Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Fallout continues from Falloon scandal, significant damage to Tairāwhiti from storm, and Labour MP Raymond Huo announces retirement. Much more emerged on the scandal around outgoing National MP Andrew Falloon yesterday. The police will now be reopening their inquiries into the matter, after previously finding that … Read more
The harsh new national security law has cast a shadow over Hong Kong, but the threat of Covid-19 is still big enough to keep many New Zealanders in Hong Kong from leaving. The Spinoff spoke to four people living in Hong Kong during a time of historic upheaval. On June 30 a draconian new national … Read more
Justin Giovannetti on an ugly day in New Zealand politics, which saw a National backbencher resign in disgrace. In the space of two weeks National has lost a leader, a half dozen MPs and any semblance of unity in the ranks of an outfit that is hoping to present itself as a government-in-waiting. Andrew Falloon … Read more
Air New Zealand wouldn’t refund customers the value of their cancelled flights, instead offering them credit to book new ones. Now, after a long wait, a tool has been developed that lets them do it online. What’s all this then? Many months in the making, Air New Zealand has developed a tool that allows customers … Read more
Results of two vaccine trials are in and the news is encouraging. Siouxsie Wiles explains what it all means, and what happens next. As the number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 approaches 15 million, with more than 600,000 deaths around the world, there is at least some positive news on the vaccine front. The results … Read more
Welcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for July 21. The latest on New Zealand news, politics and the Covid-19 crisis, updated throughout the day. Get in touch at stewart@thespinoff.co.nz 7.30pm: The day in sum Andrew Falloon resigned, after pressure from leader Judith Collins to do so immediately. Two more women came forward with allegations that Falloon … Read more
Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas on the Andrew Falloon scandal and its implications for a beleaguered National Party, a big weekend for Winston Peters and NZ First, and the chorus calling to charge arriving New Zealanders for their hotel isolation. Less than two months out from the election, the National Party remains bedevilled … Read more
Under Cover is a new series that brings musicians together via video link to bond, chat and play each other’s songs. The fifth episode features Troy Kingi and Warren Maxwell. Troy Kingi and Warren Maxwell have shared stages and many musical memories together. Kingi still cites opening for Maxwell’s band Trinity Roots at the Leigh … Read more
Wendy Petrie, 49, has lost her job to Simon Dallow, 56. TVNZ’s cull is mystifying on multiple levels, writes Duncan Greive. There’s a genuinely moronic characterisation of newsreading which holds that it’s a low skill job that anyone can do. Just read off the autocue for an hour, collect your $500,000 a year-ish salary and … Read more
National MP Andrew Falloon has resigned from parliament following allegations he sent unsolicited pornographic material to young women. Here’s what we know happened and when. Tuesday July 14 9.45pm Judith Collins addresses the media after being elected the new leader of the National Party, replacing Todd Muller, whose shock resignation at breakfast time came after … Read more
Retail investors should invest in companies that have paid out dividends, been ahead of new trends or been able to push pause during the Covid-19 crisis, reports Dan Brunskill for BusinessDesk. Picking the next round of gains is a difficult challenge in a market that has been reordered by the pandemic, but humanity’s ability to … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: What we know so far about the Andrew Falloon scandal, finance minister shuts purse strings on billions in spending, and Cameron Slater before the courts. The National party has lost yet another MP to scandal, with the latest casualty being first term representative for Rangitata … Read more
Judith is the youngest of six. Gerry is the oldest of five. Jacinda and Grant? Youngest of two and three, respectively. But where are the misunderstood middle children in our parliament? Linda Burgess investigates. If my younger sister – the cute-as-a-button baby of the family – smoked, which she doesn’t, she’d have inhaled, nostrils tightening, … Read more
The oldest independent literary festival in Aotearoa is putting its massive back-catalogue online. Going West’s producer James Littlewood explains why – and what’s next. February, 2020. We’d just pulled together a crack team and were poised to launch into full-blown planning when the virus hit and we went into lockdown. Suddenly, the future ceased to … Read more
The small team behind the much-lauded Pasture is opening a bar – and true to form, it’s going to be unlike anything we’ve seen in New Zealand before. Jean Teng got a sneak peek. You enter Boxer via a text message. Well, that’s not strictly true. If you have the foresight to book beforehand, you’ll … Read more
Both major parties now want people returning to the country to pay for mandatory managed isolation. Our fellow New Zealanders don’t deserve such cruelty, argues Alex Braae. Sarah has been trying to get home to New Zealand for months now. The eastern European country she is in locked their borders before MFAT started sending out … Read more
The Bluetooth-enabled tracking device is being sold as a more effective alternative to the Covid Tracer app, but the brutal truth is that neither are the miracle solution we want, writes Richard Easther. Covid-19 is a tightly rolled ball of nucleic acid and protein, astride the fuzzy line separating the living world from fancy chemistry. … Read more
The court said a prison sentence was ‘manifestly unjust’, but it had no alternative, explains Andrew Geddis. In some New Zealand prison sits a man called Daniel Clinton Fitzgerald. He has been behind bars since December of 2016. Unless something happens, of which more later, he may stay there until December 2023. All because he … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: National announces its plan to charge returnees $3,000 and the government indicates a policy is coming soon, Judith Collins’ first weekend as National leader, and Northland reels from flood damage. The days of free hotel stays for all returning New Zealanders appear to be drawing … Read more
Good afternoon, and welcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for July 20. The latest on New Zealand news, politics and the Covid-19 crisis, updated throughout the day. Get in touch at stewart@thespinoff.co.nz 8.10pm: The day in sum National MP Andrew Falloon announced he would not be standing in this year’s election after reportedly sending a … Read more
Winston Peters took the stage to launch an unlikely bid to stay in parliament on Sunday. Hayden Donnell went along for a close encounter with the New Zealand First faithful. Talk to a political insider about Winston Peters, and they’ll often start with their complaints. He’s been offensive on immigration. Questionably ethical on campaign finance. … Read more
A few election cycles ago Judith Collins would have been a formidable political contender, writes the Dirty Politics author. Now she’s the wrong person, at the wrong time. Judith Collins, who starred in the book Dirty Politics two elections ago, is an intelligent and politically capable person. However, as many of her National Party colleagues … Read more
With less than 50 days until the election, attempts are well underway to pit us against each other in the name of winning power, writes Laura O’Connell Rapira. No matter our differences, most of us want pretty similar things: to live well with good kai, good health, a warm whare, and time to spend with … Read more
The latest on New Zealand news, politics and the Covid-19 crisis, updated throughout the day. 7.30pm: The day in sum There were three new cases of Covid-19, two men in their 30s and one woman in her 70s. All were detected in managed isolation. All returning adult New Zealanders would be charged $3000 to cover … Read more
What should you expect when you touch down in New Zealand, bound for your temporary hotel home? It all depends on the luck of the draw, writes the NZ Herald’s Isaac Davison in this Herald Premium article. SCROLL DOWN FOR THE GUIDE TO THE 32 HOTELS It is the lottery of managed isolation: Some returning … Read more
Auckland’s oldest restaurant, Tony’s Steakhouse has been welcoming all-comers for more than 50 years. In the wake of news it may be facing closure, long-time regular Graham Reid penned this tribute. There’s a scene that has played out hundreds of times at Tony’s restaurant on Wellesley Street in central Auckland. I’ve witnessed it frequently. A … Read more
With Covid-19 devastating demand for global fashion brands, millions of jobs in Asia’s apparel factories hang by a thread. That’s why one New Zealand business has taken a different tack to keep its Cambodian staff working and well-cared-for. To the average consumer, there’s little discernible connection between Te Awamutu and the small Cambodian community of … Read more
New Zealand has erected statues and carried out elaborate tributes for a ragtag collection of fools and racists. Hayden Donnell asks why we haven’t we memorialised one of our greatest residents, Nigel the gannet. To give and not expect return, that is what lies at the heart of love – Oscar Wilde Mana Island is … Read more
With the National Party caucus looking more conservative than it’s been in a long time, Liam Hehir warns of the dangers of ideological factionalism, and why being a conservative party isn’t the same as being a party with conservatives. Liberals seem to be something of an endangered species in the National Party these days. First … Read more