Uber seems like a terrible company. But beyond binning an app, the challenge for the tech industry is to delete an entrenched, monolithic culture that sees women and minorities leaving in droves, writes Sacha Judd This week, Susan Fowler published a blog post about her time working as an engineer for Uber, and why she … Read more
Today the prime minister should be at Te Tii Marae, leading our nation on the difficult path, and not back to Disney Treatyland, writes historian Hirini Kaa. “A lot of New Zealanders cringe a bit on Waitangi Day,” said the prime minister recently. This was wrapped around a bunch of language including terms such as … Read more
Yes, I’m lazy, and yes, I was motivated by the spectre of Trump, but it’s still surprising that I found it easier to vote for the US presidency this month than in the Auckland council elections, writes Madeleine Chapman. I’ve done a lot of voting in my 22 years of life. When you grow up … Read more
In an opinion piece for the Spinoff yesterday, the Labour leader said his party will work to ‘eradicate’ child poverty. Janet McAllister explains why she’s raising a sceptical eyebrow. When it comes to cutting the granite rock of child poverty, it takes a lot more than a plastic pair of pinking snips. These are the … Read more
Child poverty is unacceptable in modern New Zealand, and the Children’s Commissioner is right to urge politicians to agree to a definition and set a target, argues Andrew Little. I can tell you the horrific numbers: 295,000 children are living in poverty; 149,000 children are in material deprivation; 110,000 children live in damp, mouldy houses; … Read more
A state of emergency has just been declared in Ethiopia amid anti-government protest. The true colours of New Zealand’s diplomatic commitments will be shown in its response to the state crackdown, write Nureddin Abdurahman and Malcolm McKinnon Through the early part of this decade the New Zealand government carried out a sustained campaign for one … Read more
Registers of foreign workers and attacks on human rights lawyers show the poison of Trump seeping into the Conservative government’s new, cynical strategy, laments London-based New Zealander Tze Ming Mok This time last year Theresa May, not yet the prime minister of the UK, dominated the Conservative Party conference. To my outsider ears, her message … Read more
It’s a struggle to like either of the creeps who locked horns in the High Court, but the measure of the winner’s character will be in how he spends the damages, writes Toby Manhire The Hollow Men was turned into a stage play. Secret Power was adapted into a visual art spectacular. And now another … Read more
Hayden Donnell and Mark Hanna dive deep in the mysterious depths of local democracy to weed out the potential wackos. They’re mostly normal on the front pages of the ballots. Phil Goff. Vic Crone. These people. All sober and level-headed. If these top candidates say something strange, people call them out. Look at Vic Crone. … Read more
Community worker Ngaiterangi Smallman argues that the Moana movie is an opportunity Pacific communities should be grasping with both hands. This column was submitted as a letter to the editor (info@thespinoff.co.nz); we decided it deserved its own post. For more letters and reader comment, on this and other topics, click here. Two years ago I … Read more
Readers’ responses on Māui and Moana, millennials and Mike Lee – and one powerful first-person essay. Madeleine Chapman’s defence of Disney’s full-body Maui costume for kids – since withdrawn from sale – attracted outrage and applause in equal measure. “Takes all the context & comes up with a sensible conclusion. Refreshing to read in an … Read more
On the world stage at the UN, the prime minister attempted to appear the global statesman. But following Obama’s pledge on resettlement, Key produced a series of clangers, argues Murdoch Stephens of the Doing Our Bit campaign. At the weekend both The Nation and Q+A interviewed John Key in New York, fresh from his address … Read more
Figures on the ethnic breakdown of cannabis convictions show the folly of the prime minister’s faith in ‘police discretion’, writes Don Rowe. A majority of New Zealanders now support the decriminalisation of marijuana, according to a poll released last month by the New Zealand Drug Foundation. The survey, conducted by the same company that polls … Read more
Last week’s best letters, comments and complaints. The Spinoff has turned off comments. If you want to have your say on a story, please head to our Facebook or Twitter – or send a letter to the editor to info@thespinoff.co.nz. Letters may be edited for length. @TheSpinoffTV when you turn off public commenting coz the … Read more
A new poll suggests appetite for a divorce from the monarchy is on the rise. But before we move to a referendum, there are a few things to get in place first, write Lewis Holden. Two months ago the result of Britain’s EU referendum was fresh and I wrote that despite Britain’s apparent move away … Read more
The response to this morning’s shake reinforces the urgency of authorising GeoNet to issue tsunami warnings, writes Philip Duncan. (Includes updated response to Civil Defence rejection of criticisms, below) This morning it took almost an hour before the Ministry of Civil Defence & Emergency Management acknowledged the severe magnitude 7.1 earthquake off East Cape that … Read more
The law needs to be changed to allow Lecretia Seales’ wish to determine when she died. But we must take care that such a measure would not be a slippery slope toward some ambiguous twilight zone, says Sir Geoffrey Palmer Lecretia Seales died of a cancerous brain tumour in Wellington on 3 June 2015. She … Read more
Introducing a new Spinoff feature highlighting the week’s best reader comment. The Spinoff has turned off comments. If you want to have your say on a story, please head to our Facebook or Twitter – or send a letter to the editor to info@thespinoff.co.nz. ‘This is really not a major change. People get sick, people … Read more
Patient autonomy is crucial, but the belief it should trump all other considerations should be viewed with caution, writes Medical Association chair Stephen Child. Dr Stephen Child will join David Seymour and others as part of next week’s Spinoff-Ika Table Talk, hosted by Jeremy Elwood, on August 30. More details here. The issue of voluntary … Read more
Opposition among disabled people to assisted suicide stems from long experience of encountering negative attitudes and human rights abuses, writes Robyn Hunt. I assure David Seymour that assisted suicide is a really big and complicated deal. It is no coincidence that disabled people all over the world oppose it. Our opposition arises from a (largely … Read more
There is good reason for reforming the student loan system, but the proposal to wipe debt for those who work in the regions doesn’t hold water, argues Eric Crampton. It’s hard to think of any problem solved by Labour’s proposed student loan policy that wouldn’t have better solutions. And I don’t think it is because … Read more
Hallelujah! The Auckland Council has signed off the Unitary Plan, the crucial rulebook for the city’s future. But there remains plenty to fight for, write Hayden Donnell and Toby Manhire The biggest battle of the War for Auckland has been won with barely a teaspoon of blood spilled. In a stunning, gravity defying moment the … Read more
The Turkish president has brutally suppressed protesters and purged every branch of government of any opposition. We must stand up against him, writes Maria Armoudian. The test of a leader’s commitment to democracy is not in peaceful and agreeable times but in times of dissent and disagreement. And Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has failed … Read more
We have rarely seen such a sustained, and successful, attempt to hide abuses from the outside world as the Australian government is perpetuating right now in its ‘offshore detention’ policy, writes Amnesty International’s Grant Bayldon There is a basic principle of human rights work: when lawyers, families, journalists, doctors and official monitors are prevented from … Read more
A mindset from the world of business may have spread out into culture and political life, steamrolling ideas of objective truth along the way, argues Campbell Jones There has been widespread discussion over the past month about the disappearance of truth in New Zealand politics. In an important opinion piece, TVNZ reporter Andrea Vance argued … Read more
Green MP and planning geek Julie Anne Genter reacts to the Unitary Plan – and announces a four-step programme to radically evolve our urban environment into the future. I love city planning – I’m a planning geek. So it’s pretty cool seeing people get excited about the Auckland Unitary Plan. The actual document might be … Read more
Saatchi & Saatchi executive chairman Kevin Roberts has been suspended over comments about gender in advertising. How could an ‘expert’ in the industry be so astonishingly lacking in insight, asks business and brand strategist Jane Cherrington. We need to talk about Kevin. Mr Roberts has caused quite a stir by suggesting that gender inequality is over, … Read more
New Zealand’s classiest economist, Shamubeel Eaqub, unleashes his first impressions on the Independent Hearings Panel review of the big rule-book for Auckland’s future. The War for Auckland is a Spinoff pop-up section devoted to the 2016 Unitary Plan and local elections. To support our journalism, click here.
War?! We know, we know. But what else would you call the vastly differing visions for Auckland presented by Auckland 2040 and Generation Zero? We feel like the next few months will define this city’s future, and will thus cover the Unitary Plan and the subsequent election with a rare fury. Read on to hear our justification – … Read more