Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Questions to be answered about case in the community, major companies flagrantly breaching wastewater consents, and Tenancy Tribunal decisions harming abuse survivors. As of this morning, we’re still waiting on some crucial information about the situation in Northland, after a person travelled through the region before … Read more
The issues political editor Justin Giovannetti will be keeping an eye on in 2021 (that have nothing to do with Covid-19). New Zealand will be busy in 2021. The border will remain closed to nearly all travellers and Covid-19 will continue to lead the news, but the country has a packed domestic agenda of issues … 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
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Auckland drought leads to fears of severe water restrictions, exclusive new poll results on government’s Covid-19 response, and is a resolution coming at Ihumātao? The Auckland water crisis isn’t getting any better, and the city’s leaders are getting extremely nervous about the coming months. That is … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Media reels after horror week, Wellington Council facing massive budget crunch, and highest single day of new Covid-19 cases. It had always been clear that this was going to be a difficult time for the media, with the Covid-19 downturn hitting already battered budgets. But could … Read more
As New Zealand suffers from drought and the effects of climate change become more severe, now is not the time for New Zealand to be shipping water offshore, writes Cat MacLennan. At the bottom of the Pacific’s Mariana Trench, the deepest part of the world’s ocean, explorers in 2019 found four new species of crustaceans … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Saving water becomes crucial amid drought, means testing Super back in the news, and a hard look at a Special Purpose Vehicle. Aucklanders need to get serious about saving water or restrictions will come in. Newshub reports that’s the message from Watercare, who say that it’s not … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Bridges gives signal of tax cuts, police under pressure over family violence problem, and condemnation rains down over Peters scandal. Expect plenty of news today about National’s economic manifesto to take into the next election. From Simon Bridges’ appearance on Q+A yesterday (welcome back to that show) it … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Announcements expected on infrastructure projects, Kiwis trapped in Wuhan speak out, and speaker Trevor Mallard being sued. Major announcements will be made on infrastructure spending today. It’s part of a $12 billion package announced last year, but with the details kept under wraps until now. However, … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Massive bill looms for water overhaul, Five Eyes countries discuss backdoors for encrypted apps, and could Ihumātao lead to Māori politics reorganisation? Central government is set to take significantly more power over the water systems of New Zealand. The measures announced by minister for local government Nanaia … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: National plans approach to regaining government in 2020, fishing industry letter about onboard cameras to Stuart Nash revealed, and unemployment up. The National Party are off on their caucus retreat to start the year, and are already promising more policy will be rolled out well before … Read more
Commercial water bottling continues to spark controversy. But is it really such a big deal, or a proxy for something else, asks environmental scientist Tim Muller Many Cantabrians are up in arms about water bottling company Cloud Ocean Water, the latest chapter in a story that’s played out across the country. There’s been a petition, … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Climate change report says it’s now or never for action, legislation aimed at anti-competitive markets prioritised, and Chorus contractors under scrutiny. The latest report from the intergovernmental panel on climate change has been released, and it’s a brutally stark warning. Radio NZ reports that it calls for “unprecedented … Read more
Put them together and malt, water, hops and yeast creates something beautiful. Henry Oliver looks inside his beer, and discovers it’s really quite simple. In some ways, buying beer is more complicated than ever. What seemed like a simple choice in the past – basically: lager, ale or something fancy-sounding – is now complicated by … Read more
Dream pop is the genre of the moment in the worldwide indie scene and New Zealand is no exception, with acts like Fazerdaze and Yumi Zouma gaining huge international audiences. Back at home, the associated sound of shoegaze has made a return, with a raft of new bands emerging onto the live scene. Gareth Shute … Read more
Welcome to the Cheat Sheet, a clickable, shareable, bite-sized FAQ on the news of the moment. Today, we explain why swimming at some of Auckland’s best beaches might just be a terrible idea. So why can’t I swim at the beach? It’s contaminated. By what? Poop. Excrement. Fecal matter. And a few other nasty rogue … Read more
Forget bottled water – the new ‘health’ craze for those who reject tap water is raw, untreated water from rivers and springs. New Zealanders shouldn’t need to be told what a terrible idea that is, writes biological scientist Dr Alison Campbell. ‘Raw water’ is the latest foolish fad to hit people’s screens, pockets – and, … Read more
The inquiry into water contamination in Hawke’s Bay delivered ambitious and wide-ranging recommendations. With a stack of inquiries promised by the new government, scale is a serious issue, writes public law expert Sally McKechnie. The inquiry into Havelock North’s drinking water contamination in August 2016 has culminated in a damning report on the state of … Read more
We review the entire country and culture of New Zealand, one thing at a time. Today, Henry Oliver drinks a Crate Day’s worth of LaCroix, millennials’ favourite sparkling water, which has just arrived in New Zealand. Napkins are dead: to begin with. And crowdfunding is dead. McWraps are dead. Golf, holidays, the wine cork, they … Read more
With much of New Zealand’s water infrastructure particularly vulnerable to the growing dangers of climate change, Iain White and Alexandra Keeble argue that investing in new systems and flexible solutions are key to future-proofing for an uncertain future. It’s not something you expect to see on the streets of New Zealand: raw sewage bubbling up … Read more
Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand, with the interview available as both audio and a transcribed excerpt. Today Simon talks to Mike Jenkins about bringing cloud technology to businesses … Read more
Why did Bill English raise the prospect of slaughtering the dairy herd yesterday? As farmers prepare to protest in Jacinda Ardern’s hometown Morrinsville, Simon Wilson wants to know why we are suddenly being asked to believe there is a deep urban/rural divide. I’ve driven through quite a bit of the North Island in the last … Read more