The A-Z of David Seymour’s school lunch disaster
The Spinoff Daily, Friday February 28
Ahiahi mārie, welcome to The Spinoff Daily.
Today on The Spinoff: All 81 albums nominated for the 2025 Taite Music Prize, reviewed. Plus: The Auckland streets where speed limits are rising against council’s wishes, and what Cook Islanders think about their country’s relationship with China.
But first: Alex Casey recaps the last two months of Seymour’s kitchen nightmares.
“A is for apples and muesli bars, which Kaitao Intermediate principal Phil Palfrey spent $530 on to feed hungry students when their lunches arrived hours late last month in Rotorua. The same week, Rotorua Intermediate School had their lunches arrive at 2.30pm, just before the end-of-day bell rang at 2.45pm.
B is for butter chicken, which Lincoln Heights School received for 11 days straight as their sole lunch option this month. ‘The kids are over it, the staff are over trying to get our kids to eat,’ said principal Leisha Brynes. ‘I think what’s breaking our hearts is we know that a number of these children actually need to eat the lunch.’
C is for ‘chewed and spat it back into the container,’ how Kelston Boys’ High School principal Adeline Blair described the aesthetic of their recent lunch deliveries from Pita Pit. ‘It was not the most appealing to the eye.’
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The local Auckland streets where speed limits are rising, at a cost of $8.8m
What Cook Islanders think about their country’s relationship with China
The strings attached to the four-year parliamentary term proposal, explained
Treaty principles bill hearings, day 11: Live, from Te Matatini, Lake Rotokākahi and Mitre 10
All 81 albums nominated for the 2025 Taite Music Prize, reviewed
Max Johns embarks on a comprehensive tour of the current NZ music landscape: “It all starts when IMNZ calls for nominations. There are rules on localness, albumness (no EPs) and newness. There’s an entry fee (less than a Laneway ticket). That’s it. Every nominated album becomes a candidate in a vote among IMNZ’s 1000+ members. So, what do you get when you ask every musician in the country to share their latest album in exchange for the chance to win a big cash prize?
Last year we got 68 hopefuls. I learned this after promising a cool but unknown website called Hamilton Underground Press that I’d review ‘all the nominations’, then quickly learning that this was not the same thing as ‘the 10-album shortlist’. It was a tour of NZ music’s current landscape, complete with major landmarks, obscure points of interest, barren stretches and hidden gems. Over here is lush and stunning native beauty; over there it’s all been mined to shit. To get a real sense of it you need to walk end to end, Te Araroa-style.”
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The Friday Poem: ‘Moon Dogs’ by Mikaela Nyman
The Unity Books bestseller chart for the week ending February 28
Join us at The Spinoff Book Club
The best way to enjoy a book is by yourself, the second best way is with a theatre full of people. Books editor Claire Mabey will lead a conversation with avid writers and readers Duncan Sarkies, Carl Shuker, Courtney Johnston and more. Join us to hear about their favourites, their recommendations, and what to look out for in the year to come.
