Alex Casey delivers her tenth power rankings for The Bachelorette NZ, where the lads escape the concrete jungle for the rolling countryside. Click here for previous instalments. It’s time for us to lie down in a circle in an abundant field full of prickles and say what we are grateful for on The Bachelorette NZ. … Read more
The fear you carry over this virus is the fear those of us who have children with compromised immune systems carry all the time, says Emily Writes. Standing at the empty aisles in Pak n Save a woman turned to me and said – “well great – there’s no hand sanitiser, what am I going … Read more
A recent opinion piece on the Spinoff warned of the dangers of voluntourism, a term for programmes that charge travellers for short-term volunteer experiences. Here, two volunteering organisations tell Josie Adams why what they do is different. A tourism-volunteering hybrid, the burgeoning industry of “voluntourism” has been criticised for charging westerners thousands while costing communities … Read more
You wouldn’t use the riff from ‘Slice of Heaven’ to spruik your products without permission, so why is visual art any different? Catherine Jeffcoat looks at a recent initiative to let street artists know about their copyright protections and comes up with some useful tips for the communications profession. Maybe you work in a small … Read more
A minimum six month sentence for intentionally injurious assaults on prison officers or first responders does nothing to address the reasons why such crimes take place, writes Aaron Hendry. What sort of justice system do we want in this country? That is the question that NZ First MP Darroch Ball’s Protection for First Responders and … Read more
Passengers arriving from China are not having their temperatures checked at the border, as in some countries. Here the Ministry of Health explains their rationale. While temperature checks have become commonplace across countries such as China and South Korea – together responsible for the vast majority of the almost 110,000 cases reported worldwide – New … Read more
A Madeleine Chapman guide to the best and worst of the change range. I once fell asleep at LAX while waiting for a flight and somebody stole my wallet. I made a sad face at check-in and was able to check my bag for free then had to survive a day in Boston and an … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Robertson announces shape of Covid-19 economic response, National grabs matches for regulations bonfire, and land use change laid bare. Cabinet has approved a package of measures designed to take some of the economic pain out of the global Covid-19 outbreak. Around the world right now, markets are … Read more
We’ve just had a taste of how the election campaign is going to go this year, with a raw and rowdy debate at the University of Auckland. Alex Braae recaps it. Unfortunately for voters, one of the most exciting versions of these big, multi-party free for alls has now already been and gone. Every year, … Read more
The donations scandal looks very different if we see ourselves not as Labour supporters or National voters but as citizens of a country whose politicians are selling us all out, argues Danyl Mclauchlan in the conclusion to our series on electoral funding, Money Talks. This series is made possible thanks to Spinoff Members. Join Members to … Read more
More than 70 stands giving away more than 350 whiskies sounds like a recipe for chaos. Instead, it’s a near-perfect day out. They came from all over Scotland: from the Highlands, the Lowlands, Islay and Campbeltown and plenty more besides. Further afield too – I tasted a whisky flavoured with sheep’s dung from Iceland, one … Read more
While it sounds like something a movie bad guy might hatch, Auckland Council’s updated ‘Masterplan’ to make the city centre liveable isn’t too villainous, unless you think road cones are evil. What’s the plan? It’s not so much a plan as a vision of how Auckland might look in 20 years. Under the City Centre … Read more
Max Rashbrooke makes the case for reforms based on the democratic principle that we should each have the same influence over politics. We could do worse than starting by looking at Canada, he argues. The Money Talks series explores the rot in our donations system and ideas to fix it. It is made possible thanks to … Read more
The price of crude oil is absolutely tanking right now, because supply is being ramped up at a time when demand is unusually low. What’s going on? Here’s a cheat sheet explaining all. What’s all this then? Russia and Saudi Arabia, two incredibly large producers of oil, have basically declared economic war on the rest … Read more
A climate change court challenge against some of Aotearoa’s largest corporates will go ahead after the High Court on Friday refused to strike it out, reports Cat McLennan. Over the past few years, court proceedings have been mounted in a number of countries to challenge lack of action on climate change by both government and … Read more
Trying to directly assist individual firms is a fool’s errand. Monetary policy is approaching its limits. We need to look to bigger, aggressive action, writes former Reserve Bank economist Michael Reddell. The economic implications of the Covid-19 public health emergency are formidable, and are growing by the day. Most of what we’ve seen in New … Read more
The proposed merger of RNZ and TVNZ has one clear international precedent – Irish national broadcaster RTÉ. Michael Andrew asks what New Zealand can learn from the Irish model. There’s a touch of comedy in the idea of a merger between RNZ and TNVZ, almost as if the two organisations were unfamiliar step siblings forced … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Predator Free 2050 strategy launched, govt to roll out economic response to Covid-19, and Armed Response Teams in the spotlight. The strategy outlining how New Zealand will become predator-free by 2050 is being launched today. The idea, a vision of the late Sir Paul Callaghan and … Read more
It’s difficult enough caring for coronavirus patients, but when healthcare providers become sick themselves, or are forced into self-quarantine, it becomes even harder to cope. So how is New Zealand preparing for staff shortages in the health system? News that 43 hospital staff have been put into self-quarantine after coming into close contact with a … Read more
How is the coronavirus likely to play out, how does it end, and does our behaviour make a difference? Here infectious diseases expert Dr Siouxsie Wiles walks us through the epidemic curve, with illustrations by Toby Morris. The Spinoff’s ongoing expert-led, evidence-based coverage of Covid-19 is funded by Spinoff Members. To support this work, join … Read more
A new essay by Linda Burgess, author of the collection Somebody’s Wife and a stack of other sublime writing which you can read here. The handbag My mother often said that when Labour was in power there was never anything in the shops. Which goes part way to explaining why, whatever your Dad did for … Read more
The idea of women late in pregnancy ‘nesting’ – preparing the home for the arrival of their newborn – is ingrained in popular culture and reinforced by health-care professionals, but in fact has no scientific basis. We’ve been led to believe women have a biological urge to tidy, clean and prepare the home for their … Read more
Madison Hamill writes with rare precision and bravery. Also she’s hilarious. This piece is extracted from her debut, Specimen, a collection of essays in which she dissects sexuality, childhood, voluntourism, and her own brain. None of us had heard of Ranfurly Draught before we met our flatmate Darren. “Are you sure other people buy this … Read more
The government is proposing a national policy statement on indigenous biodiversity, giving power to the protection of our native forests and the indigenous species within. Wellington city councillor Tamatha Paul explains why it’s important we have a say on it. ‘He manu hou ahau, he pī ka rere. I am like a fledgling, a newborn … Read more
Female leaders have historically been forced to tread lightly in order to succeed in male-dominated industries. But as IT executive Hilary Walton writes, women don’t need to change – the system does. Imagine for a minute you’re a female manager. You overexert yourself to be nice and likeable at work while still trying to balance … Read more
A tarte tatin is a classic for a reason: simple (you don’t have to make the pastry if you don’t want to), elegant and delicious to boot. I may have mentioned before that we live part way up a mountain. This has a significant impact on our growing season, making it shorter than it would … Read more
Time to place parties on an even footing and make elections a contest of ideas, not dollars, argues Cat MacLennan in this post, originally published by RNZ. Read more in The Spinoff’s Money Talks series on donations and electoral finance here. For donations to two of New Zealand’s largest political parties to be investigated by … Read more
While handwashing is a vital weapon in the battle against Covid-19, so is keeping surfaces clean and disinfected. Microbiologist Siouxsie Wiles on what you need to know about destroying coronaviruses around your home and workplace. Read Dr Siouxsie Wiles’ other explainers on the Covid-19 outbreak here. This week several more people in New Zealand have … Read more
Generation Zero and the School Strike 4 Climate movement have helped put climate change permanently on New Zealand’s political agenda. But here, two leading figures explain why they won’t be telling young people how to vote in the election. Aotearoa’s environmental movement has a proud and long history of remaining nonpartisan. It is something that … Read more