The Football Ferns are about to get equal pay to the male All Whites when they represent New Zealand. It’s a huge step for the sport, but will it lead to genuine equality across football? Read on in today’s cheat sheet. What’s all this then? For what is believed to be the first time in … Read more
There was no sign of the promise she’d ‘let her guard down’, and flashes of Sarcastic Wine Mom aside, Hillary Clinton offered little more than platitudes at Spark Arena, writes Charlotte Graham-McLay. The song ‘Roar’ by Katy Perry blared from the loudspeakers, a universal indicator that we, the audience at An Evening with Hillary Clinton, were about … Read more
The Real Pod assembles to dissect the week in New Zealand pop culture and real life, with special thanks to Nando’s. This week on The Real Pod, we feast upon a delicious meal of Nando’s (and wash it all down with some Peri Peri chips) while we recap that week that was. Which celebs have we … Read more
“Good sex is feminist sex,” claims Laura Borrowdale, editor of the Aotearotica journal of erotic writing. Reading erotica is one of the fastest ways to see the breadth of humanity and the Aotearotica slush pile holds it all. I can say that with authority, because, as editor, I sit at my kitchen table and read every piece … Read more
All that glitters is not golden, and the websites of our youth are no exception. Baz Macdonald explores the dark underside of not-so-pure browser-based games Neopets and Habbo Hotel. It’s 2001 and your intermediate class are in the computer suite. You’re supposed to be researching how grass grows, or something like that, but looking around the room … Read more
Calls for adequate funding for New Zealand’s midwives have led to discussions about how best to support pregnant people and their whānau through birth and beyond. Hinerangi Rhind-Wiri from Māori public health organisation Hāpai Te Hauora asks if we are considering the distinct and important needs of Māori midwives and whānau alike. Midwives’ call to action for pay … Read more
Paul Brislen writes an ode to that most European method of transport, the humble scooter. It’s Friday afternoon in Auckland city and, as the offices let out, the roads seize up. There’s traffic as far as the eye can see and each green phase of the lights allows one car through, to join the tailback … Read more
Commute Week: The many failings of my daily bus commute experience show that money alone will not prise Aucklanders out of cars, writes Todd Niall in an article first published on RNZ. Like many Aucklanders, I want to believe that a “world-class” transport system is do-able with the proposed $28 billion budget, over the next … Read more
Welcome back to Papercuts, our new books podcast hosted by Louisa Kasza, Jenna Todd and Kiran Dass. In this episode, we talk about why the new offshore GST changes are good for local bookstores, Louisa breaks down her latest Spinoff Books review, we celebrate 50 years of the NZ Book Awards with our recommendations of past … Read more
Patsy Stone visiting two of the most beautiful places in the world? Sold! Tara Ward watches Joanna Lumley’s TWO travel series which you can watch on Lightbox right now. Last night I dreamed I saw Patsy Stone trapped in a warm embrace with an over-sized, dancing seal. The sun was shining, Patsy was grinning wildly, … Read more
The health sector needs significant investment, but where is that money going to come from? In our series analysing Budget 2018, Grant Thornton’s Pam Newlove says the government needs to look to the private sector. How revolutionary do voters want the new government to be? It’s a question that must be considered, as the government … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Greens and Labour at odds over compulsory te reo in schools, petrol prices hit high, and farmers facing big mycoplasma bovis bill. The government won’t yet back a Green Party push for compulsory te reo Māori in schools, reports Newshub. New Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is … Read more
Last October, Onzo rental bikes, with no gears and airless tyres, appeared around Auckland city as a commuter option. Madeleine Chapman decided to see just how far she could commute on one in a day. It took nine hours for me to feel genuine fear on my Onzo bike ride to Huntly, and it was … Read more
A note from the editor regarding the WORLD founder’s response to Spinoff revelations about its ‘Made in New Zealand’ garment labelling Give Dame Denise L’Estrange-Corbet this: she didn’t attempt to hide from the story published on the Spinoff yesterday. The WORLD founder and ethical fashion proselytiser spoke widely to media, scattering arguments in her own … Read more
It’s week two on Dancing with the Stars and one star must combust. Sam Brooks and Alex Casey power rank the contestants with varying levels of expertise and insight. ELIMINATED: Gilda Kirkpatrick (and Shay) – Samba Look, if Gilda’s insta story from last Sunday night is anything to go by, her elimination is a tremendous loss to … Read more
All this week on The Spinoff, we pick up the NZ commute, shake it and peer at it from every direction. As the tote-bag wisdom teaches, it’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey. Or to be more specific, for our immediate purposes, it’s about the journey to work and the journey back home. … Read more
An excerpt from Pip Desmond’s best-selling memoir about her mother’s descent into dementia. I read about a hairdresser who had three customers pass away under the hairdryer; she took it as a compliment that they’d felt relaxed enough to do so. That could have been Mum. She had been going to David’s hair salon in Wadestown once … Read more
Studies show high levels of racial bias and discrimination in schools continues to disadvantage Māori and Pasifika children. Some say a new initiative has already yielded results but isn’t getting the support it needs. The Ministry of Education has told the government it could achieve a “step change” in Māori children’s achievement by tackling their … Read more
Made in New Zealand. Four words that attract a premium price. But who says what’s Kiwi made and what’s not? Following today’s revelation that WORLD sells clothing manufactured offshore with cardboard swing tags that state “FABRIQUE EN NOUVELLE-ZELANDE” (translation: Made in New Zealand) we started to wonder – what are the laws and rules which … Read more
The recipients of the Play By Play International Games Festival’s Te Maunga Kai Kapua Awards Mario Wynands and Niamh Fitzgerald, talk with Adam Goodall about Final Fantasy VII and the future of game development in New Zealand. In 1997 – “20 years, 11 months and one week ago, but who’s counting” – Mario Wynands co-founded … Read more
Martyn Pepperell talks to Alexander Green of Wellington electronica act Groeni about their new album, Nihx, and new sandwich and coffee shop, Good Boy. At the end of March, Groeni, the vocal electronica project of Wellington musicians Alexander Green, James Paul, and Mike Isaacs, released their debut album Nihx. Around the same time, Groeni members Green … Read more
The outspoken ethical fashion champion has contacted The Spinoff with further comments about the garments that were manufactured offshore but boast ‘Made in NZ’ tags. Following the publication this morning of a story revealing the provenance of garments being sold at WORLD with a “Fabriqué en Nouvelle Zélande” label attached, the fashion house’s founder Dame Denise … Read more
High school teacher, counsellor, and mother of three Louisa Woods considers the way we talk about teachers and teenagers in light of the latest ‘school scandal’ which was anything but. In my time as an English teacher I’ve used I don’t know how many texts. Some have been classics, the ones you’d expect: Othello, To … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Curbs on cow numbers likely to come, the education minister is pointing to a billion dollar shortfall, and we’ve got an exclusive story about so-called ethical fashion label World. The government might be about to put curbs on further dairy intensification, in order to raise … Read more
Exclusive: Dame Denise L’Estrange-Corbet of New Zealand fashion pioneer WORLD is this country’s most out-spoken critic of off-shore manufacturing. Yet a Spinoff investigation has revealed that multiple garments labeled as made in New Zealand are manufactured in China and Bangladesh. “When did you last look at the label to see where it was made?” – … Read more
It’s week three of Survivor NZ, and it’s one week closer to finding out which one of our castaways will be allowed to return home to participate in the next season of Dancing With The Stars, and who will be left marooned in the Thai jungle for the rest of time. Luke Harries recaps. Eve’s … Read more
If regional councils are to use new funding to address water quality, they could do well to start in Hawke’s Bay, where wood mill effluent continues to be an issue 27 years after a damning report into its effects. Never has there been a better time to rethink and refresh the care of our rivers, … Read more
Bringing you the best weekly reading from your friendly local website. Toby Manhire: What the shit is going on with those Clarke Gayford rumours? “Everyone in media and political circles, Steve Braunias notwithstanding, has been gasbagging like mad over the last month about rumours related to Clarke Gayford, the partner of the prime minister, Jacinda Ardern. Most … Read more
The biggest global player in broadcast production has bought up a New Zealand company specialising in exactly that. What does that mean for those already here? The company that does the filming and broadcast production of the Super Bowl, the Olympics, the FIFA World Cup and plenty more besides has quietly made a move to … Read more