The world, and our lives, are transforming before us, writes Green MP Chlöe Swarbrick, who has been self-isolated for over a week. As our collective fast-paced metabolism meets a slowing down of the world around us, it’s time to look after your mental health. In the blink of an eye, the world has changed. What … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Fletcher Building holds AGM at crucial time for company, chances of Manus Island refugees being settled in NZ increases, and more NZ First Foundation documents emerge. To lead us off today, a look at the AGM of a hugely important company. Ihumātao has been forced onto … Read more
Online commenters have had an absolute field day with Chlöe Swarbrick’s parliamentary riposte. Here’s our high-level analysis. A lot of people had a lot to say about Chlöe Swarbrick’s “OK boomer” retort in parliament last week. While to some she’s a “hero politician” who “clapped back” at her colleague by employing a “devastating” putdown, others … Read more
This afternoon the House of Representatives voted all but unanimously to enact the bill designed to make New Zealand net carbon zero by 2050. Some think the bill imperfectly soft. Others – including the largest party in parliament, the opposition National Party – think it imperfectly harsh. But its cross-party passing is, whichever way you … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Wellington’s new mayor faces difficult three years, Zero Carbon bill select committee report comes back, and extremist preacher barred from NZ Partly because it was a widely unexpected result, the opening days of Wellington mayor Andy Foster’s tenure have been gripping. He has inherited a Council … Read more
Last night, the two titans of the cannabis referendum came together for their first televised debate on the issue – Paula Bennett and Chlöe Swarbrick. This was a matchup a long time coming. Paula Bennett and Chlöe Swarbrick have skirmished on the cannabis referendum for months, with heated exchanges on social media about the issue, … Read more
The political status quo is unfit to confront the climate crisis. We need more of those who will take to the street for what they believe in, rather than sniffing out snide put-downs from air-conditioned television studios, writes New Zealand’s youngest parliamentarian. A large contingent of Pasifika South Auckland students led tens of thousands of … Read more
Green Party MP Chlöe Swarbrick watches Patrick Gower’s documentary on cannabis, On Weed, which starts tonight on Three. We haven’t had a great deal of local, in-depth, visual reporting on cannabis in Aotearoa New Zealand, so when Paddy Gower announced his intention to produce a documentary on the issue, public interest was piqued. It’s been … Read more
A ‘health based’ approach to drug enforcement is one step closer to being written into law after the third reading of the Misuse of Drugs Act Amendment Bill. Don Rowe reports. The Misuse of Drugs Act Amendment bill has passed its third reading tonight in what MPs and harm reduction advocates are calling the most … Read more
Otago scientists say the lobby group has misrepresented the research. Academics from the University of Otago have torn apart claims made by Family First about the links between cannabis, psychosis and violence in a paper published this morning. Prompted by a Family First petition calling for a government inquiry, the paper critiques a “tendentious” argument … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Recommended changes to dairy industry finally announced, signs of life in teacher negotiations, and flu vaccines are running short. Yesterday was a mixed day for Fonterra, with the government announcing significant changes to dairy regulation will be introduced. Farmers Weekly reports the dairy cooperative, which takes about 80% … Read more
The president of the Vic Uni students association is leading a ‘youthquake’ as five leaders under 25 try to follow Chlöe Swarbrick into the halls of power, writes Peter McKenzie. It wasn’t a conventional campaign launch. Someone’s laptop cycled through a Spotify playlist of grungy music. The oldest person present looked to be in their … Read more
Two women who entered parliament at the age of 23, albeit 42 years apart, discuss their parliamentary experiences Read an extract from The Political Years by Marilyn Waring here When Chlöe Swarbrick is introduced at events, she finds herself hailed as the youngest person to be elected to parliament since Marilyn Waring. “I’m very sorry. … Read more
As the referendum approaches and the road toll rises, the government is under pressure to deal with drug testing, but it’s more complicated than it first appears, writes Don Rowe. The government has announced a public consultation on drugged driver testing following rising road tolls, an impending referendum, and intense pressure from an opposition desperate … Read more
Paula Bennett’s refusal to go head-to-head with Chloe Swarbrick on the cannabis referendum suggests that the National Party is yet to come to terms with what it means to be in opposition, writes Ben Thomas Schitt’s Creek is a Canadian comedy series about the wealthy Rose family, who lose their privilege, and are forced to … Read more
The government wants to call the vote on legalising marijuana a binding referendum but it isn’t a binding referendum, explains Graeme Edgeler. So, the government has announced a binding referendum will be held on the legalisation of cannabis? No. The government has announced a non-binding referendum on the legalisation of cannabis. They want to … Read more
Andrew Geddis sifts through the constitutional implications of forthcoming vote on legalising cannabis, and offers a warning about the way the campaign is likely to unfold Today we sort-of found out what we are going to get to vote on at this election’s “reeferendum”. We are going to get to say whether we want to … Read more
It’s one thing to commit to ‘treat drugs as a health issue’, and another to put that pledge into concrete action, writes Ross Bell of the NZ Drug Foundation Jacinda Ardern refused to sign up to President Trump’s War on Drugs statement at the United Nations General Assembly last month. We applaud her for that … Read more
Last week in the Spinoff, Green MP sketched a history of NZ drug laws and issued a repudiation of National MP Simeon Brown’s Psychoactive Substances Amendment Bill. Here he argues that her position fails to face the real challenges that come with the scourge of drugs. In her article How New Zealand got hooked on moral panic … Read more
A new bill to increase the penalty for drug supply and distribution has passed its second reading in parliament. Green MP Chloë Swarbrick looks back on a decade of harmful drug laws. We are at a crossroads on drug policy in New Zealand. There is a real risk we take a backward step, further entrenching … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: River quality report paints complex picture, Greens hit out at synthetics plan, while National come to the table on child poverty. A major annual water report has come out, showing a complex picture of the state of our rivers. If you’re looking for a quick, one line … Read more
The medicinal cannabis bill filed today in the name of National’s Whangarei MP Shane Reti is vastly better-conceived than the government bill it seeks to supplant. But it’s not perfect, writes Russell Brown. It’s no secret that members of the Health select committee were moved by many of the oral submissions they heard while considering … Read more
A slew of commentary and cartoons around the Green Party co-leader contest suggests we have to ‘choose’ between policy priorities, and it couldn’t be a bigger stack of nonsense, says Green MP Chloe Swarbrick. If your modus operandi is purchasing organic food and carting it out the supermarket in a reusable bag, sipping fair-trade coffee … Read more
In her first parliamentary address, the new Green MP reveals her personal history of anxiety and depression, and her overriding ambitions for NZ. Chlöe Swarbrick was elected to parliament as a list member for the Green Party. She wrote a candidate’s diary for the Spinoff during the recent campaign. Read her entries, and those of … 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 36 Questions Project is a series in which Meg Williams takes a politician on a date and asks them the 36 Questions, a series of conversation starters designed to make two people fall in love. In this final instalment, Williams dates Green Party candidate Chlöe Swarbrick. Previously on the 36 Questions Project: United Future … Read more
For the last fortnight the Green Party has found itself in the unfamiliar position of dominating campaign headlines. Chlöe Swarbrick takes a (brief) pause for breath to reflect on it all in her third candidate diary for the Spinoff. I’ve kind of lost all semblance of time. It turns out that crossing the threshold from … Read more
Better than algebra! The Greens’ Chlöe Swarbrick and Labour’s Jacinda Ardern talk personal aspirations and politics with students at an Auckland inner-city school. Jacinda Ardern told the students at ACG Senior College this week she got saddled with a nickname when she entered parliament: “Socialist Cindy”. She hates being called Cindy, although her mother has … Read more
All this week the Spinoff Review of Books is covering the new, very candid memoir by former Green MP Holly Walker, and the mental health issues she experienced in parliament. Today: an interview conducted by Green candidate Chlöe Swarbrick. Read an excerpt from Walker’s book, The Whole Intimate Mess, here. Chlöe Swarbrick: What was it like … Read more