Budget 2020: Although it was called “Rebuilding Together”, it’s hard to see what exactly yesterday’s budget is rebuilding. Budget 2020 was never going to be a transformational budget. Not for Māori. Not for Aotearoa New Zealand. It is easy to understand the disappointment of many across the country who hoped for something more and who … Read more
A new poem by Ockham finalist Steven Toussaint. from The Reproaches Confusion isn’t mystery. Oblivion and mastery, but never At the same time. Abide in me. Fustian bargain to render silence clever. Ignatian composition Spoiled by an app’s trill, my fontanelle Closed and with it one grace-receptive station. So I rode my bike … Read more
When it comes to tackling online extremism, part of the answer rests with us – those who use the internet every day. New York Times tech columnist Kevin Roose talks about his new podcast Rabbit Hole. The Christchurch terror attack shocked New Zealand, and the world. But there are many things about the way the … Read more
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington. AUCKLAND 1 Auē by Becky Manawatu (Makaro Press, $35) Newly anointed winner of the Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction. The judges were … Read more
New Zealand’s live music venue owners have come together to crowdfund to save not just their venues, but their industry. Our entertainment venues were some of the earliest hit by Covid-19. Before we all shut our doors to each other, venues were shutting their doors to their lifelines: their artists and their customers. Gigs were … Read more
Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand. This week he talks to Emily Miller-Sharma, general manager at Ruby. One of the nicest things to come out of lockdown is a … Read more
Are you in a mood? Like, literally any mood? Don’t worry, Sam Brooks has you covered with something to cater to (or escape from) some very specific moods. There are so many great shows out there you could spend your time watching… but are you in the right mood for any of them? Your mood … Read more
Talks about the future of men’s rugby have dominated rugby news during the Covid crisis, but ex-Black Fern Melodie Robinson says it’s crucial New Zealand Rugby starts considering how the women’s game will fare with equal urgency. Sports organisations around the world are scrambling to figure out ways their codes can viably continue into the … Read more
A severe drought has forced Auckland Council to impose water restrictions for the first time in 25 years. Simon Day spoke to Watercare CEO Raveen Jaduram about why saving water this winter is essential. Over the past five months, when I pause on my (almost) daily run with my dog to take in the view … Read more
Regulation of online content has received little attention amid a global health crisis. But violent extremist activity has not stopped, and we need to get our response right, writes Anjum Rahman. Today marks the first anniversary of the Christchurch Call, a response to the mass murder at two Christchurch mosques last year, a massacre livestreamed … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: How the budget has been received, Auckland light rail on hold, and more media merger shenanigans. So that’s what it looks like when Grant Robertson decides to open the purse strings. The relatively cautious spending of his previous budgets has been replaced by an absolute … Read more
These are unprecedented times, and just when you think you’ve seen it all, Breakfast’s Matty McLean does the weather dressed as a dinosaur. TVNZ 1’s Breakfast kicked off level two with a bang yesterday morning. As we viewers at home began to gleefully escape our own personal lockdowns, Matty McLean locked himself into a plastic … Read more
Budget 2020: The tourism sector was holding out hope for a lifeline to come in the form of yesterday’s budget. It didn’t come, and now its leaders say they’re drowning. Members of the beleaguered tourism industry say the support they’ve been offered is a drop in the bucket compared to what is necessary given the … Read more
Budget 2020: Yesterday $50b worth of financial measures were committed to protect jobs in the industries most affected by Covid-19. So what did small business owners make of it? For many business, perhaps the most anticipated and welcome measure in the Covid-19 response budget was the $4bn support package, which included an eight-week wage subsidy … 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 … Read more
In the midst of tragedy, it’s important that we look to those striving to build better futures. The YWCA’s new initiative Y25 is highlighting 25 young New Zealand wāhine going above and beyond to improve their communities. Over the last 12 months, a group of young female leaders have taken on some of the world’s … Read more
Budget 2020: What does this year’s budget mean for one of the hardest-hit sectors post-lockdown? Those in the industry give their initial reactions. As the country braces for the inevitable Covid-19 economic slump, today the government announced its “once in a generation” $50 billion budget. From that $50bn, $3.2bn has been set aside to extend … Read more
Budget 2020: No increase to benefits or wages, but investment in vocational training could future-proof New Zealand’s workers. The first major Covid-19 stimulus package, equivalent to $12.1 billion, was announced two months ago. It introduced the wage subsidy, a $25 per week increase to benefits, and financial support for leave taken due to Covid-19. At … Read more
Budget 2020: Simon Bridges led the critiques, while Winston Peters got personal. Grant Robertson’s budget spends too much money, delivers too little help to businesses struggling due to Covid-19 and will leave future generations swamped by debt, opposition leaders have argued. The finance minister and the prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, faced enormous expectations before unveiling … Read more
Budget 2020: The centrepiece of the 2020 budget revealed today is a massive multibillion outlay for recovery from the pandemic. Here’s how it breaks down – and what the opposition makes of it. Fifty billion sounds like a lot. “This is the most significant financial commitment by a New Zealand government in modern history,” said … Read more
Budget 2020: The government has unveiled a massive $50bn spending package, including an eight week extension to the wage subsidy. Duncan Greive asks the business community: is it enough? The government this afternoon unveiled a massive new $50bn programme of spending – “much bigger than anyone expected”, according to Kiwibank senior economist Jeremy Couchman. The … Read more
Budget 2020: In the midst of a pandemic, and with New Zealand beginning the long road to recovery, today’s budget was heralded as potentially the most momentous in a generation. So what did the experts think? Generation Zero: Good, but not good enough Around the world, experts and multilateral institutions such as the World Bank … Read more
Grant Robertson has just published the 2020 budget, drawn up in what the prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, calls ‘the most challenging economic conditions faced by any government since the Great Depression’. Here are the essential elements, via RNZ. A $50 billion rescue fund sits at the centre of 2020’s “once in a generation budget” as … Read more
The shortcomings seem to reflect a broader problem with how Māori have been overlooked in the plans to move to level two. On Tuesday and Wednesday, parliament raced into law the “new normal” framework for our lives until Covid-19 is finally vanquished. That sounds dramatic, but it’s true. The now in force Covid-19 Public Health … Read more
Linda Burgess and Michael Hurst with quite different takes on a new book by New Zealand-born actress, playwright and writer Barbara Ewing. Michael Hurst This is a memoir very much written from the perspective of the present; evocative, authentic, humorous and poignant. Barbara Ewing approaches her subject via a series of diaries she kept all … Read more
In the second part of our series looking at the state of rugby in New Zealand, Scotty Stevenson and a panel of insiders look to the future of the sport, and ask what can be done to make that future more secure. This content has been made possible by the support of The Spinoff Members. If you … Read more
In celebration of both level two day and budget day, Emily Writes puts on her business reporting hat to take a look at the winners (and one potential loser) of the post-lockdown economy. As New Zealand begins to reopen from today, a number of industries and businesses will rise. In the past seven weeks many … Read more
Jean Teng gets a lesson on the best ways to make top quality coffee from the comfort of her bubble. During lockdown, with more of us isolated from our local cafes and fancy work espresso machines, making coffee at home became a necessity – a fundamental matter of funnelling caffeine into our bodies. But I … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: A day of concern about police overreach, budget to be announced today, and rules on tangi changed after pressure. Plenty of concerns have been raised about the powers that police will hold under enabling legislation for alert level two. The bill to make level two possible … Read more