Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Dramatic leadership change for National, government rolls out millions more in business support, and several police raids ruled unlawful by IPCA. If you didn’t pay attention to the news yesterday from about 7.15am onwards, there’s a bit to catch up on. The big story is this: … Read more
In every discussion about who could lead the National Party since John Key resigned in 2016, one name has always figured high in speculation: Judith Collins. The controversial yet popular MP for Papakura has put her name forward twice – losing to Bill English and Simon Bridges. Since then, Collins has pledged loyalty to the … Read more
With just over two months to go before the election, National suddenly, shockingly finds itself in need of a new leader. Who are the potential candidates? Late leadership changes before an election aren’t unheard of in politics. The current prime minister is living proof of that, taking over from Andrew Little as Labour leader just … Read more
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington. AUCKLAND 1 Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo (Penguin Classics, $24) Joint winner of the 2019 Booker prize. That was in October … Read more
Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas on ministerial resignations in the recent and middle-distant past, a new book from Judith Collins, and the reinvention of Simon Bridges. This episode was recorded on Tuesday morning, before news broke that Hamish Walker and Michelle Boag were behind the Covid-19 data leak. The Gone By Lunchtime triumvirate … Read more
If you’re looking for the politician of ‘crusher’ fame, you won’t find her here, writes Toby Manhire. In her new book Pull No Punches, Judith Collins pulls her punches. Just when you think she’s about to call out the politician who left secret documents on their desk for journalists, she stops short. She denounces two … Read more
No, there is nothing ‘wrong’ with being white. But it comes with unearned privilege which makes progress through the world easier. It is a tailwind through every storm, writes Mary Breheny, associate professor of health sciences at Massey University. I have never thought of myself as coordinated or physically adept, but since the first week … Read more
Inspired by Winston Peters’ dog and muse, Beau, a range of other dogs have urged their politician owners to get them in the Spinoff gallery. Drool away. For the second time in a week, The Spinoff is bringing together New Zealand’s politician and dog communities in celebration. On Tuesday we published the epochal, soft-hitting, smash … Read more
The most notorious publication of the digital media era in New Zealand has closed down for good. Alex Braae writes the obituary to Whaleoil. It is customary to say kind words about a person or entity when they leave this world forever. So what then can one say about Whaleoil, the blog which in 2014 … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Deep wounds shown by Captain Cook vandalism, expert fact checks claims around electric cars, and police deployed to fight non-existent crime wave. A Gisborne Captain Cook statue has been vandalised, and the message painted on it shows the depth of tensions that will surround the 250th … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Some win, some lose from National reshuffle, End of Life choice bill facing crucial vote tonight, and Luxon-ad supporter lobbies against predatory lending controls. In any reshuffle, for someone to move up, someone else has got to go down. So it has been with the National … Read more
In a surprise announcement, the shadow finance minister Amy Adams will leave parliament in 2020, and has stepped down from her frontbench roles with immediate effect. Alex Braae asks what happens now It could have all been so different for Amy Adams. True story: one of my first assignments at The Spinoff in 2018 was … Read more
Last night Newshub-Reid Research and Colmar Brunton both released opinion polls. Political pundits, in the middle of a poll drought, waited eagerly for what turned out to be wildly diverging results. Josie Adams talks to Colmar Brunton’s Jason Shoebridge about what happened. Last night’s polling results had little in common, with the only consistency across … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Two polls released showing bizarrely different scenarios, Murupara runs out of cash, and report finds racism embedded in the justice system. In the space of a single evening, two wildly different poll results came out. Each tells an entirely different story of the voting preferences of the … Read more
With a capital gains tax off the political agenda, the opposition needs to find the government’s achilles heel. Liam Hehir goes looking through the options. This is the week of the “wellbeing” budget. Animating this bold vision for our future is an ironclad certainty that the one thing New Zealanders really need to be happy … Read more
Hold on to your seats, it’s time. The annual Register of Pecuniary and Other Specified Interests of Members of Parliament is out. We break it down in 10 easy numbers. 5 The number of National MPs that got free tickets to the Foo Fighters – Simon Bridges, Hamish Walker, Erica Stanford, Tim Macindoe and Chris … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Simon Bridges puts up bill with major tax system changes, social media crackdown call unpacked, and lower crowd numbers at main Auckland ANZAC services. This happened earlier in the week, but is worth unpacking because it would be quite a big change to the tax system. Newshub reports … Read more
Madeleine Chapman interrogates Andrew Falloon as to how he managed to go so viral on Twitter. You may not recognise his name, or know he exists, but Andrew Falloon – rhymes with balloon – is the most popular New Zealander in the world this week. Falloon was never meant to be popular, and never asked to … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Moderate swing towards govt in first poll after CHCH attack, captured Kiwi nurse named by Red Cross, and a hard look at life after prison. The first poll since the Christchurch mosque attacks shows a moderate swing towards PM Jacinda Ardern and the government. The One News Colmar-Brunton poll … Read more
A whistlestop tour of the case for the National caucus to give Simon Bridges the boot in favour of JuCo, and the case for doing no such thing. Suddenly the National Party is an issue again. When One News unveiled the results of its latest Colmar Brunton poll last night, attentions were focused less on … Read more
On Friday March 29, the Spinoff published a ranking of every chip flavour in New Zealand. Everyone promptly lost the plot. Chip ranker Madeleine Chapman wonders where she went wrong. I didn’t have anything else to write about. That’s why I ranked all 123 chip flavours in New Zealand from best to worst. Not because … Read more
Hitman 2 has plundered from our shores before, but this time, has it taken the story and likeness of our most notorious South Auckland MP, Judith ‘Crusher’ Collins? Adam Goodall goes down the rabbit hole. I’m a Hitman fan. A Hitfan, if you will. But more than that, I’m a fan of New Zealand. I’m a … Read more
The Gone By Lunchtime peloton roars into 2019. Just as you’re wondering whether it’s too late to say ‘happy new year’, Annabelle Lee, Toby Manhire and Ben Thomas wish you a happy new year with a return to the Gone-pod. On the agenda: A hell-poll for National sees Judith Collins casting a shadow over Simon … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Nelson fires give glimpse of climate change future, mystery over Air NZ flight seems to be solved, and working class suburbs experience house price boom. The conversation around the Nelson fires, which have caused so much disruption and angst, has shifted to the future. There’s been a … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: First published poll of the year spells disaster for National, China-NZ tourism promotion yanked, and rural firefighters struggling to find water. Hey, remember how I said the other day that National were having a good start to their year? Well, according to the first poll of it, they’re absolutely … Read more
The first day back in parliament comes with double gloom for Simon Bridges: not only did Labour overtake National in Newshub’s poll, but the ‘strong and decisive’ one is preferred as PM. Who’d bet against Collins having another tilt at the leadership before the next election, writes Toby Manhire Just less than four months ago, … Read more
Social media has provided access to more information than ever, but at the same time it’s harder than ever to tell what’s real and what’s fake. InternetNZ policy advisor Nicola Brown looks back at the year Fake News broke the internet. Bad news spreads fast. In 2018 we saw what might be the breaking point of … Read more
Housing was in the news this week, and there was a striking indication of where the Ardern-led government’s focus lies, writes Guyon Espiner of RNZ There were two big housing stories this week, two quite different approaches to them and one clear signal where the government’s focus lies. The first was a government generated “media … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Electric trains to continue on main trunk line, alarm sounded over loss of Auckland tree canopy, and MP Jami-Lee Ross gives proxy vote back to National. The railway network of New Zealand has been given a shot in the arm, which could signal more investment in … Read more