Police social media posts showing children being arrested have drawn the ire of the Children’s Commissioner Andrew Becroft and Green MP Golriz Ghahraman. The Children’s Commissioner has criticised police and media organisations following widely shared social media posts showing the arrest of three children in Auckland yesterday. “We are concerned with posts by police and … Read more
Don Rowe speaks to the founder of a new chatbot connecting tenants with the rental information they need. In a world where Facebook is culpable in genocides, sham elections and the corrosion of trust in the media, it’s nice to know it can be used for good, too. Rentbot is a new chatbot from Citizen … Read more
When the Māori All Blacks play Fiji this month, MP Peeni Henare will be in the commentary booth calling the match in te reo. Don Rowe reports on an initiative to normalise te reo through the medium of sport. Around 500 years ago, in 2011, Māori TV broadcasted all 48 games of that year’s Rugby … Read more
This month Microsoft’s ebook store closes for good, and with it goes every book ever purchased through a Microsoft account. Don Rowe reports. Ebooks have forever changed the way we read and write, drastically reducing the barriers to entry for authors and publishers, bringing down the cost of books and providing huge variety and accessibility … Read more
1000 Words is a Spinoff series talking to the photographers behind our most iconic political images. In this instalment, Don Rowe speaks to David White, the photographer who shot Colin Craig. Following a failed attempt at the Auckland mayoralty in 2010, notorious goof and Auckland accountant Colin Craig founded and led the New Zealand Conservative … Read more
It was the story that circled the globe – giant rats, writhing across Titirangi. But rats were here long before it was fashionable or “newsworthy” – as were rat hunters. Don Rowe talks to Phil Brown, Auckland Council’s head of biosecurity about the realities of fighting rats in the big smoke. Last week I journeyed … Read more
The TAB is pulling in millions at the halfway point of the Cricket World Cup. So how much are they paying out? Don Rowe reports. As the Black Caps slug their way towards the finals of the 2019 Cricket World Cup, the TAB is pulling in record profits from punters back at home. More than … Read more
Responding to reports that packs of cat-sized rats have taken over Titirangi, Don Rowe travelled to West Auckland to find out the truth. There’s an infestation in Titirangi and it’s not just white girls with dreadlocks. Rats “the size of cats”, ten to a pack, staring down residents like a gang of mean teenagers. Frothing, … Read more
Landlords face a $4000 fine if their properties are uninsulated on July 1 – but insulation companies say time’s run out and if they haven’t done it by now, bad luck. Don Rowe reports. Two weeks out from the Residential Tenancies Act insulation deadline the industry has reached total capacity, with businesses warning there is … Read more
Following the multi-billion dollar success of Pokémon Go, Nintendo is intent on turning a profit from the most mysterious human experience of all: sleep. Last week Nintendo announced their intentions to gamify sleep, the last sacred, ad-free and private space we possess. The release read like a teaser for the new Black Mirror episodes: “In … Read more
The Auckland Harbour Bridge turns 60 today. Don Rowe revisits some of its finest moments to celebrate. Sixty years ago today, then-governor general Lord Cobham was chauffeured into the Northcote Toll Plaza, walked past a Navy guard of honour in his big bowler hat, and officially opened the Auckland Harbour Bridge. Aucklanders lined the streets … Read more
People are dying in a waiting line at the top of the world and that’s about typical of how we treat the last of our sacred spaces, writes Don Rowe. There are eleven more bodies on Everest – nine this month – and doesn’t that seem fitting? “For many people [climbing Everest] is a dream … Read more
Ten million dollars worth of stock in a medicinal cannabis company goes on sale today as Cannasouth aims to be the first company of its kind to list on the NZX. But should you buy in? Don Rowe talks to Simplicity managing director Sam Stubbs. The country’s first medicinal cannabis initial public offering (IPO) launches … Read more
Mum was right: heavy exposure to pocket monsters fundamentally rewires your brain. But researchers from Stanford say it’s an exciting opportunity to study how we learn to see. There’s an old folk myth that when James Cook and the Endeavour sailed up the coast of Australia, “discovering” that great desert continent, indigenous fishermen spotted on … Read more
SkyCity has entered the online gambling fray, announcing a deal to open an online casino later this year. SkyCity has signed a landmark deal to offer online gambling to New Zealanders, partnering with a Malta-based company just weeks after minister for internal affairs Tracey Martin said she was “disappointed” SkyCity would forge ahead. The online … Read more
As the referendum approaches and the road toll rises, the government is under pressure to deal with drug testing, but it’s more complicated than it first appears, writes Don Rowe. The government has announced a public consultation on drugged driver testing following rising road tolls, an impending referendum, and intense pressure from an opposition desperate … Read more
Hold on to your seats, it’s time. The annual Register of Pecuniary and Other Specified Interests of Members of Parliament is out. We break it down in 10 easy numbers. 5 The number of National MPs that got free tickets to the Foo Fighters – Simon Bridges, Hamish Walker, Erica Stanford, Tim Macindoe and Chris … Read more
Recent sightings of a large and potentially dangerous cat demand a social and political response, so we gathered a panel of experts to do just that. New Zealand’s cryptids range from the mundane to the miraculous to the moose, but none resurface with such regularity as the Canterbury Panther. It feels like once a year, … Read more
Don Rowe meets the animals on the frontlines of New Zealand’s climate change challenge – and the zookeepers fighting to keep them thriving. In a low-roofed hut at the Auckland Zoo, Richard Jakob-Hoff is staring at a reptile. The tuatara, a young female, is staring straight back. With her head slightly cocked, claws splayed and … Read more
The oceans are rising and the ground’s getting shaky – time to move the capital to Hamilton. As hellworld boils and our cities descend into the sea, writhing throngs of climate refugees will soon be forced to head for higher ground, scrambling over one another like a scene from the Old Testament. The effect will … Read more
Another day, another flagrant rip-off of Māori taonga and intellectual property, this time in a middling video game. Don Rowe reports. When the developers of the world’s most popular strategy game decided to bring a fleshed-out Māori race into Civ IV, they consulted, among others, with the Māori New Zealand Arts & Crafts Institute, a … Read more
A wave of theft has hit adult store Peaches and Cream, with rampant clowns and suspected drug addicts pilfering expensive sex toys over the weekend. Don Rowe reports. A cadre of clowns spotted apparently pilfering a 19-inch, double-ended dildo from a store in Auckland last night is just the latest in a series of bizarre … Read more
1000 Words is a new series talking to the photographers behind our most iconic political images. In the first instalment, Don Rowe speaks to Peter Meecham, photographer of the David Cunliffe log pictures. In 2014, David Cunliffe led Labour to their worst election defeat in almost 100 years. It was a brutal affair. Forced up … Read more
Don Rowe on the unsettling boom in his hometown. This story originally ran in Barker’s 1972 magazine. Raglan is changing. You can see it in the streets, where luxury cars slot side by side like so many dominoes. It’s audible in the endless buzz of bikes, jet skis and drones. And it’s palpable, if you’re … Read more
Around this time every year, the howls of agony echo around the country – from south to north, people who enjoy a drink in moderation have just realised that religious traditions have impinged on their freedoms. But forewarned is forearmed. We present an updated guide to getting shitfaced on public holidays. Bars, supermarkets and bottle shops … Read more
True, Jacinda Ardern has faced a few criticisms for ruling out a new capital gains tax now and for as long as she leads. But a lot of people are very, very happy. Two million dollars and a tax working group later, Jacinda Ardern has dumped the Capital Gains Tax forever, saying she still believed … Read more
A new Gambling Advertising Code has been announced that closes a loophole which saw offshore online casinos preying on vulnerable Kiwi gamblers while local operators were shut out. In May last year, a Spinoff investigation found JackpotCity, one of five online casinos operated by a shady ‘global gaming and entertainment group’ licensed in Malta, … Read more
There is a ‘climate of fear’ and a rising white supremacist movement on campus, say a group of students at the University of Auckland. Don Rowe reports. Students at the University of Auckland met last night to discuss what they say is a growing white supremacist movement on campus, and their concerns the university is dragging … Read more
Neighbours of New Zealand’s biggest shooting range say they’re victims of targeted harassment, including Nazi symbols scrawled on a resident’s property. Police, they say, have not taken their concerns seriously. The Auckland Shooting Club, in response, says it’s being ‘victimised’. Don Rowe reports. Update 11/4 8am – Auckland Shooting Club president Chris Gee has resigned. … Read more