Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee and Ben Thomas ruminate on the New Zealand political cud. Simon Bridges has come under fresh pressure after botching a press conference around the resignation of MP Jami-Lee Ross, which both insist is unrelated to the inquiry into a leak of the National leader’s expenses details. The Gone By Lunchtime trio … Read more
As a minister in a National-led government I was proud to speak at the UN against pursuing an outdated and overly punitive approach on drugs. Now the bipartisan focus on drugs as a health issue seems to have been tossed aside by Simon Bridges’ party as a political inconvenience, writes Peter Dunne Just two years ago … Read more
The National position on compensation over the meth contamination scare is incompatible with the party’s values, and reeks of weak and desperate leadership, writes Danyl Mclauchlan Let’s take a stroll over to the National Party website and cast our eyes over their core values. They’re the kind of thing you’d expect a conservative, centre-right party to … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Stories show complex costs of climate action, Simon Bridges attacks Housing NZ evictees, and Auckland wharfies are raising safety concerns. A range of stories have come out in the past few days and weeks that illustrate how complex the economic costs of fighting climate change … Read more
Following the New York Times‘ hard-hitting exposé on Jacinda Ardern, Danyl Mclauchlan reports that life isn’t all trips down the road or chasing ducks in the park with her ragtag bunch of mischievous friends. New Zealand – or, as the locals good-naturedly call it, HairyMaclaryLand – is a small, adorable little nation state all tucked up and snuggly … Read more
A dialogue would ensure the faults involved are honestly acknowledged, the harms caused are recognised and understood, the needs of all parties are identified and addressed, writes Chris Marshall, an expert in restorative justice at Victoria University. National Party leader Simon Bridges’ decision to carry on with the process of trying to “out” the person … Read more
Team Gone By Lunchtime gathers to discuss the important political issues of the day, from Clare Curran getting the boot to Party of Five. A relatively forgettable leak has transmogrified into a long-running story around the leak of the National leader’s expense details. Annabelle Lee of The Hui and Ben Thomas of Exceltium chew over the … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Animal rights concerns hit the agenda, tenancy law changes set to be announced, and PM Ardern gives her first minister the boot. Animal rights has been big news over the weekend, with a 500 strong protest in Auckland. Māori TV was there, and the quotes they gathered … Read more
The Bridges expense leak inquiry will have to balance the wellbeing of someone who might have mental health issues with the integrity of the parliamentary system. One way or another, it’s all rather sad, writes Tim Watkin for RNZ. Well, that’s as clear as mud. And, one way or another, rather sad. We now know … Read more
The ongoing saga around leaked details of the National leader’s transport spending reveals a party with serious internal problems, writes Jane Patterson for RNZ If National Party leader Simon Bridges wasn’t already sweating he will be now, with a second leak, possibly from within his own caucus. First there was a leak to Newshub about his travel … Read more
In our video series Kiwis of Snapchat, comedian Tom Sainsbury sources exclusive Snapchat footage of Kiwi citizens and luminaries making the news. Today: “Limos aren’t even all that.”
National knows it’s short of mates as it looks ahead to 2020, but the real appeal for the biggest party of the Opportunities Party’s revival is that it could hurt the Greens, writes Toby Manhire It is tempting to remember the Opportunities Party’s contribution to the New Zealand general election of 2017 as a car … Read more
The Spinoff’s editor Toby Manhire is back to review the last seven days in New Zealand news. Who’s popping open a cold one in celebration of a job well done, and who’s drinking hard spirits straight from the bottle to make it all go away? The Spinoff TV, 10.45pm Fridays on THREE
The stakes are high after Trevor Mallard’s announcement of an inquiry into how the opposition leader’s travel costs became public, writes Jane Patterson for RNZ If a National Party MP is named as the source of the leak of Simon Bridges’ travel bill their political career will come to an abrupt end. If it is found … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: The mystery around Simon Bridges’ travel expenses going public deepens, teachers go on strike, and Morgan letter rocks Kingitanga movement. The leak of National leader Simon Bridges’ travel expenses has turned into a massive Parliamentary story in its own right. Nobody seems all that concerned about the … Read more
Good morning, and welcome the The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Low growth in the Māori roll, property managers slammed for their memes, and a big cash injection for the billion trees programme. The Māori electoral roll has grown, but not by all that many voters. The option to change between the Māori and the general roll opens … Read more
Listen to Alex Casey, Leonie Hayden and Michele A’Court tackle the past month in women, news and popular culture, with thanks to our friends at The Women’s Bookshop. Join us as we reconvene for the monthly women’s summit known to many as On the Rag. There is mucho good news to yarn about this month, including … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: National party tries to both change and stay the same at conference, meth-scare Housing NZ properties reopened, and could The Opportunities Party be saved? The National Party have had their weekend in the spotlight, holding their first conference in opposition in a decade. But who, or what, … Read more
In presenting himself with a new, softer image, the National leader’s conference speech sought to move beyond relitigating the fights of the past, writes Ben Thomas Simon Bridges is keen to avoid the mistakes of the past. The video warming up his speech to the National Party conference today showed a montage of his life, … Read more
The National Party this week sprung a surprise by putting forward a rival bill on medicinal marijuana. Here leader of the opposition Simon Bridges explains their thinking New Zealanders deserve greater access to high quality medicinal cannabis products to ease their pain and suffering, but we must have the right regulatory and legislative controls in … Read more
National leader Simon Bridges went on Radio Live this afternoon and came out in favour of the two big NZ media print companies’ bid to merge. Does that mean it will become a partisan issue? Doing a long radio spot as a politician is difficult. An issue can come up basically out of nowhere, the … Read more
This week: National party leader Simon Bridges is excited about launching an opposition bill to make medical marijuana legal in New Zealand. Starring Tom Sainsbury. The Spinoff TV, 10.45pm Fridays on THREE Click here for all our Kiwis of Snapchat videos
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Budget Responsibility Rules get another nudge, Auckland politicos eye up 2019, and The Warehouse cuts more than 100 jobs. Here’s a turn up for the books – now two government support party leaders have indicated that the so-called budget responsibility rules could be loosened before the … Read more
A week which saw opposition MPs railing against airline menu changes and inquiries properly constituted under legislation they promoted in government suggests they’re hellbent upon repeating their predecessors’ tendency to get tied up in credibility knots, writes former minister Peter Dunne Politicians often get a bad rap, even when they do not deserve it. In … Read more
It’s a bold claim from Simon Bridges, but has his office pulled a bit of a swifty on the numbers? Alex Braae checks the maths. Here’s the claim: National Party leader Simon Bridges says in the nine months of the Labour government, there has been more industrial action than under nine years of the National … Read more
The leader of the National Party has been heavily criticised for delivering a tone-deaf interview on the prime ministerial baby on Friday. Hayden Donnell resolved to help him beat his demons and redefine his personal brand. The worst thing was he thought it was going well. Simon Bridges was revelling in the grim nihilism of … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Workers prepare to walk off the job, Nicky Hager gives his account of police harassment, and a march in Tauranga against the proposed begging ban. A wave of strikes are set to hit the public sector, while private sector workers are also taking action. The latest on … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Pike River case could be reopened, public service workers to vote on strike action, and police accused of behaving like a private security force. Police could reopening the Pike River mine case, and criminal charges may follow, reports Newshub. The government’s top investigator has been in Greymouth, … 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