The sight of a small party going to the courts to seek a place on a television debate has become a regular sight in our election campaigns. Andrew Geddis walks us through the debate about the debates. No Gareth, you shall not go to the debate tonight In what is becoming a somewhat predictable election … Read more
Ben Thomas watched the Stuff Leader Debate and, unlike The Spinoff’s editor, calls an emphatic win for English. If the ghost of any of Canterbury’s rugby greats had appeared to Jacinda Ardern as she prepared for tonight’s debate it would have reminded her, “You can’t win without the ball”. Yet the Labour leader found herself … Read more
The landslide victory for abortion legalisation in Ireland has reignited calls for abortion to be removed from the Crimes Act here. In this post first published in September 2017, long-time reproductive health campaigner Dame Margaret Sparrow gives 16 reasons the laws need to change. 16 REASONS TO CHANGE THE ABORTION LAWS 1. They are expensive. … Read more
When Jacinda Ardern and Bill English meet again at the Stuff Leaders Debate tonight at La Vida Conference Centre, it will represent an increasingly rare opportunity for Christchurch issues to be aired on a national stage. Barnaby Bennett explains what’s at stake. Tonight the leaders meet in Christchurch for their third big debate of this … Read more
Prime Minister Bill English made an unexpected commitment last night to cut the number of kids living in poverty by 50,000 over the next three years, and another 50,000 in the three years following. What exactly does he mean by that, asks Max Rashbrooke – and could his plan ever even work? When Bill English … Read more
Annabelle Lee, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire weigh up the first big Bill English v Jacinda Ardern clashes, the shock National target on child poverty, the claims of a massive hole in Labour’s numbers and the poll convulsions. Advance voting opens on Monday, and election day is less than three weeks away. Burning hot with … Read more
Bill English and Jacinda Ardern met this evening in their second big campaign set-piece, this time with Patrick Gower moderating. How did they fare? Ben Thomas: The drag race is on Jacinda Ardern’s second debate and probably her whole campaign could be summed up by her response to Bill English rattling off statistics about impressive … Read more
In our video series Kiwis of Snapchat, comedian Tom Sainsbury sources exclusive Snapchat footage of Kiwi citizens making the news. Today: didn’t we all do well? Morning has broken on the day after the first TV leaders debate. Bill English, Jacinda Ardern and Mike Hosking give their reflections on how they think the debate went. … Read more
Who won – Jacinda? Bill? A surprisingly competent Mike? A range of commentators from The Spinoff and all points on the political spectrum weigh in. Duncan Greive: Mike Hosking is still really good at this one thing Everyone from party leaders (with some justification) to activist movements wanted him gone. I myself wrote recently about … Read more
In our video series Kiwis of Snapchat, comedian Tom Sainsbury sources exclusive Snapchat footage of Kiwi citizens making the news. Today: Bill English gets hyped for tonight’s leaders’ debate. Click here for all our Kiwis of Snapchat videos. This content is entirely funded by Simplicity, New Zealand’s only non-profit fund manager, dedicated to making Kiwis wealthier … Read more