Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Phil Twyford talks up prefab housing industry, massive alleged money laundering scheme uncovered, and all the latest in strike news. Housing minister Phil Twyford is looking to prefab housing to make the Kiwibuild plan possible. Under the Kiwibuild plan, Labour has promised 100,000 homes over ten years. … Read more
NZME journalist Georgina Campbell has created a new podcast about the #metoo movement. She speaks to Alex Braae about how media coverage of sexual harassment and abuse has changed in the months since the Weinstein stories broke In the first episode of Speaking Secrets, a new podcast series about the Me Too movement, journalist Georgina … Read more
It’s ’90s week on Dancing with the Stars – approximately the decade when this series started. We’re doing the power rankings again. And they have to dance not once, but twice! There is neither rhyme nor reason to these power rankings, so I will rank by dance, not by contestant. There’s just one more week to … Read more
Niki Harré, professor of psychology at the University of Auckland, explains how we can make the world a better place by playing something she calls “the infinite game”. You probably know the drill: people are failing to recycle, driving their cars too much, or eating the wrong food. But changing the behaviour of other adults … Read more
Fairy tales are a staple of most children’s reading experience – but should they be? Children’s storyteller Baz Macdonald wonders whether it’s time that we retired fairy tales for good. It would be difficult to find anyone in New Zealand who doesn’t know the stories of Cinderella or Little Red Riding Hood. We were all … Read more
How does one report on something that’s happening behind closed doors? New Zealand media did their best last week as Jacinda Ardern gave birth, but was it enough? Or too much? We all waited in the rain for the baby to arrive. Not to arrive in the world – Neve Te Aroha Ardern Gayford was … Read more
In the middle of last decade, one man dominated our local music television. Then he disappeared. Elle Hunt tracks down Joel Defries, and talks to him about life as a Kiwi TV star, and what he’s been doing since. Joel Defries was once a household name. Well: in some households, between 4pm and 7pm weekdays, … Read more
On June 21 2018, Neve Te Aroha Ardern Gayford was born. But on April 7, 2010 first fisherman Clarke Gayford revealed a preference for a middle name of a … different kind. After a deep and serious investigation, The Spinoff has discovered a clip uploaded onto popular video website YouTube from the account “Rattle Ya … Read more
In May 1993 alt-metal weirdos Faith No More were cast adrift in New Zealand with nothing to do. And so Don Rowe’s dad booked them to open his nightclub, a tiny room in a very different Queenstown. Almost a year to the day before I was born my parents made a decision that I maintain ruined … Read more
For no particular reason we’re celebrating Kiwi companies that are being a bit extra, for the good of working parents. We know the drill. It’s the hardest job you’ll ever have. Working, parenting – parenting, working. It’s tough. We’ve got a bunch of in-built safety nets via our labour laws which (hopefully) ensure parents with … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Gang violence decreasing across the country, government ends public servant cap, and the country’s largest private education provider could be about to sell up. Gang violence is decreasing across the country, in some areas dramatically, according to new figures released to Newshub. Incidents of gang related violence are … Read more
From meeting other former foster kids I know that I was one of the lucky ones. Today we have to put survivors front and centre of the inquiry into abuse in state care, writes Christine L Ammunson I suspect that only people who have been in state care or foster care know what it’s like … Read more
It’s week ten of Survivor NZ and things just got weirdly Jurassic. Last week on Survivor NZ we saw Matt make undoubtedly the biggest move of the season, blindsiding Brad who left the game with a hidden immunity idol still in his pocket. Brad’s exit has completely shaken up the game, leaving a huge power vacuum in … Read more
The metal community is in mourning following the loss of Vinnie Paul aged 54. Co-founder of the timeless Pantera, and drummer for Damageplan and Hell Yeah, Vinnie was a metal god. Emily Writes pays tribute. When I logged onto Facebook this morning it was one of the first things I saw. “Vincent Paul Abbott aka Vinnie … Read more
Black Sheep is a RNZ series about the shady, controversial and sometimes downright villainous characters of New Zealand history, presented by William Ray. Here he introduces Roy Courlander, a NZ Army Private who volunteered to join Nazi Germany’s infamous Waffen SS. Roy Courlander’s early years are hard to trace. He was born in London in … Read more
Bringing you the best weekly reading from your friendly local website. Thalia Kehoe Rowden: What can a horrified New Zealander do about children in cages? “Whether you are poring over Twitter and the New York Times website, gaping at every new atrocity this corrupt and cruel administration embarks on, or avoiding the excruciating sights and sounds … Read more
Ubisoft’s partnership with collaborative content creation company HitRecord on the game Beyond Good and Evil 2 has caused an outcry among freelancers, who argue the game’s ‘fan engagement strategy’ is exploitation, plain and simple. Ubisoft’s opening salvo at E3 this year – after their annual celebration of Just Dance – was a ten minute presentation for Beyond … Read more
Many of the children abused in state care facilities over the past 40 years have grown up lost in the system. Ricky Houghton decided to overthrow the system completely. He Korowai Trust CEO Ricky Houghton comes from the Pita Sharples school of style – a perfectly moussed mullet, a sharp leather jacket and a gentle … Read more
I swear to god. Two stories this week made me very angry. The first was about a spot of bother in the towbar industry. Two engineers responsible for certifying towbars have been suspended “amid safety investigations into broken and cracked towing connections on heavy truck-trailers”. Heavy truck-trailers you say? Sounds dangerous, doesn’t it? And it … Read more
You’re probably using the term clickbait wrongly, explains Alex Braae. A shocking abuse of language is taking place in media every day, and experts are completely lost on how to deal with it. One word has been so brutally abused, overused and mangled that it is now completely unrecognisable. Do you know this word? Click … Read more
In our video series Kiwis of Snapchat, comedian Tom Sainsbury sources exclusive Snapchat footage of Kiwi citizens and luminaries making the news. Today: “Names for the baby? I’d definitely suggest Paula.” The Spinoff TV screens Fridays at 9.45pm from June 22nd on THREE. Thanks to NZ on Air. Click here for all our Kiwis of … Read more
Legal action has been taken by multi-millionaire Bob Jones against two Māori women who have called him and a column he wrote racist. Is it true? And what is racism anyway? We delved into the archives for answers. So two weeks ago it was announced Sir Bob Jones was suing Māori filmmaker Renae Maihi on … Read more
Auckland’s golf courses are huge tracts of heavily subsidised land lying vacant in the middle of a housing crisis. We need to seize them all back, argues Hayden Donnell. Some of the proposals to fix Auckland’s housing crisis are debatable. Jailing all Boomers. Seizing Howick under the Public Works Act. Permanently exiling the land banking … Read more
Once Auckland’s retail centre, K’ Road was forever changed by the Western Motorway, but is on its way back to being a thriving retail centre where more and more people want to live. Henry Oliver went to look at one apartment building’s addition to K’ Road’s continual evolution. The ‘real’ Karangahape Road – like the ‘real’ … Read more
High profile escort Lisa Lewis has published an open letter denouncing the NZ Prostitutes’ Collective for its advocacy for migrant sex workers in New Zealand. A Wellington sex worker responds. I’ve been a sex worker in Wellington for the past two years, both as an independent operator and an agency escort, and I was prompted … Read more
Our first TV show premieres on Three at 9.45pm – here’s what to expect Two years after writing the headline “Good news: TV is dead”, The Spinoff has been forced to expediently concede that its obituary came a little early. Straight after the celebrated New Zealand institution that is 7 Days, we internet urchins will … Read more
The week’s best-selling books at the Unity Books stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington. AUCKLAND UNITY 1 The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck by Mark Manson (MacMillan, $35) “Manson doesn’t go in for the positive thinking school of self-help. He makes a good case for struggle….He writes about the need to hone … Read more
We’re rocketing towards the ending of season two of The Handmaid’s Tale, and Gilead is not letting up one bit. Tara Ward recaps episode 10. Let myself introduce myself: this is me after I watched this week’s episode of The Handmaid’s Tale. I am ruined. I am a bleeding carcass of emotion, stripped of everything that … Read more
Praised for its ability to deal with “human anxiety in times of great distress”, the winners of the Most Innovative Hi-Tech Service award for 2018 is using technology and engineering to help businesses make informed decisions after an earthquake hits (and it only takes two minutes). From Kaikoura to Canterbury, New Zealand has had its … Read more