A petition seeking an increase in subsidy for wigs and hairpieces is being presented at parliament today. Kirsty Frame reports. Alopecia can be unforgiving. Many of those with the autoimmune disease find themselves entirely without hair within weeks or across months, and the vicious cycle can relapse over a lifespan. It has neither known cure … Read more
On October 17, voters called time on the Labour NZ First coalition government, sending the self-proclaimed “handbrake” of NZ First into the wilderness and returning Labour with enough support to govern alone. In this Herald Premium article, the NZ Herald’s Claire Trevett spoke to politicians and staff about the three years the two parties and … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Who’s up and who’s down in Ardern’s new cabinet, new Covid-19 community case in Christchurch, and Ngāi Tahu taking Crown to court over freshwater. Throw out all those articles you read predicting who would get what ministerial jobs – they were pretty much all wrong … Read more
Not everything Labour plans to do over the next three years was announced during the campaign. Two promises that didn’t get any public announcement: reopening the door to refugees and a review of how political parties can raise money. Labour just won its most resounding victory in a half-century with a manifesto offering little of … Read more
Campaign groups are trying to get issues around the welfare system, housing and poverty onto the election agenda. Alex Braae was in Wellington to see a deeply frustrating debate play out. Many election forums give politicians plenty of room to speak about whatever they want. But at a forum on inequality, the onus was reversed, … Read more
More than a year after justice minister Andrew Little described New Zealand’s hate speech laws as ‘woefully inadequate’, nothing has come of the legislative reform that was promised. Warning: contains descriptions of racism, racist violence and racist images. Yesterday, the white supremacist terrorist who carried out the Christchurch mosque attacks was sentenced to life imprisonment … 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
The new National leader has only a few weeks to turn the party’s fortunes around. But that’s what Labour’s new leader did in 2017. While there are obvious differences, there’s plenty Collins can draw from, writes Clint Smith, who was senior communications strategist under Andrew Little and Jacinda Ardern. It was 56 days from the … Read more
Finally, voting rights for prisoners serving less than three years has been restored. It’s a cause to celebrate, but it appears to have been overshadowed by some procedural games and unhelpful amendments, writes Andrew Geddis. Last night should have been a cause for muted celebration in parliament, with the Electoral (Registration of Sentenced Prisoners) Bill’s … Read more
With 100 days till polling day, campaigners on both sides of the two big referendums tell RNZ’s Yvette McCullough how their plans have been affected by the recent crisis, and the risks of misinformation in a largely online battle. In 100 days time, New Zealanders will wake up on a Saturday and be asked to … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Millions of dollars divvied up by Sport NZ, MSD’s problem with wrongly denied payments grows, and internal coalition battles emerge in time for election. It’s Friday, and there hasn’t been a lot of it recently, so we’re going to start with sport today. Don’t worry, it’s … Read more
The government has announced the shape of the cannabis legalisation bill that we’ll vote on in September’s referendum. So if the country decides to vote yes, what will the new rules be? What’s all this then? When New Zealand goes to the polls in September, we won’t just be voting on local MPs and who … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Politicians take limelight at Waitangi, Auckland Lantern Festival cancelled, and each end of the country facing contrasting extreme weather. Ceremonies at Waitangi started yesterday, ahead of the day itself tomorrow. So far, the coverage has been dominated by grandstanding. Stuff’s Thomas Coughlan was there, and has an account … Read more
On this day two years ago, Jacinda Ardern delivered a powerful, acclaimed speech at Waitangi. She implored her audience then, as she has again in recent days, to hold her to account on delivering for Te Ao Māori. We’ve taken that speech and held it up against the Labour-led government’s achievements to date. In February … Read more
The second and final report of Te Uepū Hāpai i te Ora, the Safe and Effective Justice Advisory Group, contains nothing we didn’t know 30 years ago. Yet generations of politicians have ignored the same advice, writes Laura O’Connell Rapira. Between the 1950s and 1990s, New Zealand experienced seismic social, economic and political shifts. Māori … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Andrew Little indicates justice system changes after reports, Auckland buses back on the road, and National release health proposals. Two significant reports for the justice sector were released yesterday. The first was Turuki! Turuki! Transforming our Criminal Justice System from the Chester Borrows-led Safe and Effective Justice Advisory Group. … Read more
The bill unveiled this week represents an excellent opportunity to take control of the supply of cannabis and properly reduce harms, writes Joe Boden, director of the Christchurch Health and Development Study. By now the harms associated with cannabis use are well-known. Research from New Zealand – in particular the Christchurch and Dunedin longitudinal studies … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Government rams through foreign donations law under urgency, substance of cannabis referendum laws announced, and Samoan boy allegedly denied measles vaccine in NZ. Justice minister Andrew Little has announced that the government is banning foreign donations to political parties. Or rather, that’s what the press release was titled, but … Read more
In introducing a swift ‘effective ban’ on foreign donations to political parties, the justice minister basically said that he’d had enough of the select committee’s shit. Understandable, but not good enough, writes Andrew Geddis. Back in August, I wrote a piece on this site titled “so you want to hack New Zealand’s democracy?”, in which … Read more
The essential details on the plan to put the legalisation of cannabis to the public at the next election. Let’s cut to the chase. What will the referendum question be? A straight yes/no: “Do you support the proposed Cannabis Legalisation and Control Bill?” What will be in the bill? You can read it here. TLDR, … Read more
Many prisoners who had the vote taken away from them will now see their rights restored. Otago University law professor Andrew Geddis outlines how we got here, and why he’s so pleased to see the change. Today, the Labour-NZ First (with support from the Greens) government announced it will repeal the complete ban on prisoner … Read more
Andrew Little’s terrorism suppression bill is facing two very different forms of resistance, from National and from the Greens. What is the legislation, and why is it controversial? What this then? The Terrorism Suppression (Control Orders) Bill, introduced to parliament by the justice minister, Andrew Little, last Wednesday, seeks to introduce “a civil regime of … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Huawei’s stern letter to ministers gets leaked, Fonterra announces dire financial projections, and movement inches forward on genetic engineering changes. Chinese technology giant Huawei has threatened to leave the NZ market, if they’re not allowed to participate in the 5G rollout. It came in a letter … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Shape of abortion law reform announced, dramatic night plays out at Ihumātao, and opposition brews to Catholic Cathedral decision in Christchurch. The reforms to abortion law have been formally announced, and they will fulfil a long-term promise from the PM and her government. Abortion will be … Read more
A nightmarish and near-fatal high-speed pursuit of a New Zealand Chinese family concluded with a judge rejecting the prosecution’s request for hate crime sentencing. Tze Ming Mok discusses why New Zealand’s approach to hate crime is utterly useless. I don’t like horror movies. I could only watch Get Out while on a plane, on a … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Second round of gun law changes announced, hundreds with conditions like Down syndrome get early Kiwisaver, and a major refusal to participate in March 15 inquiry. The second major phase of gun law reform has been announced by the government. Interest reports a gun register will be … Read more
The online giant has written to the NZ minister of justice, Andrew Little, saying it will immediately suspend the automated service that breached a court order In December 2018, when the Spinoff broke the news that Google had breached a New Zealand court suppression order in the case of Grace Millane, the internet giant’s first … Read more
New Zealand’s minister of justice responds to the decision by the internet giant to take no action after its breach of name suppression in the Grace Millane case Google’s attitude to fair trial rights in New Zealand should concern us all. It’s time to call out their recklessness. To recap what happened, last year at … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Complicated picture from economic confidence surveys, justice minister hammers Google over name suppression, and drinking water falling below standards. Business confidence, which has been low throughout this government’s term, has plunged to fresh depths. In fact, as Stuff reports, the headline figure is the lowest it has been … Read more