Election Live, September 15: Three new Covid-19 cases at border, none in community

Welcome to The Spinoff’s Election Live for September 15, bringing you the latest on election 2020 and other NZ news. The essential campaign dates are here. For all you need to know about the cannabis referendum click here. For the assisted dying referendum click here. Explore the parties’ pledges at Policy. I’m on stewart@thespinoff.co.nz 7.00pm: The day … Read more

The Bulletin: Alert levels given another short extension

Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Alert levels given another short extension, National candidate under fire over business record, and possible evidence of alien life discovered on Venus. In a week, the country outside of Auckland will move out of level two and into level one. As our live updates reported, that will be contingent … Read more

Siouxsie Wiles & Toby Morris: Bridging the gap with someone who’s been pulled in by disinformation

Don’t approach the task as a battle to be won, but as a conversation to get to the underlying reasons why someone might have been susceptible to the false information in the first place.  Last week marked six months since the WHO declared Covid-19 a pandemic. How the world has changed in that time. Here … Read more

Election Live, September 14: Alert level set to drop, but Aucklanders will have to wait

Welcome to The Spinoff’s Election Live for September 14, bringing you the latest on election 2020 and other NZ news. The essential campaign dates are here. For all you need to know about the cannabis referendum click here. For the assisted dying referendum click here. Explore the parties’ pledges at Policy. I’m on stewart@thespinoff.co.nz The day in … Read more

Majority of New Zealanders still backing Jacinda Ardern’s Covid-19 leadership

Three surveys show the prime minister still has the public’s support, ahead of today’s announcement about whether the country will shift alert levels. As health experts cast doubt on the chances of a move to alert level one this week, New Zealanders remain confident in our political leadership during the Covid-19 pandemic.  Cabinet is meeting this … Read more

The Bulletin: NZ Rugby packs down against government

Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Rugby world gets fired up at government over tournament loss, cabinet to make new alert level decision today, and police commended for not arresting protesters. The weekend saw an interesting event in the cultural history of this country: The government had a clear opportunity to try … Read more

Covid-19 case took part in North Shore gym classes, visited shops last week

Locations include Les Mills gym in Takapuna, Countdown Milford and The Warehouse Milford. A person who subsequently tested positive for Covid-19 took part in classes at Les Mills in Takapuna as well as visiting various North Shore retailers. Attention is focused particularly on the gym sessions, with Auckland Regional Public Health Service saying anyone who … Read more

Election Live, September 13: Covid-19 case attended North Shore gym class; worker at Jet Park tests positive

Welcome to The Spinoff’s Election Live for September 13, bringing you the latest on election 2020 and other New Zealand news. Find official Covid-19 information here. For all you need to know about the cannabis referendum click here. For the assisted dying referendum click here. Explore the parties’ pledges at Policy. Contact us at info@thespinoff.co.nz 8.05pm: Person … Read more

Election Live, September 12: Two new cases of Covid-19; Labour to reinstate Training Incentive Allowance

Welcome to The Spinoff’s Election Live for September 12, bringing you the latest on election 2020 and other New Zealand news. Find official Covid-19 information here. For all you need to know about the cannabis referendum click here. For the assisted dying referendum click here. Explore the parties’ pledges at Policy. Contact us at info@thespinoff.co.nz The day … Read more

New Zealand edging the door open for workers and immigrants

There’s been good news this week for would-be New Zealanders in the age of Covid-19, as the government has given the green light for more workers and immigrants to enter the country. There was a substantial shift at New Zealand’s border this week as the government announced plans to slowly lower the drawbridge and allow … Read more

Election Live, September 11: One new case of Covid-19 in community, second West Auckland student tests positive

Welcome to The Spinoff’s Election Live for September 11, bringing you the latest on election 2020 and other New Zealand news. Find official Covid-19 information here. For all you need to know about the cannabis referendum click here. For the assisted dying referendum click here. Explore the parties’ pledges at Policy. I’m on stewart@thespinoff.co.nz 6.30pm: The day … Read more

Five things we know about Covid-19 (and five we don’t)

Futurist and evolutionary biologist Robert Hickson (Science Media Centre) on the known and as-yet-unknown aspects of the virus. What we know 1. We know where the virus ultimately came from We know that the virus originally came from bats, and most probably a species of horseshoe bat in South East Asia. However, the spike protein … Read more

The Bulletin: Wildfires stretch US to extremes

Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Fires devastate US West amid other catastrophes, academics call for protecting of Māori colleagues at Waikato, and Labour brings forward 100% renewable target. Remember the massive wildfires that swept through Australia, and how they turned the skies a deep and forbidding orange? It was less than … Read more

Election Live, September 10: Fourth Auckland eatery linked to Covid case

Welcome to The Spinoff’s Election Live for September 10, bringing you the latest on election 2020 and other New Zealand news. Find official Covid-19 information here. For all you need to know about the cannabis referendum click here. For the assisted dying referendum click here. Explore the parties’ pledges at Policy. I’m on stewart@thespinoff.co.nz 7.00pm: The day … Read more

Labour is crushing National in the polls, but Google data suggests the race may not be over yet

Google has launched a new election trends hub, deciphering how New Zealanders are searching for parties, leaders and major topics ahead of October 17.  It’s been a long, hard six weeks since the “rogue” Newshub poll that gave Labour hope of governing alone after the October election. Since then, we’ve had a second wave of … Read more

The Bulletin: Labour unveils deeply conservative tax policy

Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Labour unveils deeply conservative tax policy, concerning new information given about the Mt Roskill church cluster, and Electoral Commission investigating use of donations by NZ Public Party. For those wondering if we’d see anything vaguely resembling socialism or transformation in Labour’s new tax policy, the … Read more

Three Auckland eateries linked to new Covid-19 cases

The Ministry of Health has listed three Auckland hospitality venues as ‘locations of interest’ after customers tested positive for Covid-19. Three Auckland eateries have been linked to recent Covid-19 cases, with at least one closing for deep cleaning after being informed a customer had tested positive. The Ministry of Health website today updated its “locations … Read more

Election Live, September 9: Six new Covid-19 cases, all linked to church cluster

Welcome to The Spinoff’s Election Live for September 9, bringing you the latest on election 2020 and other New Zealand news. Find official Covid-19 information here. For all you need to know about the cannabis referendum click here. For the assisted dying referendum click here. Explore the parties’ pledges at Policy. I’m on stewart@thespinoff.co.nz The day in … Read more

Bloomfield warns of ‘flashing orange’ alert as Auckland church cluster grows

In two weeks the Mt Roskill group of cases has gone from a small sub-cluster to New Zealand’s fastest growing source of infections. It is linked it to a church meeting held in lockdown and members who ‘don’t accept the science’ of Covid-19. Ashley Bloomfield has moved his Covid-19 concern level to orange, as cases … Read more

Give it up, NZ Rugby. The 2020 Bledisloe Cup tests need to be in Brisbane

All Black fans are desperate to watch them take on Australia. But the arguments for playing in New Zealand are worse than flimsy, writes Scotty Stevenson. On October 10 this year, the All Blacks and the Wallabies will play the first match of a Bledisloe Cup series. If there is any fairness left in the … Read more

The business of being a New Zealand musician in a post-Covid world

With live shows and events at the mercy of a mercurial virus, the New Zealand music business has been warped into a frustrating limbo. So how are local musicians dealing with it all? Alongside Covid-19, 2020 will be forever known as the year of “the pivot”; that dreaded term that was once isolated to the … Read more

The Bulletin: Culture change and the new sexuality education guidelines

Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: New sexuality and relationship education guidelines announced, things happen and announcements made on campaign trail, and reason for massive health funding shortfall in South Auckland revealed. New guidelines for sexuality and relationships education in schools have been released, with the aim of making them more … Read more

Election Live, September 8: Six new cases of Covid-19, four linked to church cluster

Welcome to The Spinoff’s Election Live for September 8, bringing you the latest on election 2020 and other New Zealand news. Find official Covid-19 information here. For all you need to know about the cannabis referendum click here. For the assisted dying referendum click here. Explore the parties’ pledges at Policy. I’m on stewart@thespinoff.co.nz 8.00pm: The day … Read more

The Bulletin: Ardern shoots for the stars as the campaign corpse reanimates

Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. Today: Jacinda Ardern promises a new holiday, Winston Peters’ uphill challenge, and New Zealand’s biggest privately owned broadcaster has been snapped up by the Discovery Channel. The discombobulating 2020 campaign lurched back into action yesterday, with leaders scattered about the country. Judith Collins is in Hawkes Bay, where … Read more

Siouxsie Wiles & Toby Morris: Now let’s flatten the infodemic curve

It’s likely you’re being exposed to masses of Covid information on a daily basis, and not all of it will be reliable. Here are some tips for telling the difference, and stopping the spread. Thanks to Covid-19, most of us have a new word in our vocabulary. Epidemiology: the branch of medical science that deals … Read more

When the great New Zealand immigration tap suddenly went dry

Covid-19 brought to an abrupt end to an extraordinary period of migration-fuelled population growth for New Zealand. Did we fully understand what was happening – and what comes next, asks Paul Spoonley. See also Duncan Grieve: The ‘staggering’ potential of New Zealand’s returning diaspora Toni Truslove: Returning New Zealanders deserve a softer landing – and … Read more

Election Live, September 7: Labour promises new Matariki public holiday – from 2022

Welcome to The Spinoff’s Election Live for September 7, bringing you the latest on election 2020 and other New Zealand news. Find official Covid-19 information here. For all you need to know about the cannabis referendum click here. For the assisted dying referendum click here. Explore the parties’ pledges at Policy. I’m on stewart@thespinoff.co.nz 7pm: The day … Read more

The Bulletin: The stark reminder of Covid-19 deaths

Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Two deaths have now taken place in the renewed outbreak of Covid-19, Plan B group criticised for misleading scientist quotes, and new numbers show many taking up a benefit. After no Covid-related deaths in months, two have taken place in quick succession in Auckland. They were … Read more

Counting and Countering the infodemic: a deep dive into Covid-19 disinformation

Together with colleagues on The Disinformation Project, Kate Hannah has been studying the vectors and volume of false stories that wrap around the Covid crisis in New Zealand. Here she explains what they’ve learned, and what we might do to tackle it.  As people, as communities, we connect to each other through story; it is … Read more