New Zealand’s economy is officially in a recession, with statistics released today revealing a record 12.2% decline in GDP. But as Jarrod Kerr of Kiwi Economics writes, it’s now time to focus on recovery. As economists, we love trawling through data. But we’ve never seen anything like this. This is traumatic. Service exports were stonewalled, … Read more
There is little to separate the methods of Zhenhua Data from those of the Peter Thiel founded Palantir, which has an office in Wellington alongside our spy agencies. It comes down to whether data-collection activities are seen as good or bad depending on who does it and under what circumstances, writes Paul Buchanan. News that … Read more
Hundreds of millions of dollars in wage subsidies have been paid out to profitable companies and their shareholders. Nick Mowbray, Zuru co-founder and one of NZ’s most successful entrepreneurs, urges them to do the right thing and pay the money back. Last month, Summerset Group Holdings, an NZX50-listed company and one of the country’s largest … Read more
If the government thought warding off a risk of economic catastrophe and unnecessary death was more important than securing the right to host the Rugby Championship, it has another thing coming, writes Hayden Donnell. Like many Kiwis, my biggest fear when Labour won the election in 2017 was that Jacinda Ardern would curse the All … Read more
The tweak to the top tax rate was hardly a surprise given NZ voters’ continuing acceptance of a distortionary system that leaves capital gains largely exempt, writes Geof Nightingale. Labour tax policy, announced last week, was pretty brief: a new 39% marginal tax rate on income over $180,000 to raise $550m of new tax revenue. … Read more
Despite the cartoonish ‘Crusher’ label, the National leader has always been a policy wonk. Right now, she’s doing her best to present a palatable idea of a government in waiting, writes Ben Thomas. It may be hard to fathom but, approximately 17,000 months into 2020, National has not yet officially launched its election campaign. After … Read more
The new sexuality education guidelines aim to teach kids about healthy relationships – and what sort of parent wouldn’t welcome that? On Tuesday, new sexuality education guidelines were introduced in New Zealand schools. The long-awaited changes include a greater focus on consent, gender and pornography. These guidelines have been years in the making and parents … Read more
Every story in Bug Week clacks and hums with the anger of women. Here, the author explains why. Content warning: this article references sexual assault and family violence. It seems like a bit of a self-indulgent exercise writing about the genesis of a book. Books are texts, separable from their authors and the biographical circumstances … Read more
Super Rugby team the Crusaders has decided to retain its name, despite it invoking a history of violence towards Muslims. The decision made researcher Luke Fitzmaurice angry, so he emailed the CEO of the Crusaders to tell him. To his surprise, he replied. In June 2019, the Crusaders rugby team announced a comprehensive review of … Read more
An essay about leaving New Zealand, and finding it again via Janet Frame. A quick note from our books editor, Catherine Woulfe: Meg Mason grew up in Foxton and Palmerston North. She’s a journalist – she lives in Sydney, and writes for places like The New Yorker, Vogue and GQ – and she’s just released … Read more
All Black fans are desperate to watch them take on Australia. But the arguments for playing in New Zealand are worse than flimsy, writes Scotty Stevenson. On October 10 this year, the All Blacks and the Wallabies will play the first match of a Bledisloe Cup series. If there is any fairness left in the … Read more
From shambolic interviews to dismal polling, it’s hard to see how the NZ First leader can save his party ahead of the next month’s election, writes Ben Thomas. In boxing, there’s a saying that “power is the last thing to go”. After speed, coordination and stamina are long gone, the oldest fighter still knows how … Read more
Covid-19 brought to an abrupt end to an extraordinary period of migration-fuelled population growth for New Zealand. Did we fully understand what was happening – and what comes next, asks Paul Spoonley. See also Duncan Grieve: The ‘staggering’ potential of New Zealand’s returning diaspora Toni Truslove: Returning New Zealanders deserve a softer landing – and … Read more
Whoever is successful on October 17, there is urgent work that needs doing to meet obligations under Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Laura O’Connell Rapira offers five to begin with. In 1840, Māori rangatira and representatives of the British Crown signed Te Tiriti o Waitangi. The Māori text, which is the version of the Treaty recognised … Read more
We’ve long lamented the loss of New Zealand’s best and brightest. Now that the ‘brain drain’ has the potential to be reversed, let’s not squander the opportunity, writes Toni Truslove. When Robert Muldoon famously quipped to a journalist that New Zealanders who migrated to Australia “raised the IQ of both countries”, his response diminished the … Read more
Dozens of major cities are building cycleways and pedestrianising streets as they adapt to the post-pandemic world. Hayden Donnell asks why Auckland hasn’t experienced a similar level of transformation. All over the world, cities are transforming as they adapt to an age of lockdowns and social distancing. London’s Soho district has been almost completely pedestrianised, … Read more
Wellington will be home to up to 80,000 more people by 2050, and the question of where they’re going to live is becoming increasingly pressing. Should the look of the central suburbs really take priority over warm, dry, affordable housing? To say there’s animosity towards Wellington’s housing stock among young people like myself would be … Read more
One of our finest speculative fiction writers on how the Lord of the Rings fandom is damaging mana whenua. There are kākā on my porch. They are circling each other, fanning their beautiful green and red feathers. They’ve found the pāua shell my flatmate picked up on the beach last week. It is shiny, so … Read more
A recent column by the director of New Zealand’s Suicide Prevention Office argued that ‘normalising talking about suicide’ doesn’t help. Linda Collins, the author of a forthcoming book about losing a child to suicide, wonders how silence can ever be a solution. Just this week, a friend who helps maintain a suicide prevention website messaged … Read more
The Green School balls-up is another brutal political lesson for a party leader who already knows just how ruthless this coalition government can get, writes Ben Thomas. Students at the Taranaki Green School are going to have to plant a lot more crystals to absorb all the bad vibes coming off Greens co-leader James Shaw’s … Read more
Facebook’s threat to pull out of news in Australia is the latest salvo in an increasingly bitter battle over who owns the news – and who should fund its production, writes former MediaWorks news boss Hal Crawford from Sydney. The struggle between the Australian government and Facebook and Google over news is surely close to … Read more
Some people seem like they’ll never be persuaded, but don’t give up. Here are some effective strategies for convincing the sceptics in your life. The cannabis referendum is likely to be a nail-biter, with polls and campaigners predicting a very close vote. With the election approaching, cannabis campaigners are working to get the word out … Read more
A landmark High Court decision means Greenpeace can finally have charity status. But what happens when it’s granted to political advocates you might disagree with? Many people might be surprised to learn that until a few weeks ago, Greenpeace wasn’t actually classified as a charity. That’s because our charity law – relying on English court … Read more
This government came to power promising a new, aggressive approach to the climate crisis – and then let the dairy industry carry on as before. Will the next government be any different, asks Greenpeace agriculture campaigner Gen Toop. It’s hard to ignore the effects of the climate crisis: from the haze that covered New Zealand … Read more
The problem with the Taranaki Green School isn’t just that’s an expensive private institution, says Laura Rapira O’Connell. It’s that funding it does little to address the environmental challenges faced by ordinary New Zealanders and their children. James Shaw came under fire last week for approving an $11.7m government grant to a private ‘Green School’ … Read more
The cannabis referendum is not just about creating a fairer Aotearoa, writes the Drug Foundation’s Ross Bell. It’s also another chance to prove to the world that we know how to lead on progressive, health-based policy. Since Auckland moved back into level three more than a fortnight ago we’ve been reminded how fearful the coronavirus … Read more
The Silence of Snow has a rare and aching truth to it, writes books editor Catherine Woulfe. I could pick Eileen Merriman’s writing anywhere, especially the way she’s been writing lately. She has struck on a particular minor key that rings across each page, clear and sharp and quick. It makes you want to listen … Read more
Sally Blundell talks to Christchurch poet John Newton about the book he wrote for his friend, Llew Summers: Body and Soul. Hutzpah. If there was one word missing from his book on the life and work of sculptor Llew Summers, says John Newton, it would be “hutzpah”. “Llew and his early sculptures and the way … Read more
Alie Benge signed up to a dating app with a sense of dread. What she found restored her faith in people – and in love itself, she writes, in the first instalment of a new series following her dating journey. I went into the first lockdown a hardcore introvert, one of those annoying people talking … Read more