A lion escapes from the zoo and kills a Rotorua poodle. Weird story, but how did it actually happen? Jean Sergent watches Who Killed Lucy The Poodle?, a TVNZ documentary that attempts to get to the bottom of the legendary affair. For some reason, this story makes perfect sense to me. The premise of Who … Read more
To celebrate the release of her third album, Dedicated, here’s our guide to becoming a Carly Rae Jepsen fan. A Carly Rae Jepstan, if you will. You, an idiot: “Is that the girl who did ‘Call Me Maybe’?” Me, an intellectual and someone with a lot of time on their hands: OH LET ME TELL YOU. … Read more
A recent Dominion Post column attacked British-born Chief Human Rights Commissioner Paul Hunt as not ‘one of us’. It’s a phrase we should all feel uncomfortable with, writes Hunt, wherever we come from. Not long after I took up office as Chief Human Rights Commissioner, a newspaper columnist complained that I am not “one of … Read more
Asking if a women needs an abortion is the wrong question. The right one is whether you think women should have rights to their own bodies without interference from the state, writes Sophie Bateman for Newshub. Abortion is never not a hot-button topic, but it’s certainly having a moment right now. Harsh new restrictions in … Read more
The privilege many 21st-century parents think they have – to choose what illness will befall their children and how they will recover from it – is a relatively new phenomenon, writes historian Ayelet Zoran-Rosen Vaccines save lives. They have saved millions of lives in the last century, and the best proof of their success is the … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Farming groups concerned about growth of forestry, dramatic new documents revealed in Hit and Run inquiry, and govt agency loses town records. Land conversions towards farming have pretty much always brought with them economic growth at the expense of environmental health. But increasingly, farmers and those who … Read more
Moving overseas post graduation? Be prepared for your friendly interest-free student loan to become an out-of-control debt monster, writes Chelle Fitzgerald. Out of sight, out of mind. That’s how I found myself an additional $12K in the hole to IRD. It’s a tale as old as time (the ’90s), and many a former student will … Read more
Fresh shadows are descending on Australian rugby – and it goes further than the Israel Folau saga, writes Trevor McKewen. Folau’s dismissal from his $A4m four-year playing contract was as predictable as the inevitable legal appeal that will follow – and probably swallow up his salary, savings and more. There have been missteps all over the … Read more
It’s week six of Dancing with the Stars, and the cream has risen from beneath the crop! Sam Brooks power-ranks the contestants. Week six! We’re at the stage of the competition where I can listen to a judge’s feedback and guess, with 100% accuracy, what their score is based on their comments. What a specific talent! … Read more
After being lobbied to take a stand on scientific terms, the prime minister’s chief science adviser attempted to find out who makes the call on whether or not to approve an application by a majority-Malaysian-owned company to mine at the fossil-rich volcanic site near Middlemarch in Otago. Is someone, somewhere, is sitting in an office … Read more
A Taranaki couple threw in their high-flying careers to bring people together through the joys of good baking. Tucked down an alleyway off New Plymouth’s main street, just a stone’s throw from the famous Len Lye Centre, you’ll find Billow Bakery in its new home on the ground floor of Quarter Bank, a new development … Read more
Broadcasting legend Elizabeth Alley reviews Loving Sylvie, the gorgeous, ephemeral new novel by Elizabeth Smither. A bride is rowed across a grey-green lake to her wedding. She rehearses her new name, “Sylvie Grace Taverner,” as the waters lap the boat. There’s a black swan and a flotilla of ducks. The oarsman is her grandfather Kit, … Read more
If the wellbeing budget is going to do something about the long-term productivity of the country, it must address the growing gap between digital haves and have-nots, writes Grant Thornton’s Helen Fortune. Many fear that increasing digitisation and automation will result in the mass loss of jobs. But that’s not what happened when the first … Read more
UPDATED: Crusaders management has denied claims on social media that the touring players targeted a group with ‘homophobic slurs, limp wrists and high pitched voices’. Several members of The Crusaders rugby team have been accused of homophobia following an altercation with a group of young men in Cape Town, South Africa. The allegations, detailed on … Read more
Tof Eklund reviews Lovestruck, a free-to-play treasure trove of romantic queer gaming content. Voltage’s Lovestruck does not, at first glance, look particularly queer-inclusive. Created in 2017 to unify four otome (‘women’s romance’) mobile games, this game hub now houses at least a dozen fictional worlds (depending on how you count them) and an advertised ’50+ … Read more
The Australian left will need to do a far better job of connecting with voters – and what they really care about – if they’re ever going to regain power, writes Australian political historian Geoffrey Robinson. The Australian election result was a triumph for the Coalition and a defeat for pundits. The result is even … Read more
Katie Meadows reviews Catch-22, George Clooney’s bleak and boring TV adaptation of the classic novel. Even if you are not familiar with Joseph Heller’s 1961 satirical novel, you will be familiar with its title — a catch-22 at its most technical is a paradoxical problem with no solution because its rules inherently void the possibility of … Read more
May 20 – 26 is macular degeneration awareness week. The subject is a personal one for Grant Thompson and his daughter Donna, who have both been diagnosed the condition which can lead to blindness. “I thought I just needed new glasses, but my optometrist told me I was going blind.” When Grant Thompson was diagnosed … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Scott Morrison wins re-election in Australia, major boost in funding for sexual violence services, and stories around Alfred Ngaro party continue to swirl. Few saw it coming, but Australian PM Scott Morrison is set to win re-election against the odds. With some votes still to count, the … Read more
Wastewater testing provides an objective, standardised way of assessing levels of drug usage, and that has manifold benefits, writes Brent Gilpin of ESR. There are suggestions from time to time that wastewater drug testing is an erosion of our civil liberties and freedoms, as if we’ve unwittingly dropped our trousers and given our “information” to the … Read more
If the government doesn’t include a comprehensive solution for Māui dolphins in this Threat Management Plan, it will be game over, writes Livia Esterhazy of WWF-New Zealand Once great flightless birds roamed Aotearoa’s forests. Before humans arrived, moa only had one predator, Haast’s eagle. But once humans were here, moa were hunted into extinction. We also … Read more
The Coalition win in Australia has dealt a blow to the hopes of more than 800 refugees stuck on Pacific Islands, writes RNZ Pacific’s Johnny Blades. Refugees in Australia’s offshore processing centres on Nauru and Papua New Guinea’s Manus Island had their hopes pinned on a Labor victory yesterday. Labor’s leader Bill Shorten had promised … Read more
Over its eight seasons, Game of Thrones demonstrated some of the most screwed up inter-personal relationships ever shown on screen. But there were some bright spots, says relationship expert Holly Dixon. Contains Game of Thrones spoilers up to and including season 8 episode 5, ‘The Bells’. In many ways, Game of Thrones is a meditation … Read more
If David Seymour’s assisted dying bill gets knocked out in Parliament, hopes of a referendum at the 2020 election die with it, writes Graham Adams. We will soon find out — probably in the next six weeks — which of our MPs believe in participatory democracy and which don’t. The vote on the second reading … Read more
All the polls pointed to a Labor win in Australia yesterday. That’s not what happened at all, writes Michelle Grattan. The Coalition has been re-elected in a shock result in which Labor lost seats in Queensland, Tasmania and NSW and failed to make more than minimal gains nationally. But former prime minister Tony Abbott has … Read more
Stories linking cases of extreme child neglect to plant-based diets are peddling dangerous rhetoric, writes Jai Breitnauer. When I read about the malnourished toddler in Sydney this week, who at 19 months was so severely starved she looked like a newborn baby, I was heartbroken and outraged. But I also felt something else – anger. … Read more
There is a lifetime of adventures to be had in New Zealand without ever once setting foot on a plane, writes Melanie Vautier. A little while ago I stepped out of my front door in Queenstown with the intention of walking back home. To Wellington. I arrived in Queenstown in October to work there over summer, … Read more
In our Q&A series, The Lightbulb, we ask innovators and entrepreneurs to tell us about how they turned their ideas into reality. This week we talk to Little Yellow Bird founder Samantha Jones whose social enterprise makes sustainably and ethically-made uniforms and basics. First of all, give us your elevator pitch for Little Yellow Bird. We’re … Read more
Last night at the Voyager Media Awards in Auckland, The Spinoff was named website of the year. Managing editor Duncan Greive is still in shock. It’s 8.43am and I’ve had I’m guessing ~4 hours sleep, but who in the world needs that because The Spinoff has won website of the year at the Voyager Awards. … Read more