Alice Neville

Auckland

Food Editor and Co-Deputy Editor at The Spinoff

Freelance Journalist and Editor at Freelance

Deputy editor @thespinofftv

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Articles

What you need to know about the proposed freshwater reforms

1 week ago | thespinoff.co.nz | Alice Neville

As part of its overhaul of the Resource Management Act, the government has launched consultation on a proposal to shake up the management of freshwater in Aotearoa. Here’s a quick(ish) rundown. What’s all this then? Yesterday, the government released three discussion documents proposing changes to the “national directions” of three areas: infrastructure and development, the primary sector, and freshwater.
Budget 2025: Where might the cuts land - and how deep will they be?

2 weeks ago | thespinoff.co.nz | Alice Neville

With its operating allowance halved to just $1.3bn, Thursday’s budget will be ‘no lolly scramble’, the finance minister has warned. Here’s where the government might be looking to claw back some cash. “Reprioritisation” is the name of the game this budget – taking money from certain stuff to fund other stuff. In other words, there will be cuts. That’s because the budget’s operating allowance – new money for spending – has been revised down from $2.4bn to $1.3bn, making it the tightest in a decade.
How wokeism cancelled political correctness

2 weeks ago | thespinoff.co.nz | Alice Neville

A close reading of New Zealand parliamentary debates reveals when the fight against political correctness gave way to the war on woke – and the exact point the two crossed over. These days, it’s hard to imagine Winston Peters without the amorphous enemy of wokeism to rail against. But a couple of decades ago, that nemesis went by a different name: political correctness.
A brief history of swearing in parliament

3 weeks ago | thespinoff.co.nz | Alice Neville

In light of the first-ever record of a c-bomb dropping in the debating chamber this week, we take a look back at the potty mouths of our parliamentarians. During question time on Wednesday, a wave of shocked murmurings swept across parliament’s debating chamber as workplace relations minister Brooke van Velden enunciated a word not often heard in such a hallowed setting: cunts.
What have the women of the coalition said about pay equity?

1 month ago | thespinoff.co.nz | Alice Neville

Politicsabout 12 hours agoIn 2020, National MPscelebrated the passing of the Equal Pay Amendment Act. Today, they are backing a massive overhaul of the law that will see existing pay equity claims scrapped and raise the threshold for bringing new ones.
My kid didn’t get to touch Bluey’s big balls and I’m spiralling

1 month ago | thespinoff.co.nz | Alice Neville

This Aussie kids’ TV juggernaut has always packed an emotional punch, and the live stage show was no exception – giving one toddler and her mother a valuable lesson in dealing with disappointment. As a parent, a neat game to play is to think about which of your many failures your child will be talking to their therapist about in a few decades’ time. I added a new one to the list this weekend: she didn’t get to touch one of the big balls at Bluey’s Big Play, and it was, of course, all my fault.
The Beehive is lauding a big drop in violent crime. But what do the stats really say?

1 month ago | thespinoff.co.nz | Alice Neville

This week, a dramatic dip in the number of victims of violent crime was revealed, a remarkable turnaround in just eight months that the government was quick to take credit for. But, as Alice Neville explains, crime data is far from clear-cut. In September last year, the government announced a concerning development: the number of violent crime victims in the 12 months to June 2024 had risen to 215,000. This put its reduced violent crime target – 165,000 victims by 2029 – officially “at risk”.
Rail-enabled ferries are coming to Cook Strait - eventually

2 months ago | thespinoff.co.nz | Alice Neville

The ferries will now be delivered in 2029, writes Alice Neville in today’s extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here.
Another law and order pledge ticked off

2 months ago | thespinoff.co.nz | Alice Neville

Sentencing reform legislation has passed its final reading, writes Alice Neville in today’s extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. Sentencing reform legislation passed its final readingThe government’s sentencing reform legislation passed its final reading in parliament yesterday, marking “a significant milestone in this government’s mission to restore law and order”, according to justice minister Paul Goldsmith.
The Spinoff Essay: All my daughter’s daddies

2 months ago | thespinoff.co.nz | Alice Neville

The highs, lows and silver linings of single-parenting a toddler. He lay there prone, unmoving, his dark eyes glassy and fixed on the ceiling above. My daughter looked at him, then at me. “Is that… Daddy?” I sighed. “No, darling, that’s not Daddy.” I grabbed the man to whom her question was directed and returned him to the kitchen where he belonged. No, he wasn’t Daddy. This bloke did, however, fit the paternal stereotype of being handy around the home – I’d just used him to open my beer, in fact.