Politics

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The Spinoff Members

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Making a splash: Is this the most impressive select committee submission ever?

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I was one of hundreds of people who lost my government job this week. Here's exactly how it played out.

What it’s like to be made redundant by the Ministry of Education

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Why do those Lange-Douglas years cast such a long shadow 40 years on?

Juggernaut: The ghosts of 1984

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It would be a more wonderful time of year if I knew there was no exploitation under the Christmas tree.

All I want for Christmas is modern day slavery legislation

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Looking back at the events that made headlines around the globe in 2024. 

A world on fire: the World Bulletin year in review

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In six hours, everything changed: Watching Korea’s political turmoil from afar

Ben McKay

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The return of the glitteriest rubber gongs of New Zealand politics.

The 2024 Golden Jandals for conspicuous contributions to NZ politics

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Did anyone make an accurate call? Let's find out.

Our outlandish political predictions for 2024, revisited

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ICYMI: that festive pileup of opinion polling, in one snapshot.

All those recent political polls: a quick recap

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Immigration NZ could have made any decision on the controversial speaker's visa and it would've been better than a minister intervening. 

What we should have done with Candace Owens is nothing

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Ready the lifeboats: the coalition boat appears to be listing. 

Gone By Lunchtime: A plan to have a plan about some ferries

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From 'testing' to 'tiring', there's a clear theme.

The world in 2024, in one sentence

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The government says it's a 'technology-led approach'. Critics say it's an 'abject failure'. 

The finalised second Emissions Reduction Plan is out – what’s in it and what’s not?

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Believe it or not, this is not a joke headline.

Auckland Council opposes new housing because motorists won’t be able to see a hill

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The roadmap for a peaceful transition to a democratic future in Syria already exists and it’s ready to be actioned.

The Al-Assad dynasty is over and a new day dawns in Syria

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The rising star MP on chairing the committee that will attract untold heat, his own path to politics, and whether haka are welcome at the hearings. 

Meet James Meager, the man left holding the treaty principles bill

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What are Marsden grants, and why have this week's changes to them caused such a stir?

The changes to research funding in Aotearoa, explained

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There’s plastic everywhere, and efforts to reduce it are limited by the power of big oil.

Is New Zealand – and the world – doing enough to tackle the plastic problem?

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Public consultation is currently open on further restricting the use of puberty blockers in young people experiencing gender dysphoria. Jennifer Shields argues why the process has been flawed from the beginning.

Gender-affirming care affects a small minority – so why the public consultation?

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A declassified conversation with George Bush shows Jim Bolger 'wanted' to remove the nuclear ban in 1991. But he couldn't.

Labour’s long win on defence policy

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'For blokes, it's probably the child they never knew about. And for women, it’s probably the child they’ve never spoken about.'

‘One hell of a shock’: Why not everyone wants flowers from David Lomas

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Megan Dunn on the the question of what it means to be more true to your dreams than your fears.

What I write about when I write about mermaids

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'Everything reminded me of the comfort of TV, the promise of a story.'

Can NYC ever live up to the hype? 

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Why do so many of us install security cameras – and are they breaching other people’s rights?

Selling security, delivering anxiety: The rise of home surveillance cameras

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An essential guide to all the holes you can drive through in this country.

All 29 road tunnels in New Zealand ranked from worst to best

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When he died, my friend Doug got no media obituary. Hardly anyone outside his tiny rural community knew him. But everyone inside that community did.

A life story

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I watched all 46 of Tom Cruise's films over the past 12 months. The question on everyone's lips: why?

‘The mission is clearly possible’: On watching every single Tom Cruise movie ever made

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How a little jar of seawater ends up as a red cross that ruins your day-at-the-beach plans – but keeps you safe from swimming in sewage.

A trip to the beach with the poo detectives

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After two decades of promised redevelopment, Johnsonville Shopping Centre remains neglected and half empty. 

Who killed the Johnsonville mall?

, there was a lot of swearing deployed to sum up the year. And then came 2020. As it reaches its close, how to describe the world this year in one sentence?

Read more from our political year in review 

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2020 is … A hot steaming dish of anxiety producing dystopian tribalism seasoned with sprinklings of gratitude that we live here and not there. Phew.

Maybe it would have been better if the world had ended in 2012 after all.

Capitalism needs us more than we need it.

“All I can say is that on this earth there are plagues and there are victims – and as far as possible one must refuse to be on the side of the plague.” Camus, The Plague

An unprecedented pivot to a new normal (with kindness) *eyeroll*

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern Holds Press Conference On Coronavirus Response

Last year, there was a lot of swearing deployed to sum up the year. And then came 2020.

The Spinoff

PoliticsDecember 18, 2020

Politics in 2020: How to describe the year in one sentence?

Is there anything we can do to help?

2020 is … A hot steaming dish of anxiety producing dystopian tribalism seasoned with sprinklings of gratitude that we live here and not there. Phew.

Broken.

Maybe it would have been better if the world had ended in 2012 after all.

The world is a vampire sent to drain.

Remember when we thought Brexit was bad?

Capitalism needs us more than we need it.

Sick, suffering, senseless.

Covidy.

“All I can say is that on this earth there are plagues and there are victims – and as far as possible one must refuse to be on the side of the plague.” Camus, The Plague

Everyone learned to use Zoom.

An unprecedented pivot to a new normal (with kindness) eyeroll

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PoliticsDecember 18, 2020

Politics in 2020: How to describe the year in one sentence?

Is there anything we can do to help?

2020 is … A hot steaming dish of anxiety producing dystopian tribalism seasoned with sprinklings of gratitude that we live here and not there. Phew.

Broken.

Maybe it would have been better if the world had ended in 2012 after all.

The world is a vampire sent to drain.

Remember when we thought Brexit was bad?

Capitalism needs us more than we need it.

Sick, suffering, senseless.

Covidy.

“All I can say is that on this earth there are plagues and there are victims – and as far as possible one must refuse to be on the side of the plague.” Camus, The Plague

More Reading

Everyone learned to use Zoom.

An unprecedented pivot to a new normal (with kindness) *eyeroll*

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An unprecedented pivot to a new normal (with kindness) eyeroll