Joel MacManus | The Spinoff

Joel MacManus

Politics

Business

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Joel MacManus is a senior writer for The Spinoff. He previously worked at RNZ and Stuff, and began his career at Critic Te Ārohi. His writing explores the political, economic and cultural systems that underpin modern New Zealand. He won the 2025 Voyager Media Award for Best Columnist, Opinion or Critique.

Joel MacManus

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two middle aged white men in running gear, with their faces photoshopped to be the prime ministers of NZ and Australia. A tech-looking board is in the background

New Zealand is falling behind on tech regulations

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Field notes from National and Labour’s campaign launches

A collage of a hand holding a green key, overlapping a small storefront with yellow trim, set against a hallway with closed metal shutters.

New Zealand city centres have an empty shop problem. Do the Greens have the answer?

A yellow PAK’nSAVE supermarket building with several parked cars in front, taken during early evening with streetlights on.

Everyone wants to break up the supermarkets. How would it actually work?

A band performs on a dimly lit stage with blue and purple lights, playing guitars and singing. The audience watches from below, and musical equipment is visible around the musicians.

Review: The Beths enter their greatest hits era with the ‘By Request’ tour

A cartoon dog with a hat says “THIS IS FINE” while a forest fire blazes and smoke billows behind, with a large eye partly visible in the background.

The emissions trading scheme is broken. Can anyone fix it?

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A crowd of people waits to board a blue and yellow train at night. The train doors are open, and passengers are visible inside. Some people are looking at their phones.

‘Tunnel, tunnel, tunnel’: on board the first train through the City Rail Link

A smiling family of three stands outside their brick house with a green roof and garage. The adults stand on either side of a young girl, holding her hands, with a green mailbox and garden in the background.

First home buyers have taken over the housing market

Two men, one in a blue shirt and one in a suit and tie, are superimposed over a grayscale photo of modern townhouses on a street.

Why the world thinks New Zealand solved the housing crisis

A hand holding several New Zealand 100-dollar bills against an orange background with illustrated light bulbs and lightning bolts.

How the energy gentailers made $1 billion in profit this year

A woman wearing a green cardigan is digitally superimposed in front of yellow townhouses, with trees and a clear blue sky in the background.

Tamatha Paul got her property facts wrong – and I’m in the middle of it