Yet another waterfront stadium plan is being put forward for Auckland. Modern-day stadium naysayer Hayden Donnell summons his stadium-supporting past self to debate the merits. I used to support a waterfront stadium. It was 2006. Trevor Mallard was the minister of sport and he was offering Auckland $700 million to build a 50,000-seat facility across … Read more
The team behind the Daisy apartment building respond to the fury it unleashed from Mike Hosking. Daisy exists because Ockham Residential set a goal of building an international best practice sustainable urban residence. Tāmaki Makaurau is maturing into the South Pacific’s most vibrant and cosmopolitan city. Across many sectors there is a collective transformational spirit … Read more
In our video series Kiwis of Snapchat, comedian Tom Sainsbury sources exclusive Snapchat footage of Kiwi citizens making the news. Today: Aucklander Gerald Cobb walks us through his early morning commute. Click here for all our Kiwis of Snapchat videos. The Spinoff Auckland is sponsored by Heart of the City, the business association dedicated to the … Read more
Having analysed the spate of uplifting stories about millennial strugglers buying homes, Don Rowe reveals how you, too, can lift your foot above your head and on to the lowest rung of the property ladder. It’s not impossible, it just takes a few little tricks – like not paying rent. Sometimes it can feel like … Read more
In 2016 the Spinoff launched the humbly titled ‘War for Auckland’ campaign. Here we republish the editorials, from June and August, that bookended the bellicose, unruly crowd-funded enterprise Announcing the War for Auckland Originally published June 27, 2016 War?! We know, we know. But what else would you call the vastly differing visions for Auckland … Read more
Fixing the housing crisis in Auckland is simple, according to Leonie Freeman. She knows how to do it. But, asks Simon Wilson, will anyone let her? Leonie Freeman wears a Fitbit on one wrist and a watch on the other and she talks in the same way as Helen Clark – not the deep voice … Read more
Leftwing blogger Martyn Bradbury claims that ‘nothing screams white middle class privilege quite like cycle lanes’. Tell that to the increasing number of Aucklanders from all walks of life who are getting on a bike, says Kurt Taogaga. For a long time, cycling was something that just didn’t occur to me. It was too dangerous … Read more
The housing crisis has dominated the news cycles this year, but there’s still a lot we don’t know. Professor John Tookey is an expert in the area and is ready to answer your questions. Housing makes me money. Take it easy though. I’m not a property investor or a builder. In fact, I only own … Read more
This can either read as a huge list of thank you notes to those who joined the fight for Auckland’s soul, or if you’re Richard Burton or Mike Lee, a list of enemy collaborators. The War For Auckland began as a dark kernel of Duncan Greive’s rage. Our Spinoff Net Tsar spent most of 2016 … Read more
Mayor Phil Goff joins Millennial wastrel Hayden Donnell and Metro editor-at-large Simon Wilson to talk about the housing crisis, council culture, *that* headline about sleeping with the same woman for 45 years, and whether we should jail all Boomers. It’s Warcast #9 and Toby Manhire is still in Whanganui, hanging out with New Zealand’s answer to Donald … Read more
Hayden Donnell identifies the people who did well, and the ones who got massively owned, in the Auckland local elections. Winners Chlöe “22” Swarbrick Chlöe Swarbrick, whose campaign cost roughly the same as the Goff campaign’s cheese budget, came third with nearly 27,000 votes. Despite being a complete political novice, Swarbrick beat out John Palino, who … Read more
Two of the best young election candidates in Auckland join Hayden Donnell to talk cycle helmets, our terrible voting system, and election intrigue on the North Shore. Argh! Crap! Oh no! The election voting deadline is nearly upon us and pretty much no-one in Auckland has voted. Chlöe Swarbrick and Richard Hills join Hayden Donnell … Read more
We recently received this open letter from Her Warship Penny Bright. It details her thoughts about Auckland Council, Phil Goff, the Property Council, Chlöe Swarbrick, Generation Zero, Spinoff hack Hayden Donnell, and The Spinoff dot co, dot, NZ. Subject: Time to quit the SPIN Hayden and try some SUBSTANCE? Open Letter When are you going to do an article of substance instead of spin … Read more
Hayden Donnell and Mark Hanna dive deep in the mysterious depths of local democracy to weed out the potential wackos. They’re mostly normal on the front pages of the ballots. Phil Goff. Vic Crone. These people. All sober and level-headed. If these top candidates say something strange, people call them out. Look at Vic Crone. … Read more
Readers’ responses on Māui and Moana, millennials and Mike Lee – and one powerful first-person essay. Madeleine Chapman’s defence of Disney’s full-body Maui costume for kids – since withdrawn from sale – attracted outrage and applause in equal measure. “Takes all the context & comes up with a sensible conclusion. Refreshing to read in an … Read more
Yesterday morning five leading mayoral candidates headed to Mangere’s Ngā Whare Waatea to debate the issues facing South Auckland. Mana magazine editor Leonie Hayden was there. Throughout the debate, a pop quiz was held to test the candidates’ general knowledge of South Auckland. The only rules were: No referring the matter back to central government. No … Read more
Forget transport and housing policy. Hayden Donnell dons his sorting hat to uncover the only info on the Auckland mayoral candidates that truly matters. We’ve found out a lot of personal stuff about the Auckland mayoral candidates during this heart-stopping election campaign. Her Warship Penny Bright cleans her hoardings with senior nappies. John Palino knows … Read more
Why did we endorse Not Mike Lee? We explain our controversial decision and talk housing, elections and potential mayors with a pair of all-star guests. With Auckland in the throes of voting, Mana editor Leonie Hayden joins the Warcast to recap the most recent mayoral debate at Ngā Whare Waatea Marae, where one candidate emerged as a clear crowd favourite. Hayden … Read more
Why is there a Swarbrick-shaped hole in the Herald’s 23-page election guide? Hayden Donnell has a whinge. The Herald’s recent local body election guide is mostly unremarkable. There are interviews with the main mayoral contenders. An obligatory trudge through the wards. An even more obligatory trudge through the regions. One piece blaming uncool political candidates … Read more
The Spinoff War for Auckland PsyOps Division is giddily excited to launch our turbo-charged endorsement tool – click here! We say: give these people your vote for mayor and council. The tool – click here! – is a core part of our outlandish and belligerent campaign for a better Auckland. Drawing on field research conducted by … Read more
In fits of democratic exhilaration, Gen Zero and the Auckland war bunker celebrate the start of the Auckland local elections, and explain their imperious plans to tell you how to vote. On the day voting papers begin to dribble into the letterboxes of the Super City, Spinoffistas Toby Manhire and Hayden Donnell are joined by … Read more
Auckland’s housing market is now ministerially sanctioned as ‘out of control’. Hayden Donnell spoke to Chris Minty from Saba about whether apartments are the answer. Auckland’s house prices just reached $1 million on average. As milestones go, it’s like your first catastrophic break-up, or turning 40: no-one feels that good about it. The Government now … Read more
The War for Auckland briefly flees the stinking cauldron of hot takes for the cool waters of beautiful music, as Lake South explains his new track Renters. I wrote Renters because that’s Auckland for me in 2016. All my friends talk about is paying too much rent for shitty flats. They say they can’t tell the landlord about the … Read more
The owners of Bashford Antiques are in the news for aggressively clamping cars outside their Ponsonby store. But this story is much, much stranger than a simple parking dispute. David Farrier reports. Click here for part two of this weird saga. The only tweet I’ve ever been “forced” to delete was about Bashford Antiques. It happened about three years ago, when I was … Read more
A Spinoff/SSI poll shows National’s support slipping in Auckland. Tim Murphy looks at why the blue tide might be going out in our biggest city (Hint: it has something to do with a housing Apocalypse). One intriguing result from this week’s Spinoff-SSI poll of voters is that the Government’s lead in the party vote has fallen considerably … Read more
Apartments: long has the debate raged over whether building them would destroy Auckland. Today a special Spinoff pictorial exposé can reveal they’re already here – and loads of them are fantastic. Photography by Rebecca Zephyr Thomas. Story based on research by Catherine Smith. Nothing scares a certain kind of veteran Aucklander more than an apartment. … Read more
In the third Earth-shattering installment of The Spinoff’s recently renamed Warcast, we talk to Deputy Mayor Penny Hulse about the Unitary Plan, the disappointing Auckland mayoral candidates, and why she got upset with Mayor Len Brown. She should have been sleeping off a hangover after finally, incredibly, passing the Unitary Plan. Instead, newly minted teetotaller Penny Hulse got up … Read more
As the otherwise excellent Unitary Plan speeds to a near-inevitable passage today, one part of it remains both intact and very problematic. Dr Hirini Kaa reflected on the abandonment of the mana whenua provisions in a superb essay for e-tangata yesterday, which they have kindly allowed us to republish on The Spinoff. I’ve grown up in Auckland. I … Read more
Achieving a better, fairer Auckland involves much more than just building affordable homes. Urbanist Jenny McArthur explains why liveability should be a key demand of the War for Auckland. As an academic specialising in infrastructure and urban growth, I’ve been delighted by how The Spinoff’s War for Auckland series has helped stimulate the public’s interest … Read more