Having been part of the fight for reproductive rights as president of ALRANZ Abortion Rights Aotearoa, Terry Bellamak says she’s struck by the similarities between the struggles for abortion rights and assisted dying. Both prioritise bodily autonomy Both abortion rights and the right to voluntary assisted dying are founded on the idea that our physical … Read more
The Operation Burnham inquiry found serious failings in how the defence force operated, but none of this ‘transparency’ would have come to light if it hadn’t been for two journalists fighting tooth and nail to hold those in power to account, writes Amnesty International’s Meg de Ronde. When attorney-general David Parker stood up yesterday morning … Read more
Members of New Zealand’s Indian community rallied in Auckland on Sunday to raise awareness about threats to their homeland’s democracy from the rise of right-wing Hindu nationalism. As the world’s second-most populous nation grapples with a burgeoning pandemic and deepening political and social division, about 25 protesters gathered in Auckland’s Aotea Square on Sunday to … Read more
Independent experts will soon arrive in New Zealand to assess our human rights record. We should embrace these visits as a chance to do better, writes chief human rights commissioner Paul Hunt. A strong democracy, at ease with itself, welcomes constructive scrutiny. That’s why as a country we should be able to welcome the arrival of … Read more
Last month the Waitangi Tribunal heard submissions on the current prisoner voting ban, something New Zealand’s Supreme Court has found to be in breach of human rights. Carmen Hetaraka asks: if now isn’t the time for the government to act, then when? “When you start you’ve got all these principles. And in the political process, … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. A brief note to start today’s edition: The aftermath of the Christchurch mosque attacks will always be an important set of stories to tell. Further down in today’s edition are the most important developments on that from the weekend. However, many other stories from last week need to be caught … Read more
New Zealander Gregory Burke is due to start as Auckland Art Gallery director next month. The new director of Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki is under investigation for alleged workplace harassment in Saskatchewan, Canada. The Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission is investigating a complaint filed by a co-worker against Gregory Burke, according to a report by … Read more
In a bank? In a shop? On a plane? On a train? Where exactly is it appropriate to wear bare feet? The Spinoff’s own Don Rowe and Madeleine Chapman duke it out. Today shocking news broke of a woman denied access to Sylvia Park on account of her bare feet. The story sparked furious and … Read more
Stay tuned for updates as top Kiwi broadcaster lashes back at Donald Trump with word play after being victimised by brutal new rules and/or not filling out a form he needed to fill out. Sunday April 15, 6am It’s there above the masthead of this morning’s Herald on Sunday. Top Kiwi broadcaster Barry Soper has … Read more
Jacinda Ardern flies to Nauru this week for the 49th Pacific Islands Forum, and the host nation is already making headlines way beyond the official agenda. Don Rowe explains Fifty years after it became the world’s smallest republic, Nauru plays host this week to the 49th Pacific Islands Forum amid international outrage over the treatment of … Read more
Australia’s polarising immigration minister, Peter Dutton, last week responded to Andrew Little’s criticisms of its deportation policy by asking him to “reflect a little more on the relationship between Australia and New Zealand”. Here the NZ justice minister, having reflected, writes that every country has the sovereign right to make their own laws. But when those … Read more
This week it was announced that Dame Susan Devoy will not be seeking another term as Race Relations Commissioner. Here she pays tribute to her colleagues at the Human Rights Commission, and calls on those who failed staff in relation to sexual harassment allegations to do the right thing and step aside. People who are … Read more
News that an employment deal for migrant workers in the construction sector made joining a trade union a sackable offence should by rights have generated disgust and protest, but with a few exceptions the union movement was strangely quiet, writes barrister Greg Lloyd. I was disgusted – but not surprised – to see reports that an … Read more
NZ needs to join those countries that have called for an international prohibition on autonomous weapons and to work with them to make it happen, writes Thomas Nash. The drive towards artificial intelligence and robots on the battlefield is the kind of seismic shift in military technology not seen since the inventions of gunpowder and … Read more
A new Green MP is under fire over her past work as a legal intern in a team defending men accused of war crimes in Rwanda. Do the criticisms hold water, asks legal professor Andrew Geddis There’s a popular narrative around human rights. In this story, there is the good side and the bad side. … Read more
The Human Rights Commission’s David Rutherford argues that people shouldn’t have to live in houses contaminated by methamphetamine – but they shouldn’t have to live in houses that are damp and mouldy either. Black mould. It’s become almost a rite of passage for renting in New Zealand – if you haven’t lived in a house … Read more
After a brief flurry of media interest, the revelation that prisoners had been tied to their beds for up to 16 hours a day has quickly faded from the public consciousness. But that’s par for the course when prison inmates are routinely dehumanised, says Roger Brooking. Three weeks ago, the Ombudsman Peter Boshier issued a … Read more
Nicky Hager and Jon Stephenson’s new book presents compelling evidence that our SAS was responsible for killing at least six Afghan civilians, wounding at least another 15, and handing over a man to be tortured for information. The appearance that we have been systemically lied to about what our soldiers do in our name is … Read more
The use of ‘degrading’ and ‘dehumanising’ restraints in New Zealand prisons has been found by the Ombudsman’s Office to breach the UN Convention on Torture. This is no time to be making excuses, writes Elizabeth Stanley. In New Zealand, “At Risk Units” hold prisoners who are considered at risk of suicide or self-harm. They are … Read more
A group of AUT students have banded together to make a documentary on our growing homelessness problem – and to argue that by failing to act, New Zealand could be in contravention of its international human rights obligations. “I contemplated why I should even be alive right now, when I can’t even put a roof … Read more
Arms traders have gathered this week in Auckland for a weapons expo. Kiwis should be standing up to the global arms trade, not embracing it, writes Thomas Gregory. This week Auckland is playing host to the New Zealand Defence Industry Association Forum at the ANZ Viaduct Centre, bringing together arms dealers from around the world … Read more
Donald Trump may be enveloping the US in his godforsaken embrace, but is he also ruining New Zealand? Hayden Donnell talks to Tayyaba Khan about being a Muslim in the age of Trump. Most of us are living in fear of a Donald Trump presidency. If you don’t inhabit one of the Republican states imprisoned … Read more
Rapid divestment decisions by funds with money in nuclear weapons, landmines and cluster bombs is a credit to people power. But the battle is far from over, writes Grant Bayldon If you like a good David and Goliath story, you’re in luck. News broke in August that millions of New Zealanders had unwittingly invested in … Read more
NZ has been a world leader in eradication of cluster bombs, landmines and nuclear weapons. Where today are the moral principles the National government has shown before, asks Amnesty International’s Grant Bayldon. On the 16th of April this year, in a village in Yemen 10 kilometres from the Saudi border, two brothers aged 9 and … Read more
An appalling and outdated law means thousands of New Zealanders still have no access to information about their identities. Bonnie Sumner wants to know why the Government refuses to recognise the terrible legacy of forced adoptions. When my mother gave birth to me and held me in her arms, I was the first blood relative … Read more
Opinion: Murdoch Stephens of Doing Our Bit unpicks the announcement of a modest increase in NZ’s refugee intake, and the immigration minister’s suggestion that campaigners ‘care a little less’ about new arrivals’ resettlement There is a familiar arc that is meant to be respected when responding to disappointing news from a disappointing government: cautiously challenge … Read more
Just over two years ago, the Azraq refugee camp was opened in Jordan to house Syrians fleeing their war-ravaged home. Today around 35,000 refugees live there. World Vision’s Simon Day recently returned from Azraq. Here he shares some of what he saw 1 Shimmering on the horizon are the white boxes of the Azraq refugee … Read more
The Australian government has spent $6 million on a bizarre feature-length movie to warn away potential asylum seekers from the Middle East. Josh Drummond sat down with a Farsi-speaking interpreter to watch it. It’s dark in The Spinoff offices, late on a Sunday, and I can’t find the light switch. What little light there is … Read more
Hundreds of refugees remain stranded in Nauru, some in one of Australia’s controversial detention camps, others now in the community. 28 refugees on Nauru have appealed to New Zealand, seeking resettlement under a 2013 deal with Australia. One of the Nauru refugees details conditions in the camp and on the island, and why they wish … Read more