This week British PM Theresa May thought she’d finally come up with a Brexit deal that her own MPs would accept. Things didn’t quite turn out that way, writes RNZ. After two years of discussions and negotiations with the European Union (EU), British Prime Minister Theresa May announced three days ago that her Cabinet supported … Read more
Could there finally be a solution to the destructive drama of Brexit? In today’s Cheat Sheet, Alex Braae explains why even the latest plan to come out of Downing Street could be shot down. What’s all this then? Brexit was once famously described by football hooligan character actor Danny Dyer as a “mad riddle”. “Nobody’s … Read more
Cycleways are under fire this week following an incredibly misleading Herald story. Hayden Donnell goes in search of some transport projects to actually get angry about. A peloton of bullshit rode forth from NZME headquarters this week. Its journey began with a story by the Herald’s supercity reporter Bernard Orsman on Monday, which claimed several … Read more
Government fixation on gentrifying state housing neighbourhoods to provide sites for KiwiBuild developments seriously undermines the opportunity to meet the most pressing needs, writes Alan Johnson, the Child Poverty Action Group’s housing spokesperson. The recent media preoccupation with KiwiBuild as a middle class welfare programme risks overlooking a far more critical housing story. It is … Read more
Tonight the NZ prime minister dines with the US vice president – a man who holds numerous views on the world that are, well, pretty much the opposite of everything she stands for. Don Rowe previews the worst working dinner imaginable. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is in Singapore today for the East Asia summit. United … Read more
Rebecca Macfie, author of Tragedy at Pike River Mine: How and Why 29 Men Died, explains why today’s announcement by Andrew Little that the mine drift will be re-entered is such a historic moment. After eight years, the Pike River Mine drift will be re-entered, explored and treated as the crime scene that it is. … Read more
The opposition’s problem is not Simon Bridges’ performance, it’s not the party losing faith and it’s not even a fallen MP raising merry hell, writes RNZ’s Guyon Espiner The salacious saga of Jami-Lee Ross has severely tested Simon Bridges over recent weeks. The Ross story is the political equivalent of a page-turning novel, but the … Read more
For many years NZ First’s Shane Jones was one of Labour’s most reliably pro-business MPs. Yet today he presents as an anti-corporate crusader. Branko Marcetic assesses his record and asks whether supporters should trust his dramatic conversion. The metamorphosis of a butterfly is one of nature’s great miracles. A caterpillar, growing too big for its … Read more
There are so many issues facing the nation but one rises above them all. Madeleine Chapman goes on a quest to find the worst seat in the House. Members of parliament spend a lot of time sitting in their assigned seat in the debating chamber of New Zealand’s House of Representatives. In 2018, there are 93 scheduled sitting … Read more
School’s out in Auckland today as primary school teachers take to the streets and march in an effort to secure pay rises, smaller class sizes and more resources. Via RNZ, the essential FAQ It’s the first day of a rolling nationwide strike set for this week, and it’s estimated around 320 schools will be closed in … Read more
New Zealand Alternative – a new, open organisation – seeks to challenge the orthodoxy, starting with a call to establish an independent Conflict Prevention Unit. Co-founder Thomas Nash explains Marking 100 years since the guns fell silent at the end of World War One, Foreign Minister Winston Peters represented New Zealand at the Paris Peace Forum … Read more
New Zealander Robin Campbell was a volunteer on the Democratic campaign for a seat in the New York State Senate. He recounts his experience – from brutal debates to door-knocking with Ben Stiller – and points to the key to overcoming Trump and his politics of hate and division I’ve never had to deal with neo-Nazis … Read more
Labour is getting crapped on from the left and right after loosening its restrictions on people making capital gains off KiwiBuild houses. Hayden Donnell argues with the only expert he respects on the new rules. On Wednesday, important political news was emitted from the Newshub. Phil Twyford had changed the rules for people looking to … Read more
Jacinda Ardern has so far said Iain Lees-Galloway’s job is not under threat but pressure is growing for her to sack the immigration minister over the controversial decision to allow Karel Sroubek in New Zealand. Former long-serving minister Peter Dunne explains what will determine Lees-Galloway’s fate. The one constant about the Karel Sroubek case is that … Read more
The prime minister must swiftly condemn China on its mass detention of minority groups if her UN speech talking up the virtues of kindness and justice is to hold credibility, writes Newshub’s Rebecca Watson Latest estimates say China has put as many as one million ethnic Uighurs, Kazakhs and other Muslim minority groups from the … Read more
Trump has proven once again that he is an impressive electoral campaigner with a crude but effective grasp of strategy – and shown that scaring people works, writes Timothy J Lynch of the University of Melbourne The good news if you don’t like US President Donald Trump: he has less than 24 months remaining in his first term in office. … Read more
Toby Manhire is joined by iconic duo Annabelle Lee and Ben Thomas to rake the leaves of the JLR saga – and the mini-crises confronting the government, too. The overlord of all successful television in New Zealand, Annabelle Lee, restores equilibrium to the Gone By Lunchtime universe by sitting down with Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire … Read more
In campaigning, Ardern’s party proffered a range of bold railway intentions. Now we’re waiting for the bold coalition blueprint, writes former National cabinet minister Wayne Mapp I am a fan of trains. I have lots of books on lost rail lines in New Zealand. For instance, losing the line to Rotorua seemed the ultimate in … Read more
Howdy, and welcome to The Spinoff’s live blog of the 2018 US midterm elections, brought to you by Catherine McGregor, Toby Manhire, Alex Braae, and maybe some of your other mates at The Spinoff. We’ll see how it goes. 9.07pm: Union-busting Wisconsin governor Scott Walker lost his re-election bid. The unions issued this six word statement … Read more
There is an enormous mismatch between the size of the damage caused by tobacco, alcohol and unhealthy food and the amount invested in preventing that damage. Dozens of professionals have formed the Health Coalition Aotearoa, which launches today, to tackle the issue, explains Dr David Galler. In 2014 the Office of the Children’s Commissioner and … Read more
The time to start tuning in, the races to look out for, the chances of a Democratic ‘blue wave’, and why today’s result could completely alter the course of American politics. READ OUR LIVE BLOG: Some important updates, and some unimportant updates, from America’s big day of democracy. It’s been a long, long time coming. … Read more
If anyone in Pittsburgh lacked motivation to get involved in the midterm elections, Trump’s ham-fisted response to the synagogue shooting provided it, writes Heather McCracken, a New Zealander living in Pennsylvania. Squirrel Hill is just a few streets away from my home in Pittsburgh. It’s my local shopping area. It has a main street that seems … Read more
Days out from critical midterm elections, RNZ’s Tim Watkin attends a Donald Trump rally, where it isn’t about facts and figures, it’s all about tribes and theatre. Outside President Donald Trump’s last rally in the key state of Florida before this week’s midterm elections, an African-American man walks up and down the queue putting on … Read more
New Zealand has a severe lack of political polls and, without polling, political coverage relies on the opinions of a few Wellington-based journalists. Michael Appleton explains why that’s a bad thing. New Zealand is suffering a severe political polling drought. In the first ten months of 2018, just seven opinion polls were publicly released: five … Read more
The big announcement was funding for 600 new staff in schools to assist students with learning needs as the prime minister addressed an adoring crowd at the Dunedin Town Hall Never has the description “leader’s address” been truer. Before the party faithful at the Dunedin Town Hall this afternoon, Jacinda Ardern offered what might be … Read more
In the case of Karel Sroubek, the immigration minister can insist on his blamelessness but seems denied the means of proving it. That may be frustrating or convenient for him – depending on how cynical you are, writes Liam Hehir There is this Alfred Hitchcock movie, I Confess, about a priest named Michael Logan who hears, in … Read more
It’s time for the midterm elections in the US, which means President Donald Trump faces his first nationwide electoral test since his surprise victory in the 2016 presidential election, writes RNZ’s Tim Watkin. No, Trump isn’t on the ballot, but more than ever when Americans go to the poll next week, they will essentially be … Read more
For 15 years justice advocate Roger Brooking has been campaigning for prison reform with an increasing sense of despair. Now, for the first time, he sees reasons to be hopeful. The Labour government is in a tricky situation with regard to justice reform. Justice Minister Andrew Little and Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis want to reduce … Read more
In which the immigration minister is owned by his own Twitter account. Iain-Lees Galloway has faced mounting pressure this week over his decision to grant permanent residency to a convicted drug smuggler and repeat offender from the Czech Republic Karel Sroubek. The immigration minister refused to give media interviews and offered only opaque justifications for … Read more