This afternoon, Cameron Slater’s name suppression was lifted in a case regarding his conspiring to hack The Standard website. To mark the occasion, here are some of the fearless Whaleoil blogger’s previous posts about name suppression. It’s like 10,000 Whales when all you need is a knife. However Alanis would have styled it, today is a … Read more
What are foreign trusts and where do they come from? Is New Zealand really a tax haven? And how can we fix things? Tax expert Deborah Russell explains all No one ever set out to create a tax haven in New Zealand. Our tax system is largely robust, transparent and fair. There’s just this one … Read more
Opinion: Publishing the names of thousands of people who have dealt with Mossack Fonseca irrespective of wrongdoing is reckless, unfair, and worthy of Kafka’s The Trial, argues Ben Thomas. The internet loves lists. “The 28 Most Unfortunate Names In Sport”; “23 Friends Quotes That Never Stop Being Funny”, “17 Delicious Salads You Should Pack For … Read more
Theories have been circulating suggesting the mysterious figure behind the Panama Papers leaks may in fact be the NZ-based internet entrepreneur. The Spinoff begins its fearless mission to unmask John Doe by asking, is it you, Kim Dotcom? Rare is the day when the two most voluble and entertaining thought leaders of the New Zealand … Read more
Opinion: Changes at Māori TV give great cause for concern. The chief executive should be encouraging coverage critical of the establishment, not shutting it down, writes Green Party MP Marama Davidson I don’t know about you, but I’m sick of hearing bad news about Māori TV. Whenever Māori TV is mentioned in the media, it’s … Read more
The prime minister has suggested his lawyer was sloppy in his choice of wording in an email two years ago. Now, on assurances regarding Mossack Fonseca, is the sloppiness getting even sloppier? On April 13, the prime minister was widely reported as saying he had been assured that his longstanding personal lawyer, Ken Whitney, had … Read more
The Australian government has spent $6 million on a bizarre feature-length movie to warn away potential asylum seekers from the Middle East. Josh Drummond sat down with a Farsi-speaking interpreter to watch it. It’s dark in The Spinoff offices, late on a Sunday, and I can’t find the light switch. What little light there is … Read more
Opinion: The government wants more electric vehicles on NZ roads. But the plan to let them drive in bus lanes can only throw improvements in bus services into reverse, writes Matt Lowrie. The government wants to boost the currently dismal uptake of electric vehicles, increasing the numbers on our roads from about 1,200 to 64,000 … Read more
Opinion: By issuing a blanket ban because an age restriction would be “impracticable”, the Office of Film and Literature Classification has dangerously overdone it, putting drivers of the vans on a par with child sex offenders, writes Graeme Edgeler. Last week, the Office of Film and Literature Classification declared three Wicked Campers vans “objectionable” because … Read more
Mark Thomas was just 30 when, on the cusp of becoming a National MP, he was publicly knifed by his own Prime Minister and made history. He was our first sacrificial lamb under the MMP electoral system, ruthlessly cut by Jim Bolger two days before general election day in 1996, when National decided Act’s Richard … Read more
Opinion: John Key says he’s open to China’s request for an extradition treaty and has asked the Law Commission to investigate. But we’ve been monitoring the Chinese justice system for years already, and the moral answer couldn’t be clearer, writes Amnesty International’s Grant Bayldon. In 2013 a woman named Liu Ping dared to challenge the … Read more
David Seymour has thrown his member’s bill into the parliamentary hat. But the legislation currently being debated in Canada differs in some important ways, writes Andrew Geddis. The case of Lecretia Seales last year brought to prominence the issue of doctor assisted suicide/aid in dying (it’s a telling sign of how divided views are that … Read more
The Spinoff Editorial Board rules on whether Nick Smith was right when he said housing is more affordable in Auckland now than when National came to power. This morning, Housing Minister Nick Smith made the following statement on Morning Report: “If you look at the Massey University Housing Affordability Index, independently produced by that university, … Read more
Is my broker the asshole? His advice seemed utterly outrageous, but at the same time completely rational, writes Jesse Mulligan. I had journalist Matt Nippert on my RNZ show this week. He’d done some calculations based on house price inflation and Lotto first-division inflation and worked out that by the year 2039, if you correctly … Read more
Is the tide turning in NZ and globally on drug laws? Alison Mau hosts an expert panel discussion with Russell Brown, Kevin Hague, Hirini Kaa and Chris Wilkins. Drugs, drugs, drugs, drugs, drugs. Marijuana, marijuana. The timeless musings of MC OJ and the Rhythm Slave might well describe the array of news headlines in recent … Read more
Land tax is a good idea. But the proposal to lump it on non-residents alone just invites go-betweens to take advantage. Time for a properly coherent tax policy, argues Gareth Morgan. John Key has floated the idea of an annual land tax on foreign buyers of residential real estate as one response to the influx … Read more
A huge global drug summit has just wrapped up at the United Nations. Was it the turning point that many hoped for? The NZ Drug Foundation’s Cameron Price was there. In 1998, member states of the United Nations gathered in New York and ambitiously declared a commitment to achieving a drug free world by 2008. … Read more
Guest host Ali Mau and a high-calibre panel discuss ideas in New Zealand and abroad to reshape drug laws in an edible event on Tuesday April 26. We at Spinoff Enterprises are excited to be joining Laila Harré’s Ika restaurant to present Table Talk, the monthly event combining intelligent conversation with food and drink. Drugs … Read more
A Herald report says young people could buy houses in Auckland if they stopped spending on BMWs and trips to Bali. The Spinoff is stepping in to help these mythical big-spending Millennials. Over the last few years, several people have argued that Auckland has a problem with “‘housing unaffordability”. But today, the Herald printed a report … Read more
Going off like a frog in a sock, the third edition of the Spinoff politics pod, featuring Annabelle Lee and Ben Thomas with Toby Manhire A brand new Gone By Lunchtime is here – unless you’re reading this some time in the future, in which case it will no longer be brand new. On the … Read more
The front runner for Auckland’s top job has been a Labour politician for three decades, but now he’s embracing independence. And the ticker is good for another 20 years of toil, he tells Tim Murphy Phil Goff is shedding his tribal Labour Party skin. He is starting to like his new look and feel as … Read more
Opinion: NZ’s ranking as one of the least corrupt countries in the world counts for nothing if our good reputation is used to aid corruption elsewhere, writes Amnesty International’s Grant Bayldon My daughter returned home with from seeing Romeo and Juliet at Auckland Pop-up Globe the other night quoting one of Shakespeare’s famous lines: “What’s … Read more
Alongside Russia and Ukraine, New Zealand is complicit in a climate swindle, and our reputation is at risk, writes Geoff Simmons. New Zealand has been a willing participant in a wholesale climate fraud. The trail to prove this allegation is long and winding, and the detail can all be read in a new report here. … Read more
The NZ PM has been welcomed to Beijing with a commentary at the state news agency (nb See update at foot of article) cautioning such an ‘absolute outsider’ against raising the South China Sea dispute, suggesting to do so would imperil trade relations. It doesn’t come completely out of the blue, explains Asia-Pacific expert David … Read more
Tim Murphy was a sceptic when Victoria Crone’s candidacy for the Auckland mayoralty was announced. But watching her form at a public meeting on Thursday has him questioning that judgement. It’s rumoured among Auckland’s political cognoscenti that Victoria Crone, should she fail to pull off a miracle and win the Super City mayoralty, has been promised … Read more
Helen Clark faced the United Nations overnight in a marathon session in New York to pitch her case for becoming the next secretary-general. Former Herald editor-in-chief Tim Murphy set the alarm to watch. It was billed as the “Job Interview in Front of the Whole World”. Live-streamed from the United Nations in New York, one … Read more
CERA, the acronym that has presided over Christchurch since the 2011 earthquakes, will close its doors on April 18th, 2016. James Dann Power Ranks each and every one of the “anchor projects” that have been completed in the quake city under CERA’s reign – a task slightly less Herculean than it should have been. CERA … Read more
We requested police records on the destruction of the Waitangi Dildo under the Official Information Act. What we got back left us with more questions than answers. At first glance, it’s just another Government form. The police property sheet noting the final destination of the Waitangi Dildo is nothing flashy. Nothing new. A jumble of … Read more
We fixed Larry Williams’ abominable ‘ban the beggars’ column. For the most part, all it took was replacing the words ‘beggars’ and ‘begging’ with ‘boomers’. It started with Bob Jones. Then the virus spread. A Wellington mayoral contender called for begging to be banned, in an edited Facebook post that originally called addiction a “lifestyle choice”. A … Read more