For some, this was the year of Trump. For others, it was the year of celebrity death (RIP, Ziggy). But for me, 2016 has just been taxing. A deliberate effort to dig into the opaque world of corporate tax avoidance and the growing Tax Gap has seen 18 stories published so far this year. At around 15,000 words all up, this has been been the most sustained journalistic project of my career.
[This was a workshopped, but ultimately discarded, standfirst for my story Can Julie Christie save TV3? Given my opportunities to write satire are so few, I'm publishing it here to prevent it being lost forever to the cutting-room floor.]
PREVIOUSLY ON THE BLOCK: TELEVISION NETWORK
Our plucky duo Mark Weldon
and Julie Christie have been tasked with doing up a pre-loved broadcast
network. Their project had fetched a record price a decade ago, but that same
record price saw the previous owners overstretched. Maintenance languished, and
soon enough mortgagee sale signs were pitched in the front yard with the banks
offering the property at half the price they were owed.
“Would suit risk-taker prepared to roll up sleeves,”
the advertisements said. Step up Weldon and Christie, on behalf of new owners
who showed up to the fire sale to play the most lucrative game on the box.
Their possible reward for months of toil? A slice of any excess –potentially tens of millions of dollars - if an
auction at the series’ conclusion exceeds reserve.
With the stakes so high it
doesn’t take long before drama began to intrude into
reality. The picturesque public Home & Away park running along the rear of
the property – an underappreciated selling point, it turns out –
is unexpectedly bulldozed in episode two and becomes a never-ending
construction site.
More heartache comes in
episode four when a conversion of the property’s turn-of-the-century Campbell
library into a Jacuzzi generates picketing from neighbours who complain that
the structure deserved Historic Places Trust protection. Efforts to deal with
protesters – first by calling the cops, then by inviting them
to dinner – only inflames the situation, and by the time the
mob drifts away to Radio New Zealand the rose garden has been trampled to mud.
As the season has ticked
by, the plans of Weldon and Christie have taken clear shape. Despite
tut-tutting from sidelines observers they may have gone over-budget and
out-of-fashion, the Mediaworks team go all-in on a hunch potential buyers will
love their realist style. A bold decision to knock down interior walls
separating the breakfast bar and toilet in order to highlight a controversial
work by modern artist Paul Henry can’t help but divide viewers
further.
IT WAS A FRIDAY in October when
I found her ramshackle South Auckland home.
A cat colony – I counted at
least six moggies in various states of health and pregnancy – were living on the
property.
At least three weeks of
recycling sat on in an overflowing bin at the top the driveway.
Talking to witnesses I'd
determined who I was after.
Reports were conflicting, and
gathered from scenes across the city. There was a hunchbacked woman and her
male accomplice described – and I quote - “as like a rough looking Santa,
without the beard.”
Finding this CloverPark address hadn't been easy.
Using work-sanctioned tricks
with Big Data - now deemed illegal - I'd tracked the ownership of the silver
van used in their crimes.
The better part of a week had
been spent leading up to this climatic moment.
Now to confront the perpetrator,
I approached the broken-glassed front door down a long side walkway.
She was there, along with a
couple of feral children, and yet more cats, living amidst rubbish and filth.
The hunchback, wearing pyjama
pants, aged in her 50s, was mostly incoherent. She initially denied everything.
Of course she would.
I badgered her again, demanding
to know the truth.
The people deserve to know, I
may have said.
She stammered some recollection
of part of the crime, but described herself as a victim.
She then said she couldn't talk
– one of her many cats was sick.
She slammed the door in my face,
but just before she did I was told to Fuck Off.
I walked, forlonly, back up that
long driveway, away from the crazy cat lady from CloverPark.
Just another job, apparantly
botched, for the glorious Herald on Sunday.
BUT WHY SHOULD YOU CARE about
such a failure? Because this wasn't failure. This was work.
Solid work, honest work – well
maybe not entirely honest – but infinitely better than what came before.
For I, too, was once like you. A
shambling unemployed hipster, gigging a job here and there.
Scraping together $30 for a
dozen Flame Beers and a packet of Port Royal before gatecrashing gallery and
festival openings to subsist on canapés.
But, despite my soft hands that
have never experienced hard labour, I've scraped my way ahead. And it's
scraping, no doubt about it.
It was mid-2009 and unemployment
was biting.
Expectations need to be lowered
before they're met, and so when the chance to become a tabloid newspaperman
came – I took the chance.
Needs must when Shayne Currie
offers.
A tabloid is a strange place,
and a weekly one especially so. It's an asylum where the full moon comes every
Saturday.
The work puts you into contact
with drug addicts and fantastists - and that's just the recently departed news
editor.
He was marched a month before I
arrived after his work car was spotted one too many times outside a P House
under police surveillance.
I've chased ambulances,
door-knocked Tony Veitch, helped seize booze from school ball after-parties,
and been part of a team dialling every Brown in the South Island on a Saturday
night desperate to find a relative of a murder victim.
A big part of the job is
gathering what was termed in the office as “wangst”.
This is combination of wank and
angst, whereby tearful recollections or outrage are harvested from the recently
bereaved or victimised.
The competition for wangst was
such it wasn't unknown for a reporter to beat the Police and be the one to tell
unkowing family members their loved one had died in a car crash.
Currie, the editor, was known to
live in hope and dream for a fatal shark attack.
Every summer reporters were
required to call every coast guard station around the country, every hour.
Demanding to know if there'd
been a sighting.
In a strange twist of fate
Currie is now editing the New Zealand Herald. When the country had its first fatal
shark attack in 30 years – recently, off Muriwai – Currie missed the show as he
was on leave.
GOING BACK TO CLOVER PARK, why was I chasing this crazy
cat lady?
As anyone whose read All the
Presidents’ Men will know, journalism is all about following the money.
And cat lady was running a
financial scam.
But this was no Watergate. It
was a farce of an investigation.
The crazy cat lady was said to
approach people in supermarket carparks claiming to have run out of petrol.
She’d then pocket the proffered
change before immediately trying her sob story out again on a new victim.
I convinced myself this was high
stakes.
Literally a handful of people
had complained.
Her take – mostly coins – could
have been upwards of one hundred dollars.
This was story that could bring
down the government.
The people deserved to know.
But, after being told to Fuck
Off and walking down that pathway, past the overflowing recycling, I realised
I'd failed in my foolish quest to expose the inconsequential.
I’d travelled with a photographer
who'd been unable to take pictures of the woman, and we shared commiserations
as we returned to the car.
But then she returned.
The crazy cat lady was stomping
– well shuffling – down her path, having taken precautions.
She'd donned a hat, and large sunglasses – presumably to shield her identity in pictures.
She was still wearing her
pyjamas, but brandished a chunky black high-heeled shoe, a cat and a can of
flyspray.
She marched out onto the street
– menacing as only a hunchback with an aerosol can can can be.
This woman wasn't large – she
came only up to my chest with her hunch - and I didn't know quite what to make
of her.
I had my notepad out and stood
firm – trying to take down her complaints while my colleague started taking
pictures.
My notes here aren't
particularly clear – but neither was the crazy cat lady from CloverPark – her barks were mostly obscenities.
“I'll get you charged with
assault,” she brayed, hurling the shoe at the photographer.
The shoe missed by some
distance.
“I'll sue you,” she screamed,
raising the can of flyspray.
“I’ll call the Police,” she said
as she lunged, activating the can, trying to spray insect poison into my eyes.
At this point, with my glasses
now dusted with Mortein, I decided to stop taking notes and beat a hasty
retreat.
But it wasn't over.
The child living with the cat
lady joined the fracas on the street, and was arming herself from the recycling
bin.
Bottles began flying, with the
hunchback egging on her young charge to keep up the fusillade.
We made it to the car –
simultaneously bemused and bewildered – and escaped the cul de sac, empty
bottles of Spree and Fanta raining off the back window.
THIS WAS NOT THE WORST job in
the world.
Well, actually, it might be.
A United States study ranked 200
professions and had my job ranked dead last. 200th. Beneath even
lumberjacks and low-ranked members of the military fighting in wars.
Even actors came in at 196th.
Getting killed on the job, or
having to kill for one, is apparently better than newspaper reporting.
But you know what's in 201st
place? Being unemployed
At least journalists have
someone to look down on.
And despite the trevails my time
at the Herald on Sunday - lasting only as long as the agreed on 12-month
contract – the experience made me who I am today.
It put
hairs on my chest.
I now no longer flinch when
Wellington property developers and football club owners text with unsolicited
inspirational messages like “fuck off you four eyed dick head”.
Or when a unnamed West Auckland politician and Radio Live talkback host hired private detectives to stalk me and
my family.
If you would believe it – and
you probably shouldn't - when I started that job I sung in a church choir.
Soprano.
Now the only time I go to church
is to gate-crash funerals.
[Originally written for Herald on Sunday, in 2007 under pen-name Jonathan Bartley]
By Matt Nippert
And so it
ends: Not with a bang, but with a blank screen. In 1977 oddball American comic
Andy Kaufman produced a television special that featured fake static, the joke
being that millions of viewers would simultaneously get off the couch to try
and fix their apparently malfunctioning television sets. David Chase, creator
of The Sopranos, seems to have tried the same gag, but his epic mob
drama isn't a comedy. After six seasons the bloody New Jersey suburban soap
opera was crying out for resolution, not a meta-joke punchline.
Other
shows, notably Sex and the City and Friends closed with neat,
overly-wrapped endings. Long-serving characters were given the equivalent of
gold watches, paired up and practically married off, and were last seen
waltzing into a picture-perfect sunset. TheSopranos clan -
bearish Tony, trophy Carmela, princess Meadow and whining A.J - were in the
middle of ordering dinner when the screen faded to black.
After 86
episodes and a run longer than the presidency of George Bush, is this it? For a
television show known for intricate arcing plot lines, cutting-edge obscenity
and a quality of acting usually only seen on the big screen, is an ending this
abrupt just?
Sure, the
bungling Soprano clan had managed (finally!) to whack photosho shopped Don Phil
Leotardo, but more questions were asked than answered. Did the
perpetually-slouched Silvio recover from his gunshot-induced coma? Does Tony,
waste management king, ever move into New York City with an eye on becoming the
boss of bosses? Does the FBI man ever get over his bad curry from Karachi? And
did A.J, ostensibly in his late teens, finally manage to outgrow infancy?
Viewers are
inevitably left with conflicting views about Tony given that he was, albeit
loveable, a sociopath. In the very first episode, the bearlike suburban Don
introduced himself to psychiatrist Jennifer Melfi: His name was Anthony Soprano
and he had been depressed.
Tony: The morning of the day I
got sick, I been thinking. It’s good to be in something from the ground floor.
I came too late for that, I know. But lately, I’m getting the feeling that I
came in at the end. The best is over.
Jennifer: Many Americans, I
think, feel that way.
Tony: I think about my father.
He never reached the heights like me. But in a lotta ways he had it better. He
had his people. They had their standards. Today, whadda we got?
Through the
entire series Tony and Jennifer sparred on the couch and discussed family and
work and hinted at mattersmuch darker.
He fretted about his family (both criminal and nuclear), was torn over his
parents (his father was an idol, his mother a murderous harpy) and was
afflicted with the same sort of aspirational middle class malaise suffered by
most of those watching the show.
When A.J.
attempted suicide, Tony moaned over the cost of mental health care. When his
defacto son Chris became a junkie, the Family agonised over rehab. The best
elements of The Sopranos emphasised family drama over the blood-and-guts
styling of Mafioso warfare. This was a serious Desperate Housewives, with peyote-fuelled orgies in Las Vegas with goomah taking the place of discrete
affairs with the gardener, and gunfights instead of catfights.
Petty
crimes, petty tragedies and common complaints defined the series. Could anyone
summon the moral courage to care for a increasingly senile, yet technically
senior, Uncle Junior? Would nightmarish sister Janice finally throw off her
narcissism? Would Chris, stalker of Ben Kingsley and dreamer of Hollywood, make
it to the twelfth step? We’ll never know, because beneath Tony’s petty worries
and likeable veneer lay a genuine sociopath – and David Chase seems little
different.
During the
build-up to this weeks’ finale Tony’s mask of respectability family man was
finally torn off. Chris, back on the coke, was suffocated by his enraged boss.
When daughter Meadow was slighted by a drunken mobster, Tony went nuts and
smashed in the guy’s teeth, throwing his closest associates and friends into a
war that would see many long-serving characters killed.
And at his
birthday celebrations, Tony repaid the gift of an expensive new machine-gun
from his associate Bobby with a drunken brawl – which the boss lost and sulked
over. Later, in the penultimate episode, Bobby was gunned down shopping for
model trains. The boss that triggered that chain of events leading to this
murder, and others, was left clutching his birthday present, anxiously trying
to fall asleep on the lam. Matte-black machine guns make strange security blankets.
Melfi the
psychiatrist, whose chin-wags with Tony were the catalyst for the entire
series, showed more perception than the series creator, and acted for viewers,
when she cast judgement and dumped her client. She realised her therapy
sessions were allowing the mobster to hone fraudulent empathy, allowing a
stone-cold killer to pretend he had an emotional quotient higher than a shark.
Yet in Jaws, the monster got it in the end. In The Sopranos, despite stringing along
the possibility that the FBI were assembling a case, rival families were
angling for a hit, and even that his heart might give out, Tony lives to fight
another day. Justice would see the series close out like The Godfather, with Tony in total control of the city after
knocking off his rivals, or climax like Scarface
with an all-in shootout leaving the protagonist, covered in blood and glory,
dying the way he lived.
And the
hanging Sword of Damocles, in this case a pending trial, remains,
frustratingly, dangling. Tony as jailbait? Tony as turncoat? The possibilities
were mouth-watering, but – Fughedaboutit! – with this travesty of an ending
we’ll never know. After the credits rolled, we’re left with the disturbing
thought that, after that blank screen, life just plods along on for Tony and The Sopranos: This rough beast keeps
slouching in New Jersey.
Some people write to get read, others write to get paid. Below are links to pretty much everything I've had published in the last couple of years - as well as relics from my blogging days.
Fairfax Business Day 2012 - Free, free at last from the paywall! Selection of articles below:
Bullion trader was coke addictPrint. An Auckland-based gold-bullion firm, whose collapse is likely to cost investors $2.5 million, hired a cocaine-addicted chief trader who has been arrested more than a dozen times and, in 2000, was charged by the FBI after a probe of mafia-run financial firms in New York. Dominion Post, Press and Waikato Times, June 16, 2012. Key backs off 'hub'Print. John Key's plan for a financial services hub in New Zealand led to plans to meet with the head of Goldman Sachs, but Treasury warned the Government the scheme would require years of taxpayer support and risked transferring wealth offshore. Sunday Star-Times, May 13, 2012. 'His tastes went up ... with his fraud' Print. In Sydney, Gavin Bennett lived in a world replete with million-dollar views, beautiful women, champagne and international travel. But in Christchurch District Court this world was adjudged a fantasy and the former managing director of IT company DataSouth was jailed for eight years after committing one of the largest frauds in New Zealand history. Dominion Post and Press, May 4, 2012. Animal Cruelty acccused was a targetPrint. Jasen Shaw, subject to an Interpol Red Notice after a large-scale US investigation into animal curelty and wildlife trafficking, is found living and working in Auckland. Sunday Star-Times, April 1, 2012.
Kiwi firm freezes WGA's Swiss accounts over missing loanOnline. A New Zealand businessman stung by Western Gulf Advisory will refer the lender to the Serious Fraud Office, having successfully frozen the Swiss assets of the dubious lender. July 26, 2011, National Business Review. Man who dodged WGA 'con' speaks outPrint. Auckland lawyer Knight recounts his trip to Bahrain to talk to Western Gulf Advisory - and why he told Daniel Hunt, the man who brokered the deal, he thought it was a con. March 18, 2011, National Business Review. Australian releases WGA loan documents, Serepisos' judge 'needs to see' themOnline. Keith Murdoch counters criticism by Ahsan Ali Syed with documented evidence. March 14, 2011, National Business Review. Taxman about-face in Serepisos liquidation bidPrint. News from inside of court and out as a dramatic late submission by Western Gulf Advisory gives Terry Serepisos a stay of execution. March 11, 2011, National Business Review. Serepisos phones Australian WGA victim for adviceOnline. After hearing a judge criticise his lender of last resort, Terry Serepisos calls the Sydney developer who has gone on a public offensive against WGA. March 8, 2011, National Business Review. Allan Crafar admits failed Western Gulf Advisory loan bidOnline. Troubled farmer admits he was stung £27,000 by WGA in May 2010. March 4, 2011, National Business Review. Jet listed for sale and bodyguard convictedPrint. Ahsan Ali Syed's private jet is listed for sale, and in Spain his Italian bodyguard is convicted after assaulting police. March 4, 2011, National Business Review. Terry Serepisos' WGA middleman talksPrint. Daniel Hunt, a former Auckland banker with connections in Luxembourg and Moscow, is revealed as the man doing "due diligence" for Terry Serepisos on the Western Gulf Advisory deal. March 4, 2011, National Business Review. Serepisos' Swiss connection labeled a scamPrint. Leaked WGA loan documents are described by a senior Auckland lawyer as reminiscent of a "Nigerian scam", and translated Indian television broadcasts describe WGA's founder as an immigration fraudster who turns "black money into white." February 18, 2011, National Business Review. Mother's home mortgaged while Serepisos warned off Swiss loanPrint. Five properties owned by the mother of Terry Serepisos were mortgaged while the developer talks with the dubious Western Gulf Advisory. This story is the first worldwide to raise doubts over WGA's shadowy founder and business practices. February 11, 2011, National Business Review. Serepisos' Swiss hope revealedOnline. The first report linking embattled property developer Terry Serepisos with dubious lender Western Gulf Advisory. February 8, 2011, National Business Review.
Allan Hubbard and South Canterbury Finance
SFO suspects tastes evolved from beer to CristalOnline. Serious Fraud Office investigators seeking to piece together the life and times of DataSouth's Gavin Bennett and locate $23.5 million of missing South Canterbury Finance money will be taking particularly note of a lavish party held on the 37th floor of a swanky apartment building in Sydney. August 9, 2011, National Business Review.
$26 million fraud suspect’s interesting business modelsPrint. Gavin Bennett, the man at the centre of a $26 million fraud investigation, lived a life of luxury in Sydney while doing business with models and lingerie designers. July 22, 2011, National Business Review. (Co-credit with Chris Keall.)
Independent directors ignorant of $20 million golden handshakePrint. Independent directors for South Canterbury Finance were kept in the dark when Edward Sullivan and Allan Hubbard agreed to give former chief executive Lachie McLeod a holden handshake worth $20 million. July 15, 2011, National Business Review.
The tequila and offal behind South Canterbury failed biotech gambleOnline. The recipient of nearly $20 million in funding from Allan Hubbard and South Canterbury Finance has had doubts cast over the efficacy and ownership of his claimed cure for hepatitis. June 30, 2011, National Business Review.
Mubarak ouster derailed cancer cure - HubbardPrint. Revolution in the Middle East is all that stoodbetween Allan Hubbard and the pharmaceutical industry’s next blockbuster drug, according to the SouthCanterbury Finance founder. April 21, 2011, National Business Review. Hubbard scans brain for SFOPrint. The saga of Allan Hubbard has taken a bizarre twist, with lawyers acting for the troubled financier submitting unsolicited brain scan images to the Serious Fraud Office. January 28, 2011, National Business Review. SFO's South Canterbury net widens to Waimate Print. The Serious Fraud Office investigation into South Canterbury Finance – already encompassing an Auckland hotel, a Hawke’s Bay finance company and a Christchurch wool processor – also includes a small Waimate furniture company. December 10, 2010, National Business Review. Key South Canterbury personnel lost $23m in loans-for-shares dealPrint. Receivers of South Canterbury Finance are probing a complex related-party loans-for-shares deal that left Allan Hubbard with $21.5 million in cash and the collapsed company holding $23 million in bad loans. November 5, 2010, National Business Review. Desperate SCF failed to dump Hyatt on developerPrint. South Canterbury Finance, desperate to clear the debt-ladden Hyatt Regency hotel controlled by its directors from its books, sought to offload the property to ill-fated developer Neville Mahon. October 15, 2010, National Business Review. Three days of fame for Hyatt-owning meatworker Print. Three working days after retired cancer-patient Peter Symes was revealed as the sole owner of Auckland’s Hyatt Regency hotel, business links with his brother-in-law and former South Canterbury Finance director Edward Sullivan were severed. October 15, 2010, National Business Review. Hubbard talks about the Hyatt Online. A transcript of the interview where the former South Canterbury Finance chairman talks about the Auckland hotel and its odd owner. October 1, 2010, National Business Review. Hubbard mob hid Hyatt under meatworkers' namePrint. A South Canterbury Finance director muddied related-party links to the company’s single biggest debtor by making his freezing worker brother-in-law the sole owner of Auckland’s five star Hyatt Regency hotel. October 1, 2010, National Business Review. Hiding the Hyatt - The meatworker, the brother-in-law and the $42 million South Canterbury Finance loanPrint. Meet Peter Gerald Park Symes, the unknown pawn in a multi-million dollar South Canterbury Finance shell game which left him as the unwitting sole legal owner of Auckland’s five star Hyatt Regency Hotel. October 1, 2010, National Business Review. Hubbard used charity funds in money-go-round Print. Tangled links between financier Allan Hubbard, a major Timaru charity and investment entities under statutory management reveals a money-go-round that has put millions of charitable donations at risk and has drawn the interest of the Serious Fraud Office. September 24, 2010, National Business Review.
Miscellaneous - but also quite good
Eric Watson also in Sec Com sights Print. Hanover Finance co-owner Eric Watson is still in the frame of a Securities Commission investigation that this week invoked unprecedented powers to freeze the assets of his business partner Mark Hotchin. December 17, 2010, National Business Review. Tax changes for arts' sakePrint. A high-level government taskforce is advocating tax credits from charitable donations be given to the charity rather than the donor. December 17, 2010, National Business Review. Wong's mysterious $200,000 fundrasierPrint. Embattled MP Pansy Wong is embroiled in fresh controversy, this time over how $200,000 she raised for the National Party was accounted for. December 3, 2010, National Business Review. The story of Neville Harris, Russian space technology and two ill journosOnline. Neville Harris, the Registrar of the Companies Office, was involved in a bizarre and ill-fated “get rich quick” start-up involving Russian space technology that promised to make raw sewage drinkable. August 16, 2010, National Business Review.
Herald on Sunday, 2009-2010
Bring on the Next World CupInsight feature on the lessons New Zealand can learn from the recently-completed Fifa World Cup in South Africa. July 18, 2010, Herald on Sunday. Rugby Club Reprimanded for Topless Girl AnticsNews. Auckland Rugby has formally reprimanded the club that threw a party at Eden Park featuring topless models frolicking with former All Black captain Murray Mexted. July 18, 2010, Herald on Sunday. Dairy Deal Highlights Our Fear of ForeignersInsight feature on the unease behind the Chinese-backed Crafar farm bid. July 11, 2010, Herald on Sunday. Rugby Club's Topless GigNews. One of the country's most famous rugby clubs was under fire last night for hiring topless models to raffle their underwear at a fundraising event. July 11, 2010, Herald on Sunday. (Co-credit with Anna Rushworth.) Critics Stick Boot into World Cup MinisterNews. Rugby World Cup minister Murray McCully has been accused of taking a blase attitude to sexual violence for not sacking controversy-plagued Andy Haden. July 11, 2010, Herald on Sunday. At the End of the Rainbow Insight lead on the 25th anniversary of the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior - including the un-reported, and extraordinary, lengths New Zealand authorities went to to try and catch fleeing French bombiners. July 4, 2010, Herald on Sunday. Brand AidInsight lead on what the Mad Men do when brands - from Montana Wines, to the War on Terror - have unwanted meanings. June 27, 2010, Herald on Sunday. [Not online.] Hotchins Offered Sales TipsNews. "The record breaker" and "add meat to the bones" - contrasting pitches suggested by prominent real estate agents keen to sell Mark and Amanda Hotchin's half-built mansion on Paritai Drive. June 27, 2010, Herald on Sunday. Kiwi Chef Caters to Stars' Culinary WhimsNews. Dishing up dinner to the likes of Beyonce, David Bowie and Britney Spears is all in a day's work for Neil Smith. June 27, 2010, Herald on Sunday. Counting the TollInsight lead questioning whether the Police strategy for combatting the road toll - by focussing on speeding - is working. June 20, 2010, Herald on Sunday. [Not online.] Banks 'Pressuring Customers' With Scare TacticsNews. Sales staff at banks are using scare tactics to pressure low income families into buying products they can't afford, a whistleblower said last night. June 13, 2010, Herald on Sunday. (Co-credit with Anna Rushworth.) Sir Ed Ice Axe Languishes in CornerNews. The ice axe used by Sir Edmund Hillary in his historic ascent of Mt Everest is languishing in a museum stairwell next to cardboard boxes and coffee cups. June 13, 2010, Herald on Sunday. Big Films Cost NZ MillionsNews. Attempts to woo Hollywood film-makers have lost New Zealand tens of millions of dollars, confidential ministerial briefings say. June 13, 2010, Herald on Sunday. It Takes Two to TangoInsight lead: I'm due to meet her in a French restaurant on central Auckland's Elliott St. She's a playwright and yoga instructor, and it's late on a Thursday night. She has a tango lesson to finish upstairs, and I've told my wife I'm working late. This meeting is pure infidelity. Also includes box on online infidelity. June 6, 2010, Herald on Sunday. PM's Adviser Living It Up in Sin CityNews. John Key's right-hand man is living it up with big-spending lobbyists in the casinos of Las Vegas, sparking questions about their influence on Government policy. Boats Not Shipshape - but Under WarrantyNews. When the Navy received word one of its trouble-plagued new offshore patrol boats had suffered engine problems on its delivery voyage, a senior official responded in a manner more worthy of a Toyota advert. "Bugger," he exclaimed. June 6, 2010, Herald on Sunday. June 6, 2010, Herald on Sunday. Telecom Mute on Faults News. At the height of Telecom's problems with its XT mobile network and access to 111 emergency services, the besieged company kept the public in the dark about faults affecting almost half the country. June 6, 2010, Herald on Sunday. Even Rugby Legends CheeringInsight feature: A bluffer's guide, for Kiwi rugby heads, to the Football World Cup. May 30, 2010, Herald on Sunday. All Blacks Great Joins Race Row News. A second All Black legend has thrown fuel on the rugby racism fire by claiming Pacific players need things explained with "simple concepts". May 30, 2010, Herald on Sunday. (Co-credit with Carolyne Meng-Yee.) King's Agent 'Sought $50,000' to Stop Him Going 'Feral'News. Comedian Mike King's agent wanted a $50,000 severance payment from New Zealand Pork to stop his client going "feral", documents say. May 30, 2010, Herald on Sunday. The Luxe Life Insight lead on the man whose failed finance company took the savings of thousands of Kiwis, and his wife, the woman whose taste for luxury has seen her compared to Imelda Marcos. Now, the Hotchins' Hawaiian holiday has caused fury back home. May 23, 2010, Herald on Sunday. (Co-credit with Carolyne Meng-Yee.)[Not online] Disgraced Bridgecorp Head Paid $1.2m to Blonde ModelNews. A blonde model was having a relationship with disgraced Bridgecorp boss Rod Petricevic when he allegedly signed off more than $1 million in "dishonest" payments to her, according to investigators. May 23, 2010, Herald on Sunday. Banks Warned to Watch FeesNews. Major banks are among credit card providers warned about excessive fees - as a consumer watchdog accuses them of "price gouging". May 23, 2010, Herald on Sunday. $40k for 4-Page Booze StudyNews. A Student Association staffer received more than $40,000 funding to spend a year travelling the world researching student drinking habits - then delivered a four-and-a-half page report on her findings. May 23, 2010, Herald on Sunday. The Missing Insight feature on the mysteries of missing persons, and research that show intitial gut reactions are the best predictor as to where they've ended up. May 16, 2010, Herald on Sunday. Police Bust Toozy After-Ball PartyNews. A high school after-ball party with a van-load of alcohol was busted by police and liquor licensing inspectors in an early morning raid today. May 16, 2010, Herald on Sunday. Biker Dies in Heavy FogNews. Police believe a burnt-out car found close to the scene of a fatal motorcycle crash may have been involved in the incident. May 16, 2010, Herald on Sunday. (Co-credit with Alice Neville.) Henare Under Fire News. National list MP Tau Henare is under fire after claiming poor people buy alcohol and tobacco instead of vegetables for their children. May 16, 2010, Herald on Sunday. NZ's Best and Worst Banks RevealedNews. New Zealanders have spoken - and we're not happy with our banks. May 9, 2010, Herald on Sunday. (Co-credit with Maria Slade.) Seabed Mining ExploredNews. A Government funded mission to survey the mineral wealth beneath New Zealand waters is raising fears the seafloor could one day be dug up by miners. May 9, 2010, Herald on Sunday. Search into Online ScamNews. A fashion model's internet business has been raided by the Commerce Commission in an unprecedented crackdown on alleged large-scale invoicing scams. May 9, 2010, Herald on Sunday. Punters Miss $50m in PrizesNews. Kiwis are missing out on a $10 million goldmine in unclaimed Lotto prizes each year, despite unprecedented efforts by the Lotteries Commission to trace unsuspecting winners. May 9, 2010, Herald on Sunday. MAF Clears Animal ExporterNews. A Kiwi business that exports wallabies to the United States for sale in pet shops has been dragged into an international probe into animal cruelty. May 9, 2010, Herald on Sunday. Filling the Cup Insight lead: The Rugby World Cup next October has been billed as an economic boom: tens of thousands of tourists, international visibility that will raise our profile into the stratosphere and money virtually raining down on us. But, has New Zealand been sold a dummy? May 2, 2010, Herald on Sunday. Cup Cost Estimate at $400mNews. Hosting the 2011 Rugby World Cup could end up costing New Zealand taxpayers more than $400 million. May 2, 2010, Herald on Sunday. Biggest Protest in a GenerationNews. Up to 40,000 protesters voiced their anger at Government plans to mine protected land in the biggest demonstration in New Zealand for the past 20 years. May 2, 2010, Herald on Sunday. Political Carnage on CampusInsight feature on Roger Douglas' Freedom of Association Bill. April 25, 2010, Herald on Sunday. Ex-Boss's Travel Costs MuseumNews. The former boss of the Auckland War Memorial Museum racked up almost $50,000 in international travel and spent more than three months abroad in her troubled two-year tenure. April 25, 2010, Herald on Sunday. Apprentice Boss in Rates BattleNews. Television star Terry Serepisos has been accused of taking advantage of his wealth and celebrity status to rack up millions of dollars in unpaid rates. April 25, 2010, Herald on Sunday. History Pulls a Fast One on AuthorInsight feature: It's a high-profile international book release. But was The Wives of Henry Oades based on a long-forgotten New Zealand marital scandal, as claimed, or on an elaborate 19th-century hoax? April 18, 2010, Herald on Sunday. Westie Playing for Laughs on a Poltical PlatformInsight feature on the supermayoral joke-candidacy of Ewen Gilmour. April 18, 2010, Herald on Sunday. Mayoral Slames for Comparing Self to JesusNews, North Shore Mayor Andrew Williams is facing fresh criticism after comparing himself to Jesus on the cross. April 18, 2010, Herald on Sunday. (Co-credit with Wayne Thompson.) 'Disgusting Way to End' says Hide's WifeNews. The wife of Act leader Rodney Hide has made an extraordinary outburst over her break from the high-profile politician - just days after receiving divorce papers. April 18, 2010, Herald on Sunday. (Co-credit with Carolyne Meng-Yee.) Changing Life and Times of a Former Parliamentary PerkbusterNews. Backgrounder on Rodney Hide. April 18, 2010, Herald on Sunday. Aussies Alledge $58m ScamNews. A Kiwi accused of masterminding a $58 million investment scheme labelled a scam by Australian authorities has come under official censure in New Zealand. April 11, 2010, Herald on Sunday. Telecom Fault Hits CustomersNews. Telecom customers are facing new technical problems - this time with the voicemail on their home phone lines. April 11, 2010, Herald on Sunday. Blue Collar Insight lead on Auckland's swing to the right. April 4, 2010, Herald on Sunday. Wages of SinInsight feature on the apparent disconnect between the lifestyles of high-end fraudsters and the time they serve in prison. March 27, 2010, Herald on Sunday. [Not online] Arrest After Police Officers Injured by Drunken 'Cowardly Bullies' News. Three teenage boys were arrested last night in relation to a pack attack on two police officers. March 27, 2010, Herald on Sunday. Devitalised Insight lead on the controverial - and aburptly short - tenure of Auckland War Memorial Museum director Vanda Vitali. March 20, 2010, Herald on Sunday. [Not online] 'Crush Drink Drivers' Cars'News. The oldest son of a mother-of-five killed by a woman fleeing a police check point says it's time to crush drink-drivers' cars. March 20, 2010, Herald on Sunday. [Co-credit with Kieran Nash] Charity Boss: It's a WitchhuntNews. The charity boss who signed off the expenses of former Government minister Roger McClay says the criminal charges faced by the politician are a "witchhunt". March 6, 2010, Herald on Sunday. Close Encounters of the Safe KindNews. Teenager Lydia Ward had her second close encounter with sharks yesterday - but this time she avoided being bitten. March 6, 2010, Herald on Sunday. Kiwi Viewers Shun TiVoNews. Much-hyped digital recording device TiVo has had a disastrous launch, despite a $10 million dollar investment by Television New Zealand. March 6, 2010, Herald on Sunday. Comics Get Serious with Message to World's Rich and PowerfulInsight featureon how the Yes Men got away with pretending to be Mike Moore. February 28, 2010, Herald on Sunday. [Not online.] Hot on Thief's HeelsNews. A schoolgirl athletics champion chased a burglar armed with a gun after he was interrupted robbing her Auckland home. February 28, 2010, Herald on Sunday. Race for Super-Mayoralty Take Comic TwistNews. Comedian Ewen Gilmour is the third confirmed contender for the Auckland supermayoralty. February 28, 2010, Herald on Sunday. Can Telecom Survive? Insight feature on the prospects for Telecom after the XT Network fails - again. February 21, 2010, Herald on Sunday. Oh the Irony: Tony on TigerNews. Broadcaster Tony Veitch is under fire after he accused disgraced golfer Tiger Woods of trying to stage-manage his way out of trouble. February 21, 2010, Herald on Sunday. Coke in Rugby Haka Advertisment BlunderNews. A TV commercial featuring actors dressed as All Blacks performing the haka alongside Japanese dancing girls is raising hackles within Maoridom and the New Zealand Rugby Union. February 21, 2010, Herald on Sunday. Out in the Open Insight lead on the sea-change in public attitudes towards same-sex relationships. February 14, 2010, Herald on Sunday. [Not online.] Billion Dollar Punter UnmaskedNews. The world's biggest punter has been unmasked - and he's an Australian known to bet on Kiwi races. February 14, 2010, Herald on Sunday. Ex-Mortgage Manager FinedNews. The man at the centre of an alleged multi-million-dollar mortgage fraud claims he has been set up as the fall guy. February 14, 2010, Herald on Sunday. Battle for the West: Green Against GoldInsight feature on the new gold rush on the remote West Coast. February 7, 2010, Herald on Sunday. High-Flier Flees to AustraliaNews. A young high-flier at the centre of an alleged multi-million dollar bank mortgage fraud sold his house and is believed to have fled to Australia. February 7, 2010, Herald on Sunday. The Battle for 7Insight lead on the fierce competition and prospects for the current affairs shows hosted by John Campbell and Mark Sainsbury. January 31, 2010, Herald on Sunday. TV3 Star May Face AxeNews. The future of John Campbell's current affairs show is up in the air as TV3 refuses to guarantee that it will survive the year. January 31, 2010, Herald on Sunday. Claws Out at Radio NZ News. Radio host Noelle McCarthy has been accused of being "nasty and bitchy" after the departure of a Radio New Zealand colleague. January 31, 2010, Herald on Sunday. [Co-credit with Carolyne Meng-Yee.] Calls For Tougher PenaltiesNews. A pregnant woman convicted of her fifth drink driving offence has sparked calls for tougher penalties for repeat offenders. January 31, 2010, Herald on Sunday. Botica Goes BankruptNews. The property downturn has bankrupted former All Black Frano Botica. January 31, 2010, Herald on Sunday. Star Struck Insight lead on the fallout and flow-ons from more than $300m of Hollywood Studio money flowing into Miramar for Avatar. January 24, 2010, Herald on Sunday. [Not online.] Kiwi Tax Breaks Encourage Avatar to Settle Downunder News. Avatar, the most expensive movie ever made, was propped up by a $45 million subsidy from Kiwi taxpayers. January 24, 2010, Herald on Sunday. Anniversary Trip Ends in Road Death News. A popular businessman has died after being hit by a bus during a holiday to India to celebrate his 20th wedding anniversary. January 24, 2010, Herald on Sunday. [Co-credit with Anna Rushworth.] Shooting Survivor Gives Up JobNews. One year on from the police motorway shooting that killed Halatau Naitoko, survivor Richard Neville has realised that his life will never be the same. January 24, 2010, Herald on Sunday. Family Business Insight lead on the music family with all the hats - Big Day Out promoter and RIANZ head Campbell Smith, his wife Boh Runga and his sister-in-law Bic. January 17, 2010, Herald on Sunday. [Not online.] Holiday Ends in TragedyNews. The young sons of a man who drowned attempting to retrieve their boogie board last night paid tribute to their father. January 17, 2010, Herald on Sunday. Vettori's Steady Rise from Gangly to GooglyInsight feature on Daniel Luca Vettori, the everymanchild of New Zealand Cricket. January 10, 2010, Herald on Sunday. ACC's 'Offensive' EmailNews. An ACC staff member has been censured for what the corporation calls an "utterly unacceptable" and "deeply offensive" email to a grieving widow. January 10, 2010, Herald on Sunday. US Celebrity Floods Room News. An American billionaire with celebrity connections has left Queenstown under a damp cloud this week after flooding in a five-star hotel caused $25,000 worth of damage. January 10, 2010, Herald on Sunday. Man Drowns in Harbour News. One fisherman drowned yesterday and three others spent almost eight hours clinging to their upturned boat after it capsized in the mouth of the Manukau Harbour. January 10, 2010, Herald on Sunday. Fatal AttractionInsight lead on Neville Crichton, the winner of the Sydney-Hobart race who can't swim. January 3, 2010, Herald on Sunday. [Not online] Graham Henry's $2.25 Million Beach BachNews. All Blacks coach Graham Henry has bought himself the perfect summer present - a multimillion-dollar waterfront house on Waiheke Island. January 3, 2010, Herald on Sunday. St Peters the ApostleInsight lead on the mercurial ex-MP and New Zealand First founder Winston Peters. December 20, 2009, Herald on Sunday. [Not online] Hilary Clinton to VisitNews. The Secretary of State is to spend two days in New Zealand for meetings and official engagements. December 20, 2009, Herald on Sunday. All Blacks Hit Back at ClaimsNews. Three top All Blacks have hit back over claims they short-changed former partners in a bottled water business. December 20, 2009, Herald on Sunday. Tim's Turmoil Insight lead on Shadbolt's history repeating in Invercargill. December 13, 2009, Herald on Sunday. [Not online] Rescue Right Out of the MoviesNews. Movie stuntmen saved three friends this week after two of them were swept down rapids and over a waterfall as dam gates were opened. December 13, 2009, Herald on Sunday.
Trucks Face Bridge BanNews. The introduction of super-sized `juggernaut trucks' will further damage the decrepit Auckland Harbour Bridge, engineers warned this week. December 6, 2009, Herald on Sunday. [Not online] Burning Fervour Insight lead on Scientology, suicide and the lurid and disturbing claims about the church from former members. November 29, 2009, Herald on Sunday. [Not online] Scientology DVDs in SchoolsNews. A scientologist doctor, who gave evidence on the suicide of a church member she treated, is promoting a controversial educational resource in New Zealand schools. November 29, 2009, Herald on Sunday.
Minister Cuts it Too FineNews. Acting Prime Minister Bill English has been accused of letting privilege overtake common sense after his limo and security detail illegally double-parked while he got a haircut. November 29, 2009, Herald on Sunday. Football's Trump CardInsight lead on Terry Serepisos, the man who demands thanks for rescuing the beautiful game in New Zealand. November 22, 2009, Herald on Sunday. [Not online] Producers Seek Mary PoppinsNews. A lack of suitable talent in Australia has forced producers of a big-budget musical to search New Zealand for a leading lady. November 22, 2009, Herald on Sunday. 'Naive' MP in Meeting News. Green MP Jeanette Fitzsimons has been labelled "naive" for meeting with a group who claims that the collapse of the World Trade Centre in 2001 was an inside job. November 22, 2009, Herald on Sunday. Sainsbury Seething at Rivalry RumoursNews. Mark Sainsbury yesterday broke his silence over speculation regarding his future on CloseUp - and TVNZ pointed the finger at TV3 for creating "commercial mischief". November 22, 2009, Herald on Sunday. Cottoning onto JoeInsight feature on Joe Cotton, New Zealand's answer to Jade Goody - minus the racial insults. November 15, 2009, Herald on Sunday. Maverick MP Not Backing DownNews. Hone Harawira breaks his silence and annouced we will not resign, not leave the Maori Party, and criticises National and his own leaders. November 15, 2009, Herald on Sunday. Violent Offenders Getting Off Scott-FreeNews. New figures show a sharp increase in the number of violent offenders escaping without criminal conviction. November 15, 2009, Herald on Sunday. (Co-credit with Heather McCracken.) From Big Bricks to Best Cell-ersPhoto recall of the first days of cellphones. November 15, 2009, Herald on Sunday. The Wrongs and Rights Over Access to the ForeshoresInsight feature on the Whakatohea claim - the first made under the Foreshore and Seabed Act - after the government announced the law would be scrapped. November 8, 2009, Herald on Sunday. Two Hurt in Fiery DisplayNews. In Whakatane, two are injured after a planned 40 minutes fireworks display goes off in 40 seconds. November 8, 2009, Herald on Sunday. 'When Wanganui Sort Our Their Mayor, We'll Sort Out Hone'News. Embattled MP Hone Harawira is backed by the Maori Party. November 8, 2009, Herald on Sunday. (Co-credit with Joseph Barrett.) National StandardsInsight feature marking the first year of the against the core curriculum of reading, writing and arithmetic. November 1, 2009, Herald on Sunday. [Not online] Heifer Heist Mystified Crafar ReceiverNews. Michael Stiassny is missing a few cows - more than a thousand. November 1, 2009, Herald on Sunday. Another MP Poll-BustedNews. A second Labour MP has been implicated in the fake-name polling scandal uncovered last week. November 1, 2009, Herald on Sunday. Bradford Leaves Beehive Smacking of Section 59Insight profile of departing Green MP Sue Bradford. October 25, 2009, Herald on Sunday. Labour Pollsters Told to Use Fake NamesNews. The Labour leadership is embroiled in a murky polling operation run by a senior MP who has instructed volunteers to deliberately deceive people about their identities and the reason for their calls. October 25, 2009, Herald on Sunday. Spam Leaves Bitter TasteNews. A businessman who spammed letterboxes with unsolicited invoices for internet advertising is claiming an honest mistake - but complaints about his billing and sales tactics stretch back five years and across the Tasman. October 25, 2009, Herald on Sunday. Breaking Up is Hard to ViewInsight lead on how friends are divvy-ed up in the fallout from relationship breakups. October 18, 2009, Herald on Sunday. Maori TV Set to Lose Out Over Opening CeremonyNews. MTS looks to be the loser in the stoush over free-to-air broadcastings rights for the Rugby World Cup. October 18, 2009, Herald on Sunday. Three's Poor CompanyInsight lead on how Mediaworks in coping with a mountain of debt and the biggest recession in decades. October 11, 2009, Herald on Sunday. [Not online] Petrol Scam Runs on EmptyNews. Run out of petrol? For some it's not an embarrassing oversight, but just a way to scam a two-bit living. October 11, 2009, Herald on Sunday. TV Psychic Row Breaks Out as Police Search for Missing GirlNews. TVNZ has been accused of using the police hunt for Aisling Symes to promote its psychic-based entertainment show Sensing Murder. October 11, 2009, Herald on Sunday. Tip-Off Line Launched TomorrowNews. Michael Ashcroft launches the New Zealand version of his Crimestoppers charity. October 11, 2009, Herald on Sunday. Taking Stock of What Went WrongPhoto recall of the man who became the face of Black Tuesday. October 11, 2009, Herald on Sunday. Upholding the Rule of Laws Insight feature on the mayor of small-town New Zealand, Michael Laws. October 4, 2009, Herald on Sunday. MasterChef''s Swanky PadNews. Seeby Woodhouse opens his doors to reality television - again. October 4, 2009, Herald on Sunday. Energy Drinks Well Over LimitNews. Energy-drink manufacturers are exploiting a legal loophole to sell products with unsafe levels of caffeine. October 4, 2009, Herald on Sunday. (Co-credit with Alistair Gray.) The Art of Being a Model Man in a Material WorldInsight feature on the life of Colin Mathura-Jeffree during Fashion Week: an otherworld place where narcissism is a prequisite, the recession is just a bad dream and Nazi Germany is considered the pinnacle of men's fashion. September 27, 2009, Herald on Sunday. Trelise Cooper's Fashion TangleNews. Why does a Trelise Cooper garment look identical to that on sale in a British chain store? September 27, 2009, Herald on Sunday. (Co-credit with Rachel Glucina.) Gnawing Over Issue of Obesity Photo recall of when Chris Carter ate KFC. September 27, 2009, Herald on Sunday. Booze Test DummiesInsight lead on what happens when four comedians get pissed and drive. September 20, 2009, Herald on Sunday. Let Public Pick Judges, says TrustNews. Garth McVicar proposes a policy that the Attorney-General labels "unthinkable nonsense". September 20, 2009, Herald on Sunday. Laws Lets Loose in Email ExchangeNews. A hot-tempedered email exchange with Michael Laws goes viral. September 20, 2009, Herald on Sunday. Chic Bloom Fit for OperaPhoto recall of cutting-edge fashion, circa 1973. September 20, 2009, Herald on Sunday. Sour Taste for Family Driven out of DairyingInsight feature on why the Crafar family - New Zealand's biggest privte dairy farmers - are really quitting the game. September 13, 2009, Herald on Sunday. Horror House Victims BuriedNews. Two women murdered and buried beneath a Christchurch house are remembered. September 13, 2009, Herald on Sunday. (Co-credit with Abby Gillies.) Future MP Cops an EarfulPhoto recall. It was the photo that made veteran activist Sue Bradford world-famous - and not just in New Zealand. September 13, 2009, Herald on Sunday. 100 per cent Pure CarnageInsight feature onwhy it's a mixed blessing that backpackers are saving our tourism bacon. September 6, 2009, Herald on Sunday. MPs Caught Behind BarsPhoto recall When four Labour MPs agreed to be shot in prison. September 6, 2009, Herald on Sunday. Pitbull Pack on the ProwlNews. Worried residents of an isolated community are carrying rifles to hunt and kill a marauding pack of wild pitbulls. September 6, 2009, Herald on Sunday. A Good Keen Pension PlanInsight lead feature on the troubled legacy of Barry Crump. August 30, 2009, Herald on Sunday. Young Live Drown in a Culture of BingeInsight feature on the cost of youth drinking and possible solutions. August 30, 2009, Herald on Sunday. (Co-credit with Alistair Gray.) Crump Movie Set to Go News. Wild Pork and Watercress to be adapted by Taika Waititi. August 30, 2009, Herald on Sunday. Firefighters Pay Row Heats UpNews. Cameron Grylls, first responder to the Tamahere fire, moonlights as a nurse because he says firefighter pay is insufficient. August 30, 2009, Herald on Sunday. Hot Start to Beginning of the EnzPhoto recall of when Split Enz lost their practice hall. August 30, 2009, Herald on Sunday. Model BehaviourInsight lead feature on the mixed blessings of high-fashion caltwalk modelling. August 23, 2009, Herald on Sunday. Testing Time for Models News. Hundreds of next top model hopefuls have their own elimation round at the annual Fashion Week casting call. August 23, 2009, Herald on Sunday. US Funding For 'No' VoteNews. A group behind the "Vote No" bloc in the smacking referendum received around $1m over six years from a conservative American religious group. August 23, 2009, Herald on Sunday. Lines Etched in a Time Gone ByPhoto recall of pipe-smoking Tainui elder Nga Kahikatea,. August 23, 2009, Herald on Sunday. A Right Royal ShameInsight lead feature on what led to the sinking of the Princess Ashika. August 16, 2009, Herald on Sunday. Tongan King's Critics Hit OutNews. Reaction in Tonga to the King's appearance at the Edinburgh Military Tattoo. August 16, 2009, Herald on Sunday. The Prettiest Co-Pilot in the UniversePhoto recall of Lorraine Downe's triumphant 1981 return to New Zealand. August 16, 2009, Herald on Sunday.
Freelancing '09
The Death of Bunny MunroBook review of Nick Cave's murky parable about lust. August 23, 2009, Canvas. Reality Bites From newspaper crime reporter to author and TV writer, David Simon has produced a compelling cache of true and fiction stories, including cult phenomenon The Wire. Despite the success on the small screen, part of Simon still thinks he's a newspaper man. August 15, 2009, New Zealand Listener. The CornerBook review of David Simon and Ed Burns' year occupying a Baltimore street's drug market. August 1, 2009, Canvas. A Brief History of the FutureBook review of Jacques Attali attempt to predict the next century. June 18, 2009, Canvas. Forever Strong Film review of abysmal rugby-as-high-school-inspiration movie. June 1, 2009. Flicks.co.nz. The EscapistFilm review of a kinetic prison-escape that uses character actors rather than MTV mannequins. May 28, 2009. Flicks.co.nz. The ReaderFilm review of Kate Winslet's tour de force in a Holocaust-chick flick. April 16, 2009. Flicks.co.nz. Things I've Been Silent AboutBook review of Azar Nafisi's memoir about growing up in Iran. March 28, 2009, Canvas. The Honorary Console They can get you fit, help you lose weight, make you reach and teach you problem-solving skills. So why is everyone down on video games? March 15, 2009, Sunday [not online]. All in the MindBook review of Alastair Cambell's novel about depressives. February 28, 2009, Canvas. Field Punishment No.1Book review of David Grant's analytic biography of WW1 conscientious objectors Mark Briggs and Archibald Baxter. February 7, 2009, Canvas. Grave Concerns He deals daily with the hard reality of death, but much of Inga Tuigamala's life has been about seeing dreams come true. February 1, 2009, Sunday [not online].
The Listener Years 2004-8Alas poor magazine of record, I knew you well. TheirSpace Letting students use their own technology in the classroom can bring big benefits – the hard part can be in overcoming the resistance to change. February 7, 2009, New Zealand Listener. On the smell of an oily rag With the next EnergyWise rally about to take place, here are the tricks for getting from A to B using as little fuel as possible. November 22, 2008, New Zealand Listener. Little ripper Is pirating designer fashion really all that bad? November 1, 2008, New Zealand Listener. Who needs to know?Cover Story Is learning under threat from the morass of information masquerading as fact. October 25, 2008, New Zealand Listener. Theory of creativity Well-respected astrophysicist and now successful novelist, Alan Lightman is helping bridge the chasm between science and the public. October 18, 2008, New Zealand Listener. Escape from 'Alcatraz' What really happened to boys sent to a boot camp on a remote island? September 20, 2008, New Zealand Listener. Eye on Iran Big-issue politics may be off the menu, but not national and personal identity in a photography exhibition touring the country. September 13, 2008, New Zealand Listener. Superstitious minds Kiwi Olympians are considered lucky to have ended up in tower block 8 in the village. Do superstitions still count? August 2, 2008, New Zealand Listener. Geoff BryanUpfront interview with long-time TVNZ sports presenter. August 2, 2008, New Zealand Listener. Violent femmes Increasing numbers of New Zealand women are turning to violent crime – and doing the time. July 26, 2008, New Zealand Listener. Lenny HenryUpfront interview with British comedian and supergroup frontman. July 19, 2008, New Zealand Listener. Pera BagustUpfront interview with host of What's Really in Our Food? June 21, 2008, New Zealand Listener. Talk this way Should working journalists be taking payment to act as media trainers?. June 14, 2008, New Zealand Listener. The Death of Funerals New Zealanders are personalising death, embracing celebrants and shedding the casket-and-burial rituals of our forebears. May 24, 2008, New Zealand Listener. Craig StrathernUpfront interview with Red Cross worker in Yangon, Burma. May 24, 2008, New Zealand Listener. Alan BarberUpfront interview with Auckland neurologist. March 22, 2008, New Zealand Listener. TV Films The great and grotesque movies on the television. March 1, 2008, New Zealand Listener. Margaret BodenUpfront interview with cognitive scientist and academic Chomsky-foil. March 1, 2008, New Zealand Listener. TV Films The best flicks on the box this week. February 23, 2008, New Zealand Listener. States of Play Lecturer and self-professed "political junkie" Jon Johansson gives his views on the race to the White House. February 16, 2008, New Zealand Listener. The Last Cyclo in Saigon A proposal to tame Ho Chi Minh City’s unruly traffic has proved highly contentious. February 9, 2008, New Zealand Listener. Chris HocquardUpfront interview with entertainment lawyer. February 9, 2008, New Zealand Listener. TV Films The best films of the week on television. February 9, 2008, New Zealand Listener. Texan Noir Film Review of the Coen brother's No Country for Old Men. February 2, 2008, New Zealand Listener. The 2008 How To GuideCover Story on how to achieve everything from surfing the internet to becoming a cult American television fixture. Includes a comprehensive list of useful sites on the world wide web. January 12, 2008, New Zealand Listener. Nicola LegatUpfrontinterview with noted New Zealand publisher and former magazine editor. January 12, 2008, New Zealand Listener. The man who went to see Tolstoy The extraordinary story of the Auckland minister’s son who became the world’s most prolific linguist – and an eyewitness of the Russian Revolution. January 5, 2008, New Zealand Listener. TV Films The best of the week's films on the television. December 29, 2007, New Zealand Listener. Shane Bond Upfront interview with the consistently brilliant and consistently injured Black Cap fast-bowler. December 15, 2007, New Zealand Listener. TV films Bite-sized reviews of the flicks on the box. December 8, 2007, New Zealand Listener. Moana Jackson Upfront interview with lawyer, activist and spokesperson for the legal team defending the “Urewera 16”. November 24, 2007, New Zealand Listener. TV films The best of the week on the box. November 16, 2007, New Zealand Listener. O, Zimbabwe The end is coming for Robert Mugabe. November 3, 2007, New Zealand Listener. Perfectly Frank Veteran actor Frank Whitten has found fame and Outrageous Fortune. October 27, 2007, New Zealand Listener. Adrian Orr Upfront interview with head of the New Zealand Superannuation Fund. October 27, 2007, New Zealand Listener. Ant Timpson Upfront interview with film nut and executive producer of The Devil Dared Me To. October 13, 2007, New Zealand Listener. Eureka!Cover Story The past century has seen massive increases in IQ test scores. Professor James Flynn, discoverer of this “Flynn effect”, has endeavoured to solve the puzzle of why we’re getting smarter. Now he offers a new picture of human intelligence that is both surprising and illuminating. October 6, 2007, New Zealand Listener. Shock Tactics Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman’s “catastrophic” doctrines have harmed millions, says Canadian activist Naomi Klein in her new book The Shock Doctrine: Disaster Capitalism. September 29, 2007, New Zealand Listener. Frans Johansson Upfront interview with author of The Medici Effect. September 22, 2007, New Zealand Listener. Desperate in Darfur Civil war is killing western Sudan. Can’t we play more than a token role? September 15, 2007, New Zealand Listener. What happens when the oil stops coming?Cover Story Global demand for oil is expected to outstrip supply within five years. And that is going to hit us all where we live – literally. September 8, 2007, New Zealand Listener. (Co-credit with Denis Welch.) Anton Oliver Upfront interview with All Black. September 8, 2007, New Zealand Listener. A Tsar is born How a boy from Taranaki found Russian gold. August 11, 2007, New Zealand Listener. Life with Brian A talking baby and a martini-drinking mutt? It can only be the occasionally inspired Family Guy. July 28, 2007, New Zealand Listener. Dyer predictions The last western soldier will leave Iraq late next year, predicts Gwynne Dyer, leaving behind carnage, division and dislocation. July 14, 2007, New Zealand Listener. A good return Government agencies investing more than $27 billion of public money are required to "avoid prejudice to New Zealand's reputation as a responsible member of the world community". How are they doing? June 30, 2007, New Zealand Listener. Mob rules Undercover as Donnie Brasco, FBI agent Joe Pistone was willing to go along with murder to crack the Mafia. June 23, 2007, New Zealand Listener. Great balls of fur When two cats go to war, where's the United Nations? June 23, 2007, New Zealand Listener. Shane Cameron Upfront interview with heavyweight boxer. June 23, 2007, New Zealand Listener. Mild colonial boy Drug abuse, intrigue, gossip and infidelity: actor and diarist Richard E Grant thinks that 1960s Swaziland was the ideal warm-up for Hollywood. May 26, 2007, New Zealand Listener. Crash course Teenagers exposed to horrific tragedies like the Christchurch hit-and-run may not react as adults do. An American trauma expert shares his insights into their feelings. May 26, 2007, New Zealand Listener. Outrageous Fortune Given that many of us fudge our resumes to get ahead, is CV cheating really so risky? May 12, 2007, New Zealand Listener. Dai Henwood Upfront interview with comedian. May 5 2007, New Zealand Listener. The Price of ProdigyCover Story Being labeled "gifted" child is a mixed blessing and the transition to adulthood can be rocky. April 21, 2007, New Zealand Listener. Ross Taylor Upfront interview with Black Cap batsman. March 17, 2007, New Zealand Listener. High Stakes There's more then one way for a country to handle the ethical investment of taxpayer's funds. March 10, 2007, New Zealand Listener. Domestic Drama Jennifer Ward-Lealand and Michael Hurst - theatre's First Couple. March 3, 2007, New Zealand Listener. Fright or Fright? Calls to curb international travel could have dire consequences for our second-largest foreign-exchange earner. March 3, 2007, New Zealand Listener. Mark Jennings Upfront interview with TV3's news supremo. February 24, 2007, New Zealand Listener. Dirty Dollars The tax money collected for your retirement is being used by fund managers, acting on behalf of the government, to profit from the war in Iraq, nuclear-weapon production and the building of the Guantanamo Bay prison. February 17, 2007, New Zealand Listener. What's up, Doc?TV Review: Dr Gregory House kicks the drugs and takes up running? Pull the other one. February 10, 2007, New Zealand Listener. Coming to the party Will criminalising party pills only push people into harder drugs like P? February 3, 2007, New Zealand Listener. No sharks, no chefs From Pop Mechanix to the Documentary Channel, Richard Driver’s there with bells on. January 27, 2007, New Zealand Listener. The eye on the storm Geoff Mackley chases nature’s worst across the globe to get his remarkable footage. January 20, 2007, New Zealand Listener. TV films Bite-sized reviews of flicks on the box. January 20, 2007, New Zealand Listener Up with the new As newspapers cut back and all media on the internet look the same, technology races on. January 13, 2007, New Zealand Listener. The whole world watchesTV Review Visit YouTube and discover instant classics in the vast new world of online video. January 13, 2007, New Zealand Listener. The You Can Do GuideCover Story Never been sure of the best way to cook a steak? Or how to ask for a date? Or even do absolutely nothing? Relax, we’ve got it covered. We’ve asked more than 30 experts, amateur and professional, to come up with their best advice on how to do ... just about anything if you put your mind to it. January 6, 2007, New Zealand Listener. (Co-credit with Amanda Spratt.) TV films The flicks on the box. December 30, 2006, New Zealand Listener. TV films More flicks on the box. December 23, 2006, New Zealand Listener. Make me a kidney To better understand kidneys, a transplant recipient is building one on his computer. December 16, 2006, New Zealand Listener. Seeds of unease Invasion of privacy or public interest? Nicky Hager has no doubts. December 16, 2006, New Zealand Listener. Driven to distraction Hot weather can bring out the worst in drivers. So, if you want to avoid road-rage incidents these holidays, let common sense prevail. December 16, 2006, New Zealand Listener. The life changers Mentoring programmes aim to catch young people before they go completely off the rails. November 18, 2006, New Zealand Listener. Wallace Chapman Upfront interview with broadcaster and one-time medical media martyr. November 18, 2006, New Zealand Listener. Marching up hamburger hill The American fast food industry now has global reach, but is also under attack as an evil empire. October 28, 2006, New Zealand Listener. State of Play Are video games really so addictive that they are turning kids, especially boys, into brain-dead bores by playing with their minds – or do they, as researchers suggest, have a positive effect? October 21, 2006, New Zealand Listener. How to save the world Celebrated scientist and bestselling author Jared Diamond turns his attention to the collapse of civilisation. October 21, 2006, New Zealand Listener. Howard's end-gameBook Review of Andrew McGahan's political satire Underground. October 14, 2006, New Zealand Listener. Brain foodCover Story It’s been shown that, for adults, the right foods can ensure that our brains perform at peak efficiency; for children, diet can have lifelong effects. October 7, 2006, New Zealand Listener. That clinched it Ian Wishart explains why he saw fit to publish those pictures of the Prime Minister's husband. September 30, 2006, New Zealand Listener. Ant Sang Upfront interview with cartoonist and bro'Town designer Ant Sang. September 23, 2006, New Zealand Listener. Lights, camera, reactionShortland Street’s production company goes green. September 16, 2006, New Zealand Listener. Terence White Upfront interview with kiwi war correspondent. September 9, 2006, New Zealand Listener. Eyes off the bomb September 11 may have made it easier for terrorists to go nuclear. September 9, 2006, New Zealand Listener. Speak Mandarin? A Chinese website offers an insight into the lives of international students. September 2, 2006, New Zealand Listener. Bidding war A teenage entrepreneur has dreamt up an online tool that will give Trade Me bidders the edge – if Trade Me will let him. August 19, 2006, New Zealand Listener. Hope like hell Restoring peace between Israel and Lebanon is not impossible. Just insanely difficult. August 12, 2006, New Zealand Listener. Capping it offColumn For a would-be university graduate, a hospital gown is a poor substitute for the real thing. July 15, 2006, New Zealand Listener. All classFilm Review: The Aristocrats. May 20, 2006, New Zealand Listener. Bearing witness A Central Asian journalist exiled in New York sheds light on a little-publicised massacre in Uzbekistan. May 13, 2006, New Zealand Listener. On the outer Why Americans are slipping in the worldwide popularity polls. May 6, 2006, New Zealand Listener. Courage under fire Being accepted for training at the elite US military academy of West Point means a cheap university education for teenagers from poor families. It also means a likely posting to fight in Iraq – and the chance of being killed. April 8, 2006, New Zealand Listener. Lies, damn lies & dodgy dealings The US journalist who lifted the lid on Enron is modest - and not only over the success of the Oscar-nominated documentary based on her book, The Smartest Guys in the Room, now screening in New Zealand. March 4, 2006, New Zealand Listener. Veteran of the Middle East Dinner with Robert Fisk. December 10, 2005, New Zealand Listener. Pickup tricks Don Juan in New York. October 29, 2005, New Zealand Listener. Stings like a slug Chrisopher Hitchens meets his match. October 1, 2005, New Zealand Listener. It's vital we open secrets to keep everyone honestOp-ed on the use of injuctions by Universities to suppress student press. October 6, 2005, New Zealand Herald. First I take ManhattanColumn: Steel-capped combat boots are not practical in a New York heatwave. September 24, 2005, New Zealand Listener. Black gold For miners, the Raglan seafloor is a new frontier, but locals are worried that there are no regulations in place to mitigate environmental impacts. September 10, 2005, New Zealand Listener. Drug money Are celebrities' coke habits funding al-Qaeda or organised crime? August 6, 2005, New Zealand Listener. Hunt the terrorist In the cat-and-mouse game of counter-terrorism, progress is being made. July 23, 2005, New Zealand Listener. League of gentlemen Exiled Zimbabwean cricketer Henry Olonga appeals to the Black Caps and the International Cricket Council. July 16, 2005, New Zealand Listener. Off the sidelines Never mind the Lions, who's winning the clash of the rugby commentators? July 2, 2005, New Zealand Listener. Bomber Upfront interview with Martyn Bradbury June 25, 2005, New Zealand Listener. Shore thing Musicians mark the anniversary of the 1985 sinking of Greenpeace's Rainbow Warrior in Auckland Harbour by re-recording a Kiwi classic. June 25, 2005, New Zealand Listener. Born bad?Cover Story Are the most hated criminals simply evil or can they be rehabilitated? May 21, 2005, New Zealand Listener. Te Radar Upfront interview with comedian. Piss taken. May 14, 2005, New Zealand Listener. Take it inTV Review The diary of a late-night channel-surfing insomniac. May 7, 2005, New Zealand Listener. Zimbabwe boycott? Cancellation of the cricket tour would be seen as a real slap in the face for President Mugabe. April 30, 2005, New Zealand Listener. Democracy run out Cricket boss Martin Snedden makes a call on the Black Caps' tour to Zimbabwe. April 16, 2005 New Zealand Listener. Levitating the PentagonBook Review: The Men Who Stare at Goats, by Jon Ronson. April 2, 2005, New Zealand Listener. Dr Claudia Orange Upfront interview with Treaty expert and Te Papa's history director. March 12, 2005, New Zealand Listener. It's a family affair Nepotism has far more practitioners than defenders. March 5, 2005, New Zealand Listener. Preschool excellence Sidebar on the cutting edge of early childhood education. February 19, 2005, New Zealand Listener. Polls apart State-of-the-nation speeches by the Green and Act leaders neatly illustrated the philosophical chasm between the two minority parties. January 29, 2005, New Zealand Listener. A hitch in timeColumn on the joys of sticking ones thumb in it. January 29, 2005, New Zealand Listener. The golden generationCover Story: With opportunities aplenty, today's bright young things expect to be rewarded, and they want it now. January 22, 2005, New Zealand Listener. (Co-credit with Nick Smith) Dizzy heights "Popera" poppet Yulia Townsend's career is taking off so fast that she hasn't had a chance to make any resolutions. January 18, 2005, New Zealand Listener. Picking porkies Ah, Christmas. Everyone loves their gifts, welcomes relatives with warm, open arms, and wishes goodwill to all humankind. Can you spot the lies? December 18, 2004, New Zealand Listener. The power list The 50 most powerful people in New Zealand revealed. December 11, 2004, New Zealand Listener. (Co-credit with Tim Watkin and Nick Smith) Hitting homeCover Story on the likely effects of climate change on New Zealand for the next generation. December 4, 2004, New Zealand Listener. Chris Butcher Upfront interview with Halo 2 lead engineer and Kurow wizz-kid. December 4, 2004, New Zealand Listener. Hello trees, hello mountains Profile of Monty Python funnyman Michael Palin. November 27, 2004, New Zealand Listener. Pieces of green Book Review and interview with Greenpeace co-founder Rex Weyler on his book An Insider's Account. November 20, 2004, New Zealand Listener. Kings of the hill Mavericks in newsrooms, from Hiroshima to Auckland, break stories and budgets. Interview with John Pilger about his book, Tell Me No Lies, and investigative journalism in New Zealand. November 20, 2004, New Zealand Listener. Dodging Bush Column on granting Americans political asylum so that they can escape theirs. November 20, 2004, New Zealand Listener. Nothing in the tank As oil prices climb, New Zealand discovers scandalously low reserves. October 30, 2004, New Zealand Listener. Clio Cresswell Upfront interview with Australian professor on her book Mathematics and Sex. October 9, 2004, New Zealand Listener. The Simpsons of the south pacific The hopes for and prospects of upcoming Pacific animated sitcom bro'Town. September 25, 2004, New Zealand Listener. Neither war nor peace After the Beslan massacre, what are the chances for Chechen independence? September 18, 2004, New Zealand Listener. Back to Room 101Book Review and interview with Stasiland author Anna Funder. September 18, 2004, New Zealand Listener. Foot in the door A Hollywood career beckons James Napier Robertson. September 18, 2004, New Zealand Listener. GE free or busted Despite scant media attention, eco-activists have been conducting semi-legal campaigns up and down the country. September 4, 2004, New Zealand Listener. Sir Robert JonesIn My Experience interview with property magnate and humanities patron. August 28, 2004, New Zealand Listener. Mass market penetration The fifth annual Erotica Adult Lifestyles Expo represents the "tasteful" side of what is a growing domestic industry. August 21, 2004, New Zealand Listener. (Co-credit with Patrick Crewdson) The spying dame Former MI5 head Stella Rimington was the model for Judi Dench's "M" – she's a shaker not a stirrer, which is why her former employers okayed her new foray into terrorism fiction with At Risk. July 31, 2004, New Zealand Listener. Safe as housesCover Story: Our burglary rate is declining, so should you still be worried? July 24, 2004, New Zealand Listener. (Co-credit with Mark Revington) Islands of SilenceReview of Martin Booth's new novel. July 21, 2004, Canvas: New Zealand Herald. Please don't mess with this sign The unlikely symbiosis between advertisers and those who hijack their campaigns. July 17, 2004, New Zealand Listener. All about oil Interview with host of upcoming BBC documentary Meet the Stans. July 17, 2004, New Zealand Listener. The Maxim gun Will a trend towards saturating publications with emails subvert the letter-writing process? June 26, 2004, New Zealand Listener.
The Sprout-like Freelance Years 2002-4 (complete - bar several pieces lost in stuff)
Greg Proops Upfront interview with Whose Line is it Anyway? regular. April 24, 2004, New Zealand Listener. When the human zoo outgrows new cages The high price of New Zealand's overcrowded prisons. April 17, 2004, Weekend Review: New Zealand Herald. Guerrillas in our midst "You plant them, we'll pull them," they say of GE crops. But does that make them terrorists who should face long jail sentences? February 14, 2004, New Zealand Listener. GM troops set for action Where the GE debate will go after the moratorium has been lifted. January 18, 2004, Weekend Review: New Zealand Herald. John Ralston Saul Upfront profile on Canadian philosopher and author about French water, nuclear power and his book On Equilibrium. June 22, 2002, New Zealand Listener.
Blogs and the student press (selected)
Shut up and listen, an old man is talking Guest editorial on the merits of 1998 and cheaper beer. July 10, 2006, Salient. Hey brother, can you spare $25,000? A bitter farewell to the blogging, or; why all blogs are shit. April 27, 2005, Fightingtalk. Number of the Beasts, Blackshirts, fighting and the Big Day Out. March 15, 2005, Fightingtalk. Clowns and Mirrors, On introspection and small beginnings, PLUS an editorial on being a political sapper. December 13, 2004, Fightingtalk. I Palin Comparison Transcript of interview with Michael Palin. November 27, 2004, Fightingtalk. Pilger's Progress Transcript of interview with John Pilger. November 15, 2004, Fightingtalk. Trash Talkin' Part two of a cunning and soberly concocted rabid-blog-shitfight. October 10, 2004, Fightingtalk. WANTED: Journalistic protégé to acerbic and elegant New Conservatives spokesman An open letter in reply to media commentator David Cohen. October 3, 2004, Fightingtalk. If you stand outside and it rains... Testy correspondence and the perils of blogging. September 14, 2004, Fightingtalk. Young Junkies Rejoice A look at shaken-up student media facing competition from outside. August 10, 2004, Fightingtalk. The Maori Queen in White Pants A television review: Eating Media Lunch. June 2, 2004, Fightingtalk. Compromising Values Column on Mediawatch item on the state of student media. May 17, 2004, Fightingtalk, Salient and Critic. Cracks in the Media Windowpane, Review of the film Shattered Glass. May 2, 2004, Fightingtalk. Random Chunks from the Bottom of the Barrel Musings on Studs Terkel, death and Greg Proops. April 20, 2004, Fightingtalk. Big Red is Dead Editorial-obituary for a big cow. April 16, 2004, Salient. Man of Letters Who is Stephen D Taylor, and why do you have the feeling you know him? April 16, 2004, Fightingtalk. The dangerous dogs of war, in the wild, wild West Iraq PMCs and the rise of mercenaries. April 13, 2004, Fightingtalk. Long Live the King Last broadcast interview with historian and author Michael King. April 1, 2004, Fightingtalk, Scoop, and Public Address. (Co-credit with Simon Pound) Damned Dams and Bloodsports The implications for environmentalism on campaigns that are too successful. March 31, 2004, Fightingtalk. Welcome to the Human Zoo, Penal policy and a visit to Pare D block. March 28, 2004, Fightingtalk. Standing Tall on the Low Road, Interview with Whale Rider author Witi Ihimaera on the eve of the Oscars. March 1, 2004, Public Address.
