Author Archive
Guest post – Bucking the trend at ECAN
Written By: - Date published: 8:47 am, July 10th, 2019 - 26 comments
A guest post from Anthony Rimell about a very disturbing attempt by ECAN to allow the levels of nitrate leach into Christchurch’s water supply to increase.
This Is Who We Really Are
Written By: - Date published: 1:05 pm, April 5th, 2019 - 146 comments
As we prepare for ANZAC Day, the Kapiti RSA has been viciously attacked for wanting to show solidarity with NZ’s Muslim community. Maggie writes about what that means and suggests who we really are.
Life and Death in Aotearoa – Debating Euthanasia
Written By: - Date published: 9:48 am, April 3rd, 2019 - 210 comments
David Seymour’s Private Member’s Bill on euthanasia is back for debate in Parliament. Maggie looks at one of the great social issues of our time.
Walking the Human Rights Tightrope in NZ Prisons
Written By: - Date published: 8:45 pm, April 1st, 2019 - 114 comments
The question of prisoners’ rights has hit the news today. That’s rare because we don’t normally care.
A new Guest Post from Maggie puts the case that we walk a tightrope when we seek to simplify the complex issues at play in prison.
Rooting Out Racism
Written By: - Date published: 12:12 pm, March 30th, 2019 - 296 comments
TS regular Maggie with an excellent analysis of the challenges facing men in a society in transition and what that means for the fight against racism.
Guest post: Epitaph for a species
Written By: - Date published: 9:00 am, January 20th, 2019 - 69 comments
In a guest post Tony Veitch [not etc.] imagines his last few days as the world dies …
Discussion on political leader PR.
Written By: - Date published: 1:06 pm, January 1st, 2019 - 66 comments
A comment from veutoviper has a go at the prevelant myth that Jacinda Arden has been using her family for PR points. As veutoviper points out by looking at the NZ Womens Weekly that Simon Bridges appears to have a much higher profile with his family washing. For some reason our political misogynists appear to have a double standard.
Pride and police
Written By: - Date published: 10:43 am, November 26th, 2018 - 110 comments
A guest post by Joel Walsham on the decision of the Auckland Pride Board to request the police not to march at the Pride parade in uniform.
Guest post – Breast is best
Written By: - Date published: 8:43 am, September 9th, 2018 - 26 comments
It is high time we wean ourselves off the indiscriminate use of fossil fuels. We need to grow up.
What’s wrong with asking people for their ideas?
Written By: - Date published: 2:26 pm, August 29th, 2018 - 78 comments
Guest post from Darien Fenton questioning National’s obsession with Government working groups.
Climate change: what happens now?
Written By: - Date published: 10:37 am, August 14th, 2018 - 138 comments
How does humanity prepare for the realisation that humans only have perhaps fifty years left?
Guest post: The end of Neoliberalism – What went wrong?
Written By: - Date published: 8:30 am, August 7th, 2018 - 172 comments
The Left predicted the death of neoliberalism after the global financial crisis of 2008. But since then inequality has increased and new right nationalism is on the ascendancy. How should the left respond?
Is it OK to bring a hand grenade to a business meeting?
Written By: - Date published: 8:15 am, June 11th, 2018 - 15 comments
Darien Fenton writes about Business New Zealand’s early approach to the Fair Pay panel.
English Council Elections
Written By: - Date published: 10:02 am, May 7th, 2018 - 16 comments
By Nick Kelly – Upper Hutt boy in London.
Radical Socialism
Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, May 2nd, 2018 - 43 comments
‘nother guest post by Nick Kelly (Upper Hutt boy in London)
Guest Post: How many working groups did the last National Government create?
Written By: - Date published: 7:50 am, April 26th, 2018 - 38 comments
A Guest Post from Luke C where he analyses National’s creation of working groups in the last Goverment and comes up with a surprising conclusion.
Professional identity-Why it matters or Why we are being screwed by the Government
Written By: - Date published: 11:09 am, April 22nd, 2018 - 27 comments
A personal perspective on the repercussions of the government’s current approach to Social Work and Social Workers.
Explaining is losing (but only in politics)
Written By: - Date published: 6:24 am, April 9th, 2018 - 48 comments
Politics is war by other means and nobody likes losing.
Still in Denial.
Written By: - Date published: 9:12 am, April 4th, 2018 - 46 comments
General Tim Keating’s resignation.
Hope – A powerful but dangerous tool.
Written By: - Date published: 9:40 am, April 2nd, 2018 - 27 comments
Some interesting musings on hope and dashed hope by “Upper Hutt boy in London” – Nick Kelly.
Food security in New Zealand
Written By: - Date published: 6:12 am, March 14th, 2018 - 28 comments
The Standard regular commenter Macro takes a look at the state of food security in NZ
Stop Using the ‘F’ Word.
Written By: - Date published: 6:30 am, February 13th, 2018 - 41 comments
Because words matter.
The Housing Crisis.
Written By: - Date published: 10:43 am, February 11th, 2018 - 154 comments
Can politics deliver?
Did you hear about the killer who got pulled over for speeding?
Written By: - Date published: 6:27 am, February 2nd, 2018 - 36 comments
Re-education may be the key to improving NZ driving habits.
Ruminations on deprivation
Written By: - Date published: 8:00 am, January 29th, 2018 - 172 comments
Man gets wet feet. Is reminded of privilege.
The Adventures of CosmoGuy: US Ambassador to New Zealand (and Samoa!)
Written By: - Date published: 1:35 pm, December 29th, 2017 - 3 comments
The alleged ‘thoughts’ of Scott Brown, the highly intelligent and very cool ambassador of the Partisan States of America to NooZiland. In an exposition of typical blinding intelligence, he tries to explain to his beloved Orange Lord what he is doing here (and in Samoa!).
Teggtalk: Trump-Like Climate Science Meddling by NZ Ministers
Written By: - Date published: 10:36 am, December 22nd, 2017 - 29 comments
Denis Tegg has been responsible for showing that the previous Government stonewalled and hid a report prepared by the Ministry for the Environment which warned local bodies of the threats posed by sea level rises caused by climate change.
Guest Post: Monbiot, Attenborough and Soper on environmental collapse
Written By: - Date published: 10:14 am, December 6th, 2017 - 44 comments
Guest post by Ed about the intellectual rigour of George Monbiot and David Attenborough and the rater strange response of Barry Soper.
Minister puts sustainability, and government’s reputation at risk
Written By: - Date published: 7:45 am, November 15th, 2017 - 33 comments
A guest post by Christine Rose on Fishing Minister Stuart Nash’s strange decision to delay the implementation of video surveillance on fishing ships and the implications for endangered Maui’s dolphins.
The Accidental Bodyguards of Capitalism
Written By: - Date published: 6:33 am, November 15th, 2017 - 69 comments
What does it mean to look beyond capitalism? We do not yet know what it will look like because we have not yet ventured out from our caves.
Beneficiary for life: the joys of permanent disability in present day NZ
Written By: - Date published: 6:42 am, November 10th, 2017 - 111 comments
What happens to long term beneficiaries who can’t increase their income with paid work?
- Israel orders patients, staff to ‘evacuate’ last two hospitals in northern Gaza siege
Asia Pacific Report Israel is forcing two hospitals in northern Gaza to evacuate under threat of attack as its ethnic cleansing campaign continues. Israeli forces have surrounded the Indonesian Hospital, where many staff and patients sought shelter after nearby Kamal Adwan Hospital was destroyed in an Israeli raid last week, ...3 days ago - Pacific 2025: Vanuatu quake, Tongan and Kanaky shakeups, Trump questions set tone for coming year
Navigating the shared challenges of climate change, geostrategic tensions, political upheaval, disaster recovery and decolonisation plus a 50th birthday party, reports a BenarNews contributor’s analysis. COMMENTARY: By Tess Newton Cain Vanuatu’s devastating earthquake and dramatic political developments in Tonga and New Caledonia at the end of 2024 set the tone ...3 days ago
- From a colonial hill town to Idris Elba’s island masterplan: what do these Sierra Leone developmen...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Milo Gough, Lecturer in History, University of Manchester An artist’s impression of Idris Elba’s planned eco-city, Sherbro Island City. Greenfield Planners Sdn Bhd / Sherbro Alliance Partners Sierra Leone’s capital, Freetown, is celebrated as a city founded to resettle freed slaves in ...4 days ago
- From a colonial hill town to Idris Elba’s island masterplan: what two Sierra Leone developments a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Milo Gough, Lecturer in History, University of Manchester An artist’s impression of Idris Elba’s planned eco-city, Sherbro Island City. Greenfield Planners Sdn Bhd / Sherbro Alliance Partners Sierra Leone’s capital, Freetown, is celebrated as a city founded to resettle freed slaves in ...4 days ago
- ‘You’ll love it, but you’ll hate it’: Christian Cullen on becoming CTI’s most unlikely sta...
Summer reissue: Former All Black and recent Celebrity Treasure Island castaway Christian Cullen looks back on his life in TV. First published October 12, 2024. Every season of Celebrity Treasure Island brings with it a surprise breakout star, and often it’s the person you know the least about or have ...4 days ago - Mike Johnson elected speaker of US House as Trump’s Republicans unite behind him
Two Republican opponents switched their votes to support him after more than half an hour of negotiations. ...4 days ago - My emotion is my strength – Karen Chhour
“People comment a lot on how emotional I am.”The children’s minister says she’s always been an emotional person. It’s her way of coping with trauma.“Because if you bottle that up it turns into something quite nasty, right? It turns into anger, it turns into frustration, and you start to look ...4 days ago - Anne Salmond: Hunger Games in the Beehive
Comment: There are times when fiction anticipates life, and dystopian nightmares become real.Who would have thought that in New Zealand, a relatively wealthy country that was once proudly egalitarian, a version of The Hunger Games would play out?That a government would cut thousands of jobs, deny desperate families emergency food ...4 days ago
- The Secret Diary of .. New Year’s Resolutions
Christopher LuxonWell, what I’d say to you about my New Year’s resolutions is that this year is going to be better than the last, probably, I mean I should think there’s a good chance of that happening, an even chance, there’s a narrow window, the odds are against us but ...4 days ago
- ‘Grossly misleading to me and to the country’: the Lange-Douglas letters, unearthed
Summer reissue: The meltdown in the relationship between the key players in the fourth Labour government can be charted in an extraordinary exchange of correspondence. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and ...4 days ago
- How many goddamn words should I be saying to my baby?
Summer reissue: I read yet another study about toddlers, screen time and language development, and it sent me off the deep end. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and sign up to ...4 days ago
- What it takes to be an Olympian, and why you don’t have it
Summer reissue: This year Tori Peeters competed at the Paris Olympics in the javelin. Ten years ago, Madeleine Chapman thought she might be in the same position. She talks to Peeters about what it takes to go all the way – and mulls her own life decisions in the process. ...4 days ago
- Remembering Young George, the barber who cut Auckland’s hair forever
Summer reissue: He earned 5c for his first cut in 1955, and $35 for his last in March. Duncan Greive recalls the life of his late barber, ‘Young’ George Dyas, who never stopped snipping. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these ...4 days ago
- Daily crossword, Saturday 4 January
The post Daily crossword, Saturday 4 January appeared first on Newsroom. ...4 days ago
- Newsroom daily quiz, Saturday 4 January
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp');Got a good quiz question? Send Newsroom your questions.The post Newsroom daily quiz, Saturday 4 January appeared first on Newsroom. ...4 days ago
- From a colonial hill town to Idris Elba’s island masterplan, what can two Sierra Leone development...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Milo Gough, Lecturer in History, University of Manchester An artist’s impression of Idris Elba’s planned eco-city, Sherbro Island City. Greenfield Planners Sdn Bhd / Sherbro Alliance Partners Sierra Leone’s capital, Freetown, is celebrated as a city founded to resettle freed slaves in ...4 days ago
- ‘Suspend Israel ties’ plea to global medical professionals – Auckland hospital protest vigil o...
Asia Pacific Report The UN’s Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the occupied Palestinian territory, Francesca Albanese, has called on “medical professionals worldwide” to suspend ties with Israel in an act of solidarity with the more than “1000 colleagues of yours” killed in Gaza over the past 14 months. Countless ...4 days ago
- A politician for the people: Dame Tariana Turia, 1944-2025
The co-founder of Te Pāti Māori and architect of Whānau Ora will be remembered as a skilled political tactician who dedicated her life to the wellbeing of Māori, writes Miriama Aoake. Part of the hesitation of entering politics for any sane person is surely compromise. Compromise is essential in the ...4 days ago
- Honouring Kahurangi Tariana Turia:
...4 days ago - ‘She believed in people’ – Tributes from across political parties for Dame Tariana...
A stern but loving auntie, a woman of unshakeable principle, the very definition of a wāhine toa - those are just a few of the tributes flooding in for Dame Tariana Turia. ...4 days ago
- A year in The House: Law and order, deregulation and repeal
In its first year this Parliament has passed 46 new laws, with another 37 underway. We outline some of the government's major changes. ...4 days ago
- ‘Crime against journalism’: Gaza journalists slam PA’s Al Jazeera ban
By Maram Humaid in Deir el-Balah, Gaza Journalists gathered at Gaza’s Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Hospital expressed outrage and confusion about the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) decision to shut down Al Jazeera’s office in the occupied West Bank. “Shutting down a major outlet like Al Jazeera is a crime against journalism,” said freelance ...4 days ago
- Katrina Mitchell-Kouttab: The Palestine tragedy – why it should matter to you and our world
Report by Dr David Robie – Café Pacific. – COMMENTARY: By Katrina Mitchell-Kouttab As 2024 came to a close and we have stepped into a new year overshadowed by ongoing atrocities, have you stopped to consider how these events are reshaping your world? Did you notice how your future ...4 days ago
- Cook Islands ‘not qualified’ for UN membership, says prime minister
By Talaia Mika of the Cook Islands News The Cook Islands will not pursue membership in the United Nations and the Commonwealth due to its inability to meet the criteria for UN membership and existing relationship with New Zealand, which fulfils Commonwealth membership requirements. Prime Minister Mark Brown has clarified ...4 days ago
- Obit: Dame Tariana Turia has died
The former Labour Party MP and Te Pāti Māori co-founder was recognised for her commitment to Māori. ...5 days ago
- Division, abuse and rates pain: Local politics year in review
A rising tide of abuse, escalating costs and the clash between central and local government - Marika Hill looks back at local politics in 2024. ...5 days ago
- Dame Tariana Turia has died
The former politician suffered a stroke earlier this week. ...5 days ago
- ‘One of the most important species for science’: how the humble fruit fly transformed 4 fields o...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ary Hoffmann, Professor, School of BioSciences and Bio21 Institute, The University of Melbourne Drosophila melanogaster. Deep Scope/Shutterstock The common fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster), more correctly called the vinegar fly, is a frequent visitor to ripe fruit in households around the world, where ...5 days ago
- Genius or charlatan? The strange tale of a 19th-century polymath who left a trail of controversy acr...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexandra Ludewig, Professor and Head of the School of Humanities, The University of Western Australia The Burra Burra Mine, 1847. Samuel Thomas Gill / State Library of NSW About 20 minutes’ drive north of Geraldton, on Australia’s west coast, lies a hill ...5 days ago
- Summer holidays haven’t changed much since ancient Greece and Rome (except maybe the sand wrestlin...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Konstantine Panegyres, McKenzie Postdoctoral Fellow, researching Greco-Roman antiquity, The University of Melbourne Imagine a summer holiday at a seaside resort, with days spent sunbathing, reading books, exploring nature and chatting with friends. Sounds like it could be anywhere in Australia or ...5 days ago
- The elimination of cervical cancer in NZ is within reach in our lifetime – but not without funding...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Francesca Storey, Deputy Director Te Tātai Hauora o Hine – National Centre for Women’s Health Research Aotearoa, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington After committing to a global plan to eliminate cervical cancer, New Zealand is lagging behind Australia and ...5 days ago
- Why do some people’s hair and nails grow quicker than mine?
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Moscova, Adjunct Associate Professor, Anatomy, UNSW Sydney Jari Lobo/Pexels Throughout recorded history, our hair and nails played an important role in signifying who we are and our social status. You could say, they separate the caveman from businessman. It ...5 days ago
- Monarch butterflies are in decline in NZ and Australia – they need your help to track where they g...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Myron Zalucki, Professor in Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland Kathy Reid, CC BY-SA Monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) appear to be declining not just in North America but also in Australiasia. Could this be a consequence of global change, including ...5 days ago
- Australia needs better ways of storing renewable electricity for later. That’s where ‘flow batte...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Maria Skyllas-Kazacos, Professor Emeritus, School of Chemical Engineering, UNSW Sydney As more and more solar and wind energy enters Australia’s grid, we will need ways to store it for later. We can store electricity in several different ways, from pumped hydroelectric ...5 days ago
- Unlocking the past: how NZ’s first jail tells a complex story of colonial identity
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christine McCarthy, Senior Lecturer in Interior Architecture, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington View of Kororāreka in the Bay of Islands, 1845, by George Thomas Clayton. via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY New Zealand’s first jail was a simple affair, just ...5 days ago
- Is it important to read the explanatory labels next to artworks? We asked 5 experts
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Noor Gillani, Digital Culture Editor Shutterstock You’re standing at the centre of an expansive art gallery, overwhelmed by what’s in front of you: panel after panel of stupendous works – densely-written labels affixed next to each piece. These labels may offer ...5 days ago
- Te Pāti Māori co-founder Dame Tariana Turia dies
Dame Tariana Turia has died aged 80 in Whangaehu overnight.The founder and former co-leader of Te Pāti Māori suffered a stroke earlier this week and was said not to have long left.A press release from Te Ranga Tupua said she had died in the early hours of Friday morning. “A mother ...5 days ago
- DoC’s big donation drive gets mixed reviews
An $80 million subantarctic pest eradication project is being backed by a high-profile conservation charity targeting wealthy individuals.Since it was established in 2000, NZ Nature Fund has raised $5 million for project-specific conservation work, including $1.2 million over the past year. Projects, often managed by the Department of Conservation (DoC), ...5 days ago
- Rust Belt vs the beltway: Vance’s memoir more relevant than ever
Opinion: When it was first published in 2016, JD Vance’s Hillbilly Elegy was hailed by Britain’s Sunday Times as “the political book of the year”. The Independent described it as “an insight into Trump and Brexit”.Hillbilly Elegy is an autobiographical account of Vance’s life, growing up in a poor, white ...5 days ago
- Positive sports fandom: netball fans show the way
Sport is a place where ‘real’ fans are often assumed to be men. Global research tells us that female fans of live men’s sport often face misogynistic and homophobic environments that include swearing, drunkenness and yelling negative comments and abuse at opponents and referees. In men’s sport, a quick skim through ...5 days ago
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