After a fraught election, Labour’s Māori caucus is going head to head with the Iwi Chairs Forum. The change of government has signaled a profound change in iwi relationships with the Crown. In the past 17 years, the corporate iwi model was the power ascendent at the Iwi Chairs Forum, and has proven to be … Read more
Think your voice doesn’t count? The chair of Henderson-Massey’s local board begs to differ, calling on all young people to have their say on Auckland Council’s 10-year plan. Calling all young people in Auckland, your city needs you. The long-term future of Auckland depends on what is adopted in the Auckland Council’s 10-year long-term plan. As … Read more
Visitors to this weekend’s Womad festival in Taranaki will have the opportunity to brush up on their te reo and understanding of tikanga Māori, writes RNZ’s Taranaki correspondent Robin Martin. Te Wānanga o Aotearoa has come onboard as a programme partner and will be offering a virtual pōwhiri experience and has helped develop a “Teach Me … Read more
The week’s best-selling books at the Unity stores in High St, Auckland and Willis St, Wellington. AUCKLAND UNITY 1 The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck by Mark Manson (Pan MacMillian, $35) Number one! How come? 2 12 Rules for Life by Jordan B. Peterson (Allan Lane, $40) Famous people called Jordan: 1 Jordan B Peterson 2 … Read more
Today, Auckland band Carnivorous Plant Society release their new album The New King. To celebrate, bandleader Finn Scholes has drawn us a comic, a “science fiction story about a man who realises his life is not what it seems,” that you can read while listening to the album. The Spinoff’s music content is brought to you … Read more
In memoriam: Golden Bay poet Gordon Challis. Spinoff Review of Books literary editor Steve Braunias writes: Takaka writer Gordon Challis died on March 2. He was 85. His was a discrete presence in New Zealand poetry to the point where he was defined by absence: in 1960, Landfall editor Charles Brasch named Challis as one … Read more
Henry Oliver sits down with Freddie Highmore to talk about his TV journey from the cellars of Bates Motel to the corridors of The Good Doctor. In The Good Doctor, Freddie Highmore plays Shaun Murphy, a surgical resident with autism and savant syndrome. So, basically, he’s both a genius with diagnostic powers exceeding those of his superiors at … Read more
Spinoff Parents editor Emily Writes unloads her anxiety about her children who are nowhere near university age one day maybe going to university onto Spinoff staffers, genuine millennials, and recent students Alex Braae and Alice Webb-Liddall. Hi Alex and Alice! Thanks for agreeing to let me grill you. Basically I’ve been waking up at 2am … Read more
To mark 4 Days of Fashion in the City, four of downtown Auckland’s fashion personalities are sharing their experiences of the industry. Today, founder of the New Zealand Fashion Museum Doris de Pont celebrates the legacy of Bruce Papas. Fashion is synonymous with change and while the 4 Days of Fashion in the City is providing … Read more
The Spinoff presents the video premiere of Paul Williams’ ‘Surf Music’, featuring Rose Matafeo, Brynley Stent, Maddy Budd and Chris Parker. Paul Williams says: The night we shot this video was genuinely one of my favourite nights in recent memory. As I was hanging up those balloons I remember thinking to myself, “This is going to … Read more
With scandals, obfuscation and increasing pressure from both opposition and party faithful, this has been Jacinda Ardern’s worst week yet. On Monday it was revealed four young Labour supporters were sexually assaulted at a boozy party at their annual youth camp. Labour General Secretary Andrew Kirton proceeded to stuff both feet into his mouth, claiming … Read more
Good morning, happy Friday, and welcome to The Bulletin. The Defence Minister is defending the use of Air Force for travel, the Police get pinged for checkpoint targeting activists, and the latest on the diplomatic saga over the spy attacked with a nerve agent. Defence minister Ron Mark has been accused of abusing the Air Force … Read more
New Zealand’s new unofficial flag isn’t Laser Kiwi, it’s the increasingly ingenious way our retailers give us the news that hurts – no Paywave. Rebecca Stevenson investigates the unrelenting demand for tap and go payments. I’m sure you’ve seen them – sometimes it’s an old bit of brown tape with “NO PAYWAVE” in biro. Some … Read more
The Allegory of the Cave, and Madden: Haimona Gray muses on how the two are actually pretty similar, using his own (limited) experience with sport and his (not-so-limited) experience with sports video games. I have never dunked in real life. Plato probably didn’t either. What makes Plato and I different – besides location, era, and cleanliness … Read more
Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Vodafone Xone. 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 Miriana Lowrie about tackling a previously unexplored trade … Read more
We review the entire country and culture of New Zealand, one thing at a time. Today, Madeleine Chapman winces while watching cycleway protester Lisa Prager swing a hammer. As Lisa Prager diligently swung her sledgehammer over and over again in an attempt to break a concrete block, my back started to hurt. She was side … Read more
To mark 4 Days of Fashion in the City, four of downtown Auckland’s fashion personalities are sharing their experiences of the industry. Today, Barkers’ managing director Jamie Whiting, discusses the changes technology has brought to bricks and mortar retail. The changes for fashion retailers in the last decade, but particularly the last three to … Read more
Linda Burgess reviews the biggest-selling book at the New Zealand Festival in Wellington in the weekend – Salt Fat Acid Heat, a cookbook like no other. At one of Samin Nosrat’s two sessions at the New Zealand Festival’s writers and readers festival in Wellington last weekend, Nosrat referred to herself as a stalker. This, she explained, was … Read more
Hamilton mayor Andrew King has withdrawn his proposal to rename the council Kirikiriroa City Council after widespread opposition. Proud local Horiana Henderson looks at the history of the name and explains why it’s a missed opportunity. Hamilton city’s mayor, Andrew King, swayed attention from the contentious 10-year plan this week when he asked to explore … Read more
Spinoff Parents editor Emily Writes took her family to Nelson care of the Interislander Kaitaki. She writes about what it’s really like for families on board. We were somewhere around Torea Bay, on the edge of Waikawa, when the screaming began to take hold. The baby had a sore tum and had been wriggling and … Read more
Instead of increasing prison time for the supply of drugs like synthetic cannabis, let’s focus on the solutions that have been proven to work, argues Victoria University criminologist Dr Fiona Hutton. Last week parliament debated an amendment to the 2013 Psychoactive Substances Act which would increase penalties for supplying new psychoactive substances such as synthetic … Read more
We never know what kind of parent we will be before our children are with us. In this personal essay, Helen Gilby talks about the mother she thought she would be, and the mother she is. I became a mother four years ago. I feel like this sentence alone should be the beginning and the … Read more
Calum Henderson dives deep into the New Zealand music archives to discover our greatest one-hit wonders – and the not-quite-as-successful songs by the same artists. What exactly is a one hit wonder? Everybody knows the term, but it seems none of us can quite agree on how to define it. In the strictest sense, the … Read more
Political parties are salivating over the prospect of getting Lance O’Sullivan to join them. So which party should the good doctor choose? Alex Braae assesses the options. Famously handsome former New Zealander of the Year Dr Lance O’Sullivan is a man with options. He could continue to be a doctor, bringing affordable healthcare to the … Read more
A furious Mike Hosking has written a column decrying the construction of 33 new apartments with not a single carpark between them. Duncan Greive responds. There are few tasks more Sisyphean than responding to Hosking’s takes. One of the requirements of his job is to write a daily editorial, delivered from his radio pulpit: a … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to the Bulletin. In today’s edition:Labour announces a full review into sexual harassment and assault in the party, nobody is that keen on America’s Cup plans, and the tax working group is getting down to business. The Labour leader has ordered a comprehensive review of the entire party in the wake of … Read more
From State Services to Russell McVeagh, from the Human Rights Commission to the Labour Party, a clear pattern emerges in sexual harassment stories across NZ, and it reveals we just don’t take the issue seriously, argues Catriona MacLennan. Sexual harassment is still not regarded a serious issue in Aotearoa. That is what we have learned … Read more
Exclusive: announcing the imminent arrival of hirsute herring-eating huge Norwegian literary superstar Karl Ove Knausgård. Karl Ove Knausgård – widely regarded as the world’s greatest living writer – will appear at the Auckland Writers Festival in May. The announcement is a major coup for the AWF, and the event will surely sell out, pretty fucking quickly. Knausgård, … Read more
The key to better jobs, more money and a successful economy for all New Zealanders? Investors need to quit thinking like shareholders and start thinking like stakeholders, says Simplicity’s Sam Stubbs. Let me start by declaring my bias here. I’m a capitalist. I believe that competition and markets are the best way to maximise wealth … Read more