was originally published on December 9, 2018 About halfway through Before Sunrise – a 1990s romantic comedy that has the same significance for Gen-Xers as the Vietnam war did to the Boomers and Harry Potter does … Read more
The Jami-Lee Ross saga was unique in New Zealand’s political history. Danyl Mclauchlan explains why. This post was first published Oct 20 2018 So much of what happens in politics never makes it into the media. Every now and then a journalist – out for an early run or stumbling home from a late night … Read more
We love to hate the media but it’s social media we should be concerned about, writes Danyl Mclauchlan. About halfway through Before Sunrise – a 1990s romantic comedy that has the same significance for Gen-Xers as the Vietnam war did to the Boomers and Harry Potter does for Millennials – Jessie and Celine, who are adrift … Read more
Book of the Week: Danyl Mclauchlan reviews a brilliant new biography of Friedrich Nietzsche, who declared, “I am not a man. I am dynamite!” It ended in Turin, on January 3, 1889 when Friedrich Nietzsche shuffled into the Piazza Carlo Alberta. Nietzsche was a sad, solitary figure; he spent his days in Turin’s bookshops, reading … Read more
The Jami-Lee Ross saga is a betrayal without precedent in New Zealand’s political history. Danyl Mclauchlan explains why. So much of what happens in politics never makes it into the media. Every now and then a journalist – out for an early run or stumbling home from a late night – passes Parliament and observes … Read more
Political leaders and their advisers know that the kind of disunity evidenced by the Jami-Lee Ross attacks is uniquely toxic with the public, writes Danyl Mclauchlan It was such a reasonable assumption. When someone leaked Simon Bridges’ travel expenses the National leader did what politicians always do when assigning blame: he asked himself the timeless … Read more