In our latest local elections 2019 race briefing (read the rest here), Hayden Donnell dips his toe into the extraordinary battle for the Tron. The Spinoff local election coverage is entirely funded by The Spinoff Members. For more about becoming a member and supporting The Spinoff’s journalism click here. Where? Hamilton! You know the one: … Read more
It’s week three of Celebrity Treasure Island, and what a forking great week it was. Tara Ward power ranks our favourite celebrity contestants as they compete to win that sweet charity cash. Welcome back to another glorious week in Paradise, as our beloved CTI contestants dodged, ducked, dipped, dived and dodged their way through tense eliminations, … Read more
‘A girl’s best friend’ was Creme magazine’s tagline, and for many girls growing up in New Zealand in the early 2000s, that was absolutely true. Five years after Creme shuttered, Amanda Robinson looks back at a teen phenomenon. When I think of Creme magazine I think of grocery shopping at the Foodtown in Glenfield Mall, … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Range of reaction to Kiwibuild reset, Peter Ellis dies before Supreme Court appeal can be heard, and calls for apology for te reo suppression. Hang on, it is still called Kiwibuild right? The government’s flagship policy, which has by most metrics been a disaster, has been … Read more
The latest twist in the Warriors tale might be grim, but it comes as little surprise to sports journalist and former Warriors CEO Trevor McKewen. He traces the club’s long and sorry history I know that by now a lot of people don’t care what happens to the Warriors. I’d like to think this piece … Read more
Right now, ministers are envisioning a future in which an over-supply of renewable energy is captured, stored in hydrogen cells and exported. Is that realistic? Jenée Tibshraeny from Interest takes a hard look at the potential and possibilities. The government wants to position New Zealand as a front-runner rather than a fast-follower on the development … Read more
OPINION: In the third part of a new series with our partners at Flick Electric Co. to help you make better energy choices, Flick’s Nikki Cockburn explains what goes into power bill. Power bills. Ugh. Like throwing a lump of cash money to the wind, right? But if you know a little about what you’re … Read more
Jacinda Ardern needs to make an urgent plea for UN monitors to go the West Papua immediately. Let us not again wait to speak out only to uncover the horrors later, writes Maire Leadbeater The uprising that is engulfing Indonesian ruled West Papua has lifted the lid on a deep strand of indigenous anger and … Read more
Many Aucklanders have a lot of questions about the ongoing measles outbreak. The Science Media Centre went to the experts for answers. Measles is continuing to spread in Auckland, and officials are saying anyone travelling there should make sure they’re immunised at least two weeks before they go. From 1 January to 3 September 2019 there have been 975 … Read more
Welcome back to Papercuts, our monthly books podcast hosted by Louisa Kasza, Jenna Todd and Kiran Dass. On this month’s Papercuts, Jenna, Kiran and Louisa hold an experiment to see what it is like to drink a bottle of prosecco whilst recording. We observe the Booker Longlist and delve into a bunch of NZ trade … Read more
Almost two years on, the coalition government’s flagship KiwiBuild programme has been given a ‘reset’, with the big 100,000 target – and all the targets along the way – thrown in the bin. What just happened? Megan Woods has pressed a reset button, detonating a controlled explosion beneath the government’s big KiwiBuild housing programme. The … Read more
On the back of season 3 of Netflix’s hit teen drama 13 Reasons Why, Katie Meadows argues that the show’s unremitting darkness poses real risks to young viewers. Two years after it first aired, and a month before the release of season 3, Netflix announced it was at long last cutting the painfully graphic depiction … Read more
Ahead of his appearance at the Going West Festival, author Jeff Murray insists the stories we tell ourselves – and each other – will make all the difference in how we cope with climate change. “I a Koro Meketanara tētahi pāmu – TI-HAI-TI-HAI-HAU . . .” I read Old Macdonald Had A Farm to my … Read more
A poem by Christchurch scholar Paul Millar. Thx for the memories for the people of the Avon Loop At first we didn’t see we were sinking, or that over our heads ice was hardening. How could so many be all, and all end? By the time someone noticed, we were on the … Read more
In the third instalment of Things I Learned At Art School, Megan Dunn talks to Yvonne Todd, the 2019 Arts Foundation Laureate who has received the Theresa Gattung Award for Female Arts Practitioners. Todd discusses fashion, Madonna’s aging process and what photography students never need to photograph again. What did you learn in art school? … Read more
Countdown’s restriction on the sale of energy drinks to under-16s came into force this week. Near-lifelong energy drink consumer Sam Brooks writes on his relationship with the buzzy beverages, and what he thinks of the age restriction. I was seven years old when V launched in New Zealand. That radioactive green can made it look … Read more
Tests on citizenship are very revealing about our ideas of ‘national identity’, writes NZ-British human mashup Elle Hunt. I’d come across a sample “Life in the UK” quiz online – 24 questions on the culture and heritage of the British isles, of the kind posed as part of the application process for citizenship – and idly … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: 300 pages worth of health system review delivered, exportable green hydrogen examined, and small hospitality businesses pushed to the brink by Uber Eats. A massive doorstopper of a review has been delivered, into a sector that has been a massive headache for successive governments. The NZ Herald reports … Read more
Last week saw the publication of the new Child and Youth Wellbeing Strategy, on which the future of New Zealand quite literally depends, writes Claire Achmad of Barnardos. Something that has never happened before for children and young people in this country happened last week. Behind the school lunches policy (which you probably heard a … Read more
Former prime minister Helen Clark has called for New Zealanders to vote yes when they hit the booth in next year’s cannabis referendum. Former prime minister Helen Clark says New Zealanders should vote yes to the legalisation of cannabis and the wiping of minor cannabis-related convictions at the 2020 cannabis referendum. The recommendation comes off … Read more
You may think you’re not interested in the local elections. But did you know the candidate pool is a smorgasbord of celebs, oddballs, and otherwise interesting people? Hayden Donnell reports. The Spinoff local election coverage is made possible thanks to The Spinoff Members. For more about becoming a member and supporting The Spinoff’s journalism click here. There’s so much at … Read more
Last week was New Zealand Fashion Week 2019. The Spinoff sent along two Fashion Week novices – culture editor Sam Brooks and staff writer Josie Adams – to cover it. Here are their wildly varying experiences of the annual fashion event. Sam Brooks attended NZFW from Monday through to Thursday. Josie Adams attended Friday through … Read more
Sixty years ago Volvo invented the modern seatbelt then gave it away free to the world. Now, to celebrate that anniversary, they’re doing it again – this time with millions of dollars of hard-won safety research. In a steel tunnel in Sweden, a giant rubber moose is in trouble. Watched from every angle by high-speed … Read more
Loved Linda Burgess’s essays for The Spinoff? Now she’s written a whole book of ’em. And it is, predictably, terrific. With love, Linda Burgess writes simply in her dedication. With love, and god there is so much of it here, in these essays, this “memoir of sorts”, you’ll get to the end and feel like … Read more
A squad of New Zealand’s big sporting bodies just announced they were ‘taking a stand’, to ‘create a positive experience for all young people playing sport’. If they’re serious about achieving both a healthier national culture and a slew of world-class athletes, the model should be Norway, writes Trevor McKewen. “It’s time to change our … Read more
The prime minister of Britain neatly fits the description of a ‘sneaky fucker’, writes Tony Burton Boris Johnson is a sneaky fucker. I mean that in the technical sense. The term is attributed to evolutionary biologist John Maynard Smith to describe the male deer who trick their way into the dominant male’s harem rather than … Read more
Named Angel of the Year by Enterprise Angels, investor Alan Dick talks about the importance of making resources available to a wider group of people. Alan Dick knows a thing or two about investing. Experienced in everything from IT and tech, to manufacturing and kiwifruit, Dick became an angel investor six years ago. Since then … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Cancer sufferers react to govt’s new plan, data shows big increase in land sales for forestry, and a striking warning about NZ’s future of defence. Over the weekend, the government made their major announcement on addressing the cancer treatment model. So with the benefit of a … Read more
Small businesses have told The Spinoff that hefty commission fees from the global delivery giant are pushing them to the brink, and are asking why global fast food chains get a discount. Small hospitality businesses are paying substantially higher commission rates to Uber Eats than fast food giants using the food-delivery app, and some say … Read more