The winners of this year’s Hi-Tech Awards showcased how New Zealand isn’t just good in tech, but good for tech as well, with gender diversity and cultural inclusion taking centre stage more than ever before. Whether it’s tall poppy syndrome or just genuine humility, New Zealanders are pretty terrible when it comes to shouting about … Read more
Urban renewal, affordable housing and improved transport – all from a sporting event. Mark Thomas says rather than being a financial dog, the Commonwealth Games would give Auckland’s infrastructure planning some impetus. A government a little larger than New Zealand’s, with a capital city a bit smaller than Auckland, has just completed a six year … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Eradication, not containment chosen for m. bovis outbreak, National eyes up new allies, and welfare working group disappoints activists. The government has decided to press ahead with eradication of cattle disease mycoplasma bovis. Radio NZ reports the eradication plan will cost close to a billion dollars, with the … Read more
In this editorial from the current issue of Critic, Joel MacManus looks back on week in which his small student magazine became a global news story. There are too many things I want to say and too little space to say them in, so here’s a big ol’ list of random thoughts about the Menstruation … Read more
New research reveals the penalty women pay after becoming mothers, and it should spur us to take action to change, writes Jess Berentson-Shaw “Having children is just selfish.” It’s a common line. People have said it to my face happily enough (not to my husband’s though, oddly enough). There is an element of truth to … Read more
For some reason, there’s a prohibition theme this week on Dancing with the Stars NZ! Alcohol or no, these are the power rankings. ELIMINATED: Marama Fox (and Brad) – Foxtrot Calling it now: Meghan Trainor killed Marama Fox’s chances of winning this thing. Marama Fox is a charismatic, beautiful Māori woman, and it’s sad to … Read more
The National leader will not be happy with just 9% picking him as preferred by PM in a new poll, especially with Judith Collins storming into the scene. But the bigger story is the mire in which Winston Peters finds his party. A funny old morning for Simon Bridges. The party you lead has just … Read more
All eight episodes of spy thriller Killing Eve are now available to stream on TVNZ on Demand. Sam Brooks looks back at the series. After watching just the first episode of Killing Eve, I was all in. A new Phoebe Waller-Bridge show? Check! A new Sandra Oh performance to obsess over? Check it twice, then a third time for a … Read more
Ever wanted to make an unfunny joke and be deeply offensive at the same time? Harcourts has all the answers you need. As time moves forward with irreverence, being progressive can sometimes mean merely trying to stay afloat in an ocean of acronyms, causes, and political correctness. Luckily there’s one thing we can all agree belongs in … Read more
Hundreds of demonstrators gathered in Ihumātao, South Auckland over the weekend to protest against Fletcher Building’s planned housing development, known as SHA62. Text and photos by Qiane Matata-Sipu. The ‘Take a Stand on the Land’ action saw kaumātua, kuia, families, students, activists and unions take to the lower slopes of the tupuna maunga, Te Puketaapapatanga … Read more
No other road in New Zealand is as rich in history, suffering, war, immigration, hope and hard, hard work as the Great South Road that joins Auckland to the Waikato. Scott Hamilton walked its length and felt its pulse. For the last five years I’ve travelled the Great South Road. My journeys have been spasmodic, erratic, circuitous. They began when … Read more
Stay at home dad of three Cameron Lecky had a fight with an automated checkout machine last week. We’ve all been there, right? The honeymoon period ended last week. My previously impenetrable facade of cool, calm and collected Stay at Home Dad didn’t just crack. It came crashing down like it had been hit with … Read more
After suffering two life-threatening injuries, local musician Jeremy Toy now faces another challenge: getting his career back on track. He talks with Hussein Moses about channelling his pain into his music. Plus, hear the premiere of She’s So Rad’s new single ‘You and I’. In the moments after the crash that left him lying on … Read more
It might be called Coast New Zealand but, after three seasons, it should really be called Neil Oliver New Zealand, writes Calum Henderson. After three seasons of Coast New Zealand, most reasonable TV watchers will surely agree: Neil is the best Oliver. He’s funnier and smarter than John without even trying, and even though he … Read more
More than 20 people have been in touch with The Spinoff accusing Dommy Topia of fraudulent behaviour. And now it’s been revealed that Topia has been known to police for years. Dominic (Dommy) Topia – the man who’s been accused of swindling thousands of dollars from dozens of individuals around New Zealand – has been … Read more
We have a lot of work to do to achieve carbon neutrality in just over three decades. Attention needs to focus on the likes of cars, trees, batteries and farms, writes energy analyst Briony Bennett. New Zealand must map out a path to carbon neutrality by 2050. Small-emitting nations are responsible for up to 30% … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Major changes recommended to NCEA system, new poll has bad news for almost everyone, and two significant announcements will be made today. Huge changes have been recommended to the NCEA system by a review, reports Stuff. In particular, the changes would significantly lower the burden on students … Read more
Last week Tesla billionaire Elon Musk launched a bizarre Twitter tirade against the media, as part of which he ended up @-ing everyone from Jemaine Clement to Michelle Dickinson. Here the NZ scientist explains why she leapt to the defence of a fellow nanotechnologist Ah, Twitter, that digital echo chamber where you can keep up … Read more
It’s week six, and it’s Survivor NZ’s cheesiest week yet! Time to microwave a leftover slice of Pizza Hut™ Pizza and look back at all the action from this week. Luke Harries recaps. Pizza Hut Delivers This week’s reward challenge prize was the best so far, no question. Pizza is bloody great. Winning pizza is … Read more
Bringing you the best weekly reading from your friendly local website. Chelle Fitzgerald: Dollar drinks on the dancefloor: the heyday of Dunedin student pubs “‘Going to town’ in Dunedin was fucking awesome back in the day. There was no need to preload, because all the clubs sold ‘house doubles’ (read: cheap bottom-shelf alcohol) for $2, or, … Read more
Budget 2018 signalled significant changes to the government’s approach to R&D. Toby Littin, co-founder of parking and business parking app Parkable, asks Innovation Minister Megan Woods to reconsider her plan to push our knowledge economy into the sea – or worse, Australia. Imagine an escalator. You’ve got the greying fat cats at the top, lapping up … Read more
This week it was announced that Dame Susan Devoy will not be seeking another term as Race Relations Commissioner. Here she pays tribute to her colleagues at the Human Rights Commission, and calls on those who failed staff in relation to sexual harassment allegations to do the right thing and step aside. People who are … Read more
After decades spent botching every one of its online products, Sky has just unveiled a bold new strategy which appears to answer its critics. Duncan Greive surveys its tumultuous history and asks CEO John Fellet whether this time really will be different. By the mid-1990s, Sky TV had become a bonafide media phenomenon in New … Read more
Ireland appears to have delivered a landslide victory for the repeal of the amendment outlawing abortion. It show it is time for the state to trust women to make that choice for ourselves, writes Irish New Zealander Noelle McCarthy We thought it would be close. The outcome of yesterday’s vote on whether or not to … Read more
His company has been liquidated, his mobile milking shed sold for a song. But Glen Herud is not giving up on his ethical milk mission. Last month, we hit the wall and shut the doors – but our customers encouraged us to go on. I founded the Happy Cow Milk Company in 2012, and my mission … Read more
ER might be one of the biggest television shows of all time, but it’s rarely thought of as the subject of teen obsession. Claire Adamson was the exception that proves the rule. Obsession is a rite of passage for a teenage girl. From the Beatles to Bieber, the teen girl has long buoyed the print … Read more
Henry Oliver talks to pop artist Matthew Young about his new EP and re-evaluating success after mental illness. “I’m very obsessive,” Auckland-based pop artist Matthew Young tells me near the end of the almost two hours we spent talking over juice and chocolate tart at a bakery in Pt Chev. Every night since the first week … Read more
Can newspapers based in tiny towns be profitable? A publisher based on the sparsely populated West Coast believes it can, and is expanding as a result. As the so called death of journalism gathers momentum, media companies are increasingly looking to consolidation for survival. More content syndication, covering a bigger geographical area with single titles, … Read more
The government is digging deep into the price of electricity in New Zealand, with a review of the entire energy sector. What will the review look at, why should there even be one, and does it mean you might pay less for power? * Where did the idea for a review come from? The price … Read more