Get in touch with your emotional side by reliving some of our most heartwarming commercials on TV. It’s been an emotional year, and it’s about time we had a good cry over it. Not a quiet whimper or a sneaky sob, but the kind of cathartic purging that only comes from watching a television ad … Read more
New Zealand’s schools are far from perfect, but Auckland school principal Claire Amos argues that a newly-released report critical of our education system is riddled with biased assumptions. This week the New Zealand Initiative published their latest missive addressing the supposed “rot at the core of schooling in New Zealand”. Briar Lipson’s report titled New … Read more
A handful of polling stations throughout New Zealand have an uncanny ability with picking general election winners. RNZ’s Kate Newton visits Birkdale on Auckland’s North Shore to meet the voters at one such bellwether. For the inside running on who might win the 2020 election, forget the polls. Instead, consider Birkenhead Baptist Church. Not for … Read more
Facebook has announced a ban on the conspiracy network QAnon from its platforms. What is Q, and why does Mark Zuckerberg want him gone? We explain. What is QAnon? QAnon is a far-right conspiracy theorist group focused around the idea that Satanic cabal is torturing children and attempting to create a new world order. People … Read more
Real estate firms are hanging on to millions in wage subsidies despite a red-hot housing market recovery since June, reports Brent Melville of BusinessDesk. Three of the country’s leading realtors — Harcourts, Bayleys, and Barfoot & Thompson — claimed a combined $8 million in wage support for more than 1,000 employees when pandemic-induced lockdowns were … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Labour puts little new in climate policy, community cases once again down to zero, and Collins has a bad day out in Ponsonby. Labour’s climate change policy announcement has been received as a bit of a letdown by their potential allies in the next parliament. Newshub covered … Read more
Voting is under way in the New Zealand general election. Explore the main parties’ pledges at Policy.nz, but here’s a whistlestop tour of what’s on offer for small businesses. Read more two-minute policy wraps here Small businesses have long been considered the bread and butter of New Zealand’s economy, accounting for 28% of all employment … Read more
A humiliating hour in Ponsonby doesn’t mean National is imploding, just that it’s losing. National voters turned off by the show of disunity might want to consider the alternative, writes Ben Thomas. There’s a persistent myth that the “ordinary people” travellers to North Korea meet during tightly controlled trips into Pyongyang’s underground commuter train or … Read more
After a hard fought debate last night, Judith Collins returned to Auckland for a Ponsonby walkabout with local candidate Emma Mellow. Things didn’t quite go to plan, writes Stewart Sowman-Lund. Since her performance in the first leader debate of election 2020, Judith Collins has been an energised figure, visibly relishing the final campaign stretch. But … Read more
With Judith Collins foregrounding her religious faith in recent days, Justin Latif talks to candidates of faith in the most Christian electorate in the country, attends an event for first-time Christian voters and hears from experts on the intersection of religion and New Zealand politics. On a bright Sunday morning in central Auckland, before casting … Read more
Annabelle Lee-Mather, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire assess the Press debate in Christchurch, National’s leaky redux, the advance voting surge and the rest of the big stories with a week and a half to go. In 10 short days the skies will clear and for a few blessed hours the only hint of politics will … Read more
More people are coming forward to say they found referendum campaign pamphlets in their EasyVote packs, but mystery continues to surround how they got there. Alex Braae reports. Stacey Hone’s routine with the mail is very simple. She goes to the mailbox, sorts it then and there, and only takes addressed mail inside the front … Read more
Welcome to The Spinoff’s Election Live for October 7, bringing you the latest on election 2020 and other NZ news. The essential campaign dates are here. For all you need to know about the cannabis referendum click here. For the assisted dying referendum click here. Explore the parties’ pledges at Policy. I’m on stewart@thespinoff.co.nz 7.45pm: The day … Read more
Simon Day didn’t learn te reo Māori as a child. Now a parent himself, he’s passionate about giving his sons the opportunity. My great grandfather, Tom French, was born under a tree at Waipapa marae in Kawhia, overlooking the black sands of the town’s harbour on the North Island’s west coast. As a young man … Read more
Walk from Karangahape Road to the waterfront and Queen Street will give you a view into the soul of Auckland. Alice Webb-Liddall explored the street’s history and how it has shaped the city. What connects all significant streets is their ability to bring people together. On Queen Street, heritage buildings like the Town Hall, grand … Read more
The current conversation should prompt all universities to closely examine both how and what they teach, writes Massey University provost Giselle Byrnes. Much has been said lately about structural racism in the New Zealand university system. While these allegations have been specifically raised at the University of Waikato, all eight of the country’s universities have … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Day of drama and disunity for National, hero of Ōhau fire revealed, and what could be done about the digital divide. For the National party, yesterday was one of those campaign days which aren’t at all pleasant. Issues of disunity once again came to the fore. … Read more
Voting is under way in the New Zealand general election. Explore the main parties’ pledges at Policy.nz; in the meantime here’s a whistlestop tour of what’s on offer when it comes to welfare and equity. Read more two-minute policy wraps here Welfare is always an election issue, but mass job losses brought about by the … Read more
New analysis confirms what residents have long suspected: Wellington is substantially mouldier and damper than other New Zealand cities. “My flat had holes in the walls, letting slugs in to roam freely over my shoes and into the shower,” says Zoë Vaunois, a student at Victoria University of Wellington. “Similar holes also let spiders in … Read more
In a chaotic 90-minute contest, the crowd made itself heard, writes Justin Giovannetti from Christchurch. At several points I had no idea what the leaders were saying. Hundreds in the Christchuch crowd were cheering on Labour leader Jacinda Ardern while a row of National supporters seated in front of me grumbled. Ardern was making her … Read more
Who came out on top in the online Press Leaders’ Debate tonight? Here are our debate watchers’ verdicts. Duncan Greive: Ardern is the superior communicator. Tonight, she finally showed it The hoary boxing cliché says that styles make fights – that different yet complementary techniques will produce a better spectacle. Through the first two debates … Read more
We’ve heard at length from the five major parties. But what policies do the minor parties have to support businesses and rebuild the economy from the Covid-19 rubble? Geoff Simmons of TOP, Vernon Tava of Sustainable NZ, Billy Te Kahika Jnr of Advance NZ and John Tamihere of the Māori Party today addressed New Zealand’s … Read more
Welcome to The Spinoff’s Election Live for October 6, bringing you the latest on election 2020 and other NZ news. The essential campaign dates are here. For all you need to know about the cannabis referendum click here. For the assisted dying referendum click here. Explore the parties’ pledges at Policy. I’m on stewart@thespinoff.co.nz Live: Ardern and … Read more
You know who probably takes photos? Green voters. On Newstalk ZB’s Leader’s Breakfast yesterday, famous Christian Judith Collins was asked about NCEA and secondary education. She said, “There are too many photography classes, too much media studies, too much woke stuff”. Obviously this got all the Leftie liberal woke leftists worked up but was it … Read more
We’ve started this month with the fullness of the Rakaunui moon beaming and guiding us into Whiringa-ā-nuku (October) and Matiti Hana (the second summer phase). The native puawānanga (clematis) bear bright white flowers and kōrero of tākeke (Piper fish) and ngā korowhiti o Tangaroa (leaping mullet) emerge from our tūpuna stories. Maramataka is rooted in … Read more
It’s unacceptable to shrug off greenhouse gases as someone else’s problem, writes Dr David Galler. In the pressure of the moment people say things they often come to regret. For some it’s the result of a slip of the tongue, a simple mistake; sometimes it’s an attempt to be bullish and occasionally it’s the result … Read more
In an amazing turn of events, the veteran UK puppet-satire TV series has added New Zealand’s prime minister to their cast of characters. José Barbosa is surprised to find the sock puppet wags appear to know their Kiwi culture. Like many of you out there, I’ve been enjoying the Spitting Image sketch featuring Jacinda Ardern … Read more
Voting is under way in the New Zealand general election. Explore the main parties’ pledges at Policy.nz, but here’s a whistlestop tour of what’s on offer in the world of tertiary education. Read more two-minute policy wraps here Tertiary fees and student support Labour’s biggest education pitch in the previous election was the fees-free tertiary … Read more
Sarah Catherall’s mother has suffered from Alzheimer’s for 14 years; it’s been four years since she last recognised her family. Would she want to keep living this way? Mum sleeps with her eyes wide open, snoring. Lying back in her floral patterned bed in the rest home, her grey-blue eyes stare blankly upwards. Her bed … Read more