On Monday we asked for your renting stories, good and bad, and the response so far has been overwhelming. This is the third and final installment – for now (read part one here and part two here). Better Call Saul‘s Bob Odenkirk rented before he was famous: I lived in the basement of an apartment building. … Read more
Jess McAllen takes a tour through the Tenancy Tribunal’s decisions to find bleak scenes of landlords and letting agents running amok. It’s a tale as old as time: treating yourself to a succulent chicken rotisserie from New World on Sunday night and putting the other half in the fridge for Monday sandwiches. But what happens … Read more
Rent Week continues with Alex Casey on the woes of owning a pet as a renter, and ways you can convince landlords that furry flatmates are fine. Here is a concise list of things I have managed to do inside my home as a human adult woman: 1) Tripped down the stairs holding a giant … Read more
Today we’re celebrating Rent Week with some cold hard facts and figures. Test your knowledge of the New Zealand rental market below. Having trouble viewing the quiz? Take it here. This post is part of Rent Week, a series about why the experience of renting a home in NZ is so terrible, and whether anything can … Read more
As many of the stories shared in Rent Week show, New Zealand private rental housing is too often cold, insecure and expensive. We can do a lot to fix these problems. Rental housing expert Dr Elinor Chisholm suggests nine things the government should be doing right now. 1. Make renting more secure We need to … Read more
Behind the affluent image of luxurious resorts and million dollar homes there is another, far darker side to life in Queenstown. Peter Newport investigates the shocking state of the town’s rental market and what it means for those caught up in it. Queenstown is now no place to live. Every ad for every rental property … Read more
On Monday we asked for your renting stories, good and bad, and the response so far has been overwhelming. This is the second installment (read part one here), with more to come throughout Rent Week. I‘ve been back renting in Wellington for the past year. It’s a three bedroom downstairs flat, in a big old … Read more
It’s Rent Week here on The Spinoff, so why are we writing about house buyers? Because the booming housing market is a key driver behind the current surge in renting – and because stories like these demonstrate the enormous challenges faced by those attempting to make the leap from renter to home owner. We talk … Read more
Jess McAllen paints the picture from a Unity Books packed with media, activists and more, eager to discover the subject of the new book and the quality of the catering. Hit & Run has dominated NZ headlines since its publication less than 24 hours ago. It contains a very serious allegations of SAS involvement in … Read more
A major new report gives New Zealand a road map for achieving zero greenhouse gas emissions by the end of this century. Now it’s time for business to stand up and be counted, says the Sustainable Business Council’s Abbie Reynolds. You’ve probably never heard of UK-based independent economics consultancy Vivid Economics, but the report they’re … Read more
Yesterday we asked for your stories, good and bad, about the experience of renting a home in New Zealand, and the response was huge. This is first installment, with more to come throughout Rent Week. I lived in a very cute little row of houses, tucked behind the car yards on Great North Road, Grey … Read more
What does the dream of owning a home mean in 2017? Is it still achievable for those not already on the property ladder – or even a worthwhile goal? And what are you willing (or able) to sacrifice in order to reach it? The Spinoff wants to hear your stories. If you hadn’t heard, things … Read more
I have asked myself why I didn’t do something about the shocking treatment of institutionalised children, writes Kim Workman. If the government fails to respond to our calls now, this issue will become a matter of national shame I am urging fellow New Zealanders to support Dame Susan Devoy’s call for a full inquiry into … Read more
Higher hurdles to home-owning have led to more and longer home rentals. Currently the medium and long-term rights are with the landlord, writes property market expert and Massey emeritus professor Bob Hargreaves. New Zealand families typically aspire to own their own homes. But the path to home ownership has become increasingly difficult in recent years, … Read more
To kick off Rent Week, The Spinoff writers and friends share some of the worst renting conditions they’ve had to live with. Please feel free to share your own on our Facebook page, or send to info@thespinoff.co.nz to be added to this anthology of atrocious landlords and homes across in New Zealand. Don Rowe: Just … Read more
Renting in New Zealand is now the way most of us live. Unfortunately, in many ways, it sucks. Spinoff editor Duncan Greive explains why we’re dedicating a week to the issue. A couple of weeks ago Arthur Grimes, the former chair of the Reserve Bank, was interviewed on Nine to Noon by Kathryn Ryan. The … Read more
To celebrate Pi Week (Pi Day was 3/14 of course), here’s a quiz all about numbers. Having trouble viewing the quiz? Take it here.
Hundreds of NZ women are told every year that their request for an abortion is ‘not justified’. One woman describes the response she encountered, and why she feels betrayed by a system that continues to view women seeking termination through a lens of criminality Are you not with the father? Were you ever together? Had … Read more
We review the entire country and culture of New Zealand, one thing at a time. Today: José Barbosa reviews RNZ broadcaster Paul Brennan’s hair. If I think of what RNZ sounds like (at least the bits I like) I always think of Paul Brennan’s voice (and also, it must be said, the authoritative, no mucking … Read more
The beloved creator of Wal and Dog, who has died at the age of 78, also served up a feminist-bashing tract. But it is possible to deplore that book while celebrating the awe and joy of the rest of his work, writes comics artist Indira Neville. One night at the pub a friend compared me … Read more
Increasingly people are recognising that climate change is an enormous threat – while at the same time talking about it less, and becoming less likely to let it affect the way they vote or behave. Why is that? And is the only sane response to a suddenly insane world to surrender to the void? Patrick … Read more
We review the entire country and culture of New Zealand, one thing at a time. Today: Alex Casey reviews H2Go’s new chocolate-flavoured spring water. Ever since Lewis Road Creamery set New Zealand on fire with their quite tasty choccie milk, companies everywhere have been shitting the bed with reckless abandon trying to reach the same … Read more
We review the entire country and culture of New Zealand, one thing at a time. Today: Madeleine Chapman reviews food delivery service Uber Eats. The simple concept of Uber Eats makes you immediately wonder ‘do we really need this?’ An Uber service that delivers very specific food to your door. Seems unnecessary. Before we get started, … Read more
Alex Casey, Leonie Hayden and Michele A’Court assemble in front of a live audience for this International Women’s Day podcast special. ‘Twas a drizzly International Women’s Day when we recorded this live podcast at the Generator, hoping to dissect the previous month in women-hood in New Zealand whilst not throwing up in front of an … Read more
The attitudes expressed by a group of Wellington College schoolboys are depressing and infuriating – but not surprising, says sexual assault campaigner and 17-year-old Wellingtonian Eva McGauley. “Fuck women. Not even drunk, pass her out then fuck her job done.” “If you don’t take advantage of a drunk girl then you’re not a true WC … Read more
The Spinoff has been criticised for being Auckland-centric. So here’s a quiz all about Auckland. Having trouble viewing the quiz? Take it here.
Residents of rural towns are facing astronomical bills to support basic infrastructure. In Glenorchy, a mecca for film and tourism, they’re mad as hell and not going to take it any more, writes Peter Newport. User pays. Sounds fair doesn’t it? You use – you pay. But for many small towns around New Zealand being … Read more
With the equal pay conversation in full swing, Dr Catherine Trundle examines the undervaluing women’s care work in society, and the steps we need to take to demand change. Displays of overt sexism have a way of making many of us feel smugly superior. Anyone who publically utters opinions egregiously out of step with today’s … Read more
Alex Casey talks to Jackie Clark, donations co-ordinator for several women’s refuges in Auckland, about New Zealand’s gender violence problem and what people can do to help. Trigger warning: partner violence and emotional and psychological abuse. The first time I met Aunty Jackie she was flashing her breasts at an MRA activist on Queen Street … Read more