Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Wildly different caucus meetings loom for National and Labour, new case of community transmission announced, and anger mounts over wage subsidy piss-taking. The mood in the room will be very different when the Labour and National caucuses meet this week. For Labour, it’ll be a crowded … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Fallout continues from Falloon scandal, significant damage to Tairāwhiti from storm, and Labour MP Raymond Huo announces retirement. Much more emerged on the scandal around outgoing National MP Andrew Falloon yesterday. The police will now be reopening their inquiries into the matter, after previously finding that … Read more
In an effort to contain the spread of Covid-19, New Zealand has officially gone into lockdown. With people instructed to stay at home, streets, parks, playgrounds and roads have rarely been so empty. Here, we present a selection of the best images (Note: All photos were taken while practising physical distancing) For the must-know rules … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: New guidelines on gatherings and social distancing announced, OCR slashed ahead of fiscal stimulus, and Air NZ facing crushing losses. Gatherings of 500 or more people have been banned in the latest round of measures aimed at preventing the spread of Covid-19. It has meant the … Read more
Yes, it’s still summer and, en route to that final festival or beach bolt-hole, the season of the road trip. Here Spinoff Art co-editor Mark Amery runs down some of the best North Island contemporary art stopovers, and the mavericks behind them. We cross the Cook Strait next year, promise. Back in 2000 Gregory Burke … Read more
In our latest local elections 2019 race briefing (read the rest here), Tara Ward goes into the New Plymouth election campaign, which is notable for being filled with pictures of turds. The Spinoff local election coverage is entirely funded by The Spinoff Members. For more about becoming a member and supporting The Spinoff’s journalism, click here. … Read more
An innovative new roading system is being trialled in New Plymouth that could reduce the amount of plastic sent to landfill. It’s a New Zealand-first, so Tara Ward got up close and personal with the road to see what all the fuss is about. The fair city of New Plymouth made the news this … Read more
Residents of New Plymouth are suggesting Austin, Texas, become their next sister city. Taranaki-raised Josie Adams compares the two. New Plymouth, the nipple of the North Island, has two sister cities: Mishima (Japan) and Kunming (China). This is apparently not enough, and the city is looking to add the clout of an American to its … Read more
Taranaki workers who once earned six-figure salaries are having to rethink their lives after the government axed future offshore oil and gas exploration. Could alternative energy prove their saviour, asks Robin Martin for this RNZ Insight report Money never used to be an issue for geologist Gary Ammundsen. He was a “mudlogger” – responsible for … Read more
A Taranaki couple threw in their high-flying careers to bring people together through the joys of good baking. Tucked down an alleyway off New Plymouth’s main street, just a stone’s throw from the famous Len Lye Centre, you’ll find Billow Bakery in its new home on the ground floor of Quarter Bank, a new development … Read more
The Waitara Lands Bill passed its third reading in December – settling one of Aotearoa’s longest-running land disputes – despite only one of two hapū giving their support. Why has the government allowed this to happen, asks Leonie Pihama. I received a parliamentary alert in December that read, “The following documents matching your alert criteria … Read more