The 1918 Spanish flue devasated Samoa, and its impact is still felt today, writes Tootoooleaav Dr Fanaafi Aiono-Le Tagaloa. Within minutes of news that crew members of the cargo ship Fesco Askold had tested positive for Covid-19, a social media storm broke across Samoa. Covid-free until then, the island nation’s anxiety was understandable. More so … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Reports show diverging outcomes from Covid-relief benefit, Aucklanders head off at end of lockdown, and police quietly setting up facial recognition system. We’re starting to see a wide divergence in outcomes from the Covid-19 Income Relief Payment benefit, introduced at the start of the pandemic. At … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Spotlight on the Pacific and Covid-19, health minister in yet another spot of bother, and schools reopening to very limited numbers. For a lead today, I thought it would be useful to check in on our nation’s neighbours in the Pacific, and how they are … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Suspected case of Covid-19 in Samoa, MFAT urges NZers overseas to come home, and aviation support package to be announced today. A suspected case of Covid-19 is currently being tested in Samoa, bringing to light concerns that the coronavirus could be devastating in the Pacific. Stuff reports … Read more
Widespread community transmission of Covid-19 would be calamitous in the Pacific Islands, where health infrastructure is limited. What steps are they taking to fend it off? The Spinoff’s coverage of the Covid-19 outbreak is funded by Spinoff Members. To support this work, join Spinoff Members here. Update 19/03, 2:45pm: Fiji has confirmed its first case of … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Business groups welcome big infrastructure spend, four charged by SFO in relation to election donations, and Pacific countries act against coronavirus. So, the massive infrastructure package has been announced. Here’s the top lines of the announcement in the form of a cheat sheet, and Stuff has a breakdown of … Read more
Petra Molloy was born in the Netherlands and moved to Aotearoa with her family in 1952; she lives in Auckland. Her novel Chosen Boys is about child abuse in the Catholic Church. It’s set in dawn-raids South Auckland – and is written largely from the point of view of a Samoan mother. We asked Molloy … Read more
Summer reissue: Lani Wendt Young writes powerful Pasifika women who summon earthquakes and crack whips of pure flame. In a fierce lecture presented by the New Zealand Book Council, she landed hit after hit on the all-white castle of publishing, finishing with this rallying cry for change. First published 28 August, 2019. I read Little … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Changes coming to fuel market, anti-vaxxer arrested in Samoa, and banks told to hold more capital. New recommendations to increase competition in the fuel market have been made by the Commerce Commission, reports the NZ Herald. Their conclusion is that it isn’t competitive enough, and they say … Read more
I know the humanity of New Zealanders is far greater than the zero empathy of a cartoonist and his bosses at a newspaper I will never bother reading again. But it still hurts, writes Christine Ammunson. There’s one thing about going home to Sāmoa you can’t get away from and that’s the beautiful babies. They … Read more
Social media users are hammering a newspaper cartoon making a joke about the Samoan measles epidemic. The infuriated include some of the cartoonist’s own colleagues. An Otago Daily Times cartoonist who saw humour in the deadly Samoan measles epidemic has found himself at odds with both colleagues and his editors. The Garrick Tremain cartoon ran … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Government rams through foreign donations law under urgency, substance of cannabis referendum laws announced, and Samoan boy allegedly denied measles vaccine in NZ. Justice minister Andrew Little has announced that the government is banning foreign donations to political parties. Or rather, that’s what the press release was titled, but … Read more
Lessons in life and art from Samoan New Zealand artist Yuki Kihara, Aotearoa’s representative at the 59th Venice Biennale in 2021. When Yuki Kihara was announced as New Zealand’s next representative at the Venice Biennale, it marked a number of firsts. Not only will Kihara be the first person of Pacific descent to represent New … Read more
As the death toll grows, the immunisation campaign is crucial. At a time like this individuals spreading nonsense is downright dangerous, writes Madeleine Chapman. As of November 27, there have been 33 confirmed measles-related deaths in Sāmoa, 29 of them children. There have been 2,686 confirmed cases of measles in the current outbreak, in a … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: National promises heavy crackdown on gangs, combined announcement puts ECE pressure on govt, and Samoa measles outbreak gets worse. National have set clear daylight between themselves and the government in their latest policy discussion document. The law and order policies are aimed at creating an overall … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Doubts emerge about Auckland port move, NZDF leaves death-causing material behind in Afghanistan, and laws around renting to be shaken up. Over the last week, the ramifications of moving most of the operations of Auckland’s port north to Whangarei have been rumbling around. At the start … Read more
Tongan New Zealand performance artist Kaisolaite Uhila is the current visiting artist in residence at Dunedin Public Art Gallery. Whether he’s living homeless around the boundary of Auckland Art Gallery for the Walters Prize, or sleeping with pigs in Aotea Square, Uhila uses his body and its labour to start uneasy conversations that break down … Read more
On the tenth anniversary of the tsunami that claimed 143 lives in Samoa, Sapeer Mayron speaks to the people who were there. Sapeer Mayron is a reporter for the Samoa Observer, covering the 10th anniversary of the 2009 Tsunami. Ten years have passed since a devastating tsunami thrashed the shores of Samoa, and took the … Read more
Lani Wendt Young writes powerful Pasifika women who summon earthquakes and crack whips of pure flame. Today, in a fierce lecture presented by the New Zealand Book Council, she landed hit after hit on the all-white castle of publishing, finishing with this rallying cry for change. I read Little House on the Prairie to my … Read more
We’ve become used to Samoan characters as peripheral bad guys. But from the tatau Sāmoa on his chest to his relationships with his aiga, Hobbs & Shaw showed us someone who is us. And he kicks arse. When I was growing up, there were hardly any Sāmoan or Polynesian faces on our television or movie … Read more
Thousands of Pacific Islanders – including a quarter of Samoa’s population – are hoping for a new life through the annual visa lotteries. They are ready to wrench themselves from home for a New Zealand residence visa. But is the better life the ballot promises a reality? Philippa Tolley reports in this piece originally published … Read more
In a move half shocking and half not at all surprising to Samoa’s LGBT community, Apia’s Apollo Cinemas will not be screening the Elton John musical Rocketman. Sapeer Mayron reports from Apia on the decision and its impact on the Samoa’s LGBT community. Despite locking it in for screenings, the Apollo cinema has had to … Read more
Tatau: A History of Sāmoan Tattooing won the Illustrated Non-Fiction category at the Ockham New Zealand Book Awards last night. Convenor Douglas Lloyd Jenkins called it “a visual feast… a milestone in contemporary publishing… a book that will expand and enrich the knowledge of readers throughout Aotearoa, the Pacific and beyond”. Here, authors Sean Mallon … Read more
Yesterday, Wallabies player Israel Folau was issued with a “high level” breach notice by Rugby Australia, bringing him closer to the termination of his contract over a social media post in which he claimed “homosexuals” and others would go to hell. For a gay, Pasifika man, it’s not necessarily something to celebrate, writes Patrick Thomsen. … Read more
Poetik is a fresh talent in the Auckland hip hop scene, but he takes a very retro approach to his music, creating G-funk bangers and selling CDs direct to fans as if the internet hadn’t been invented. Gareth Shute caught up with him to talk about his old-is-new approach and why it’s all part of … Read more
Nearly a quarter of players at the last Rugby World Cup were of Pacific Island descent. But, 23 years since the game turned professional, players born in Fiji, Samoa and Tonga still have to leave home to make a living from the sport. For Insight, RNZ Pacific’s Sports Editor Vinnie Wylie asks whether a Pacific Super Rugby … Read more
Good morning and welcome to the first ever edition of The Bulletin, a round up the best and most important NZ news of the day. Sign up here to get The Bulletin direct to your inbox every single morning. Another National heavyweight is bowing out, a report into referrals of kids to protection services is … Read more
The Samoa Rugby Union needs a hand up, not a hand out, writes Scotty Stevenson. It also needs a complete administrative overhaul and an end to the culture of intimidation, cronyism and silence that disrespects the players and the game. Here we are again, then. Samoan rugby’s overlord, prime minister Tuilaepa Sailele Maliegaoi, is passing … Read more
Despite media reports concentrating on sporadic violence in the leadup, the Tonga-Samoa RLWC international on Saturday was one of the best live sporting atmospheres in recent New Zealand history, writes Jamie Wall. And one that could have happened nowhere else on earth. I was excited to see the most stacked Tongan and Samoan rugby league … Read more