Summer reissue: Has Michelle Boag finally gone too far? It won’t be the first time the question has been asked of New Zealand’s infamous right-wing PR consultant. First published on July 9, 2020 Independent journalism depends on you. Help us stay curious in 2021. The Spinoff’s journalism is funded by its members – click here … Read more
Does it sounds like a Key-English slogan, or something from Ardern-Robertson? Labour is ahead in the polls with a few days to go until decision day, and as incumbents you’d expect some of their messages to echo those from governing parties of days gone by. Grant Robertson and Jacinda Ardern have both, repeatedly, admiringly invoked … Read more
Labour has made an extraordinary ascent in the polls and is now clinging to a mostly non-threatening brand of centrism. Hayden Donnell counts the cost of that strategy. Cast your mind back to 2016. As Bill English rolled out his budget, Grant Robertson issued what looked like a criticism. In an article headlined “a Budget … Read more
In the wake of National’s leadership woes, The Spinoff sat down with the party’s most popular face in recent history to talk Covid-19, Judith Collins – and why he thinks our border should be more ‘flexible’. John Key is confident about our country’s future. In part, that’s because he tunes in each morning to Newstalk … Read more
We can’t tell you who wrote this piece, or where they work. What we can tell you is it’s not Unity. A little while ago, I said to a friend that working at a bookshop kind of sucks. He was clearly bamboozled. “I thought working at a bookshop would be lovely and magical. Being surrounded … Read more
Has Michelle Boag finally gone too far? It won’t be the first time the question has been asked of New Zealand’s infamous right-wing PR consultant. On Tuesday night, news broke that Michelle Boag had provided private Covid-19 patient information to National MP Hamish Walker, who in turn leaked it to the media. She had apparently … Read more
They are the clowns who shall inherit the earth – and for Trump, Johnson, Morrison et al, the jokester act provides the perfect political cover, writes Morgan Godfery. (This essay is extracted from new essay collection Public Knowledge: Radical Futures and is heavily abridged. Godfery goes on to argue for a revolution by degrees, beginning … Read more
Poet Hera Lindsay Bird celebrates the work of New Zealand artist Hannah Salmon, aka Daily Secretion, who creates portraits of angry ‘alpha men’. First published on 10 July, 2019. Like most teenage punishers who took art history in high school, I spent years resentfully analysing the composition of Colin McCahon paintings and various other New … Read more
ANZ was our most problematic bank, mines were the greatest threat to our environment, and our unions stepped up their mascots. Josie Adams remembers all the major protests of the decade. In 2010 I turned 18 and became a voting member of the public. I was very excited about this; about the same time I … Read more
At 2pm every day this week, The Spinoff will be counting down 100 local television moments of the decade. Today, moments 100-81. 100) Kiwi Steve makes it through to Conan, 2017 Not strictly local television, but this moment had about a one in a bajillion chance of ever happening, and yet somehow… it did. In … Read more
Toby Manhire gazes back at the last almost-10 years in New Zealand politics, leadership and tragedy. When I returned to New Zealand after 11 years away in 2010, John Key had been prime minister for a couple of years and it felt like he’d been prime minister forever. He was a fixture of familiarity and … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Minister wants winter grazing cleaned up before next season, elite figures wade into port debate, and golfers win Chamberlain Park fight. Environmental and animal welfare concerns have been at the forefront of a hard hitting report on winter grazing. It came from a taskforce convened by agriculture … Read more
Our former prime minister secured a meeting with Chinese premier Xi Jinping outside all normal diplomatic channels. Interest’s Jenée Tibshraeny asks what it means for New Zealand’s evolving relationship with the superpower. This story was originally published on interest.co.nz and is reproduced with permission. Former prime minister John Key secured a meeting with Chinese President … Read more
‘Like Escher, if he was more into dicks than staircases.’ Poet Hera Lindsay Bird celebrates the work of New Zealand artist Hannah Salmon, aka Daily Secretion, who creates portraits of angry ‘alpha men’. Like most teenage punishers who took art history in high school, I spent years resentfully analysing the composition of Colin McCahon paintings … Read more
A prominent ad promoting the National Party and the CEO of Air New Zealand, Christopher Luxon, could be in breach of the law. An advertisement promoting Christopher Luxon and the National Party appeared in this morning’s newspaper – but the National Party says it had nothing to do with it. The half-page ad taken out … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Alarming raids against journalists in Australia, new stats show how many Aucklanders left town during boom, and yawning deficit in DHB funding. We’re going to start with an international story today, because it’s taking place in our backyard and is deeply concerning. The Australian Federal Police have … Read more
Nine years ago, John Key introduced the number one song of The Rock 1000 countdown: Rage Against The Machine’s ‘Killing in the Name Of’. Johnny Crawford writes about this bizarre moment in NZ musical history. While some of those that work forces are the same that burn crosses, some of them just want to rock … Read more
Joining dancing dildos, flags, Eminem and ponytails, getting-left-off-maps can now be added to our rolling collection of the Last Week Tonight show’s coverage of its most favoured/lampooned nation. Update, February 19, 2019: Topical comedy programme Last Week Tonight has returned to HBO for 2019, and its dedicated New Zealand Monitoring Unit has delivered already. It may have been … Read more
The leader of the National Party was heavily criticised for delivering a tone-deaf interview on the prime ministerial baby. Hayden Donnell resolved to help him beat his demons and redefine his personal brand. This post was first published 26 June 2018 The worst thing was he thought it was going well. Simon Bridges was revelling … Read more
For many years NZ First’s Shane Jones was one of Labour’s most reliably pro-business MPs. Yet today he presents as an anti-corporate crusader. Branko Marcetic assesses his record and asks whether supporters should trust his dramatic conversion. The metamorphosis of a butterfly is one of nature’s great miracles. A caterpillar, growing too big for its … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: PM makes no new regional fuel taxes pledge on the fly, dream of merger over for media companies, and Hager speaks out on JLR saga. Jacinda Ardern has made what could become something of a defining pledge for her career – no new regional fuel taxes … Read more
A bottle of the (former) PM’s Pinot All Noir came into our correspondent’s possession via a shady route of backdoor deals and dirty politics… but no ponytails were harmed. This weekend, I sat in my rented Grey Lynn villa as the wind blew literal puddles of rain through the huge gap under the front door, … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Government moves to address construction worker shortage, data on regressiveness of fuel tax released, and Sir John Key pops up as a lobbyist. It’s been a big 24 hours of news about the logistics of the Kiwibuild programme, in which the government intends to build 100,000 … Read more
The leader of the National Party has been heavily criticised for delivering a tone-deaf interview on the prime ministerial baby on Friday. Hayden Donnell resolved to help him beat his demons and redefine his personal brand. The worst thing was he thought it was going well. Simon Bridges was revelling in the grim nihilism of … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Contracts signed by Filipino migrant workers have illegal anti–union clause, voters stream away from Māori roll, and the government considers an inquiry into forced adoptions. Filipino migrant workers have been jibbed out of jobs in construction,a Newshub investigation has found. Dozens of illegal contracts, which promised work … Read more
It is only a matter of time until the former US president bestows upon a humble nation some upbeat social media content. Here we measure that matter of time. Incontrovertibly, Barack Obama’s recent visit to New Zealand, during which he travelled the length and breadth of two golf courses, was a massive boon to this … Read more
At the end of a week in which the New Zealand media swooned at the presence of a former president completing a few private rounds of golf and a few private speeches, what, asks Finlay Macdonald, did it really amount to? He came, he saw, he … putted. No, former US president Barack Obama’s visit to New Zealand will … Read more
Former US president Barack Obama is in New Zealand for three days. You might not get to see him but as Madeleine Chapman shows, you can still travel like him. It’s easy to like Barack Obama. It’s even easier to like him when his successor has the charisma of a lit turd. Soon after his … Read more
The Real Pod assembles to dissect the week in New Zealand pop culture and real life, with special thanks to Nando’s. This week on The Real Pod, the team dissect the horror of Troy on Married at First Sight Australia, potentially the worst ever tuna-monster in the history of reality television. We also learn that our … Read more