Summer reissue: Last night New Zealand witnessed one of the most exhilarating, confronting political stories to air on national television. Hayden Donnell has watched it several hundred times. First published May 27, 2020 Independent journalism depends on you. Help us stay curious in 2021. The Spinoff’s journalism is funded by its members – click here … Read more
Summer reissue: Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas reel at the announcement that Todd Muller has resigned as leader of the opposition. First published July 14, 2020. Independent journalism depends on you. Help us stay curious in 2021. The Spinoff’s journalism is funded by its members – click here to learn more about how you can … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Focus on the various farming plans put out this week, concerns raised about contacts of new positive Covid cases, and huge bill coming for Wellington region water. For a lead story today, a look at the various farming policies that will be taken into the … Read more
Two electorates, seven candidates (including two recent National leaders) and 100 spaced-out audience members. Josie Adams reports from Tauranga. There were two debates for the price of one last night in Tauranga: the battle for the Tauranga electorate and the battle for Bay of Plenty were fought on the same Baycourt Theatre stage before a … Read more
For every nugget of gold printed by The Spinoff, there are several more nuggets of slightly less lustrous gold. Hayden Donnell lists some of his rejected story ideas. In my time writing for The Spinoff, I’ve produced mountains of what historians will one day remember as “content gold”. Readers wept when they found out what … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Labour launches campaign while National releases list, frantic final days at parliament wrapped, and new poll shows Shane Jones in trouble in Northland. Some would say the campaign has been underway for months in a proxy form, but officially, it’s now all on. The parliamentary term … Read more
All around the country, people are asking ‘what’s going to happen in the 2020 general election campaign?’ That’s because they haven’t read this guide, which reveals exactly what will happen in the 2020 general election campaign. Someone has finally put this term of parliament out of its misery. We’ve had three years of scandals, sex … Read more
This is easy and you will get them all right. The billboards are up and the campaigns are under way. The party slogans are right there, up in your face. There are some you could name off the bat. But can you get them all? Here are the slogans for the top eight most popular … Read more
The new National Party leader enjoyed a very short political honeymoon, with two MP resignations landing this morning. Her challenge now is to pull off a superhuman repair job on the party’s core reputational strength, writes Toby Manhire. It wasn’t quite a team of five million, but when Judith Collins took the stage in the … Read more
A party in crisis has chosen a leader with experience and profile. The challenge is daunting, writes Justin Giovannetti from parliament. The National Party has turned in its moment of crisis towards a battle-hardened and pugnacious leader in Judith Collins to guide it towards an election that is only 66 days away. Todd Muller’s unexpected … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Dramatic leadership change for National, government rolls out millions more in business support, and several police raids ruled unlawful by IPCA. If you didn’t pay attention to the news yesterday from about 7.15am onwards, there’s a bit to catch up on. The big story is this: … Read more
After Todd Muller’s shock resignation, a crushing electoral defeat for National looks all but assured. But is a historically weak opposition really something for the left to celebrate, asks Danyl Mclauchlan. It probably doesn’t matter who takes over as leader of the National Party. Todd Muller’s sudden resignation after weeks of internal leaks, infighting, scandals, … Read more
Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas reel at the announcement that Todd Muller has resigned as leader of the opposition. At 7.30am, just 53 days after he replaced Simon Bridges as leader of the National Party, Todd Muller announced his immediate resignation from the job. How did it come to this, and who is … Read more
Just over seven weeks after he rolled Simon Bridges to become leader of the opposition, and with under 10 weeks to go to the election, Todd Muller has quit. Here’s a reminder of how it unfurled – and unravelled. May 21 A Colmar Brunton poll for TVNZ puts National at 29%. It’s just the latest … Read more
With just over two months to go before the election, National suddenly, shockingly finds itself in need of a new leader. Who are the potential candidates? Late leadership changes before an election aren’t unheard of in politics. The current prime minister is living proof of that, taking over from Andrew Little as Labour leader just … Read more
Todd Muller made the choice of health over politics two months before a general election. National is now scrambling to find a new leader, politics editor Justin Giovannetti reports from parliament. Former National leader Todd Muller’s resignation shook Wellington this morning, ending one of the shortest leaderships in New Zealand’s modern history. Only 53 days … Read more
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
With an election now less than 10 weeks away, the National Party is confronting the very real prospect of a crushing defeat, writes Pattrick Smellie for BusinessDesk. Only two things can now save Todd Muller and the National Party from the growing likelihood of a crushing defeat at the September 19 election. Only one of … Read more
Ten points, two plans. Which points are whose? With an election within spitting distance, Aotearoa’s two biggest political parties are all about the plans. “You don’t have a plan!” says one party to the other. “Yes we have a plan, or certainly a plan to have a plan, or a plan to say you have … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Changes coming in managed isolation after 2nd escape, Hamish Walker’s political career over, and expert advice released ahead of cannabis referendum. Changes are being made to the way managed isolation facilities are run, after it emerged that a resident went for a wander around Auckland – and … Read more
How did the bizarre story of Hamish Walker leaking confidential Covid details to media all play out? Radio NZ’s Jo Moir dissects the latest alarming episode in NZ politics. In an extraordinary move National Party leader Todd Muller has had one of his own MPs, Hamish Walker, lawyer up over his leaking of private details … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Scandal for MP after leaking confidential Covid data, new bookings for return to country put on hold, and Islamic Women’s Council release evidence of being ignored. We now know exactly how the leak of private information of all active Covid-19 patients happened. National MP Hamish Walker, representative … Read more
The leak, we discovered last night, was the work of a first-term MP and a veteran National Party operator. What does it mean for the pair, and for the party, asks Ben Thomas. The latest whodunit in New Zealand politics was solved last night in a flurry of releases, as National’s Clutha-Southland MP Hamish Walker … Read more
Headlines about the ‘world’s gayest’ parliament only serve to highlight how far behind National has fallen on queer representation, writes Sam Brooks. On Monday, the Australian Associated Press reported that New Zealand is on the brink, if current polling persists, of achieving the “gayest parliament in the world”. There are currently seven openly queer* MPs … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Battle over whether opening the borders is tenable, Christchurch mosque shooter interview concerns, and Paula Bennett leaves politics. The first thing to note about the opening of the borders is that it is unlikely to happen any time soon. The PM declared yesterday afternoon that the prospect was … Read more
New Zealand leads the world in rugby, flightless birds and egg white based desserts. But despite a claim from National, the national economic response to Covid-19 isn’t world-beating, writes Justin Giovannetti from the Beehive. On the same day the National Party unveiled its first election hoardings, which promise more jobs and a better economy under … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: New poll sets tone for election campaign, new testing criteria for Covid-19 outlined, and weirdness occurs around prisoner voting bill. We’re now three months out from the election, and the latest poll has returned to something approaching a balanced state of play. The One News Colmar Brunton survey … Read more
Seven days ago New Zealand was basking in a Covid-free glow. But over the week, holes sprung in the managed isolation system, with a scramble to assert authority seeing the military called into an oversight role. Spinoff political editor Justin Giovannetti recounts an extraordinary few days in NZ’s Covid-19 response story. A sense of victory … Read more
Ben Thomas, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Toby Manhire on efforts to resolve the failures exposed in the self-isolation system. As the saying goes, a week is a long time in the response to an unprecedented global pandemic, and so it has proved, with the military called in to fix the issues in border control following the … Read more