Right from day one, the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand has been a party led by co-leaders. That philosophy extends to the party’s youth wing, where co-convenors Danielle Marks (Te Arawa) and Matariki Roche (Ngāti Raukawa) represent the party’s next generation. Watch the previous episodes of Youth Wings here. Matariki Roche has a tattoo … Read more
Forget John Connor. Terminator: Dark Fate, now streaming on Neon, proves that Sarah Connor is humanity’s real saviour, writes Sam Brooks. When you think of Sarah Connor, there’s one image that comes to mind immediately. It’s not from the first Terminator film, which presents Linda Hamilton as a waitress with bangs higher than heaven who … Read more
In all my dealings with the healthcare system I’ve received incredible service – so why isn’t this the case for all New Zealanders? Watch Alice Snedden’s Bad News – Healthcare Inequity and other episodes in the series here. When I was in primary school one of my great brags was that I’d never been to … Read more
All it would take is for New Zealand to enact a law that is already common in other countries, writes law professor Alexander Gillespie. There is no death penalty in New Zealand, unlike the United States. But the Christchurch terrorist, due for sentencing next week, will be going to jail for a very long time. … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Government under real pressure over testing system, thousands currently behind on mortgages, and a remarkable interview about that vile managed isolation rumour. The question of testing dominated exchanges in parliament yesterday, with the government under pressure to account for the managed isolation systems. As the NZ Herald reports, … Read more
A worker at a managed isolation facility has tested positive for Covid-19 after working for days despite showing symptoms. His case showcases another weakness in the border testing regime that has come under fire over the past week, writes Justin Giovannetti. The prime minister said people with symptoms should stay home. The director-general of health … Read more
The rumour that electrified New Zealand over the weekend was largely spread through Facebook-owned platforms. Duncan Greive asks how the government can continue to pay the social media giants to clean up messes they create. Yesterday David Farrier’s Webworm newsletter ran an interview with the probable source of the vile rumours that infested the country … Read more
Welcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for August 18, bringing you the latest on New Zealand news and Covid-19 as it returns to the community. Auckland is now in alert level three and the rest of NZ level two. More details here. Official information here. Contact me at stewart@thespinoff.co.nz 6.45pm: The day in sum There were … Read more
New data from tech giant Google shows just how well Aucklanders are complying with our level three lockdown restrictions – and how their behaviour compares to those in Victoria. It’s been about a week since we learned that Covid-19 had returned to the community. A day later, on Wednesday August 12, Auckland was placed into … Read more
Books editor Catherine Woulfe emerges from her Twilight reverie just long enough to write a review. Twilight has me in a lasting swoon. It is a cup of sweet tea, to be dispensed in times of shock and sadness. Big stuff, like miscarriages, and terminal diagnoses, and on the eve of level four. I resent … Read more
In the third episode of all new Bad News, Alice recounts her overwhelmingly positive experiences with the health system and wonders: why isn’t it the same for all New Zealanders? With an average lifespan seven years shorter than Pākehā, Māori have long suffered systemic inequity in our healthcare system. Alice, on the other hand, hasn’t … Read more
A new Christian party is touring the country, vowing to reshape politics in the image of their interpretation of Christianity. Alex Braae went to Marton to find out what the One Party had to say. “Maranga mai!” called One Party leader Stephanie Harawira to the congregation in front of her. “It’s time.” There is always … Read more
By day, she’s a GP in a Grey Lynn clinic. By night (and at weekends), Dr Sandhya Ramanathan is a WhatsApp and YouTube superstar. Two months ago, Sandhya Ramanathan began posting videos on how to manage Covid-19 at home. They were made for her family overseas, in countries where managing the virus was difficult: the … Read more
He was born into a family of die-hard Labour supporters and raised on tales of the party’s greatest achievements. Now the chair of Princes Street Young Labour wants to help write the next chapter. Watch the other episodes of Youth Wings here. Adam Brand was practically born with a Labour Party rosette pinned to his … Read more
The racist and untrue rumour about the source of the latest Covid-19 outbreak in New Zealand began life as a much less inflammatory post on Reddit. It was deleted after a few hours, but the damage was done. Here, the man who started the rumour speaks for the first time. Last week, when a cluster … Read more
The election delay means 17-year-old Gina Dao-McLay will have the right to vote this year. She’s excited – but says thousands more people like her deserve the same chance to have their voices heard. I turn 18 on September 27 – a grand total of eight days after the original election date of September 19. … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Reaction to the election delay, questions continue over the information given over testing, and Watercare CEO resigns amid drought. As you’ve no doubt heard by now, the election will be delayed by four weeks. Here’s a report on that from Justin Giovannetti, who writes that it follows consultation … Read more
New research suggests that, contrary to received wisdom, people with little sense of control over their lives aren’t any more susceptible than others to conspiracy theories. While conspiracy theories have been around since the Middle Ages and its blood libels, in the past couple of decades they’ve experiencing something of a boom, with the rise … Read more
Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas forget how to record a podcast over Zoom. Most elements of life under lockdown feel a little bit easier the second time around, but not recording an episode of Gone By Lunchtime. After being held up for over an hour by a confusing tech issue (Ben’s new phone … Read more
Immigration NZ has deemed a golf course designer and three ‘shapers’ to be critical workers, approving their entry to work on an American billionaire’s two courses in Northland. Rebecca Stevenson of BusinessDesk reports. A golf course designer and three “shapers” have been approved entry to New Zealand as critical workers for US billionaire Ric Kayne’s … Read more
Too much news? Welcome to the only political round-up you need. How foolish we were to believe that we could just go ahead and have our little election without disruption. Remember there was chat about Pacific travel bubbles? Hahaha hahaha ha ha. Covid-19 – YES It’s Covid, bitch. Guess who’s back in the limelight, ruining … Read more
New Zealand has opted for an elimination strategy, but a vocal minority is calling for an alternative approach that would see an end to lockdowns and borders loosened. Dr Siouxsie Wiles explains why that would be a bad idea. Around the world, different countries are taking different approaches to dealing with the global pandemic. Here … Read more
Welcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for August 17, bringing you the latest on New Zealand news and Covid-19 as it returns to the community. Auckland is now in alert level three and the rest of NZ level two. More details here. Official information here. Contact me at stewart@thespinoff.co.nz 7pm: The day in sum There are … Read more
Do you qualify for the government’s new wage subsidy extension? Here are the essentials. What’s all this then? Last Friday, the government announced Auckland would stay in alert level three – and the rest of New Zealand in alert level two – for another 12 days, as part of its response to the recent Covid-19 … Read more
It’ll be the best email you get all week (probably). Do you struggle to keep up with all the great podcasts and video content The Spinoff puts out every week? Luckily, we have a solution – introducing Rec Room, The Spinoff’s latest and some are saying greatest [citation needed] newsletter. Every Wednesday, starting this week, … Read more
Much has been made of digital divide, but as Justin Latif has observed in his role as a board of trustee member of Māngere Central School, schools in the area are making big strides to ensure students aren’t left behind. It’s hard to imagine what lockdown would be like without the limitless time-consuming options provided … Read more
With parties commanding a majority insisting on a delay, the pressure was mounting, but the prime minister insists she wasn’t cornered into making the call to postpone by four weeks to October 17. Justin Giovannetti reports from parliament. By postponing the general election by four weeks until October 17, the prime minister has forestalled a … Read more
Officially, Auckland playgrounds are closed, but people are still using them because poor signage is making it hard to tell if they’re out of bounds or not. Last time New Zealand went into level three lockdown, playgrounds were one of the first public areas that were closed to the public. Not only were they closed, … Read more
When does advance voting open, when do the results get announced, and when are the TV debates? The essential election calendar. This post has been updated to reflect the decision to delay the election, which now be on October 17, and its knock-on impacts. It will continue to be updated through the course of the … Read more