No Sign of Christmas Goodwill in Dismaland

A week out from Christmas we thought we’d do a round up of the news headlines to see whether there’s a scrap of seasonal goodwill to be found in New Zealand. What we found was that it is pretty bleak in this dismal land… The front page of the Herald website leads with “Car obliterated in crash,…

New Zealand, the Absurdistan of the South Pacific

A reader sent us a link to a great article in Metromag.co.nz by Graham Adams, published a few days ago – Is New Zealand becoming the Absurdistan of the south Pacific? Graham Admas reflects on the slow unravelling of a small democracy. If you’re planning to emigrate to New Zealand because you’ve heard a lot…

“Who can trust John Key?” and the TPPA

Thinking of emigrating to New Zealand? Are you happy to live in a country whose government has been criticized on the world stage for being neo-liberalist in its ideologies, drifting casually toward Fascism. Robert Amsterdam, a Canadian international lawyer of the law firm Amsterdam & Partners, has written a very incisive article about Prime Minister…

Eleanor Catton – “A Statement.” And, the Rise of Neo-Fascism in New Zealand

New Zealand author Eleanor Catton recently made some well considered criticism of the New Zealand government (read Eleanor Catton’s Illuminating Take on New Zealand, and It’s Culture of Anti-Intellectualism) Prime Minister John Key was very quick to rebut Catton’s remarks, even though they weren’t aimed at him specifically. That he chose to criticize Catton, while subtly promoting…