The catastrophic bushfires in Australia are framed very differently depending on which media you consume, writes Duncan Greive from Sydney. The horizon started the day crisp and clear, the bushfires out there but not palpable. A group of 60 or so media from across Australia and New Zealand, all holed up in an expansive function … Read more
Emily Writes provides an essential guide through the vast world of sex toys and finds something for everyone. Sex toys have well and truly become mainstream. When you buy a toy you’re taking control of your sex life and fully celebrating your body and how wonderful it is. These days, there truly is a sex … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Big changes coming for how schools are run, highly anticipated OCR decision coming today, and a clear-eyed look at the protests up Ōwairaka/Mt Albert. The government has set up a fight with a dangerous political constituency – highly involved parents at affluent schools. That’s putting it facetiously … Read more
A protest against the felling of non-native trees on one of Auckland’s maunga has erupted this week. Ben Thomas says they’re behaving like brats and ignoring the rights of iwi. Letting go can be hard, even if it’s for the best. This is not to say that a few dozen angry residents of Mt Albert, … Read more
The trial of the man accused of Grace Millane’s murder is unlike any other in New Zealand history, recounted in micro-beats, each one tweeted and push-notified. Anna Connell asks what it’s doing to justice. It was a story that horrified New Zealand. In December last year, the news of the death of Grace Millane, a … Read more
Housing advocate Jade Kake has been working with her hapū to increase engagement in the ongoing Ngāpuhi settlement and Tūhono process. Dissatisfied with the media’s preoccupation with the rūnanga leadership, she writes here about the real work and healing that has been, and is still to be, done. Ko Jade Kake tōku ingoa. He uri ahau … Read more
In the second part of a new event series looking at the future of Auckland, The Spinoff and Auckland Council host In My Backyard: Glen Innes, to ask what the suburb can teach the rest of the city about housing. Throughout its history, Glen Innes has had the highest density of state housing in New … Read more
A wild, hilly spear studded with brilliant beaches and thrilling bush, the Coromandel Peninsula is a magic geographical cul-de-sac. Here’s how to explore this stunning part of our backyard. If you’ve got friends or relatives visiting Aotearoa, top of their list should be sorting out their NZeTA (New Zealand Electronic Travel Authority). Head to the Immigration … Read more
Fifteen years on, Sam Brooks looks at Gwen Stefani’s wet, weird, wild and wonderful debut album Love. Angel. Music. Baby. The first thing we hear on Love. Angel. Music. Baby. – No Doubt frontwoman Gwen Stefani’s first album – is applause and cheering. Then a piano. Then Stefani warbling, sweetly, mournfully, almost like a torch … Read more
The government’s reform of 1989’s Tomorrow’s Schools legislation has been announced today, and it’s promising changes for students, teachers, principals and boards. What is “Tomorrow’s Schools”? In 1989, the government introduced the Tomorrow’s Schools reforms, which meant all schools became much more independent, giving Boards power over almost all school decisions, including those to hire … Read more
Where do we watch content, what do we want from it, and how do we view New Zealand news? Here’s what we learned from NZ On Air’s latest survey on identity, culture and the media. We still like to watch free-to-view TV Despite the lingering doom and gloom around linear television, almost three-quarters of respondents … Read more
The candidates to tackle Donald Trump are very keen on the New Zealand prime minister. It could be because Vogue called her “the anti-Trump”. It could be the desperate shortage of tolerable left-leaning leaders in the Anglosphere. Or it could be because everyone knows it’s illegal to be mean about people from New Zealand. Whatever … Read more
Simon Day eats a burger and considers becoming a vegetarian (again). For two years in my 20s, I was vegetarian. It was a choice based on the idea that it’s a much more efficient and much less environmentally invasive way to feed the world. I used to habitually roll out a quote attributed to Einstein: … Read more
Ahead of TVNZ1’s new wildlife documentary Serengeti, Tara Ward presents the best animals that make up the juiciest drama on the plains. If you love nature docos filled with argy-bargy and love triangles, jealous siblings and power struggles, then TVNZ’s new wildlife documentary series Serengeti is a dream come true. The brainchild of ex-Spice Girls … Read more
The Panama Papers exposed a world in which the uber-rich and powerful were able to hide unimaginable wealth. The reporters who broke the story describe how they did it. “When it takes a whistleblower to sound the alarm… it signals that democracy’s checks and balances have all failed.” The final words in the documentary The … Read more
Vernon Tava, the leader of the Sustainable NZ party, used to be part of the Greens. So how did he fit in there? Former MP Catherine Delahunty shares her impressions of him from then, and analyses where his new party will fit in. I first met Vernon Tava when he joined the Greens in Auckland. … Read more
The Zero Carbon Bill is bland and ineffective. Don’t fall for the spin, argues Steve Abel of Greenpeace. It was hard to not be buoyed by our House of Representatives, seemingly aligned in their commitment to climate action, at last week’s passing of the Zero Carbon Act. Bold expositions of pride and parliament united across … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Armed police arrest raises alarm, report makes strong call for Auckland port to go north, and a battle is going on among Fonterra shareholders. Serious concerns have been raised about the trial of armed police officers, after a team arrested an alleged non-violent offender over … Read more
Tech sector giants have a vested interest in prioritising freedom of expression, often at the expense of other rights. A new project to reduce harmful online content, presented yesterday to the Paris Peace Forum, aims to change that. One of the architects of the Christchurch Principles, Dr David Hall, explains. What is the harm in … Read more
As parliament voted all but unanimously to pass the Zero Carbon Bill into law last week, climate change minister James Shaw credited Generation Zero for its very existence. Here, Jenny Coatham explains how the youth-led climate action group pulled off such a monumental task. Our generation has been described as having “climate anxiety” – a … Read more
Taco Bell is here. Alex Casey, Madeleine Chapman, and Alice Webb-Liddall give the first review. There’s nothing more American than drinking a frozen margarita out of a plastic cup with a comically large straw. And that means America has come to West Auckland. New Zealand’s first-ever Taco Bell opens tomorrow at New Lynn’s Brickworks in … Read more
Acclaimed New Zealand-born poet Amy Brown on how the first months of motherhood blasted her writing life – and, eventually, inspired her radically honest new verse journal. The night after birth, when the milk came in, a midwife gave me her pen. I was supposed to use it to write the times of feeds, their … Read more
You’ve heard of Black Friday, you’ve heard of Cyber Monday, but have you ever heard of mega shopping bonanza Singles’ Day? If not, here’s what you need to know about Double 11. What is Singles’ Day? Singles’ Day is a shopping holiday that’s held every year on November 11. It first started in China as … Read more
With the university campus rapidly becoming a space of conflict, is it possible to remain faithful to academic freedom while at the same time mitigating the most harmful effects of hate speech? Massey University provost Giselle Byrnes discusses. Academic freedom and free speech have been much debated in New Zealand in recent months. Chief among … Read more
Vernon Tava’s Sustainable NZ Party launched over the weekend, to media fanfare. But has their pitch for centrist environmentalist voters lost touch with the changes in political reality? For a party that he criticises constantly, Vernon Tava will have a tough time escaping the shadow of the Greens. It’s a curious position for the leader … Read more
What’s the once staunchly metal hacker convention Kiwicon doing swapping skulls for stuffed toys, and what’s the deal with the new con on the block? Alex Stronach reports. It starts with hackers, pyrotechnics, and an alpaca in a party hat. No, wait, let’s rewind. It’s June 2019, and every Kiwi pundit is grappling with a … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Unprecedented early-season bushfires rip through Australia, backdown on school board changes forecast, and Sustainable NZ party launches. We’re going international today, because one of the most important stories in the wider region is happening in Australia. The bushfires currently sweeping through the country have been described … Read more
Last year it was the devious magpie! But who has nabbed the title of Dirtbag Bird of the Year 2019? Sam Brooks has the result. It’s been a fierce two days of votes, deep-seated resentment and zero campaigning. I’ve done the numbers, by which I mean I’ve looked at the votes, and counted them twice … Read more
Online commenters have had an absolute field day with Chlöe Swarbrick’s parliamentary riposte. Here’s our high-level analysis. A lot of people had a lot to say about Chlöe Swarbrick’s “OK boomer” retort in parliament last week. While to some she’s a “hero politician” who “clapped back” at her colleague by employing a “devastating” putdown, others … Read more