Toby Manhire 
If you are a politician and you have a dog, please send us your pictures for consideration. It’s January, there’s an election year stretching ahead, and coverage of politicians’ social media activity will focus very heavily on attack-memes, misinformation and flame wars, and not nearly so much on dogs. So if it’s hard hitting political … Read more
New Zealand needs a decent summer silly season story, and we need it now. A year ago next week, New Zealand went bananas. A posse of visitors from the once European nation of Britain was travelling the country, leaving in its wake a gust so profound and pongy it threatened to rip our pearls from … Read more
Toby Manhire undertakes a very possibly foolish attempt to whittle down the dates to the likeliest polling day, based on All Blacks, Trump, school holidays and the vibe. I feared I might have missed something when on Sunday a newspaper preview of the year noted “the general election in November”. That same day, in another … Read more
Summer reissue: Toby Manhire spends a day chasing kingys – and PM-adjacent yarns – with Fish of the Day host Clarke Gayford. This story was first published on 19 April, 2019 and originally ran in Barker’s 1972 magazine Mid-week, mid-morning under a muddy grey January sky. We’re skimming into the Hauraki Gulf on a stupidly expensive boat, stacks … Read more
Summer reissue: The candidates to tackle Donald Trump are very keen on the New Zealand prime minister. This post was first published 12 November, 2019. It could be because Vogue called her “the anti-Trump”. It could be the desperate shortage of tolerable left-leaning leaders in the Anglosphere. Or it could be because everyone knows it’s … Read more
Summer reissueHe’s a lot of things: a commentator, political PR guy, Twitter scrapper, dad, recovering alcoholic – even Mongolian ambassador. But Matthew Hooton’s main focus at the moment is chalking up a philosophy Master’s in London. Toby Manhire meets one of the most fascinating – and polarising – characters in NZ politics This post was … Read more
Toby Manhire gazes back at the last almost-10 years in New Zealand politics, leadership and tragedy. When I returned to New Zealand after 11 years away in 2010, John Key had been prime minister for a couple of years and it felt like he’d been prime minister forever. He was a fixture of familiarity and … Read more
Everything you need to know about the suspension of buses in Auckland and the industrial action standoff that it springs from. What’s going on? Yesterday saw the cancellation of thousands of bus trips and a lot of people standing around at Auckland bus stops looking puzzled after services operated by NZ Bus – Auckland’s biggest … Read more
One of the most highly rated members of Jacinda Ardern’s Cabinet is under pressure over assurances given in relation to an immigration case. How bad could it get, asks Toby Manhire. There has never been a New Zealand prime minister more engaged with contemporary homegrown musicians than Jacinda Ardern. She’s forever bigging them up, giving … Read more
The Spinoff editor explains the thinking behind The Spinoff Members. As anyone who has been following the story of the New Zealand media in 2019 will know, it’s stormy out there. Across the board, outlets, us included, are feeling the digital pinch. Advertising spends are down, and the lion’s share of what is being spent … Read more
There have been concerns raised about the limit of cannabis that would be purchasable daily under a legalised regime. But what about the other drugs? Yesterday in the House of Representatives, Paula Bennett took to her feet and held aloft a bag (aka “baggie”) of herbs. It was oregano, reportedly, but the impeccable stagecraft had … Read more
The essential details on the plan to put the legalisation of cannabis to the public at the next election. Let’s cut to the chase. What will the referendum question be? A straight yes/no: “Do you support the proposed Cannabis Legalisation and Control Bill?” What will be in the bill? You can read it here. TLDR, … Read more
The latest idiotic tweet by a politician comes courtesy of the National Party’s Jo Hayes, who launched an unprovoked attack on a Labour supporter, calling him ‘ugly’. You know how it is. It’s just before 11pm on a Friday night. It’s been a long week. All there is left to do is log on to … Read more
What, for example, is a pitchfork wrapped in tinsel doing over there, leaning up by an umbrella? Toby Manhire writes a speculative article. A tumultuous week for Winston Peters and his New Zealand First Party has seen story after story raise troubling questions around donations. He’s not happy about it. What do you do when … Read more
The candidates to tackle Donald Trump are very keen on the New Zealand prime minister. It could be because Vogue called her “the anti-Trump”. It could be the desperate shortage of tolerable left-leaning leaders in the Anglosphere. Or it could be because everyone knows it’s illegal to be mean about people from New Zealand. Whatever … Read more
The 60 wise delegates of Botany chose their next National Party candidate last night, and they picked the man touted as a future leader to take on the blazing, unpredictable incumbent, Jami-Lee Ross. Toby Manhire was there to watch the anointment. As the sun disappeared over the fairways, upstairs at the Pakuranga Golf Club last … Read more
A bumper crop of the best of our first five years on Planet Earth, plus a slew of new stuff, The Spinoff Book is out today. Here’s what you’ll find in it, and how to get a copy. In a bold pivot to print, The Spinoff today publishes an actual book. You can pick it … Read more
An open letter signed by more than 150 New Zealanders under 30 who specialise in biological or environmental science says the current law hinders efforts to tackle the climate crisis, and urges the Greens to change their position and take a lead on reform. A group of more than 150 young New Zealand scientists has … Read more
By reference to history and science, we predict which way tonight’s crunch game in the Rugby World Cup is likely to go. 1 The semifinal falls two days after the New Zealand release of JoJo Rabbit, the new movie by acclaimed filmmaker and Hurricanes talisman Taika Waititi. The last time an England versus All Blacks … Read more
Smoke continues to billow in downtown Auckland 24 hours after fire broke out in the incomplete complex. Shortly after 1pm yesterday came the first reports of a fire on the site of the SkyCity New Zealand International Convention Centre in central Auckland. That brought a massive mobilisation of emergency services, evacuations of surrounding buildings and … Read more
Britain and the EU have agreed new terms for divorce. But with the Conservatives’ Northern Irish support party unimpressed, can the British prime minister at last put an end to the interminable shitstorm? At last, a deal! A palpable deal! A path out of the endless brain-melt! “Where there is a will, there is a … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: A pair of polls put pressure on the Labour Party, a wild night of weather in the North Island, and Shane Jones snapped brandishing a semi-automatic. Parliament resumes today after a fortnight recess, and MPs were given a welcome-back present in the form of two … Read more
Stephen Colbert has made good on his promise to visit New Zealand, and the prime minister has made good on her promise to drive him around. When Jacinda Ardern appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in New York late last month, she challenged the host on his failure to visit New Zealand. The comedian … Read more
It’s surplus season again, and the two main parties are at each other’s throats about management of the national finances. But how unlike one another are they really? Put yourself to the test. There are undeniable differences in emphasis between the economic philosophies of Labour, National and the rest. For around five years, governments of … Read more
The latest episode of the painfully good Succession pays pointed homage to the appearance of media mogul Rupert Murdoch and his son before a British parliamentary inquiry. Contains a shitload of spoilers, obviously. Succession has delighted from the start in refracting the venal and vulgar absurdities of real-life media dynasties. The story of Logan Roy, his … Read more
In an email to colleagues, Stuart McCutcheon says he acknowledges the ‘very real hurt and sense of threat’ caused by white supremacist materials and says now is not time for a free speech debate. The vice-chancellor of the University of Auckland has responded to an outcry among staff and students over white supremacist materials on … Read more
‘Racism and white supremacy have no place at the University of Auckland’, reads the letter, signed by many of the university’s most senior academics. A large and growing group of staff at the University of Auckland have spoken out over the re-emergence of white supremacist propaganda on campus in an open letter. The staff members, … Read more
The Spinoff editor writes on the story that has engulfed NZ politics this week. One of the very few positive things to come out of a hideous week in New Zealand politics has been the sieving-out of the blinkered, partisan zealots. On one side, those who are ready to conjure up the wildest of potions … Read more
The candidate comparison super-tool is now live, making it easy to find out who is offering what in local elections from the top to the bottom of New Zealand. Here it is. Last time round, it was called “the stand-out success of the 2017 election”. Today Policy returns to The Spinoff, sharper, shinier, and a … Read more