Headline Junkie: 20 March 23'

Madeleine Chapman Challenges Chlöe Swarbrick to a “One-Outs” for Fight for Life

Green Party MP Chlöe Swarbrick is keen to enter the ring for Fight for Life, and The Spinoff Editor Madeleine Chapman has accepted the challenge to take her on. The NZ Herald reported that Swarbrick, with seven years of karate and two years of muay thai behind her, has no opponents brave enough to take her on for the charity event. Heather du Plessis-Allan, Jessica Mutch McKay, and Tova O’Brien all declined the offer to meet her in the ring. Then, Chapman entered the chat, posting on Twitter a response to Swarbick’s 2020 tweet challenging her to a “one-outs”. “I will fight Chlöe Swarbrick if she wants to fight someone so badly,” wrote Chapman for The Spinoff. At the time this issue went to print, a fight date had not been confirmed. 

Michelle Yeoh Wins Oscar for Best Actress

The Oscars happened last week, once again providing a glitzy showcase of the world's biggest stars and intoxicating wealth with their $126,000 gift bags. One stood out from the rest on the not-red carpet: Michelle Yeoh made history as the first Asian woman to win the coveted Best Actress award for her performance in Everything Everywhere All At Once. Yeoh, who was born in Malaysia, dedicated the award to all the “little girls and boys who look like me.” She also added, “And ladies: don’t let anybody ever tell you you are past your prime.” 

Chippy Axes Policies for Climate and Transport

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins axed a suite of policies last Monday to cut costs in the face of the cost of living crisis and Cyclone Gabrielle clean-up. The deferred policies include the container return scheme, the clean car upgrade scheme, limiting public transport initiatives to five major cities, alcohol advertising reform, state highway speed limit reductions, and legislation to lower the voting age in general elections. "It will give ministers and wider government more bandwidth to deal with cost of living issues and the cyclone recovery," Hipkins said. The container return scheme has been a five-year project for the Green Party, and was a commitment in the Labour-Greens coalition agreement. Green Party Co-Leader James Shaw said, via Newshub, “It’s clear that the Prime Minister is very keen to win the election and he’s prepared to do just about whatever it takes to do that.” 

Willow Project Approved

US President Joe Biden has approved the Willow Project, a $8 billion oil drilling project in Alaska. Over 30 years, the project will produce 576 million barrels of oil and 260 million tonnes of greenhouse gases, becoming one of the biggest sources of carbon emissions in the US. It has been met with fierce opposition by both environmentalists and Indigenous Alaskan communities. In their 2022 report, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change urged all nations to halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, to limit warming to 1.5°C.