On 3 May Labour MP Rino Tirikatene had his Electoral (Entrenchment of Māori Seats) Amendment Bill drawn from the ballot. It hasn’t been before the House for its first reading debate yet, but it has already caused some controversy. ¶ The…
The news that Canada's Cannabis Act, which legalises and regulates the sale of cannabis, and its use and possession by adults, had passed its final legislative hurdle, was somewhat overwhelmed by the day-to-day madness of global news in 2018. But…
This week began with the best intentions. Having been off work following ankle surgery, the plan was creativity, productivity and loads of time in the kitchen. ¶ Painkillers and crutches aren’t the best mix when it comes to anything more than…
In recent weeks, it has been more difficult than ever to assess and comprehend all the stupid, awful deeds and words of President Donald Trump. The tantrum and chaos of the G7 meeting bleeds into his preposterous accounts of the…
Watching this week's episode of TVNZ's new I Am strand, I Am Living With Aspergers, the story of David RS Greer and his family, pushed a lot of buttons for me. ¶ To be clear, neither of our ASD sons has…
In Lee Borrie's oral history of Radio With Pictures, the first part of which is published this week on Audioculture, Bruce Russell recalls a Sunday night student ritual: you'd watch Radio With Pictures, and then you'd watch what everyone referred…
I published my Select Committee submission on the Contempt of Court Bill yesterday. Part of the reason it was both late and short was that I decided that my submission on the Litter (Increased Infringement Fee) Amendment Bill was probably…
I have just filed a Select Committee submission on the Contempt of Court Bill. My submission was made a lot easier by the submission prepared by Leonid Sirota and Edward Willis, which raised almost all of the issues with the…
The email record shows that I worked pretty keenly to get an interview with Anthony Bourdain in 2005. I had been wholly captured one summer holiday by Kitchen Confidential, then loved A Cook's Tour, the book and the TV series.…
Amazon Studios' first venture into the New Zealand market, All or Nothing: New Zealand All Blacks, keeps being described in New Zealand media as a documentary series about the All Blacks' 2017 season. It isn't. It's not even described that…
My Dad loved his coffee strong and his food spicy enough to make him sweat. ¶ That’s what I remember a lot when I think of him. Waking up to the smell of strong black coffee permeating throughout the house, and…
UPDATE: Henry Cooke has been on it (and, unlike me, got a response from ADHB) and both ADHB and Waitemata DHB (which is the one that actually handles detox services) insist they didn't tell Housing NZ. In which case, what…
On this day five years ago, Audioculture, the "noisy library of New Zealand music", launched to the public. It really doesn't seem that long. ¶ At the time, I was on the board of the NZ On Screen Trust, which was…
‘Special Needs Kids’. I’ve always hated those words. ¶ Yet many parents of children who have needs that would not otherwise be provided for by any of our government-run systems have become accustomed to using this language and see it as…
I don’t often get to be a journalist’s go-to comment these days, but it appears that when the call is “Quick, someone find me a feminist submissive,” that’s still just me. ¶ Be aware that this column, and pretty much every…
"Testing for low levels of methamphetamine in residential properties in New Zealand has come at a very high cost," reads the report of the Prime Minister's Chief Science Advisor Sir Peter Gluckman into the national panic over the alleged meth…
This post is more about eating disorders than Angola, or Angola’s less-than-appetising national dish. ¶ Which largely explains why it’s taken me more than a year to actually cook, and write about it. ¶ Remember when you were a kid and refused…
One of the Act Party's founding conceits was that its ideas represented a better way for everyone. Yes, its financial support might come from the very rich, but classical liberalism meant opportunity for all. Roger Douglas came not to uphold…
During last year's election campaign, Labour leader Jacinda Ardern pledged an additional $38 million – annually, it appeared – for a public broadcasting sector whose budget had been frozen for nine years of a National-led government. It was welcome news and in…
When Grant Robertson stands up to deliver his first Budget today, he will already have won a battle that's gone largely unremarked: the battle for his image as a credible Minister of Finance. ¶ That might seem a low bar to…
So I wrote a guide to buying an e-bike (and a look at how the market is evolving) for The Spinoff and it was more than 2000 words and even then I left some things out. For instance, that the…
The 2018 Auckland Festival of Photography is on between May 31 and June 22. Below we present images and links from a few of the events and exhibitions that have captured our attention. ¶ More information on the 2018 Auckland Festival…
It would be wrong to say The Androidss were part of my childhood, but I wasn't all that long out of short pants when I entered the ambit of that bunch of rascals back in the day in Christchurch. ¶ We'd…
It's New Zealand Music Month – which, as noted here in the past, these days means a month of loosely-coordinated events, rather than any compulsory patriotic exercise. Do it right and it'll be fun, promise. ¶ Many of the details can be…
I travelled to Wellington yesterday to give my oral submission on the Misuse of Drugs (Medicinal Cannabis) Amendment Bill. It was an encouraging experience. ¶ The Health select committee had split in two to accommodate the volume of submissions and our…