Behind the Story

Three MPs, one party leader and two first-timers met last night at the Spinoff Great Mt Albert Debate. Toby Manhire is joined for a postmortem by Hayden Donnell and Lyric Waiwiri-Smith to assess the highs and lows from a fast-paced and fiery encounter featuring Labour candidate Helen White, who won the seat last time by 18 votes, Melissa Lee of National, the Greens’ Ricardo Menéndez March, Opportu...

It’s a milestone day for election 2026, with the pre-election fiscal update – Prefu, to you – staged in Wellington. Bernard Hickey emerges blinking from the lockup to assess the state of the accounts. The finance minister, Nicola Willis, has welcomed numbers showing the deficit this year and in years to come down by many billions of dollars. But how much of that is thanks to “fiscal drag”? Does it...

The host of Q+A is typically the Q guy, but here he does the A. Jack Tame sits down with Toby to explain how he’s prepping for next week’s big debate, why Christopher Luxon has avoided his interviews for more than two years, and what the National and Labour campaign launches tell us about the way this campaign will play out. Plus, in How Good, Tara Ward on Whakaata Māori’s This is Home. At Large w...

After a flurry of speculation, Nicky Hager last night launched Dirty Work: The Taxpayers’ Union and the New Zealand Hard Right, which he called a sequel of sorts to The Hollow Men of 2006 and Dirty Politics (2014).Hager did not approach those he wrote about for comment, in keeping with what he called his “operational approach, saying that books are “uniquely vulnerable” to tactics to prevent publi...

The government today published a review of its approach to funding events across NZ. That includes $40m for concerts, in a programme launched a year ago like a Robbie Williams chorus. Chris Schulz, writer of the Boiler Room newsletter and Spinoff contributor, joins Toby to talk through the goals of the fund, what is has achieved and where it fell short. Plus: Emma Gleason on the pick of the politi...

Economists and commentators across New Zealand have their calculators out and their fingers in the air trying to tell whether the recovery is really, finally on. The latest GDP numbers are modest, but at least have a plus in front of them, but what sits underneath the headlines? With an election campaign under way, an interest rate decision imminent, international bond markets jittering, and the c...

Estimates of the potential for artificial intelligence to make humanity extinct are everywhere, and not just in the sci-fi dystopias. Exiles and employees from the AI giants are sounding the alarm – even the AI bosses are pleading for a slowdown, to which Donald Trump hollers “hoax!” Tom Barraclough of Brainbox and Syncopate joins Toby to talk through the warnings, to explain why it’s all happenin...

It’s been a bumpy few years for the Māori language in New Zealand (or is that Aotearoa?). Liam Rātana, Ātea editor at the Spinoff Ātea, joins Toby to walk through the various measures pursued by the Act, NZ First and National parties – and what impact that has had on the broader tide. Plus: In How Good, Alex Casey gives her verdict on new NZ film Mum, I’m Alien Pregnant. At Large with Toby Manhire...

Opportunity is pitching itself as an alternative kingmaker to Winston Peters and New Zealand First for the 2026 election. But is the kingmaker scenario really that common across 10 MMP elections? Peter Dunne, who has seen the inside of many post-election negotiations, says not. He joins Toby to talk about the role smaller parties play in our elections, the challenge that awaits Opportunity as it h...

The Labour Party has registered just 25.9% in a new poll for the Taxpayers’ Union by Curia. That’s lower than their calamitous result in 2023, and lower than National, who themselves fell to a low 29%. Lyric Waiwiri-Smith joins Toby to talk through the pickle that Chris Hipkins finds himself in. Is the small target strategy backfiring, are there bold visions to come, and what can they do to turn i...

Sam Stubbs once looked a lot like a finance bro – he’d made a small fortune at places like Goldman Sachs in London and Hong Kong. But 10 years ago, the gamekeeper turned poacher; Stubbs founded Simplicity, a KiwiSaver non-profit. In the years since it’s spawned a housing developer and now an infrastructure engine, InfraKiwi. Stubbs is rarely shy about sharing his views on politics, and so he’s pay...

Tim Groser was posted to Washington by John Key on the basis that the trade minister turned ambassador would likely be engaging with a US administration led by President Hillary Clinton. Instead, in came Donald Trump. The former National Party MP joins Toby to revisit those years, Trump’s approach to trade and the international order, and whether New Zealand is right to keep its head largely below...

The annual conference for senior doctors and dentists is about to start but one person is missing: the minister of health has pulled out. In an election year, with health ranked the second top issue for voters, and countless headlines about hospitals and workforces at breaking point, what would members of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists be telling Simeon Brown if he were there? We...

Suddenly politicians of almost every stripe are jumping on board the rooftop solar train. But does the argument for a transformation in our energy mix really stack up? Mike Casey, the celebrated electric cherry orchardist and CEO at Rewiring Aotearoa, joins Toby to talk through the vision, the hurdles ahead, and the lessons he learned from the campaign. Where did it all go right? Plus: Emma Gleaso...

Christopher Luxon sailed into NZ politics six years ago as a champion of localism. Since becoming prime minister, his government has fallen deeply out of love with devolution. Changes including a rates cap and National’s ruling out of a bed tax have especially irked Wayne Brown, mayor of Auckland and the most powerful local politician in New Zealand. He’s gone from denial to anger to … what exactl...

A new law has been drafted to ban social media for under-16s in New Zealand. Robbie Nicol joins Toby to answer all the big questions. Which platforms meet the definition of “social media”? How will it be enforced? When will the rules kick in? And is it really a government bill? Winston Peters doesn’t think so. We work through some of the objections, from NZ First, Act, the Greens and Labour. (Sinc...

After years of malaise, the economy is bouncing back – or it is, at least, in some pockets of the country. Shamubeel Eaqub joins Toby to crunch the numbers that tell us which parts of New Zealand are on the up, which parts are stuck in the doldrums, and why. Plus: In How Good, Lyric Waiwiri-Smith reports from Election Meltdown, the political comedy show at Circa Theatre in Wellington. At Large wit...

Whether it’s Woolworths’ little plastic Disney Ooshies or New World’s fancy Smeg knives, supermarket promotions have seeped into the national consciousness, prompting secondary markets and school bans. Alex Casey joins Toby to talk through the allure of these campaigns in a cost of living gloom, and to look back at some of the greatest and strangest supermarket promotions of the 21st century. At L...

Schools and elderly care centres are getting smashed, health providers are splitting at the seams thanks to a late seasonal surge in respiratory illness. Emma Gleason joins Toby to talk through the impacts and how we can respond. Plus: Hayden Donnell continues his peanut butter passion project. Which peanut butter will take out the smooth crown? At Large with Toby Manhire is produced by Te Aihe Bu...

Former National minister Tim Groser joins Toby to explain why they’re plunging a drill into the magma beneath the Taupō volcanic zone – and how supercritical geothermal success could prove a gamechanger for energy security, for climate change and for the economy as a whole. Plus: In How Good, NZ Fashion Week is under way. Emma Gleason picks her highlights. At Large with Toby Manhire is produced by...

Tiki Taane has been making music since the last decade of the last millennium in Christchurch. From the early successes of Salmonella Dub through some really dark days and on to a thriving solo career, he’s seen a whole lot of changes in musical form and production, and a revolution in the music business. Today, with the 20th anniversary of Past, Present, Future just around the corner, he’s still...

A nightmarish fortnight has ended with the prime minister summoning MPs to Wellington for an urgent in-person National Party caucus meeting. On the agenda, not for the first time: his own leadership. Spinoff editor Veronica Schmidt joins Toby Manhire to trace the path to Christopher Luxon’s moment of truth and ask: what will the MPs be weighing as they make their way to that 9.30am showdown? Plus:...

As we count down the days to a knife-edge election, where do the parties stand? Spinoff parliamentary reporter Lyric Waiwiri-Smith joins Toby for a stocktake: the headline policies, the slogans, and of course the mojo. Plus: In How Good, Alex Casey learns to sing. At Large with Toby Manhire is produced by Te Aihe Butler, Jin Fellet and The Spinoff. Read more at ⁠thespinoff.co.nz⁠. Learn more about...

At last we’ve got a date for the opening of the City Rail Link – is it really going to transform Auckland? Hayden Donnell joins Toby to talk through the decade-long, multibillion project, how it will change things from an economic and practical standpoint, who deserves the credit on the Donnell index, and where we sit on the utopian-to-sceptic spectrum. Plus: In How Good, Claire Mabey raves about...

New Zealand has not seen jobless numbers like this for a decade. Bernard Hickey of the Kākā joins Toby to talk through the latest quarterly numbers, the reality they reflect, whether there is something brighter on the horizon, and how they fit with the mood Christopher Luxon encountered in Rotorua the other day. Plus: In How Good, Tara Ward gives her verdict on the new NZ television drama Ms X.At...