Charlie Mitchell

Former MP Paul Eagle blasted over $460k house upgrade, supplying misleading documents A damning Auditor-General inquiry has found the ex Chatham Islands council boss and two-term Labour MP oversaw a costly home renovation, contracted his wife and supplied misleading documents to a watc...

His punishment is expulsion to an even more distant, windswept island www.thepost.co.nz/politics/360...

How things change

Last week: The media is doing damage control because they're about to cop a big left hook from the Royal Commission.

Today: The Royal Commission is so bad it's actually illegal

I must admit I'm surprised at how little the Royal Commission gave to vaccine opponents, some of whom saw this process as the thing that would vindicate them. Can't get much clearer than this.

Only 297 people in the last census said they worked 168 hours a week (24/7). You can't have a successful country with so few hustlers

‘He's going to kill someone’: Rural stoush erupts over dirt bike riding teens Rural families claim a high-profile medical sceptic is intimidating dirt bike-riding teens. But a leaflet accuses the teens of anti-social behaviour.

Former doctor Mark Bailey, a germ theory denialist and common law adherent, has been haranguing local children for riding their motorbikes by his house www.thepress.co.nz/nz-news/3609...

In some parts of the world, a rich person using their wealth to undermine a media outlet for ideological reasons would be considered a bad thing, but here it is a “masterstroke” archive.ph/kBPiZ

Christ Church Cathedral restoration pins hopes solely on ratepayer cash From today, the public will be asked for their views on whether the cathedral should have more public money - such a move will increase rates.

A disgraceful farce. Bowl it, put a Chemist Warehouse on the rubble and give the rental income to the museum dlvr.it/TR9r4p

The pressure campaign that sank a phantom water tax There was no water tax. But through branding and a manufactured sense of urgency, a pressure campaign on the Government appeared to secure a victory.

I wrote about a pressure campaign centred on a fake “water tax”, which was a revealing insight into the lobbying machine www.thepress.co.nz/nz-news/3609...

The Press and Stuff are separate companies, now - we have no shared staff or anything like that. We’re basically competitors.

Then and now: How Christchurch has changed in 15 years Before and after images reveal how the earthquakes created two versions of the same city.

Looking at Then and Now photos of Ōtautahi Christchurch. Chchchanges.Does my head in, and heart a bit too. Great work by Charlie Mitchell @comingupcharlie.bsky.social ahead of next week’s 15th anniversary of 22 February 2011 earthquake.
@thepress.co.nz
www.thepress.co.nz/nz-news/3609...

Christchurch terrorist was ‘consistent about pleading guilty’, lawyer says The terrorist’s lawyer says he checked in with the mass murderer regularly about his mental state, and had no concerns.

Hoping this isn't correct. His mental state should not be allowed to improve beyond 'concerning' at any time during his sentence www.thepress.co.nz/nz-news/3609...

This is the most Wellington boomer thing I have ever seen www.thepost.co.nz/nz-news/3609...

What happened to all the fish? For the first time in more than 40 years, this year’s Rakaia fishing competition will not involve fishing. What has gone wrong?

A once abundant native fish is on the verge of extinction. It is seemingly linked to the rapid collapse of the Rakaia river ecosystem www.thepress.co.nz/nz-news/3609...

The Five Farcical Principles of the ‘CBS Evening News’ Tony Dokoupil and Bari Weiss’s new broadcast has been one debacle after another. Let's try to make sense of it all, with or without whiskey.

"In the silent depths of interstellar space, there are clouds of ionized gas that are doing as much to 'work for you' as any of these people" www.theringer.com/2026/01/21/m...

Scott Robertson expected to be axed as All Blacks coach 1News understands the NZ Rugby Union will confirm today All Blacks head coach Scott Robertson has been fired two years into his four-year contract.

Be kind to Cantabrians today www.1news.co.nz/2026/01/15/s...

Christchurch is not a city. Christchurch is a stadium that happens to be surrounded by buildings.

Julian Batchelor and the apocalypse Julian Batchelor is warning the nation of “spiritual darkness” in the form of co-governance. But critics say he’s drawing on myths to justify his apocalyptic views of the future.

I profiled Batchelor in 2023 and unearthed some of his more obscure claims. They are, to put it delicately, out-the-bloody-gate www.thepress.co.nz/nz-news/3500...

Inside the weirdest trial of the year: Jim Grenon, Julian Batchelor and TVNZ Billionaires, secrets, conspiracy theories, denials of racism, contempt of court and twists at every turn. This case had it all.

Reading between the lines but I sense that people like Williams and Grenon mistakenly thought Batchelor was a stock-standard critic of co-governance without understanding his apocalyptic worldview thespinoff.co.nz/media/19-12-...

Just pathetic. I hope TVNZ is awarded costs, and Talley's leadership reflects on whether this was a productive use of time and money.

Judge dismisses Talley's defamation case against TVNZ High Court trial ran for more than four weeks, hearing from more than 40 witnesses.

Great news, this case was shameful piss-taking and a waste of everyone's time www.1news.co.nz/2025/12/17/j...

What's in the RoNS files? - Greater Auckland Earlier this week, Te Waihanga, The Infrastructure Commission, called for Over the last couple of months, I’ve been trying to obtain information on the advice given to decision-makers about the RoNS. ...

The RoNS: “the most complex & expensive infrastructure programme in NZ’s recent history.”

A $56B programme… with a $49B shortfall. And all signs point to low-to-no-value for public money.

Given the huge public interest, why are the details being kept from the public, asks @connorsharp.bsky.social?

Billionaire NZME director Jim Grenon funding defamation lawsuit against TVNZ, court told Jim Grenon suggested to controversial evangelist Julian Batchelor that he should sue TVNZ, according to evidence given in court.

Even funnier now that the Free Speech Union claimed credit for encouraging Grenon to take over the NZ Herald thespinoff.co.nz/media/16-12-...

The retirement village that became a ghost town Some elderly residents of a Christchurch retirement village are staying put, despite Rymans decision to close its care facility and encourage many of their neighbours to depart. One stayer says “It’s ...

This was an odd story to report - a big company has shut down most of a retirement community, leaving a few residents behind who are living in an eerily empty village www.thepress.co.nz/nz-news/3609...

Revealed: The first musical acts that will rock Christchurch’s new stadium One of New Zealand’s biggest bands, Six60, will co-headline May’s concert alongside electronic orchestral group Synthony and three support acts with Christchurch and South Island links.

Christchurch spent nearly $700m on a stadium to draw previously unattainable global acts like Six60 www.thepress.co.nz/culture/3609...

yes, this is an increasingly serious problem that people should be aware of

This AI generated video has been viewed 200k times on Facebook since yesterday and has hundreds of comments from people who think it’s real. We are so cooked.

It’s good in the sense that councils can still fix the pipes but it does mean the headline number is fake - for ratepayers you need to stick water-related spending on top of it which in most cases is well above 4%

The rates cap policy seems to exclude most three waters spending which is a massive carve out given it’s a big driver of local government cost inflation.

The impressive ‘TOGO’ graffiti that appeared at the top of a hotel in Christchurch has been painted over after more than a decade. End of an era.