‘They are us’ – an urgent, uncomfortable call to action

A proper reckoning with March 15 2019 demands that we take up a generations-long struggle to destroy all the exclusions that make up our society and produce the conditions we know as racism. An essay by Morgan Godfery. This work is made possible by Spinoff Members.  1 I was cleaning out the garage the other … Read more

The Māori Party and TOP: dream team or disaster?

The parties founded by Tariana Turia and Gareth Morgan both failed to make parliament at the last election, and now there’s talk of a collaboration to turn that around. Māui Street editor Morgan Godfery asks whether it might bear fruit. Big news via TVNZ: TOP and the Māori Party could be allies in the next … Read more

The Bulletin: Winston renews Māori seats referendum call

Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Renewed call for a Māori seats referendum, Russel McVeagh report released, and the stoush between two leading NZers over a charity concert escalates. Acting PM Winston Peters has renewed and updated his call for a two part referendum on the Māori electorates. Radio NZ reports his comments made … Read more

The Bulletin: Who will swing the hammer for Kiwibuild?

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

Workers are missing out on their share of growth, and they’re mad as hell

New Zealand’s workers are underpaid and, increasingly, they aren’t willing to put up with it. Alex Braae looks at the recent surge in industrial disputes and strikes in New Zealand. Nurses. Train and bus drivers. Port workers. Silver Fern Farms workers. Supermarket distribution workers. Fast food workers. Disability support workers. Fletcher Building workers. In the … Read more

This new left thinking sounds awfully grandparental – a review of The Interregnum

Morgan Godfery’s collection of new progressive thinking is weighed down by a lot of old left ideas, writes Ben Thomas, from the other side of the political divide. The tagline of BWB Texts is “short books on big subjects by great New Zealand writers”, although a more appropriate description of its latest anthology, The Interregnum: … Read more