Hayden Donnell @haydendonnell.bsky.social · 16/09/2026Two huge exclusives this week, this is what I pictured myself doing when I entered the World of Journalism 2230
Reposted by Hayden Donnellmuch like your posting @mlyp.bsky.social · 07/09/2026thespinoff.co.nz/science/08-0...thespinoff.co.nzUpdate: This was the best kākāpō fuck season everThe world may be burning but at least the world’s fattest parrot has been boning. 615841
Hayden Donnell @haydendonnell.bsky.social · 05/09/2026Imagine what it would be like if Mr Fix It wasn't on the case 1215568
Hayden Donnell @haydendonnell.bsky.social · 13/08/2026Incredible things going down in Auckland 812123
Hayden Donnell @haydendonnell.bsky.social · 31/07/2026I have once again made a meme, this time to illustrate National's official position on coalition negotiations thespinoff.co.nz/politics/31-... 416351
Reposted by Hayden DonnellJulie Fairey (she/her) @juliefairey.bsky.social · 22/07/2026You’re just saying what everyone is thinking. 0112
Hayden Donnell @haydendonnell.bsky.social · 22/07/2026Once again proud of my contributions to The Spinoff 137410
Hayden Donnell @haydendonnell.bsky.social · 22/07/2026Starting to suspect some of our politicians can be a little self-serving in their public statements 76825
Hayden Donnell @haydendonnell.bsky.social · 22/07/2026you literally have to read it or you will be prosecuted by councillor Richard Hills 3315
Hayden Donnell @haydendonnell.bsky.social · 14/07/2026Act yesterday: NZ First is undermining the Indian free trade agreement with its xenophobic rhetoric Act today: our hot new candidate is the man who called an Indian politician "dick shit" and said it was "so appropriate because she's Indian, so she would be dick in shit" when walking the streets 911734
Reposted by Hayden DonnellRussell Brown @publicaddress.bsky.social · 02/07/2026This is appropriately withering. 3529
Hayden Donnell @haydendonnell.bsky.social · 02/07/2026*Waitematā local board, progressively* yes building houses in the rich suburbs near the city is one option but have you considered putting them in south Auckland instead thespinoff.co.nz/politics/03-... 180
Reposted by Hayden DonnellThe Spinoff @thespinoff.bsky.social · 02/07/2026The supposedly progressive campaign to restrict housing in posh suburbsthespinoff.co.nzThe supposedly progressive campaign to restrict housing in posh suburbsHelen Clark and the Waitematā Local Board want to dump Auckland’s growth on west and south Auckland, but in a nice, left-wing way.... 22314
Hayden Donnell @haydendonnell.bsky.social · 25/06/2026Auckland just had its biggest ever May for cycling and the bulk of the traffic was on separated bike lanes so it's a good thing we haven't banned new NZTA investment in cycleways or anything 210832
Hayden Donnell @haydendonnell.bsky.social · 22/06/2026Imagine if we implemented these other people's plans. We go into recession, experience a long-term spike in unemployment and end up with record numbers of insolvencies, all while negotiating a cost of living crisis 910927
Reposted by Hayden DonnellSacha @sachadylan.bsky.social · 07/06/2026'But belt-tightening, as it turns out, is for poorer people and public servants. It’s not for the esteemed and often politically-connected candidates they want to install in plum roles on Crown boards.' @haydendonnell.bsky.social #NzPolthespinoff.co.nzAusterity is for poor people, not politiciansBelt-tightening, as it turns out, is location-specific. It affects you if you’re in a state house. It doesn't if you’re in the house of representatives. 17428
Hayden Donnell @haydendonnell.bsky.social · 21/05/2026social housing tenants would probably feel more like they had won the Lotto if they could claim a $36,400 accommodation supplement to live in their own property 1024574
Hayden Donnell @haydendonnell.bsky.social · 21/05/2026one of the major clues that social housing tenants haven't in fact won the lotto is that they need social housing 532989
Reposted by Hayden DonnellBen Gracewood @ben.gracewood.nz · 19/05/2026I can't believe the damage cycle lanes are gonna do to wellington businesses if this plan to cut 9k public sector employees goes ahead. 626267
Hayden Donnell @haydendonnell.bsky.social · 18/05/2026thankfully the economy is back on track because otherwise I'd be pretty worried about these guys just going straight to Australia or into long-term unemployment 57318
Reposted by Hayden DonnellTim Welch @tfwelch.com · 10/05/2026Most transport maps show where infrastructure is. I wanted to show what that infrastructure actually lets people reach. I’ve been building the Auckland Transport Access Atlas: an interactive map of car dependency, accessibility, equity, and planner priorities across Auckland. ataa.tfwelch.com 55115
Hayden Donnell @haydendonnell.bsky.social · 08/05/2026David Seymour's comments about not trying to influence RNZ's staffing decisions are slightly undermined by his comments about trying to influence RNZ's staffing decisions 514452
Reposted by Hayden DonnellPatrick Reynolds for a greater Auckland @patrickreynolds.bsky.social · 05/05/2026Excellent work @haydendonnell.bsky.social Good News too, the problem of stinky diesel fumes in the Kaimai tunnel can be affordably dealt with via battery trains, like the new intercity trains we are getting for services from Wellington: thespinoff.co.nz/society/05-0...thespinoff.co.nzA train trip back in time to before we screwed up our transport systemThe Kaimai Express was a trip to a less car-dominated past. It may also have been a small taste of the future. 43714
Hayden Donnell @haydendonnell.bsky.social · 14/04/2026A wealthy businessman getting a vaunted vanity award only for it to be revealed that they've engaged in grotty personal misconduct? This must be unprecedented in New Zealand history 88421
Reposted by Hayden DonnellDavid Farrier @davidfarrier.com · 13/04/2026this webworm from @haydendonnell.bsky.social was originally published on february 17, 2025 – but with donald trump recently sharing an AI rendering of himself as *checks notes* jesus christ, it seems appropriate to re-publish it today: www.webworm.co/trumpistheantichrist/webworm.coI’ve Seen Enough: Donald Trump is the AntichristRe-issue: It’s time to admit the Christians were right all along. The prophecies are coming to pass. 3208
Hayden Donnell @haydendonnell.bsky.social · 12/04/2026The worst thing about this headline is I looked it up and he actually has two legs 6537
Hayden Donnell @haydendonnell.bsky.social · 01/04/2026this was yesterday but the great thing about being in New Zealand is that we also get American April Fools today 1210
Hayden Donnell @haydendonnell.bsky.social · 30/03/2026happy to have established myself as a key source of depressing housing news thespinoff.co.nz/politics/31-...thespinoff.co.nzExclusive: Government to slash Auckland housing numbers againJust weeks after cutting back Auckland's housing capacity plans, the government is set to water them down again. 37925
Hayden Donnell @haydendonnell.bsky.social · 25/03/2026you can learn a lot in The Spinoff comment section 1243
Reposted by Hayden DonnellDylan Reeve @dylanreeve.com · 23/03/2026Thank goodness The Spinoff rescued @haydendonnell.bsky.social from his totally unhelpful role as a media commentator on RNZ and put his skills to use properly!!thespinoff.co.nzBreaking: New racecourse to look like penisThe main track will act as the shaft, while the back track and harness track will be the testicles. 2417
Hayden Donnell @haydendonnell.bsky.social · 23/03/2026once again very proud of my contributions to The Spinoff 4607
Hayden Donnell @haydendonnell.bsky.social · 17/03/2026This Iran situation isn't looking great. But surely our politicians have been taking steps to reduce our dependence on oil. Would be very concerned if not thespinoff.co.nz/politics/17-...thespinoff.co.nzPetrol is so expensive. Hopefully we’ve been reducing our dependence on it?It would be a real shame if we’d done something like stop NZTA spending on walking and cycling. Ha ha ha. 35115
Hayden Donnell @haydendonnell.bsky.social · 10/03/2026This actually feels really reassuring I get the appeal 1110621
Hayden Donnell @haydendonnell.bsky.social · 09/03/2026Any time you can crash the global economy to replace a bad guy with a worse guy you gotta do it 2120
Hayden Donnell @haydendonnell.bsky.social · 05/03/2026Labour had six long years to fix Christopher Luxon's polling 24710
Hayden Donnell @haydendonnell.bsky.social · 24/02/2026feel I may have undermined today's column by putting in something I actually agree with thespinoff.co.nz/politics/25-... 1203
Hayden Donnell @haydendonnell.bsky.social · 22/02/2026Me the government 🤝 Addressing issues by refusing to look at them 1406
Hayden Donnell @haydendonnell.bsky.social · 12/02/2026breaking new frontiers when it comes to headline writing at The Spinoff 1331796
Hayden Donnell @haydendonnell.bsky.social · 11/02/2026did some data journalism thespinoff.co.nz/politics/11-... 167728
Hayden Donnell @haydendonnell.bsky.social · 04/02/2026Though I try to stay humble, I'd say I'm probably the nation's top journalist when it comes to in-depth reporting on the Waitangi dildo strike. Even so, I hadn't picked up this piece of info until this week thespinoff.co.nz/politics/05-... 712243
Hayden Donnell @haydendonnell.bsky.social · 20/01/2026Incisive critique from David Seymour: the people trying to remove the single biggest barrier to building housing should focus instead on trying to make it easier to build houses 2236
Hayden Donnell @haydendonnell.bsky.social · 18/01/2026would honestly prefer it if the anti-upzoning people would just come out and say the sight of a townhouse makes them sick rather than gabbling on nonsensically about the lack of infrastructure in the most infrastructure-dense parts of the city thespinoff.co.nz/politics/19-...thespinoff.co.nzAll the bogus reasons for National’s latest housing U-turnThere needs to be an inquiry into the standard of the bullshit we’re expected to believe.<br /> 610030
Reposted by Hayden DonnellSacha @sachadylan.bsky.social · 18/01/2026'We’ve been treated to a cacophony of handwringing about infrastructure, but it boils down to ‘not in my backyard’.' @haydendonnell.bsky.social #Aucklandthespinoff.co.nzAll the bogus reasons for National’s latest housing U-turnThere needs to be an inquiry into the standard of the bullshit we’re expected to believe.<br /> 1245
Hayden Donnell @haydendonnell.bsky.social · 30/11/2025I know this is a shocking thing to say but the Herald's habit of assuming extra housing is inherently negative has me wondering if it might have some kind of editorial slant on urban issues 24010
Hayden Donnell @haydendonnell.bsky.social · 30/11/2025Rank insubordination from AT, taunting the mayor with their Santa parade float 214128
Hayden Donnell @haydendonnell.bsky.social · 19/11/2025Auckland’s traffic is bad because we built all our houses in Massey and Papakura to avoid upsetting the inhospitable residents of our inner city suburbs thespinoff.co.nz/society/19-1... 66920
Hayden Donnell @haydendonnell.bsky.social · 05/11/2025Took a flight to Whakatāne last week. Got to interview the very cool new mayor Nándor Tánczos and most importantly, was finally able to see NZ's most impressive municipal building in person thespinoff.co.nz/politics/05-... 3383
Hayden Donnell @haydendonnell.bsky.social · 27/10/2025The government’s disdain for unions and love for teachers, doctors and nurses is slightly confusing given unions are made up of teachers, doctors and nurses thespinoff.co.nz/politics/27-...thespinoff.co.nzUnions are made of workersThe government’s disdain for unions and love for teachers, doctors and nurses is slightly confusing given unions are made up of teachers, doctors and nurses. 13912