If the government thought warding off a risk of economic catastrophe and unnecessary death was more important than securing the right to host the Rugby Championship, it has another thing coming, writes Hayden Donnell. Like many Kiwis, my biggest fear when Labour won the election in 2017 was that Jacinda Ardern would curse the All … Read more
He’s fostered an image as an enigmatic underdog who proved his doubters wrong. But Robett Hollis has spent an extraordinary life trying to avoid being put in a box. Robett Hollis wears the same outfit everyday: a plain black shirt, a black fitted cap, and a pair of Nikes. It’s his uniform, he says. When … Read more
All the illustrations and animations in one place. The animations and illustrations created by Toby Morris in collaboration with Siouxsie Wiles and published by The Spinoff have been shared in their hundreds of millions over the last couple of months. For ease of reference we’ve put them all together in one post. You can also … Read more
The second instalment of Patrick Gower’s On… series is about the one issue that has touched all of us this year. But the documentary seems almost as fascinated by Gower himself, writes Sam Brooks It seems strange, on the day that Auckland comes out of a lockdown, its second, to be watching a documentary about … Read more
With the past few weeks yielding some serious government botch-ups, the lead up to the election is going to be fraught with blame, frustration and needless cries of conspiracy, writes Pattrick Smellie of BusinessDesk. As of this morning, Monday August 31, there are just under seven weeks to go to polling day, assuming the election … Read more
The two week jail sentence handed out to the woman who breached isolation with her grieving children is an abomination, writes Leonie Hayden. In a week where New Zealanders are celebrating the prison sentence of a monster who murdered 51 people, we all need to think hard about what we’re celebrating. I choose to leave … Read more
After decades worrying about the ‘brain drain’, thousands of high-achieving New Zealanders are coming home at once. Duncan Greive looks at what they’re bringing with them – and the potential they have to help our imperilled economy. Originally published in August, this story has now become the five part podcast, Coming Home. In Coming Home, … Read more
For some, the loss of even fleeting touch heightened a sense of distance and dislocation far beyond the effects of the official isolation imposed on us. Jennifer Little looked to nature for a remedy. You couldn’t even pay anyone to touch you. Codified connection with another human through professional massage was banned. With so many … Read more
On October 17 New Zealand will decide whether cannabis should be legalised and regulated. Toby Morris compares and contrasts the weed rules with those for another popular drug: alcohol. The Side Eye is a monthly non-fiction comic by Toby Morris, supported by NZ On Air. Read the rest of the series here.
Last week, 97-year-old Cantabrian Willi Huber, a decorated Nazi officer lauded for his role in the establishment of Mt Hutt ski field, died. Juliet Moses says it is an indictment on this country that there has been no real reckoning with his past. Cantabrian Willi Huber died last week. If you’re not a skier, you … Read more
A new Christian party is touring the country, vowing to reshape politics in the image of their interpretation of Christianity. Alex Braae went to Marton to find out what the One Party had to say. “Maranga mai!” called One Party leader Stephanie Harawira to the congregation in front of her. “It’s time.” There is always … Read more
The racist and untrue rumour about the source of the latest Covid-19 outbreak in New Zealand began life as a much less inflammatory post on Reddit. It was deleted after a few hours, but the damage was done. Here, the man who started the rumour speaks for the first time. Last week, when a cluster … Read more
New Zealand has opted for an elimination strategy, but a vocal minority is calling for an alternative approach that would see an end to lockdowns and borders loosened. Dr Siouxsie Wiles explains why that would be a bad idea. Around the world, different countries are taking different approaches to dealing with the global pandemic. Here … Read more
A review of Rat King Landlord, the new novel by activist and satirist Murdoch Stephens, by Josie Adams, who lives with a rat. This is the first book I have finished in four years. The last book I read was Sisterhood of Dune, because I am no longer capable of entering new literary universes and … Read more
The blast that took at least 171 lives in downtown Beirut last week was the latest in a long line of official failures that have pushed the Lebanese people to the brink of despair, writes Kirsten O’Regan. As I began this essay, my partner was trying to fall asleep in our Beirut apartment. He had … Read more
What the deputy leader of the opposition has been implying lately is more than ‘nonsense’ – it represents a threat to one of New Zealand’s most powerful and undervalued assets, writes Duncan Greive. Things started getting interesting last Friday. National’s deputy leader Gerry Brownlee appeared on RNZ’s Morning Report to discuss the new government mask … Read more
And is he about to launch a coup against Judith Collins? Just asking questions here. Jacindamania was meek by comparison. Just as Ardern captured a nation from the role of deputy leader of the opposition in 2017, so it is with Gerry Brownlee in 2020. Relentlessly grouchy, Gerrymania is in full flow, as most recently … Read more
Last night Jacinda Ardern and Ashley Bloomfield announced four cases of Covid-19 in the community. Within hours the online community transmission of dumb takes was going like wildfire. It didn’t take long did it? Before the anti-Covid God squad shit the bed and started screeching about how they’ll never wear a mask because, ah, freedom? … Read more
Along with heightened alert levels, New Zealand has a new advisory on masks: Aucklanders should wear a face covering when outside the home, and the rest of us have been advised to wear one when in a confined public space, such as on public transport. But what kind of mask do you need, and where … Read more
The Provincial Growth Fund is meant to fund… growth… in the provinces. So why is it building a huge new racetrack in one of New Zealand’s biggest cities? Because the racing industry seems to get whatever it wants, argues Duncan Greive. Yesterday morning saw a blazing RNZ report that the Provincial Growth Fund has allocated … Read more
Remarks by new coach Nathan Brown and the closed-door discussions by the club around recruiting a man facing sexual assault charges undermines the rugby league club’s values, writes Tiffany Salmond. It’s been a hot topic in rugby league circles for well over a year – but not for the right reasons. Former St Illawarra Dragons … Read more
During the worst days of the Covid-19 outbreak in New Zealand, Matamata was right at the heart of it all. Alex Braae went to the Waikato town to ask people how they’re getting on now. On the signs heading out to the Hobbiton Movie Set about 10 minutes away from the Waikato town of Matamata … Read more
She’s a lone wolf, a team player, a rebel, a leader and the nicest lady around. But what combination of those do you need to survive in government? On a cold July morning, I found myself driving around Tōtara Park in Manurewa in the dark. I had been invited to a dawn karakia to launch … Read more
A once thriving, globally acclaimed business says it faces an expensive death, wedged between punitive commercial law and government inaction. Most New Zealanders will have never heard of it, but if you were a young international traveller it was the place to be – the first stop and bustling home base for thousands of tourists … Read more
Catherine Woulfe reviews Upstream on the Mataura, a memoir by Gore flyfisherman Dougal Rillstone chronicling his journey along the Southland river. Dougal Rillstone is some guy you’ve never heard of, who grew up in Gore and is in love with a river. He also loves to fish for trout. He’s in his 70s. He fishes … Read more
The Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill is now law. Mark Todd, long-time landlord and founder of Ockham Residential, welcomes the new legislation – and says hysterical critics need to get a grip. Hell hath no fury like the landlord lobby trying to thwart some fairly innocuous legislation that’ll help tenants feel a little more secure in … Read more
The Sir Julius Vogel Awards last Thursday were meant to be a celebration of some of our best genre writers. It didn’t turn out that way, as Casey Lucas, one of the winners, explains. This is the story of how the nominees and recipients of the 2020 Sir Julius Vogel Awards, New Zealand’s most prominent … Read more
We can’t tell you who wrote this piece, or where they work. What we can tell you is it’s not Unity. A little while ago, I said to a friend that working at a bookshop kind of sucks. He was clearly bamboozled. “I thought working at a bookshop would be lovely and magical. Being surrounded … Read more
Jacinda Ardern is one of many who invoke the venerated former Labour prime minister’s words ‘someone to love, somewhere to live, somewhere to work, and something to hope for’. The only trouble is, it’s unlikely that’s quite what he said. George Andrews, who interviewed Kirk at length, explains. I was glad to see Jacinda Adern … Read more