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ISSN 2381-9553: Vol 291, No. 4356.
Te Kaiwhakarongo Aotearoa Contents July 6-12, 2024
Editor
Kirsty Cameron
Chief Subeditor
Geoff Cumming
Managing Editor
Ruth Brown
Art Director
Derek Ward
Books Editor
Mark Broatch
Entertainment & Arts Editor
Russell Baillie
Television Editor
Fiona Rae
Digital Editor
Dionne Christian
Subeditors
Patrice Gaff aney, Rod Pascoe
Assistant Art Director
Shane Kelly
Senior Designer
Richard Kingsford
Editorial Assistant
Alana Rae
Editorial contact
listener@aremedia.co.nz
Contributors this issue:
Richard Betts, Sally Blundell,
Jennifer Bowden, Russell
Brown, Garth Cartwright, Sarah
Catherall, Jane Clift on, Michael
Cooper, Bruce Cushen, Anthony
Ellison, Nevil Gibson, Paul
Gorman, Peter Griffi n, Kirsty
Gunn, David Harvey, Michele
Hewitson, Hagen Hopkins,
Stephanie Johnson, Bernard
Lagan, Chris Moore, Graham
Reid, Nicholas Reid, Alex Scott,
Giacomo Sini, Erica Stretton,
Sarah Watt, Marc Wilson, Features of science and universities, would-be prime minister
Helena Wi niewska Brow COVER STORY says signifi cant change is on choosing to go down the
Chief Executive Offi cer A winter books special: the cards – if he gets his way. nuclear path by Bernard Lagan
Jane Huxley 16 | In the chill zone by Paul Gorman
General Manager Our pick of great yarns, 13 | Diary Relax, it’s even
Stuart Dick absorbing literature, brilliant 36 | ‘You were salvation’ more grim up north, judging
Editorial Director memoirs and big ideas that A repurposed supply vessel by the recent elections in
Sarah Henry have grabbed our undivided provides a lifeline to migrants Europe. by Russell Brown
Head of Digital attention. by Mark Broatch who risk their lives crossing
Melissa Walsh the Mediterranean in a bid 14 | View from Abroad
Senior Digital Content Producer 20 | Stuff of fantasy for a new life. by Giacomo Sini New, potentially alarming
Katie Delany A growing number of NZ strategies were on show in
Sales Director genre fi ction writers are in Commentary the recent elections in Europe.Claire Chisholm huge demand internationally. by Jane Clift on
Senior Account Managers
Jacquie Fraser by Richard Betts 4 | Upfront Multiple
Jacquie.Fraser@aremedia.co.nz myeloma patients are waiting 15 | Law & Society
Chloe Jordan 24 | The mahi is worth it impatiently in a subdued Discharges without conviction
Chloe.Jordan@aremedia.co.nz Māori writers are riding a holding pattern for eff ective, should be available only for
Classifi ed Sales wave of international demand modern drugs. by Bruce Cushen off ences carrying a maximum
Kim Chapman for stories from indigenous of three months’ imprisonment.
classifi eds@xtra.co.nz people. by Sally Blundell 6 | Letters Plus Quips & by David Harvey
Quotes, Bright Lines and
Editorial postal address 28 | Welcome to 10 Quick Questions 94 | The Good Life
PO Box 52122, Kingsland,
Auckland 1352 the danger zone Some sheep are Mensa-worthy,
Subscriptions Young minds are being sheltered 10 | Politics Gold-plated others are just really stupid.
magshop@magshop.co.nz, from “dangerous” fi ction, but designs and inevitable cost by Michele Hewitson
magshop.co.nz or ph 0800 624 7467 should they be by Kirsty Gunn blowouts continue to defi ne
The NZ Listener is published our infrastructure spending.
by Are Media Ltd 32 | Setting priorities by Danyl McLauchlan Books
Printed by Webstar Sir Peter Gluckman, leading 38 | Art of glass The Girl
2024. All rights reserved. a once-in-a-generation review 12 | Bulletin Why is Australia’s with a Pearl Earring author
2 www.listener.co.nz LISTENER JULY 6 2024
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Are you too old for
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BY LISA DUDSON
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BY NICKY PELLEGRINO
is back with a time-bending music from Anna Coddington,
tale about a family of Venetian Peggy Gou and Bonny Light Life
glassblowers. by Erica Stretton Horseman. by Garth Cartwright 84 | Nutrition
and Graham Reid The health benefi ts of
40-45 | Books yoghurt remain roughly the
Hidden motives surface when 52 | Film reviews What’s on same, regardless of how you
a translator has an aff air with off er at the NZ International make it. by Jennifer Bowden
a married man; a cheering Film Festival. by Russell Baillie
road trip across Australia; 86 | Food NZ chef Robert
mortality, memory and Tarot 54-56 | Television The new Oliver is on a quest to
cards occupy collections Stuff -powered ThreeNews, popularise Pacifi c cuisine. NZ’s fl ora and fauna
from poets; an overview plus TV picks and movies. are worth saving
of what is regarded as the by Russell Baillie and Russell Brown 88 | Wine Don’t be fooled
world’s fi rst pandemic; how into buying expensive wine BY NIC RAWLENCE
a feud between two offi cers 57-77 | TV programmes glasses. by Michael Cooper & JO MONKS
played a crucial role in a
doomed Antarctic expedition, 78-79 | Radio programmes 89 | Psychology We’re likely You’ll also fi nd “best ofs”
plus bestseller lists. to reciprocate if someone and stories you might have
79 | Classical Why Shorty is nice to us unexpectedly. missed fi rst time round
Entertainment St’s resident composer has by Marc Wilsonturned to barnyard ballet. from our extensive archives;
46 | Artist of high by Richard Betts 90 | Technology America’s extended fi lm & TV previews
standing Waiheke Island top doctor wants smoking-style and reviews; our in-depth
sculptor Anton Forde talks warning labels for social media TV viewing guide; and lots
about creating the largest Diversions platforms. by Peter Griffi n
contemporary pou installation 80-83 | Bridge, Take 5, Barden’s more about the issues that
of his career. by Sarah Catherall Chess Problems, Quizword, matter to New Zealanders.
Crossword, Sudoku, Kakuro, The Bigger Picture
49-51 | Music Logic Puzzle, Clueless 92 | Dries van Noten signs off
An audience with the late Crossword, Scatterword, from his eponymous fashion listener.co.nz
Fran oise Hardy, plus new Permutate Temperate. label aft er a 40-year career.
JULY 6 2024 LISTENER www.listener.co.nz 3
ALAMY
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Commentary | Upfront
It’s not quite leeches but . . .
Multiple myeloma patients are waiting impatiently in a subdued
holding pattern for effective, modern drugs, writes Bruce Cushen.
E ight years ago, I began a torrid New Zealand. About 3000 Kiwis fight with multiple myeloma. currently live with the disease. And no, My blood was being attacked it wasn’t on the list of 13 cancer drugs by this insipid cancer, causing National promised before the election lesions and holes in my bones. to fund but it is desperately needed, like
A good friend at the then Canterbury yesterday, by me and my myeloma mates.
District Health Board (DHB) assured me We are waiting impatiently in a subdued
that we have the best and most modern holding pattern.
treatment in the world when it comes
to targeting myeloma. am stoked that the government
My friend was right; just the year I has finally increased funding for before, 2015, our government had Pharmac. The cynic in me says it still
approved expensive drugs and won’t make a difference for myeloma
treatments to save lives. My journey patients. However, I will remain hopeful.
included two stem cell transplants, For me to pay for a new drug like
chemotherapy, numerous funded drugs daratumumab could cost more than
and initially a music review on Stuff $220,000 for the first year. It’s beyond
of old Elton John albums. This was a my budget and that of most people.
distraction I wrote about, along with This and other proven-to-be-lifesaving
cancer updates, for the first 33 weeks of drugs for myeloma (carfilzomib and
my care leading up to my first transplant. pomalidomide) are free in 48 countries,
A lot of time was spent in hospital including Australia, the UK and Canada.
with help and support from the DHB and Bruce Cushen enjoyed five years of near-normality Where is that Commonwealth spirit
family members and friends. Yes, at one while in remission. These drugs have been around for long
stage I wore man nappies. Since then, the enough to prove they work and have
past few years in remission have been fabulous adjusting to saved many lives. I resent that time has stood still. Successive
my new normality. I was never afraid of all these repetitive, governments have done diddly squat for nine years and
arduous challenges I would inevitably face; it’s just that, as I I haven’t even received my first pension cheque.
have discovered, the treatment hasn’t kept up with the times. Yes, it’s personal. Just when I thought it was safe to go
Not quite leeches but c’mon, Pharmac, and our government. back in the water, nothing had been done. And while I’m
It is now 2024 and the myeloma is back. Easy to forget mentioning that Jaws 2 tagline, it’s good to remember that
this disease is an incurable, relapsing one in dire need of star Roy Scheider died of multiple myeloma.
new combinations of treatment. Every patient is different Here I am, with a wife who is a nurse but didn’t sign up
but I feel like I was tricked. Gullibly, in 2016, I thought that to nurse me, two kids in their early 20s, one car and a small
funded new treatments for myeloma mortgage that won’t go away. Because of the chronic nature
would be introduced annually, but of myeloma there is no cure. Daratumumab has proven
no. This is no joke; no new drugs to prolong life and reduce symptoms. My current regime
or anything have won funding for of drugs obviously helps a bit but is far less effective.
nine bleeding, bollocking years. So go ahead, Luxo, make my day, become enlightened. As
Obviously, I ignored and was I look down into the darkness of the nine-year-old funding
unaware of the government’s so-slow- I took 32 very old abyss I ask, please. I took 32 very old drugs yesterday. All
we-are-going-backwards policy drugs yesterday. I want is to take one brand-new, life-enhancing drug today.
because I was “well” and living my All I want is to take PS, please note this rant may have been written under
life of ignorant bliss. one brand-new, the influence of steroids. l
Myeloma is the
second-most common life-enhancing Bruce Cushen currently works as a part-time teacher aide
blood cancer in drug today. at St Andrew’s College in Christchurch.
WANT TO WRITE AN ‘UPFRONT’ COLUMN Send 600 words to listener@aremedia.co.nz on a topic based on your own
personal experience or expertise and if we publish it, you’ll win a book. Next week, it’s More from a Quiet Kitchen by Nici Wickes.
4 www.listener.co.nz LISTENER JULY 6 2024
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Letters
Mining, the legacy
The mining article (“Digging for victory” clean-up, which cost New Zealand the unregulated love child of an indecent
(June 29) could also have looked at the taxpayers about $22 million by 2012. liaison between the internet and greedy,
environmental impact of mine tailings While we should all keep an open mind manipulative money men like those
and tailings-dam failures. I encourage about the need to obtain the minerals running X, Facebook, etc. In one space,
readers to consider the following: we need, great care is also necessary in free speech is limited by the extent to
Most metals are extracted from hard their extraction. I shudder to think that which you might do harm to someone
rock, which is crushed to powder, wet decisions about this might be left in the else. In the other, you can do and say
to a slurry then treated with a chemical hands of three government ministers pretty much whatever you like.
reagent, often cyanide, to extract the including unashamed mining advocate The Australian Parliament is currently
metal(s) of interest. Typically, more than Shane Jones. examining whether the age of children
99% of this slurry remains as waste that Dean Scanlen (Whangārei) to gain access to social media should
must be stored in perpetuity, usually be raised to 16. The government and
in reservoirs behind earth dams. TRAGEDY IN PNG opposition support this, because of the
The process releases metals other than The recent tragic landslide burying a real harm inflicted on youngsters by hate
those of interest. These usually include large village in Enga province, Papua New speech, when social media access exposes
highly toxic heavy metals like mercury, Guinea, is devastating in its magnitude them to online bullying, stalking and
cadmium and/or lead, much of which and its isolation in this often-forgotten threats to maim and kill.
remain dissolved or suspended. Also, the part of our planet. John Terris (Lower Hutt)
tailings are almost always highly acidic. Is it a coincidence or could there be
Overflows inevitably occur during wet contributing effects from nearby mining Your cover story lists findings of various
weather and often ravage downstream A little higher up the same valley is the tribunals and courts that indicate
ecosystems and fisheries. second-largest underground and open- insulting another person or group is not
Globally, tailings dams regularly fail, cast gold and silver mine in the world. regarded as offensive speak warranting
sometimes catastrophically. Death tolls The controversial Porgera Gold Mine is prosecution, and that the right to
run into the hundreds and major river vast and its disruption of the surrounding free speech “was the most important
systems and fisheries are destroyed. environment substantial. cornerstone of a liberal democracy”. This
A Google search of “mine tailings dam Coincidence This needs investigation. may be legally correct, but surely such
failures” reveals the scale and frequency Jenny Baker (Auckland) insults undermine the respect for each
of this. Mining produces the same other that a healthy, functioning society
quantities of tailings, whether open-cut FACT VERSUS OPINION depends on.
or underground, and mining companies The cover story on Jonathan Rauch, While a certain degree of insult is
frequently just walk away from mines renowned advocate of free speech, bantering – good-natured to-and-fro –
once they become uneconomic, leaving was welcome (“Let the people speak”, when anyone insults another person or
residents with the mess and taxpayers June 22). But I confess I don’t share group, they risk distancing themselves
to foot the clean-up bill. Witness, for writer Danyl McLauchlan’s unqualified from them and looking at the differences
example, the Tui mine (Te Aroha) enthusiasm for Rauch. rather than the commonalities we
In the debate about free speech, it all share, a process well portrayed in
is important to continue to observe the Donna Chisholm’s article “Fusion not
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR distinction between fact and opinion. fission”, June 15.
listenerletters@aremedia.co.nz One fact is that, for the purpose of I well remember my growing concern
The Editor, NZ Listener, strengthening their argument, advocates at then-prime minister Robert Muldoon
PO Box 52122, Kingsland, of free speech like to confound those having a propensity during his posturing
Auckland 1352 of us who are concerned about the years (ironically, also featured in the June
■ Letters must be under 300 words. social harm caused by some hate 22 issue) for attacking the person rather
Preference is given to shorter letters. speech by conflating fact and opinion, than debating the idea. It was a catalyst
■ A writer’s full residential address is
required on all letters, including emails. but they are quite different. for change in our political climate from
A phone number can be helpful. There is no such thing in a society the age of statesmen and women to the
■ Pen names or letters submitted elsewhere under the rule of law as freedom to do age of the politician in which we now live.
are not acceptable.
■ We reserve the right to edit or decline and say whatever you like, when there Those politicians who seem to actually
letters without explanation. are constraints by the laws of libel and care risk being drowned out by, or caught
■ Opinions expressed are not necessarily numerous other curbs. up in, the art of the personal and cheap
those of the Listener or Are Media.
Hate speech is, on the other hand, point-scoring, rather than that of the
6 www.listener.co.nz LISTENER JULY 6 2024
debate in the interest of a better society.
The sad inability to separate the idea
from the person, and to engage with
those who hold different opinions to our
own, let alone try to understand their
world view, makes me certain that, while Bright Lines
our education system must get the 3 Rs
sorted (for those living with deprivation, Creative words competition
neurodiversity and disability, as well as
for those who find them easy), learning For our Headline Competition, we asked for a headline in seven words
the art of robust debate that is not or fewer on New Zealand’s rich list.
meant or taken personally because
it respects while it challenges must FINALISTS:
be part of everyone’s education if we Wealth watchers list heroes with most
want a flourishing liberal democracy. zeros
Murray Shaw (Palmerston North) – Tom Jarman, Christchurch
LETTER OF THE WEEK Chunk of change found in toy box
– Andrew Nicoll, Auckland
THAT ISNAE GAELIC
Having worked in Glasgow and Aberdeen New on rich list says thanks dad
for 12 years, I can attest to the use of words – Tommy Wilson, Papamoa
like “wheesht” and “shuggle” in everyday Rich list: Zuru uzurps, leaves Hart
conversation there (A View from Abroad, broken
June 22). – Jason Morgan, Wellington
But in most cases, it would be inaccurate
Zuru goes gold, Hart sinks to silver
to describe these words as “Gaelic slang”. – Chris Greenwood, Motueka
The dialects of Scots English, like the
Doric spoken in Aberdeenshire, come WINNER:
from the same roots as English dialects Billionaire upstarts’ start-up leads to
spoken south of the border. Most of their Hart bypass
vocabulary can be traced back to Old – Dean Donoghue, Papamoa Beach
English, Norse, Norman French or the For the next Bright Lines competition,
Renaissance revival of Latin and Greek. please send us a limerick on the
So according to the Oxford English grounding of the Aratere.
Dictionary, “wheesht,” “shuggle” and Don’t forget to include your address
“boak” all have Germanic ancestry and with entries.
can be found in different forms in other TO ENTER: Send your entry to
dialects. The same for that quintessential brightlinescompetition@aremedia.co.nz
description of Scotland’s weather: dreich. with “Bright Lines 51” in the subject line.
There certainly are some Gaelic loan Entries must be received
words in modern Scots, notably “whisky” by noon, Tuesday, July 9.
and “cèilidh”, but, with the exception THE PRIZE
of “mar sin e”, which I confess I never Step-by-step advice and
heard used, Gaelic isn’t the source of the helpful illustrations on
vocabulary discussed in Clifton’s piece. landscaping, planting,
Nick Thompson (Auckland) maintenance and growth.
IS IT A JOKE
Jules Older’s opinion piece on “cultural appropriation takes place
appropriation and white saviour complex when members of a majority group
(Upfront, June 15) was puzzling to me. Was adopt cultural elements of a minority
he serious or playing devil’s advocate group in an exploitative, disrespectful
I am not sure how Older defines or stereotypical way”.
appropriation, but I take it to mean I am not an author, so I don’t know the
“to take something for your own use, pressure Older feels. But he overstates
usually without permission” and his case of what is and what is not
this seems to me a valid concept. And appropriation and fails to recognise
JULY 6 2024 LISTENER www.listener.co.nz
Letters
Quips& 10QuickQuotes Questions by MARK BROATCH
1. Which is NZ’s oldest national Shackleton’s Antarctica hut Algeria
park Butter Corsica
“Don’t worry, the free market Fiordland Cheese
and some second-hand Tongariro Lamb 8. A novel in which real people
Corollas will do the trick.” – Abel Tasman Milk powder or events appear with made-up
Wellingtonian Darren Watson Aoraki/Mt Cook names is called what
on the Aratere running aground 5. The Japanese word sanpaku Bildungsroman
due to a steering fault 2. Which is the US’s oldest refers to what Kunstlerroman
national park Food Roman-à-clef
“I don’t care what you Yellowstone Eyes Roman fleuve
say about whether it does Theodore Roosevelt National Boating
or doesn’t work ... We Park Etiquette 9. Where is the thenar
are, dammit, going to try Yosemite eminence
something different because Sequoia 6. Which word means relating Skull
we cannot carry on getting to the intellect Pubic area
the results that we’ve been 3. Where was Wilbur Smith Noetic Thumb
getting.” – PM Christopher born Mimetic Back
Luxon on boot camps South Africa Ascetic
Northern Rhodesia Emetic 10. What is the cube root
“We live in 2024, and the way England of 343
that our elders are living is like Australia 7. Where was Napoleon 4
they are still in the 1800s.” – Bonaparte born 6
Moerewa man Roddy Pihema 4. What ancient NZ-made item Paris 7 Answers
on kaumātua living in leaking was recently found in Ernest Nice 9 on page 82.
caravans, tents, shacks and cars
“I like to think of [Eden Park] the difference and significance but I bet their heroes are also electrical energy, where
as [Auckland’s] most enduring of writing from a majority their own. feasible, to make regions more
Lego set, put together
without a manual, and or minority perspective. It is K Saxby (Mārahau, Tasman district) resilient. Elsewhere, some
without a care in the world true, and this is a good thing, planning is already under
for current design trends.” that we have become more EYES ON THE SKIES way in this direction and
– Sports journalist Scotty aware of how the stories the Your article on solar storms must be given government
Stevenson majority tell, when taken as and NZ’s preparations for support here. Our scientists
a body of work, often reflect them (“Keep looking up”, June and engineers have shown
“I don’t think I have one their perspective, show them 22) reflects well on those who that they are competent
iota of cynicism about acting.” in a good light and reinforce maintain our national grid to make good use of it.
– Actor Donald Sutherland, a status quo that may be and the scientists who provide Michael Delceg (Tākaka)
who died on June 20, aged 88
harmful to others. the advanced planning advice,
“This is going to ruin the tour.” And then there is white which will hopefully avoid THE ART OF ADAPTATION
– US singer Justin Timberlake to saviour complex and the future disasters. All great art is self-explanatory.
a police officer when pulled over myth-making around white That said, at least two So are cellphone photos,
for driving while intoxicated superiority in societies that phenomena not mentioned static or animated and “as
are predominantly white. need to be considered. One it happens”. That is why they
“I was a namby-pamby pacifist Think about all those cowboys is the accelerating decrease are banned in classrooms,
who didn’t believe in violence, and Indians stories or war in the Earth’s magnetic field, and newspapers offer digital
and at the same time, I was
a supporter of terrorism. stories in which the British which will result in decreased services. This is also why,
I always found that a bit of a people were the heroes. protection from solar storms when power pylons topple
contradiction.” – Former Green On one level, Atticus Finch and has, as recently noted, over and earthquakes snap
Party MP Keith Locke (who died in To Kill a Mockingbird is an produced much stronger underground cables, it will be
on June 21 aged 80) on Winston example of a white saviour, effects here and elsewhere nature’s fast adapters who will
Peters’ opinion of him as are the other examples such as low-latitude auroras. lead the way with new ways
given. But stories exist in a The other is the of doing things.
“Kmart rolled through particular context and have demonstration of the likely I was nearly two and a half
the country eating the more than one dimension, isolation of parts of the grid years old when I was forced
Warehouse’s lunch, breakfast
and dinner.” – First Retail so it is also a story of justice in such disasters as happened to think for myself. Mother had
Group chief Chris Wilkinson and kindness. I am not that during recent flooding. One gone to post a letter and left the
familiar with stories from solution is to decentralise semi-basement door open for a
other cultures and countries, production and storage of quick return, first making sure
8 www.listener.co.nz LISTENER JULY 6 2024
I was asleep. It was at night, some time in mention the cost of keeping the furnaces were able to find and play their copies.
September 1940 in central London. An air heated. No wonder he did not foresee the Christopher Johnstone (Auckland)
raid woke me up. No mother! I had to think global financial crisis. Read more about Fran oise Hardy on p49
for myself, so I ran down the road looking The economists who could not
for her. Later, we were reunited with the foresee the GFC are still at work and
aid of an air raid warden. making policy. The Prime Minister is CORRECTION
This is why I visit preschools showing claiming better economics but with Responding to our article on the
how to use a memory lane mat and a the incompetence and remoteness of conflicts between sand mining and
finger-tracing word game. So, when there economists so far, we must be suspicious. wind farming proposals in the South
is a power failure, the learning processes Paul Bieleski (Nelson) Taranaki Bight (“Sand in the turbines”,
of our tamariki can continue. June 29), Trans-Tasman Resources
Brian Brodie (Christchurch) GOODBYE, FRAN OISE chair Alan Eggers says he did not
I’ll admit to a few tears on reading about threaten to sue for compensation if
FORGOTTEN COST OF ENERGY the death of my early teen idol Fran oise TTR does not get the marine discharge
The businesses in Northland reporting Hardy, who was the inspiration for my consents it is seeking. He would look
big losses after the pylon failure know francophilia. I sold most of my records for compensation if the company’s
that power supply is essential for any after university, including my beloved existing mining and exploration
production. Yet this contradicts the Hardy albums and EPs. consents were cancelled or withdrawn.
economics I was taught. The factors of But decades later, I bought a second- The Listener apologises.
production theory did not include energy. hand copy of her greatest hits – strangely
Capital and labour are used in the theories and annoyingly without Tous les gar ons
of production, never energy. This leads to et les filles – from Real Groovy, so I put
the conclusion that energy as a commodity it on the turntable in homage to the LETTER OF THE
is only a small percentage of GDP. great singer-songwriter that she was. WEEK PRIZE
In Principles of Micro-Economics, Ben Of cultural interest, Fantastic Fran oise Stars of TVNZ’s The Dog
Bernanke, one-time chairman of the US is a New Zealand pressing – those House New Zealand, Gavin and Helen Cook, have tips
Federal Reserve, supposes a bottle-making were the days – and I wondered how for dog owners.
firm gets sand for free and does not many like-minded New Zealanders
Commentary | Politics
Danyl McLauchlan
Ferrari fi xation
Gold-plated designs, bad management and inevitable cost
blowouts continue to defi ne our infrastructure spending.
n The Power Broker – infrastructure projects: also a signal to offi cials that
the biography of Robert Auckland Light Rail, Let’s Get there was a new sheriff in town.
Moses, New York’s Wellington Moving, the Lake If state agencies scammed
brilliant and tyrannical Onslow hydro project and We invest Treasury on their initial cost
city planner for 40 years replacing the Interislander heavily in estimates, the government
– the Machiavellian ferries and building new infrastructure would kill their projects.
public servant delivers terminals – for which KiwiRail – we just
a masterclass on how to spent $424 million on design HIGH-RISK DECISION
manipulate elected politicians and project management fees get terrible Sinking the Interislander
into funding his ruinously without delivering anything. value for it. replacement was always a
expensive megaprojects. The total cost of the new high-risk decision. The ships
The most important thing was rail-enabled ferries and port were failing – a Maritime NZ
to estimate the initial budget at upgrades quadrupled in just investigation into the Aratere’s
about a tenth of the real price. a few years with design work power failure in 2023 found
It would quickly be approved – on the ports yet to be fi nalised. a mid-sea power blackout was
such a great deal! – and he then The incoming government caused by disintegration of the
used the sunk-cost fallacy to was briefed on the project tape holding components of
gradually ratchet up the funding. during coalition negotiations. the electrical system in place.
Yes, the budget for this new In the few weeks between the The now-cancelled gold-
park or expressway was a little resumption of Parliament and plated replacement wouldn’t
higher than predicted, but did ministers meeting with offi cials have been in service until 2026
the mayor really want to tell the cost had increased by at the earliest (and it’s hard to
the public he was abandoning another $400 million to a total imagine KiwiRail delivering
this wonderful project and that $3 billion – almost certain to the new ports until the middle
the millions already invested go higher. of the century).
would be written off Aft er all Funding decisions are based So the steering failure
that lavish publicity promoting on benefi t-cost ratios and net that led to the vessel running
it Didn’t he have an election present value measurements. aground just north of Picton
coming up These ensure that the last week would have
By the time the project neared economics behind these big happened anyway.
completion – at 1000% of the capital investments stack up. If But it coincided with a
initial estimate – the city was offi cials and executives at SOEs sequence of similarly high-
raising taxes, cancelling other systematically undercost their profi le failures: the Air Force
vital builds and deeply in debt. proposals, the nation will fi nd Boeing 757 broke down in
Voters were furious – but that itself investing in ill-conceived Papua New Guinea while
was a problem for the elected projects that fail to pay for fl ying a prime ministerial
politicians, Moses replied coolly. themselves. trade delegation to Japan;
He just built the roads. Shame The coalition’s spree of the 18-week closure of the
about the mayor; Moses looked post-election infrastructure state highway through the
forward to working with his cancellations was Brynderwyns aft er slips;
successor. partly driven by and a power pylon fell over,
This tactic goes some its pathological knocking out power to
way towards explaining drive to erase all 100,000 Northland homes and
the staggering cost estimate trace of the Ardern businesses. (Energy Minister
Simeon Brown:
blowouts of the last Labour government’s “A pylon should Simeon Brown noted, “A pylon
government’s planned key existence, but it was not just fall down.” should not just fall down”, but
10 www.listener.co.nz LISTENER JULY 6 2024
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he turned out to be wrong. discourse can be reduced to philosophy for a nation that
Transpower revealed the “This leaky bucket is empty! doesn’t have much money
tower fell aft er contractors It’s hard to We must pour more water in!” and is bad at building things. carrying out maintenance Poor procurement, poor It’s a philosophy the
removed the bolts fi xing it to believe this governance, poor regulation, government has already
its base plate: a pylon should tunnel will poor project management abandoned. Its ministers are
and will fall over under such ever be built, and political uncertainty are chasing aft er Waka Kotahi’s
circumstances.) but we’ll happily all blamed for the high cost thrilling new plans for a 4km of building things, and in the mega-tunnel under Wellington
FALLING TO PIECES spend millions Interislander debacle we can like children in pursuit of an
Taken together, these incidents not building it. see how terrible management, ice-cream truck, desperate to
expose a nation that’s visibly procurement and governance repeat the mistakes of their
falling to pieces. deliver that political predecessors.
It’s oft en claimed that this uncertainty. It’s hard to believe this
country has underinvested There have been suggestions tunnel will ever be built but
in infrastructure. If that were that KiwiRail should not we’ll happily spend hundreds
true it would be appropriate manage the Cook Strait service of millions not building it.
to make up the shortfall by and the government intends Even now, the transport
directing more money into to “refresh the board”. agency is engaging contractors
transport, water and electricity. When Finance Minister and consultants to investigate
But a recent report by the Nicola Willis cancelled the the tunnel’s viability, and
Infrastructure Commission ferry spend, she they are likely to report back
found we invest heavily described the plan that their cost estimate for
in infrastructure – we just as a Ferrari when an extended underground
get terrible value for that we needed a tunnel in an earthquake zone
investment, and the more we Toyota Corolla, is surprisingly cheap – maybe
Nicola Willis:
spend, the worse the value. Sights set on the and this should a tenth of what you might
Nearly all our political Toyota Corolla. be a guiding expect to pay! l
JULY 6 2024 LISTENER www.listener.co.nz 11
ANTHONY ELLISON GETTY IMAGES
Commentary | Bulletin from Sydney
Bernard Lagan
Generating chaos
Just when we thought generation from solar and wind. hour. Large-scale solar was Australia’s years of The costs “Big” was second-cheapest, at $29-$92 climate wars were over his only answer. Recent and nuclear was the most amid fresh seas of solar experience suggests that’s an expensive at $145-$222. There’s an awful lot
and wind farms, would-be understatement. France has Big investors have already of political scheming
prime minister Peter Dutton struggled to meet cost and got behind the Albanese behind Dutton’s
has gone nuclear. time targets. Its 1650-megawatt government’s legislated target nuclear option.
The opposition leader’s late- Flamanville 3 power plant is for 2030 to have 82% of the grid
June announcement that, if due to be fully operational powered by renewables and
elected, he would build seven by year’s end. Construction made long-term investment
nuclear power plants to begin started in 2007, with the aim decisions on that basis.
operating from 2035, has fully of having it running by 2012
charged politics ahead of an at a cost of ?3.3 billion ($5.7b). o why would you now
election due within 14 months. It is now 12 years behind choose to go down the the Albanese government’s
Dutton has gambled his schedule and the cost has Snuclear path, upending signature thrust into renewals.
electoral future on a plan ballooned to more than ?13b. Australia’s very large push On paper, his nuclear
that would renationalise the Similarly, in the US, the into renewables Why policy seems to defy fi nancial,
nation’s electricity system, state of Georgia recently ignore natural advantages of scientifi c and political
employ nuclear energy for completed two nuclear abundant sun, wind and land realities. The Liberal-National
power generation – though power plants seven years Although Dutton argues, coalition’s nuclear plan
that’s illegal currently – and late and billions over budget. unconvincingly, that the costs could cost A$116-$600b
halt the nation’s eff orts to According to fi nancial of nuclear generation will while supplying only 3.7%
meet near-term emissions- services fi rm Lazard, be cheaper than remaking of Australia’s energy mix in
reduction targets. Under the renewable energy sources an energy system based on 2050, according to the Smart
plan, Australia would abandon continue to be much cheaper renewables, there’s an awful Energy Council.
its commitment to meeting than nuclear energy. Its latest lot of political scheming But people are listening.
an emissions reduction target research shows onshore wind behind his nuclear option. A Sydney Morning Herald poll
of 43% by 2030. was the cheapest, costing In one move, Dutton has aft er Dutton’s announcement
Not since the Ferrari-driving US$25-$73 per megawatt cast huge uncertainty over found 62% of voters are in
John Hewson launched his favour of nuclear, or at least
650-page Fightback! economic open to further investigation.
manifesto in 1992 has an Remember the Voice
opposition leader fl ung down When Anthony Albanese
such a crazy-brave proposal. proposed minutes aft er
Hewson sank beneath his own his election victory in May
mass of detail, memorably 2022 that the nation hold
struggling to explain on live a referendum on granting
television if a birthday cake Aboriginal people a Voice
would cost less or more under to Parliament, he quickly had
his proposed consumption tax. opinion polls, big business,
Dutton has not made that sporting leaders and the
mistake; he’s provided no cultural elites with him.
detail of how Australia will Dutton out-campaigned him
transition to nuclear power and the referendum was lost.
generation, other than naming The nuclear option is likely a
seven sites where they will be pup. But Dutton might sell it. l
built. They will supplement
New Zealander Bernard Lagan
Nuclear power stations is the Australian correspondent
don’t come cheap. for the Times, London.
12 www.listener.co.nz LISTENER JULY 6 2024
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Diary
Russell Brown
Relax, it’s even more grim up north
There is a resonance commentary is frequently seeking the leave of the to the timing of better than the game. Murdoch press to form a the British general They’re certainly having a government seems to be election campaign, good time on the News Agents ending before our very eyes, In the UK, the overlapping as podcast, a sort of rebel league and although “the Sun has commentary is
it does with the European formed by Emily Maitlis, Jon to at least appear as if it’s in frequently better
Football Championship. At Sopel and the boyish Lewis control”, he believed Rupert than the game.
the time of writing, it remains Goodall aft er they all quit the Murdoch’s heirs might not be
possible that Sir Keir Starmer BBC in 2022 in frustration at as game to continue the fi ght.
will enjoy the blessings of an the “impartiality” rules the And it could be irrelevant
England win in the Euros and organisation was applying in fi ve years’ time, when
a Bank of England interest to restrain its editorial teams. Yealand predicts 75-80% of a
rate cut in his fi rst fortnight A recent episode featured younger electorate will want
as prime minister. The former David Yelland, former editor the economic benefi ts of
is less likely than the latter. of the Sun, and asked, “Can the closer relationship with and Italy to characterise
Watching a foreign Rupert Murdoch still decide Europe the Conservative the populist shift that has
election is always a bit how Britain votes ” In general, press has sworn to oppose. dragged his old party, probably
like following an off shore asked Sopel at the top of the permanently, to the right,
football tournament. We show, “Do newspapers still E urope, of course, off ers where it is shedding the votes might have a favourite team, count ” its own complications. of alarmed centrists and those but the stakes are lower and Not so much, thought In a recent interview who regard immigration as the
we can relax and enjoy the Yelland, off ering the bracing with the ABC in Australia, great threat. Stewart observed
sound of the crowd; perhaps statistic that the average exiled Tory Rory Stewart that voters attracted by populist
even refl ect in our own British newspaper reader (who, like Yelland, has his own messaging also don’t have much
winter of discontent that is now 64 years old. The podcast, which is a theme in time for the orthodoxies of
it’s even more grim up north. time-honoured tradition itself) invoked recent election economic liberalism.
Compared with the US, of Labour leaders humbly results in Germany, France They’re more concerned
where it can be hard not to feel with culture wars than
that the end of the tournament balancing budgets or pricing
might be the vortex that brings climate emissions. There
about the end of the world, is “no space” in Europe and
British politics, even in its America for anything like
current crazed, impoverished Australia’s green-centrist Teal
state, feels familiar, especially independents, he concluded.
to the generations of New In a recent column for
Zealanders who have been Sp!ked, an online publication
temporary immigrants to that has championed the
the Old Country. closing of the gap between the
The same goes for the culture warriors of the left and
political media. As the US right, its “libertarian Marxist”
presidential election nears, founding editor Mick Hume
American cable news will declared that England football
become more awful. MSNBC coach Gareth Southgate “is the
will present its droning parade Keir Starmer of football”. We
of former US prosecutors may have to wait until the end
and Fox News will go about of the tournament to fi nd out
its core business of a creating what that actually means. l
a parallel universe where
gravity works diff erently. “Now that’s what I call a turtleneck.” Russell Brown is a freelance
In the UK, in contrast, the journalist based in Auckland.
JULY 6 2024 LISTENER www.listener.co.nz 13
ALEX SCOTT
Commentary | View from Abroad
Jane Clifton
Jailhouse bloc
K issing babies ticket rather than because of learly, this topsy-turvy and posing for her refreshingly understated new electoral orthodoxy selfi es may still approach. Chas emboldened be eff ective in Still, her triumph and those Britain’s Labour Party to try When a man says tickling up voters, of other unexpectedly elected something new. It recently it, it’s accurate;
but Europe’s recent elections MEPs honour the resigned stunned the voting public with when a woman
reveal a suite of counter- sentiment behind the old an old-fashioned lesson about says it, she’s just
intuitive new strategies. Antipodean saying, “A drover’s the birds and the bees.
The modern candidate dog could win that seat.” Former Labour prime out to cause trouble.
might consider adding prison- Seemingly, a name on the minister Tony Blair appeared
administered leg irons and ballot alone might now suffi ce. in national newspapers making
arm shackles to their hustings Unrepentance and even the observation: “A woman is
costume, and a charge criminality may actually (a person) with a vagina and a
of conspiracy to commit enhance a candidate’s appeal. man is (a person) with a penis.” This brought a surge in
assault causing harm. These three look Setting aside what someone armchair gynaecologists and
These worked a treat comparatively harmless awaking from a Rip Van urologists fl ooding Starmer
for Ilaria Salis, who is now alongside some other Winkle coma might have with the biological facts
a new Italian MEP (member newbies. The EU also gains made of this incursion into the of life – including heavy
of the European Parliament) an assortment of homophobes, British general election, it was representation from women
despite – or because of – a antisemites and Holocaust- widely interpreted as a rescue voters, whose gist was they
protest rampage in Hungary. deniers, opponents of mission for Labour leader Keir wouldn’t thank anyone for a
Or you could campaign women’s equality, climate- Starmer, who had got himself penis of their own and rather
from an Albanian jail, with change deniers, anti-vaxxers up a gum tree on the issue of wished male penis-owners
a two-year sentence for vote and a suspected pro-Russian gender fl uidity. would be more circumspect
fraud as your campaign propagandist. Starmer had earlier opined about theirs.
mascot, which was the novel Tentatively on the plus side, that “it wasn’t right” to say that Starmer then backtracked to
approach of Fredi Beleri, now Bulgaria elected a hip-hop only women had cervixes. He “A woman is an adult female.”
a Greek MEP. artist, Itzo Hazarta, who also said a woman could have Finally, insiders report, the
Alternatively, there’s specialises in anti-corruption a penis. Then he clarifi ed that party encouraged Blair to give
the minimalist option of songs, and the Czechs installed “99.9% of women haven’t got his grass-roots, retro verdict
remaining utterly silent, Ivan David, a psychiatrist. a penis.” on who has what bit of kit, so
refusing to submit so much as that Starmer could publicly
a photograph, let alone putting agree with it, thus hopefully
up hoardings, and staying off getting himself out of a gnarly
the hustings altogether. political and cultural thicket
This daring playbook without head-on confrontation
has pitched retired Greek with gender-fl uid activists.
farmer and butcher Galato Trouble is, Starmer has
Alexandraki, 76, into her long repudiated and blanked
new career in Brussels. a prominent Labour colleague,
Modest about her ingenious Rosie Duffi eld, having termed
voter manipulation, she told it “toxic” when she said exactly
reporters, “I don’t know how what Blair was now saying.
this happened.” Executive summary: when a
Perhaps disappointingly, man says it, it’s accurate; when
it probably happened because a woman says it, she’s just out
she was on a nationalist party to cause trouble.
At least on that basis, there’s
Up a gum tree on gender fluidity: a sure-fi re seat for Duffi eld in
Keir Starmer. the next EU elections. l
14 www.listener.co.nz LISTENER JULY 6 2024
GETTY IMAGES
Law & Society
David Harvey
Straining the quality of mercy
‘The defendant will to reveal their discharge to for a violent or sexual off ence plead guilty to anyone, unless they are asked or an off ence that caused the charge of **** by a court or a police offi cer. signifi cant harm or loss and seeks that  It can encourage the person to the victim or the public. Only truly minor no conviction be to rehabilitate and avoid  The personal circumstances off ences should
entered. An application for a reoff ending. The person and character of the person. warrant a discharge
discharge without conviction can benefi t from the support The court may consider the without conviction.
will be made and a hearing and guidance of the court- person’s age, background,
date is sought” is a frequent ordered conditions or orders health, employment, family
catechism made by defence such as counselling or or community ties, as well
munity work. The person as their previous criminal
A discharge without can also avoid the stigma and history, if any.
conviction allows a person discrimination that may come  The impact of a conviction
who has pleaded guilty or with having a criminal record. on the person. The court off ence, deterring others, or
been found guilty of an The only problem is that may consider how a promoting the rehabilitation
off ence to avoid having a over recent years, discharges conviction would aff ect of the off ender.
criminal record. The court without conviction have the person’s future
can discharge the person been granted for off ences prospects, opportunities he person who seeks
without entering a conviction that are not “minor”. These or responsibilities, as well a discharge without
pursuant to section 106 of include burglary or assault as their mental or emotional Tconviction must satisfy
the Sentencing Act, which with a weapon. wellbeing. the court that the direct and
means the person is not The court must consider  The interests of justice indirect consequences of
legally considered to have several factors before deciding and the public. The court a conviction would be out
committed the off ence. It is whether to grant a discharge may consider whether of proportion to the gravity
the equivalent of an acquittal. without conviction. Some of a discharge would be of the off ence. This is a high
However, the court can still the factors are: consistent with the purposes threshold, and the court has
impose conditions, such as  The nature and seriousness and principles of sentencing, a wide discretion to decide
paying reparation, attending of the off ence. The court is such as holding the person whether to grant a discharge.
counselling, or performing less likely to grant a discharge accountable, denouncing the If the government were to
community work. be serious about strengthening
A discharge without law and order and providing
conviction can have signifi cant for victim satisfaction it should
benefi ts for a person who tighten the provisions of
has committed a minor or section 106 so that discharges
fi rst-time off ence. Some of without conviction would
the advantages are: be available only for off ences
 It can prevent the person carrying a maximum of three
from facing negative months’ imprisonment.
consequences in their It should be restricted
employment, education, to some fi neable-only off ences.
travel or immigration status. In this way, only truly
Some employers, educational minor infractions would
institutions, or countries warrant a discharge and
may not accept people with off enders charged with more
criminal records, or may serious off ences would have
require them to disclose to take responsibility for
their convictions. their actions. l
 It can protect the person’s
reputation and privacy. David Harvey is a retired district
The person does not have court judge.
JULY 6 2024 LISTENER www.listener.co.nz 15
ANTHONY ELLISON
Cover story | Winter books special
In the chill zone
We’re only halfway through the year, but
already a collection of great yarns, absorbing
literature, brilliant memoirs and big ideas have
grabbed our undivided attention. Books editor
Mark Broatch surveys some of the best.
THRILLS & CHILLS August 27, is the based-on-truth tale of UK prime min-
The Call (A&U), a deft and accomplished debut novel ister HH Asquith, who, as he led his country into war in
from NZ screenwriter Gavin Strawhan, has an eye 1914, was having a relationship with a much younger
to current issues and a magnetic detective lead. DSS woman, Venetia Stanley, and revealing to her sensitive
Hana Westerman is back in Return to Blood (S&S), political matters. Caledonian Road (Faber) is an epic
Michael Bennett’s confident sequel to the bestselling social satire of modern London by Andrew O’Hagan
Better the Blood, which welcomes new characters and with a large, multilayered cast, all connected to the
has an unexpected ending. In JP Pomare’s 17 Years borough of Islington, crossed by the historic road of
Later (Hachette), out on July 31, a prison psychologist the title. The Mess We Made (Moa), out on July 30, is
and true-crime podcaster try to find out who really the debut novel from Kiwi Megan O’Neill about child-
killed the wealthy Primrose family. How far do you hood sweethearts who have a second chance at love.
go to save your family is canvassed in Home Truths The Ministry of Time (Hachette) is Kaliane Bradley’s
(A&U) by Kiwi Charity Norman, out on July 30, which brilliantly written and genuinely funny romp across
features former probation officer Livia Denby, who genres, including time-travel romcom and comedy of
is on trial for attempted murder. Everybody Knows manners, in which people from the past are brought
(Faber) by Jordan Harper is a top-notch thriller that into the London of the present day. Steven Carroll’s
journeys into the sordid, moneyed world of Hollywood Death of a Foreign Gentleman (4th Estate) is a literary
and its fixers after an apparently random killing of a crime novel that tries to discover, in Cambridge 1947,
PR boss. Don Winslow’s City in Ruins (HarperCollins), who killed the German philosopher, former Nazi and
a fitting swansong to his Danny Ryan trilogy and prob- all-round scumbag Martin Friedrich.
ably his writing career, is an ambitious tale that weaves
together a clutch of storylines. In Devil’s Kitchen CHEWY FICTION
(Bantam), Candice Fox has conjured an action-packed In Long Island (Picador), set two decades after the end
tale of a female undercover agent infiltrating a deadly of Brooklyn, Colm Tóibín returns to New York and Ire-
gang of New York firefighters and thieves. James Lee land to discover what happened to Eilis Lacey. Burma
Burke’s Clete (Orion) brings Clete Purcel, sidekick to Sahib (Hamish Hamilton) is Paul Theroux’s vividly
Burke’s Cajun investigator Dave Robicheaux, to centre imagined account of why a teenaged Eric Blair decided
stage in a gripping story of dogged sleuthing. You Like to become an imperial police officer in Burma rather
It Darker (Hachette) is a first-rate compilation of short than go up from Eton to the University of Oxford. Jenny
stories from master of horror Stephen King, some new Erpenbeck’s Kairos (Granta), a moving story of love
and some older but uncollected. and betrayal involving a young student and an older
married man set against the fall of the Berlin Wall,
SUNDAY AFTERNOON READS took out the International Booker Prize. In Lauren
You Are Here (Hachette) is a genuinely charming Keenan’s captivating historical novel The Space
and cheering story by David Nicholls, the author of Between (Penguin), two outsider women are con-
One Day, of a lonely Englishman and woman who are nected by one man with a backdrop of the weeks before
thrown together on an epic walk across the northern the outbreak of the Taranaki Land Wars. Kiwi Saraid
English countryside. In Tracy Chevalier’s latest his- de Silva’s debut Amma (Moa) is an excellent multi-
torical novel The Glassmaker (HarperCollins) the generational, decade-shifting, continent-crossing
daughter from a 15th-century Venetian glassmaking tale. Out on October 1 is the latest epic from Austral-
family defies convention – and the normal passing ian author Tim Winton, Juice (Penguin), in which a
of time. Robert Harris’s Precipice (Penguin), out on man and a child, both fugitives, arrive at an abandoned
16 www.listener.co.nz LISTENER JULY 6 2024
JULY 6 2024 LISTENER www.listener.co.nz 17
Cover story | Winter books special
The Last Secret Agent is a
rattling and, at times, genuinely
unnerving first-hand account of
the perilous life of a female spy
in wartime France.
mine site and have to survive and maintain its logical extreme. The Honeyeater (A&U) two very different Dublin brothers grieving
their humanity. In Tina Makereti’s The by Jessie Tu is a compelling and unsettling their father’s death and finding their way
Mires (Ultimo), out later this month, three story that blows the whistle on the seem- through love. The Wizard of the Kremlin
women and their children become neigh- ingly genteel worlds of literary academia by Giuliano da Empoli (Pushkin), recently
bours in a coastal town in NZ, but when one and Asian Gen-Z women. In Carys Davies’ translated into English, is a clever tale of
family’s son comes home unexpectedly, the Clear (A&U), a minister is sent to remove power and contemporary Russia, in which
tension and danger begin to build. Mania a lone tenant from his remote Scottish Vladimir Putin’s (fictional) spin doctor tells
(HarperCollins) is another inventive satire island, but after an accident, events take an his story. Out October 8 is Our Evenings
from Lionel Shriver, taking place in a near unexpected turn. Out on September 24 is (Pan Macmillan), by Booker Prize-winning
future where intellectual merit is consid- Sally Rooney’s much-awaited Intermezzo author of The Line of Beauty Alan Holling-
ered heresy and dumbing down is taken to (Faber), the Normal People author’s story of hurst, a darkly funny portrait of modern
18 www.listener.co.nz LISTENER JULY 6 2024
England through the eyes of one man,
traversing race and class, love, sexual-
ity and violence. In At the Grand Glacier
Hotel (Penguin), by Laurence Fearnley, Anthony Bale’s A Travel
a couple’s long-awaited holiday turns into a Guide to the Middle Ages
thoughtful, unsentimental, hopeful inves- is a rich exploration, and
tigation of mortality. Sinéad Gleeson’s
Hagstone (4th Estate) is an atmospheric one of enormous fun, of
look at community, solitude, faith and the how and why medieval
natural world through an artist living on people travelled.
a remote island off Ireland’s rugged west
coast.
HUMAN STORIES ENGAGING YOUR BRAIN
In My Time of Dying (Fourth Estate) is In The Light Eaters (Fourth Estate) award-
renowned journalist and documentary winning science writer Zo Schlanger
maker Sebastian Junger’s account of how an investigates in fascinating detail the senses
aneurysm nearly killed him, and while on of plants – they can “talk”, “hear”, count,
the operating table he, an atheist, had a near- decode signals from their surrounds and
death spiritual experience. Knife (Jonathan act in their own best interest. Borderlines
Cape) is not just a wry, lucid and brave tell- (Hachette), by political analyst Lewis Baston,
ing of Salman Rushdie’s near-fatal stabbing is a history of Europe through its internal
but an imagined dialogue with his attacker, a borders, almost all of which have been
eulogy for friends and contemporaries, and created by accident or force. In Melting
a love story, the novelist having quietly got Point (Wildfire), Rachel Cockerell creates
married in the years before the attack. The an intensely researched and radically con-
Last Secret Agent (A&U), by Pippa Latour structed account of her grandfather, who
and Jude Dobson, is a rattling and, at times, persuaded thousands of Russian Jews to
genuinely unnerving first-hand account flee to Texas in the lead-up to World War I.
of the perilous life of a female spy in war- Historian Anthony Bale’s A Travel Guide to
time France, from the unassuming Latour, the Middle Ages (Viking) is a rich explora-
who spent the last 50 years of her life in NZ tion, and one of enormous fun, of how and
and died only last year. In The Life of Dai why medieval people travelled – largely for
(HarperCollins), Kiwi comic Dai Henwood’s pilgrimage, trade and politics. In Our Moon
diagnosis of stage 4 cancer sets the stage for (Hachette), science writer Rebecca Boyle has
an open-hearted examination of mortality produced a fascinating, elegantly written
and spirituality, but also family, friends and account of our natural satellite, its birth,
comedy. Hine Toa (HarperCollins) is a vital huge effects on life, mythologies, calendars
memoir from emeritus professor Ngahuia and its future given space flight. When the
te Awekotuku, who was at the very centre Clock Broke by John Ganz (Macmillan) is
of the country’s women’s, gay and Māori lib- an insightful investigation of how events
eration movements. Airini Beautrais, best following the end of the administration of
known for Bug Week, her award-winning Ronald Reagan have led to America’s cur-
collection of short stories, delivers in The rent political and social turbulence.
Beautiful Afternoon (THWUP) a book of
personal essays concerning literature, FOR YOUNGER PEOPLE
religion, media, and so on, that are conver- The Grimmelings by Rachael King (A&U),
sational, discursive but deeply examined. her first book for a decade, is set in glitter-
First Things: A Memoir (THWUP) by Wel- ingly evoked South Island high country. It’s
lington poet and former academic Harry a great fusion of ultra-real and spooky. Six-
Ricketts is a lucid memoir of his first three Legged Ghosts by Lily Duval (Canterbury
decades, one full of books, cricket and sto- University Press) is an informative and lov-
ries, as he leaves the UK for the Antipodes. ingly produced exploration of the unique
When the British writer Olivia Laing began insects of this country. Nine Girls by Stacy
to restore a walled garden in Suffolk, she Gregg (Penguin) is quite different from her
started to investigate the long association of bestselling, award-winning horse story
paradise and gardens, through Milton, John books. A peeved Auckland teen returns to
Clare, Derek Jarman and others. The result her mother’s home town of Ngāruawāhia,
is The Garden against Time (Picador), out divided by race and a river. There’s a mys-
in August. tery, tapu and a talking eel. l
JULY 6 2024 LISTENER www.listener.co.nz
Winter books special
Stuff of fantasy
They may not win critical plaudits and they might fly under
our radars, but a growing number of NZ genre fiction writers
are in huge demand internationally. BY RICHARD BETTS
W e know the big names, Hatched, has just been picked up by Harper the ones who win the TOP TIPS Voyager. The book is why she’s in the US. Ockhams or other major After Beverly Hills, she’s off to Huntington awards. We know Elea- Beach then New York, before heading home nor Catton and Maurice ROMANCE SELLS: Fantasy, comic to Australia with husband Josh and their
Gee, Becky Manawatu, CK Stead and Emily or historical, everyone loves love. three kids.
Perkins. Fewer of us know Sarah A Parker, If the frog-throated glamour of an inter-
Kate O’Keeffe or Jayne Castel, yet all three GET ORGANISED: There’s no time national book tour seems a long way from
are among a small handful of New Zealand- to mess around. It’s a job. the south Wairarapa farm where Parker
born authors who make a better-than-good THINK INTERNATIONAL: Your readers grew up, it isn’t, really. There’s a direct
living solely from their books. are probably in the US and/or the UK. link between that rural childhood and the
Kiwis are readers – more than 85,000 WRITE, WRITE, WRITE: Romance epic fantasy romance books she writes as
people attended ticketed events at the recent readers are demanding; pump out an adult. “My earliest memories of fantasy
Auckland Writers Festival, and between the content to keep them engaged. are going to my nana’s place,” Parker recalls.
them bought 11,000 books – but there just FOLLOW THE RULES: The girl always “She had a flat on the farm and I’d trudge
aren’t enough of us to support our own fic- gets the guy in the end, and readers over in my gumboots and kneel before her
tion writers. hate cliffhangers. coffee table, where she’d have a stack of
For Aotearoa-based authors to be com- fairy books. I’d go through them for hours
mercially successful, they must look See romancewriters.co.nz for more and hours.”
internationally: Stacy Gregg signed early resources: the organisation’s annual It changed the way Parker experienced
on with HarperCollins UK for what would conference is in Christchurch from the world, transporting her imagination
become multiple series of pony-themed August 9-11. beyond the wishful Narnian glances at
books for tweens; Nicky Pellegrino is repre- wardrobes many of us remember. “I couldn’t
sented by Hachette UK for her novels, often sniffy about genre fiction, but I’ve spoken look at a fairy ring without feeling like I was
set in Italy. at the romance writers conference and they going to step in and go somewhere differ-
Genre romance writer Nalini Singh sells are such glitzy, professional affairs. They’re ent,” she says. “I’d see bluebells and think a
multitudes internationally for the Harle- incredibly well organised and always have fairy might be sleeping there. I’ve taken a lot
quin imprint; crime writer Ben Sanders international speakers and publishers who of that into my adult life.”
has a deal with HarperCollins and has been come in looking for new talent. They’re The result has been a hugely success-
shortlisted five times for crime fiction’s the most sophisticated book marketers ful career as a self-published author, with
Ngaio Marsh Awards. His 2015 novel, Ameri- we have, probably 10 or 15 years ahead of her Spawn of Darkness series and the Crys-
can Blood, was optioned by Warner Bros, everyone else.” tal Bloom trilogy enabling her to write
but Sanders still earns his main crust as a Three of our most successful, Parker, full-time. She is now the sole family bread-
structural engineer. O’Keeffe and Castel, interrupted their sched- winner, doing well enough for Josh to have
Over the past decade, other writers have ules to talk to the Listener. quit his job as a commercial lawyer to look
turned to self-publishing online, writing to after the household. “I needed help at home,”
market and maintaining a ferocious output SARAH A PARKER Parker says. “So, after I published To Flame
that keeps readers wanting more. In most ‘Sorry if you can hear honking and a Wild Flower [2023, the final Crystal Bloomcases, those readers want more romance stuff,” says Sarah A Parker from the book], Josh was like, ‘You can carry us. I’ll books, and Parker (fantasy), O’Keeffe other end of a Zoom call. “We’re in look after the kids and you can have more (comedy) and Castel (historical) all off

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