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Opinion

Jury chairs
Opinion

The aborted Nelson rape trial revealed uncomfortable truths

The jury asked questions about the complainant’s underwear and sexual history.
avatar
By Ruben Miller | 20th March, 2026
Guest writer
Image: The Spinoff
Opinion

The fight for Te Pāti Māori voters has begun

The Greens may win the kaupapa. Labour may win the numbers. The real question is who wins enough.
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By Liam Rātana | 19th March, 2026
Ātea editor
Chris Hipkins (Image: Tina Tiller)
Opinion

The Jade Paul-Chris Hipkins story was messy for a reason

No longer know what to think? Join the club.
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By Veronica Schmidt | 19th March, 2026
Editor
Hopefully the men setting our transport priorities have been reducing our exposure to the volatile global oil market.
Opinion

Petrol is so expensive. Hopefully we’ve been reducing our dependence on it?

It would be a real shame if we’d done something like stop NZTA spending on walking and cycling. Ha ha ha.
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By Hayden Donnell | 17th March, 2026
Senior writer
Jai Breitnauer once thought specialist schools were the answer. She doesn’t anymore. (Photo: supplied)
Opinion

You might think I’d back NZ’s specialist schools plan. Well, I don’t

Attending a specialist school isn't a silver bullet. 
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By Jai Breitnauer | 16th March, 2026
Guest writer
Clockwise from centre: Christopher Luxon, Emmanuel Macron, Donald Trump, Friedrich Merz, Keir Starmer, Anthony Albanese.
Opinion

Are Luxon’s struggles special, or is he a victim of a global incumbency curse?

Do we really hate them all? 
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By Toby Manhire | 16th March, 2026
Editor-at-large
This is the New Zealand we could have had  (Image: Alex Casey)
Opinion

Brain drain solution: New Zealand needs to fast-track its own Uniqlo 

How many of the New Zealanders fleeing to Australia every year are doing it for the unfettered access to capacious cross-body bags?
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By Alex Casey | 14th March, 2026
Senior writer
Don’t make me tell them the food sucked.
Opinion

New Zealanders are terrified of complaining – but only about some things

We’ll take back clothing that comes apart, maybe. But when it comes to restaurants and accommodation, we are a nation terrified.
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By Kate Langdon | 14th March, 2026
Guest writer
No.
Opinion

Christopher Luxon’s refusal to go is yet more evidence of our culture of no

National is polling at 28.4% but its leader won’t leave. Where is the ambition for outcomes? The growth mindset?
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By Hayden Donnell | 13th March, 2026
Senior writer
Winston Peters, David Seymour and Simeon Brown, with a selection of contrasting quotes from the Covid-19 inquiry report and their interpretations of it (Image: The Spinoff)
Opinion

The real lesson of the second Covid-19 inquiry? We live in a post-truth world

Government ministers’ creative interpretations of the royal commission’s report took spin to scary new levels.
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By Alice Neville | 11th March, 2026
Deputy editor
Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, Rawiri Waititi and John Tamihere (Image design: Tina Tiller)
Opinion

Kapa-Kingi reinstated: Where to now for Te Pāti Māori?

The ruling raises a bigger question: can the party survive the fallout?
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By Liam Rātana | 11th March, 2026
Ātea editor
Clockwise from top: Luxon on Newstalk ZB, Luxon on Breakfast, Luxon at the Beehive theatrette for the post-cabinet press conference.
Opinion

Christopher Luxon’s big Monday media grillings – rated

After a flurry of speculation about the PM’s job security, the stakes were high. How did he do?
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By Toby Manhire | 10th March, 2026
Editor-at-large
Image: Tina Tiller
Opinion

Why the word ‘tribe’ makes some Māori uneasy

Why do we still use it – and what changes when we say iwi instead?
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By Vincent Olsen-Reeder | 9th March, 2026
Guest writer
Christopher Luxon in happier times, relaxing in the Mike Hosking studio at Newstalk ZB. Photo by Michael Craig/New Zealand Herald via Getty Images
Opinion

If National MPs want to roll Luxon, there is one big hurdle in the way

1997 has entered the chat.
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By Toby Manhire | 7th March, 2026
Editor-at-large
It’s been a rough summer for Wellington
Opinion

How to survive in Wellington right now

The mood around the Phoenix reflects the feeling of the city at large: the good days are behind us. But there are plenty of reasons for not giving up on Pōneke.
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By Brooke Harper | 5th March, 2026
Guest writer
David Lange in a UK cafeteria on his trip where he made that speech at the Oxford Union debate. (Photo by Fresco/Daily Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Opinion

I got to listen to the private thoughts and feelings of David Lange

Greg Bruce is one of the few to have ever listened to David Lange's diaries. He came away angry that we have stopped recording diaries with prime ministers.
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By Greg Bruce | 3rd March, 2026
Guest writer
Wherever you are in New Zealand, you should be able to see the eclipse from 11pm (as long as it’s not cloudy)
Opinion

Why you should get excited about tonight’s lunar eclipse

A passionate argument for staying up late, going outside and marvelling at the red moon.
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By Shanti Mathias | 3rd March, 2026
Contributing writer
Photo: Getty Images; design Tina Tiller
Opinion

Our alarming rates of child poverty are entirely avoidable

And yet we continue not to avoid them.
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By Max Rashbrooke | 27th February, 2026
Contributing writer
Your time starts… now (Image: The Spinoff)
Opinion

How to teach 74 years of New Zealand history in 15 hours 

The new social sciences curriculum appears to be written by someone who has never encountered the wonderfully chaotic nature of the classroom.
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By Chris Abercrombie | 24th February, 2026
Guest writer
Resources minister Shane Jones (Image: The Spinoff)
Opinion

The critical minerals debate is mired in confusion, duplicity and agendas

Elements we can extract from our rocks promising riches and security may sound appealing, but the reality is far more complex.
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By Glenn Banks
Guest writer
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 & Sefton Darby | 23rd February, 2026
Guest writer

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