It is not too late for Jacinda Ardern to show real leadership on cannabis law reform, writes criminologist Liam Martin. Jacinda Ardern won’t reveal how she voted on the cannabis referendum or take a public position on the issue either way. She leads a party that came to office promising sweeping changes in criminal justice, … Read more
While working at The Dominion, journalist Phil Taylor met Dan Dudson – a prolific burglar who liked sending long, handwritten letters to the detectives busy trying to pin him down. The pair would eventually go on to strike up an unlikely and enduring friendship, right up until Dudson’s death in June this year aged 74. … Read more
For four years running, at the exact same time of year, New Zealand has been savaged by gangs of avocado thieves. Hayden Donnell sounds the alarm about the country’s most predictable crisis. They come every year like clockwork. As winter starts to bite, and our summer produce hits its peak price point, the thieves rouse … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Strong public support for midwife petition, Waipareira Trust defends massive Tamihere campaign donation, and most of the bodies on Whakaari now found. A petition for community midwives to get better funding and pay has absolutely taken off. Radio NZ reports the petition, which is hosted on the … Read more
Why do we keep falling for politicians who promise that the latest crackdown on crime will work? Former National MP and justice reform advocate Chester Borrows weighs in. Removing the right of prisoners to vote is back on the agenda. The High Court found that the removal of the right of a prisoner, whose sentence … Read more
Lovepreet Brar was a migrant who scrapped his way from a one year diploma to New Zealand residency, before becoming an international bhangra hip hop star. In between, he was part of an epic and dangerous fraud. In early March 2016, Arvinder Singh left his Takanini home, nestled in a small section at the end … Read more
Who are the victims of crime in New Zealand? Former National MP and justice system reform advocate Chester Borrows casts his eye over a major survey which paints a complex picture of the cycle of offending, incarceration and victimisation. Crime feeds on the young, vulnerable and the very communities that have the least capacity to … Read more
A shooting at a mosque in the NZ city, which is reported to have left several people dead, was livestreamed online. Note: this is the original report published at 3.25pm on March 15 2019. It was updated through the day to incorporate developments and responses, including from Facebook. The final updated post from the end … Read more
Increasingly sophisticated analysis of samples means perpetrators from historic cases can be identified – and the technology is just as important in proving accused people’s innocence, writes ESR’s Sarah Cockerton The ability to use DNA to secure a conviction in an historical crime has made headlines recently with the sentencing of a man in Auckland … Read more
The person who fired an airgun outside Devonport New World yesterday, injuring a woman, is yet to be found. A woman was injured in an airgun incident outside an Auckland supermarket yesterday. Police and an ambulance were called to the New World carpark at Devonport on the North Shore at about 5.15pm after airgun pellets … Read more
Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand, with the interview available as both audio and a transcribed excerpt. This week he talks to Phil Thomson, co-founder and co-CEO of security … Read more
Editor’s note: this post was removed pending an update to take in new information from Jami-Lee Ross’s latest press conference. New version is here.
Journalist Aaron Smale went along to the Criminal Justice Summit hosted in Porirua last week, and discovered one crucial missing voice. “All those people are looking at me like I shouldn’t be here.” It was a comment made in a whisper but it spoke volumes. Sam* did stand out in this particular crowd. With full … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Two day justice summit wraps up, Winston Peters gets up to mischief in Australia, and voting in the Howick by-election gets underway. A two day summit on justice, crime and rehabilitation has concluded in Porirua. Senior ministers heard a range of views about what was wrong with … Read more
A new addition to Wellington’s cafe scene is giving former female prisoners the chance to hone their barista skills — and build better lives in the process. As any barista will tell you, making coffee is not an easy job. You’re on your feet all day, your hands turn to sandpaper and every inch of … Read more
Book of the Week: Matt Vance reviews an investigation into “the freaks, maniacs and the greed-addled madmen” who obsessively collect, plunder and steal bird specimens. What is it about birds and obsessives? Birds, like no other animal, seem to bring out the freaks, maniacs and the greed-addled madmen of infinite detail. In June 2009, Edwin … Read more
Social media can be an effective tool for police in finding missing persons and suspects. But where is the line and was it crossed this week? Revenge is so many things. It’s a dish best served cold. It’s sweet but not fattening. It’s an acid that burns its holder. Justice is nothing. Justice is just. … Read more
A massage therapist was convicted in November 2017 of indecent assault against 14 women during massages they purchased through the voucher site GrabOne. Madeleine Chapman reports. Trigger warning: the following story contains descriptions of indecent assault. The only other spectator in courtroom nine at the Auckland District Court had yet to open her eyes. She … Read more
A New Zealand man was charged this week with drink driving after a chicken nugget-inspired rampage in a Sydney McDonald’s. As a quick Google reveals, he wasn’t the first and he won’t be the last to lose his shit at the Golden Arches. McDonald’s is truly the great equaliser: no matter what car you take … Read more
How many hate crimes occur in New Zealand each year? Good question. Joe Higham explains why, to stop crimes motivated by prejudice, we first need to start recording them. On the 23rd June 2016, the United Kingdom voted to leave the EU. The consequences of the Brexit decision, both positive and negative, are yet to … Read more
National’s new policy giving police powers to search gang members’ houses at any time to check for weapons shows them returning to their base with a vengeance, writes Duncan Greive. For weeks now we have watched National struggle to know how to respond to the “Jacinda Effect”. It has floated dismissing a lack of substance … Read more
National today announced a policy package aimed at preventing youth crime, including a plan to send ‘youth offenders’ to boot camps. The Morgan Foundation head researcher and Spinoff Parents science expert Dr Jess Berentson-Shaw explains why this is a terrible idea. Perhaps Bill English and other people in the National Party do not intend to … Read more
Stuff today released Black Hands, their first podcast series, in which leading David Bain authority and occasionally-terrible column writer Martin van Beynen draws on ten years of experience following the case to outline exactly why he believes Bain is guilty of murdering his family. Don Rowe spoke to van Beynen about the killings, the difficulty of … Read more
Auditor General Martin Matthews has come under extra pressure to resign today as the State Services Commission launches a full, independent investigation into the treatment of whistle-blowers who tried to warn Matthews about fraudster Joanne Harrison. Peter Newport reports. 5pm update: It has just been announced that Matthews is to step down while “his suitability … Read more
The story of government fraudster Joanne Harrison is one of almost unbelievable greed. But in many ways as shocking, writes Peter Newport, is how her boss, Martin Matthews, ignored the whistle-blowers – and allowed Harrison to exact her revenge. Update 1pm, 3 August 2017: Martin Matthews has resigned his position as Auditor General following the publication of … Read more
The evidence shows that a ‘tough on crime’ approach is a posture, not a solution, writes criminologist Antje Deckert. In 2011, when Bill English was Finance Minister, he declared that New Zealand’s prisons were “a moral and fiscal failure”. Five years later, the National government has announced that it will recruit 1,100 new police officers … Read more
The billions being poured into police and prisons would be better spent on demonstrably effective social policies, but the evidence suggests early interventions towards the most vulnerable children may not be in their best interests, writes criminologist Elizabeth Stanley. Prime minister Bill English attached himself to well-trodden law and order election politics earlier this month, … Read more
People’s ability to make choices is sometimes impaired, but murder of disabled people is still murder. The systemic forces that underlie such shocking events have never been adequately addressed, argues Robyn Hunt. The case of Donella Knox, convicted of murdering her daughter Ruby, represents the dark side of disability. It is the flip side of … Read more
Figures on the ethnic breakdown of cannabis convictions show the folly of the prime minister’s faith in ‘police discretion’, writes Don Rowe. A majority of New Zealanders now support the decriminalisation of marijuana, according to a poll released last month by the New Zealand Drug Foundation. The survey, conducted by the same company that polls … Read more