Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Immigration NZ’s racial profiling algorithm slammed by critics, showdown at Select Committee over Radio NZ meeting, and the Christchurch re-repairs cost gets even bigger. Immigration NZ has been piloting a data modelling programme to identify groups of overstayers “who are likely to commit harm in the … Read more
How will the government’s Kiwibuild plans in Mt Albert look once they’re fully built? Urban designer Matthew Prasad casts a critical eye over the project. It’s only been a week since the government’s first Kiwibuild development announcement, and there has been a lot of talk and hypothesising about what form the development may take at … Read more
Sky’s bold new strategic plan reveals ambitions to offer unbundled content, online only access and an Apple TV-style box – all while keeping its pricey satellite service. After the commerce commission denied it permission to merge with Vodafone New Zealand, Sky outwardly appeared defeated and deflated. The merger was its technology play, its strategy and … Read more
Racial profiling by Immigration NZ is a tale as old as time (Dawn Raids anyone?), but if the ‘harm team’ has its way they’ll be workshopping it into our very own dystopian scifi blockbuster, writes Tze Ming Mok. Immigration NZ has apparently caught its own minister off guard by talking openly about plans for a … Read more
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 Sophie Gilmour about Bird on a Wire, a … Read more
With 84% of Māori now living in urban areas, away from ancestral lands, it has become difficult for many of us to maintain a sense of tūrangawaewae. Meriana Johnsen finds out how Māori stay connected living in the cities and how some iwi are working to bring their people back home. This is the first … Read more
Simon Sweetman goes all-out fanboy of a new, tortured memoir by Suede frontman Brett Anderson. The very best music memoirs ignore the tenets of sex, drugs and rock’n’roll. Patti Smith’s Just Kids. Bob Dylan’s Chronicles. They are about the life, the context in and around the music. And they are about the writing. And so it … Read more
Nichole Brown shares a beautiful personal essay about how her daughter’s thirst for knowledge has reignited her love for her te reo Māori. Shoes inside. That was my ultimate act of defiance against my mother’s tongue. Wearing shoes inside. It might not seem like much, but inside I felt like I was screaming rebellion at my … Read more
Welcome to the Cheat Sheet, a clickable, shareable, bite-sized FAQ on the news of the moment. Today, it’s all about the government’s compulsory recall of Takata airbags. This article was published in April 2018 Remind me, what’s being recalled again? Airbags. More specifically, airbags manufactured by the Japanese company Takata. A fault was discovered in … Read more
Should further oil and gas exploration in New Zealand be banned? Cameron Madgwick, CEO of the Petroleum Exploration and Production Association of New Zealand (PEPANZ) weighs in. Should we keep exploring for more oil and gas in New Zealand? This is the big question the government is currently weighing up with a decision due soon. In … Read more
Bringing back an awesome show from 20 or 30 years ago may seem like the answer to all our modern TV problems, but is it really? Today, Calum Henderson examines the case for bringing back a true crime masterclass. Mike Bungay QC was a New Zealand lawyer so famous they gave him his own TV … Read more
Smoked kahawai, hāngi-cooked pork and watercress dressing are just a selection of what fusion food truck Pūhā & Pākehā has to offer. Jihee Junn talks to one-half of the couple behind the rising business on filling a gap in the market, the challenges of cooking fusion food, and why a permanent restaurant might well be … Read more
Last week The Spinoff’s managing editor published an op-ed celebrating the nation-building value of taxation. Act leader David Seymour was unimpressed. Very, very unimpressed The Spinoff is hosting Tax Heroes – a series covering tax, who pays it and what it means. Click here to read more. Duncan Greive’s article Tax Heroes: Forget the rich … Read more
NZ Art Parallels is the Twitter account which reveals the hidden connections between world art history and New Zealand politics and media. Now NZ Art Parallels has joined The Spinoff for a monthly column collecting the best parallels from Twitter and exclusive Spinoff-only content. In March there was something happening of media significance nearly every … Read more
Every two years Te Hui Ahurei a Tūhoe invites Ngāi Tūhoe descendents to come together and celebrate their unique reo and culture. But how do urban Tūhoe express their Tūhoetanga when they live away from the lands of their tīpuna? Jason Renes attended this year’s festival to find out. There is mist around Rotorua on … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Government transport proposals prove to be incredibly divisive, EQC re-repair bill climbs, and an extraordinary warning about funding for Auckland addiction services. The government’s transport plans have proven to be the most important policy announcement of the year so far, and have provoked a storm of response. It’s become … Read more
Welcome to the Cheat Sheet, a clickable, shareable, bite-sized FAQ on the news of the moment. Today, it’s the Green Party co-leadership race. Doesn’t the Green Party already have a leader? They do, a guy called James Shaw. But if you remember back to the ancient times, before Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, before the senior ranks … Read more
Jogai Bhatt talks to Broods’ Georgia Nott on her all-female produced solo project The Venus Project, gender representation in the music industry, and why this time she’s gone for a more stripped back sound. Georgia Nott will be familiar to most as one-half of synth-pop sibling-duo Broods. With their signature sounds making waves globally and … 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, the team wash up in a MAFS-free world. Luckily, our favourite celebrity couple Zac Franich and Erin Simpson (Zarin) are marking their three month anniversary by moving in together. … Read more
Charlotte Grimshaw writes about the forces behind her new novel: “Trump, Putin, Kim Jong-un. The posturing. The bizarre hairstyles, the violence and cruelty. The narcissism…” May 2016, London We were staying in a small flat with a roof terrace. I typed sitting outside at a picnic table. I’d written pieces about Karl Ove Knausgaard … Read more
Alex Casey and Sam Brooks round up the new content coming to Lightbox this month, including the highly anticipated return of The Handmaid’s Tale, Russian spies in wigs and Helen Mirren’s career-defining role! The Handmaid’s Tale S2 (April 26) The last we saw of Offred and the gals, a cute way of characterising a group of women … Read more
The Sensible Sentence Trust founder thinks the death of a man is a cause for celebration. The sentiment is reprehensible – we are not, and will never be, executioners, writes a long-serving NZ police officer. Over almost two decades in the New Zealand Police I have been confronted by angry, intoxicated, deranged and armed men … Read more
Chuchel, the new game from Amanita Design, is a fun romp of a game. But why the hell is the title character perpetuating blackface? Chuchel is a little ball of dust and soot. That’s what his name means in Czech, ‘ball of hair and dust’. He’s a “fuzzy critter”, a “hairy ball of uncontrolled emotion”. He’s … Read more
Whether it’s one glass while making dinner or a few at kids’ birthday parties, it’s often hard to separate motherhood from drinking. Mother of three Nadine Anne Hura writes about why she finally decided to quit for good. I never hit rock bottom. There wasn’t any great reckoning or moment of truth. Just a series … Read more
If tax is love then New Zealand needs to show a lot more affection, writes Max Harris. The Spinoff is hosting Tax Heroes – a series covering tax, who pays it and what it means. Click here to read more. Love is a deep warmth that we direct towards other things. It’s a value we … Read more
The new government yesterday announced its blueprint for an overhaul of transport funding in New Zealand. Matt Lowrie of Greater Auckland delivers his verdict. I couldn’t help but think of Joe Biden’s phrase “Don’t tell me what you value, show me your budget, and I’ll tell you what you value” following the release yesterday of … Read more
Business consultant and Treaty commentator Joshua Hitchcock looks at the terms of reference for the new Tax Working Group and asks: how can the tax system create a more equitable outcome for Māori? The Spinoff is hosting Tax Heroes – a series covering tax, who pays it and what it means. Click here to read … Read more
We review the entire country and culture of New Zealand, one thing at a time. Today, Toby Morris casts a critical eye over Remuera street Peach Parade. In the great cosmic list of pleasurable ways to spend time, ‘driving to the eastern suburbs of Auckland’ isn’t that highly ranked. But, it has to be said, … Read more
Māori, Pacific and low income groups have health outcomes well below the rest of the population. In Dunedin there’s a community that’s come up with the medicine to treat itself. On the grounds of an old school in the South Dunedin suburb of Caversham, there’s a village of healthcare services that’s a vision into a … Read more