The measles crisis has thrown into sharp relief how publicising targets reached – and targets missed – can affect the healthcare all of us receive, writes Carl Shuker. The debate around healthcare targets is hot right now because of two things: 1) the very public success – and, significantly for some, failure – of the … Read more
The trial of the man accused of murdering British backpacker Grace Millane began today in the Auckland High Court today. What’s the latest? A jury was sworn in today at the Auckland High Court as the trial of the 27-year-old man accused of the murder of Grace Millane, the British backpacker who died while visiting … Read more
What could an online private investigator discover about you? Madeleine Chapman paid $99 to find out. When my colleague mentioned in passing that she once stood front row at a Beyoncé concert and incoherently screamed a line of a song into Beyoncé’s microphone, and that footage of the incident was somewhere on Youtube, I knew … Read more
Today marks 75 years since the first official refugees – Polish children fleeing the horrors of World War II – arrived in New Zealand. On the anniversary, historian Ann Beaglehole reflects on our history of settling refugees. Hundreds of smiling school children, waving New Zealand and Polish flags, greeted the Polish children when they arrived … Read more
Don’t have your costume sorted yet? Fear not: Halloween and bizarre news story enthusiasts Alice Neville and Toby Morris bring you eight ideas guaranteed to impress and terrify the neighbours in equal measure. It’s a little-known fact that the Halloween costume was invented in a small Scottish village in 1585, when local children dressed up … Read more
NZ Korean healthcare workers Aram Kim and Rebekah Jaung on efforts to understand the suicide problem in the Asian population. “Even one suicide in any ethnic or population group is one too many.” — Understanding deaths by suicide in the Asian population of Aotearoa New Zealand | Te whakamārama i ngā mate whakamomori i te … Read more
Amy Russell loves to run, but as an overweight person, she is marginalised by an industry that finds that hard to understand. I love to run. Something about its intensity and rhythm is captivating to me. It’s simple as can be, but physically and mentally all-consuming. When a friend asked me ‘what do you think … Read more
The headline said it all. Stats NZ has released 2018 census data on New Zealanders’ commuting habits and, guess what, we love a motorised polluter. “Car streets ahead for travel to work and education” was the heading. It should have been “cars rule, all other options drool”. New cycleways are under construction across Auckland and … Read more
In response to Meghan Markle’s admission that she’s finding it a struggle to be a new mother in the media spotlight, columnists across the globe have banded together to launch a charity to support all those women who ‘have it worse’, Emily Writes can exclusively reveal. Meghan Markle – duchess, new mum, tabloid punching bag … Read more
There’s something about the feeling of wind whipping my face that brings me out of my head and into the moment. Once a month we pedal as a group: recreating the feeling of childlike glee riding our bikes together, writes Helen King. The first bike I learned to ride belonged to my friend’s older sister. … Read more
Extremist Baptist pastor Steven Anderson has just been blocked from entering New Zealand, making us the 34th country to reject his hate speech-filled sermons. American pastor Steven Anderson of the Faithful Word Baptist Church has been denied entry to New Zealand on character grounds, putting a stop to his plans to preach sermons in Christchurch … Read more
Five experts, all from countries with varying levels of cannabis legality, came to Auckland funded by Massey University to speak on the benefits and costs of the drug before New Zealand’s cannabis referendum in 2020. Alice Webb-Liddall reports. While New Zealanders wait for the cannabis referendum in 2020, the government is working hard to draft … Read more
A psychiatric doctor who helps suicidal teenagers says the Ministry of Health’s suicide reduction plans miss much of the wider issue. We need to listen to affected communities, and equip them to make the changes they need, he writes. Last week, as I left yet another 3am crisis interview in ED as a psychiatric doctor … Read more
Highly trained, armed police are a necessary tool in emergency situations, but roving teams eager to find work could be a recipe for disaster, writes investigator and former police officer Tim McKinnel for RNZ. Police announced yesterday they are to introduce a trial of Armed Response Teams (ARTs) in Auckland, Waikato and Christchurch, euphemistically describing their … Read more
Four months ago Caroline Shaw bought an e-bike. She explains why they’re the answer to our lethal car culture. Four months ago we took what felt like a huge leap of faith and bought an e-cargo bike. The combination of three things tipped us over the edge: feeling the need to do something to reduce … Read more
The billions of tonnes of plastic in our oceans isn’t going away any time soon, but innovative companies here and abroad are working together to find silver linings to this daunting problem. Fishing boats head out to sea and set their nets. They go back to shore. They head back out, the nets are pulled … Read more
We review the entire country and culture of New Zealand, one thing at a time. Today, Alex Braae reviews a night spent on the Intercity overnight sleeper bus getting from Wellington to Auckland. The most important thing to understand about long haul bus travel is that it’s all about getting exactly what you pay for, … Read more
The Southern DHB has apologised and pledged to change practices after a report into a young woman’s complaint about treatment which included being stripped naked and left unattended in seclusion for 12 hours. Here she tells her story. Content warning: this article contains mention of suicide. I’d forgotten the Health and Disability Commission was about … Read more
For the latest episode of On the Rag, notorious prude Alex Casey enlisted the help of sex toy expert and pleasure therapist Teddy Curle. It sounds a bit like ingredients for an avant-garde stir-fry recipe. Cauliflower. Kūmara. A jar of Vegemite. But what it actually is, sex toy expert Teddy Curle tells me, is a … Read more
Some people go for a run to let off steam after work, while others try their hand at ballroom dancing or hit up a pub quiz. And some, as Greta Yeoman discovers, throw sharp objects at walls. She gives it a go. An uncoordinated, anxious journalist with terrible aim is probably not the best candidate … Read more
Alex Casey asks Rose Stewart from Family Planning every single question she can think of about New Zealand’s new free IUDs. Listen up, womb-owners who love free shit and long-term contraceptive options: Pharmac announced that they will be fully funding two new long-lasting, reversible contraceptives in New Zealand from November 1, 2019. The devices that … Read more
The Wellington suburb’s successful opposition to a proposed Bottle-O shows how the system is biased towards communities with the organisation, capacity and resources to protest effectively, argues Jenesa Jeram. For those unfamiliar with Wellington geography, Khandallah is a Very Nice place to live (Aucklanders: think Remuera). So when it was reported that an application to … Read more
I lived in the Canterbury halls where the student was found dead after his absence went unnoticed for many weeks. When I moved elsewhere for months, Sonoda never noticed I was gone, writes Max Towle for RNZ When I read about how the body of student Mason Pendrous lay undiscovered for weeks at the Canterbury … Read more
Resident capybara reporter Emily Writes checks in on Wellington Zoo’s beautiful new addition. As exclusively reported right here back in April, the capybaras at Wellington Zoo have been going at it like Carmen and Jimmy on Married at First Sight. And now, as can happen following all-day orgies, a baby has arrived. Oh joy of … Read more
A small Canadian town has the weirdest answer to its pest problem – a museum of stuffed and costumed animal dioramas that has become a cult tourist attraction. Possums, stoats and rats are giving our native birds grief, and the New Zealand government has outlined an ambitious plan to get rid of them. All of … Read more
For our sex positivity episode of On the Rag, comedian Kura Forrester schools us on how to have a safe one night stand. Ever wanted to know how to have a one night stand without the awkwardness? Want to know the essentials to keep in your hoe bag at all times? How about saying goodbye … Read more
Sam Brooks reports on his time at the first weekend of the inaugural Te Tairāwhiti Arts Festival, which coincided with the launch of Tuia 250. Friday – The Festival Opening There are three things you expect at an arts festival opening. You expect free wine, you expect speeches, and you expect some kind of performance. … Read more
In the latest episode of On The Rag, based on the podcast of the same name, watch as Alex Casey, Michèle A’Court and Leonie Hayden embrace the world of sex positivity. Light some candles and slip into something more comfortable for the sixth episode of the On the Rag webseries. Today, we’ll be stripping bare all … Read more
Yesterday’s Extinction Rebellion protests may have caught the media’s attention – including The Spinoff’s – but do such small-scale disruptive events actually do more harm than good? There’s something beautiful in the air. People are striking and protesting in numbers unheard of for a generation or longer. Issues like inequality and climate change have reached … Read more