Allegations of voter interference and dirty politics have rocked the normally benign political landscape of Māngere-Ōtāhuhu, reports Justin Latif. A candidate in the Auckland Council by-election for the Māngere-Ōtāhuhu Local Board is accusing a rival of shoddy politics for publicly airing allegations of voter interference before going to authorities. Six candidates are competing for the … Read more
Telling a Rotary Club audience that housing is a serious problem and they should care deeply about it landed flat but took some daring from the National leader, writes Justin Giovannetti. Judith Collins’ level of control over the National Party is still a question best answered by a shrug. Elevated to her party’s leadership in … Read more
Summer reissue: The chair of the Northern Young Nats says her party feels like a family, and they’re sticking together despite the political turmoil of 2020. First published August 24, 2020. Independent journalism depends on you. Help us stay curious in 2021. The Spinoff’s journalism is funded by its members – click here to learn more about … Read more
Summer reissue: Shane Reti has emerged in recent weeks as the opposition’s most capable communicator in the age of Covid-19. Justin Giovannetti speaks with ‘Dr Shane’ about the changes he’s brought to National and how he’d seek to improve New Zealand’s response to the coronavirus. First published September 2, 2020. Independent journalism depends on you. … Read more
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
The opposition leader appointed her shadow cabinet yesterday, and in doing so made some unexpected choices. Here are 10 Justin Giovannetti is pondering. Judith Collins has put her stamp on the National Party with a new shadow cabinet that breaks with her predecessors. With a small caucus of only 33, Collins has given each of … Read more
The elevation of Dr Shane to the deputy leadership may not set the world on fire, but his calm capability will be a balm for the wounded political party, writes Liam Hehir. The deputy leader of the National Party is Shane Reti (or “Dr Shane” as we are encouraged to call him). The appointment caps … Read more
As it picks itself up from a drubbing, National needs to consider some new ways of doing things, such as reinventing the way we do social welfare, argues Liam Hehir. Yesterday was Labour Day. It has been Labour Month, in a way, with Jacinda Ardern’s party drubbing National in the general election 10 days ago. … Read more
Which parties spent the most on Facebook and Google, and was it really all worth it in the end? The election is over and the results are in: Labour swept the polls, National lost big, and the Greens and Act are set to return to parliament with an even bigger cohort of MPs than they … Read more
Where to next for the National Party? Ben Thomas reviews the post-election wreckage. The National Party is undertaking a review of its campaign. Presumably this will not be to determine the cause of its historic defeat. The cause is well known. The cause screams out from the pages of The New York Times, The Economist, … Read more
How can National scrape itself off the canvas after a big defeat? Justin Latif talks to MPs and members. Following National’s crushing defeat on election night, the carcass of the party’s unsuccessful campaign is already being picked over by members and MPs. Departing MP and former cabinet minister Alfred Ngaro placed the blame squarely at … Read more
National had prepared for the worst. But it hadn’t prepared for that. Stewart Sowman-Lund watched the ship crash and burn. The invitation sent out ahead of National’s election night event said to arrive at 7pm. Of course, only media would arrive on time – the guests would be fashionably late. But as time ticked on, … Read more
A humiliating hour in Ponsonby doesn’t mean National is imploding, just that it’s losing. National voters turned off by the show of disunity might want to consider the alternative, writes Ben Thomas. There’s a persistent myth that the “ordinary people” travellers to North Korea meet during tightly controlled trips into Pyongyang’s underground commuter train or … Read more
The path might be steep and unsteady, but there is a path to victory that could see Judith Collins sworn in as prime minister after October 17. Toby Manhire crunches the numbers. To be clear: with 12 days to go the National Party remains very much the underdog. Several polls in recent months have put … Read more
The National Party leader tells Duncan Greive what conviction means to her, and why she thinks she gets treated differently to Jacinda Ardern. The first time I saw Judith Collins at close quarters, she was moving through what was inelegantly billed as the “National stakeholder party” held at parliament last year. It was a fun … Read more
Judith Collins’ hopes of kicking the National 2020 campaign into gear were stalled by an embarrassing accounting error, writes Justin Giovannetti from the Hutt Valley. Today was the day the National Party’s election campaign was finally going to start rolling with momentum after a belated campaign launch. Instead, festivities were overshadowed by a Labour press … Read more
Welcome to The Spinoff’s Election Live for September 20, bringing you the latest on election 2020 and other NZ news. The essential campaign dates are here. For all you need to know about the cannabis referendum click here. For the assisted dying referendum click here. Explore the parties’ pledges at Policy. 6.00pm: The day in sum There … Read more
Labour says this will be the Covid election. National says it’s about the economy. There’s something big being missed in the middle, writes Justin Giovannetti. It was the week the economy took centre stage. The scene was set in the pre-election fiscal update, which on Wednesday offered a sobering snapshot of what’s happening under the … Read more
Despite the cartoonish ‘Crusher’ label, the National leader has always been a policy wonk. Right now, she’s doing her best to present a palatable idea of a government in waiting, writes Ben Thomas. It may be hard to fathom but, approximately 17,000 months into 2020, National has not yet officially launched its election campaign. After … Read more
New Zealand’s narrow tax base benefits the wealthy and punishes the poor, says taxation academic Jonathan Barrett – and neither major party seems to want to do anything about it. Ability to pay is the basic principle of tax fairness: people in a similar financial position should pay similar amounts of tax; people who can … Read more
Looking to wear your political affiliations on your sleeve? Eli Matthewson takes you through your options. As the news of the controversial “Green School” funding broke, I could think of only one thing: how almost everyone I follow on Instagram had already bought the Green Party jumper. At the start of the worst week for … Read more
The struggle of an early life that included hunger and homelessness is a critical part of what led Shelley Pilkington to put her hand up for the National Party. This election, she’s ranked 75th on the National list. Read more from The Spinoff’s Last on the List series here. “Disappointed with last on the list?” … Read more
Shane Reti has emerged in recent weeks as the opposition’s most capable communicator in the age of Covid-19. Justin Giovannetti speaks with ‘Dr Shane’ about the changes he’s brought to National and how he’d seek to improve New Zealand’s response to the coronavirus. The National Party’s path to effective opposition on Covid-19 has been anything … Read more
The chair of the Northern Young Nats says her party feels like a family, and they’re sticking together despite the political turmoil of 2020. Watch the previous episodes of Youth Wings here. Aryana Nafissi’s favourite show is Question Time on Parliament TV. The Young Nats’ Northern chairperson watches the repeats at night with her sister … Read more
With the shine starting to come off the government’s Covid response, the opposition must abandon baseless speculation for a laser focus on failure and accountability, argues Ben Thomas. The fresh outbreak of Covid-19 in Auckland last week was a shock to the public. But it should have been manna from heaven for political parties campaigning … Read more
Newshub’s bombshell story about a Newstalk ZB caller named Merv rocked New Zealand’s political landscape. Roger Bridge, who stands accused of also being Merv, yesterday resigned from the National Party board. But he is far from the first political figure to don a fake name and ring a talkback station. The hour before midnight on … Read more
The Spinoff’s new six-part documentary series Youth Wings goes behind the O Week stalls to get to know some of the youngest and most passionate members of New Zealand’s main political parties. It may be hard to imagine, but every single member of New Zealand’s parliament was once young. And when they were young, many … Read more
The public hated National’s politicisation of the coronavirus crisis the first time around. So why is the party doubling down on it now? So far the National Party leadership team of Judith Collins and Gerry Brownlee has been a lot milder than everyone expected. Judith Collins has arched her eyebrows and reprised her ‘Crusher’ character, … Read more
What the deputy leader of the opposition has been implying lately is more than ‘nonsense’ – it represents a threat to one of New Zealand’s most powerful and undervalued assets, writes Duncan Greive. Things started getting interesting last Friday. National’s deputy leader Gerry Brownlee appeared on RNZ’s Morning Report to discuss the new government mask … Read more