Welcome to The Spinoff’s Election Live for October 7, bringing you the latest on election 2020 and other NZ news. The essential campaign dates are here. For all you need to know about the cannabis referendum click here. For the assisted dying referendum click here. Explore the parties’ pledges at Policy. I’m on stewart@thespinoff.co.nz 7.45pm: The day … Read more
Voting is under way in the New Zealand general election. Explore the main parties’ pledges at Policy.nz; in the meantime here’s a whistlestop tour of what’s on offer when it comes to welfare and equity. Read more two-minute policy wraps here Welfare is always an election issue, but mass job losses brought about by the … Read more
In a chaotic 90-minute contest, the crowd made itself heard, writes Justin Giovannetti from Christchurch. At several points I had no idea what the leaders were saying. Hundreds in the Christchuch crowd were cheering on Labour leader Jacinda Ardern while a row of National supporters seated in front of me grumbled. Ardern was making her … Read more
Who came out on top in the online Press Leaders’ Debate tonight? Here are our debate watchers’ verdicts. Duncan Greive: Ardern is the superior communicator. Tonight, she finally showed it The hoary boxing cliché says that styles make fights – that different yet complementary techniques will produce a better spectacle. Through the first two debates … Read more
We’ve heard at length from the five major parties. But what policies do the minor parties have to support businesses and rebuild the economy from the Covid-19 rubble? Geoff Simmons of TOP, Vernon Tava of Sustainable NZ, Billy Te Kahika Jnr of Advance NZ and John Tamihere of the Māori Party today addressed New Zealand’s … Read more
Welcome to The Spinoff’s Election Live for October 6, bringing you the latest on election 2020 and other NZ news. The essential campaign dates are here. For all you need to know about the cannabis referendum click here. For the assisted dying referendum click here. Explore the parties’ pledges at Policy. I’m on stewart@thespinoff.co.nz Live: Ardern and … Read more
You know who probably takes photos? Green voters. On Newstalk ZB’s Leader’s Breakfast yesterday, famous Christian Judith Collins was asked about NCEA and secondary education. She said, “There are too many photography classes, too much media studies, too much woke stuff”. Obviously this got all the Leftie liberal woke leftists worked up but was it … Read more
It’s unacceptable to shrug off greenhouse gases as someone else’s problem, writes Dr David Galler. In the pressure of the moment people say things they often come to regret. For some it’s the result of a slip of the tongue, a simple mistake; sometimes it’s an attempt to be bullish and occasionally it’s the result … Read more
Voting is under way in the New Zealand general election. Explore the main parties’ pledges at Policy.nz, but here’s a whistlestop tour of what’s on offer in the world of tertiary education. Read more two-minute policy wraps here Tertiary fees and student support Labour’s biggest education pitch in the previous election was the fees-free tertiary … Read more
The Greens’ statement on RMA reform is the first clear, leadership-endorsed sign of what it will and won’t support in a second Labour-Green government, writes Pattrick Smellie for BusinessDesk. Throughout the current parliamentary term, the Greens have been very well-behaved. Co-leader James Shaw’s brief and unhappy attempt to hold ministers to ransom over government funding … Read more
A poll commissioned by pro-legalisation campaigners suggests that the referendum could yet go their way. For many observers, the chances of cannabis being legalised after the election were already being written off. But a new poll has gone against the trend of recent surveying, showing the Cannabis Legalisation and Control Bill remains on track to … Read more
A brisk tour of the 2020 campaign via the time-honoured caboose of the alphabet. A is for Aotearoa, the name by which this country would formally be known under Māori Party policy, providing a timely stimulus to the economy by putting us much higher on the drop-down menu for online shopping, just beneath Angola. A … Read more
Welcome to The Spinoff’s Election Live for October 5, bringing you the latest on election 2020 and other NZ news. The essential campaign dates are here. For all you need to know about the cannabis referendum click here. For the assisted dying referendum click here. Explore the parties’ pledges at Policy. I’m on stewart@thespinoff.co.nz The day in … Read more
Voting is under way in the New Zealand general election. Explore the main parties’ pledges at Policy.nz, but here’s a whistlestop tour of what’s on offer in the world of education. Read more two-minute policy wraps here Education accounts for the third-biggest portion of government spending, so it’s crucial parties have clear directives for this … Read more
From Te Rerenga Wairua at the top of the country, right down to Rakiura, we’re taking a look at our seven Māori electorates and the candidates contesting the seats. In this edition: the ‘super city’ electorate of Tāmaki Makaurau. Tāmaki Makaurau is a completely urban electorate, centred on greater Auckland south of the Harbour Bridge. … Read more
Voting is under way in the New Zealand general election. Explore the main parties’ pledges at Policy.nz, but here’s a whistlestop tour of what’s on offer when it comes to crime, justice and policing. Read more two-minute policy wraps here There are few policy areas where the gap between the parties is more stark than … Read more
Four members of a Northland household opened their official election information packs to find promotional material from a group opposing the End of Life Choice Act, they have told The Spinoff. Alex Braae reports. EasyVote packs have been sent out around the country ahead of the October 17 general election and referendums. But some of … Read more
The path might be steep and unsteady, but there is a path to victory that could see Judith Collins sworn in as prime minister after October 17. Toby Manhire crunches the numbers. To be clear: with 12 days to go the National Party remains very much the underdog. Several polls in recent months have put … Read more
Welcome to The Spinoff’s Election Live for October 4, bringing you the latest on election 2020 and other NZ news. The essential campaign dates are here. For all you need to know about the cannabis referendum click here. For the assisted dying referendum click here. Explore the parties’ pledges at Policy. 7.00pm: The day in sum Judith … Read more
Voting is under way in the New Zealand general election. Explore the main parties’ pledges at Policy.nz, but here’s a whistle-stop tour of what’s on offer in the world of the economy, tax and debt. Read more two-minute policy wraps here Under the government’s economic response to Covid-19, crown debt is forecasted to reach 55% … Read more
Voting is under way in the New Zealand general election. Explore the main parties’ pledges at Policy.nz, but here’s a whistle-stop tour of what’s on offer in the world of transport. Read more two-minute policy wraps here Public transport While there are a range of policy ideas for different areas of transport, only two parties … Read more
More than 40 years after he first arrived in parliament, Winston Peters is facing, barring a miracle, the end of the line, with his New Zealand First Party polling under 2%. But what a political career it has been. Danyl Mclauchlan traces the life and times of one of the most compelling and enduring characters … Read more
We asked the people vying for our votes how they’re keeping their minds sharp and bodies fuelled for the final stretch of the campaign marathon. What New Zealand’s political party leaders eat isn’t usually something many of us give much thought to, but come election time, when they’re out and about winning votes, politicians’ kai … Read more
Welcome to The Spinoff’s Election Live for October 3, bringing you the latest on election 2020 and other NZ news. The essential campaign dates are here. For all you need to know about the cannabis referendum click here. For the assisted dying referendum click here. Explore the parties’ pledges at Policy. I’m on aliceneville@thespinoff.co.nz 7.00pm: The day … Read more
Voting is under way in the New Zealand general election. Explore the main parties’ pledges at Policy.nz, but here’s a whistle-stop tour of what’s on offer in the world of health. Read more two-minute policy wraps here Over 2020, the New Zealand public has learned what “PPE” means; the director general of health became a revered … Read more
After meeting yesterday to address its unpopular policy that called for immigration to be halted, the Māori Party has made some concessions. It still isn’t good enough, writes former candidate Carrie Stoddart-Smith. Like most people who become a core base supporter of a political party, we each have our story of why. Sometimes our story … Read more
David Seymour’s meteoric rise over the past six months is well documented. But what caused it? Stewart Sowman-Lund sat down with the Act Party leader. Back in February, the Act Party was polling below 2%. Last year, below 1%. Now, it’s sitting at around 8%, with David Seymour on track to bring eight or nine … Read more
Voting is under way in the New Zealand general election. Explore the main parties’ pledges at Policy.nz, but here’s a whistle-stop tour of what’s on offer in the world of housing. Read more two-minute policy wraps here American abolitionist Henry David Thoreau once wrote that the sign of an advanced society was that “it has produced … Read more
Welcome to The Spinoff’s Election Live for October 2, bringing you the latest on election 2020 and other NZ news. The essential campaign dates are here. For all you need to know about the cannabis referendum click here. For the assisted dying referendum click here. Explore the parties’ pledges at Policy. I’m on stewart@thespinoff.co.nz 7.00pm: The day … Read more