BioWare’s new online multiplayer Anthem has stumbled out of the starting block, with decidedly mixed reviews. So is this it for BioWare? “… you never quite shake that feeling of disappointment – of knowing, throughout the good parts of Anthem, that you’ll inevitably come crashing back down.” – Gamespot “Anthem’s campaign is a collision of competing … Read more
Following last week’s revelations about James K Baxter, poetry editor Ashleigh Young presents a poem by Baxter’s wife, the late Jacquie Sturm. In Loco Parentis for Ethel and Bert Eleven years old in domestic service Blacking other children’s boots and only One day off a month to visit mother. That was her. He counted himself lucky With … Read more
Alex Casey went speed dating with some Heartbreak Island contestants and things got real serious, real fast. Everything around us is slowly sinking. Foot Island. The Tropicana Bar. Even Auckland’s hottie factory The Lula Inn, where I have returned to my favourite booth to do my favourite thing – date a bunch of young, attractive … Read more
In the face of opposition to its involvement in mobile tech roll-outs around the world, the Chinese telecoms behemoth has unleashed a devastating global weapon: the simile. In a series of ads for print, digital and billboards across New Zealand this month, the Chinese telecoms giant Huawei pushed back at the government’s rejection of a … Read more
Women from migrant and refugee backgrounds celebrate food and storytelling from their diverse cultures at Renu Sikka’s Auckland workshops. “Food is something that connects people,” says Renu Sikka. “It sparks that conversation.” Sikka is a teacher at Henderson Primary School in Auckland, and in her spare time runs workshops – mainly based around food – for … Read more
Tonight, Pussy Riot perform their show Riot Days as a part of Auckland Fringe. In the lead-up to the performance, Dina Jezdic talked to the collective’s Maria ‘Masha’ Alyokhina. In 2012 Maria ‘Masha’ Alyokhina, member of the Pussy Riot activist collective, was sentenced to two years in prison and sent to a Russian penal colony. Today, Masha … Read more
Eight years to the day since the earthquake that tore Christchurch apart, James Dann takes stock of the city rebuild. For most of the country, it’s just another Friday. For an increasing number of people in Christchurch, it’s just another Friday too. For many of us though, it is the 22nd of February, quake day. … Read more
A new British dramedy proves to us that Anna Paquin has the goods – but the rest of it doesn’t meet her at her level. Sam Brooks reviews TVNZ on Demand’s Flack. The best moment in the premiere episode of Flack happens nearly a quarter of the way into the episode. Anna Paquin, playing PR-slash-crisis-manager … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Tax Working Group puts environment taxes on the agenda, social worker registration bill questioned, and DHBs bleeding red ink. Sound the clickbait klaxon, because today’s Bulletin is all about tax policy. We’ll get to everyone’s favourite political football – the Capital Gains Tax – a bit further … Read more
A New Zealand ban on kwila would send a signal that we’re serious about protecting our planet, its ancient forests and the people whose lives depend on them, writes Maire Leadbeater of West Papua Action Auckland Deforestation is said to contribute about 24% of global greenhouse gas emissions. In Brazil and Indonesia logging and forest conversion … Read more
Employee subsidies for public transport, less tax on KiwiSaver: There are some gems in the government’s latest tax report other than the capital gains distraction, writes tax expert Terry Baucher. For over 50 years a variety of tax working groups have pondered the greatest philosophical question in New Zealand tax: Should we tax all capital … Read more
Simon Bridges said the Government Tax Working Group’s call for a capital gains tax was an ‘assault on the Kiwi way of life’. That betrays a very depressing and limited view of the Kiwi way of life, says Hayden Donnell. The ink had barely dried on the Tax Working Group report and Simon Bridges was … Read more
New environmental taxes get the thumbs up, but commentators are as divided as ever on the thorny issue of a capital gains tax. The report is out, and as expected the government’s Tax Working Group (TWG) has recommended introducing a broad-based capital gains tax (CGT). While the social justice community applauds the move, business groups … Read more
The Real Pod assembles to dissect the third week on Married at First Sight Australia, with special thanks to Nando’s. The real Married at First Sight Australia experts are back recap a truly diseased week on the good show. There were waxed buttholes, there was a cheating scandal, there were many, many chicken pox. Sam and … 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, with the interview available as both audio and a transcribed excerpt. This week he talks to Angus Brown from Arepa. There have been … Read more
‘Kissing’, ‘necking’, ‘snogging’, ‘making out’ – there are a plethora of ways to describe the locking of lips. But Elle Hunt’s favourite is one that’s deeply unique to the Kiwi vocabulary. After a year and a half in London, my accent is increasingly English, my standards for flat whites have plummeted, and I’ve come to see … Read more
Resist the call of the vending machine by having a batch of these tucked away for afternoon cravings. There’s nothing like having something nutritious and delicious on hand for when the afternoon cravings strike and you need an instant fix. The recipes that follow are quick and easy and make a generous batch of toasted … Read more
She’s the tsunami taking the world over – and you better get on the wave before you get dragged under. Sam Brooks tells you why you love Lizzo. The love “I toss my hair back, check my nails, baby how you feeling? Feeling good as hell!” It’s the refrain that was heard the world over … Read more
‘A mangy dog’, ‘an assault on the Kiwi way of life’ and ‘yesterday’s cold porridge’: Business groups and opposition politicians are less than flattering about the proposed new tax. The business community is unsurprisingly less than impressed that the Tax Working Group (TWG) has recommended by a majority of eight to three that New Zealand … Read more
There’s a cyclone sitting off the coast and we’re already feeling its tendrils. From Six60 to Splore, Western Springs to Tapapakanga Regional Park, which shows will suffer worst this weekend? Update 11am Friday: NIWA weatherman Ben Noll has scant good news as we barrel towards the weekend, saying while for now there are only smatterings … Read more
John Summers is inspired by a dreamer who ended up living as a kind of Robinson Crusoe on a Cook Islands atoll ‘where there truly was no sound beyond the waves, the birds and whatever noise you made yourself’. Some of the happiest hours of my primary school education were those spent sitting on the mat, listening to … Read more
Climate change has already affected how electricity gets delivered to customers, and it’s only going to get more challenging. Vector’s Chief Networks Officer Andre Botha outlines what the lines company is doing to respond. ‘Australia is melting’, ‘US freezes to death’ and ‘Cat frozen solid thaws to full recovery’…. January’s weather-related news headlines were straight … Read more
The Tax Working Group’s recommendations on changes to the New Zealand tax system have just been released. These are the main recommendations, according to RNZ. Tax the capital gain on sale of land, shares, business assets, intangible assets such as intellectual property. Tax to be imposed when the asset is sold, and levied at the … Read more
Te Matatini starts today, and one kapa haka fan is very excited. In 1995, I was an out-of-zone student at Epsom Girls’ Grammar, equally into Tupac, Hole and Anne of Green Gables, and struggling to find a sense of belonging. High school is a tough time no matter what social strata you occupy. The stress … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: More defections shake British politics, massive hole in NZ’s biosecurity defences revealed, and Privacy Commissioner makes intervention in self-ID debate. We’re going international today, because there have been hugely significant developments in British politics overnight. The established party system in Britain is imploding, with MPs from both … Read more
In the debate around the right to self-identify, the dignity of the individual should be a cornerstone, writes NZ Privacy Commissioner John Edwards Should transgender people have the right to change official documents to record their sense of identity? This question is attaining increasing prominence, following the recommendation by a parliamentary committee that a statutory … Read more
This week has seen a series of disturbing revelations about the Pike River mine disaster. Rebecca Macfie, author of Tragedy at Pike River Mine: How and Why 29 Men Died, explains what it means On day two of the latest round of breaking news about the suppurating wound that is the Pike River disaster, the health … Read more
A new book by Tony McCaffrey deals with stage performances by people who have intellectual disabilities. John Lambie was an actor with Down Syndrome. He had had been part of the initial intake of children in 1965 into Hohepa Canterbury, a residential community in Christchurch for people with intellectual disabilities, run on the principles of Rudolf Steiner. In 2015, John … Read more
A Canterbury investors’ group is the latest example of crying ‘hacked’ when it’s really nothing of the sort, writes Dylan Reeve. It’s so common now that we barely bat an eyelid – some company holding troves of personal information is hacked and personal data is leaked online… sometimes even on the dark web! But this … Read more