What is art and what is it good for? Artweek, starting this weekend and running to the end of next, turns the central city into a showcase with a thousand answers: events, exhibitions, gallery tours, talks, open spectacles, hidden surprises and untold delights. I saw a video of a man dancing to Samuel Barber’s Adagio … Read more
It was another cold night in another cold community hall in Panmure and Chlöe Swarbrick was still grinning. Simon Wilson reports on Maungakiekie, the electorate that will show whether Labour really knows how to win. There were no MPs in the room. That’s unusual in Auckland: with the party lists working the way they do, … Read more
The live auction final of The Block NZ tonight delivered more thrills and spills than Peter Wolfkamp on a motorised chilly bin. Devoted blockaholic Jane Yee was in the thick of it, and bring us this harrowing report. What a night to be at the Grand Millennium. I arrived expecting to be part of an … Read more
There’s a lot riding on the Epsom election, with four current MPs in the race and everything from glory to humiliation at stake – for the candidates and for their parties too. Simon Wilson went along to a debate. How many houses were built in Auckland last year? Should a cabinet minister know the answer? After … Read more
Sometimes, the Auckland Council does some very good things. The new plan for the city centre and waterfront, says Simon Wilson, could just be one of them. Although it does have a few problems… Auckland councillors did something a bit unusual the other day: they gave council officials a standing ovation. (Well, that’s what a … Read more
Labour leader Jacinda Ardern visited Māngere and Ōtara on Saturday. Simon Wilson went along to see how big the wind is really blowing. What a storm in a shopping centre. Labour MP Aupito William Sio, who’s the big man in Māngere politics, introduced Jacinda Ardern in the Māngere Town Centre on Saturday morning. He said they’d had the Jacinda … Read more
The vote was 20-1, almost everyone joining hands around the table with Cr Efeso Collins to reject trading in Auckland on Easter Sunday. So to speak. The Easter Bunny was there and so was Simon Wilson. Efeso Collins, a councillor from the Manukau ward, said: “I want to tell you a personal story. It’s a … Read more
Bill Cashmore, deputy mayor of Auckland, tells Simon Wilson why he loves working with the government and why he has such high hopes our problems will all be fixed. Bill Cashmore gets up at 4am so you don’t have to. It takes him an hour to drive to work and he’s there before six. Cashmore … Read more
When businesses and others respond to customer demand they do their best to be fast and flexible. So why, asks Mark Knoff-Thomas from the Newmarket Business Association, doesn’t the council work the same way? It’s interesting to observe the lightning speed with which certain things are approved by Auckland Council, when it wants to act … Read more
There’s a big carpark on Takapuna’s Anzac Street and the council wants your imaginative ideas for what to do with it. Councillor Chris Darby has been thinking about movies… When does a carpark become something better than a carpark? Panuku Development Auckland, the development arm of Auckland Council, is asking for ideas from the public … Read more
Lost in last week’s debate about light rail to the airport was another proposal: a Northwest Light Rail line. Harriet Gale from Greater Auckland explains. Just over a week ago Jacinda Ardern announced Labour’s new Auckland transport policy. All the talk was about light rail to the airport, but there were many other components, and … Read more
Government officials have quietly prepared a plan to fast-track light rail – or a rapid bus service – for Queen Street and Dominion Road to Mt Roskill. Just a few months ago finance minister Steven Joyce dismissed this project as “pork barrel politics”. But it’s stage one of light rail to the airport and it … Read more
Welcome to episode 3 of the Spinoff Auckland serial The Bakers’ Tale, Brian Ng’s story of a couple of guys and a pastry-making business. Today: Getting personal with Ben. Good news everyone! Ben Chevre (the tall one) is single! As he puts it (read this, and anything else I quote him saying, in your best French accent), … Read more
The Jacindatrain arrived in Auckland yesterday, bringing with it the news that Labour has a radically different transport policy from National. Simon Wilson was there to sample the excitement. “Come and have a beer with me,” said Jacinda Ardern at the end of her election rally at Karanga Plaza in the Wynyard Quarter. She never … Read more
Apparently Jacinda and Metiria weren’t the only ones making political news this week. Simon Wilson has five things to say about some of the transport and housing bullshit that went down this week. 1. The Auckland roads lobby cooks the numbers Did you see that “Auckland traffic ‘pouring $1.9 billion down the drain’” front page of the … Read more
Ready for the last weekend of the Film Festival in Auckland? Chris Davis introduces his movie about Maungakiekie (One Tree Hill) and chooses another film he also wants to see. Part seven of our filmmaker’s choice series. A friend recently told me about a conversation she overheard. Three women were debating the significance of Mike … Read more
Welcome to the Spinoff Auckland serial The Bakers’ Tale, Brian Ng’s story of a couple of guys and a pastry-making business. Episode 2: The immigration glitch. The day begins with the three requisite ingredients: flour, butter, sugar. And water. Mix them together and you can make a shortcrust pastry for a tart case, a sponge … Read more
The business case for greater freight efficiency in South Auckland has finally been released, and it turns out that a new “Third Main” rail line is the best of 10 options. Guess what’s worst? Putting greater reliance on road freight. So why, asks Ben Ross, does the government still insist on favouring trucks instead of funding … Read more
The ad says: “Born May 2013 at The Blue Breeze Inn – shamelessly copied ever since.” But it’s not true. Julian Liew-Young wonders why a restaurant would make such a demonstrably false claim. The pork buns at Ponsonby “tiki bar” The Blue Breeze Inn are famous, and fair enough. They taste great. They won the … Read more
Remember the Parnell railway station fiasco? There’s another side to the story, writes Simon Wilson. They said it would be the third busiest station on the Auckland network. They said it would bring visitors and locals to shop in Parnell and tour the Auckland Museum. They said workers in lower Parnell – that industrial and … Read more
The largest collection of pinball machines in the country resides in a Pukekohe family home. Madeleine Chapman visited the Peck family to see it in the plastic flesh. I tried to look nonchalant as the small metal ball rolled around the bumpers, hit a spring, and shot right down the middle, missing both flappers and … Read more
We asked filmmakers to choose a favourite from the Film Festival lineup and also tell us about their own films in the festival. In this second instalment of the series, Florian Habicht explains his scary movie with ‘more heart than horror’, Nic Gorman ties his sub-Antarctic thriller to the dystopian Russian classic Stalker and Simon … Read more
A near-flat six-minute walk from the east end of Victoria St all the way to Stanley St? Walking, or biking, through tunnels under Albert Park, with lifts up to the universities. It could happen, writes Greater Auckland’s Matt Lowrie. Auckland’s hills help to define our city. Sometimes they’re a blessing, sometimes they can be a bit … Read more
Shane Bosher was the artistic director of Silo Theatre for many years and directed many of its most famous productions, including Angels in America, When the Rain Stops Falling and Holding the Man. Now he’s back in Auckland to direct two new Silo shows, Cock (co-presented with Auckland Live) and A Streetcar Named Desire. Sam Brooks talked to him about them … Read more
The film festival starts in Auckland on Thursday and follows soon after in other centres. Simon Wilson wanted to write about all the films he was keen on seeing but we told him that would fill up the internet, so here’s his restrained response: ten films and five tips. Five good things to do at … Read more
The construction industry can hardly bear the suspense: who will win the contract to dig the tunnels for New Zealand’s first* underground railway? As for the rest of us, the question is: how good will it be? Simon Wilson went to see the project director to try to find out. On the second-to-last day of … Read more
Where’s Phil? Eight months into his first term as mayor, Phil Goff hasn’t had any spectacular embarrassments and he hasn’t blown the budget. Is that good enough? Simon Wilson doesn’t think so, and each day this week he’s got a challenge for the mayor. Here’s the first. Why isn’t Phil Goff a champion for the … Read more
The America’s Cup is going to sharpen up the city’s thinking about the waterfront, right? Like, why are there cars parked on Te Wero Island when there’s a perfectly good council car park building just over the road? Here’s a proposal from architect David Mitchell and pressure group Urban Auckland. There’s a car park in … Read more
The super city is broken, says eminent sociologist Ian Shirley – but it doesn’t need another review. It needs the government to fix the problems we already know about. Recently the NZ Herald published an article by Terry Dunleavy, a member of the National Party, under the headline: National’s ‘super city’ for Auckland is not … Read more