New Zealand Listener Issue 35, 2025

Editor Kirsty Cameron Chief Subeditor Geoff Cumming Managing Editor Ruth Brown Art Director  Derek Ward  Books Editor  Mark Broatch  Entertainment & Arts Editor Russell Baillie  Digital Editor Dionne Christian  Content Producer  Louise Barnes  Subeditors Richard Betts, Bevan Rapson Senior Designer  Richard Kingsford Editorial contact listener@aremedia.co.nz Contributors this issue: Russell Brown, Donna Chisholm, Jane Clifton, Michael Cooper, Dave Crampton, Greg Dixon, Ken Downie, Anthony Ellison, Anne Else, Greg Fleming, Andrea Graves, Andrew Gunn, David Harvey, Michele Hewitson, Stephanie Johnson, Bernard Lagan, Owen Leeming, Danyl McLauchlan, Nadia Madill, Sir Geoffrey Palmer, Nicky Pellegrino, Graham Reid, Sue Reidy, Craig Sisterson, Chris Slane, Aaron Smale, Sarah Watt, Marc Wilson Chief Executive Officer  Jane Huxley  General Manager  Stuart Dick  Editorial Director  Sarah Henry  Head of Digital  Melissa Walsh  Senior Digital  Content Producer Katie Delany  Sales…

About 15 years ago, my husband and I walked the Hollyford Track in Fiordland. We were prepared for lots of mud and full rivers, not expecting lots of other walkers. We booked a river crossing for the first day and a plane trip back to Te Anau for the last day. We hadn’t expected to share our walk with a young Israeli soldier on leave in New Zealand. No doubt he was looking for some peace and restoration as well. We’d brought tramping boots, waterproofs, insect repellent, matches, bedding, spare clothes, ample food and a map. Apart from a sleeping bag, our new friend had brought five packets of TimTams, biscuits recommended by other Israelis on leave here. His adequate funds, though, allowed for him to join our boat and…

The decision by the coalition government to end the scaling up of Kāinga Ora is yet another foolhardy and costly decision that affects New Zealand’s homelessness problem (“Gimme shelter”, August 16). Kāinga Ora was in a position to deliver the economies of scale for well-built homes and now, just like the rail ferries, we’ll end up with an inferior product and a postponed, more costly delivery. The only review Kāinga Ora required was to make sure they delivered value for money and to institute changes as necessary. Decapitating it wasn’t necessary. Welfare organisations will never deliver the same scale of housing, and given the smaller numbers involved, they probably won’t be cheaper. When you engage in a serious upscaling like this, there are bound to be some failings, of course,…

For our new Limerick Competition, we asked you to write a limerick on hobbies. FINALISTS: He enrolled in a course with a potter And crafted some crude terracotta But he couldn’t progress Gave up in distress To enjoy true success as train-spotter ‒ Mac Jackson, Auckland Here lie the remains of philately What’s the point with no postal delivery? And it doesn’t make sense To amass crypto-pence ‘Cos it’s hard to collect the imaginary ‒ Tim Meadowcroft, Auckland My hobby was being a writer My Bright Lines could not have been brighter If judges were wise They would give me the prize But they gave it to some other blighter ‒ Stuart Douglas, Paraparaumu Her hobby is writing crude verse Then shouting it out, which is worse It might be…

“We’re working through our own process and will have more to talk about that with respect to September, and each country is coming into its own view.” – Prime Minister Christopher Luxon clarifies the government’s position on recognising Palestine, following an official declaration of famine in the state “We see other third-world countries and we comment on the slums but our ones are just sort of painted a different colour and maybe a bit more hidden from public view.” – Rangi Andrews of housing and mental health service provider Te Kāhui Tū Kaha, on RNZ “He wants to go home, guys, he doesn’t like it here. He gets paid by the match, not by the hour.” – Tennis player Daniil Medvedev’s questions umpire Greg Allensworth’s call at the US Open.…

1. Which Dickens character said “Please sir, I want some more”? ❑ Tiny Tim ❑ Nicholas Nickleby ❑ Pip ❑ Oliver Twist 2. Who wrote the NZ novel The Carpathians? ❑ Janet Frame ❑ Maurice Gee ❑ Maurice Shadbolt ❑ Keri Hulme 3. Which cartoon character’s catchphrase is “What’s up, doc? ❑ Daffy Duck ❑ Sylvester the Cat ❑ Elmer Fudd ❑ Bugs Bunny 4. The word teetotal is a corruption of a term advocating drinking tea or other drinks rather than alcohol. ❑ True ❑ False 5. New York Stories is a 1989 anthology film. Who did not direct one of its three segments? ❑ Francis Ford Coppola ❑ Woody Allen ❑ Martin Scorsese ❑ Penny Marshall 6. Which long-proposed gap-spanning bridge has finally won approval? ❑ Spain to…