

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

Dec 9, 2024 • 25min
Behind SolarZero's collapse
How a solar power company backed by public funds and one of the world's largest asset managers went into liquidation…Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Dec 8, 2024 • 24min
The long, expensive and complicated process of surrogacy
Having a baby by surrogacy in New Zealand is complicated, convoluted and costly. A bill promised to fast-track change, but progress has been anything but…Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Dec 6, 2024 • 24min
Christmas red flags for online shoppers
New research identifies a surge in fake online shops scamming Kiwis out of pocket in the lead up to Christmas…Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Dec 5, 2024 • 25min
The risk of missing the boat on a good deal for the Cook Strait ferries
It hasn't been clear sailing for the Interislander, but any day the government will announce plans for the ferries' future…Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Dec 4, 2024 • 24min
The birth of a city
Developers are moving at pace to turn the south Auckland town of Drury into our next city…Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Dec 3, 2024 • 21min
Seabed mining left out of regional plan for Taranaki
There's a clash of wills going on between central and local government in Taranaki when it comes to plans for seabed mining…Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Dec 2, 2024 • 24min
The niggle that could trip up an India trade deal
There's already plenty of doubt that we'll get an India trade deal signed in the Prime Minister's first term as he promised. Here's another hiccup.A rift among New Zealand's Indian communities that's testing tolerance over the right to protest could blow up, and a potential trade deal could suffer in the blast.The Prime Minister's goal of getting a free trade deal signed with India in his first term is still looking shaky, but progress is being made.Business links in both countries are being forged, but we are still a long way from any agreement.Our Indian High Commissioner, Neeta Bhushan, appeared to put the brakes on expectations at a recent event in Christchurch celebrating new ties.Newsroom's National Affairs Editor Sam Sachdeva says her message was revealing - and placed further doubt on the prospect of a free trade deal being done this term.Calling Christopher Luxon's pre-election commitment on it "perhaps ill-advised", he says Bhushan was still quite positive about progress, noting that we are closer than we have been in a long time."But she sort of said 'look, let's take some small steps .. you can't just jump ahead' so I viewed that as an implicit reminder that you can't rush this."However there's another potential stumbling block, one that's possibly under the radar for most kiwis ... but is not for the three hundred thousand-strong Indian population here.It comes in the shape of a group labelled by India as terrorists, which is drumming up support around the world for an independent Sikh homeland.The president of Sikhs for Justice was in New Zealand last month, rallying thousands of Kiwi Sikhs for what the group calls a "referendum" on the issue.Auckland police have been praised for helping diffuse the situation, but the Hindu community wants to know why a man known for sowing discord was allowed in, especially on the back of a ban by New Zealand immigration of outspoken, far-right American speaker Candace Owens.RNZ Asia journalist Gaurav Sharma says the New Zealand government has to start taking this seriously, especially if Indian officials read it as New Zealand giving its blessing to Sikh separatism.And there's a warning - if the government doesn't keep an eye on this development, we risk a diplomatic rift like the one between India and Canada ... and there goes our trade deal.Such a note of concern has already been sounded by political experts including Victoria University's David Capie from the Centre for Strategic Studies…Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Dec 1, 2024 • 23min
All hail the social media X-odus
X is out, Bluesky is in and Mastodon is for the birds - and the nerds. The fight for the top spot in an ever-evolving social media landscape is political. Following the US election and a change of terms, users have left the social media platform X in droves. But that doesn't mean they're leaving social media altogether.…Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Nov 29, 2024 • 24min
The good, the bad and ugly of mumfluencing
Mumfluencing can be a lucrative business, but making a living off of children can come at a cost…Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Nov 28, 2024 • 24min
NZs Prime Ministers ranked
Historians talk to The Detail about the good, the bad and the grumpy of the 23 past Prime Ministers of New ZealandA look at the New Zealand Prime Ministers who shone; the ones who changed the nation; and one who helped change the world. It's not the one you think.…Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details