Politics

Covid-19 live updates, April 5: Ardern condemns ‘idiots’; 89 new cases in NZ, total 1,039

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For all The Spinoff’s latest coverage of Covid-19 see here. Read Siouxsie Wiles’s work here. New Zealand is currently in alert level four. The country is shut down, apart from essential services. For updated official government advice, see here. The Spinoff’s coverage of the Covid-19 outbreak is funded by The Spinoff Members. To support this work, join The Spinoff Members here. 7.00pm: … Read more

Faafoi accuses Bauer of ‘running contradictory claims’ over magazine closures

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Internal memos from NZ’s biggest magazine company, which announced its sudden closure yesterday, state they were lobbying to change a ban on publication. But the minister responsible, Kris Faafoi, has doubled down on rejecting that position, calling those internal communications ‘contradictory’ to what they said to him directly. Updated with comment from Bauer at the foot. … Read more

Covid-19 live updates, April 3: New cases in NZ; David Clark apologises to PM

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For all The Spinoff’s latest coverage of Covid-19 see here. Read Siouxsie Wiles’s work here. New Zealand is currently in alert level four. The country is shut down, apart from essential services. For updated official government advice, see here. The Spinoff’s coverage of the Covid-19 outbreak is funded by The Spinoff Members. To support this work, join The Spinoff Members here. On … Read more

Bauer’s shocking fall reveals the government’s poisonous media dilemma

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The shockingly fast collapse of Bauer presents the government with a momentous choice, says Duncan Greive. Will it save the media industry, or concentrate on its own? This moment was always coming. The long, steady flow of advertising revenue to the tech giants has left the private sector media gaunt, much leaner than is healthy … Read more

The Covid aftershocks will upend the global power structure for years to come

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We’re only just beginning to understand the vast political ramifications of the coronavirus, both here and around the world, writes Colin James. What comes after Covid-19? Not business as usual. The global virus is a disjunctive shock and such a shock sets up a chain reaction that changes the order of things. That there is … Read more

Madeleine Chapman: Just how cool was Jacinda Ardern in high school?

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An extract from Jacinda Ardern: A New Kind of Leader, the brand new biography of the prime minister by Madeleine Chapman, formerly of this parish. Out today, Madeleine’s biography of the prime minister is magnificent. We cracked up. We had a wee cry. We’ve never read a political biography like it. Tomorrow we’ll have an essay … Read more

Lockdown policing can’t work well while there’s still confusion over rules

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When officials – including police themselves – don’t seem clear on the rules around movement, it makes it harder for everyone to do the right thing, writes Andrew Geddis. Aotearoa New Zealand has committed to trying to eradicate the virus that causes Covid-19 from its shores. To do that, as a society we’ve moved to … Read more

Covid-19 live updates, March 30: PM announces price-gouging watchdog email; good news for NZers in Australia

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For all The Spinoff’s latest coverage of Covid-19 see here. Read Siouxsie Wiles’s work here. New Zealand is currently in alert level four. The country is shut down, apart from essential services. For updated official government advice, see here. The Spinoff’s coverage of the Covid-19 outbreak is funded by The Spinoff Members. To support this work, join The Spinoff Members here. On … Read more

Covid-19: Petitions launched demanding ‘hazard pay’ for essential workers

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Calls are growing for extra payment for those who continue to head out to work every day, including many on very low wages. The Spinoff’s coverage of the Covid-19 outbreak is funded by The Spinoff Members. To support this work, join The Spinoff Members here. Two petitions have been circulating over the weekend calling for essential … Read more

Covid-19 live updates, March 29: First Covid-19 death in NZ; Supermarkets pledge worker bonus

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For all The Spinoff’s latest coverage of Covid-19 see here. Read Siouxsie Wiles’s work here. New Zealand is currently in alert level four. The country is shut down, apart from essential services. For updated official government advice, see here. The Spinoff’s coverage of the Covid-19 outbreak is funded by The Spinoff Members. To support this work, join The Spinoff Members here. … Read more

Covid-19 live updates, March 28: NZers stuck in Peru bumped from repatriation flight

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For all The Spinoff’s latest coverage of Covid-19 see here. Read Siouxsie Wiles’s work here. New Zealand is currently in alert level four. The country is shut down, apart from essential services. For updated official government advice, see here. The Spinoff’s coverage of the Covid-19 outbreak is funded by The Spinoff Members. To support this work, join The Spinoff Members here. … Read more

Lockdown letters #2, Morgan Godfery: I’m never sleeping

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In our new series The Lockdown Letters, some of New Zealand’s best writers tell us what they’ve been up to in the days of Covid-19 alert level four. Today, political commentator and essayist Morgan Godfery. I’M TWEETING AT 2AM. The responsible part of my brain is sending sleep signals. Inconvenient yawns. The first. The second … Read more

How is the govt handling Covid-19? The first opinion poll since NZ locked down

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As New Zealand entered national lockdown, The Spinoff commissioned social media polling company Stickybeak to measure the mood of the nation. Stickybeak co-founder David Brain reveals what the poll results show. As soon as prime minister Jacinda Ardern made her Monday afternoon announcement that the country was going to alert level three and then to … Read more

Siouxsie Wiles & Toby Morris: When will we know the lockdown is working?

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Alert level four is on. Now let’s talk about the lag. Siouxsie Wiles explains, with illustrations by Toby Morris. Read Toby Morris’s new Side Eye comic, created with Siouxsie Wiles, here. And more of Siouxsie’s writing here. Just before midnight on Wednesday March 25, Aotearoa New Zealand entered a countrywide alert level four lockdown. For … Read more

Siouxsie Wiles & Toby Morris: You’re waking up in lockdown New Zealand. Here’s how it works

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Alert level four is go. Let’s talk bubbles. Siouxsie Wiles explains what it’s all about, with illustrations by Toby Morris. Read Toby Morris’s new Side Eye comic, created with Siouxsie Wiles, here. And more of Siouxsie’s writing here. On Saturday March 21, Jacinda Ardern announced a four-level alert system for responding to the Covid-19 pandemic … Read more

How politics, police and power work in lockdown New Zealand

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And who watches over the use of that power? Law professor Andrew Geddis on the way authority operates at Covid-19 alert level four.  Most of the time, we think of governing in pretty immediate terms. How effectively has the minister messaged their transport policy? Does the coalition have the numbers in the house to pass … Read more

Covid-19 live updates, March 25: Prince Charles tests positive; emergency alert goes out

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For all The Spinoff’s latest coverage of Covid-19 see here. Read Siouxsie Wiles’s work here. New Zealand is currently in alert level three. As of 11.59pm tonight we go to level four: the country shuts down, apart from essential services. For updated official government advice, see here. The Spinoff’s coverage of the Covid-19 outbreak is funded by The … Read more

Lessons from lockdown France

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In Paris, the institution of a lockdown triggered a great deal of scoffing and appeals to liberty. Now it’s New Zealand’s turn, and we have to decide whether we’re going to give it the seriousness it demands, writes Jack Goldingham Newsom, a New Zealander just returned from Paris to another national lowdown. France confirmed its first … Read more

The case for a huge Covid-19 benefit reform

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With mass unemployment coming, some existing benefit rules are going to exacerbate people’s problems. The size and suddenness of the Covid-19 shock has highlighted just how far New Zealand has allowed its welfare system to run down. The government yesterday announced extensions to its wage subsidy scheme and that it is “expediting urgent work on … Read more

Covid-19 NZ live updates, March 24: Dairies stay open, not liquor stores; three more cases from Auckland school

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For all The Spinoff’s latest coverage of Covid-19 see here. Read Siouxsie Wiles’s work here. New Zealand is currently in alert level three. As of 11.59pm on Wednesday we go to level four: the country shuts down, apart from essential services. For updated official government advice, see here. The Spinoff’s coverage of the Covid-19 outbreak is funded … Read more

‘The stark choice’: Jacinda Ardern’s national shutdown speech, in full

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Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern today announced that New Zealand will be moving to the highest Covid-19 alert level within 48 hours. Here is her speech in full. The Cabinet met this morning to discuss our next actions in the fight against Covid-19. Like the rest of the world, we are facing the potential for devastating … Read more

Covid-19 NZ live updates, March 23: New Zealand prepares for nationwide shutdown

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For all The Spinoff’s latest coverage of Covid-19 see here. Read Siouxsie Wiles’s work here. An explainer on self-isolation is here, on social distancing here. For updated official government advice, see here. The Spinoff’s coverage of the Covid-19 outbreak is funded by The Spinoff Members. To support this work, join The Spinoff Members here. 8.10pm: The day in sum Prime minister … Read more

Covid-19: The doctor behind the petition to move to alert level four

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Kevin Ward, an urgent primary care physician, is behind a petition urging the government to shift to the highest alert level. Danyl Mclauchlan spoke to him. On Saturday the prime minister revealed the nation’s four-level Covid-19 alert system. We’re currently on level two, which means, among other things, that people aged 70 and over should … Read more

The government is giving new orders. What is the legal basis for them?

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Sweeping new restrictions on travel and assembly are being rolled out, with more likely. Andrew Geddis details the laws which allow the government to impose them. Covid-19 has plunged Aotearoa New Zealand (indeed, the world) into territory that, while not totally unprecedented, certainly hasn’t been seen during the lifetimes of most of us here today. … Read more

Siouxsie Wiles & Toby Morris: How you can break the Covid-19 chain

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The alert system signals the start of a new phase in NZ’s battle against Covid-19. Siouxsie Wiles explains what it means, with illustrations by Toby Morris. The Spinoff’s ongoing expert-led, evidence-based coverage of Covid-19 is funded by Spinoff Members. To support this work, join Spinoff Members here. For the last few weeks, I’ve been urging you … Read more

Ardern announces four-tier Covid-19 alert system as NZ faces community spread

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New Zealand is currently at level two in the aftermath of two suspected cases of community transmission. Jacinda Ardern has addressed New Zealand from parliament today to announce a new four-tier alert system to convey expected behaviour as the country deals with the rise of the Covid-19 coronavirus. The prime minister described our current status … Read more

Covid-19 NZ live updates, March 21: NZ at level two after suspected community spread; Te Papa’s virus scare

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For all The Spinoff’s latest coverage of Covid-19 see here. Read Siouxsie Wiles’s work here. An explainer on self-isolation is here, on social distancing here. For updated official government advice, see here. The Spinoff’s coverage of the Covid-19 outbreak is funded by The Spinoff Members. To support this work, join The Spinoff Members here. 7.30pm: The four alert levels Here’s a … Read more

Bureaucracy looms for beneficiaries trying to survive in a Covid-19 world

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For beneficiaries and thousands of soon-to-be unemployed, some tough situations are looming in trying to navigate Work and Income’s bureaucracy. Alex Braae reports.  With three kids at home showing symptoms of illness, and having recently been in contact with someone from overseas, Jane* knew staying home was the right thing to do. Unfortunately, she also … Read more

Covid-19: Rumours, lockdowns and anxiety-fuelled social sharing

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That message you saw yesterday? It was written in Malaysia, and travelled via Australia. The first I heard of it was just after 8.15am yesterday, when a friend sent a concerned message wondering, “have you heard anything?” Through the morning four other friends sent it to me. It landed over and over again in the … Read more