New Zealand’s fertility rate is dropping below replacement rates. Paul Spoonley explains why, and why we should care. In recent years, many aspects of New Zealand’s changing population have drawn public attention. Immigration – tick. Ageing – tick. Regional differences and disparities – tick. Population growth rates and projections – tick. Fertility – not so … Read more
In the final part of Coming Home, hosts Duncan Greive and Jane Yee ask what can be done to keep returning New Zealanders on our shores post-pandemic. Over the first four episodes of Coming Home we’ve heard about what’s been pushing New Zealanders to live and work overseas for decades, and what pulled so many … Read more
In part four of Coming Home, hosts Duncan Greive and Jane Yee find out what returning to New Zealand this year was like – and why it didn’t always go as smoothly as anticipated. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you usually listen to podcasts. Everyone we spoke to for this episode had a … Read more
In the third part of Coming Home, hosts Duncan Greive and Jane Yee talk to recently returned New Zealanders about the different factors that brought them home this year. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you usually listen to podcasts. We’ve heard a lot so far about the factors that have for decades driven New Zealanders to … Read more
In part two of Coming Home, hosts Duncan Greive and Jane Yee meet more recently returned New Zealanders and learn what factors drew them abroad and what life looked like in their new home countries. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you usually listen to podcasts. In last week’s episode, we heard about the “brain drain” … Read more
Thousands of highly-skilled New Zealanders are returning from overseas as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. But why did they leave in the first place? Listen to episode one of Coming Home now. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you usually listen to podcasts. New episodes arriving weekly, brought to you by The Spinoff and Kiwibank. For … 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
Two years ago, Haider Khan started his te reo Māori journey. Since then, he says, a new world has opened up for him, and he’s uncovered connections that he’d never noticed before. Haider Khan was inspired to take up te reo Māori at precisely the wrong time. After hearing a coworker at Spark delivering a … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Horticulture industry facing labour crisis, details of new cases spark concern, and Canterbury candidate under fire for local government record. Fears are growing that fruit will simply rot on the vine this season, because nobody will be there to pick it. Plenty of this sort of … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Competing education plans in focus, Māori Party push for greater prominence for te reo, and hundreds of prominent New Zealanders in Chinese intel database. We’ve now had both major parties come out with the education policies they’ll take into the election. As always, it’s likely to … Read more
There’s been good news this week for would-be New Zealanders in the age of Covid-19, as the government has given the green light for more workers and immigrants to enter the country. There was a substantial shift at New Zealand’s border this week as the government announced plans to slowly lower the drawbridge and allow … Read more
We’ve long lamented the loss of New Zealand’s best and brightest. Now that the ‘brain drain’ has the potential to be reversed, let’s not squander the opportunity, writes Toni Truslove. When Robert Muldoon famously quipped to a journalist that New Zealanders who migrated to Australia “raised the IQ of both countries”, his response diminished the … Read more
Without a strong legal and ethical framework and clear policy for use, FRT can have grave implications for individual and collective rights, writes Nessa Lynch. Automated facial recognition technology, which involves the use of an algorithm to match a facial image to one already stored in a system, is used in automated passport control and … Read more
Their livelihoods are at risk, their children’s schooling halted, and their entire futures thrown into doubt, writes Gaurav Sharma. For several weeks now, an increasing number of Indian New Zealanders who are currently overseas have been sharing with me their experiences. In all our conversations, a common theme has emerged. While all of these people … Read more
Celebrity agent Ryan Serhant is promoting the sale, a snip at $24 million. It looks so good, why let pesky details like closed borders and foreign buyer bans stop you? Along with panoramic views, adventure sports and fine wines, the New Zealand pitch for super-wealthy Americans now includes the lure of zero Covid in the … Read more
As the global pandemic drags on, an already precarious situation for New Zealand migrants is becoming increasingly fraught, reports Maria Hoyle. Romi Aggarwal speaks softly and calmly, choosing her words with care. Still, her emotion is tangible when she talks about being separated from her family. “Jacinda Ardern recently celebrated her daughter’s second birthday. She … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Problems looming for temporary visa holders, state house waiting list balloons again, and US ban could hit NZ seafood exports. There are some real problems looming for temporary visa holders and their employers, with thousands set to expire all once, reports Nona Pelletier for Radio NZ. Automatic … Read more
Only one is really easy, but most of them make sense, in a bleak way. Envious of New Zealand progress in campaigns against things like viruses and armed police forces, Americans have been visiting the Immigration NZ website again, and alighting on enticing official messages on the Immigration NZ website newzealandnow.govt.nz. It turns out these … Read more
An upcoming three-day conference in Auckland aims to ‘envision our future’, but the Ed Hillary-branded event appears to feature some odd guests, including one who thinks astrology can explain important historic events, and a self-help guru who’s been labelled a fraud. David Farrier reports. A new year, a new pricey three-day conference, this time courtesy … Read more
Summer journeys: In the fourth of a special travel writing series, Anjum Rahman recounts a return to her place of birth at the age of 12, and reflects on how the history of Muslims in India is being rewritten. The Spinoff Summer Journey series is entirely funded by The Spinoff Members. For more about becoming … Read more
Shane Jones’ inflammatory comments last week failed to understand the complexity of arranged marriage, serving only to repeat deeply entrenched racist colonial stereotypes, writes Josephine Varghese. Last night I, an Indian immigrant, was having dinner at a small Vietnamese BYO in Christchurch (run by Vietnamese immigrants), happily savouring the lemongrass flavour in my favourite dish. … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Meth prices drop to record lows, dozens of arrests at Extinction Rebellion protests, and an excellent data dive into land sales to overseas forestry interests. In a worrying sign for wellbeing, the price of meth in many parts of the country has plunged to new … Read more
Two years on from her open letter to Andrew Little on his vow to slash immigration numbers, Israeli-born Yael Shochat, who owns Ima Cuisine in Auckland, writes about the harm the changes to the work-to-residence visa will do to the hospitality industry. Last week I, like many who employ immigrants, received an email from Immigration … Read more
Nerds, rejoice. The day of reckoning is finally upon us, with the release of the data from the 2018 census. So what are some of the interesting facts and figures? Forget about how badly this Census was botched. Forget about how there are concerns over how accurate the response data is, or that the results … Read more
New Zealand has long been the world’s imagined lifeboat – and increasingly for something more than just escape, writes Elle Hunt. One Friday morning in January 1847, Charles Dickens wrote to his friend John Forster that he was “disposed to go to New Zealand and start a magazine”. The quote was circulated in an editorial … Read more
Dietary Requirements is The Spinoff’s monthly podcast in which we eat, drink and talk about it too, with special thanks to Freedom Farms. This month, we’re joined by comedian Pax Assadi to discuss the merits (or lack thereof) of white people food. Growing up in Auckland with an Iranian dad and a Pakistani mum, Pax Assadi … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Wounds caused by UN Migration Pact drama still fester, Middlemore sources concerned deadly flu cases contracted in hospital, and rat populations ballooning. It started off as little more than an obscure, non-binding agreement for the United Nations to mull over. It became a rallying call for … Read more
Thousands of Pacific Islanders – including a quarter of Samoa’s population – are hoping for a new life through the annual visa lotteries. They are ready to wrench themselves from home for a New Zealand residence visa. But is the better life the ballot promises a reality? Philippa Tolley reports in this piece originally published … Read more
On the eve of the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, New Zealand Chinese writer Tze Ming Mok writes a beautiful, bitter letter to an old friend in Xinjiang, grappling with matters of conscience, community survival, and Anne-Marie Brady’s ‘Magic Weapons’ paper. Originally published in the new collection Life on Volcanoes: Contemporary Essays But where were we? You … Read more