At under 5% in the preferred PM stakes, the National leader’s response to the Covid crisis is going to the talk of his caucus, writes Toby Manhire. The maxim goes that there is no harder job in politics than leader of the opposition, but that could use a refinement. There is no harder job in … Read more
Covid-19 has demonstrated what resolute government leadership can achieve to address a serious problem. Now let’s do the same to improve our justice system, writes former Parole Board member Rhonda Pritchard. I’ve spent time in every prison in New Zealand. It was part of my job in a previous career, making repeated visits to each … Read more
With the possible exception of Sam Neill, no New Zealander personality has been pumping out the Covideo content quite like heavyweight boxer Joseph Parker. Patrick McKendry joins him to talk viral content and boxing. Joseph Parker is celebrating the easing of New Zealand’s strict coronavirus lockdown regulations by walking up the long driveway of his … Read more
For all The Spinoff’s latest coverage of Covid-19 see here. Read Siouxsie Wiles’s work here. New Zealand is currently in alert level two – read The Spinoff’s giant explainer about what that means here. For official government advice, see here. The Spinoff’s coverage of the Covid-19 outbreak is funded by The Spinoff Members. To support this work, join The Spinoff Members … Read more
Restaurants, cafes and bars have been allowed to reopen, with a whole lot of ever-evolving caveats. We check in on how the first few days have been. Inconsistent messaging and last-minute rule changes made the first weekend of alert level two “incredibly challenging” for hospitality businesses, says the Restaurant Association. The organisation worked with the … Read more
Four years after an acclaimed and awarded debut, Auckland pop singer-songwriter MAALA is finally preparing to release his sophomore album. He spoke to Matthew McAuley about how he’s been passing the time. When Evan Sinton began releasing music as MAALA, things progressed quickly. Arriving in 2015 with an era-typical air of mystery, his self-titled EP … Read more
This year’s budget was a chance to re-orient our economy to help it work better for Māori, not just now but into the future. The government failed to grasp the opportunity, writes Missy Te Kanawa. For Māori, the budget met the Covid-19-created need but missed the long-term mark. There were some good wins, but overall … Read more
Covid-19 loves environments full of shouting and singing, so it’s a good idea to avoid them. Many countries around the world are beginning to ease their Covid-19 lockdown restrictions, including New Zealand. For some countries this is a serious mistake and almost guarantees that in a few weeks’ time they will see a resurgence in … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Religious groups struggle with level two limits, many more kids going back to school today, and further cellphone tower attacks over the weekend. Another weekend has passed with strict attendance restrictions on religious gatherings, despite the country moving into level two. The vast majority of worship … Read more
Michael Andrew heads to the south Auckland amusement park as it returns to business. When I was maybe 10 or 11 years old, I used to dream about having Rainbow’s End to myself. What if the park was empty, and I could enjoy all the rides without having to compete with the crowds or the … Read more
With billions paid out through the government’s wage subsidy scheme, Vanessa Schouten asks if all that was claimed by businesses was actually needed, and if it should be paid back. When the government introduced the wage subsidy scheme back in March, it was on the basis that the money would “help keep people attached to … Read more
David Farrier looks at the way two conspiracy theories have merged into something very nasty online and into real world violence. Over the weekend we saw another suspicious fire at a cellphone tower, this time in South Auckland. This comes off the back of a string of arson attacks over the last six weeks: 10 … Read more
For all The Spinoff’s latest coverage of Covid-19 see here. Read Siouxsie Wiles’s work here. New Zealand is currently in alert level two – read The Spinoff’s giant explainer about what that means here. For official government advice, see here. The Spinoff’s coverage of the Covid-19 outbreak is funded by The Spinoff Members. To support this work, join The Spinoff Members … Read more
The Man Booker prize-winning novel makes its way to our screens courtesy of BBC and TVNZ, but does it make the transition unscathed? Linda Burgess reviews. Oh god, wild seas. A sailing ship – ah, so it’s the olden days – all creaking wood tossed on those heaving seas, the moon a ghostly galleon, with … Read more
As New Zealand has confronted the challenges of this unprecedented crisis, Indian sub-continental community organisations extended their hands to society at large, writes Gaurav Sharma, editor of the Multicultural Times. This weekend New Zealand is returning to normalcy – sort of – this week, after seven weeks of Covid-19 caused lockdown. Across those weeks, Indian … Read more
The 1954 novel The Lord of the Flies by William Golding, a story about young boys shipwrecked on a desolate island, is a parable for the supposedly innate cruelty and selfishness of human nature. This week, an excerpt was published on The Guardian from the book Humankind by Dutch historian Rutger Bregman, who claimed to … Read more
Call it unity, or solidarity, or kotahitanga, Covid-19 made us realise something we’ve known all along: we are all responsible for one another. There is a chance we can now act with common purpose to address intergenerational inequality. For older people, this means curtailing some of our choices, writes public health expert Charlotte Paul. As an … Read more
These text conversations (warning: explicit content) with clients prove sex workers are surely New Zealand’s most under-acknowledged public health educators. Imagine you’re a physiotherapist. Hell, you might actually be one, in which case this will be easy for you. In this scenario, we’re still in level four. You can do phone consultations but that’s it. … Read more
What is it like to grow an album over two years and then labour it during a lockdown? Giantess frontwoman Kiki Van Newtown tells Emily Writes about making music in a pandemic. If you’re a mega-fan of Wellington’s witch-stoner-rock icons Hex, like I am, you’ll have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of the debut Giantess … Read more
In the fourth part of a new series sharing the stories of families learning from home during lockdown, Tamsyn Matchett discovers a new importance in being kind. As a parent, I frequently find myself talking to my daughter about kindness. I bet it’s a common feature of most parents’ vernacular. It’s a pretty straightforward concept: … Read more
The mothballing of Dunedin Railways represents a huge loss for the city where New Zealand’s rail preservation story started. Now, the community is asking for a chance to save their train, and with it the crown jewel in Dunedin’s tourist industry. The Taieri Gorge Railway has been and meant many things. The railway line is … Read more
When Te Papa reopens shortly, it’ll mark the end of the first big test of new tumu whakarae/chief executive, Courtney Johnston. Jeremy Rose spoke to Johnston about her vision for the museum, the impact of the pandemic, the return of taonga and making good on the Treaty. In 2016 a Hawaiian delegation came to collect … Read more
The stars of one of the year’s most anticipated TV series, The Luminaries, tell Jordan Hamel about what drew them to their roles and their experience of filming in Aotearoa. How do you an adapt an ocean? How do you harness something with such inevitable, knowing rhythms and put it on the screen? How do … Read more
You might not know his face, but Māori Television’s Heta Gardiner has been one of the most valuable and memorable contributors to the daily Covid-19 briefings. Hayden Donnell spoke to him about what it’s been like covering a pandemic in a still Pākehā-dominated press gallery. The near-daily media briefings on Covid-19 often start out combative. … Read more
For all The Spinoff’s latest coverage of Covid-19 see here. Read Siouxsie Wiles’s work here. New Zealand is currently in alert level two – read The Spinoff’s giant explainer about what that means here. For official government advice, see here. The Spinoff’s coverage of the Covid-19 outbreak is funded by The Spinoff Members. To support this work, join The Spinoff Members … Read more
There’s widespread appetite for domestic tourism, while public support for the alert level two shift is high. New Zealand tourism could be handed a lifeline if New Zealanders take the domestic holidays they say they will in the next three months. In a new Stickybeak survey, 42% said they intend to holiday in New Zealand … Read more
New Zealand moved into level two on Thursday, bringing on unexpected, overwhelming feelings for many of us. Kate Hicks has lived through this before. As we’ve navigated Aotearoa’s wild and unexpected lockdown, I, like others, have enlisted a few coping strategies: Skyping with friends, watching crap TV, consuming copious amounts of coffee and chocolate (though, … Read more
Amid the budget hype on Thursday, the New Zealand Teaching Council announced it would be increasing teacher registration fees twofold. Teachers and teaching groups say the decision shows their opinions aren’t valued. The Teaching Council’s move to more than double registration fees is “unacceptable” and amplifies teachers’ mistrust in their professional body, Post Primary Teachers’ … Read more
For all The Spinoff’s latest coverage of Covid-19 see here. Read Siouxsie Wiles’s work here. New Zealand is currently in alert level two – read The Spinoff’s giant explainer about what that means here. For official government advice, see here. The Spinoff’s coverage of the Covid-19 outbreak is funded by The Spinoff Members. To support this work, join The Spinoff Members … Read more