Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: NZ MPs have ringside seats to Australian chaos, Catholic Bishop of Dunedin apologises to city, and red zone ‘quake outcasts’ to be paid out. It’s all going off in Australian politics right now, and in a weird coincidence, some New Zealand MPs have had ringside seats. Deputy … Read more
Australian prime ministers are like a well functioning train system. If you miss one, there’s always another one just around the corner. In today’s cheat sheet, could the lucky country be about to see a another PM booted? Hang on, what is a spill? A spill (pronounced speeeeel) is when a parliamentary caucus all gets … Read more
Misinformation will always be with us. If we use innovative tools smartly, we can ensure it stays on the edges of our democratic process, writes Jess Berenston-Shaw, author of the newly published A Matter of Fact We have heard a lot about free-speech recently. Two Canadians turned up to share what I regard as racist and sexist … Read more
From the outside, parliamentary Question Time looks like a juvenile farce. But it matters far more than many give it credit, writes long-serving aide to the late Jim Anderton, Tony Simpson. The many filmgoers who have seen Saving Private Ryan may recall a vignette near the beginning in which General George Marshall reads out a … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: A new medical cannabis bill has hit the member’s ballot, abortion on the agenda on Parliament’s forecourt, and justice minister Andrew Little’s message to Australia. There will be competing bills on medical marijuana, after National MP Dr Shane Reti released his own in opposition to the … Read more
With the folding of TOP and the Māori Party’s struggle to re-enter Parliament, one thing’s become obvious; there just aren’t enough parties. Anna Bracewell-Worrall for Newshub suggests a few potentials. Currently there are five parties in Parliament. There are only two parties in opposition. If variety is the spice is life, the Parliament of Aotearoa … Read more
Many of the attendees at a protest against Auckland Council banning Lauren Southern and Stefan Molyneux feel they get a raw deal from media. So, here’s exactly what they said. The events that led to the protest are already well covered. Auckland mayor Phil Goff stepped in to prevent two Canadian speakers from using Council … Read more
One of TOP’s former candidates, Dr Jenny Condie, is speaking out about why she thinks the Gareth Morgan-dominated party failed, and what should have been done better. “At the heart of this is my concern that you are simply unable to relinquish the control and direction of this party to anyone other than yourself and … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Green Party members furious at ministerial decision, China’s rubbish ban starts to bite, and what was really in that letter signed by Auckland councillors? Green Party members are outraged at a ministerial decision to allow a Chinese water bottling and exporting company to expand, reports Stuff. The … Read more
They might have rebranded, they want us to know they’ve changed. And yet the party now known as New Conservative say they have the same values as when they were just the Conservatives. Is there any chance they’ll be taken seriously? The most important thing to get across about the New Conservative Party is that … Read more
National might be the largest polling party, but they’re sorely lacking any serious parliamentary sidekick. ACT clearly isn’t the solution, so how about contriving a new splinter-party? Good luck getting that past the electorate, writes Alex Braae Voters are a strange group of people to lump together. By and large they have little in common … Read more
The leader of the opposition has lately been touring the small towns and outer city suburbs. Why? Alex Braae went to Huapai in northwest Auckland to find out. Up and down the country over the next month, National leader Simon Bridges will be working the room in dozens of RSAs, community halls and churches. The … Read more
There’s nothing quite like the drama of a good ministerial sacking. So who in this government will be the first to be shown the door, or walk through it all on their own? Alex Braae assesses the candidates. Ministers come and ministers go, but the first of a new government is always a major occasion. … Read more
NZ Art Parallels is the Twitter account which reveals the hidden connections between world art history and New Zealand politics and media. Now NZ Art Parallels has joined The Spinoff for a monthly column collecting the best parallels from Twitter and exclusive Spinoff-only content. In March there was something happening of media significance nearly every … Read more
Another one bites the dust, with Northcote MP Jonathan Coleman deciding to retire from politics. He follows Bill English and Steven Joyce out the door, as the party’s cleanout continues. So, who’s next? The trickle is fast becoming a flood. In the space of about six weeks, the National Party has lost three of their … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Fonterra looks to future as boss resigns, confusion at the top of the coalition government, and charities board denies Greenpeace again. There is comprehensive coverage of the resignation of Fonterra CEO Theo Spierings on the NBR. Mr Spierings stepped down on the same day Fonterra announced its interim financial results. … Read more
Matamata-born Chris Liddell has been given a top job by US President Donald Trump. But how does he fit into the long list of Trump’s hires, fires, triers and liars? Chris Liddell was already doing pretty nicely for himself when the call up came. White House chief of staff John Kelly had picked him out … Read more
Has the government been too keen to go for working groups, panels and inquiries, over actual action? Alex Braae counts the announcements. As new ministers get their feet under their desks, they start to cast around for things to do. All of a sudden they have access to the comparatively vast resources of the public … Read more
The appointment of Jessica Mutch and Tova O’Brien to TV’s top parliamentary positions means the leading editors in the press gallery are all women. Madeleine Chapman asks four of them whether that matters, and about the broader state of play in 2018. With the announcement that Tova O’Brien and Jessica Mutch will assume the role of … Read more
Annabelle Lee, Toby Manhire and Ben Thomas return for the first Gone By Lunchtime of 2018, guest starring a real life baby who reveals all about her encounters with a pregnant Jacinda Ardern. Your friendly GBLT content providers return to swelter in an obscenely overheated “studio” to splutter out a word or two on the … Read more
The Kiwi footwear has become a favourite of Silicon Valley elites. But are the shoes now furnishing the feet of top Republican and speaker of the house Paul Ryan? Jihee Junn investigates As the fire and fury raged through Washington DC, Donald Trump took to his Camp David retreat earlier this week to hash out … Read more
It’s been a wonderful time, entirely composed of good-natured debates over the issues that matter. Here the Spinoff relives the thrills, spills and for-fuck’s-sake-please-chills of the 2017 New Zealand election campaign. ATTENTION PLEASE: The Spinoff will be smashing out quick takes from 7pm Saturday to keep the internet informed of how the big dance ends. … Read more
Who’s going to be an MP when this is all over? Simon Wilson has been studying the candidate battles, counting down the lists and poring over the chicken entrails. Who’s going to be an MP on Sunday? That depends on how well the parties do in the election, of course, but it also depends on … Read more
Your indispensable guide to counting the numbers on election night. Simon Wilson explains the official way they do it and offers a cheat’s alternative. You vote for a party that doesn’t make it into parliament and your party vote is just discarded? Sorry, it’s true. Your vote is set to one side and not considered … Read more
There’s a lot riding on the Epsom election, with four current MPs in the race and everything from glory to humiliation at stake – for the candidates and for their parties too. Simon Wilson went along to a debate. How many houses were built in Auckland last year? Should a cabinet minister know the answer? After … Read more
All the information you’ll need about The Spinoff’s incredible election debate, screening LIVE at 7pm tonight on Facebook. Tonight The Spinoff hosts seven of election 2017’s most exciting candidates in a royal political rumble at the Generator’s 150 seat stadium in downtown Auckland. Hosted by our senior editor Toby Manhire, along with Simon Wilson and … Read more
What was Steven Joyce really up to when he said Labour’s budget plan was missing almost $12 billion? Simon Wilson considers the possibilities. On Monday morning the minister of finance said the opposition finance spokesperson was so incompetent, he had produced a fiscal statement that overlooked nearly $12 billion worth of spending they should have … Read more
Just how hard is it to win an election and successfully lead a government? Seems easy enough, but there’s only one way to find out for sure: simulate it in a computer game. No actual politics game measures up to the ideal politics game for which I yearn. What I want is basically a straight … Read more
Labour leader Jacinda Ardern visited Māngere and Ōtara on Saturday. Simon Wilson went along to see how big the wind is really blowing. What a storm in a shopping centre. Labour MP Aupito William Sio, who’s the big man in Māngere politics, introduced Jacinda Ardern in the Māngere Town Centre on Saturday morning. He said they’d had the Jacinda … Read more