The social media page of New Conservative candidate Rudi du Plooy erupted last night with claims his sign had been vandalised before social media users pointed out it was an obvious Photoshop. So what really happened? Alex Braae gave him a call. When Rudi du Plooy was sent a photo of his Hamilton West election … Read more
New short film Rise profiles some of the country’s youngest protest organisers as they take to the streets to lead one of the generation’s biggest protest marches. It’s only 16 minutes long, but Jess Feast’s new documentary elicits a sense of climate anxiety that lasts much longer. Filmed on September 27, 2019, the day of … Read more
As the global pandemic drags on, an already precarious situation for New Zealand migrants is becoming increasingly fraught, reports Maria Hoyle. Romi Aggarwal speaks softly and calmly, choosing her words with care. Still, her emotion is tangible when she talks about being separated from her family. “Jacinda Ardern recently celebrated her daughter’s second birthday. She … Read more
From the rubble of 2020 comes the opportunity to create a new future. Conversations That Count – Ngā Kōrero Whai Take will examine what that could look like. Subscribe here, and read host Stacey Morrison’s introduction below. ‘Unprecedented’ is starting to feel like a euphemism for this year. And it’s still only August. But from … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: For and against a massive new hydro storage scheme, major new report delivered on RMA reforms, and Greens and NZ First at odds over waka-jumping repeal. For a lead story today, a look at some of the benefits and challenges of a major potential infrastructure … Read more
The government has finally announced plans to begin charging some New Zealanders returning to Aotearoa, but the list of exemptions will be long and the money raised won’t come close to covering the cost of managed-isolation. What’s all this then? As New Zealand settled into the freedoms of alert level one over the past two … Read more
Welcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for July 30. The latest on New Zealand news, politics and the Covid-19 crisis, updated throughout the day. Get in touch at stewart@thespinoff.co.nz 7.15pm: The day in sum A new 1 News poll offered slightly better news for National than Sunday night’s bleak Newshub numbers. The leaking of private … Read more
A comprehensive proposed shake-up of the Resource Management Act has gained support from the business community and multiple parties. Pattrick Smellie of BusinessDesk reports on what it might involve. After 29 years of argument and increasing complexity, the Resource Management Act needs to be split in two and the overlapping patchwork of competing of regional … Read more
It’s estimated about 6700 babies were born in New Zealand during alert levels four and three. Emily Writes spoke to new mothers around the country to find out what that experience was like. Preparing to give birth is a moment of intimidating uncertainty. Under Covid-19’s isolation and restrictions, as mothers around the country approached their … Read more
In the Counties-Manukau and Auckland Blues teams of the late 1990s, ‘Big Joe’ was one half of a double act the likes of which we may never see again. Only a handful of players, maybe fewer, could ever claim to have equal billing in a match featuring Jonah Lomu – but Joeli Vidiri was one … Read more
It’s a podcast almost four years in the making on a topic ‘shrouded in silence’. Emily Writes speaks to Susie Ferguson about The Unthinkable. Susie Ferguson is talking about something I desperately don’t want to talk about. Baby death or stillbirth is a heart-breaking subject that many of us instinctively turn away from. Ferguson didn’t … Read more
Finding it hard to focus in this era of remote work and pandemic-induced anxiety? A scaled-down tablet and keyboard set-up might be the productivity hack you’re looking for, writes Henry Burrell. As a writer who works from home, I have been slowly building a home office set up that puts me into the best workflow … Read more
The R number, the classic measure of how easily an infectious disease spreads, is how New Zealand crushed community transmission. But it’s also a clever guide to a much bigger picture, writes Jenny Nicholls. Predicting how the global Covid-19 pandemic will progress can seem impossible, with graphs of cases from other countries beginning to look … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: China furious at NZ over Hong Kong extradition suspension, woman says police haven’t started investigation into sexual assault almost a year later, and patients reportedly refusing Covid-19 tests. A significant update in New Zealand’s relationship with China: Yesterday foreign minister Winston Peters announced that this country … Read more
Welcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for July 29. The latest on New Zealand news, politics and the Covid-19 crisis, updated throughout the day. Get in touch at stewart@thespinoff.co.nz 7.20pm: The day in sum The government revealed its plans to charge some returning Kiwis for isolation. NZ First will support the law change, but Winston Peters … Read more
Last week it looked like fees for managed isolation were going to cover nearly all returnees. Now it looks as though the formula is very different. Political editor Justin Giovannetti explains After over a week of debate in the parties of government and in public, the prime minister has said she’s expecting an imminent announcement … Read more
In contrast with last year’s often terrifying local election offerings, 2020’s election signage is big on bold colours and simple messaging. Spinoff creative director Toby Morris delivers his analysis of the best and worst designs. All along suburban fences and major intersections around New Zealand a virus is spreading. Desperate faces splayed out across corflute … Read more
Judith Collins today unlocked the secret of her political comedic code. ‘When my eyebrow goes up, it’s a joke,’ she told reporters. Enlightened, we’ve gone back through her first speech as National leader, to excavate the punchlines. On a trip to the comedy capital of Palmerston North yesterday, Judith Collins announced that no one had … Read more
In October 2019, she laid a complaint of sexual assault. Police say they’re ‘still waiting for a free detective’ to assign to the case. Emily Writes reports. For Anne*, the morning of Thursday October 31, 2019, is indelibly printed on her memory. At 11.30am, she was brutally sexually assaulted in her home, she told The … Read more
Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas dust off the bazookas scattered around New Zealand politics in this week’s Gone By Lunchtime. A new Newshub poll has put Judith Collins’ National Party on 25.1%, Jacinda Ardern’s Labour on 60.9%, and many jaws on the floor. Gerry Brownlee has dismissed it as a “rogue poll”. Annabelle, … Read more
Welcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for July 28. The latest on New Zealand news, politics and the Covid-19 crisis, updated throughout the day. Get in touch at stewart@thespinoff.co.nz 7.45pm: The day in sum New Zealand’s extradition treaty with Hong Kong was suspended due to China’s controversial national security law. China responded by calling the … Read more
On a Saturday night on Dominion Road, Sonya Wilson discovered a dish so gastronomically monumental it can only be described as life-changing. I’ve never been someone who knows how to wax lyrical about food. I love food, more than I love fitting into my jeans, but I’ve never slung around words like provenance or piquancy, … Read more
This is easy and you will get them all right. The billboards are up and the campaigns are under way. The party slogans are right there, up in your face. There are some you could name off the bat. But can you get them all? Here are the slogans for the top eight most popular … Read more
When Covid-19 forced restaurants to shut, they had to find new ways to feed their customers. At Auckland’s Cotto, their take-home service remained popular even after they opened their doors again. Alert level three seems so long ago now, but I still remember that bone-deep relief as its announcement opened up the prospect of takeaways: … Read more
Finding yourself homeless is terrible at any age – but it’s even worse for those under 18, who are routinely turned away by emergency housing providers, writes Aaron Hendry. “Our response to Covid, on the face of it, had a very simple premise: stay home, save lives. That simple requirement forced all of us as … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Bailout to stave off crisis in international education sector, return flight bookings freeze extended again, and man selling bleach as Covid cure raided. If it wasn’t already on the cards, the international education sector got a clear message that students would be unlikely to return … Read more
Well over 150 vaccine candidates for Covid-19 are in development, and they take a myriad of forms. Siouxsie Wiles helps make sense of the different approaches, with illustration by Toby Morris. For more Siouxsie-Toby collaborations, see here. With the exciting news that two Covid-19 vaccine candidates (Oxford/AstraZeneca and CanSino Biological Inc/Beijing Institute of Biotechnology) have … Read more
Welcome to memebers of parliament, a political column for people who just want the memes. In 53 days there will be an election and already there’s too much news. Too many politicians doing too many things. Who’s bothering to keep up with politics? Well, technically we all should because we live in a democracy and … Read more
Welcome back to The Spinoff’s bi-monthly books podcast, hosted by Louisa Kasza, Jenna Todd and Kiran Dass. The Papercuts team are finally back in The Spinoff studio this month with their usual winning recipe of book news, book recommendations, not books and their ever-growing ‘TBR’ piles. They anticipate the announcements of some big book prizes, … Read more