Theatre owners are up in arms that potential blockbuster Mulan – filmed in New Zealand and directed by hometown hero Niki Caro – is to be premiered not in cinemas, but on Disney’s streaming platform, Disney+. On an office wall somewhere hangs a picture of Disney CEO Bob Chapek – target on his head, and … Read more
A Wellington restaurateur was told by health officials that one of his venues had been visited by a Covid-positive person. So why did the health minister and director general of health not know anything? Stewart Sowman-Lund reports. You’d think the possibility that Covid-19 was in capital would be big news. Big enough, perhaps, that the … Read more
The Covid resurgence cluster is now at 29 confirmed cases, with one further unlinked case. Chris McDowall presents the latest information in visual form. With thanks to the Science Media Centre. Information about the resurgence of confirmed and probable cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand is changing rapidly. These posts collate the most recent statistics … Read more
Before we get to the top 10s, a note from the good folk at Unity Auckland: Wednesday, first thing, we found people knocking on the shop door before we had a chance to flick the lights on. This time around folk were not going to be without their reading materials. There was lovely Judith, who … Read more
A new poem from Christchurch poet and environmental activist E Wen Wong. passport to the seasons leaves f a l l crisp like coconut husks, fraying threads of winter’s snow. the hairs of the pōhutukawa stand on their necks doused in a chilli seeds they hang like red alfalfa … Read more
Opinion: Why is JK Rowling so mad about periods, and why are so many people mad at JK Rowling? Alice Snedden waded into the volatile waters of Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminism for the latest episode of Bad News. After the horrible year we’ve had, the last thing anybody needed was for JK Rowling to make … Read more
Auckland is at alert level three, and the rest of the country level two, until midnight tonight. At 5.30pm this evening, we’ll find out what happens next. These are the factors cabinet is likely to consider in making the decision. During the first wave, the announcement we were moving into lockdown felt sudden. This time, … Read more
Whether it’s a grant or a wage subsidy, industry leaders say Auckland businesses need government support. With the mending glue barely having dried, some Auckland businesses will be cracking again under the pressure of the new level three lockdown. Now they are calling on the government to help. Finance minster Grant Robertson has already hinted … Read more
They’ve been through it all before, so how are Auckland students and teachers coping with the second move into level three? And how are other schools preparing for the possibility they’ll soon be doing the same? Last time the country went into level three lockdown, on March 24, schools had less than a day to … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Timeline for decision on alert levels released, updates on new cases and testing, and a failure of testing at the border has potentially severe consequences. Right now, we don’t know what the situation around alert levels will be at the end of the day. There was … Read more
The Spinoff’s new six-part documentary series Youth Wings goes behind the O Week stalls to get to know some of the youngest and most passionate members of New Zealand’s main political parties. It may be hard to imagine, but every single member of New Zealand’s parliament was once young. And when they were young, many … Read more
The public hated National’s politicisation of the coronavirus crisis the first time around. So why is the party doubling down on it now? So far the National Party leadership team of Judith Collins and Gerry Brownlee has been a lot milder than everyone expected. Judith Collins has arched her eyebrows and reprised her ‘Crusher’ character, … Read more
Welcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for August 13, 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. Get me on stewart@thespinoff.co.nz. 8.50pm: Case at Glamorgan Primary in Torbay, … Read more
The Covid resurgence cluster is now at 17 people. Chris McDowall presents the latest information in visual form. With thanks to the Science Media Centre. At today’s 1pm press briefing the director general of health, Ashley Bloomfield, announced 13 new cases of Covid-19 detected outside isolation or quarantine in the Auckland region. All of these … 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. This week he talks to Sarah Ramsay, CEO of United Machinists. Not that long ago in the scheme of things New Zealand did … Read more
The blast that took at least 171 lives in downtown Beirut last week was the latest in a long line of official failures that have pushed the Lebanese people to the brink of despair, writes Kirsten O’Regan. As I began this essay, my partner was trying to fall asleep in our Beirut apartment. He had … Read more
Māori are particularly vulnerable to conspiracy theories – especially ones that relate to the eradication of people – because that has been the reality for indigenous people. But if we’re going to protect our whānau from Covid-19, we need to engage, not block. If you’re Māori and on Facebook, chances are you woke up today … Read more
What the deputy leader of the opposition has been implying lately is more than ‘nonsense’ – it represents a threat to one of New Zealand’s most powerful and undervalued assets, writes Duncan Greive. Things started getting interesting last Friday. National’s deputy leader Gerry Brownlee appeared on RNZ’s Morning Report to discuss the new government mask … Read more
In the second episode of Alice Snedden’s Bad News, Alice goes to an event at parliament to try to talk with a group of ‘gender critical’ feminists – but things don’t go quite as planned. You’ve probably heard the term used in relation to high-profile people like JK Rowling, but what are Terfs, or Trans … Read more
A new New Zealand-made drama about life in lockdown was dropped from Prime’s schedule, just days before it was due to start. What’s going on? Peter Salmon reckons the perfect time to watch a New Zealand drama about a second-wave Covid lockdown is during a second-wave Covid lockdown. Prime disagrees, having removed new short drama … Read more
In this Herald Premium article, the NZ Herald’s Matt Nippert and Keith Ng pick through forecasts and data to find an economy doing better than anyone predicted. As Auckland confronts a second round of community transmission, the gap between predictions and reality might hold clues that can help government and business safeguard the economy. When … Read more
Coronavirus is back in our community, bringing with it anxiety, fear and uncertainty. If you’re feeling like you can’t face going through it all over again, here are some coping strategies. Aucklanders are once again being asked to dig deep, emotionally speaking, in preparation for another lockdown and the accompanying uncertainty. The country is still … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Collins calls for a delay in the election, an update on community transmission and testing, and businesses fearing the fallout of another lockdown. At this stage, the election is still scheduled to take place on September 19. But with the country’s largest city currently in level … Read more
The health workers and contact tracers are out on the front lines, but in the backrooms teams of mathematicians are running scenarios to figure out exactly what needs to be done, and how bad things could get. In big picture terms, fighting a pandemic is a numbers game, but with real world consequences. To succeed, … Read more
The peerless Policy tool returns for its third edition, and it’s better than ever – fully geared to easily compare both parties and candidates across all the important issues. Campaigning might have been suspended for the rest of the week, along with much of normal life, but don’t let that stop you: it just provides … Read more
The novel coronavirus mutates as it travels between people and around the world. By sequencing the genome, we can try to work out which case is linked with another. As Aotearoa confronted its first cases of Covid-19 community transmission in more than 100 days, the director general of health, Ashley Bloomfield, raised genome sequencing – … Read more
And is he about to launch a coup against Judith Collins? Just asking questions here. Jacindamania was meek by comparison. Just as Ardern captured a nation from the role of deputy leader of the opposition in 2017, so it is with Gerry Brownlee in 2020. Relentlessly grouchy, Gerrymania is in full flow, as most recently … Read more
At lunchtime yesterday, Jacinda Ardern was easing into full campaign mode on the main street of Whanganui. Just a few hours later, news from Auckland turned her plans, and an election campaign, on their heads. Justin Giovannetti reports from Whanganui and Wellington. Jacinda Ardern’s first day on the campaign trail outside the friendly confines of … Read more
One bright spot amid the grimness of the Covid resurgence: the return of our series of charts, graphics and data visualisations of the pandemic by Chris McDowall. Over one hundred days, Covid-19 slowly slipped from my attention. I was aware of new cases reaching Aotearoa’s border, managed isolation breaches, relapses in Australia and growing concern … Read more