

The Detail
RNZ
Join The Detail team six days a week as they make sense of the big stories with the country’s best journalists and experts.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Feb 26, 2025 • 23min
SovCits are fighting the law, but the law's winning
More people are using 'SovCit' arguments in court, engaging in so-called 'paper terrorism'Sovereign citizens believe they are exempt the laws of New Zealand. But that doesn't stop the law from coming after them.…Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Feb 25, 2025 • 25min
When shaken baby syndrome verdict is unsafe
A supposed shaken baby case is raising questions over the misdiagnosis of injured infants, with authorities rushing to lay the blame on parents…Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Feb 24, 2025 • 24min
The corruption ranking that could affect your mortgage
New Zealand has been too complacent for too long about our reputation for honesty, and now we're on a downward slide in international perception
…Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Feb 23, 2025 • 25min
A Kiwi champion for Lucy Letby
How a Kiwi documentary producer has been a part of a network to get authorities to revisit one of the most notorious murder cases the United Kingdom has ever seenSomething didn't feel right to Charlotte Purdy about the UK's killer nurse case - so she used her investigative tools from a world away to go into bat for a jailed nurse…Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Feb 21, 2025 • 24min
In the shadow of a rainbow
Recent events in Auckland have resurfaced memories of when being gay was considered a neurotic personality disorder…Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Feb 20, 2025 • 24min
Our defence budget under scrutiny
Our cash-strapped, underfunded, overspent defence force is in line for a budget boost, and experts say it can't come soon enoughFrom peacekeeping on the Russia-Ukraine border to defending our own waters, experts say it can't come soon enoughTwo defence experts are warning that New Zealand’s ageing navy is woefully inadequate and underfunded when it comes to protecting our waters.Warnings like this have been shrugged off before because we are too far away to worry, but yesterday came news that three Chinese navy ships were sailing in international waters east of Sydney, and could be headed toward Pacific Islands countries, in a move that’s been called “unusual” and “provocative”.“We seem to think that if it all goes wrong we’ll be safe down here,” former defence minister and NZ First MP, Ron Mark tells The Detail.“The world is a volatile space and it’s been increasingly so and the one thing that you can absolutely bank on is that what you think today is going to be the situation tomorrow, will not be.”New Zealand’s exclusive economic zone covers 4 million square kilometres of the earth’s surface but Mark says the country is not doing enough to look after it.“We think we can protect it by penny-pinching our way forward. The only people who pay are our military personnel,” he says.Victoria University’s director of the centre for strategic studies David Capie says the increasingly dangerous world means New Zealand will “have to do a lot for ourselves and working with our ally Australia”.Their warnings came on the same day as it was revealed China’s naval ships were sailing 150 nautical miles off Sydney. Defence Minister Judith Collins said the Chinese naval task group was being monitored.Professor Rory Medcalf, of the Australian National University National Security College, told Australia’s ABC that “a confronting strategic future is arriving fast”.“It would be hard to find a more tangible sign of the need for Australia to increase defence spending and to sustain our campaign of statecraft aimed at stopping China establishing a military base in the Pacific,” he said.New Zealand’s own defence budget is in the spotlight again with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon this week responding to questions about raising it to 2 percent of GDP, which would nearly double the current funding and bring it in line with Australia’s allocation. At the same time, US President Donald Trump has been pushing for Nato members to raise their defence spending from 2 to 5 percent…Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Feb 19, 2025 • 25min
Submissions to GMO law change bill are closed, and experts are worried
Experts agree that advances to GMO technology means laws need to change. But just how those changes look is contentious.
Changes are coming to our gene editing laws. Whether they'll help future-proof our economy or ruin our international reputation is up for debate.…Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Feb 18, 2025 • 24min
Auckland's trash is another town's treasure
Ecogas is New Zealand's only plant of its kind processing food waste. Its co-founder says that's embarrassing. …Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Feb 17, 2025 • 24min
NZ's health leadership crisis
New health minister Simeon Brown is presiding over a list of resignations from high-ranking health officials…Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Feb 16, 2025 • 25min
The Beehive doors are shut to the CTU
She says her government is delivering for workers, but Brooke Van Velden won't meet with the biggest worker organisation we have - the Council for Trade Unions …Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details