The Bulletin wrapped, 2024
What you were reading, what you engaged with the most, and what you might see more of next year.
Mōrena, and welcome to The Bulletin for Friday, December 20.
In today’s edition: New Zealand was in a deeper recession than many picked in the middle of the year, Christopher Luxon will not attend the national Waitangi Day events at Waitangi next year, and Air NZ boss Greg Foran signals more turbulent times ahead in 2025. But first, your Bulletin 2024 report card.
We’ve made it. Welcome to the final edition of The Bulletin for 2024. It has been a very long year. This morning, we’re going to take a look back at the biggest moments from this newsletter over the past 12 months – the most read pieces, the most engaged with, the topics that got the most attention. And then we’ll take a little dive into what we might be seeing more of in 2025. Hopefully we can end on a positive note, but who knows – it’s been one of those years. I’ll say up top that I’ve loved writing this newsletter every morning and appreciate all 40,000+ of you that subscribe. Thank you!
The five biggest Bulletins of 2024
While I’m proud to say that every edition of The Bulletin is well read, some pieces shoot well above the rest. The five biggest Bulletins of the year were:
The haka that circled the globe: Toby Manhire stepped into the editor’s chair and immediately delivered the most read edition of The Bulletin in 2024, revealing the startling number of times Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke’s haka in the debating chamber was viewed online.
Luxon didn't meet the hīkoi, but he won't be able to hide from what comes next: In the wake of the nationwide hīkoi to parliament, this Bulletin from exactly one month ago today looked at the political aftermath.
The ‘self-perpetuating downward spiral’ in our mental health system: An exceptional cover story from The Spinoff’s Gabi Lardies looked at how people who need mental health help can end up in destructive cycles and prison.
Golriz Ghahraman's resignation raises questions about life in political spotlight: Remember when The Bulletin was edited by Anna Rawhiti-Connell? This newsletter from the start of January looked at the resignation of Green MP Golriz Ghahraman and the questions it raised about the nature of political life.
Calls for leadership and delivery: kickstarting the political year ahead: In the same week, Anna looked at the start of the political year and a national hui that set the stage on race relations.
Bonus: What’s going on at The Warehouse? Not the biggest in terms of email opens, but undoubtedly the biggest Bulletin we’ve republished on The Spinoff homepage this year. A lot of you wanted to know what was going on at The Warehouse!
The most engaged with Bulletins
Likes and comments aren’t everything, but they do give an indication of the topics of most interest (or they’re just pointing out typos and grammatical errors, also appreciated). Here are the five most engaged with Bulletins on Substack.
Luxon didn't meet the hīkoi, but he won't be able to hide from what comes next: There it is again!
How the first reading of the Treaty Principles Bill played out: Another Bulletin on race relations in Aotearoa that attracted a lot of correspondence.
The tax questions circling Chris Hipkins and Labour: Oh those tax questions, they be circling – and they will for the next two years. Will Labour settle on a capital gains tax, a wealth tax, or something else? We're still waiting to find out.
Budget 2024 in 10 crucial reads: A small reading list for the day after the budget.
What's in and what's out for Labour's 2026 campaign: Another Bulletin looking at how Labour is positioning itself two years out from the next election.
Bonus: Calls for airfare inquiry: Are we in a cost of flying crisis? Undoubtedly The Bulletin that caused the most readers to send me emails (a lot of them unhappy with me focusing on airfares and not the wider implications of flying). I’m always learning, always listening.
The biggest topics
Obviously, The Bulletin largely covers major political news as they tend to dominate the news cycle and, by design, this newsletter is a wrap of what’s making headlines. But a few key topics emerged as the most engaged with across 2024.
Healthcare: We routinely returned to the subject of health, from leaked memos, to widespread redundancies, and the $1.4bn turnaround job promised by the coalition government. There was the end of the Covid inquiry, fears of a new bird flu epidemic, and questions over why money was being given to Mike King over other mental health support providers.
The state of the nation: As noted above, you were really interested in how Labour was rebuilding itself ahead of the next election. But we also spent time looking at the Greens, Act, and the late surge of Te Pāti Māori in the polls. Not to mention, local councils got a show too – from a scrapped reform of local government to the PM’s fiery directive to stop focusing on “nice to haves”.
Time for some original reporting: I’ve really enjoyed having the chance to weave some original reporting into The Bulletin this year, and the stats show you’ve enjoyed it too. There was my deep dive into the Ministry of Health’s missing puberty blockers “evidence brief”, an investigation into a mysterious new suicide prevention charity, and a look at why police had called a driver why they were still driving down the motorway.
In-depth reports: The Spinoff has published dozens upon dozens of excellent, well-researched cover stories this year – and we’ve done our best to promote those via The Bulletin. I’d like to reshare, in particular, Zeni Gibson’s remarkable and horrifying first person account (as told to Maddie Holden) of being stalked for nearly a decade, and Claire Mabey’s deep dive into Narrative Muse.
Looking ahead
While the above is of course not a scientific exercise in what’s making the news, it’s nonetheless interesting. Some of the bigger themes – healthcare, race relations, the state of the wider economy – will undoubtedly drag into the new year. This has been a tough year. We’ve lost dozens, likely hundreds, of excellent journalists. The Spinoff hasn’t been immune and as a result I’ll be scaling back my work in the new year – you might notice The Bulletin looking a little trimmer than it has been since I took over (which some of you may appreciate, let me know). That’s unfortunate, of course, but I remain optimistic (most of the time, anyway).
The Spinoff has had a big year, with over 38 million minutes spent reading our stories and close to 1.2m podcast downloads (did you listen to Juggernaut?). We’re not alone – Newsroom recently shared its report card for 2024 and Mediawatch looked back on some of the big moments from the year. Media commentator Gavin Ellis wrote this week that he refused to see the past year only in terms of what has been lost – and I applaud that approach. “Our journalists can take real pride from some of what they have done. They demonstrate they have the knowledge, talent and intellect to deliver on their solemn obligations,” he wrote.
It hasn’t all been doom and gloom, and there’s no reason next year can’t be even better. I’ll be back on January 13. See you then and have a wonderful summer wherever you are.
An update on the response to our open letter
It’s been a fortnight since we published our open letter outlining our current reality.
We revealed that only 2% of our audience support us financially and shared the real need to double the number of members who support us with monthly or annual payments. As of today, we are over one third of the way towards that target.
The response to our letter has been encouraging. Thank you to all our existing members who responded by donating or increasing their contributions. We’re grateful to all who also decided to sign up again. Welcome to our new members. We’re delighted to have you.
We still have a way to go, but the support has made us as determined as ever to get there. Please continue to spread the word and share the letter. You can also gift someone a membership for Christmas or donate as an organisation or company.
If you haven't yet, please become a member or donate today.
GDP fall bigger than predicted
To other news… New Zealand was in a deeper recession than many picked in the middle of the year, according to the latest Stats NZ update. Data, reported here by RNZ’s Gyles Beckford, showed that GDP had fallen by 1% in the three months to September, taking it 1.5% down on the same time one year ago. Revisions to earlier figures resulted in a fall of 1.1% in the June quarter – making these the two biggest quarterly falls since mid-1991 (if you exclude the peak of Covid-19). The two consecutive drops confirm a technical recession.
As Interest’s Dan Brunskill explained, the latest data is expected to be the low point with expectations the economy will grow again in 2025. However, economists had largely not predicted such a sizeable contraction over the September quarter – Kiwibank was picking a 0.2% fall. Importantly, the bank’s economists said “the end point of the economy is not too different from what was originally published in June” despite the revised data. Much like with the Treasury forecasts unveiled earlier in the week, both National and Labour are pointing at one another for the state of the economy, explained Russell Palmer for RNZ. Chris Hipkins said that updated data showed the country wasn’t in recession under Labour, but was now under the coalition. “It's the slash and burn approach to managing the economy that they have adopted that's got us there,” he said.
Best of 2024: The mystery of the killer bike lane
As we race towards the end of the year, it’s time to take a look back at some of the biggest and best Spinoff stories from 2024. This morning: Joel MacManus investigates a cycleway blamed for closing Wellington cafes. First published on September 10.
By process of elimination, the business-killing cycleway must surely be at the third Pandoro, the original site on the corner of Wakefield and Allen St. According to a Stuff article, “Foot traffic had been killed off by construction work, cycle and bus lanes on Wakefield Street.” Finally, a lead! I put on my reporter hat and went down there to question the Wakefield Street cycle lane for myself. But when I arrived, I discovered something chilling: It doesn’t exist.
Get the best of the Spinoff this year sent to you over summer
Sign up for The Spinoff Daily to receive our twice-weekly summer digest. Sent to you at the leisurely time of 10am on Tuesdays and Fridays over the summer break, you can enjoy a handpicked selection of the best of The Spinoff this year. perfect for beach, bach, backyard or travel reading.
Click and Collect
Meanwhile, The Waitangi Forum group is calling for no government attendance at the commemorations.
The judicial conduct commissioner has pro-actively launched a “preliminary examination” into District Court judge Ema Aitken after she gate-crashed a New Zealand First party.
A letter from Chris Hipkins to BlackRock asking for assistance to ensure 160 terminated SolarZero staff are paid what they are owed has been met with silence.
Liam Lawson will partner Formula One world champion Max Verstappen in 2025.
Air NZ boss Greg Foran signals more turbulent times ahead in 2025.
Auckland mayor Wayne Brown has launched a quite exceptional marketing video for a new open-air seawater swimming pool in the Viaduct Harbour that he has dubbed, err, Browny’s Pool.
A group of Spinoffers review Aotearoa's boozeless bubbly beverages. Shanti Mathias explores how the gambling industry is using influencers to appeal to a new generation. Catherine McGregor sums up the year in world news, from elections to assassination attempts to aurora storms. Here are The Spinoff's favourite movies to 2024. Lyric Waiwiri-Smith reveals that Harty Māori Stylez is the song of the summer. Hera Lindsay Bird advises a reader who hates spending Christmas with their in-laws.
That’s it for this year! It has been huge and thank you for being here morning after morning. We’ll be back in the new year. Until then, happy holidays!
Want to get in touch? Join the conversation in the Substack comments section below or via email at thebulletin@thespinoff.co.nz if you have any feedback on today’s top stories (or anything else in the news).
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Thank you for your superb journalism this year. Have hope. We can't afford to have you fail.
The Bulletin with a coffee in hand is a highlight of my day. Thank you for all you do, with care, rigour and integrity. Season’s greetings and have an awesome holiday!