New Zealand Listener Issue 45, 2025

New Zealand Listener Te Kaiwhakarongo Aotearoa 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: Steve Braunias, Russell Brown, Greg Bruce, Sarah Catherall, Jane Clifton, Michael Cooper, Sue Copsey, Greg Dixon, James Elliott, Anthony Ellison, William Green, David Harvey, Rebecca Macfie, Danyl McLauchlan, Thomas McLean, Veronika Meduna, Allan Moffitt, Nicky Pellegrino, Graham Reid, Cathrin Schaer, Alex Scott, 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 Director…

When I first started out as a GP in the 1980s, there were two topics you generally avoided at a dinner party: religion and politics. But by the early 2000s, a third had quietly joined the list: vaccinations. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly when this shift occurred but the change has been steady. What was once a straightforward public health conversation has become, at times, emotionally charged and politically fraught. Yet in the consulting room, vaccinations remain a regular and essential part of the conversation. A one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t work. For some families, fear is a motivator; for others, it fuels hesitation. Some parents worry about side effects, even if mild or temporary. Others feel the absence of visible harm makes vaccines seem unnecessary. Whatever the reason, I always listen…

Danyl McLachlan writes in Politics (November 8) on Labour’s proposed capital gains tax: “If you buy a bach or a block of flats, and its value merely rises with inflation – no real gains at all – you’ll still need to pay 28% tax when you sell it.” But it’s a tax on the capital gain so 28% of “no real gains at all” is, well, not much at all. His bach is perfectly safe, especially if like many families he hasn’t even contemplated selling it in decades. This middle-class handwringing about a CGT is becoming more distasteful by the day. The fact is that you have choices that others don’t have. Your privilege has merely been lessened a little. You’ll cope. Annelise Schroeder (Featherston) The CGT suggested by Labour…

For Competition No 118, we asked for a modern proverb about the mega strike by health workers and teachers. FINALISTS: The road to heal is paved with good intentions ‒ Hans Zindel, Palmerston North Parity will get you nowhere ‒ Tony Clemow, Te Kamo Don’t rain on my crusade ‒ Richard Buchanan, Lower Hutt Many a true word is spoken in protest  ‒ Kay Turner, Wellington Good things come to those who agitate  ‒ Helena Weller-Chew, Lower Hutt WINNER: Strike while the ire is hot  ‒ Michael Smythe, Auckland For the next Bright Lines challenge, we have the Limerick Competition. Please write a limerick in the traditional style on the downfall of Andrew Mountbatten Windsor. Don’t forget to include your address with entries. TO ENTER: Send your entry to brightlinescompetition@aremedia.co.nz…

“If you’re a billionaire, why are you a billionaire? No hate, but yeah, give your money away, shorties.” “That you knew that Ray Chung shared sexual and salacious gossip about a woman he worked with and still believed he should be in control of recommending appointments to boards shows abysmal judgment.” “The policy I campaigned for the mayoralty on was that every councillor would have a meaningful role to contribute to, and that is what I have done.” “I always had a gut feeling that I’d be back.” “He’s still flying around the world right now, collecting gifts wherever he goes. He’s like reverse Santa, because you want to stay as far away from his lap as possible.”  “They don’t believe in Covid, they don’t believe in vaccines, and they…

1. Which country is regarded as having the world’s oldest intelligence service? ❑ Britain ❑ Belgium ❑ France ❑ Russia 2. The phrase “When sorrows come, they come not single spies but in battalions” is from which Shakespearean play? ❑ Othello ❑ Macbeth ❑ Henry V ❑ Hamlet 3. Which city is generally the rainiest? ❑ Dunedin ❑ Christchurch ❑ Nelson ❑ Auckland 4. Shangri-La is a fictional utopia – but author James Hilton who dreamt it up based it in which region? ❑ Tibet ❑ Nepal ❑ Bhutan ❑ India 5. Where is the Denman Glacier? ❑ Alaska ❑ Patagonia ❑ Antarctica ❑ New Zealand 6. William III, who ruled Great Britain and Ireland at the end of the 17th century, was also known as William what? ❑ The…