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Opinion

Get it right, guys. (Image: Tina Tiller)
Opinion

Memo to Labour: Wasteful spending is for roads, not public transport subsidies

Labour made a big mistake saying it would spend $65m making public transport cheaper. We need that money for roughly five metres of highway.                         
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By Hayden Donnell | 12th June, 2026
Senior writer
Guess who’s back?
Opinion

The Labour Party has finally arrived. What took so long?

At long last, it's here. Final destination? Middle of the road.
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By Lyric Waiwiri-Smith | 12th June, 2026
Politics reporter
Warriors head coach Andrew Webster at an NRL training session. Photo: Phil Walter/Getty Images
Opinion

Social media has become a corrupted shitscape and the tech giants just shrug

Ghoulish fake news about Andrew Webster is part of a griefbait slop epidemic.
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By Toby Manhire | 12th June, 2026
Editor-at-large
Kruze Tangira plays for New Zealand, left, and Kane Evans plays for the Roosters. (Photos: supplied & Getty)
Opinion

Sexuality, sport and shame: Kane Evans isn’t alone and that’s a problem

No matter the code, the problems are the same. 
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By Kruze Tangira | 11th June, 2026
Guest writer
The supreme court judges acknowledged that Mike Smith’s claim faces serious obstacles. But they thought it deserved a trial (Image: The Spinoff)
Opinion

Why the supreme court was not ‘totally out of line’ in its climate case ruling

The judges acknowledged that Mike Smith’s claim faced serious obstacles. But they thought it deserved a trial.
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By Steven Price | 11th June, 2026
Guest writer
The debate is between fewer apartments and way fewer apartments. (Image: Tina Tiller)
Opinion

Auckland Council’s culture of less

Auckland's councillors will today weigh up a difficult choice between fewer apartments and way fewer apartments.
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By Hayden Donnell | 9th June, 2026
Senior writer
Pay cuts for some, generous expense claims for others.
Opinion

Austerity is for poor people, not politicians

Belt-tightening, as it turns out, is location-specific. It affects you if you’re in a state house. It doesn't if you’re in the house of representatives.
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By Hayden Donnell | 8th June, 2026
Senior writer
Pete Hegseth, slayer of freeriders. Photo by Ezra Acayan/Getty Images
Opinion

This week shattered any illusions New Zealand is a faraway haven

The world keeps shaking our windows.
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By Toby Manhire | 5th June, 2026
Editor-at-large
Paul Goldsmith (left) is the minister charged with leading the review, which was promised in the coalition agreement with NZ First, whose leader Winston Peters is pictured right (Design: The Spinoff)
Opinion

Ten takeaways from the Waitangi Tribunal’s treaty clause review inquiry

'The Crown’s proposals are the most damaging collection of clear and considered legislative treaty breaches that I’ve seen,' said one claimant.
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By Liam Rātana | 4th June, 2026
Ātea editor
Award-winning video journalist Zoe Madden-Smith
Opinion

I’m the poster child for youth journalism, but does it have a future?

I have worked for a lot of youth news outlets, and all but one no longer exist.
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By Zoe Madden-Smith | 2nd June, 2026
Guest writer
Kiwi, kiwi and laser kiwi. (Design: Tina Tiller).
Opinion

What defines a ‘Kiwi’ – and who is allowed to bear the name?

We're obsessed with the term but there is uncertainty about who qualifies.
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By Vincent Olsen-Reeder | 1st June, 2026
Guest writer
A grayscale image of a traditional building roof with ornate carvings, overlaid with two white cards labeled “BUDGET 2026” in red text on a grid-patterned background.
Opinion

Marae are emergency infrastructure. So why aren’t they funded like it?

Budget 2026 shows the government understands one part of disaster resilience: roads need to be strengthened before they collapse. The same logic should apply to marae.
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By Te Rina Ruka-Triponel | 31st May, 2026
Guest writer
We are just a link in the chain, argues Kingi Snelgar. (Design: The Spinoff)
Opinion

We are all ancestors-in-training

The choices we make today determine how our descendants will view us, and the realities that will shape their worlds.
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By Kingi Snelgar | 31st May, 2026
Guest writer
Fa’afetai lava, Moana Pasfika
Opinion

Fa’afetai lava, Moana Pasfika

The team leaves behind a lesson in resilience for the next generation of brown excellence.
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By Elijah Fa'afiu | 30th May, 2026
Guest writer
Peter Thiel, New Zealand citizen and fan of Argentina (Photo: VCG/VCG via Getty Images)
Opinion

God no longer defend Peter Thiel, please, for he is forsaking New Zealand

A once-great Kiwi and enthusiast for Antichrist chat seems to be falling for a rival bolt-hole paradise, Argentina.
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By Toby Manhire | 29th May, 2026
Editor-at-large
Christopher Luxon, CEO. (Graphic: The Spinoff)
Opinion

Christopher Luxon sees himself as CEO of NZ and it shows in the budget

It almost reads like a McKinsey-esque corporate turnaround plan to fix a profit-and-loss problem. 
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By Dan Brunskill | 29th May, 2026
Guest writer
Nicola Willis had words for coalition pals David Seymour and Winston Peters in unveiling the budget. Design: Tina Tiller
Opinion

Not an election-year budget? Sure it was

For all the anti-sugar talk, there were some granules deployed. The great coalition differentiation continued. And the volatile world kept rearing up.
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By Toby Manhire | 29th May, 2026
Editor-at-large
The budget held by finance minister Nicola Willis and her associate ministers Chris Bishop, David Seymour and Shane Jones (Image: The Spinoff)
Opinion

Budget 2026: The great Spinoff hot-take roundtable

Nicola Willis says she's delivered 'a responsible budget to secure New Zealand's future'. But what do the experts think?
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By Group Think | 28th May, 2026
A bunch of people
What ya gonna do when the matua comes for you? (Design: The Spinoff)
Opinion

Shane Jones is coming for an iwi near you

Matua Jones has news for any iwi standing in the way of a fast-track application.
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By Liam Rātana | 28th May, 2026
Ātea editor
Clockwise from centre, John Gillon, Alf Filipaina, Sarah Paterson-Hamlin, Richard Hills, Lotu Fuli, Shane Henderson and Julie Fairey captured on the livestream of the council meeting
Opinion

Rates rise opponents shot down in brutal Q&A at Auckland Council

After the interrogation was over, one councillor was compelled to give his beleaguered North Shore counterpart a pick-me-up.
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By Hayden Donnell | 27th May, 2026
Senior writer

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