The status of women in New Zealand universities as academic and professional leaders still has some way to go, writes Judy McGregor The good news is that women have seized the opportunity to enrol in university in unparalleled numbers in the 141 years since Kate Edger graduated in Auckland with a Bachelor of Arts in … Read more
Low-cost bus company Nakedbus shut down this July to the disappointment of students, non-drivers and people who needed to travel for cheap all over New Zealand. Former customer service representative for Nakedbus, Vanessa Ellingham, remembers her time at the company. “Naked Girls, Vanessa speaking.” It was November 2009. The Black Eyed Peas had descended into their … Read more
Facebook is flooded with rabid anti-1080 activism, but the poison is the only barrier between many of New Zealand’s native species and extinction. Hayden Donnell goes into some 1080 facts. Anti-1080 activism has erupted into the mainstream lately, with its leaders using belligerent and intrusive social media tactics to create an increasingly radical base of … Read more
Anti-1080 activism has exploded in popularity and intensity in the last few months. Hayden Donnell goes down the rabbit hole to find out what’s behind the movement’s rise. Nicola Toki remembers when the abuse picked up. It was a couple of months ago. Messages started appearing regularly on her Facebook wall. “What a disrespectful bitch,” … Read more
London-based Elle Hunt, along with just about every New Zealander living and working overseas, is routinely asked if and when she might return home. It helps to have a spiel ready, she advises, in her first Elleswhere column I am seven minutes in to my daily half-hour browse of Instagram Stories when I come across one … Read more
Last week Terri Friesen saw her wrongful conviction quashed. Here law student Kelly Phillips recounts her crusade to secure exoneration – one which began when she saw an episode of I Am Innocent If my partner hadn’t insisted I watch I Am Innocent, I never would have met Terri Friesen. Terri spoke directly to the camera. She … Read more
From Destiny Church and Israel Folau, to splinter groups opposing the Anglican Church’s acceptance of same-sex marriages, bigotry against New Zealand’s LGBTQ community is still well and truly alive, writes Aaron Hendry. On Friday, Chester Borrows wrote a piece for the New Zealand Herald extolling the virtues of Destiny Church’s ‘Man Up’ – a support programme … Read more
Sometimes, the solution to a big problem doesn’t lie in western technology. Sometimes the solution can be simple, writes Amy McDaid More than 2.7 million newborns die each year, and low birth weight and preterm infants in developing countries contribute substantially to this figure. New Zealander Ray Avery, most recently in the news for reportedly … Read more
Victoria University has this week been shown to award significantly more C and D grades to its law students than the Universities of Auckland and Otago. But does it matter? C’s get degrees, never more so than at the law faculty of Victoria University of Wellington. Oscar Battell-Wallace is in his final year of a … Read more
Our wheelchairs are not gimmicks to help you realise ‘how good you’ve got it’, writes Red Nicholson. Yesterday, Labour ministers Carmel Sepuloni and Iain Lees-Galloway were invited by the Spinal Trust to spend the day in wheelchairs, in order to highlight the challenges a wheelchair user might face getting around parliament. A well-intentioned PR stunt … Read more
Russell Brown talks to Moira Lawler of Lifewise Trust about Housing First, a programme designed to get the most vulnerable homeless people into stable accommodation irrespective of mental or physical wellbeing or any history of substance abuse A while ago, Moira Lawler got a concerned call from Wellington. Something bad had happened with a Housing First tenant … Read more
The long-running, expensive legal spat between the head of the Taxpayers’ Union lobby group and the former leader of the Conservative Party arrived at NZ’s highest court this week. Asher Emanuel went along to watch “This must be an ethically difficult case for you,” Jordan Williams, Taxpayers’ Union boss, taunted when I asked him for … Read more
Listen to Alex Casey, Leonie Hayden and Michele A’Court tackle the past month in women, news and popular culture, with thanks to our friends at The Women’s Bookshop. Join us as we reconvene for the monthly women’s summit known to many as On the Rag. What is a TERF and why are they back in the … Read more
Jacinda Ardern flies to Nauru this week for the 49th Pacific Islands Forum, and the host nation is already making headlines way beyond the official agenda. Don Rowe explains Fifty years after it became the world’s smallest republic, Nauru plays host this week to the 49th Pacific Islands Forum amid international outrage over the treatment of … Read more
In the wake of this week’s news about Otago University’s art history programme, Francis McWhannell considers the current crisis in the arts in tertiary education and wonders whether we’re beyond salvation. “The building is crumbling round us – which is scary, coz I just got in the elevator.” This comment was made to me the … Read more
A landlords’ spokesman’s claim that renters like paying letting fees shows how disgracefully lopsided our rental market has become, argues Madeleine Holden – and how desperately we need tenancy reform. Earlier this week, Stuff ran a story with a headline perfectly crafted to make millennials choke on their avocado toast: “Renters ‘like letting fees’, property … Read more
The Side Eye is a monthly non-fiction comic by Toby Morris, supported by NZ On Air. Read the rest of the series here.
The acclaimed Hunt for the Wilderpeople is the main attraction on a new line of Instant Kiwi scratchie cards, raising concerns among actors, artists and anti-gambling activists. A line of Instant Kiwi scratchie cards featuring popular New Zealand movies has left those involved in the films upset their work is being used to promote gambling. The … Read more
In Napier’s poorest suburb, empty lots sprawl where state housing once sat, unemployment dominates, and, each evening, with few street lamps around, ‘The Nui’ falls into darkness and synthetic cannabis joints are lit. By Anusha Bradley of RNZ. Read the full story here. Children as young as 11 are hooked on synthetic cannabis in the … Read more
Keep the Peace Makarau Valley says the controversial Auckland Shooting Club is filing resource consent applications that are incomplete and unrepresentative of the club’s real ambitions for expansion. A controversial Auckland gun club is pressing ahead with their plan to build Australasia’s ‘largest shooting facility’ in a sleepy rural valley – and the council is … Read more
Anton Smith worked at big law firms for years, and welcomes signs the profession wants to change their workplace culture. But, he warns, without a massive industry shift any plans for improvement are doomed to fail. While I wholeheartedly support Sarah Mitchell’s recent advice to young lawyers in The Spinoff, better coping strategies won’t fix … Read more
How hard can it be to film a Youtube beauty tutorial? The On the Rag team share their makeup expertise. Everyone knows that one of the greatest Youtube genres was On the Rag is ‘Chit Chat Get Ready With Me’, a beautiful format where beautiful people put on their beautiful makeup beautifully while you sit there … Read more
The death of newsreader Greg Boyed has prompted many of us to consider whether we’re doing enough to look out for friends and family who may be struggling with depression. It’s up to all of us to start the conversation – and keep talking, writes Aaron Hendry. When I was 8 years old, I considered … Read more
Ethan Donnell, director of Sick Homes, the latest in the Frame documentary series produced for the Spinoff by Wrestler and funded by NZ on Air, describes the people he met, and the reality of the places they live Once a week, Brett Johnson takes apart the small machine that pumps air through a mask and … Read more
The former CEO of the Pike River mine says he doesn’t feel guilty over the explosion that killed 29 of his workers. Hayden Donnell lists a few things that should twig his conscience. Peter Whittall, who was boss of the Pike River mine when it blew up and killed 29 men, doesn’t feel guilty. The … Read more
Could the Dunning-Kruger effect – when individuals’ ignorance about a particular subject makes them believe they’re more expert than they are – be the reason for intractably anti-vax views? Three scientists tested the hypothesis. One of the most contentious areas of health policy over the past two decades has been the safety of vaccination. Vaccines … Read more
Writer and social theorist Max Harris travelled to Lisbon to discover how drug decriminalisation there is working in practice, and the lessons for New Zealand politicians considering the future of our own drug laws. “Some people call this place The Living Room,” the young man I’ve just met tells me. And looking around the room, … Read more
Refugees will once again be resettled in Christchurch as the government moves ahead with long delayed plans to raise the quota. But will the small number of initial placements make a difference? The new government – particularly Labour and the Greens – came into office promising to raise the refugee quota from 1000 to 1500 … Read more
It’s clear New Zealand’s 10.6 million cows aren’t going to stand for our shit anymore. So how should we fight back? The Spinoff TV’s Hayden Donnell reports. The Spinoff TV, 10.45pm Fridays on THREE