Hayden Donnell

Te Papa

Producer at Radio New Zealand (RNZ)

Rosemary Dempsey, the inventor of Kiwi Onion Dip, is our greatest living New Zealander

Articles

Climate change coverage in a changed media climate

1 week ago | rnz.co.nz | Hayden Donnell

In 2021 climate change minister James Shaw talked up the government's commitment to the Paris Agreement on Facebook. "We need to cut global emissions by 45 percent, below 2010 levels, by 2030," he said. "Now is the time we must decisively choose the future we want for our children."The tenor of political discourse has changed a little since then. Our current crop of ministers are less bullish about the transition to a low-carbon economy.
Radical millennial idea: don’t raise the age of superannuation eligibility

1 week ago | thespinoff.co.nz | Hayden Donnell

On the one hand, superannuation is putting huge and increasing pressure on the government’s books. On the other hand, if you raise the age of entitlement I will emit a supersonic howl of despair. Prime minister Christopher Luxon was unequivocal when asked on Newstalk ZB last week if National is still committed to raising the age of entitlement for superannuation.
Auckland Council keeps trying to sabotage its own multibillion-dollar rail upgrade

1 week ago | thespinoff.co.nz | Hayden Donnell

We’re spending $5.5 billion on the City Rail Link. The council keeps trying to stop people accessing its stations or building things nearby. About half an hour into Auckland Council’s debate on upzoning the city centre last week, mayor Wayne Brown looked up with a puzzled look on his face. He didn’t get why planners were telling his councillors they should vote to limit building heights on Karangahape Road.
Winston Peters is right about parliament’s declining standards

2 weeks ago | thespinoff.co.nz | Hayden Donnell

Winston Peters is right about parliament’s declining standards of decorum. But the rot didn’t set in last week. This has been a years-long process, and one MP in particular has been at the heart of the decline. Winston Peters couldn’t hide his distress as he heard the word “cunts” being read out by Act deputy leader Brooke van Velden during question time last week. He buried his head in his hands, stared at his tie, and seemingly willed himself to physically or mentally dematerialise.
Winston Peters is right about parliament’s declining standards

2 weeks ago | thespinoff.co.nz | Hayden Donnell

Winston Peters is right about parliament’s declining standards of decorum. But the rot didn’t set in last week. This has been a years-long process, and one MP in particular has been at the heart of the decline. Winston Peters couldn’t hide his distress as he heard the word “cunts” being read out by Act deputy leader Brooke van Velden during question time last week. He buried his head in his hands, stared at his tie, and seemingly willed himself to physically or mentally dematerialise.
Mediawatch: Political rows and newspaper column blur focus on pay equity

3 weeks ago | rnz.co.nz | Hayden Donnell

Anyone watching the 6pm news bulletins on TVNZ 1 and Three simultaneously last Wednesday might have been tempted to call jinx. "This pay equity issue isn't going away is it?" Simon Dallow asked TVNZ political editor Maiki Sherman on 1News. In reply she said the row about it would roll on right up to the Budget. "The pay equity debate is showing no signs of abating," said Lloyd Burr on ThreeNews. It was true. The story was sticking around almost as stubbornly as the gender pay gap.
Mediawatch: Bad statistics and stereotypes boost bootcamp bid

3 weeks ago | rnz.co.nz | Hayden Donnell

Anyone watching the 6pm news bulletins on TVNZ 1 and Three simultaneously last Wednesday might have been tempted to call jinx. "This pay equity issue isn't going away is it?" Simon Dallow asked TVNZ political editor Maiki Sherman on 1News. In reply she said the row about it would roll on right up to the Budget. "The pay equity debate is showing no signs of abating," said Lloyd Burr on ThreeNews. It was true. The story was sticking around almost as stubbornly as the gender pay gap.
Is comparing librarians to fisheries officers really so ridiculous?

3 weeks ago | thespinoff.co.nz | Hayden Donnell

National has come up with some key messaging to justify why the pay equity law it once supported had to be scrapped. But how does it measure up with reality? National spent the first few days after repealing pay equity legislation blinking in the face of a category five cyclone of pure anger. Dame Anne Salmond said she was “incandescent with rage” over its move to halt 33 existing pay equity claims for workers ranging from hospice nurses to primary teachers.
Nobody is cutting through government spin like the Act Party

3 weeks ago | thespinoff.co.nz | Hayden Donnell

Whether it’s pay equity or the Waitangi Tribunal review, the person most committed to combatting government PR is government minister David Seymour. Only 3.2% of The Spinoff’s readership supports us financially. We need to grow that to 4% this year to keep creating the work you love. Sign up to be a member today. When National moved to put an end to 33 fair pay claims for low-income women, it was adamant the move wasn’t about rescuing finance minister Nicola Willis’s upcoming budget.
Illegal cigarette smuggling man: an appreciation

1 month ago | thespinoff.co.nz | Hayden Donnell

New Zealand has lost its mojo. Maybe it could learn something from a man who strapped 1,620 cigarettes inside his pants and said ‘today is the day I walk through an airport’. Sometimes a single image can change you. Carl Sagan grasped our cosmic insignificance more profoundly after seeing Pale Blue Dot. Millions of children were permanently traumatised at the sight of Simba trying to wake Mufasa up in The Lion King.