A South Auckland election campaign marked by allegations of vote-harvesting and dirty politics comes to an end next week. Justin Latif went along to Māngere Bride to hear the candidates’ closing pitches. Candidates for the Māngere-Ōtāhuhu Local Board by-election made their final pitch to voters on Wednesday night with a range of creative and outrageous … Read more
He quit politics to care for a wife who had suffered a brain haemorrhage. Today he holds leading roles at the apex of the two great challenges facing South Auckland: housing and health. Vui Mark Gosche tells Justin Latif why a change is coming. He is one of the most powerful people in South Auckland. … Read more
There’s a by-election happening in South Auckland and, as Justin Latif reports, you’d struggle to find a more diverse group of candidates. What do a globetrotting singer, a record-breaking weightlifter, an ex-fisherwoman, a social media expert, a radio show host and an IT guy all have in common? Not much, other than that they all … Read more
When Justin Latif received The Spinoff book for Christmas, he never guessed that six months later he’d be working here. He looks back at his time so far as The Spinoff’s South Auckland editor. Buying Christmas gifts for one’s partner is always tricky. But last year my wife thought she really cracked it when she … Read more
At the end of the relatively normal year 2019, The Spinoff asked a dozen pundits to give us their wildest prediction for the political year to come. Nobody comes out of this looking good, writes Alex Braae. Punditry is challenging at the best of times. The random nature of events often leaves the most insightful … Read more
Charlotte Muru-Lanning lifts the lid on an intriguing legacy. First published December 9, 2020 When Māori Party MPs Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi were sworn into parliament last week, both wore impressive hats. Their top hat and cowboy hat drew mostly praise, but also some criticism and confusion. In fact, some responses bordered on horror. … Read more
The prime minister has been quick to rule out benefit increases before Christmas – but the welfare system is failing our communities, which she ignores at her peril, writes Child Poverty Action Group’s Janet McAllister. More than 60 organisations – and counting – have signed an open letter to the government, urging it to increase … Read more
We know Jacinda Ardern will be the PM, but what else needs to get sorted out in the coming weeks? Alex Braae runs down the questions we’ll get answers to soon, along with a few that you might be wondering about. The voters deliver the mandate, but then it’s up to the politicians to figure … Read more
Hosting an election night party but still stressing over what to serve? Don’t worry, we’ve got you. Election night parties are mostly shambolic. Between the people who want to sit in front of the TV and watch numbers roll across the screen for hours and those who just came to delete some beverages, sometimes the … Read more
The National leader’s comments were rooted in political ideology rather than real-life experience, writes South Auckland nutritionist Mason Ngawhika, who believes the health of the community is a collective responsibility. I know virtually no one who is satisfied with their current weight or body composition. Meaning everyone I know is unable to take the personal … Read more
With Judith Collins foregrounding her religious faith in recent days, Justin Latif talks to candidates of faith in the most Christian electorate in the country, attends an event for first-time Christian voters and hears from experts on the intersection of religion and New Zealand politics. On a bright Sunday morning in central Auckland, before casting … Read more
The lockdowns have required significant sacrifice, but Covid-19 has served us with a timely reminder of how interconnected we all are, writes Chris Farrelly of the Auckland City Mission. Amid this global pandemic, we witness the power and importance of community. Put simply, we have seen that our own efforts are futile without the efforts … Read more
A new Instagram account holds our representatives to account on one issue: the manner in which they spread their Marmite on toast. The Spinoff talks to its anonymous founder. Move over oil, there’s a new black gold this election. Party policy is one thing, but your local electorate MP is someone who represents you on … Read more
The introduction of a $3,100 fee for returning New Zealanders will disadvantage Māori disproportionately, Phoebe Carr (Ngāti Awa, Ngāi Tūhoe) and Max Harris argue. The government has once again failed to honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi by rushing through legislation to introduce exorbitant managed isolation fees for returning New Zealanders. This fee will have massive … Read more
Two deeply religious men are standing for Labour in South Auckland. But Justin Latif reports that their views on the abortion law reforms are very different. On a bitterly cold Friday morning, the Māngere electorate candidates’ debate heated up when the topic of abortion was raised. Following a question related to whether candidates supported the recent … Read more
There are no incumbents in the south Auckland seat of Takanini, for this is a completely new electorate. Justin Latif goes to meet some of the voters, and the fascinating bunch desperate for their support. The name of New Zealand’s newest electorate can be traced back to a prominent Te Ākitai Waiohua chief of the … Read more
Welcome to memebers of parliament, a political column for people who just want the memes. In 53 days there will be an election and already there’s too much news. Too many politicians doing too many things. Who’s bothering to keep up with politics? Well, technically we all should because we live in a democracy and … Read more
Over the past month, we became deeply aware that we were all only as safe as our most marginalised and at-risk. Nobody was immune. We need to channel that knowledge to the core of how we do politics, writes Green MP Chlöe Swarbrick. Yesterday, Aotearoa New Zealand cautiously toned down the world-leading, robust safeguards designed … Read more
The final verdict is in on how electorates will change for the 2020 election. So what’s different? And will the changes affect the place where you live? What’s all this then? Because the population of New Zealand isn’t normally forced to stay in exactly one place for extended periods of time, the Representation Commission changes … Read more
Cameo is a website where fans can pay for their favourite movie, television, sports or social media star to send them personalised video messages. In the throes of a full-face rash, I paid two of the country’s top sportspeople to send some positive vibes my way. For a while I’ve been obsessed with the idea … Read more
A fringe political party is hoping for better returns in 2020 after adding a high profile independent lawyer as co-leader. Alex Braae reports. A courtroom champion of stopping 1080 drops and promoting medicinal cannabis rights is turning her attention to parliament. Independent lawyer Sue Grey gained national profile through cases like the Brook Valley brodifacoum … Read more
They are the clowns who shall inherit the earth – and for Trump, Johnson, Morrison et al, the jokester act provides the perfect political cover, writes Morgan Godfery. (This essay is extracted from new essay collection Public Knowledge: Radical Futures and is heavily abridged. Godfery goes on to argue for a revolution by degrees, beginning … Read more
The government’s reform of 1989’s Tomorrow’s Schools legislation has been announced today, and it’s promising changes for students, teachers, principals and boards. What is “Tomorrow’s Schools”? In 1989, the government introduced the Tomorrow’s Schools reforms, which meant all schools became much more independent, giving Boards power over almost all school decisions, including those to hire … Read more
Vernon Tava, the leader of the Sustainable NZ party, used to be part of the Greens. So how did he fit in there? Former MP Catherine Delahunty shares her impressions of him from then, and analyses where his new party will fit in. I first met Vernon Tava when he joined the Greens in Auckland. … Read more
Vernon Tava’s Sustainable NZ Party launched over the weekend, to media fanfare. But has their pitch for centrist environmentalist voters lost touch with the changes in political reality? For a party that he criticises constantly, Vernon Tava will have a tough time escaping the shadow of the Greens. It’s a curious position for the leader … Read more
Karl Popper, 20th century philosopher, was a defender of free speech and a believer in the vulnerability of democracy. Dr James Kierstead and Dr Michael Johnston from Victoria University of Wellington discuss Popper’s politics and the relevance of them today. In March 1938, a little-known Viennese philosopher called Karl Raimund Popper arrived in Christchurch to … Read more
Transport minister Phil Twyford is under fire again, and is facing calls to be sacked over delays around Auckland’s light rail system. Should he stay or should he go? Alex Braae assesses the arguments. The drums are beating for Phil Twyford. The failure to get the government’s Auckland light rail plans out the door, and … Read more
One of the oldest political parties in New Zealand is plotting a comeback. But Social Credit would argue that they never went away. Alex Braae went to their annual conference to find out more. “Here for good”, they say. It’s a slogan that Social Credit leaders believe sums up their party, despite spending the last … Read more
If you data nerds thought the census was fun, wait until you get a load of this. Alex Braae picks out some of the most interesting data points from the 2017 NZ Election Study, released yesterday. They say there’s only one poll that matters – the one that takes place on election day. They’re wrong. … Read more