Hayden Donnell identified the people who did well, and the ones who got massively owned, in the Auckland local elections. Originally published October 8, 2016 Winners Chlöe “22” Swarbrick Chlöe Swarbrick, whose campaign cost roughly the same as the Goff campaign’s cheese budget, came third with nearly 27,000 votes. Despite being a complete political novice, Swarbrick … Read more
Early in June the then prime minister told reporters there were plenty of (relatively) affordable Auckland homes on Trade Me. Madeleine Chapman searched the site to see if he was right. Originally published June 2, 2016 Asked yesterday about Auckland’s average house price nearing the $1 million mark, John Key was as upbeat as ever: … Read more
The most upbeat runner in the Auckland mayoral race enacted a weird half-withdrawal late in the contest. And it wasn’t for the first time, wrote a weeping Toby Manhire Originally published September 13, 2016 Nudges and winks to the electorate have become a familiar part of MMP politics in New Zealand, with messages beamed to … Read more
In 2016 the Spinoff launched the humbly titled ‘War for Auckland’ campaign. Here we republish the editorials, from June and August, that bookended the bellicose, unruly crowd-funded enterprise Announcing the War for Auckland Originally published June 27, 2016 War?! We know, we know. But what else would you call the vastly differing visions for Auckland … Read more
New Auckland mayor Phil Goff wants everyone to know he’s in charge. He’s been laying down the law for council officers, getting offside with some of the councillors, turning himself into the star of his own show. This week, as the new mayor and his council meet for the last time in 2016, Simon Wilson … Read more
Leftwing blogger Martyn Bradbury claims that ‘nothing screams white middle class privilege quite like cycle lanes’. Tell that to the increasing number of Aucklanders from all walks of life who are getting on a bike, says Kurt Taogaga. For a long time, cycling was something that just didn’t occur to me. It was too dangerous … Read more
Why is everyone hating on the Council’s latest attempt to sell Auckland to the world? Actually, is it everyone, asks Simon Wilson – or just the Herald and the other usual cynics? No subject is more guaranteed to provoke ridicule than a city slogan. No ridicule is more likely to be attended by outrage than … Read more
Last week we invited you to lob your Auckland housing crisis questions at AUT professor John Tookey, an expert on the subject. Today he responds to a selection of the many questions he received, and explains why – spoiler alert – there are no easy answers. John Tookey is a Professor of Construction Management at … Read more
For a moment it looked like the government might be seeing sense on Auckland’s transport demands. But the volcanic response to a Mt Roskill light rail proposal suggests the road obsession remains, writes Hayden Donnell. On the weekend, Labour proposed fast-tracking a $1.4 billion light rail route to Mt Roskill as part of its by-election … Read more
Reports of cutbacks at Auckland libraries have prompted the council to issue librarians with a question-and-answer script, so that they might deal appropriately with public inquiries. The script, obtained and published by RNZ, beneficently enables librarians to recite bureaucratically approved, leaden sentences. Lucky things – it’s almost as if they’re call centre operators or, even … Read more
The housing crisis has dominated the news cycles this year, but there’s still a lot we don’t know. Professor John Tookey is an expert in the area and is ready to answer your questions. Housing makes me money. Take it easy though. I’m not a property investor or a builder. In fact, I only own … Read more
Phil Goff just completed the first important act of his mayoralty: picking his leadership team. Did he screw it up? And how long must Penny Hulse pay for Len Brown’s doodle? Hayden Donnell investigates. Forget Donald Trump. He’s already sliding down the sewer drain to Loserville. It’s time to refocus your attention on the only … Read more
The King of Clevedon, the Franklin guvnor: Bill Cashmore is to be Phil Goff’s No 2 at Auckland Council. The National-Party-supporting councillor popped in to Spinoff HQ a few weeks back. Here’s what he told us. The New Zealand Herald‘s Bernard Orsman has the scoop: the newly elected Mayor of Auckland, Phil Goff, has chosen … Read more
This can either read as a huge list of thank you notes to those who joined the fight for Auckland’s soul, or if you’re Richard Burton or Mike Lee, a list of enemy collaborators. The War For Auckland began as a dark kernel of Duncan Greive’s rage. Our Spinoff Net Tsar spent most of 2016 … Read more
You think convicted drink driver Adam Holland sounds like an arsehole? It gets worse. Janie Cameron explains. Self-described “anarchist” and Auckland mayoral candidate Adam Holland has been convicted of driving at five times the blood alcohol limit after he rear-ended a stationary car with a mother and two young children inside, TVNZ reported yesterday. “Everybody … Read more
Auckland councillors Penny Webster (Rodney) and Calum Penrose (Manurewa-Papakura) both crashed to shock defeats on Saturday. Their campaign manager Hamish Coleman-Ross says it wasn’t his fault – that his opponents stooped to a place his candidates refused to venture. Losing sucks. But when you do, I believe it pays not to disappear into the night, nor … Read more
Under the Unitary Plan at least 400,000 new homes will be built to meet the growth of Auckland over the next 30 years. But while we wait for the Plan to take effect, let’s take a look at how many dwellings are being built right now. News that 35 Auckland apartment development projects have collapsed … Read more
It’s a good time to become mayor of Auckland, but there’s a huge challenge ahead. Matt Lowrie of Transport Blog offers some constructive advice for Phil Goff’s early mayoralty. Dear Phil, Congratulations on becoming Mayor. While the margin was a bit closer than some had expected, that’s what happens when you get such a low … Read more
Mayor Phil Goff joins Millennial wastrel Hayden Donnell and Metro editor-at-large Simon Wilson to talk about the housing crisis, council culture, *that* headline about sleeping with the same woman for 45 years, and whether we should jail all Boomers. It’s Warcast #9 and Toby Manhire is still in Whanganui, hanging out with New Zealand’s answer to Donald … Read more
Hayden Donnell identifies the people who did well, and the ones who got massively owned, in the Auckland local elections. Winners Chlöe “22” Swarbrick Chlöe Swarbrick, whose campaign cost roughly the same as the Goff campaign’s cheese budget, came third with nearly 27,000 votes. Despite being a complete political novice, Swarbrick beat out John Palino, who … Read more
You won’t believe who’s won the Auckland mayoralty race (you will), and all the other outcomes of interest. And the new Mayor of Auckland is … They tried, oh how they tried, to sex up the contest. Guyon Espiner called the leadup to Phil Goff’s candidacy announcement “the longest striptease in history”; Hayden Donnell made … Read more
This is not a tabloid story, taking things out of context and boasting a headline like: “Sex Scandal Made Me a Better Mayor” – Len Brown But you could see how it could appear under that title. For, in a more nuanced, reflective and brutally self-aware way, that is what Len Brown said, when we … Read more
Further reading and links to the data used in this comic can be found here.
Two of the best young election candidates in Auckland join Hayden Donnell to talk cycle helmets, our terrible voting system, and election intrigue on the North Shore. Argh! Crap! Oh no! The election voting deadline is nearly upon us and pretty much no-one in Auckland has voted. Chlöe Swarbrick and Richard Hills join Hayden Donnell … Read more
We recently received this open letter from Her Warship Penny Bright. It details her thoughts about Auckland Council, Phil Goff, the Property Council, Chlöe Swarbrick, Generation Zero, Spinoff hack Hayden Donnell, and The Spinoff dot co, dot, NZ. Subject: Time to quit the SPIN Hayden and try some SUBSTANCE? Open Letter When are you going to do an article of substance instead of spin … Read more
Hayden Donnell and Mark Hanna dive deep in the mysterious depths of local democracy to weed out the potential wackos. They’re mostly normal on the front pages of the ballots. Phil Goff. Vic Crone. These people. All sober and level-headed. If these top candidates say something strange, people call them out. Look at Vic Crone. … Read more
Wait, stop the party – the Unitary Plan isn’t actually in the clear yet. Hayden Donnell reports on how a cluster of anti-change campaigners is holding the whole thing up. It was meant to be over. The Unitary Plan was through. After five years of deliberation, the council had concluded that the people who live … Read more
Yesterday morning five leading mayoral candidates headed to Mangere’s Ngā Whare Waatea to debate the issues facing South Auckland. Mana magazine editor Leonie Hayden was there. Throughout the debate, a pop quiz was held to test the candidates’ general knowledge of South Auckland. The only rules were: No referring the matter back to central government. No … Read more
Yesterday morning five leading mayoral candidates – Goff, Swarbrick, Crone, Palino and Thomas – visited Mangere’s Ngā Whare Waatea to debate the issues facing South Auckland. Mana magazine editor Leonie Hayden was there. At 9.30am I arrived for the powhiri, as instructed, and waited at the entrance to be called on to Whare Waatea, the … Read more