Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Nervous wait for Northland and Auckland, trade minister annoys Aussies with China comments, and long-awaited clean car standards finally on the way. At the moment it looks like the top of the country might have got away with a very lucky escape, in the latest … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Questions to be answered about case in the community, major companies flagrantly breaching wastewater consents, and Tenancy Tribunal decisions harming abuse survivors. As of this morning, we’re still waiting on some crucial information about the situation in Northland, after a person travelled through the region before … Read more
Good morning and welcome to the first regular season Bulletin of 2021. In today’s edition: High alert as woman in Northland tests Covid-positive, house price inflation races ahead unabated, and schools grappling with new year after last year’s disruptions. Ministers and health officials were keeping their options open yesterday afternoon after a new case in … Read more
Summer reissue: There are many lessons climate scientists can learn from mātauranga Māori. Lesson one is: don’t panic. This story was made with support from the Science Journalism Fund and was first published 29 December, 2019. Hank Dunn (Te Uri o Tai, Te Rarawa) has survived five shipwrecks in his lifetime. He told me this … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: IPCA and police at odds over decision not to charge officer, Canterbury DHB in crisis, and Shane Jones job creation claims disputed. The Independent Police Conduct Authority has issued a call for charges for an officer who used excessive force in the course of a … Read more
As Aucklanders reluctantly adjust to the inconvenient practice of water conservation, a drought-savvy Northlander shares the tips and temperament needed to get through the dry times. Auckland’s water shortage was recently reported on The Project, and viewers were earnestly exhorted to fill their dishwashers completely before turning them on. My husband and I looked at … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Shane Jones confirms run in the crucial seat of Northland, Kiwifruit sales soar amid global pandemic, and questions on colonial monuments erupt around the world. The course of politics over the last five years was arguably set during the tumultuous Northland by-election of 2015. After the … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Saving water becomes crucial amid drought, means testing Super back in the news, and a hard look at a Special Purpose Vehicle. Aucklanders need to get serious about saving water or restrictions will come in. Newshub reports that’s the message from Watercare, who say that it’s not … Read more
Increasingly large swathes of the country are getting bone dry, and it’s starting to cause serious problems. In today’s cheat sheet, Alex Braae looks into how bad the North Island drought is getting. What’s all this then? If you live in Auckland or further north, have you noticed how it hasn’t really rained all that … Read more
There are many lessons climate scientists can learn from mātauranga Māori. Lesson one is: don’t panic. This story was made with support from the Science Journalism Fund Hank Dunn (Te Uri o Tai, Te Rarawa) has survived five shipwrecks in his lifetime. He told me this a few moments after I met him at the … Read more
Rapidly growing Northland startup North Drill believes in making a profit so that it can hire more people and provide a better life for their whānau. Business editor Maria Slade reports. Ida-Jean and Bronson Murray are buying homes in Whangārei. In a region where prices are up over 9% for the year, there’s nothing revolutionary … Read more
From golden beaches to lush kauri bush, a visit to Te Tai Tokerau offers a true showcase of New Zealand’s natural splendour. We’ve put together a list of all you need to know before you explore the Far North this summer. If you’ve got friends or relatives visiting Aotearoa, top of their list should be … Read more
Housing advocate Jade Kake has been working with her hapū to increase engagement in the ongoing Ngāpuhi settlement and Tūhono process. Dissatisfied with the media’s preoccupation with the rūnanga leadership, she writes here about the real work and healing that has been, and is still to be, done. Ko Jade Kake tōku ingoa. He uri ahau … Read more
Whiringa-ā-rangi (November) brings blossoming native flowers and delicious kaimoana. Learn more about the maramataka, the Māori lunar calendar, here. We are well into the second phase of summer Matiti Hana (see list below for phases). This phase ends around December 8, merging into the next, which is Muramura. A key tohu (sign) is the movements of … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Law changes likely over prison mail system, sharp drops in Northland vaccinations, and PM still has no plans to visit Ihumātao. Law changes are looking likely over what mail prisoners can send and receive. One News has reported on the announcement made by PM Jacinda Ardern, which … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Dramatic video released in logging truck company case, tiny bit more room to move on govt debt, and primary teachers have residency rejected over low pay. A court released a dramatic video in an ongoing drama that goes to the heart of power relations in the … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Farming groups concerned about growth of forestry, dramatic new documents revealed in Hit and Run inquiry, and govt agency loses town records. Land conversions towards farming have pretty much always brought with them economic growth at the expense of environmental health. But increasingly, farmers and those who … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Open letter on China aimed at government, no new taxes if Simon Bridges is elected to government, and three issues could be on the ballot in 2020. The government has been called on to protect academic freedom, and the personal safety of academic Anne-Marie Brady, reports the NZ … Read more
Whangarei writer Michael Botur continues our occasional series which examines whether literature exists in any shape or form in the regions. He reports from Northland, home to Sam Hunt, Kelly Ana Morey, and a romance writer who sells more books than you’ve had hot dinners or whatever. Tiny Rawene hosted the Hokianga Book Festival earlier this month, … Read more
Whangārei architect Jade Kake has made a career changing behaviour through design, decolonising Māori thought patterns and outcomes through altering the environment in which they take place. But her next project at Te Rewarewa is by far the most ambitious yet. Don Rowe reports. There are few living arrangements as seemingly distant from te ao … Read more
A new film following five courageous families healing in the wake of suicide premieres at the NZ International Film Festival this month. Kayne Peters meets the Albert whānau of Maui’s Hook. Content warning: suicide. Suicide is a topic many Kiwis shy away from but the reality is, every three days a young New Zealander takes … Read more
Kaitāia’s Te Ahu centre is a lot of things to a lot of people – a taonga, a service, a symbol of progress, a happy distraction. Te Ahu looms large in the relatively small Kaitāia township, but it does so with its arms flung open wide, welcomning you inside. The 2300-square metre complex is a … Read more
Three extraordinary women have taken their design and architecture skills and created a training programme for some of the country’s most vulnerable rangatahi. Head north on state highway one, stopping for a sandwich among the bright and busy architecture of Kawakawa. Past Moerewa’s giant AFFCO meatworks, glowering on the edge of town like a taniwha … Read more
The arguments for a national day to commemorate the New Zealand Wars are strong, but each iwi also has its own case for holding it on a separate date, writes RNZ’s Shannon Haunui-Thompson. Many believe that for a true process of education, reconciliation and healing, the larger national day has to prevail. Te Pūtake o … Read more
As well as being the official NZ Wars commemoration date, October 28 is celebrated by Northland iwi for the signing of the Declaration of Independence, a document that recognised Māori sovereignty, explains Miriama Aoake. In 1835, 34 rangatira signed He Whakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga o Nu Tīreni, the Declaration of Independence of the United Tribes … Read more
The Stories of Ruapekapeka is a special online project by RNZ and Mihingarangi Forbes about Northland’s most infamous armed conflict. Historian Vincent O’Malley writes about the importance of acknowledging the darker episodes of New Zealand’s past. The battle of Ruapekapeka, fought in January 1846, was the final engagement in the war that Britain lost, as James … Read more
To the sound of country music, long suffering Northland rugby fan Scotty Stevenson fears a winning season could be inevitably lost. The night was decent enough for rugby. Northland was slowly emerging from its traditional wet winter and the evening promised to remain clear. A southerly wind chilled the dusk but it wasn’t enough to … Read more
The election has thus far been dominated by Metiria Turei’s admission of historic benefit fraud, and its impact on both Labour and the Greens. But Dr Lance O’Sullivan argues that the conversation about welfare Turei wanted to start never really happened. I’m a product of a beneficiary, of a welfare dependant family. My mum was … Read more
Whangarei writer Michael Botur describes how the shit jobs he’s had have provided valuable material for his new collection of short stories, Lowlife. It was hard moving to Northland in 2015 and finding income and inspiration in its very small economy. I laboured on the catamaran of a rich lawyer with obvious plastic surgery. He … Read more