The social media mob that was so quick to condemn NZ Breaker Tom Abercrombie and his family need to understand the intense challenges faced by autistic people – especially children – in restricted environments like MIQ, writes Denise Carter-Bennett, an autistic mother of an autistic child. Last week, media reported that professional basketball player Tom … Read more
Ahead of Waitangi Day, UK schools and education companies tried to engage with Māori culture. But a string of examples, ranging from ignorant cultural appropriation to harmful and inaccurate depictions of history, show colonial attitudes remain entrenched. After 200 years, Aotearoa is finally incorporating what’s hoped to be a more accurate and nuanced teaching of … Read more
Our politicians love a PR opportunity to talk about their support for the queer community, but when the time comes to act, they hesitate again and again, writes Shaneel Lal. When I wake up every morning, I don’t look in the mirror and say, “oops, I’m trans, better fix that”. But in the summer of … Read more
Our students’ maths knowledge in their first year of high school is worse than ever – and that has grave implications for the future, say mathematics professors Gaven Martin, who chairs the Royal Society panel that’s tackling the decline, and Jodie Hunter. Maths is an essential part of our lives, from everyday living to educational … Read more
Corporal punishment, say some, is clear, quick, ‘effective’. It’s also abusive and grotesque, writes former high school teacher David Hill, who knows from experience. Two narratives to begin. The first: a whole lot of years back, when I was a teachers’ college student observing for three weeks at a boys’ high, a teacher ordered me … Read more
This week, the National MP said the proposed compulsory history curriculum for New Zealand schools lacked ‘balance’. Historian Lydia Whiting believes his concerns hint at a deeper anxiety. On Wednesday, speaking from the site of the battle of Ruapekapeka, prime minister Jacinda Ardern announced the rollout of the Aotearoa New Zealand histories curriculum. The curriculum … Read more
Intensive care nurse Edith Scott came to London two years ago to experience life in an exciting, diverse global city. Now she’s part of the desperate fight against Covid-19. She tells George Fenwick about the realities of life in an East End Covid ward. Last week, the UK hit a sobering milestone in the Covid-19 … Read more
Incensed by yet another sky-high school uniform bill, father-of-three Dylan Reeve tries to get to the bottom of the school uniform racket. For New Zealand parents, the end of January tends to mark the end of one nightmare – the seemingly endless summer school holidays – and the beginning of another: new uniform-stationery-and-shoes season. The … Read more
The chorus of online judgement that appears each time we have a community case could have grave implications for New Zealand’s Covid-19 response, writes Ayesha Verrall, an infectious diseases doctor and associate minister of health. It’s never easy telling someone they have HIV. But having done it dozens of times, I have grown more comfortable … Read more
Most of them commemorate early Pākehā arrival. Some are based on obsolete provincial borders. One celebrates an A&P show. But most importantly, none of them have any meaning to the vast majority of us, writes historian André Brett. Last Monday, January 25, was the Wellington Anniversary Day public holiday. Today, residents of Auckland, Buller, Nelson, … Read more
He’s been popping up all over central and south Auckland, and his moves have found him local TikTok fame. So who is this mysterious dancer? Jihee Junn caught up with him for a chat. The first time I saw him dancing was from a TikTok I’d stumbled on late last month. Crossing the road at … Read more
From 2000 to 2007, the party drug BZP was legal to buy and available from your local dairy. What happened? ‘This is what movies say drugs are like,” says Jim*, remembering how he felt when he took six party pills in one night. He was a musician, student, and regular drug taker – he’d munted … Read more
Filimone Vuna’s heartwarming story is a good reminder that older people may not fully understand NZ Covid Tracer app technology, writes Vaimoana Tapaleao for the NZ Herald. Sola Vuna did not think anything of it when his father called his daughter Praize over to help fix his cellphone which had started to run out of … Read more
Born into one of New Zealand rugby’s royal families, Brooke Stanley Pao is a daughter of privilege. Now she’s the face of the fight against poverty in Auckland. Every Tuesday and Thursday just before 10am, a small queue forms on an Onehunga street corner, waiting for the glass doors to slide open on hope. These … Read more
Inez is a funny, kind, smart 11-year-old kid. But life for her has been very difficult in a way that will resonate with a lot of families. First published December 8, 2020. Inez is part of Frame, a series of short documentaries produced by Wrestler for The Spinoff. Inez wakes up at 6:30am every day, but some … Read more
An open letter to prime minister Jacinda Ardern, minister of foreign affairs Nanaia Mahuta and trade minister Damien O’Connor on supporting a People’s Vaccine Dear Prime Minister Ardern and Ministers Mahuta and O’Connor, The world has watched Aotearoa New Zealand’s remarkable response to Covid-19. Our leaders struck a different path from many other countries, one … Read more
As dozens of unions, advocacy groups and NGOs sign an open letter to the NZ government, Phoebe Carr and Edward Miller make the case for replicating the values of our domestic Covid response on a global scale. The world watched stunned as New Zealand eliminated Covid-19 from our islands. We did it by listening to … Read more
Women and non-binary people in the music industry have spoken out about how cis-gendered men can make their jobs safer. Content warning: sexual assault, harassment and discrimination. *Some names have been changed. Yesterday an open letter penned by musician Anna Coddington (Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Te Arawa) was made public amid the fallout of Alison Mau’s exposé for … Read more
The recent hysteria over Smeg knives is far from the first time New Zealanders have lost their minds over a supermarket promo. Alex Casey reminisces. This week, New World’s Smeg knife stamp-collecting scheme came to a close to rapturous applause. And when I say applause, I of course mean a horde of furious, feral New … Read more
After Covid devastated its 2020, Basement Theatre comes roaring into 2021 with its Summer Season. Here’s the rundown of shows in-store, with some comments from programmer Nisha Madhan. Pre-Fringe Lust Island When’s it on: February 2-6, 8pm Who’s involved: The women of improv troupe Hearthrobs (McKenzie’s Daughters, Salem Bitch Trials), including Brynley Stent, Alice Canton, … Read more
Michelle Kidd defines her role at Auckland’s specialist family violence court as te kaiwhakatere – the navigator. It’s a one-of-a-kind job, helping guide defendants through the court system. And there’s no one better suited to it than Whaea Michelle. First published November 24, 2020. Whaea Michelle is part of Frame, a series of short documentaries produced by … Read more
A community is outraged after Auckland Council granted consent for a row of trees planted by local kids to be removed along a revitalised waterway in South Auckland, reports Justin Latif. An Auckland Council decision to give contractors the all-clear to chop down 12 mānuka and kānuka trees shading Māngere’s Tararata Stream has angered and … Read more
Welcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for January 28, keeping you up to date with the latest local and international news. Reach me on stewart@thespinoff.co.nz Our members make The Spinoff happen! Every dollar contributed directly funds our editorial team – click here to learn more about how you can support us from as little as … Read more
There are now three returnees who contracted the virus in the Auckland isolation facility then went out into the community while positive. These are some of the questions that need to be resolved. At 10.20pm last night the Ministry of Health confirmed that the two cases they’d been treating as probable were now classified … Read more
Having a hard time remembering to scan in on the NZ Covid Tracer app when you’re out and about? Get this song stuck in your head and you’ll never forget again. Learn the lyrics: Aotearoa, it’s time to get scanning! I mean if you think about it, it never really wasn’t time we just kind … Read more
Welcome to The Spinoff’s live updates for January 27, keeping you up to date with the latest local and international news. Reach me on stewart@thespinoff.co.nz Our members make The Spinoff happen! Every dollar contributed directly funds our editorial team – click here to learn more about how you can support us from as little as … Read more
He has the perfect moustache, an exceptional mullet, and he uses terms like ‘face hole’ on national TV. Who or what is Dr Joel Rindelaub? I was drawn in by the moustache, but it was the mullet that really kept me there. Watching TVNZ’s Breakfast yesterday morning I was fixated. Often, if I’m honest, the … Read more
Just as sexuality is a spectrum, so too is asexuality. In Ace of Hearts, members of New Zealand’s asexual community talk about the challenges and misconceptions of identifying as ace. First published November 17, 2020. Ace of Hearts is part of Frame, a series of short documentaries produced by Wrestler for The Spinoff. “A lot of … Read more
On Sunday, Stuff published a months-long investigation by Alison Mau detailing allegations of harassment and exploitation within the local music industry. The piece, ‘Music industry professionals demand change after speaking out about its dark side’, includes allegations of inappropriate behaviour and abuse of power by male artists, international acts and executives; the men named are … Read more