The Spinoff

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5 DAYS AGO

Is NZ getting the fuel crisis right? Here's your timely, targeted and temporary analysis

Covidesque in crisis-mode, but anti-Covid in substance, the government response to the economic shockwaves released from the war on Iran is playing out in New Zealand this week. Have Nicola Willis and Christopher Luxon got it right with a $50 weekly payment that will help many, but miss out many more? Has a small-target-fixated Labour Party missed an opportunity? Are we all Hormuzologists now?Winston Peters, meanwhile, is pulling the crowds and playing the hits with a big speech in Tauranga that emphasised gentailer breakup and social conservatism, and unveiled, a little awkwardly, a new party candidate in former minister Alfred Ngaro. Has he nailed the in-power and in-opposition challenge, or is it just the populist-nationalist global winds blowing his way? And just what, by the way, is going on with the U-turn on commercial fishing size limits that everyone seems to be claiming credit for?Plus: how the claims about Chris Hipkins, made on Facebook by his ex-wife, made its way to the tiles of parliament. And Brooke van Velden is resigning from politics to spend more time with the public sector. What legacy does she leave, and what does it mean for the yellow-blue paradise of Tāmaki? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

5 days ago

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1hr 9min
11 MAR

We don't know how to be any clearer, guys

It was Christopher Luxon's worst week as prime minister, beginning with flubbed attempts to explain New Zealand's position on the war on Iran and ending with a nightmare poll that put National at 28.4% and sparked headlines suggesting he was considering his position. We step through those painful days, assessing the official response to the strikes launched by the US and Israel, the criticisms levelled at Luxon, and whether he has put the matter to bed by rubbishing those suggestions he was thinking of quitting and a delivering a markedly improved performance this week. Plus: as the shockwaves of the Middle East conflict are felt as far away as the New Zealand consumer economy and an election creeps closer, is National best to lean into crisis mode? In this episode, Annabelle Lee-Mather, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire also take a look at the High Court that Mariameno Kapa-Kingi’s expulsion from Te Pāti Māori was unlawful: what next after her "repatriation"? And the second Royal Commission on the Covid response has been issued, and swiftly subject to some high-velocity spin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

11 Mar

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59 min
23 MAR

The Spotify paradox: why hundreds of fans can beat millions of streams

Joel Gouveia is a music supervisor, artist manager and booking agent, with a Substack. Earlier this year he wrote a series of posts, each more successful than the last, which drilled into the streaming music economy in a vivid and challenging way. He talked about bands with millions of streams that sold a dozen tickets, while others with comparatively tiny audiences could sell out tours. He looked some of the economic and cultural failings of music streaming and shone a bright light on them, basically – and those posts were the most popular pieces on the whole Substack network, showing just what a chord he struck. He joins Duncan Greive on The Fold from his office in Toronto to explain his thinking, and why he started speaking out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

23 Mar

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44 min
SEASON 2, EPISODE 4

Episode 4: One for a Party, One for a Person

It took an extraordinary cocktail of events to bring proportional representation to New Zealand – everything from political c**k-ups to public screams of resentment. This is the story of a country that decides to tear up its electoral plumbing – and what it does next. As the country chooses MMP, it also puts Jim Bolger back in power, but by the very narrowest of margins. Winston Peters and Jim Anderton thrive, small, splinter parties proliferate, and the old guard scrambles to prepare for the new world. For the first time, voters get those two ticks, and you’ll never guess who wins the balance of power and keeps the country hanging on which way he’ll go. The fourth episode of Juggernaut 2: The Story of the Fourth National Government includes new and exclusive interviews with Jim Bolger, Tau Henare, Helen Clark, Sandra Lee-Vercoe, Rob Eaddy, Jenny Shipley and more. Click here for full details of archive material used in this series Juggernaut 2 was made with the support of NZ On Air. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

S2, E4

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1hr 7min
SEASON 2, EPISODE 3

Episode 3: Bugger the Pollsters

After some of the most hectic months in the history of New Zealand politics, Jim Bolger faces a white-knuckle byelection in Tamaki. In the seat vacated by the pugnacious Rob Muldoon, even the National candidate seems to be standing against the government. With the impacts of radical and painful reforms still raw, a general election rapidly approaches. It will go right down to the wire, and serve up an unforgettable pair of election night speeches from Bolger and Mike Moore. On the left, a new force challenges Labour for supremacy: Jim Anderton’s Alliance. Helen Clark mounts a coup. And Bolger confronts a critical question: what to do with Ruth Richardson? Plus: a very strange visit to Moscow prompts a nuclear-submarines-for-butter proposition. Includes new and exclusive interviews with Jim Bolger, Ruth Richardson, Jenny Shipley, Helen Clark, Sandra Lee-Vercoe, Rob Eaddy, Bill Birch and more. Click here for full details of archive material used in this series Juggernaut 2 was made with the support of NZ On Air. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

S2, E3

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53 min
SEASON 2, EPISODE 1

Episode 1: A Decent Society

After the breakneck reforms of the 80s, Jim Bolger’s promise of a calmer, more inclusive New Zealand hits the spot. Emerging from the shadow of Muldoon and shaking off the nuclear baggage, Bolger leads the National Party to a landslide victory under the “decent society” banner. But even before the celebrations are done, the hangover hits: the state-owned BNZ is on the brink, and the government books are in a parlous state. Ruth Richardson wastes no time as finance minister in making the most of crisis mode, and within weeks is driving through some of the most dramatic social, economic and labour reforms New Zealand has ever seen. Picking up where the award-winning first season of Juggernaut left off, this first episode includes new and exclusive interviews with Jim Bolger, Ruth Richardson, Jenny Shipley, Don McKinnon, Bill Birch, Michael Wall, Rob Eaddy, Michael Laws and more. Click here for full details of archive material used in this series Juggernaut 2 was made with the support of NZ On Air. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

S2, E1

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49 min
10 FEB

Ben Thomas reports from the sh*tstorm

A catastrophic failure at the Moa Point wastewater plant in Wellington has laid bare a short-term crisis and a crisis of short-termism. Fortified by nothing but the balm of poo jokes, Ben Thomas relates the mood in the city and the measures under way in response. But does it say something deeper about the country and the state of its piping? Plus: a review of events of Waitangi, where the spotlight fell more directly on the parties of opposition than those of government. Just days after its divisions played out in the High Court, Te Pāti Māori's internal struggles manifested on the paepae, while a show of unity from Labour and the Greens was overshadowed by the announcement of Peeni Henare's exit from politics, and the sense of a story not being fully told. We discuss Henare's legacy, and where it leaves Labour's Māori caucus, as well as another big political departure, Judith Collins. What were the highs and lows of her remarkable parliamentary career, and is the step into the Law Commission presidency entirely legit? And finally: Energy minister Simon "Mega" Watts has announced the government will commission a billion-dollar import facility for liquefied natural gas to plug the gap in New Zealand's energy mix. But is the levy to fund it really a tax, and is this even the right question to be fixating on? Get your tickets to the Gone By Lunchtime 10th Birthday Party now! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

10 Feb

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59 min
3 MAR

10th birthday special: Live with Wayne Brown and Andrew Little

The mayors of Wellington and Auckland join Toby, Annabelle and Ben for two very special live events in recent days at the Embassy and Q Theatres. Discussion ranges from the state of the two cities to dealing with the Luxon government, from the last decade of politics to the stakes in the 2026 election. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

3 Mar

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55 min
16 MAR

This journalist says we’re thinking about AI all wrong

Alan Soon is a journalist and media consultant who runs Splice Beta, one of Asia’s most popular news media festivals. He recently wrote an extremely provocative piece arguing that journalism as an institution has been ignoring and underplaying advances in AI. He joins Duncan Greive on The Fold from Singapore to unpack this thesis. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

16 Mar

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57 min
SEASON 2, EPISODE 2

Episode 2: The Mother of All Budgets

A mood of protest sweeps New Zealand in 1991, sometimes spilling over into violence, as the reform machine powers on. Benefits are slashed, the Employment Contracts Act fundamentally reshapes the labour market, the health system is restructured, and Jim Bolger U-turns on a “no ifs, no buts, no maybes” promise around superannuation. Here Ruth Richardson tells the story of the Mother of All Budgets – what she was hoping to achieve, and how it got that indelible name. In a whirlwind first year of government, Richardson takes some drastic steps. And National’s challenges come not just from outside, but from within – Muldoon continues to lurk the halls, and there’s a charismatic, increasingly popular young MP making trouble, too: Winston Peters. Includes new and exclusive interviews with Jim Bolger, Ruth Richardson, Jenny Shipley, Susan St John, Helen Clark, Bill Birch, Rob Eaddy, Michael Laws and more. Click here for full details of archive material used in this series Juggernaut 2 was made with the support of NZ On Air. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

S2, E2

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51 min

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