Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Treasury calls in police after claims their system was hacked, protesters against coal get mayoral support, and massive teacher strike today. Last night, political journalism twitter was nothing but a steady stream of shocked emojis. And the reason for that was a series of dramatic developments in … Read more
With a capital gains tax off the political agenda, the opposition needs to find the government’s achilles heel. Liam Hehir goes looking through the options. This is the week of the “wellbeing” budget. Animating this bold vision for our future is an ironclad certainty that the one thing New Zealanders really need to be happy … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Another major day of climate protests puts pressure on politicians, PMs fall in dramatic political weekend, and calls to stop use of remand for young people. If activism in 2019 so far has been defined by any one movement, it is climate change. And there’s every reason … Read more
Rather than stacking up policy wins, an overtly conservative Christian party seems more likely to lead to the complete political marginalisation of conservative Christianity within New Zealand politics, writes Liam Hehir There is talk about National MP Alfred Ngaro breaking away to form some kind of Christian political party. A new party along these lines … Read more
As the referendum approaches and the road toll rises, the government is under pressure to deal with drug testing, but it’s more complicated than it first appears, writes Don Rowe. The government has announced a public consultation on drugged driver testing following rising road tolls, an impending referendum, and intense pressure from an opposition desperate … Read more
Paula Bennett’s refusal to go head-to-head with Chloe Swarbrick on the cannabis referendum suggests that the National Party is yet to come to terms with what it means to be in opposition, writes Ben Thomas Schitt’s Creek is a Canadian comedy series about the wealthy Rose family, who lose their privilege, and are forced to … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Figures of foreign buyers shows a big decrease, principals unimpressed by government teacher recruitment fund, and CRL funding issues debated at Council. The statistics on foreign house buyers since the ban came into effect have shown a dramatic decline in sales to those overseas. It has pretty … Read more
On May 1st 2019, Simon Bridges stood up in parliament and yelled the word “slushies” at the government. Madeleine Chapman dives deep into the slush. Hon SIMON BRIDGES: So what has the Government delivered? Hon Members: Nothing. Hon SIMON BRIDGES: Oh, nothing. Slushies—Kelvin Davis says 193 slushy machines, at nearly $6,000 each. Well, Grant Robertson … Read more
Ah, the slushy – it’s the semi-frozen sugary beverage that has the nation talking. But what even is a slushy, and is Simon Bridges’ beef with them warranted? Alice Neville investigates. Despite the rapidly plummeting temperatures that autumn has brought with it (Auckland this morning was reminiscent of the Battle of Winterfell, minus all the deaths … Read more
Is the bond of trust and confidence between Mihingarangi Forbes and Annabelle Lee-Mather as strong as that between Judith Collins and Simon Bridges? In the latest Gone By Lunchtime, also featuring Toby Manhire and Ben Thomas, we investigate over a cool, refreshing slushy. Special guest Mihi Forbes joins the usual rabble to discuss the fallout … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Destiny Church rejected for prison rehab programme, Kāpiti Council sends sea level message to homeowners, and funding boost to solve Census snafu. Corrections minister Kelvin Davis has ruled out working with Destiny Church’s Man Up programme in prisons, reports Newsroom. Destiny says the programme can help turn lives … Read more
When a political career is about to go up in flames, there’s almost always a moment when the politician just becomes utterly ridiculous. Has Simon Bridges just had that moment? In almost anyone’s books, blathering on about slushies on Morning Report would be considered a low point. For Simon Bridges, it might just be the … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Energy poverty in the spotlight with winter approaching, Nelson activist sews up statement on consumerism, and NZ Herald releases paywall plans. The country’s best current affairs TV show has put the spotlight on energy poverty, which is both a symptom and a cause of serious hardship. Energy … Read more
The prime minister and the leader of the opposition are supposed to be enemies, but Madeleine Chapman just wants Jacinda Ardern and Simon Bridges to be friends again. There’s a moment in every romantic comedy when one protagonist realises that the other protagonist likes them, despite all their actions and words up until that point … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Simon Bridges puts up bill with major tax system changes, social media crackdown call unpacked, and lower crowd numbers at main Auckland ANZAC services. This happened earlier in the week, but is worth unpacking because it would be quite a big change to the tax system. Newshub reports … Read more
The question is: could another National MP do better, writes Guyon Espiner for RNZ Simon Bridges isn’t running out of luck. He never had luck. It’s his caucus that is running out, running out of reasons to keep him on. The job description for Leader of the Opposition has only one KPI. Actually, it’s a … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Moderate swing towards govt in first poll after CHCH attack, captured Kiwi nurse named by Red Cross, and a hard look at life after prison. The first poll since the Christchurch mosque attacks shows a moderate swing towards PM Jacinda Ardern and the government. The One News Colmar-Brunton poll … Read more
A whistlestop tour of the case for the National caucus to give Simon Bridges the boot in favour of JuCo, and the case for doing no such thing. Suddenly the National Party is an issue again. When One News unveiled the results of its latest Colmar Brunton poll last night, attentions were focused less on … Read more
The Spinoff is proud to debut a major new musical work by singer-songwriter Hayden Donnell. After National Party leader Simon Bridges last month misled The Spinoff over the post-15/3 removal of a controversial petition, the deletion was blamed on an “emotional junior staffer”. The emotional junior staffer was later revealed to have worked for National … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Gun clubs, gun laws change after Christchurch attack, protests promised against new oil drilling, and widespread construction employment law breaches revealed. In less than a month since the Christchurch mosque shooting, sweeping changes have come to both gun laws, and the gun community generally. The new law … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. A brief note to start today’s edition: The aftermath of the Christchurch mosque attacks will always be an important set of stories to tell. Further down in today’s edition are the most important developments on that from the weekend. However, many other stories from last week need to be caught … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Multi-party consensus starts to form on gun law changes, moving student led vigil held in Christchurch, and inquiry into attack announced. Across parliament, a consensus has formed that New Zealand’s gun laws need to change. The pressure is coming on particularly with regards to military style semi-automatics … Read more
The Police have referred their investigation into $100,000 in donations to the National Party to the SFO. It’s plainly a very bad look but can we deduce much else, asks Andrew Geddis On its face, news that the Police have referred Jami-Lee Ross’ now-five-month old allegations about Simon Bridges, the National Party and $100,000 in … Read more
After happily attacking the government on capital gains tax for the past few weeks, Simon Bridges finds himself again on the back foot, writes Jane Patterson in this post originally published by RNZ. The police investigation that had been bubbling away in the background has now exploded into a Serious Fraud Office investigation, with the National … Read more
Last year, everyone loved getting home, flicking on the telly and seeing beloved household names like Jami-Lee Ross and Simon Bridges night after night. Fans of this cult classic political drama rejoice: it’s been picked up for another season. Here we are, 2019, and it’s all go on the sequel to the smash political hit … Read more
In the lead up to the student-led climate strikes, the Spinoff asked its readers for their own reasons for skipping school. A number of student strikes around climate change will take place all over the country on March 15. Thousands of students have pledged to attend, choosing to voice their thoughts on New Zealand’s climate … Read more
Is it a bird, is it a plane? Online sleuth Elle Hunt fires up the search engines. What is “the Kiwi way of life”? The question has been troubling me ever since Simon Bridges defined it as definitely not a capital gains tax. OK then. Is that it? Bridges later elaborated that it was “planning reform … Read more
Literally decades worth of untaxed capital gains have created a political nightmare for the government. Is there any way they can navigate a capital gains tax through it, asks Danyl Mclauchlan? Part of the problem is that this government is trying to unshit the bed. We’ve had a deeply unfair tax system with its grossly … Read more
Simon Bridges said the Government Tax Working Group’s call for a capital gains tax was an ‘assault on the Kiwi way of life’. That betrays a very depressing and limited view of the Kiwi way of life, says Hayden Donnell. The ink had barely dried on the Tax Working Group report and Simon Bridges was … Read more