The Bulletin: High alert as woman in Northland tests Covid-positive

Good morning and welcome to the first regular season Bulletin of 2021. In today’s edition: High alert as woman in Northland tests Covid-positive, house price inflation races ahead unabated, and schools grappling with new year after last year’s disruptions.  Ministers and health officials were keeping their options open yesterday afternoon after a new case in … Read more

The Bulletin: Did Todd Muller lie about Boag and Woodhouse?

Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Self-inflicted story puts National on the defensive, another escape attempt from managed isolation, and a series of party events ahead of election. There’s a convention in journalism called Betteridge’s law of headlines. Basically what it means is that headlines that end in a question mark can … Read more

The Bulletin: Tough times for thousands on temporary visas

Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Problems looming for temporary visa holders, state house waiting list balloons again, and US ban could hit NZ seafood exports. There are some real problems looming for temporary visa holders and their employers, with thousands set to expire all once, reports Nona Pelletier for Radio NZ. Automatic … Read more

Ten important summer news stories you may have missed

Good morning, and welcome back to The Bulletin for 2020. In today’s edition: A collection of news stories you probably wisely ignored over the last month. The Bulletin is The Spinoff’s free daily newsletter of the most important news and analysis from across New Zealand. To get it in your inbox every morning, sign up … Read more

The Bulletin: Greens push policy to rumbling party

Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Greens push policy at restive annual conference, police alarm Ihumātao protectors by showing rifles, and two major stories about dodgy historic rubbish dumps. The Green Party have held their annual conference over the weekend, and it heralded both policy drives, and organisational blows. We’ll start with … Read more

The Bulletin: Bleak outlook in extinction report

Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Major biodiversity report paints bleak picture, Victim Support strongly rebuts claims about donated money, and expect a reeferendum announcement today.  An alarming report into biodiversity loss and species extinction has stark implications for world. Globally, the IPBES Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystems has found that a … Read more

The Bulletin: Social housing list balloons amid heavy demand

Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Social housing list balloons amid heavy demand, bizarre development in NZ-China relations takes in former PM, and another species of foreign fruit fly found. The social housing waiting list has cracked 10,000, and is steadily rising all the time. Newshub reports that is an increase of 73% on … Read more

The trickledown farce of Kiwibuild obscures a much more urgent housing crisis

Government fixation on gentrifying state housing neighbourhoods to provide sites for KiwiBuild developments seriously undermines the opportunity to meet the most pressing needs, writes Alan Johnson, the Child Poverty Action Group’s housing spokesperson. The recent media preoccupation with KiwiBuild as a middle class welfare programme risks overlooking a far more critical housing story. It is … Read more

Passion and fury as John Tamihere revs up Auckland mayoral ambitions

A challenge for the Auckland mayoralty is looming next year, with John Tamihere today turning up at Auckland Council to rattle some cages. But what is he actually standing on? And will he really run? Alex Braae went along to the JT show. John Tamihere came in early, to stake out a claim on a … Read more

Mould, sweet mould: inside New Zealand’s damp housing crisis

Ethan Donnell, director of Sick Homes, the latest in the Frame documentary series produced for the Spinoff by Wrestler and funded by NZ on Air, describes the people he met, and the reality of the places they live Once a week, Brett Johnson takes apart the small machine that pumps air through a mask and … Read more

Call the cops: a senior cabinet minister accidentally told the truth about drugs

Phil Twyford called meth use a “health issue” this morning, and said his Housing NZ would not make people homeless. Good words and true. So why is his government still locking addicts up? A few hours ago, Morning Report’s Guyon Espiner conducted an interview with housing minister Phil Twyford which was both mundane and extraordinary, … Read more

The Bulletin: What will Waikeria Prison be?

Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Government will unveil plans for Waikeria Prison, Nicky Hager vindicated after unlawful police raid, and Auckland councillors getting restless about Goff. The government’s new plans for Waikeria Prison are set to finally be revealed today,reports Radio NZ. There has been endless back and forth on this since … Read more

A three-step plan to truly affordable housing (no, we don’t need another review)

We all agree on the ambition – the question is how. 2Degrees Mobile founder Tex Edwards says the market has failed and lays out the case for more government intervention. What is the problem with housing in New Zealand? Most young people, and families who intend to buy one during their lives see them as … Read more

What’s happening in the PM’s Auckland suburb is a sign of things to come

As Housing NZ prepares to develop the corner near Russell Brown’s house in Point Chevalier, he muses on the redevelopment, gentrification and spiralling growth in real estate values of the Auckland suburb he calls home.  Last week, I wandered around the corner to watch the news crews assemble outside Jacinda Ardern’s Point Chevalier home in … Read more

No, poor New Zealand families can’t just ‘grow their own vegetables’

Parents in low income families are always being told that if they are having difficulty putting food on the table that they should just ‘put in a garden’. But, as Rebekah Graham and Kimberly Jackson explain, their research with New Zealand families shows that it’s not as simple as it sounds. To protect the privacy … Read more

How one iwi is finding its own way out of the housing crisis

‘If you create the community, then great things will come from it.’ In Hawke’s Bay, a papa kāinga – or community housing development – is providing a blueprint for social housing provision in New Zealand. On a hilltop overlooking the long stretch of Waimarama beach in Hawke’s Bay is a cluster of new houses that … Read more