Mayoral race on! Victoria Crone just outflanked Phil Goff to the left on housing

This morning ex-Xero MD Victoria Crone announced a strong response to the housing crisis, one which squarely targeted the land-bankers and ‘property investors’ holding Auckland to ransom. This is a big deal, writes Duncan Greive. Auckland is, as everyone but the National cabinet acknowledges, in the grips of a diabolical housing crisis, with effects running from … Read more

The UK is heading towards the EU escape chute. And it deserves everything it gets

Less than a week out from the Brexit vote, the ‘leave’ side is in the ascendant. But it’s hard to find much to admire in either camp, writes David Hall. Plus: a word on Jo Cox If the United Kingdom leaves the European Union, it deserves everything that comes to it. Perhaps what comes will … Read more

‘It’s going to be a clear out’ – a long lunch with Council aspirant Bill Ralston

Once Bill Ralston was the baddest man in New Zealand journalism. Now he’s running for council. Over a long lunch at Prego Tim Murphy asks him why. I tried to warn Bill Ralston not to stand for the Auckland Council.  ‘Don’t do it Bill’ I tweeted when talk grew late last year of his interest … Read more

Teina Pora has been shortchanged by at least $2 million – Cabinet’s own guidelines say so

Teina Pora has been given the thing he said he wanted most – a formal apology for the 22 years he wrongly spent behind bars as an innocent man. He also has been offered $2.5 million in compensation. Applying the Cabinet’s own principles, it ought to be a minimum of $4.5 million, writes professor of … Read more

‘Dealing with council, I’m in combat mode’ – The Coco’s Cantina sisters on doing business in Auckland City

A conversation between Damaris and Renee Coulter, the women behind Coco’s Cantina, about their endless struggles with the Auckland Council. First, a long caveat: It’s popular in many Auckland circles to malign the council, but most of the time it’s not deserved. The Auckland Council is vast and complex and has an incredibly important job to … Read more

NZ’s response to the humanitarian crisis of the century puts shallow prudence above people and principle

Opinion: Murdoch Stephens of Doing Our Bit unpicks the announcement of a modest increase in NZ’s refugee intake, and the immigration minister’s suggestion that campaigners ‘care a little less’ about new arrivals’ resettlement There is a familiar arc that is meant to be respected when responding to disappointing news from a disappointing government: cautiously challenge … Read more

An open letter to Maureen Pugh, the new National MP who ‘doesn’t believe in pharmaceutical drugs’

Maureen Pugh is National’s newest MP, having replaced the new US ambassador, Tim Groser, from the list. Prompted by news that Pugh “doesn’t believe in pharmaceutical drugs”, Siouxsie Wiles drops her a line Dear Maureen Congratulations on becoming the National Party’s newest MP! I’ll have to admit, though, that I’m a little nervous about your … Read more

For all the thrill of cyber armies and drones, there’s more to NZ’s new defence strategy

With an increased emphasis on our immediate neighbourhood and non-traditional defence activities, the White Paper strikes a refreshing balance, writes the Centre for Strategic Studies’ David Capie The immediate media response to the 2016 Defence White Paper suggests we are all vulnerable to being mesmerised by high-tech toys. Even before the paper was officially launched … Read more

Blacklisted in coup coup land: why one journalist won’t be accompanying the PM to Fiji

When John Key flies out to Fiji today, one journalist who won’t be joining the delegation is old Pacific hand Michael Field, who is banned from entering the country. He explains how he got added to Bainimarama’s blacklist. I’ve a long history of being banned in the Pacific. The reason why I’m unable to join … Read more

I arrived in Australia to a warm welcome. Others are met by the ugly face of sanctioned inhumanity

On the second anniversary of her migration to the Lucky Country, Di White is moved to tears by Chasing Asylum, an acclaimed new film about Australian refugee policy. It’s been two years since I moved to Australia. I arrived on a plane on 4 June 2014. I remember the day well. I was moving between … Read more

Less shouting, more cars, please – the relaunched Top Gear reviewed by Judith Collins!

Who better to critique the controversial new post-Clarkson series of Top Gear than a renowned New Zealand car lover and car crusher? The Spinoff asked me, as a bit of a petrolhead, to write about the new Top Gear. So I watched it. I sort of love cars. To me, they are the ultimate in … Read more

What Winston Peters could learn from binge-watching Danish drama

Constitutional law expert Andrew Geddis examines whether the NZ First leader could really become prime minister, with the help of political nerds’ favourite TV show Could life be about to imitate art, with Winston Peters reprising the lead role in what should be every true political nerd’s favourite television series? No, I’m not suggesting Winston … Read more

Introducing Winston Peters, New Zealand’s Prime Minister At Large

Could the NZ First leader really get the top job after the next election? Here are some alternative designations Turns out when you mix red and green the colour many see is black – a bumptious, puckish, pin-striped, double breasted sort of black: the black of Winston Peters’ New Zealand First Party. This morning’s column … Read more

Video: Guy Williams and guests on the Panama Papers, politics, and getting people to give a shit

In the latest Ika Table Talk, Jessica Mutch, Grant Robertson and Suzanne Snively join Guy Williams to discuss the impact of the Panama Papers in NZ. Comedian, broadcaster and tall man Guy Williams led a lively discussion at Ika restaurant on Tuesday evening on the subject of Politics, the Press and the Panama Papers. Reporter … Read more

John Key suggested we Google TradeMe for homes under $500,000. So we did, and here they are

The prime minister told reporters yesterday there are plenty of (relatively) affordable Auckland homes on TradeMe. Madeleine Chapman searched the site to see if he was right. Asked yesterday about Auckland’s average house price nearing the $1 million mark, John Key was as upbeat as ever: “If you go on Trade Me this afternoon and … Read more

Labour and the Greens get into bed, Winston prepares his pyjamas, and other bad metaphors

Labeen? Grabour? The marriage of the two main parties of the left makes sense, but the course of true love never did run smooth. Shortly after the Labour Party’s calamitous defeat at the election in 2014, the soon-to-be-former leader David Cunliffe admitted that they had erred in rebuking an offer made by the Green Party, … Read more

Blindness to the beauty of Ngāruawāhia is blindness to the beauty of New Zealand

Heather du Plessis-Allan sparked controversy this week with a column calling the Waikato town ‘rotting’. In fact, Ngāruawāhia is the epitome of uplifting small-town NZ, writes former resident Tainui Stephens. In 1998 I fled Herne Bay in Auckland to live in Ngāruawāhia. It was one of the best things I ever did. I lived there … Read more

Blink and you’ll miss it, but the nation’s most important elections are under way right now

We’re in the middle of the single biggest democratic act in the land and there’s hardly been a ripple about it. Paul Brislen issues a clarion call to New Zealanders – or at least those with kids at school Every three years we, as a nation, get to make this decision and what we decide … Read more

A complete history of Bill English’s budgets in sick burns by the opposition

Bill English just delivered his eighth budget, and the opposition as ever had pre-cooked epithets to denounce it. Here’s how his budgets have been defined – heroically or hopelessly – by his enemies (and ACT) in the parliamentary budget debate since 2009. 2009 Labour leader Phil Goff said it was the Dishonest Budget Greens co-leader … Read more

If you could insert one line into Bill English’s Budget speech today, what would it be?

The Spinoff asked a bunch of clever people to give us one sentence they’d like to see magically written into the finance minister’s Budget speech. These are the words they’d put in his mouth … “Inequality in New Zealand has increased dramatically in recent years, and we need to urgently address it, particularly in the … Read more

Patronise us all you like, Mr Bridges, but that won’t magic up a serious plan for Auckland transport

The Minister of Transport chided Generation Zero yesterday for urging a place for rail on a new harbour crossing. Here, two Gen-Zeroers hit back, saying his remarks lay bare an absence of strategic thinking. The story of Auckland is too often one of missed opportunities. And there is little cause to hope that the current … Read more

‘Key’s popularity plummets’: does Newshub poll point to National nosedive?

Spoiler: Almost certainly it doesn’t. The most remarkable thing about John Key and his government’s support is how rock-solid it remains in the middle of term three. The poll result on housing, mind you, is striking. True to the digital-first mantra, Newshub has published its latest Reid poll online, eschewing the usual path of unveiling … Read more

The left will go on losing as long as it is so muddled and apologetic on tax

Opinion: National gets away with mixed messages over tax cuts because Labour has failed to grasp the nettle and frame tax as both a fairness and patriotism issue, argues Simon Louisson The left’s failure to frame the tax debate since the last election has put it firmly on track to spend three more years in … Read more

On the growing black market for domestic air travel – and why airlines should take it over

Opinion: An illicit market has emerged for on-selling plane tickets, but instead of suffocating the idea, the airlines should be running it themselves, writes Wellington student Jack Close. My time as a student away from home at the University of Otago can be summarised simply: $500 return flights. Motivated by the “beauty of the price … Read more

Tripartite day 2: 300 speed dates, flying cars and a $400m computer

On the final day of the Tripartite Economic Summit, Tim Murphy discovers how a talk fest can get real-world results – and gets a lesson in American-style positive thinking. Read Tim’s recap of day one of the summit here. The United States Ambassador to New Zealand, His Excellency Mark Gilbert, has a three word family … Read more

Nick Smith is both 100% right and a big hypocrite

Nick Smith was totally right to crack down on a politician who pandered to his rich, elderly voting base at the expense of sensible housing policy. Now, about National pandering to its rich, elderly voting base at the expense of sensible housing policy. Nick Smith, a sentient turnip acting undercover as New Zealand’s Housing Minister, launched … Read more

Influencers, inventors and international relations: on the ground at the Tripartite Economic Summit

It sounds like a bureaucratic bore, but Auckland’s Tripartite Economic Summit, with guests including a British YouTube superstar and an American political “rock star”, is the hottest ticket in town. Tim Murphy reports from day one. YouTuber Tom Cassell – who is globally famous as Syndicate Tom – has been walking and talking around Auckland, … Read more

Revealed: New Zealand’s enormous 60-year, 25 million tonne illegal fishing lie

Michael Field, whose book The Catch helped expose the labour and human rights abuses in New Zealand’s fishing industry, says a report out today reveals a decades-long abuse of our much-vaunted quota system, with more than twice as many fish caught as declared. New Zealanders know the power of national utterances; we live by “clean and green” … Read more