Each year, to his neighbours’ dismay, right-wing columnist and convicted fraudster Damien Grant celebrates his son’s birthday with a deafening commercial-level fireworks display. Grant’s critics need to shut up and let him live his libertarian ideals in peace, says Emily Writes. So I was listening to RNZ’s The Panel (only because Mihi Forbes was on … Read more
New Zealand was poised for drug reform in 2007, but reform never came. Why do we still adhere to drug prohibition, which will be remembered as one of the most arbitrary, barbaric and brutal systems of oppression in human history? ‘Drug’ Prohibition is an archaic system of control conceived in the 1950s that’s had a devastating … Read more
The Law Society has professed shock after discovering the extent of harassment and discrimination in legal offices. But if you look at the barriers to reporting abuse, it’s little wonder juniors refuse to come forward, writes Madeleine Holden. For the second time this year, the legal profession has been rocked by reports that it’s a … Read more
If a review of our public housing agency is to be taken seriously, it will need to look beyond just the immediate scandal and seek to understand how its priorities mutated into those of a callous busybody, writes Joseph Nunweek If you’ve been reading this site and its familiars in the past fortnight, you’ll be … Read more
For a brief moment, New Zealand was home to Big Foot, a mythically potent RTD served in a giant bottle and apparently aimed squarely at teens. Don Rowe talks to the brain behind it. Gather round children, I’m going to speak to you of the days before the voluntary RTD code. A time when Billy … Read more
Black Sheep is a RNZ series about the shady, controversial and sometimes downright villainous characters of New Zealand history, presented by William Ray. Here he introduces Joseph Burns and Margaret Reardon, partners in murder. October 10th, 1847. The brutal murder of a Devonport family leaves Auckland fearing an invasion of vengeful Māori. But when that threat fails … Read more
The debate over the danger of methamphetamine contamination was settled once and for all last week when the country’s top scientist revealed it was nothing more than hysteria. RNZ’s Benedict Collins explains how it all unfolded Sir Peter Gluckman’s report found New Zealand that has been in the grips of a moral meth panic – and … Read more
Pallas Hupé Cotter’s new year’s resolution for 2018 was a big one: going alcohol-free for an entire year. As she approaches the halfway point she shares what she’s learned so far. At midnight on December 31st 2017, while watching fireworks from a hilltop on the outskirts of Wellington, I took one last sip of bubbles … Read more
Birds do it. Bees do it. But do podcasters do it? The On the Rag team join forces with RNZ’s Bang! to talk about sex, baby. In a Very Special Crossover, Alex Casey, Leonie Hayden and Michele A’Court sit down with Bang!‘s Melody Thomas to talk about sexual awakenings, crushing on The Grinch and what NOT … Read more
We review the entire country and culture of New Zealand, one thing at a time. Today: the giant penises painted on potholes in Rodney District by Geoff Upson. Reviewed by Toby Morris The greatest art is anger. At least, that’s what’s Auckland artist Geoff Upson suggests in his bold new work “Giant Penises highlight potholes on … Read more
Labour’s inexplicable timidity risks turning the much-vaunted KiwiBuild policy into a damp squib, argues Guyon Espiner for RNZ. The most ambitious interventionist economic plan pursued by a New Zealand government was named after a race. Think Big won the Melbourne Cup twice in the mid-1970s, making quite an impression on Allan Highet, a long forgotten … Read more
This week the government announced a mass cull in an attempt to rid New Zealand of Mycoplasma bovis. Via RNZ, an explainer on how we ended up here On Monday, the government announced a 10-year plan to eradicate the disease, saying about 150,000 cows would have to be slaughtered. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the … Read more
Today is World Smokefree Day, and we’re presenting two views on the future of tobacco and nicotine use. Here the NZ Initiative’s Jenesa Jeram argues for a ‘harm reduction’ approach – one which includes tobacco products. Today on World Smokefree Day, it is time to listen to the needs and preferences of smokers. Yes, that … Read more
Today is World Smokefree Day, and we’re presenting two views on the future of tobacco and nicotine use. Here the co-directors Otago University’s tobacco-control research group ASPIRE 2025 explain how we can build on existing success to make New Zealand almost entirely smokefree by 2025. New Zealand has a world-leading goal to reduce smoking to … Read more
The most underrated city in New Zealand is ready to step up, not just because it’s well situated, sustainable and expandable, but because of its people, writes Tron champion Angela Cuming When Steve Braunias took to the stage at the inaugural Hamilton Press Club on the banks of the mighty Waikato River last month he … Read more
One third of all food produced is thrown away, at the same time as one billion people go hungry. Simon Day met some of the people trying to fix our broken food system. On Monday evenings, when most Auckland restaurants rest, Gemmayze St is consistently host to more than 200 customers. While the award winning … Read more
For decades, New Zealand consumers have bought hoki on the assumption that it is a sustainable and properly managed fishery. That’s far from the truth, write Otago and Auckland University researchers Elisabeth Slooten; Bruce Robertson; Glenn Simmons; Graeme Bremner, and Nigel Haworth. New Zealand’s hoki fishery has come under renewed criticism this week after leaked … Read more
New research reveals the penalty women pay after becoming mothers, and it should spur us to take action to change, writes Jess Berentson-Shaw “Having children is just selfish.” It’s a common line. People have said it to my face happily enough (not to my husband’s though, oddly enough). There is an element of truth to … Read more
Ever wanted to make an unfunny joke and be deeply offensive at the same time? Harcourts has all the answers you need. As time moves forward with irreverence, being progressive can sometimes mean merely trying to stay afloat in an ocean of acronyms, causes, and political correctness. Luckily there’s one thing we can all agree belongs in … Read more
More than 20 people have been in touch with The Spinoff accusing Dommy Topia of fraudulent behaviour. And now it’s been revealed that Topia has been known to police for years. Dominic (Dommy) Topia – the man who’s been accused of swindling thousands of dollars from dozens of individuals around New Zealand – has been … Read more
The race relations commissioner has today voiced an apology for handling of sexual harassment claims, called for resignations and paid tribute to colleagues, following the publication of a ministerial review identifying a ‘schism’ within the Commission Susan Devoy has declared herself “devastated and deeply sorry” over the way the Human Rights Commission handled sexual harassment allegations … Read more
This week it was announced that Dame Susan Devoy will not be seeking another term as Race Relations Commissioner. Here she pays tribute to her colleagues at the Human Rights Commission, and calls on those who failed staff in relation to sexual harassment allegations to do the right thing and step aside. People who are … Read more
Ireland appears to have delivered a landslide victory for the repeal of the amendment outlawing abortion. It show it is time for the state to trust women to make that choice for ourselves, writes Irish New Zealander Noelle McCarthy We thought it would be close. The outcome of yesterday’s vote on whether or not to … Read more
A new documentary shines an important light on a new approach that seeks to radically reshaping the way social services are provided, writes geographer Tom Baker How do we address poor health and education outcomes, high incarceration rates, and other pressing social issues? I’m guessing your top three answers do not include “make social services an investment product”, but around the world, … Read more
Two Auckland schools went into lockdown recently, so why did one dominate the coverage? The Side Eye looks into the way King’s College and Ōtāhuhu College featured in reporting. The Bulletin is The Spinoff’s acclaimed, free daily curated digest of all the most important stories from around New Zealand delivered directly to your inbox … Read more
The Spinoff is proud to debut our Frame documentary series produced by Wrestler and funded by NZ on Air. The first is The Hookers of Hawera, about life in and around a small-town brothel named ‘Shh…’. Co-director Kim Vinnell explains how she came to the story, and what she learned along the way. When I … Read more
Exclusive: Following a Spinoff investigation into foreign sites using a legal loophole to advertise on TV and exploit Kiwi gamblers, the government has sworn to take action – and they’re asking the private sector to do the same. Don Rowe reports. The government has promised to close loopholes allowing offshore casino operators to exploit vulnerable … Read more
If the University of Otago is really committed to free speech, yesterday’s events suggest they’ve a funny way of showing it, writes Andrew Geddis, a law professor at the university. In late 2015, I sat in a public lecture on climate change where Otago University’s vice chancellor sternly reprimanded the audience for heckling a “climate … Read more
Teenage New Zealanders without a home in Australia are left in limbo, ineligible for a living allowance. Governments on both sides of the Tasman need to make the plight of these blameless people a priority, writes Joseph Nunweek. Late last week, the Melbourne community legal centre I work for (WEstjustice) joined 40 other Australian NGOs … Read more