Three writers pocketed $60,000 last night at the Prime Minister’s Awards for Literary Achievement. Spinoff Review of Books literary editor Steve Braunias was there, apparently. O 60 large! O three prizes of 60 large, handed out last night to the three esteemed winners of the 2018 Prime Minister’s Awards for Literary Achievement, at the prime … Read more
Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire assess an extraordinary 24 hours in NZ politics, as the leak saga culminates in Jami-Lee Ross quitting parliament, accusing the National leader of corruption on the way out. Guest starring Sam Brooks with a critique of Ross’s incredible dramatic monologue. A relatively unspectacular expenses leak has transmogrified into the biggest … Read more
The second season of Married at First Sight NZ looks to walk queer representation down the aisle of mainstream New Zealand TV. Dejan Jotanovic writes about a significant misstep the series made this week. In episide seven of season two of MAFSNZ, Sam (the influencer) and Tayler (the not-influencer) have their first major bout of on-screen … Read more
It’s been a beloved cultural phenemenon for a few years now, but the Bake-Off finally makes it way to our shores. Hosted by Hayley Sproull and Madeleine Sami, Sam Brooks interviews the pair spearheading the Great Kiwi Bake-Off ahead of its premiere tonight. Straight up: I haven’t watched an episode of the Great British Bake-Off. It sounds like the most … Read more
So remember how there was a bit of a battle going on between National leader Simon Bridges and Botany MP Jami-Lee Ross? It has just stepped up about 16 million notches. Jami-Lee Ross has gone absolutely all-in against the National party leadership of Simon Bridges, in a way that has no obvious precedent in New … Read more
Today at midday the first two episodes of Get It to Te Papa, a Lightbox Original made by The Spinoff, are released. But first, journalist and presenter Hayden Donnell has a few words for the infamous subject of episode one. STOP PRESS: All 6 episodes of Get It to Te Papa are streaming here, now! … Read more
If you serve time in jail there is a nearly one in three chance that you’ll end up back behind bars in the first year after release. For RNZ’s Insight, Leigh-Marama McLachlan speaks to former prisoners trying to build a life outside the gates. Jamie Mako, 46, spent his first night of freedom in four … Read more
Even a unanimous vote by the National caucus to give the rebel MP the boot may not be enough to save the leader, writes Toby Manhire As he isn’t shy to remind us, Winston Peters rightly predicted Brexit and rightly predicted President Trump. He probably predicted the kayak octoslap and Lotto history being made by … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Brutal day looms for National amid Jami-Lee Ross saga, serious allegations made by Nicky Hager against NZDF, and damning indictment of MSD culture. The National Party has found itself plunged into a crisis over MP Jami-Lee Ross. He was named in a report as the most likely … Read more
The party’s best hope of returning to power is to stay high in the polls while knocking NZ First under the threshold. Bridges is under huge pressure today after the Jami-Lee Ross saga, but his MPs would be foolish to start apeing Labour’s approach to leaders in opposition, writes Liam Hehir The question of Simon … Read more
In the third episode of Project Runway New Zealand, the designers had to make a two-piece look out of scrapped technology. Henry Oliver ranks the results. Project Runway is back, baby! After complaining last week about the lack of quips, the lack of drama, the lack of, y’know, interesting clothes, the good ship fashion began … Read more
Maurice Gee – recently named the author of the best New Zealand book of the past 50 years – writes a memoir of the boy who had a dark, terrifying idea for a game: “You be a girl, eh, and I’ll be a man climbing in the window.” Content warning: This excerpt contains a threat of sexual violence. I doubt that … Read more
Political leaders and their advisers know that the kind of disunity evidenced by the Jami-Lee Ross attacks is uniquely toxic with the public, writes Danyl Mclauchlan It was such a reasonable assumption. When someone leaked Simon Bridges’ travel expenses the National leader did what politicians always do when assigning blame: he asked himself the timeless … Read more
In the second episode of The Good Citizen, a new podcast of interviews with exciting and innovative New Zealanders, Jeremy Hansen talks to Henry Crothers about having the bravery to transform our urban landscapes. “We need to stop chickening out.” Landscape architect and urban designer Henry Crothers is playing a guiding role in the creation … Read more
In a dramatic turn of events, the National Party expenses leak has suddenly turned about a thousand times more toxic. What the hell is going on? In a series of four tweets, National MP Jami-Lee Ross has detonated a bomb under the leadership of Simon Bridges. Just a few minutes before the National leader began … Read more
Think aeroplane food is bleak, cliched and kind of awful? You’re wrong, and here’s why. It’s the mid 90s. You’re in a smoky comedy club in New York City, a single spotlight illuminating the exposed brickwork, with a single mic on a stand rising up from the darkness. A thin man with big hair, a … Read more
In this special edition of our politics podcast, Spinoff editor Toby Manhire talks to the prime minister about her first year in the job. Last week Jacinda Ardern swung by Spinoff HQ to reflect on the first year in office and, among other things, the overarching philosophy of the government, climate change, whether they should … Read more
Alex Casey talks to Michele Wilson of AWWA, New Zealand’s first brand of period proof undies, and takes a pair for a spin. It does seem pretty wild that you can 3D print yourself a sex robot in 2018, but there still isn’t the technology widely available to stop period-havers from bleeding through their pants, … Read more
Last year it was the ubiquitous seagull! But who has nabbed the title of the Dirtbag Bird of the Year 2018? Sam Brooks has the result. It’s been a fierce two days of votes, deep-seated resentment and Facebook comments. I’ve done the numbers (looked at how many votes) and thought hard about my decisions (y’all … Read more
As the number of New Zealand citizens deported from Australia grows, so too does the death toll. Don Rowe reports on the rising human costs of Australia’s immigration reforms. This feature was made possible thanks to reader contributions via Spinoff Members. See here for more. In June 2017, at the Anchor Baptist Church in Lower … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Massive increase in overseas teacher recruitment drive, NZ activists reject Israeli court ruling, and the horrible state of Lake Horowhenua is in focus. The government is ramping up efforts to recruit new teachers from overseas, and to lure NZ-trained teachers back home. The numbers being sought are … Read more
The challenge is greater, because of the battle to get everyone on board, says the PM as part of a wide ranging interview with the Spinoff. And New Zealand’s methane emissions problem prompts a new analogy from Ardern: the moon landing Jacinda Ardern says she has “upgraded my position” on her characterisation of climate change … Read more
Ahead of the first anniversary of Winston Peters’ knife-edge announcement, Jacinda Ardern pops by Spinoff HQ to talk to Toby Manhire about what’s been achieved, what hasn’t, and whether or not she’s allowed to say ‘Labour-led government’ any more. Listen to the full interview with the PM in our podcast special here. A year and … Read more
Bringing you the best weekly reading from your friendly local website. Dylan Reeve: A night aboard the most loathed aircraft in New Zealand “The sharp sound of the blades cutting into the air as it circles is familiar to many Aucklanders, including Orakei Local Board member Troy Churton, who attracted attention when he complained publicly about the helicopter … Read more
A huge-if-true newspaper report this week has raised the possibility that sandwich bread could soon be a thing of the past. Calum Henderson investigates. It’s the New Zealand food story of the year, and it broke last Thursday on page 5 of Dunedin community newspaper The Star. Under the extremely emotive-to-southerners headline “Thin ‘cheese roll’ … Read more
For chefs and restaurateurs all over the world, hospitality’s pressure-cooker environment is no joke. As we increasingly grapple with the consequences of depression and anxiety among those working in our food industry, what’s New Zealand going do about it? Le Suquet à Laguiole in the south of France enjoyed the highest accolade in fine dining for two decades. … Read more
Our welfare system is more miserly than I thought and the government needs to get a move on, writes Janet McAllister Exactly two years ago, I expressed scepticism about Labour’s concern for poor kids. Since then, Jacinda Ardern, minister for child poverty reduction, has convinced me via the Families Package that her coalition is at … Read more
New Zealander Sam Bookman was working at the Supreme Court in Israel when the so-called ‘Boycott Law’ was being challenged. That law has now seen two NZ women targeted in the first ruling, over an open letter they wrote to Lorde last year. Here Bookman – no fan of the boycott movement – argues that … Read more
Every week on The Primer we ask a local business or product to introduce themselves in eight simple takes. This week we talk to James Fuller whose company, Hnry, handles financial admin (Income Tax, GST, ACC, Student Loans, KiwiSaver etc.) for self-employed people. ONE: How did Hnry start and what was the inspiration behind it? The … Read more