Everyone in politics is talking about rogue polls, after a Newshub Reid Research survey put the National Party on just 25%. Statistician and University of Auckland professor Thomas Lumley explains whether we can see this as one of them. “Even with the most rigorous methodology, one in 20 polls will always be a rogue and … Read more
Taylor Swift’s surprise album is a step away from noisy popstardom and into the quiet woods, writes Sam Brooks. I spent most of quarantine dreading the kind of art that would come out of it. I was expecting movies shot on Zoom, TV shows about unlikely flatmates being stuck together, and plays about how we … Read more
Huawei is stoking tensions overseas, causing some countries to ban its technology from their 5G networks. But what does that mean for us? Last week the UK announced it would be banning the country’s mobile providers from buying 5G equipment from Huawei, previously a major technology provider for the new network. That decision is expected … Read more
Tara Ward takes a trip back in time with this classic 1980s New Zealand tourism video. Be warned, it contains bare buttocks. Covid-19 has made us tourists in our own country, so there’s no better time to wrap your optic nerves around the classic tourism film Come On to New Zealand. It was a 34-minute … Read more
Kathy Errington introduces a conversation with Anjum Rahman on online harm, an extract from the upcoming BWB text Shouting Zeroes and Ones, edited by Andrew Chen. Articulating what matters when we look to reduce online harm is becoming ever more important in a context where states are increasingly turning to regulation to address harms caused … Read more
It’s our tucker, sure, but how do the items on the new song hold up against a good ol’ ranking? Sam Brooks puts his New Zealand passport on the line to rank them. How many fast food items do you know that have their own song? Not many, if any, am I right? Well, even … Read more
From tennis champions to dance craze inventors, Scratched celebrates New Zealand sporting heroes who never got their due – but whose legacies deserve to be in lights. This month, Joeli Vidiri, the greatest All Black that never was. Most customers at Mitre 10 Mega in Pukekohe don’t realise they’ve just been greeted by one of … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: National dismisses horror poll as a “rogue”, new populist party draws huge crowd in Auckland, and family attempts managed isolation escape to see father’s body. There are two possible explanations for an astonishing political poll that came out last night. Conducted by Reid Research for Newshub, it … Read more
In a week marred by parliamentarians and their neverending raru, the Alternative Aotearoa hui was a timely reminder that politics is more than what happens in the Beehive and that it is social movements that create real change, writes Laura O’Connell Rapira. On a sunny winter day in Te-Whanganui-a-Tara, 150 or so researchers, advocates, union … Read more
The Borrowdale case, which goes before a full bench in the High Court today, demonstrates a society taking its basic governing commitments seriously, writes Andrew Geddis. As time goes by, it becomes ever more apparent that New Zealand’s response to Covid-19 has worked as well as we could hope. We didn’t just flatten the curve, … Read more
Welcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for July 27. The latest on New Zealand news, politics and the Covid-19 crisis, updated throughout the day. Get in touch at stewart@thespinoff.co.nz 7pm: The day in sum The international education sector received a $51.6m funding boost from the government to help protect jobs and stabilise the industry. Judith … Read more
Tonight’s Newshub-Reid Research poll has Labour on 60.9%, with National tumbling to a new low of 25.5%. But a giant Labour Party, governing alone, could be a nightmare of its own, argues Ben Thomas A poll is not an ironclad predictor of the future, but a snapshot in time. Newshub’s Reid Research snapshot was taken … Read more
Welcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for July 26. The latest on New Zealand news, politics and the Covid-19 crisis, updated throughout the day. 7.30pm: The day in sum National recorded a terrible result in a new Reid poll for Newshub, with Labour passing 60%. Judith Collins rejected it as a rogue poll. A new, … Read more
Can the conspiracy theories of social media be coalesced into a party that makes parliament under MMP? We’re about to find out. Alex Braae attends the conscious conspiracy-theory-replete coupling ceremony. A covers band was smashing out a blistering version of ‘Higher and Higher’, on a stage packed with candidates. The flags were waving proudly over … Read more
Piiata the lab was supposed to paper over the cracks of Nadine Anne Hura’s broken family with beads of glittering gold. Instead, she began to dismantle the house one panel and one cushion at a time. She was second to last of the litter and fully golden. We took her home and called her Piiata. She … Read more
A cold day, a roaring fire, a steaming mug between your hands – Josie Adams reviews Hot Marmite Drink, in cupboards now. Marmite New Zealand’s Instagram page has gone off the deep end. It’s posting instructions on how to create obscenities: how to create Marmite salad dressing, Marmite zoodles, Marmite quesadillas. Its latest invention is … Read more
The crowd’s attention wasn’t primarily on the ball when political editor Justin Giovannetti went to see his first rugby game. As the parliamentary team faced off against the local Centurions all eyes were on the director general of health, Ashley Bloomfield, starting at openside flanker. People like Ashley Bloomfield just aren’t supposed to exist. To … Read more
Parents are increasingly being encouraged to talk to their kids about sex, and the unrealistic expectations created by porn. But how much information is too much? I’m walking with my daughters around glistening Lake Hayes during the school holidays. One is 20 and in a relationship. The other is 17 and single. We’re talking about … Read more
Between 2009 and 2014, New Zealand’s top-rating breakfast radio host published a serialised ode to life’s simple pleasures on Twitter. We pay tribute to ‘Life is Perfect’, an unheralded literary achievement. On a warm Saturday evening in February 2013, New Zealand broadcaster Mike Hosking lifted the lid of his Weber barbecue. The meat he was … Read more
The Covid-19 pandemic has seen doctors and nurses cast as heroes battling a villainous virus. It may be well-intentioned, but it’s a narrative that serves no value, writes ICU doctor Alex Kazemi. In a foyer in Southampton General Hospital in the UK hangs a one-metre-square artwork, donated by the street artist Banksy during the time … Read more
Young, healthy and pregnant, Talia Cooper’s world was flipped on its head when she discovered a lump on her breast. She spoke to Fiona Rae about becoming a mum and going through cancer treatment at the same time. If there’s one message that Talia Cooper has for young women it’s this: know what’s normal for … Read more
Welcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for July 25. The latest on New Zealand news, politics and the Covid-19 crisis, updated throughout the day. 6.30pm: The day in sum After a major police search, a 17-year-old boy who absconded from a managed isolation facility in Hamilton was apprehended by police in Auckland this morning. He … Read more
The Equal Pay Amendment Bill is set to make it easier for women to take collective action over pay equity disputes. But how exactly does it work? What’s all this then? On Thursday night, the Equal Pay Amendment Bill was finally passed unanimously by parliament. Minister for women Julie Anne Genter described it as “one … Read more
David Goldsmith is a 52-year-old father of three and a very hungry man, currently on day 13 of a three-week hunger strike on parliament grounds. He talks to Mathias Corwin about the strike and his mission to raise awareness about the global climate and ecological crisis. It probably won’t come as a surprise to learn … Read more
Crucially, Australia’s ambition has been suppression, rather than elimination. Back when Aotearoa was in lockdown, many people loudly complained that we should be following Australia’s lead in dealing with the pandemic. While our strategy was to try to eliminate Covid-19, Australia was taking another path. They would try suppressing the virus instead. That meant that … Read more
The government has just done away with one of the worst planning regulations in New Zealand. Why did National’s presumably free market-loving urban development spokesperson come out in favour of more council red tape? National has billed itself as the party of the free market and limited government. That’s reflected in its language on town … Read more
The election is in 56 days, so expect party leaders to pop up in your neighbourhood any day now. Political editor Justin Giovannetti followed National’s Judith Collins as voters asked about cheaper cheese, pine trees and everything, really, but the scandals rocking parliament. “Hi Judith.” The National Party’s leader is on a first-name basis with … Read more
Departing Friday Poem editor Ashleigh Young talks to incoming Friday Poem editor Chris Tse. The concept was always simple: on Friday, publish a poem. A new poem or an old poem, but always a good poem. It could be by anyone. When Friday Poem founding editor Steve Braunias invited me to take up the post, … Read more
Welcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for July 24. The latest on New Zealand news, politics and the Covid-19 crisis, updated throughout the day. Get in touch at stewart@thespinoff.co.nz 10.50pm: ‘Incredibly irresponsible’ – Woods on latest absconders Megan Woods, the minister in charge of the border facilities, condemned the escapees in a statement tonight. “This … Read more