The demise of the Chlöe Swarbrick-championed grow-your-own cannabis bill ended a rollercoaster couple of weeks for proponents of law reform. Rebecca Reider looks at what’s been achieved, and how far legalisation efforts still have to go. For me, and for many of my fellow medicinal cannabis patients, the last several weeks have offered an odd … Read more
Neale Jones and Jenna Raeburn are partisan lobbyists, doing their clients’ bidding at opposing ends of the political divide. But, as Asher Emanuel explains, they have a surprising amount in common. Three framed Labour Party posters hang in Neale Jones’ new office at the parliament-end of Lambton Quay. Two are items of affectionate nostalgia: anti-nuclear … Read more
By using our national day to engage with iwi from all over the country, we send a message that we’re serious about the spirit of the Treaty instead of being where there will be the most cameras, writes Nuk Korako, National’s spokesperson for Māori Development Waitangi Day is a day for discussion; a day for remembering; and … Read more
Opinion: Early moves by members of the new cabinet risk doing real damage to New Zealand’s constitutional framework, argues National MP Chris Penk. In the opening months of the Labour-NZ First-Greens triumvirate, a very real narrative is emerging: ministers are bending the branches of government to breaking point. By constitutional convention, respective roles played by … Read more
If the Green Party leadership continues to undermine its hard-won integrity in supporting the Winston Peters driven law around disillusioned MPs, they could lose a number of their more thoughtful members and supporters, argues former Green MP Sue Bradford Last week the Electoral (Integrity) Bill passed its first reading in parliament with the support of … Read more
Earlier this week the Spinoff visited the prime minister at her Auckland home for a wide-ranging interview. So wide-ranging, not all of it made the cut. Below, Jacinda Ardern on Winston Peters, the arts, sexism in politics, Auckland, and Donald Trump Jacinda Ardern on working with Winston Peters “It had always been said to me, … Read more
In our video series Kiwis of Snapchat, comedian Tom Sainsbury sources exclusive Snapchat footage of Kiwi citizens and luminaries making the news. Today, Bill English and Paula Bennett are getting just a little nervous…. Click here for all our Kiwis of Snapchat videos This section is made possible by Simplicity, the online nonprofit Kiwisaver plan that … Read more
As she marks six months as Labour leader and embarks on a critical year for her newly formed government, Jacinda Ardern hosts Spinoff editor Toby Manhire at her Auckland home. Mid-morning, Anniversary Monday, and Auckland is melting. “Yesterday, I was trying to write a speech, and it was 31 degrees in the house, and in … Read more
The jungle drums are beating for a change at the top of the National Party. But, predicts Ben Thomas, a former advisor to a National minister, it’s not Bill English who should be worried. It’s probably fair to say most readers of plucky Auckland-based internet start-up The Spinoff have no idea how conservative the National … Read more
When backbench murmurings about leadership change seep through the media, the flow becomes hellishly difficult to staunch, writes Toby Manhire. To get a sense of the steel behind the caucus murmurings about a change in the leadership of the National Party, consider that they were communicated to Newstalk ZB political editor Barry Soper just in … Read more
Annabelle Lee, Toby Manhire and Ben Thomas return for the first Gone By Lunchtime of 2018, guest starring a real life baby who reveals all about her encounters with a pregnant Jacinda Ardern. Your friendly GBLT content providers return to swelter in an obscenely overheated “studio” to splutter out a word or two on the … Read more
Concerned about the results of an official information request showing an estimated $40,000 being spent dealing with one NZ organisation’s official information demands, the Spinoff seeks comment from public spending grassroots watchdog the Taxpayers’ Union. Not all heroes wear capes, but if there is any justice in this benighted world Jordan Williams has one in … Read more
If it signs the latest version of this controversial deal, Jacinda Ardern’s government can hardly expect people to take the promise of a progressive new model for New Zealand’s international trading relations seriously, argues leading TPPA critic Jane Kelsey. Read Stephen Jacobi’s positive take on the deal here The on-again, off-again Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) … Read more
The revamped deal is now on track for sign-off in early March, and it deserves support by progressives and conservatives alike, argues Stephen Jacobi of the NZ International Business Forum. Read Jane Kelsey’s critique of the proposed deal here Good things come in small bundles. And occasionally in large ones, even with a mouthful of a … Read more
It’s easy to forget pledges of the past. Ben Smith looks at a selection of policy areas, what was promised, and the tangible outcomes that might tell us whether they’re being honoured. As the new political year dawns with a freshly elected government, it is a good time to take stock of the promises that … Read more
Following Jacinda Ardern’s announcement that she will soon have a baby, the Spinoff has exclusively obtained a memo from the daughter of MP Kiri Allan to her fellow parliamentary under-ones. To: Parly Cuzzies From: Hiwa-i-te-rangi Allan-Coates Subject: Parly Kids’ Caucus Hey Parly Kids, My mum’s started making all these weird “whooping” sounds yesterday. It was … Read more
In our video series Kiwis of Snapchat, comedian Tom Sainsbury sources exclusive Snapchat footage of Kiwi citizens and luminaries making the news. Today, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern isn’t feeling too great. Click here for all our Kiwis of Snapchat videos This section is made possible by Simplicity, the online nonprofit Kiwisaver plan that only charges members … Read more
A woman prime minister having a baby while in office? It’s already happened once, in Pakistan. As the fervour ensues over Jacinda Ardern’s bombshell announcement, many have been asking: “How historic is this really?” We know it’s unusual – it’s not every day you have a female head of government, let alone one that’s three … Read more
The Spinoff Labs has deployed advanced machine learning and AI to come up with these images which accurately answer the critical question: what will the prime ministerial child look like? Prime minister Jacinda Ardern today announced her pregnancy via cute Instagram of two big fish hooks and a small fish hook. The reaction seems to have … Read more
Jacinda Ardern has announced via social media that she is hapu, and will be become a parent wwith partner Clarke Gayford in five months. “Clarke and I are really excited that in June our team will expand from two to three,” the prime minister has announced on social media. The announcement comes three months to … Read more
In purporting to deliver a disinterested appraisal of the US president’s first year, Heather Du Plessis-Allan creates a perfect storm of misinformation, argues Branko Marcetic. A lot of people will hate the column in yesterday’s Herald on Sunday column, which purported to explain “why Trump’s first year hasn’t been that bad”, for a lot of … Read more
Opinion: Enemies of neo-liberalism looking for a socialist saviour will be disappointed – Ardern’s government essentially promises a continuation with existing policy, argues former National cabinet minister Wayne Mapp. Among New Zealand’s left, some complain that Jacinda Ardern is not radical enough. She has a golden opportunity, veteran commentator Chris Trotter has argued, to cement … Read more
Longtime friend and fellow Alliance MP Matt Robson says farewell to Jim Anderton, a colossus of New Zealand politics who sought to do what was right, not was expedient. On turning on the radio in 1980, just returned from overseas, I heard an unfamiliar voice. The voice outlined that the Labour Party would campaign vigorously … Read more
When you watch your cat attempt to derail your partner’s phone call with Donald Trump, it’s hard to avoid the word ‘surreal’, writes Clarke Gayford. This post first published November 6, 2017. Write us a diary, the Spinoff asked. What do I call it? Diary of a plus one? Hello from the other side? First-man … Read more
At least one of these 15 soothsayers is bound to be right … We asked them to name their winners and losers in politics 2017, and so they did. We asked them to describe the year in sentence. They did that, too. We asked what might be the issues 2018 hinges on, and again they … Read more
Three years after she was so dramatically unveiled as leader of Kim Dotcom’s Internet Party, Laila Harré has returned to Labour. In a frank and revealing interview, she tells Toby Manhire what went down in 2014, and why she’s decided to throw her lot back in with the party she first joined 36 years ago. … Read more
New Zealand has been living a lie. The Washington Post today revealed that Jacinda Ardern’s Labour-led government is in fact a facade for the “far right agenda” of Winston Peters. Duncan Greive details the shocking revelations – and the legislative programme of this terrifying coalition. First published on 9 September 2017. “A shadow is poisoning … Read more
Novelist Danyl Mclauchlan describes his experiences and processes his thoughts after working on the Greens campaign in election 2017. First published 30 September, 2017 I had a bit to do with the Green Party campaign this election, which was a hell of a thing to experience close-up. (And my views here are mine not those … Read more
This year we had the most extraordinary election. Simon Wilson looks at where to now for the new government and the new opposition. Earlier this year Spinoff writer Simon Wilson scored an unusual double in the Canon Media Awards: he won the politics and business category awards for both long-form feature writing and opinion writing. … Read more