Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: What we know so far about the Andrew Falloon scandal, finance minister shuts purse strings on billions in spending, and Cameron Slater before the courts. The National party has lost yet another MP to scandal, with the latest casualty being first term representative for Rangitata … Read more
Sacked cabinet minister Clare Curran speaks for the first time about the brutal end to her political career – and what she calls the toxicity and bullying that marked her years in parliament. By Donna Chisholm. Of all the humiliations – often self-inflicted – that Clare Curran endured during her 12-year parliamentary career, the one … Read more
Cameron Slater’s mendacious, bullshit-ridden site has finally been shut down – and yet, somehow, the grift goes on, writes reformed blogger Danyl Mclauchlan I once had a blog on the internet. This was during the golden age of blogging, the late 2000s and early 2010s; a window when blogs were new and interesting and – … Read more
A bizarre postscript is under way in the saga of Cameron Slater’s notorious blog shutdown. Alex Braae reports. Liquidators have fired a public shot at Juana Atkins, the wife of Cameron Slater, who has taken over the company behind the now defunct Whaleoil blog. Go to Whaleoil.net.nz and you’ll find a long history of posts, … Read more
The most notorious publication of the digital media era in New Zealand has closed down for good. Alex Braae writes the obituary to Whaleoil. It is customary to say kind words about a person or entity when they leave this world forever. So what then can one say about Whaleoil, the blog which in 2014 … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Treasury calls in police after claims their system was hacked, protesters against coal get mayoral support, and massive teacher strike today. Last night, political journalism twitter was nothing but a steady stream of shocked emojis. And the reason for that was a series of dramatic developments in … Read more
There are few book launches more hotly anticipated than a new Nicky Hager work. This time Hager is not the author, but it is introduced by him, with the same publisher, and the same closely guarded leadup to publication. The book, we can now reveal, is by Margie Thomson, and its title is spare and … Read more
After news of Cameron Slater’s departure from Whale Oil, Liam Hehir reflects on the fading influence of New Zealand’s politics blogs. Cameron Slater, founder of Whale Oil, is stepping away from his creation and has filed for bankruptcy. This follows an earlier announcement that the blogger had suffered a stroke, and that recovery was not … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: High court rules on sorry saga of construction company Mainzeal, John Tamihere rejected by Labour, and Dunedin losing historic Presbyterian churches. When construction giant Mainzeal went bust, it left a massive trail of debt in its wake. The company, which at the time was the third largest … Read more
Five years ago, Mark Rickerby crafted code to analyse the full text of the Whaleoil blog after Dirty Politics. That experience, and the unveiling this month of a language model trained on internet text that can generate startlingly coherent prose, offer a profound warning of the dangers of allowing AI innovation to be controlled by … Read more
This week Massey University released its annual ‘Quote of the Year’ competition, serving up a shortlist of 10 to vote to the 2018 title. And, look, some of them are fine! But in the spirits of breadth and plurality, our quote-loving team has produced its own crop of 10 for the inaugural Spinoff Alternative Quote … Read more
Everyone’s a loser in Colin Craig’s defamation case against blogger Cameron Slater – but the only victim is Rachel MacGregor, the woman for whom this saga has become a living nightmare, writes law professor Andrew Geddis. The finally decided defamation proceedings in Craig v Slater must be the stuff of judicial nightmares. A complicated fact … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: High profile resignation at yet another sports organisation, primary teachers vote for rolling strikes in November, and Colin Craig could have another crack at politics. Former champion triathlete Hamish Carter has offered up his resignation from High Performance Sport NZ, after leaking confidential athlete information. Newshub reports that … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: National party orders internal culture review, international students claim they’re being treated like slaves, and CHCH faces water restrictions or more chlorine. The National Party has ordered a review into its internal culture, focused on ensuring women feel safe within the party, reports the NZ Herald. It follows allegations that … Read more
Three years ago today Dirty Politics was published, lighting the fuse on an extraordinary election campaign. Hayden Donnell looks into what the cast of Nicky Hager’s book have been up to since. It seems impossible, but there was a time when politics was even worse than it is now. Today our most fractious political debate … Read more
This morning Radio NZ reported Colin Craig was launching legal action against his former press secretary Rachel MacGregor – though Craig says he used to want to do that but doesn’t anymore. Hayden Donnell responds to the news with his honest opinion. Case law in New Zealand is clear: honest opinion is a defence against … Read more
This afternoon, Cameron Slater’s name suppression was lifted in a case regarding his conspiring to hack The Standard website. To mark the occasion, here are some of the fearless Whaleoil blogger’s previous posts about name suppression. It’s like 10,000 Whales when all you need is a knife. However Alanis would have styled it, today is a … Read more
Theories have been circulating suggesting the mysterious figure behind the Panama Papers leaks may in fact be the NZ-based internet entrepreneur. The Spinoff begins its fearless mission to unmask John Doe by asking, is it you, Kim Dotcom? Rare is the day when the two most voluble and entertaining thought leaders of the New Zealand … Read more
Did you know the key to winning in politics is having enough votes in Parliament to form a government after the election? If not, Danyl Mclauchlan has found just the publication for you. It’s Christmas. The political year is over. Parliament has risen. The festive season has begun: work parties, family holidays, barbecues, long car … Read more