Because what your Friday night really needs is Duncan Greive getting beaten up in a cow costume. Let’s face it: it’s been a hard week. Judith Collins has tweeted fake news, landlords want to rifle through your bank statements and Clarke Gayford’s beard isn’t going anywhere. Why not unwind at 10.45pm on Three with a … Read more
An otherwise unremarkable Auckland University debate on free speech and PC culture turned into a cause célèbre when one of the participants, Don Brash, was banned by Massey University. Madeleine Chapman tunes in to the livestream. “Good evening” “Good evening” “Good evening” “Good evening” “Good evening” The head of the University of Auckland debating society, introduced … Read more
Nearly 30 years ago The Animals of Farthing Wood debuted – and promptly traumatised a generation of children with its cavalcade of animal slaughter. Picture it: an idyllic wood, teeming with all sorts of delightful creatures big and small, feathered and furred. Thick with green leaf and underbrush. Perhaps there’s the sound of a gentle … Read more
Yesterday, MP Ginny Andersen’s Holidays (Bereavement Leave for Miscarriage) Amendment Bill was drawn from the members ballot in Parliament. It amends the Holidays Act 2003 to make it clear that women and their partners can get three days’ bereavement leave after a miscarriage. Kathryn Van Beek writes about why she pushed for this change, and why … Read more
SkyCity want to open an online casino. What makes them any different from the sharks already here, asks Don Rowe. In a presentation to shareholders announcing a record $169.5 million net profit, SkyCity this week signalled their desire to launch an online casino. That’s despite legislation which on the face of it prohibits New Zealand … Read more
Two Kiwi dairy devotees feel right at home in the northern Indian state that’s mad for milk products. Ardent carnivores may struggle in Amritsar, the second biggest city in Punjab state, India. In the bright sandstone main square, signs at the doors of Maccas and Subway declare them strictly vegetarian eateries, and most restaurant menus are … 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 Nick Leckie, co-founder of rainwear company Okewa which is currently running a Kickstarter campaign to raise money for its newest product line – raincoats made from recycled plastic bottles. ONE: How did Okewa start and what … Read more
The Spinoff’s editor Toby Manhire reviews the last seven days in New Zealand news, sorting out those riding high from those who wish they could crawl back under the bedcovers. The Spinoff TV, 10.45pm Fridays on THREE
Goodbye Freeview Plus, hello Freeview on Demand. Tara Ward takes the new Freeview platform for a test drive. A deep library of diverse local television is now available in one place with the launch of its new on-demand service, which takes the content of New Zealand’s free-to-air TV channels and streamlines it into a single, … Read more
The function and frailty of liberalism has been thrust to the fore as New Zealand debates the meaning of free speech. Yet the biggest threat to liberalism may be the failure of elites to make the systems and institutions of modern liberalism work for the rest of us, writes Danyl Mclauchlan If, like me – … Read more
The Spinoff presents the video premiere of SoccerrPractise ‘Kaua E Mate Wheke’ animated video by Kim Newall & Frances Haszard. Geneva Alexander-Marsters says: As a Māori speaker, growing up in central Auckland in an English-urban environment has been challenging for my reo. I find myself looking on the internet to find whakataukī (proverbs) and check kupu as … Read more
Māui Street editor Morgan Godfery with an exclusive look at the internal rift threatening the Māori Women’s Welfare League. A remit to expel controversial Māori Women’s Welfare League members will go the League’s AGM this year, National President Prue Kapua confirmed in a statement to Māui Street. The remit is aimed at expelling Pauline Rewiti, a South … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Hits keep coming in Wally Haumaha story, firefighting foam contaminates Taranaki streams, and nurses release voting numbers. The Wally Haumaha appointment inquiry story isn’t going away any time soon, with a raft of new developments. First of all, let’s recap, because it has been a long and … Read more
If you’re a New Zealand man who goes clubbing, chances are you’ve been denied entry at least once for not wearing leather shoes. But why? What’s wrong with sneakers? The Spinoff TV’s Ra Pomare investigates.
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 Simon talks to Aroha Armstrong about creating pathways for Māori entrepreneurship. Recently, … Read more
Keen to cure your addiction to the small screen? Alex Beattie has nine quickfire suggestions. A flash on your screen, a ‘vrrrr’ in your pocket, the universal ‘DING’. The digital world is rife with distractions, some of which are by design. Thanks to smartphones and social media, we live in an attention economy where the … Read more
Spider-Man is one of 2018’s most hotly anticipated titles, from the critically acclaimed studio Insomniac. Adam Goodall talks to Insomniac’s community director, James Stevenson, about its latest release and how he hopes to create a healthy online space in the age of GamerGate. In the months leading up to its PS4 release, the conversation around Spider-Man … Read more
A new consent education programme for secondary schools is well-intentioned, but it’s $18 million that would be better spent on teachers, argues health education specialist Katie Fitzpatrick ACC have just announced they will spend a further 18.4 million dollars on a programme called Mates and Dates for secondary schools. Mates and Dates was launched in 2016 and … Read more
As we reeled from last week’s messy memories of the disastrous shit river in Chlo and Em’s house, a new Block NZ poonami threatened to wash us all away in a wave of shock and scandal. Inflate your water wings, this one’s a doozy. Amy and Stu nearly pulled off the perfect crime this week, by … Read more
Veteran sports hack Joseph Romanos reviews My Life, My Fight by Steven Adams with Madeleine Chapman. Disclaimer: Madeleine Chapman is a staff writer at The Spinoff. This review was commissioned independently by our books editor, Steve Braunias. To judge by his autobiography, Steven Adams must be about the most down-to-earth, unprepossessing 25-year-old multi-millionaire on Earth. … Read more
Business confidence has fallen off a cliff. Economist Cameron Bagrie says it’s meaningless, but other bad indicators can’t be ignored. The economy is headed for recession if you believe the readings from business confidence. Thankfully we can largely ignore business confidence readings. We can’t ignore other survey measures though that are saying growth has slowed … Read more
The MP who rumbled property managers talking about the so-called ‘KFC test’ for tenants writes about why they need to be stopped. It is clear that most landlords and property managers are doing it right – they are providing an essential service for New Zealanders and are doing a good job, in a respectful and … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: ‘KFC test’ for tenants slammed, another census debacle reported, and divisions in the nurses union despite pay agreement. The issue of what information landlords can demand from tenants has erupted, after a property manager revealed some landlords are asking tenants for bank statements to see what … Read more
This Sunday, five wāhine Māori are telling stories at Te Papa museum about the women who have inspired and shaped them. Author and researcher Helen Brown (Ngāi Tahu) remembers Mere Harper (Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Huirapa) – midwife, porter, wahine toa. Mere Harper was part of the mixed-descent community that burgeoned around the shore- whaling station established … Read more
The state of recycling in New Zealand is back in the news after China announced it will no longer take much of our used plastic. But that’s no reason to give up on recycling entirely. We sent Gareth Shute to find out which materials you can most fruitfully keep out of landfill. There’s nothing like … Read more
Business is saying move over, you’re on the wrong side of the road. The government is refusing to budge. Who is going to capitulate first in the ultimate confidence game, asks Guyon Espiner in his fortnightly column for RNZ. This has been rumbling along for a few months but has only just got serious. Until now … Read more
How will history remember Donna Awatere Huata? Saraid Cameron hopes it’s for her feminism. Donna Awatere Huata will be speaking on a panel discussing the #MeToo movement at LATE at Auckland Museum on Wednesday 15 August. I spent much of last summer (for theatre-geek reasons) in the New Zealand Women’s Archives, an almost forgotten collection at … Read more
We asked former All Black great Bob Burgess to review a new book on his team-mate Keith Murdoch. But then we changed our mind, and asked his wife Linda Burgess to write whatever she wanted about rugby. A rugby game lasts a whole day. Your father wears a gaberdine raincoat and takes the family to … Read more
Last Friday, Auckland-based, Dunedin-formed band Ha the Unclear released their new album Invisible Lines. To celebrate, singer/guitarist/songwriter Michael Cathro sat down to write a track-by-track guide. ‘WWYWI’ ‘Where Were You When I Was All You Needed?’ was the last song written for this album. It’s one person realising the fondness that developed through absence, only … Read more