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CONTENTS ISSN 2381-9553: Vol 280, No. 4246. May 14-20, 2022 Te Kaiwhakarongo Aotearoa COVER IMAGE: GETTY IMAGES/LISTENER ILLUSTRATION REBEKAH ROBINSON FEATURES Ellen Comber reconcile her mixed difficult shouldn’t be avoided. In fact, emotions about the region. we should embrace the angst they evoke. COVER STORY by Marc Wilson LIFE 16 | Weathering the storm 46 | Technology We’re drowning in oceans A proposed income insurance scheme for 36 | Health Treating dogs for fleas of content but some reliable guides are at redundancy and sickness is being billed as the or spraying to control pests inside your hand to help us find what to watch, listen most far-reaching social policy development home can increase children’s exposure to and read. by Peter Griffin since the creation of ACC. by Rebecca Macfie to pesticides, a new study shows. BOOKS 22 | Mourning from afar by Nicky Pellegrino We must improve how we manage death 48 | Fortunes of war After decades and dying during pandemics, say those denied 38 | Nutrition There are easy ways to immersed in the failed War on Drugs, the most important moments of their lives. add more fibre to your diet and thereby American crime writer Don Winslow returns improve your health. by Jennifer Bowden to his home turf and surf for an epic new by Sarah Catherall trilogy. by Craig Sisterson 40 | Food José Pizarro’s authentic, 28 | Growing a movement uncomplicated recipes celebrate 51-55 | Books Novels by Louise Kennedy Efeso Collins wants to be Auckland’s first the melting pot of cultural influences and Anne Tyler; a history of modern physics; a Pasifika mayor. So how is he planning to win on the Iberian Peninsula. biography of Yvette Williams; an investigation votes? by Russell Brown into who betrayed the family of WWII diarist 42 | Wine A former doctor’s vineyard Anne Frank; and poetry by Erik Kennedy 34 | Icy embrace dream is bearing fruit. by Michael Cooper A dip in Wilkies Pools in Taranaki helps 44 | Psychology Doing things that are COMMENTARY 13 | Elsewhere Graham Reid ENTERTAINMENT 14 | Politics Jane Clifton 3 | Upfront 94 | The Good Life 60 | Television Russell Baillie 62 | Film reviews Russell Baillie, Sarah Watt 4 | Letters Plus Caption Competition,  Michele Hewitson 64 | Music Graham Reid, Russell Baillie 66 | TV picks Quips & Quotes and 10 Quick Questions 71-91 | TV programmes 8 | Bulletin Cathrin Schaer 92-93 | Radio programmes 93 | Classical Elizabeth Kerr 9 | Diary Russell Brown DIVERSIONS 10 | Life Bill Ralston 56-59 | Diversions & Puzzles 11 | Reality Check Stephen Davis p52 p53 Editor KARYN SCHERER Senior Designer RICHARD KINGSFORD Chief Executive Officer JANE HUXLEY Classified Sales KIM CHAPMAN Chief Subeditor FRANCES GRANT Subeditor NICK RUSSELL General Manager STUART DICK classifi[email protected] Political Columnist JANE CLIFTON Editorial Assistant REBECCA ZHONG Editorial Manager SARAH HENRY Subscriptions Email [email protected], Books Editor MARK BROATCH Editorial Office 317 New North Rd, Kingsland, Senior Account Manager CHLOE THOMSEN magshop.co.nz or phone 0800 624 7467 Entertainment & Arts Editor RUSSELL BAILLIE Auckland 1021 [email protected] The NZ Listener is published by Are Media Ltd, Television Editor FIONA RAE Editorial postal address PO Box 52122, Commercial Brand Manager MAE KELLY Level 1, 317 New North Rd, Kingsland, Auckland 1021. Art Director DEREK WARD Kingsland, Auckland 1352 [email protected] Printed by Webstar, 114 Swanson Rd, Henderson, Assistant Art Director SHANE KELLY Editorial contact [email protected] Sales Director CLAIRE CHISHOLM Auckland 0610. © 2022. All rights reserved. 2 LISTENER MAY 14 2022

UPFRONT Dead poor For families who need a state grant to bury loved ones, humiliation is compounded by penny-pinching and red tape, writes Gillian Boyes. Farewelling a loved one is tough at the best of their loved one the farewell they feel they deserve. Or they times. But during level 4 Covid lockdowns, feel so anxious about the money that they can’t grieve at all. farewells were made immeasurably tougher when funerals for an estimated 5000 New Taking on extra debt to pay for a funeral is common. For some, Zealanders were taken away from their it is simply a necessity. Mum or Dad deserve a funeral and so the loved ones. money will be found. Where funeral debt is sourced through The profound finance companies, it exacerbates an already precarious financial situation grief, uncertainty for these families. Funeral directors and, at times, outrage this caused has been are left navigating difficult discussions captured brilliantly in Sarah Catherall’s among family members around what “Mourning from afar” article in this issue. is and isn’t possible financially. Most But there’s another roughly 5000 Kiwi of the costs supposedly covered by families who each year also miss out or the funeral grant, such as the casket, have severely restricted farewell choices. embalming, funeral notices and the This is the average number who receive funeral director’s fee, simply can’t be a Work and Income Funeral Grant. included by the time costs external to This hardship grant is available to the funeral director, such as the council very low-income New Zealanders. It burial plot or cremation, are paid. is asset tested and granted on behalf The government is much more of the deceased. Excluding consumer generous when it comes to price index adjustments, it has not deaths as a result of accidents. been increased since 2003. This has led to a significant shortfall between The maximum ACC funeral grant is the costs the grant was designed to $6569.53. Money can be spent on an cover and what it actually pays for. expanded list of services including The maximum payable amount memorials, flowers or whatever “unique for the grant is $2280.72. In 2021, expenses are needed recognising each this covered only 29% of the cost of family/whānau’s specific circumstances”. a simple funeral and burial and 37% A recovery team is available to help of the cost of simple cremations. with completing the paperwork. For families totally reliant on the Contrast that with the support available grant, this usually means no funeral to low-income families. This includes a at all. At best, they can have a direct 12-page form requiring intrusive financial cremation – a service where the details and proof there was little or no deceased is picked up, cremated and money in the bank account on the day the then ashes returned to the family with person died. There is also a requirement no opportunity for them to be present. to drop the form into a service centre or Families with access to at least some Caskets with no handles post it. additional funding may have to sacrifice Why is the support so different? And other important rituals of a farewell. For are cheaper, but you why, despite repeated calls to make grants example, caskets with no handles are can’t carry your loved more equitable, has the government con- cheaper, but mean you can’t carry your one from the service. tinued to ignore this? loved one from the service. Burials, still If Covid has any silver lining, perhaps preferred by about 90% of Pasifika fami- it might be renewed recognition of the lies and by Māori, will almost certainly be fundamental human need – and right – ruled out. The average cost of a burial plot alone is $3500. to grieve in a way that is meaningful for a family. l GETTY IMAGES The human impact of this shortfall is seen every week by funeral directors. For many families, their grief is compounded Gillian Boyes is chief executive of the Funeral Directors Association by the embarrassment and shame of not being able to give of New Zealand. SUBMISSIONS for Upfront should be approximately 600 words long and should be sent to [email protected]. Full contact details must be provided. MAY 14 2022 LISTENER 3

LETTERS Children can’t wait Professor Innes Asher’s pic- We, the adults in charge, most will not, and their chil- the 1990s, there has been ture of families too close to the have control over the quality of dren will flourish, making our just a scattering of crumbs, breadline to save themselves childhood. Some progress has country a better place. never enough to really lift from falling further into the been made for some children children out of poverty. chasm of poverty (Upfront, in poverty over the past couple Immediate action is vital, May 7) is yet another reminder of years, but why are we still not delays with promises for I liken it to Victorian of the poverty so many chil- failing to face reality and improvement. times: we will give them dren experience. enable all parents to provide Penelope Hansen just enough to survive but good permanent homes, food (Remuera, Auckland) certainly not to thrive and She concludes with the on the table, warm beds for flourish; they do not deserve words, “Our children are wait- their families? LETTER OF THE WEEK that because it is their fault. ing.” But the reality is children can’t wait because childhood If we can’t do this with The Upfront piece should What I do not understand doesn’t wait. Children have, wages, the government needs have us all out on the streets is the rationale for this policy. let’s say, 15-18 years in which to to improve support for those protesting, but no. If we gave enough for families grow, either to flourish or be most in need. When they to more than just survive, scarred for the remainder of are properly supported, Is it because we believe they would spend all that in their lives. Every single year some families will still fail that so many children should their own communities – the matters for every single child. to respond to assistance, but live their lives in poverty, money would just go around and that successive govern- to benefit us all. It would not go ments also believe this? Since WINNING CAPTION Yes, I am a frequent Dean Donoghue, Papamoa Beach flyer. You? FINALISTS Kiwi: “Mum told us there would be lots of blokes looking for birds.” – Brian Farrant, Blenheim Jacinda Ardern: “I hope you kiwis only have the OE variant!” – Paul Kelly, Palmerston North Ardern: “Again, this is absolutely my fancy dress.” – Philip Lynch, Upper Hutt Ardern: “I chose to come as a kiwifruit.” – Mike Lynch, Upper Hutt GETTY IMAGES Caption: Jacinda Ardern admires new Air NZ cabin Caption crew outfits. – Robert Morey, Dunedin competition Ardern: “So were you the pilot or cabin crew”? THIS WEEK’S PICTURE – Alan Belcher, Christchurch Caption Competition Elon Musk and his mother, former supermodel Maye Musk, arrive for this year’s Met Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. {[email protected]} TO ENTER Send your captions for the photo at right to [email protected], with “Caption Competition No 460” in the subject line. Alternatively, entries can be posted to “Caption Competition No 460”, NZ Listener, PO Box 52122, Kingsland, Auckland 1352. Entries must be received by noon, Tuesday, May 17. THE PRIZE More than 150 recipes from vibrant keto cook Belinda MacDonald, past joint winner of My Kitchen Rules NZ. 4 LISTENER MAY 14 2022

offshore, or to pay lawyers to fit and active, so it is not an law forbidding council refer- needs to explain how these avoid paying taxes. issue at present. enda on Māori wards. savings can be achieved. This policy of punishing I realise this arrangement Pākehā who are suddenly The second issue I have children is mean and miserly would not work for everybody, alarmed at a looming two-tier is that all local authorities – so very like the Scrooge of but we all have a great rapport system have to do their bit in one entity would pay the Charles Dickens’ England. and it’s hard to imagine living and not be so lazy if they truly same amount. It is inequitable Nina Mariette any other way. want to avoid a head-on crash that councils such as Porirua (Raumati South) Alison Kelso down the track. and Nelson, which have (Nelson) Keith Burgess already spent considerable EXTENDED HOUSEHOLDS (Sumner, Christchurch) amounts upgrading their THREE WATERS REFORM infrastructure, funded by Our family has lived in a The main issue councils are higher rates, should now have three-generational situation It is timely that Pākehā got objecting to in the proposed to subsidise those authorities for the past 15 years (“Packed interested in the history of co- Three Waters reform appears that have been irresponsible to the rafters”, April 30). We governance (Upfront, April 23), to be the proposed owner- and not upgraded theirs. entered into this with a degree and there’s a lot to say. ship of the new entities. I am Chris Fitchett of trepidation, but it has far more concerned with the data (Nelson) exceeded our expectations in First, Pākehā ought to note being provided to justify the spite of initial negativity from their admiration for all those reforms. LIGHT RELIEF family. Māori who quietly played the long game towards co-govern- Scottish Water provided the After years of heavy men- We bought a large section ance, and those who worked projected costs per house- strual bleeding (Health, April in Nelson and had a house within political parties to hold in 2051. I query the basis 30) that had a drastic effect on architecturally designed change things over decades. of these costings, and their my personal and working life for our requirements. My knowledge of infrastructure and caused severe anaemia, husband and I (now in our For me, this illustrates that costs here. I was on the point of having the eighties) sold our house in if Pākehā want to declare it recommended hysterectomy Rotorua and our son and undemocratic, it is time for The figures for Entity C (the when I read an article about daughter-in-law (who were Pākehā to inform Pākehā – or lower North Island and top of endometrial ablation. expecting their first baby) sold do they want Māori to do the the South) show that without theirs in Christchurch so we legwork for them, too? the reforms the average Having this day surgery could pool funds. household would pay $3730 in my mid-forties meant no Followers of stroppy Pākehā a year by 2051 (ranging from more periods and an invisible Our house is on three levels, campaigns such as Hobson’s $8690 for four North Island menopause. with the lowest level being a Pledge or Act’s should know, councils to $2330 in Porirua triple garage and storeroom, for instance, that the Labour and Nelson). Scottish Water That was 30 years ago, and it level one being a totally inde- Party actually refused to sign says with the reforms, the is one of the best things I ever pendent two-bedroom house the United Nations Declaration costs in 2051 will be $1260 per did. Everything from everyday for my husband and me, and on the Rights of Indigenous household for all authorities life to sex to overseas travel level two, which is above and Peoples. National’s John Key in Entity C. became so much easier and behind level one as it is on a was forced to sign it when better. sloping section, is a four-bed- New Zealand became the only There may well be some cost room house for the other two country not a signatory. savings due to economies of Ablation for me was simple generations. scale, but can anyone really and painless and gave me free- So, politics – in particular, believe the new organisations dom from menstrual problems We now have three amaz- blaming Labour for being will be able to carry out these forever. ing grandsons, aged 16, 14 and behind co-governance – can functions at a third of the cost? Name withheld 12, and we are privileged to be counted as irrelevant. The (Hamilton) have been a major part of their He Puapua report was an From my background in lives. inevitable result of that UN local government, I know DECLUTTERING agreement and is essentially the bulk of infrastructure Our son and his wife have a document that delays action, costs are in loan repayments. While I accept some of the had the benefit of babysitters much to Māori frustration, but The new entity may be able sentiments raised in Peter Cal- on call over the years, and with it is also meant to guide. to borrow at slightly lower der’s article on decluttering the benefit of monitors, we interest rates, but nothing like (“Can’t take it with you”, April have been able to babysit from If some Pākehā are a third of the cost. Someone 16), I think the “Good riddance” the comfort of our own house aggrieved about co-govern- panel [on disposal options] is once the boys were past the ance, or see limits at this late tiny baby stage. stage, they have to get real, Letters to the editor {[email protected]} and decide whether they can We’ve also been available for imagine it being undone by, The Editor, NZ Listener, PO Box 52122, Kingsland, Auckland 1352 transporting the boys to school say, National and the Act Party and/or sport when required. getting together and dis- ● Letters must be under A phone number can be helpful.  establishing the Māori Health 300 words. Preference is ● Pen names or letters submitted I guess the advantages of Authority, the first post-He given to shorter letters.  elsewhere are not acceptable.  this arrangement will eventu- Puapua action. A more viable ● A writer’s full residential ● We reserve the right ally be in our favour as we action might be to reverse the address is required on all to edit or decline letters get older, but we are both still letters, including emails. without explanation. MAY 14 2022 LISTENER 5

LETTERS Quips& 10Quick Quotes Questions byGABEATKINSON “No love stronger than a 1. When are domestic cats different variety of corn to 8. Which of these natural dad and the pet he vowed generally most active? sweet corn. he didn’t want.” – Heard in attractions can be found ❑ Only after sunrise ❑ True the Are Media offices ❑ Late at night ❑ False near the small community ❑ Dawn and dusk “Everything that happens ❑ Only after sunset 5. What is an imprimatur? of Punakaiki? on Twitter from now on is up to him. And also 2. Which of these musicians ❑ Government clerk ❑ Bridal Veil Falls whatever strain his weed never hit the US top 40 singles ❑ Bookshelf ladder ❑ Pancake Rocks guy gives him that day.” chart in their lifetime? ❑ Official sanction ❑ Champagne Pool ❑ Early copying machine ❑ Split Apple Rock – Trevor Noah on Elon Musk’s ❑ Jim Morrison Twitter purchase ❑ Bob Marley 6. Which of these TV sitcoms 9. Which film includes the ❑ Janis Joplin was NOT a spin-off from the “There’s a great power ❑ Jimi Hendrix series Happy Days? memorable line “Shall in words, if you don’t hitch too many of them 3. Which of these is NOT one ❑ The Facts of Life we play a game?” together.” – Josh Billings of the three parts of Dante ❑ Laverne & Shirley Alighieri’s narrative poem ❑ Joanie Loves Chachi ❑ Tron “My mom has a podcast Divine Comedy? ❑ Mork & Mindy ❑ WarGames but you can only hear it ❑ 2001: A Space Odyssey if you have the password ❑ Paradiso 7. Which of these historical ❑ WALL-E to my voicemail.” ❑ Inferno figures has a tomb or gravesite ❑ Purgatorio with a known location? 10. Which of these chains – Seen on Twitter ❑ Diablo ❑ Genghis Khan was the first to open a “We cannot help but 4. True or false? Commercial ❑ Cleopatra of Egypt be interested in the popcorn is made from a ❑ Alexander the Great self-service outlet in New stories of people that ❑ William Shakespeare history pushes aside Zealand? so thoughtlessly.” ❑ Four Square Answers on – Min Jin Lee, Pachinko ❑ New World page 58. ❑ Foodtown “Comedy doesn’t change ❑ Pak‘nSave the world, but it’s a bellwether. We’re the totally glib and unbalanced. I laughed out loud at Don in 2010. Unlike some of the banana peel in the coal He suggests items such Goodall’s letter about how examples in the article, we do mine.” – Jon Stewart, on he wanted to hold on to his not have the luxury of moving as the family silver and old precious mementos. After a and leaving the decluttering to receiving the Mark Twain ornaments are unlikely to find lifetime of providing for his the kids, as, like many, we need Prize for American Humour buyers. Has he never heard kids, he argues, the least they the proceeds of the house to of sterling silver, Sheffield could do is clear out his stuff make the move. “It’s like hiring a soccer plate, collectable ceramics when he’s gone. player and saying, ‘I don’t and porcelain, paintings, Decluttering began as we care how many goals you furniture, rugs, etc? He Although I enjoy his prepared the house for sale score, I only care how assumes most New Zealand sentiment, I don’t share it. We and continues as we approach many hours you train.’” homes are full of junk. get rid of stuff for ourselves, the move. We have disposed of not for our kids. In an already much surplus stuff to family, – Nicholas Bloom, an expert Some children are often noisy world, our possessions friends, op shops and the tip. on remote work, on companies keen to inherit family can add more noise, leaving We have not sold anything. We monitoring employees’ treasures, and if not, there us feeling frayed and were not prepared to haggle schedules is a ready market in auction overwhelmed. over the price – $10 or $20 – houses and reputable antique for my 40-year-old Black and “I don’t meditate, but I dealers in NZ, Australia, the Life is a process of let- Decker skilsaw. do sometimes leave my UK and on eBay, etc. ting go. Let’s start with our phone in the other room possessions. When we settle into our new when I’m watching TV.” His approach mirrors the Mary Anna Smith place we should be well into recent housing supply legisla- (Mt Eden, Auckland) planning a carefree overseas – Seen on Twitter tion, passed with the support trip, Covid willing. of National and Labour, which We are six months past Mike and Chris Reynolds “It is better to know will result in the demolition making the decision to sell (Te Atatu South) some of the questions of many colonial buildings, our house and “purchase” than all of the answers.” to be replaced by often hide- an apartment in a retirement WELCOME HOME ous blocks with no regard to village, one month beyond – James Thurber keeping what little we have in selling the house and 16 days New Zealand wants to open historical buildings and their away from the big move. for international tourism contents. again (“Tourism trap”, May 7)? Tim Hawley We are older boomers, born Visit the new Hundertwasser (Karori, Wellington) in the mid-1940s and retiring Art Centre in Whangārei? 6 LISTENER MAY 14 2022

Not with Air New Zealand. hard to accommodate customers on mathematics teaching rooms. I had to learn my times The airline cancelled all on the next available flights. (Upfront, April 16) could tables when I was 7-8 years old also be true of the teaching – I am teaching intermediate flights from Whangārei to FOOD COSTS of reading and English in students these days who don’t Auckland from Easter Monday primary schools. know them. I have also taught to Wednesday. There were To Bill Ralston (Life, April 30) five-year-olds who can barely no afternoon flights from and anyone else wondering Before I retired, I was speak. Kerikeri, either. why vegetables and just about appalled at the ill-spelt everything else are costing work put on whiteboards I took an intermediate class It did not arrange for more, the answer is easy. Until by some teachers. to the library a couple of years alternative travel by bus – recently I filled my car with ago and only two girls got everybody was told to make fuel for $80; today the same I taught in the junior books out. I was appalled. their own way. There were full tank costs $109. school and also taught read- no rental cars available on ing recovery, and found that I, too, worry about teacher Easter Monday in Whangārei Our borders have been some university lecturers training. and the next Intercity bus closed for two years with no in the 1990s were not in was Tuesday morning – no overseas workers allowed in, favour of the programme. We always had to have plan- way for my whānau to catch and New Zealanders just don’t ning available, but that’s not their connecting plane in want to take on manual labour. Yet, in the school I taught always the case now. Auckland and be back at work in, the average reading age in Wellington on Tuesday. To grow vegetables or any rose dramatically. Last year, I had three differ- farm produce you need fuel, ent student teachers come to Tickets from Auckland labour, water, fertiliser – all A child taught to read me saying they had learnt a lot to Whangārei return had have become either nonexist- successfully can then do any being in the class I was reliev- cost $457.60. No vouchers ent or extremely expensive. other subject with confidence, ing in, and could they talk with for accommodation or food including maths. Better tutor- me? Two visited me at home were offered to the stranded Repairs to equipment, such ing for trainee teachers is and one sat with me in the staff passengers. as irrigators, have become essential if we wish to raise the room regularly. Sylvia Kaa impossible with components level of English and mathemat- (Kamo, Whangārei) unavailable due to shipping ics in New Zealand schools. Basically, I agree that or factories shutting down or Celia Geary prospective primary teachers Air New Zealand responds: having no workers. (Feilding) need a lot of help from quali- Over Easter, 125,000 customers fied staff. flew with Air New Zealand and If food is too expensive, we I am retired but teaching part- Jan Dempsey the vast majority got to where could all go back to growing time still, and have said for (New Plymouth) they needed to. Unfortunately, our own. If you have no land, years that reading, writing, horrific weather on Easter grow in pots or ask someone oral language and maths Letter of the Monday meant we had to cancel who has spare land if you can have all gone downhill. week prize some flights out of Northland borrow some. I have nothing against airports and weren’t able to Cheryl Atkinson technology but think Journalist Hazel bus people to Auckland as we (RD5, Ashburton) students are using devices Phillips spent three sometimes do. The Whangārei too early and for too long. years living in and Kerikeri teams worked TEACHER TRAINING mountain huts and There is little actual tramping alone for I feel many of Keith teaching going on in many days at a time, all Williamson’s statements while holding down a full-time job. New Zealand’s first privately funded co-ownership housing model, Find us online: youown.co.nz YouOwn gives a helping hand to first home buyers across the country. Since 2017, YouOwn has helped more than 100 families purchase their own homes. YouOwn is an organisation with heart making a real difference to New Zealanders. It also offers excellent financial returns to investors with 5% p.a. plus potential for capital gain. The Series 4 Limited Partnership is now open to eligible wholesale investors. To learn more, visit youown.co.nz/investors An impact Call: 09 302 8521 Email: [email protected] investment in Kiwi families

BULLETIN FROM BERLIN CATHRIN SCHAER A doomed romance A fter this war in New Zealand and Australia, he door, acting out some fairly have now combined with Europe, nothing said, as well as South Korea and far-fetched megalomaniacal doubts about whether “Wandel will be the same. India. China wasn’t on the list. fantasies and committing a durch Handel” actually works That was the slew of heinous war crimes when you’re dealing with message from These days, the Germany- along the way. stubborn dictators with a Ursula von der Leyen, head of China relationship reads a the European Union’s decision- bit like a doomed romance. Germany’s Parliament has making body, after she held a At first, German businesses asked Beijing to “abandon its video conference with China’s were enamoured of the rapidly approval” of Moscow’s invasion. President Xi Jinping last month. developing country. But instead of hearts in their eyes, some of Things had been changing predilection for riding big The Europeans were trying to the world’s biggest companies for Germany in China before horses shirtless. And that’s convince China that supporting – including Siemens, BASF and this, of course. By 2019, about coalescing into a new political Russia in its two-and-a-half- Volkswagen – saw dollar bills 7%, or €89 billion, of Germany’s perspective in Germany. month-old invasion of Ukraine flashing. foreign direct investment was was a bad idea. Despite the EU in China. However, German L ast month, the German being China’s biggest trading Then there was also Ger- companies complained that Parliament agreed on partner – the two did €586 bil- many’s long-standing policy of nobody was playing by their a resolution in which lion worth of business last year defeating evil through what’s rules. Companies were handi- it asked Beijing to “abandon – it’s unclear whether Beijing known as “Wandel durch capped by local policies, unable its approval” of Moscow’s will see it Brussels’ way. Handel”, or “change through to compete fairly with Chinese invasion and threatened trade”. This basically says that firms; trade and technological sanctions should China start Gradually, many Europeans if nations become economically secrets were copied and, in delivering weapons to Russia. are coming to see the Ukraine interdependent, they’ll be more some cases, whole companies One foreign-policy expert war as the beginning of a new reluctant to fight. were bought out. described the statement as kind of ideological battle, a the end of Germany’s naive global fight between democracy However, the Russian inva- Those business frustrations illusion about Chinese inten- and autocracy. So what they sion of Ukraine changed all tions; another called the tough want to know is this: whose that. A healthy export-import language “unprecedented”. side are the Chinese really on? relationship with Russia didn’t stop it from going next Apparently, the German- The Germans don’t seem Chinese honeymoon, which to think it’s theirs. Late last possibly went on much longer month, the relatively new than it should have, is well and German Chancellor, Olaf truly over. Germany, along Scholz, travelled to the other with 26 other EU nations, side of the world. Whenever is big enough that what it former leader Angela Merkel does with regard to China, made this trip, she stopped off in this new ideological battle, in China first. However, Scholz may still make a difference. went to Japan. Unfortunately, New Zealand isn’t – something that bears Some said it was because careful contemplation given of the pandemic in China. But that, after this war in Europe, others said he was sending a nothing will be the same again. l signal. Some local media even ANDY TRISTRAM called it his “anti-China trip”. “This exhibit is my favourite.” Cathrin Schaer is Middle East editor for German public While in Tokyo, Scholz broadcaster dw.com, and lives stressed that Germany wanted in Berlin. more focus on the southern hemisphere and that the world’s fourth-largest economy preferred ties to countries that shared its own values. Besides Japan, this included 8 LISTENER MAY 14 2022

DIARY RUSSELL BROWN Buying time was worth it Iwitnessed my first The buying of time with an almost horizontal line that stayed. I did eventually test supermarket mask the MIQ extension had equates to about a dozen New positive and while the acute confrontation the other benefits. We held out Zealanders still dying every phase of the infection was other day. A man had until the rapid antigen tests day. At the time of writing, mercifully brief, the two and wandered in unmasked arrived, so we didn’t see a it may even be ticking up. a half weeks of fatigue that and a second man, who turned complete collapse of testing out to be my old neighbour, and profiteering on rapid tests We held out until the rapid antigen was shouting legally action- the way Australia did. Our tests arrived and our hospital able threats at him. After he hospital services came under services didn’t crumple. was done shouting, he saw me significant pressure but didn’t and greeted me cheerily. He’s crumple. Supermarket lines A nd yet it is natural, followed was an anxious slog. a lovely chap. But clearly, what came and went, but supply psychologically We’ve been out to dinner we do and don’t do about Covid chains didn’t fall apart as they necessary even, to still raises passions. did in other countries. We think as if it’s over. This is since and I’m back to play- dodged quite a few worst cases. particularly the case for those ing records in bars. With For all the controversy it of us who have had the virus our boosters on board, we has generated – more among But now what? And why and recovered – which will can reasonably hope for six the commentariat than the are we talking about this in soon be one in five of us. In a months of gradually waning masses – the extension of the the past tense? We are in no Diary column that seems a long protection from reinfec- MIQ system by a few precious danger of overtaking Hong time ago, I reported experi- tion and, hopefully, a lighter weeks did save lives. More than Kong’s death toll, but that city’s encing symptoms without viral load if and when it three-quarters of eligible adults daily mortality has come down testing positive and concluding happens again. I still bought received booster shots and steeply from its horrifying that might be where things tickets for a Spark Arena our peak Omicron mortality peak and is now lower than show in six months’ time. was half that of Australia’s and ours. The Financial Times’ vastly lower than in the US. Covid tracker graph shows I don’t know if I’ll wear a mask at the concert. Most crucially, we got But I am more than glad nearly all of the elderly to wear one to the super- boosted. Hong Kong, market and the mall and another erstwhile “zero- I hope the government Covid” region, with a can hold the current line slightly higher popula- and require masking tion than ours, did not. in public indoor areas New Zealand and Hong where it’s not an obvious Kong copped the Omi- imposition. There will, cron wave at about the of course, be people same time. Hong Kong’s – you probably know seven-day rolling aver- some of them – who age of deaths peaked regard even that line as early in March at nearly tantamount to fascism. 38 per million. Ours But the cold fact is the peaked a month later pandemic is not over. at 3.7. It wasn’t that we We’re muddling around didn’t catch the virus – finding a way to live now it fairly ripped through and we will be muddling New Zealand’s Covid- for a long time yet. l naive population and our peak daily case rate “Can you tell me if any of these are formulated Russell Brown is a ALEX SCOTT was higher than any to support digestive health in cats aged 7+?” freelance journalist reported in the US or based in Auckland. the UK – we just didn’t die nearly as much. MAY 14 2022 LISTENER 9

LIFE BILL RALSTON Coastal crossfire Y oupaysyour would continue to operate already forking out well ground level. The idea of money and even if the seas rose. Besides, over $300 million a year in putting houses high on stilts you takes your I’d be safely dead by the time a claims for extreme weather might appeal to council bean chances. That tsunami started knocking on events. I cannot imagine counters but, unsurprisingly, is the risk our front door. I may even be they want to confront a it has found much less favour of buying a home. Climate right. further multibillion-dollar with those folk wanting to Change Minister James Shaw risk without putting pre- build. They are furious. has got me pondering this fact, However, it seems flooding miums through the roof and at least 14% of the popula- and inundation are now firmly for those affected places. Shaw and the government tion, who live in areas prone on the government’s agenda. are saying we must talk about to flooding and sea-level rise, Flood plains, rivers that burst should do so, too. their banks and beachfront Insurance companies are residential areas mean at least already forking out well over A quick recap. Five years ago, one in seven New Zealanders $300 million a year in claims my wife and I, despairing of could be under threat, accord- for extreme weather events. living any longer in Auckland, ing to Shaw when he recently fled to Hawke’s Bay and bought unveiled the report on adapt- Our local Hastings how we all share the risks and an old bach on a beach near ing to climate change. That is District Council seems costs. That will be a robust Cape Kidnappers. The locals about $100 billion worth of to have come up with discussion, I am sure. call people like us “blow-ins”. residential property, let alone an ingenious answer to the all the public-service infra- potential financial damage Councils and other parties The beach is rocky at the top structure in those areas at risk. it faces in issuing building are increasingly taking a layer, thanks to many tonnes of permits in such at-risk areas 100-year view of the effects river stone and debris from the If it is wiped out, who by now demanding new of climate change. While I cape that has been deposited in pays? Government? Coun- homes and renovations be sincerely doubt I’ll be around the sea and thrown up on the cils? Insurance companies? built a couple of metres above to find out whether they were sand which, itself, only becomes The home-owning punt- right or wrong about the visible at low tide. ers who paid their money and took their chances? problem, it is apparent We rebuilt the original 1950s that something needs bach, removing the ghastly Insurance companies are to be done now. asbestos cladding and PARRY JONES enlarging the footprint. Maybe a govern- With a 1800 view of ment flood-insurance the sea 40m in front of scheme to compensate us, we decided we had affected homeowners? found the spot to live Should councils ban in until we “carked it” property develop- (in maybe another 20 ments near rivers, on or 30 years). There are flood plains and by two glorious vineyards beaches? Should some- directly across the road, one order a “managed lovely neighbours and retreat” of housing beautiful walks to take. from at-risk areas? Paradise. Those will be even more robust discus- Yes, we had heard of sions indeed. climate change and sea- level rise, but I figured We need to keep the same process that talking. In the mean- dumped those smooth time, I’ll enjoy the river stones, rocks sun, the sea and the and shingle to make views. l an effective sea wall in front of the house 10 LISTENER MAY 14 2022

REALITY CHECK STEPHEN DAVIS India’s democracy in decline ‘Democracies leader, Modi, with a cult-like live in Not Free countries, the for about 160 days each year. can deliver.” following. highest proportion since 1997. As elsewhere, social media That Only about 20% now live in was how Yes, India still has elections, Free countries.” is wielded as a weapon. the leader but democracy is about more Hate speech is on the rise, of the world’s biggest democ- than majority rule, as the 2022 For a long time, Indian with Hindu nationalists racy, Indian Prime Minister report by democracy-research democracy was a tri- using disinformation and Narendra Modi, summed up a and advocacy organisation umph, against all odds. misinformation to whip up virtual summit with the leader Freedom House pointed out, A country of 1.2 billion people, hysteria against Muslims, of the world’s second-biggest while offering a grim snapshot with 22 official languages, but amplified, of course, by profit- democracy, US President Joe of the state of the world: in total 121 languages and 270 seeking Facebook and Twitter. Biden. “In countries with long- News channel NDTV tracks The two men were in full what it calls “VIP hate speech” agreement on most things, India’s strongman – offensive statements made including the need to end the Narendra Modi. by major Indian politicians. horrors in Ukraine. But Modi Such comments have risen refused to accuse Russia of India counts 520,000 Covid deaths. sharply since Modi’s Hindu war crimes, instead calling for But the WHO says the country’s nationalist government an independent inquiry. death toll is at least four million. came to power in 2014. This is part of a pattern. established democracies, mother tongues. A country Another telltale sign of GETTY IMAGES India has abstained 11 times internal forces have exploited with a Hindu majority, which democratic decline is the on United Nations resolu- the shortcomings in their nevertheless peacefully accom- manipulation of official tions criticising Russia. It has systems, distorting national modated large minorities of statistics. continued to buy Russian oil, politics to promote hatred, vio- Muslims, Christians, Sikhs and at a discount, and Russian lence, and unbridled power.” Buddhists. A country with a For months, the World weapons. free and vigorous media happy Health Organisation has been The report summed up 16 to criticise governments. recalculating the global death The world’s largest democ- consecutive years of decline toll from the coronavirus pan- racy has not joined other in global freedom. “A total of No more. Now its Parliament demic. The new calculations democratic nations in coming 60 countries suffered declines barely operates. It meets for show that the death toll is much to the aid of Ukraine. over the past year, while only an average of 66 days a year, worse than feared – 15 million 25 improved. As of today, some compared with, for instance, by the end of 2021, compared India’s military is reli- 38% of the global population the US Congress, which meets with the six million found by ant on Russian spare parts adding up the totals reported and it has a long tradition of by individual countries. neutrality in global conflicts. Modi’s policy of defying The figures should have pleas from the US to boycott been released months ago but Russia is popular at home. were delayed by India, which disputes the numbers of its However, India’s stance is citizens who have died. not neutral but pro-Russian, and it highlights a sinister India counts 520,000 Covid trend – the decline of the deaths. But the WHO says the shining light that was Indian country’s death toll is at least democracy. All the signs are four million. there: attacks on the free- dom of the press; the use of Rather than admit the disinformation as a weapon devastating figure, Modi’s to stir up voters; co-opting or government – in true authori- bypassing institutions meant tarian style – has fought to to protect basic liberties, such keep the numbers secret. l as the courts and civil service; and the rise of the strongman Stephen Davis is a Dunedin- based investigative journalist, educator and author. MAY 14 2022 LISTENER 11

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ELSEWHERE GRAHAM REID Home and away A peculiar thing around in the sciences and enjoying the weather but teachers, even though I never happened a few pubs because of “failure to not the food. And more black had one lesson about the weeks ago, the make satisfactory academic pudding and fish’n’chips than history of the country I lived day before we progress”. would be healthy. in. And there’s something left Edinburgh. I value highly: my country When we stopped at a service So, had I grown up in I’m very grateful my parents never conscripted me or my station to fill up the rental car, Edinburgh – and this is dour migrated to Aotearoa New sons to fight in a foreign war. I glanced across the road and Scottish fatalism talking – at Zealand for the opportunities on the other side was the best I might have got an office this country gave me, and my There’s some merit Maybury Casino. in our geographical There’s something I value highly: isolation, although I knew behind it was my country never conscripted me I observe we’ve become West Craigs Crescent and or my sons to fight in a foreign war. increasingly parochial and the house I grew up in. inward-looking, especially job or some dreary middle- children. The advantages are these past two years. I GRAHAM REID I’d come halfway around management position. evident: summers at a beach think that’s a shame and the world and, after more swathed in coconut oil (which self-defeating; we need than 60 years, arrived back My life could have been a I’m paying for now); greater to engage more with the home. cold tenement block or small educational opportunities (the world, and learn from it. flat, football on the weekends, uni took me back and I didn’t The definition of “home” maybe holidays at Berwick- waste the second chance); It’s great to be back, is flexible: two of my three upon-Tweed (“Costa del a first home with a small although it was enjoyable New Zealand-born sons Berwick”, as the train driver garden; ACC and quality free to be away. Necessary, have called Stockholm quipped when we stopped healthcare. Also, I had good I’d say. their home for more than there) or a week in Spain, a decade, and the other says So now, after 22 different the same of England after beds, the vagaries of British 20 years there. plumbing and a few break- fasts with haggis, I’m back Yet they all come back to my only home. home when they can, to the country in which they I have no idea how grew up. Now, after three these columns have been months away I, too, am received, but I’ve enjoyed home. Much as I feel at writing them. They often home in Edinburgh, it isn’t helped me clarify my my home. thinking about home and away. Quite a few times while My wife, Megan, has gone travelling around Scotland, back to work and I suppose I reflected on what my life I need to look for something, might have been like if my too. But first I’m going to parents – my dad growing listen to that heavy, limited- up in Auckland in a Scottish edition five-record box set of immigrant family; my mother, unreleased studio recordings from Edinburgh where they by the Rolling Stones that I met – hadn’t come to this bought the first week away country. and lugged around for months. I wasn’t a bright child or It better be bloody good! l adolescent – I failed University Entrance the first time, so Graham Reid is an Auckland- might have got only a couple based freelance writer who paid of A levels in Scotland. Later, for his own travel. I was told not to return to the University of Auckland after two years of floundering MAY 14 2022 LISTENER 13

POLITICS JANE CLIFTON Rich pickings Talk of a “wealth tax” is not a conversation the government wanted to have as it seeks to walk back some of its more unpopular policies. W ith all the while belting along a Judgment Day was nigh. The fiasco that is the attempt to govern- motorway. Her attempts message the media took was, economically blockade Russia ment’s to rule out a wealth tax, “Big, fat, rich bastards’ tax via its oligarchs. handbrake given Parker’s Wagnerian coming right up!” turns and declaration of vengeance, Ardern’s irritation at wheelies, the Beehive may were less convincing than Fear and loathing quickly having to do the pinhead soon rival tracts of the Hutt she might have hoped. reached fever pitch, because dance on wealth taxes was Valley as a hot venue for boy it’s almost impossible to understandable. No new racers of a Friday night. Ardern has previously clip the super-rich without wealth tax is going to spare ruled out a wealth tax both also affecting the merely the average household from A fair amount of rubber “this term” and “under her comfortable, and even those the ravages of inflation just was burnt halting the Rotorua watch”, but this week has trying to keep precarious now, nor alleviate the skills Māori wards legislation, and shortages, nor budge the the skid marks from reverse It’s almost impossible to clip the greenhouse-gas-emissions laps around the Three Waters super-rich without also affecting dial. reforms are still smoking. the merely comfortable. It’s all pedal to the metal and The government admitted GETTY IMAGES hang the speed cameras now fallen conspicuously short businesses afloat – let just this week that we Labour has decided grocery of reiterating that pledge alone in a time of galloping need $31 billion more in regulation is urgent after all. with respect to next term. inflation and war. infrastructure each year Her caution was probably for the next 30 years, which With Labour’s re-election because “wealth tax” can PARKER POSER we simply can’t afford. At a chances hairier than mean so many different pinch, the government could ever, more backtracks on things, many of which are The crowning stupidity seize the assets of every rich- controversial policies are always under consideration, of this furore is that any lister and reassign them to likely, with potentially from imposts on mansions, domestic measure calling fund roads, drains, schools popular ones reaching ear- inheritance, vacant land itself a “wealth tax” could and hospitals – but we still popping acceleration rates. and financial transactions only ever be merely couldn’t get the labour or half to incursions into trust symbolic, since no country the building materials. But oh, the whiplash when fund rules. can successfully tax the something unexpected shows super-rich without the What was Parker up in the road. Revenue This was emphatically not co-operation of pretty thinking? Colleagues Minister David Parker’s the debate the government much every other country. aware of his devotion to new mission to soak the Tax avoidance, like Covid, economist Thomas Piketty, rich came as a spray of road wanted to have now. is impervious to borders. whose doctrine is direct spikes. Prime Minister What Parker Work is well under way state intervention to restore Jacinda Ardern was so announced was on an internationally equality, might have kept a spooked as to perform a new research harmonised tax net, but closer eye on his final drafts. the equivalent programme into the unless and until we have one, of that heart- affairs of the super- a lone country’s efforts will Piketty’s is not a wildly stopping accidental rich to inform be largely symbolic. Anyone controversial orthodoxy, but manoeuvre where future tax-net fine- who doubts this can’t have its domestic implementation you throw your tuning. Alas, he made noticed the greased-piglet is politically fraught. gearbox into reverse it sound as though Although few households would ever be troubled by a David Parker wealth tax, and most would cheer to see the likes of Elon 14 LISTENER MAY 14 2022

Musk and Mark Zuckerberg Rather, he had better they have a share in an asset. of not poisoning people. shaken loose of a few billion, stick a hardback copy of The This was done in the name Councils have also the concept is not as popular Spirit Level down the seat of as logic would suggest. his trousers for the prime of another pretence: the risk pretended they’re not allergic ministerial walloping that’s of privatisation. Dream on. to Māori co-governance, Even if a new tax is not coming his way. Entrepreneurs have made just romantic about local within their tax bracket, a buck out of bottled spring democracy. That has resulted many people worry that CALMER WATERS water. But find a private in a complicated new cat’s it might be one day – the aspirational mindset Sir John As for the Three Waters Councils have pretended they’re not Key so shrewdly dinned into U-turn, it’s more of a allergic to Māori co-governance, just National when he was leader. C-shaped reversal, in that romantic about local democracy. That’s why National and Act the changes bring it near are having such a bonanza, as dammit back to the place buyer for sewage, storm cradle arrangement: councils CHRIS SLANE hailing a new tax squeeze from which it started. water, tap water or river and mana whenua get equal to threaten “every battling It’s a final round of “let’s cleanliness and they’ll be that dibs on a regional reps’ Kiwi”. pretend”. In a bid to alleviate busy fending off Nigerian group, which will appoint a minority of councils’ gentlemen with bridges to a selection panel, which will Some ingenious second- horror at having water assets sell and fortunes needing appoint a board. That’s an guessing has emerged in the – and their much greater bank accounts to “rest” them, economy-sized new serving commentariat, including a liabilities – removed from water still wouldn’t get a look of local democracy with top-rate tax biff with a GST- their balance sheets, each in. More than ever, since the diluted co-governance. reduction softener. will now get a share of the latest data on quake damage water sector, but with no and sea-level trajectories, Now someone just has But the odds of there power attached. Many are water management is all to figure out how to explain emerging a stonking new still whingeing, but at least expense and no profit – the to future generations why kryptonite weapon against it’s not about an “asset grab”. “only” payoff being that it all had to be so bizarrely the helicopter classes are It’s actually a liability grab complicated. l pretty slim, and of Parker’s – but they can still pretend being the Superman who gets to fire it, skeletal. MAY 14 2022 LISTENER 15

INCOME INSURANCE Weathering the storm A proposed income insurance scheme for redundancy and sickness is being billed as the most far-reaching social policy development since the creation of ACC. byREBECCAMACFIE GETTY IMAGES/LISTENER ILLUSTRATION W henKawerau’spaper of Kawerau early childhood workers caught for workers to be entitled to redundancy mill closed last year, up in a restructure a year or so earlier. As compensation under national awards. But the laid-off workers for most workers in the modern era, there as the ECA pushed workers onto individual were well cushioned was no redundancy clause in their contracts contracts, they lost many of the minimum against the blow. to recognise their service or ease them protections they had previously enjoyed. Built in an era of through the transition. Even though they vaulting government ambition 66 years ago, weren’t his members, Phillips got involved These days, about 320,000 workers are the mill was a relic of a bygone industrial in the scrap and squeezed a confidential on union-negotiated collective employment era. The market for newsprint had been settlement out of the owners. agreements that include redundancy notice shrinking for years as people turned to the and compensation provisions. But the great internet for news, and everyone at the plant Losing a job is traumatic; losing a whole majority of workers are on individual con- knew the end was coming. plant or industry can shatter entire commu- tracts, and few have the bargaining heft to nities and regions. But it’s easier if displaced get their employers to include redundancy Tane Phillips, secretary of the Pulp and workers receive a decent wad of money to pay in them. Paper Workers Union, would say to man- agement, “Shut the mill before it’s forced The value of wages lost This is especially true for the growing shut.” He was worried that if they held on by redundant workers army of “precarious workers” – temps and ran the place into the ground, there ranges from $3.3 billion engaged through labour hire outfits, those would be no money left to pay workers their to $15.4 billion a year. on fixed-term or casual contracts, or “self- redundancy. employed” as gig workers – for whom there cover the bills and provide breathing space is neither job security nor negotiation. “They honoured all agreements,” he says to search for a suitable replacement; better of Norske Skog, the Norwegian owners who yet if there is help with retraining. FAR-REACHING REFORM shuttered the place in June. Those agree- ments included compensation foreign to The problem is that New Zealand workers The absence of statutory redundancy most workers in today’s labour market: a are far more likely to experience the finan- protection has long been recognised as six-and-three redundancy package, which cial vacuum faced by Kawerau’s childcare a yawning gap here. Now, a far-reaching means they got a payout of six weeks’ wages workers than the sizeable buffer received proposal to plug that deficit is on the table. in recognition of their first year of service, by the mill workers. It would see all workers and employers and three weeks for every year thereafter. levied to fund a $3.5 billion income insur- This country is rare in the world in not ance scheme that would pay out 80% of Wages at the unionised site were good: requiring employers to pay redundancy prior incomes for six months to those laid machine operators were on $120,000, compensation. Like wages and conditions, off or who become unable to work because cleaners on $60,000-plus. Turnover had it’s just another matter that’s up for negotia- of sickness. always been low, so the payouts to long- tion between workers and bosses. serving workers were big. Phillips says The proposal emerged in February this many walked out the gate with a couple of Before the radical deregulation of the year after 14 months of negotiation by a tri- hundred thousand dollars in redundancy labour market under the 1991 Employment partite working group of Council of Trade pay and company superannuation. Some, Contracts Act it was reasonably common Unions, Business New Zealand and govern- who had been there for decades, got half a ment officials. But it has met with derision million. from both sides of the political spectrum: It was a very different story for a group National leader Christopher Luxon calls it a jobs tax that should be aborted; the 16 LISTENER MAY 14 2022



INCOME INSURANCE Greens say it’s inequitable and would embed two-tier welfare. How job loss affected earnings in NZ 2001-2015 It is also bitterly opposed by anti-poverty Change in average monthly earnings campaigners, who say its development has (for workers with at least one year’s tenure) been secretive and rushed and that it’s a major philosophical lurch in this country’s -30 -24 -12 0 12 24 36 48 60 social policy. Months relative to job loss YEARS OF FAILURE MOTU Displaced workers Non-displaced workers Although the scheme seemed to emerge with little forewarning from the fog and Employment protection legislation in the OECD confusion of the pandemic, it follows years of failed efforts to get a better deal Strictness of employment protection, individual and collective dismissals (regular contracts), 2019 For those who found 4 new jobs, earnings were 13-15% lower after 3.5 five years. It’s worse for those over 50. 3 for redundant workers. From the eco- 2.5 nomic reforms of the 1980s and 90s, which OECD average pushed Māori and Pasifika unemployment to above 25% and left regional towns such 2 as Ōpōtiki and Murupara impoverished, through to the shedding of hospitality and 1.5 retail jobs during Covid, it’s been clear for decades that Kiwi workers carry a dispro- 1 portionate share of the burden of business and economic restructuring. 0.5 In October 2008, an advisory group set 0 up to investigate the adequacy of sever- OECD INDICATORS OF EMPLOYMENT PROTECTION ance laws recommended the introduction of statutory redundancy notice and com- Index pensation, and suggested a range of options, USA including a standard legal formula for sev- Canada erance pay and a levy-based redundancy Ireland insurance scheme similar to ACC. The UK Public Advisory Group on Restructuring Japan and Redundancy found that only 20% of Denmark workers in small and medium businesses New Zealand got redundancy pay, and 30% weren’t even Australia entitled to a notice period. Finland Spain The then-Minister of Labour, Trevor Belgium Mallard, planned to put the issue out for Mexico public consultation. But his government Austria was booted out of power a month later, and Norway the report was binned. By then, the Global Korea Financial Crisis was reaching its zenith. Greece About 200,000 workers lost jobs between France 2007 and 2011, according to a Ministry of Germany Business, Innovation and Employment Chile analysis for the tripartite working group. Portugal A minority will have got redundancy pay, Netherlands some will have had savings to fall back on and, if they qualified, the dole. How the economy affects jobs From the Opposition benches, Labour RESERVE BANK OF NZ 12 Expanding economy 9 Contracting economy LISTENER MAY 14 2022 % change 6 3 Pasifika European 0 -3 -6 -9 -12 Māori 18

Paper cuts: Kawerau mill manager Steve Brine on closing day in June last year, when 160 workers received redundancy payouts. MPs made two attempts to get members’ years after losing their jobs. Deputy Prime Minister NZME; GETTY IMAGES bills through that would have mandated More recent work by Grant Robertson, four weeks’ redundancy notice and a four- top; BusinessNZ chief plus-two payout. Both were voted down at Motu has concluded that executive Kirk Hope. first readings. the value of wages lost by redundant workers ranges in this country, the cost of “WAGE SCARRING” from $3.3 billion to $15.4 bil- such shocks “fall[s] largely lion a year (the latter figure onto individual workers”, Research into the impact of redundancy has relating to periods of severe according to the OECD. grown in the years since. A 2017 study by economic downturn). Motu Economic and Public Policy Research New Zealand’s job pro- found that most laid-off workers don’t “Workers who expe- tection regime is well recover their prior earning power, suf- rience involuntary job below the OECD average loss suffer from deep and (see second graph, previous Support systems for persistent negative conse- page) and support systems displaced workers are quences,” the researchers for displaced workers are among the weakest wrote. “Displacement among the weakest. Laid- in the OECD. harms workers’ mental off New Zealanders suffer health and economic secu- some of the worst wage fering a 20-25% lower rate of employment rity in the short term and scarring in the developed after one year compared with those who negatively affects their world. hadn’t been displaced, and 10% lower after earnings and mortality risk five years. in the long term.” For most workers who lose their jobs, the wel- For those who found new jobs, their Contributing factors are fare system offers scant earnings were 25-30% lower after one year the tendency for laid-off support. In many house- (compared with similar workers who didn’t workers under financial holds, two or more jobs are lose their jobs), and 13-15% lower after five pressure to grab the first job needed to pay the rent and years (see top graph, previous page). This that comes along – even if put food on the table, yet is called “wage scarring”, and the Motu it doesn’t use their skills or the means-testing of ben- research shows it’s worse for those over pay what they are worth – and the risk of efits disqualifies most redundant workers 50, whose earnings are about 25% lower five “self-reinforcing cycles of unemployment whose partners have jobs from the Job- … [or] psychological discouragement”. seeker payment. Although private income protection Although New Zealand is currently insurance is available, the tripartite group enjoying booming employment rates, it describes it as “neither efficient nor effec- won’t last. Business restructuring and tive”; it’s expensive, which puts many economic ruptures are a fact of life and, MAY 14 2022 LISTENER 19

INCOME INSURANCE people off having it, making From top: Brooke training to continue. it even more expensive for Stanley Pao, Susan St Casual and part-time workers, and others those who are most likely to John and Craig Renney. need it. on precarious contracts, would be covered, would finally shore up the provided they have contributed to the Nor does the burden of position of laid-off work- scheme for six months over an 18-month restructuring fall evenly. ers; and Hope says his period. If someone is working three jobs and New research by Reserve group was interested in loses one, they would be covered for the lost Bank economists shows a scheme that could help job as long as it accounted for at least 20% Māori and Pasifika work- match skilled workers with of income. ers have been significantly suitable jobs and that could more exposed during his- take some of the sting out Like ACC, the scheme would be fully torical downturns, with of recessions by main- funded by levies. Workers and employers their rates of unemploy- taining earning power in would each pay 1.39% of wages and sala- ment increasing by 6.9 affected households and ries to finance a scheme expected to cost and 11.7 percentage points communities. $3.54 billion a year. ACC would administer respectively (bottom graph it (although the money would be in a sepa- on page 18). In contrast, ACC MODEL rate pot, under separate governance), and unemployment among claimants would have case managers to help Pākehā workers increased Fast-forward two years, them back to work. only 1.3 percentage points. and the most far-reaching Women and young men are social policy development At 80% of prior also hit harder, as are those since the creation of ACC earnings, higher-paid in the regions. in 1974 is on the govern- workers would receive ment’s bulging reform more than lower-paid. RARE UNITY agenda. And the discus- sion is no longer just about Robertson told the Listener the scheme Measures to buffer the redundancy; the proposed would be an additional layer of support shock to workers caused social income insurance and protection. “We don’t want people to by restructuring, technol- scheme would also cover just take the next job. We want it to be one ogy and the need to shift those who have to quit or that is building their skills but also build- from climate-damaging cut back because of sick- ing the overall skills of our workforce, and industries were central ness, partially addressing [addressing] that immediate loss of income to a “Future of Work” a long-standing injustice and that dramatic scarring effect if you sud- commission led by Grant in which those with health denly can’t pay your mortgage and have to Robertson when Labour conditions have been lose your house and so forth.” was in Opposition. That excluded from ACC ben- work has continued in gov- efits while those harmed COVID BLUEPRINT ernment under a Future of in accidents are covered. Work Tripartite Forum set The scheme had a rough-and-ready pilot up in 2018. At 80% of prior earnings, with the controversial Covid income relief coverage under the scheme aligns with payment, under which people who lost their The concept of an insurance scheme to the compensation threshold paid by ACC. jobs during the pandemic got a 12-week ease workers through economic shocks and Higher-paid workers would receive more untaxed benefit set at twice the single per- help them preserve and build their skills than lower-paid: someone who had been on son’s Jobseeker rate. The payment scheme was given an emphatic shunt two and a half $2000 gross a week would get $1600; some- was put together during the early months years ago with an unusual display of unity one on $880 would get $704. There would be of Covid when Treasury thought unemploy- between union and business leaders. a salary cap of $130,911. ment could hit 26%, and there was concern about a “new cohort” of unemployed people In February 2020, before anyone under- Redundant workers would get four with high living expenses. It was budgeted stood the scale of disruption that Covid-19 weeks’ notice and the employer would have to cost $1.2 billion. would bring, Business New Zealand chief to pay the first month out of work at 80%, executive Kirk Hope and CTU president after which insurance would kick in for Those dire predictions were proved Richard Wagstaff signed a joint statement up to six months. Workers would also be wrong, and the scheme eventually paid out supporting an insurance system to cushion entitled to any redundancy pay under their $196 million to fewer than 41,000 people. redundant workers. They agreed it should employment agreements, and the insurance Nevertheless,it was panned by anti-poverty include an “income replacement rate that cover wouldn’t be asset-tested or affected by groups as middle-class welfare, giving suc- is a significant improvement on current partners’ earnings. cour to well-off folk with big mortgages social welfare entitlements and in line with while those on normal benefits, including other OECD countries”, and that it should There would be obligations to look for those who had lost jobs before Covid contin- sit alongside “good quality” active labour work and accept a job that matches the ued to live in desperate hardship. market programmes including education person’s previous income, unless their and training, career planning and reloca- health limited what they could do or they tion help. were in training or rehabilitation. Cover- age could extend for up to a year to allow The unions wanted something that 20 LISTENER MAY 14 2022

That same accusation is now being levelled Opportunity cost: consulted on the development of the at the income insurance proposal. One of distortions in the proposal, and found it difficult to get infor- the most vocal critics is Michael Fletcher, a welfare system mation. She’s concerned that it is of such senior research fellow at Victoria University affecting low-income scale that it will soak up the government of Wellington and an adviser to the Welfare workers should be resources needed for overdue reform to a Expert Advisory Group, whose 42 recom- fixed first, says welfare welfare system which – according to new mendations for major benefit reform remain advisory group adviser research – leaves families locked in poverty. largely unfulfilled. He says the scheme cre- Michael Fletcher. ates “massive horizontal inequity”, with Even after the April 1 benefit increases, “nothing for those on supported living, sole up to, say, the median wage, before the ben- the Fairer Future coalition has calculated parents and migrant workers”. efit is abated.” that a couple with three children receiv- ing Jobseeker are $300 a week short of the Fletcher has written an excoriating cri- At the other end of the spectrum, in cases income needed to meet living costs, pay tique, using himself as a hypothetical test where whole industries are shut down unexpected bills and allow their children case. As an academic on $115,000, with a – for instance, oil and gas production in to participate in sport. A sole parent with four-plus-two redundancy clause in his Taranaki – the proposed scheme wouldn’t three children is $240 a week short. collective employment agreement, “being be adequate, he says. Redundant workers laid off would be worth over $83,000 for in that situation could need years of retrain- The group’s spokesperson, Brooke me”, he wrote on the Stuff news website. ing, and a “bespoke” regional package would Stanley Pao, of Auckland Action Against The scheme as proposed would also allow be required to manage the transition. Poverty, is “totally against” the proposed him to get a part-time job to top up his earn- income insurance scheme, arguing it ings to pre-redundancy level without any Fletcher fears that if the scheme goes entrenches a two-tier system of the deserv- clawbacks. “Compare that with an ordinary ing poor and the undeserving. The proposal Jobseeker Support recipient: they lose 70 Renney blanches at is a fundamental shift in values “from pro- cents from their benefit for every dollar the accusation that viding support based on need to providing earned above $160 per week.” the union movement is support based on prior income”, she says. turning its back on those “We already have income insurance – the He argues most high earners can get by who rely on welfare. welfare system.” if they lose their job, “but there is a genu- ine problem with low-to-medium earners ahead, “the political economy will play Advocates of the proposed scheme are where both are working, they have kids, and towards the insurance scheme [rather exasperated by the critics. CTU economist one loses their job … And at the moment, than welfare improvements] … Faced with Craig Renney – a former adviser to Rob- our welfare system doesn’t deal with that a budget deficit, a future government will ertson – rejects Fletcher’s arguments that because it’s based on assessment of the cou- just say, ‘Well, we have to squeeze down on it’s regressive and a gift for the salaried ple’s income. But that could be fixed quite benefits.’” class. “When we look at who gets laid off, easily by assessing each earner individually it’s people in insecure work, young people, LOCKING IN POVERTY women, Māori, Pasifika,” says Renney. Another who is aggrieved by the scheme is “The last two years of data that I have University of Auckland economist Susan shows 60% of the redundancies occurred St John, a leading voice in the Child Pov- to those earning less than $48,000. This erty Action Group. She says CPAG wasn’t scheme is progressive, because it’s taking money from people like me, who don’t get laid off, and giving it to people who do lose their jobs, who are in insecure forms of work and often low-paid. That’s how it should be.” Renney blanches at the accusation that the union movement is turning its back on those who rely on welfare. “We support the welfare system and the delivery of the [advisory group] reforms. We think we can do both [income insurance and welfare reform]. We don’t think the delivery of one stops the other. We think it helps. We are not turning against unemployed workers or those with disabilities.” He worries that if this rare moment of tri- partite consensus is lost, there might not be another chance at this breadth of reform. “Everyone [Business New Zealand, the CTU and the government] has signed off on this … We have what we think is a really good package on the table. We shouldn’t let perfection be the enemy of good.” l MAY 14 2022 LISTENER 21

LOCKDOWN LOSSES MOURNING FROM AFAR We must improve how we manage death and dying during pandemics, say those denied the most important moments of their lives. bySARAHCATHERALL●photographbyREBEKAHROBINSON In February this year, Andrew all gone so terribly wrong. This was when “NONSENSICAL RULES” Barclay sat in an MIQ hotel room I really broke down,’’ he says. in Christchurch, exhausted It was during Auckland’s level 4 lockdown from travelling more than Barclay’s story is like many that have in September that Tim Gordon decided to 18,000km from the other side of punctuated the lobby group Grounded get out of the house with his wife, Angela. the world. He had come so far, Kiwis’ social media feed – stories of expat but he was all too aware that his Kiwis who remain traumatised after being “We had been locked up and I suggested journey wasn’t yet over. His mother, Frances unable to be with dying relatives, or farewell we head out for a drive. We stopped and Anne Elliot, lay dying just 4km away. them at funerals; of family members being bought a couple of ice creams. I was tempted It had taken Barclay, an operations man- unable to get in or out of the country to see to stop and look at the view but we kept ager based in London, about 15 months their loved ones in tragic circumstances. going.’’ It proved to be a fatal decision. just to get to this point, battling what he describes as maddening MIQ bureaucracy. For more than two years, Covid has After a car crossed the road’s centre line A Kiwi citizen, he hadn’t been home since touched everyone, but it was the heartbreak- and crashed into them, the business owner 2015, but he was desperate to return to see spent two days in hospital with concussion his ailing 75-year-old mother. “My daughters were and a knee injury. His wife was admitted He knew her health had deteriorated beside themselves. to intensive care with critical injuries. She after he got on the plane, and he begged It was devastating. was pronounced dead two days later, leav- officials to allow him an early release from Some of the decisions ing behind their four children – Joshua, 27, his hotel room. But he was too late. On Feb- were inhumane. ” Isabelle, 26, Olivia, 21, and Charlotte, 19. ruary 20 – at a time when there were 2522 new daily community cases of Omicron – ing situations around death and mourning While she was in ICU, Angela was allowed his mother passed away while Barclay was that have left some of the deepest scars. only one visitor a day, and for a limited time, still busy filling out forms. so her children had to take turns. At night, Two days later, triple-jabbed Barclay was During level 4 lockdowns, Kiwis who the staff bent the rules and allowed Gordon told the “good news’’ that he could leave MIQ passed away were denied funerals. Funeral to leave his ward and sit by her side. and self-isolate for a further three days at directors have calculated that almost 5000 his mother’s home. He had lived there with funerals did not take place – because of the His daughters were furious, he says. “My her as a university student, but this time he seven-week total of national lockdowns and daughters were beside themselves. It was was there to prepare her funeral. the extra weeks that Auckland was at level 4. devastating. A lot of the rules were nonsen- Her glass of water was still on the kitchen sical. Some of the decisions were inhumane. table, and her gardening gloves were lying Even during level 3, families were often I’m a fellow patient isolated at hospital and on the lawn, near the roses he had intended forced to watch loved ones being laid to rest I’m supposed to have limited time to see my to clip with her. “My sister and her kids via a video feed because funeral and tangi wife? That’s cruel.’’ waved at me from the roadside because I numbers were limited to just 10 people. And was self-isolating. It was dreadful. The house many remain deeply upset at what they say The family were told over the phone – was silent. Mum should have been cheering were inhumane rules around visiting the rather than face-to-face – that she had been my arrival with arms outstretched. It had elderly and infirm. pronounced dead. Gordon had to plan her funeral, and he kept delaying it in the hope that a change in levels would allow more Tim Gordon was restricted in the time he could be by his dying wife’s bedside in ICU after the couple were in a car crash. 22 LISTENER MAY 14 2022

MAY 14 2022 LISTENER 23

LOCKDOWN LOSSES people to attend. But in lessons we can learn for was the approach proportionate to the costs the future. incurred by people? Whenever you put GRIEVINGthe end, he couldn’t wait restrictions on anyone’s liberty, that must any longer. “There is a recogni- always be updated.’’ tion that we were too DURING COVID“We were holding Back in the UK with his wife and two off, holding off, hoping cautious at the border children, Barclay is still grieving and ques- we could have a reason- LEVEL 4 (no funerals and didn’t allow people tioning the country he once thought of as home. “I’m a mess. It’s changed everything. able-sized funeral. I’m allowed) Five weeks March to be released from MIQ I can’t sleep, so I’m on medication – that’s how bad I feel.’’ one of seven kids and 25-April 27, 2020 – 3150 early enough. It’s the While New Zealand was spared the high my family were all really funerals not held (fig- hardest thing I’ve had Covid fatalities the UK experienced, Barclay close to Angela. My four ures are estimates); Aug to deal with as an MP, believes New Zealanders suffered in other sisters were gutted they 17-Aug 31, 2021– 1260; plus to be honest, especially ways, particularly when a health response couldn’t come. Not even Auckland to Sept 21– 550. in the latter half of last overrode what he says is a basic human my mother could be An estimated total of 4960 year when it was pretty there. Very close family clear that Covid wasn’t “All those who had to go through that to members couldn’t be funerals not held. going to go away.’’ try to get home are victims. It’s not socially there to farewell her.’’ LEVEL 3 (mostly Auckland Waikato University normal. We were Gordon is angry RAT only – August 2020; Feb law professor Alex- treated like animals.” ander Gillespie is also tests weren’t widely right to be with those we love at the end of their lives. “I’m a victim. All those who had available so the rules 2021; August 2021) Funer- calling for a royal com- to go through that level of bureaucracy to try to get home are victims. It’s not socially could have been relaxed als limited to 10 attendees. mission of inquiry. normal. We were treated like animals.’’ sooner. Many families missed He notes it is the high- PROUD KIWI TO ANGRY KIWI “I’ve been angry about out on being present at est form of official a farewell. No travelling inquiry into matters Julia Pannett had to say goodbye to her dying a lot of the government’s between regions for funer- of public importance father, Bryan, on a video call. He was almost decisions around Covid als held outside Auckland. — more powerful than 90 when he died in a Wellington Hospital anyway, but I was griev- a government inquiry. bed on February 17 this year, not long after ing and it made the whole Pannett, in Sydney, and her sister, Libby, in the UK, told him they loved him via a screen. experience a whole lot LEVEL 2 (multiple). Lessons can therefore worse. It’s easy to close Limited to 100 attend- be learnt, and recom- Like Barclay, Pannett was also unable to the border. But the pro- ees. These were initially mendations made that get to New Zealand to see her father because tocols around things limited to 10 attendees; can stick, he argues. MIQ was full. like sizes of funerals and Just as we have “It was that slow realisation that the gates were closed and there was no way we were gatheringsweresocruel. the Funeral Directors reviewed the Christch- going to make it home. Some of the rules were Association lobbied the urch mosque shootings “But I could have been there. I felt like, ridiculous: you can have government to lift the and the Whakaari/ ‘Oh, I’m one of those Kiwis who is locked picnics but you can’t go to number to 100. White Island tragedy, out of my own country.’ I went from being a public toilets.” New Zealand needs to proud Kiwi to a sad Kiwi. I was really angry about that.’’ consider its approach to Pannett was able to get back for her CALLS FOR AN INQUIRY Covid, Gillespie says. “There can be no doubt father’s funeral, which was delayed until April. “Some of the stories made horrific Critics say New Zealand’s border rules and New Zealand’s handling of the pandemic reading. Regardless, I still got locked out, our family got locked out and it wasn’t a the Covid response were at times cruel, justifies the same attention. The whole pleasant experience. My view of New Zea- land has been tainted.’’ especially from last September, when country has been turned upside down for That’s a view shared by many of the Kiwis were getting jabbed and the gov- two years. It makes sense to say, ‘We got this expat Kiwis who struggled to get an MIQ spot when a family member was unwell ernment was using other tools to stop the right, we got this wrong’.’’ virus overwhelming the health system. The One of the criticisms is that health offi- High Court recently ruled in favour of obby cials – director-general of health Ashley group Grounded Kiwis in its case against Bloomfield and public health director the MIQ system, saying the virtual lobby Caroline McElnay – advised the govern- booking lottery did not sufficiently allow ment to scrap MIQ back in mid-November. individual circumstances to be considered In response to questions from the Listener, and prioritised where necessary. Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins The National Party is calling for a royal notes this was initial advice, not final. The commission of inquiry, with MP Chris extra four months gave the country the Bishop saying, “It has been two pretty chance to get boosted and to get vaccination extraordinary years, tens of billions of rates up over 90%, he says. It is too early to dollars spent, extreme restrictions unseen consider an inquiry, he adds, “but we have since wartime, NZ citizens blocked from not ruled it out’’. coming to their own country. Gillespie thinks the government needs “I‘m not saying those things were good or to give a more extensive explanation about bad. I think it makes sense at the appropri- why it chose to follow some advice, but not ate juncture [that] we will need to look back all of it. “We know there will be another pan- and see what the government did, and what demic,” he says. “So what we need to ask is: 24 LISTENER MAY 14 2022

Left, Andrew Barclay with his mother, Frances, daughter Jessica and baby Kieran. Right, Barclay could not get out of MIQ to farewell his mother. Bryan Pannett, whose daughter Julia – in turquoise frock next to him at his wife’s funeral – was locked out of the country when he died. MAY 14 2022 LISTENER 25

LOCKDOWN LOSSES Elderly & isolated or dying, according to Martin Newell, spokesman for Grounded Kiwis. Now GETTY IMAGES T he Covid pandemic has been a steep Norris misses visiting her friends in based in Melbourne, Newell was living in learning curve for aged-care homes the care home and volunteering each Hong Kong last year when he tried to get and hospitals. Like workplaces and lunchtime in the dining room. As we an MIQ place to visit his mother, who had schools, they have had to juggle opposing talk, she receives a text from one of heart issues. views on restrictions: some families say they those friends. “Any news your side?” are too strict, while others argue they’re Newell says for every 10 people who not doing enough to protect their elderly At the end of April, 19 Bupa care tried to get an MIQ spot through the lot- residents. homes and villages were closed due tery system, only one was successful. The to Covid outbreaks, with 3% of its staff emergency category to get a spot in MIQ Wairarapa great-grandmother Diane and 3% of its residents in isolation. The for the death of a relative was introduced Taylor (not her real name) has had a gruel- company says the health and wellbeing ling time during Covid. After a series of of its residents and staff are always its “Her emergency falls last year, she has been in and out of top priority, and it closes its care homes allocation applications Wairarapa, Hutt Valley and Wellington only when residents test positive. It still to get back home to bury hospitals. allows visits on compassionate grounds, her son and organise his on a case-by-case basis. funeral were declined.” At times, only one support person has been allowed to visit her. Aged Care Asso- only late last year. Prior to that, if a rela- Thanks to a dip in case ciation chief executive tive was likely to die within six months, a numbers, she spent Christ- Simon Wallace says person could obtain an emergency alloca- mas with her extended aged-care homes insist tion – based on a doctor’s certificate. But if family, but this year she management of the pan- the relative then died, the person trying to was not allowed any visi- demic has not changed get home was no longer eligible. tors for about a month. over the past two years. “If anything, it’s prob- Newell says vaccines began to be avail- “Some days Mum has ably more robust than able from February last year, so the been just miserable,” her it was because we’ve got government then had another tool to fight daughter Ruth (not her real the benefits of RAT- Covid. But the MIQ system was slow to name) says. “She misses testing visitors now. adapt. having visits to look for- Even though Omicron ward to; seeing us was the has had more outbreaks, “One of our arguments was that from highlight of her day. She they’ve been managed the peak of the Delta outbreak, the risk asks how much longer ‘this through testing.’’ changed but the border settings didn’t. As lock-out’ is going to last.” other countries were starting to get higher The payoff has been vaccination rates and end hotel quarantine, The family have recently much lower death rates in aged care New Zealand failed to act. It caused a lot been granted an exemption for two people than has been seen in many other of heartbreak and unnecessary stress. to visit Taylor. But exemptions cannot be countries. “But that hasn’t come without This was extremely tragic for a number transferred between people, which means problems,” Wallace acknowledges. “The of people we were in touch with who had one of her children has been shut out. “I period between August and December relatives die suddenly and were unable to haven’t told her yet!” Ruth groans. last year when Delta was in Auckland, get back.’’ we had rest homes that weren’t allowing Although many rest homes have now families to visit. We had a lot of upset He refers to one case where a woman’s relaxed the rules, some have not yet families.” only son died without warning and she returned to normal. Some continue to was stuck in Australia. “Her emergency battle Omicron outbreaks. Some still Palliative care and end-of-life visits allocation applications to get back home to require visitors to have RAT tests to visit, were allowed even during the worst bury her son and organise his funeral were and some limit visitor numbers and of the Delta outbreak, he says. “Our declined. She had to watch this on Zoom, restrict the length of visits. rest home managers would make that which was absolutely heartbreaking.’’ happen, and largely it did happen. Obvi- Nathalie Norris lives in a second-storey ously, when you’ve got a Covid outbreak FUNERALS LOTTERY apartment at the Bupa Fergusson Retire- in your rest home, that’s a bit different ment Village in Upper Hutt. Her life is and you do have to lock down, but those Funeral directors talk about the grief mostly back to the pre-Covid “normal”, cases were rare.’’ when funerals and tangi could not be with a key exception. The care home held, or there were restrictions on the neighbouring her apartment complex He acknowledges, however, there numbers who could attend. “We became is closed to visitors, after more than half have been mental health impacts on the farewellers and the mourners and its 102 residents contracted the virus. To residents “and we are looking at that the caretakers of saying goodbye to contain its spread, residents must remain now”. people on behalf of their families,” says in their rooms where possible and refrain Funeral Directors Association of New from using communal areas. Organised By Sarah Catherall and Emily McDowall. activities have been cancelled. 26 LISTENER MAY 14 2022

Rachel Benns wants reassurance that if there’s another pandemic or Covid variant, funerals will still be allowed to go ahead. TOO CAUTIOUS? When Ardern announced the borders would reopen to Australians in time for the April school holidays, she said: “Our strong health response, including the lowest death rate in the OECD over the past two years and “It made that grief and loss so much tougher. I think this will mentally affect a lot of people who haven’t been able to say goodbye.” Zealand president Rachel Benns. Benns Minister] would stand up the next day and our high rates of vaccination, alongside our NZME manages 11 Auckland funeral homes in the say we can have funerals of 10, but by then reputation as a beautiful place to visit, will InvoCare group. The association lobbied it was too late. It was just such a lottery. We be an asset in this market.’’ the government to change the Covid had no idea from one day to the next.’’ rules a couple of times, such as allowing But over the past two years, was the gov- 100-person funerals under the red light Funeral directors held FaceTime view- ernment too cautious with its health-first setting rather than the 10 the government ings, and streamed funerals using drones response? The Listener put this and other proposed. “At level 3, we had families putting over cemeteries as families watched their questions to Hipkins. In hindsight, would names in the hat to decide who could go as a loved ones being buried. it have done things differently? “We had families While level 4 was the hardest, even level Hipkins says: “A principle we have putting names in the 3 was heartbreaking, with families plac- adopted is one of continuous improvement hat to decide who ing photos on church pews as a substitute and learning. We would never say we got could go. It was truly for not being there, Benns says. “You had everything right, but we’ve tried very hard disheartening.” empty chapels with only 10 people there. to learn fast within an overall frame of cau- That’s really tough.” tion, as befits our health-first response.’’ way of being fair. It was truly disheartening.’’ Across the Tasman, throughout its zero- Funerals were often put on hold as Asked if the rules around funerals and family overseas tried to get an MIQ spot. supporting those at the end of life went Covid response, Australia still allowed Benns argues the funeral rules were too too far – especially when 4960 funerals funerals, albeit with restricted numbers. tough, “especially when we had just a few were not held – Hipkins says: “We’ve long Here, under level 4, people who died could cases and we wouldn’t allow people to say acknowledged, and will continue to do so, not be given one at all and cemetery gates goodbye”. the effects of our Covid-19 response on were closed. “Mourners weren’t allowed in. families. Each decision has been difficult We had a lot of people waiting to try to have “Given we have thousands of Omicron because it has involved painful trade-offs. a funeral of 10 and sometimes they waited cases now, it doesn’t seem right. Weddings Our guiding principle throughout has been and waited and waited, and they needed to are different to funerals. There wasn’t a to prioritise a health response in order to do something,” Benns says. single super-spreader funeral. It made save lives, and we are proud of what has that grief and loss so much tougher. I think been achieved to date. This, however, in no “We often had no indication from the this will mentally affect a lot of people who way diminishes the pain of not being able to government from one day to the next. A haven’t been able to say goodbye.’’ visit a sick loved one or mark their passing.’’ family would decide to have a cremation because they’d waited so long for the levels Trudie Vos, general manager of the Aus- Benns wants reassurance that if there is to change, and Jacinda [Ardern, Prime tralasian Grief Centre, has a bereavement another pandemic or Covid variant, funer- team helping people whose loved ones died als will always be allowed to go ahead. “We under Covid restrictions. need to make sure this never happens again. Even in level 4, they never stopped “Some people we see are feeling guilty us going to the supermarket with a whole that they weren’t able to have that person’s lot of strangers but someone couldn’t come wishes met at the end of life, that someone into a funeral home in a small group and say couldn’t have a funeral or it wasn’t the way goodbye to their mother. That’s just funda- they hoped for,’’ she says. mentally wrong.’’ l MAY 14 2022 LISTENER 27

PROFILE Growing a movement Efeso Collins wants to be Auckland’s first Pasifika mayor. So how is he planning to win votes? byRUSSELLBROWN●photographbyADRIANMALLOCH It’s a sunny Easter Saturday in Auck- Nevertheless, Collins was critical at the forum land and Shanan Halbert, the Labour of Labour’s selection processes, and referenced MP for Northcote, has organised a a blog post where he’d lamented that its previous cafe meeting for his old friend Efeso leadership contest was a battle between “four Collins. At the age of 47, Collins white men”. The party took Pacific Island support wants to be the first Pasifika mayor for granted, he claimed. As for himself: “I’m still of Auckland and has already begun critical from within – but they’ve kept me,” he traversing the city, even though the postal vote observed. He also took a swipe at outgoing mayor doesn’t open until September. Len Brown, who had been delivered as the Super Today, he’s a little late coming from his stop at the City’s first mayor by voters in the south. “I think farmers’ market at Hobsonville perhaps the south expected Point, but he eventually arrives more of his ear,” he suggested. in shorts and sandals, along At the time, current mayor Phil Goff was looking highly It’s possible thatwithhiswife,Fia,andtheirtwo- likely to be Brown’s successor. year-old daughter, Asalemo. He Collins’ rarest recognises me and greets me political attribute “I expect him to be out south, listening,” Collins told the with an embrace, although we’ve forum. will turn out tomet only once before. Six years on, Goff is retiring That was in 2016, at a local be an ability to body candidates forum at a and if Collins wants his job, he needs to be more than sincerely changePonsonby bar. The candidates the champion of the south. his mind.ranged from first-timers to old hands, but two stood out. He remains an effective and One was 23-year-old mayoral engaging orator – centre-left aspirant Chlöe Swarbrick, who seemed to have a political commentator Shane Te Pou calls him coherent, thoughtful answer for every question. “the best stump speaker in Auckland politics” – The other was Collins, who was standing for but the tone has changed. Auckland Council in the Manukau ward. He was The crowd at the Birkenhead meeting hears a compelling as much for the way he spoke as for uniting message. He wants to “grow a movement what he said. His tone and his bearing seemed to of people who care quite deeply about this city … demand attention. I want this city to be the beautiful city that we’ve Collins, who is of Samoan-Tokelauan herit- all longed for, dreamed of and continue to build age, was famously the first Polynesian to be today.” elected president of the Auckland University He talks about the shame of the city’s home- Students’ Association. He worked as a youth lessness problem and touts the endorsements education mentor and lecturer, but in 2013 steered back into politics and was elected to the Efeso Collins: “It’s important to me for people to Ōtara-Papatoetoe Local Board on a Labour ticket, see that I’m human, that anyone who seeks these immediately becoming its chair. public roles is human.” 28 LISTENER MAY 14 2022

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PROFILE COLLINS FAMILY COLLECTION of the Labour and Green parties “and the Council) Act 2009, which requires each units along this corridor. That’s going to unions”, but also tells what seems likely to CCO to act consistently with and “give be great for our families, as long as they’re become a well-worn story about shifting effect to” the council’s Long Term Plan. affordable. And that’s a picture that I his seat at the council table to be next to didn’t see back then. It’s going to increase Ōrākei ward councillor Desley Simpson, He talks about establishing a safe cycle the accessibility of a huge employment the wife of National Party president Peter route over the harbour. He admits to hub, which is in my ward at the moment Goodfellow, to understand her perspec- being “a bit unhappy” with the way police with the airport.” tive better: “I said, ‘If you and I can’t work handled last year’s Liberate the Lane stuff out and agree to things, then we’re protest (he told 1 News that “when you’re PERSONALITY AND POLITICS going nowhere as a city.’ The key here is to managing people who are wealthy and in be collaborative with people.” It’s possible that Collins’ rarest political “I’ve apologised to the attribute will turn out to be an ability to He talks about ‘people’ a lot. The cam- rainbow community sincerely change his mind. He was publicly paign’s provisional slogan, he reveals, is for the hurt that critical of Louisa Wall’s same-sex marriage “#ForThePeople”. I’ve caused. That’s a bill a decade ago – the concerns of older genuine apology.” Pasifika people were being ignored, he said THE VISION THING – but feels differently now. Lycra, you’ve got a completely different His only explicit policy so far, fares-free approach by the police”), “but we’ve got to “I want people to know, it’s very public transport, is in the zone for this be able to share. Let’s allow the cyclists safe sincere,” he nods. “Look, I was raised in a crowd. Fully half the questions are about passage to and from home.” really strict religious family. And so for transport; from nearby ferries to the elec- many years, the Bible was taught to me in trification of the southern rail line out past He also outlines a long-term vision a very black-and-white way, and over the Papakura. involving a second harbour crossing and past 10 or 15 years, as a married man, as more light rail – the latter being some- a dad, I’ve been able to look back and to No candidate in Auckland is ever going thing he opposed in 2016. reflect on the decisions that I made and to lose votes by giving Auckland Trans- what thoughts I had. port a serve, but Collins’ criticism of the “I was heavy rail, yeah,” he acknowl- embattled council-controlled organisa- edges later. “And then I looked at what “I was taught a very specific way of how tion (CCO) is nuanced: he was among the the costs might be and the plans that light to see the world. As I’ve opened up to other councillors who voted to send the city’s rail had with the development of housing. people’s experiences and expressions of controversial parking strategy out to And when we see how interconnected life, it has given me the opportunity to public consultation, he says, but it would transport and housing is, I get encouraged understand that if I’m going to be true have been easier if AT had competently when I look at the figures – 66,000 housing to the deconstructionist theories that explained what the plan was. He would I’ve written about in my essays, that I restore the two council seats on the AT have to allow people to have their truth board and place more emphasis on section shared, too. And it’s that truth that now 92 of the Local Government (Auckland forms the basis of my approach to life. I’ve 30 LISTENER MAY 14 2022

From left, Collins’ parents Tauiliili Sio at a time when the council’s financial climate targets as the most significant RUSSELL BROWN and Lotomau Collins; with toddler scope for visionary ideas is limited. challenge faced by the council. Next came Asalemo, daughter Kaperiela and wife, council finances – the officials believed the Fia; addressing fellow students in 1999 “Yeah, but it’s a vision I think people 3.5% cap on future annual rates increases, as president of the Auckland University all want. It’s about matching it up. So let’s championed by Goff only last year as part Students’ Association; speaking at a cafe open the conversation to: if this is the of the council’s 10-year budget, may need meeting in Birkenhead. vision that we want, if this is the Auck- a rethink – and inequality, particularly land we desire to have, then how much around housing. apologised to the rainbow community for of it is going to come from rates? How the hurt that I’ve caused. That’s a genuine are we going to staircase into there? And While his rivals have at least a set of apology. If I hadn’t been exposed to these bullet points, Collins’ policy response is experiences and expressions, I’d probably “This is not central largely a matter of generalities to be filled still be living in my very black-and-white government, this in over the next two months. In part that’s world.” isn’t a right-left. because of the unusual way it’s being I’m not interested developed. His policy lead, Vanessa Cole, Collins revealed other elements of his in that politics.” comes from Auckland Action Against personal story in a recent Woman’s Day Poverty and his campaign manager, Max feature, acknowledging “a dark time in how are we going to staircase alternative Harris, has a PhD in constitutional law my life” when the stress of providing revenue streams, knowing that less than from the University of Oxford. Harris is financial support to his extended family 50% of Auckland Council’s revenue comes best known for The New Zealand Project, led to depression and suicidal thoughts from rates? We’ve been prudent, we’ve a book arguing for a return to a values- – and revealing that he had had bariatric been ambitious in finding other revenue based politics hinged on policies that surgery to control his weight in 2012. He streams. We also know that there are currently sit at the leftward margin of made the decision to talk about both, he some major financial constraints ahead of New Zealand politics, including a univer- says, because “it’s important to me for us. But we want to build a city. And that’s sal basic income. But Collins says policy people to see that I’m human, that anyone going to cost us and so I think it’s impor- priorities are being guided by soundings who seeks these public roles is human”. tant that we have that conversation.” from the people helping him get elected – his largely young campaign volunteers. He’ll still need to work to establish a These are questions any Auckland perception that he has the skills for the mayor will have to wrestle with. The “We want the volunteers to feel like mayoral job, which is both less powerful recent pre-election report published by they’ve got a complete voice,” he says. “A than its profile would suggest – success council officials singled out the challenge lot of the policy discussions have been is a matter of cajoling a council majority, of reducing emissions to meet the city’s around public housing, the rights of ten- often across party lines, for everything ants, long-term tenure and community you want to do – and more complex. Goff facilities. And CCOs have come up a lot. I has governed for two terms as a techno- found that pretty interesting. I guess the crat in little danger of raising any public ultimate goal we’ve been thinking about is passion. Collins is proposing a big vision MAY 14 2022 LISTENER 31

PROFILE ON THE social cohesion – how do we achieve social RIGHT TRACK cohesion as we reconnect post-Covid?” Four main challengers are in the running While the gaps wait to be filled, there’s to take on Efeso Collins. a slight undercurrent of anxiety about the campaign. Harris has worked as an eco- Efeso Collins is a provisional At this early stage, the most nomic policy adviser in the UK Parliament favourite to be elected visible among Collins’ rivals and clerked for Dame Sian Elias when she Auckland’s next is restaurateur Molloy, who was Chief Justice, but he hasn’t run an mayor in Septem- has a strong media pres- election campaign before. ber’s postal vote. A poll of ence and a few prominent Collins has the Labour Party’s endorse- ment as an independent candidate, but uncertain provenance touted supporters in Collins’ it’s no secret that the party originally by a Collins rival, Leo Molloy, South Auckland heartland. Collins outlines a long- term vision involving a had Collins narrowly ahead He also seems constantly in second harbour crossing and more light rail. of Molloy. Another conducted danger of blowing himself up favoured North Shore councillor Richard six weeks ago by Talbot Mills with a loose public comment. Hills as its candidate – Jacinda Ardern met with Hills last year to discuss his standing. Research for the Labour Party Beck, as chief executive But it equally did not relish Auckland’s centre-left vote being split the way the also had Collins in front on 24% of the inner-city business right’s frequently has been. Hills decided not to stand, citing the demands of raising support, three points ahead of group Heart of the City, a new baby. knows the people and Collins, so long the party’s internal irritant, needs its powerbrokers and its The “Super City” practices of Auckland campaign machinery as never before. has delivered Council well, and is well centre-left liked. But she has little profile BOTH SIDES OF THE HOUSE mayors in outside her own turf. She could be a beneficiary of any urban Party sources say former president Mike liberal votes that don’t go to Williams and past general secretary Andrew Kirton have now weighed in four citywide Collins. behind Collins’ campaign. An initial one- elections since its Brown comes with month fundraising goal of $100,000 was creation in 2010. achieved in three weeks. Collins confirms genuine Mr Fixit cre- he has had “extremely warm and support- dentials (he oversaw the ive” conversations with Williams and that restoration of the central Kirton has been in touch. city’s electricity supply after “I’ve also been endorsed by the Greens and I think they’ve got a particular agenda Wayne Brown, followed by Viv the blackout in 1998) and local that’s going to be useful for the city. And look, I’ve had discussions with people in Beck, with Molloy some way government experience (he the National Party. Because in this role, you can’t just keep to your side. We’ve got to be back – but with 36% of voters served two terms as mayor open to having ongoing, mature conver- sations with everybody from both sides undecided. of the Far North) and he’s of the House. The good thing about local government is you’re not hamstrung by This isn’t really surprising. putting up half a million left-right politics.” The amalgamation of Auck- dollars of his own money. But a New Zealand Herald backgrounder has raised some questions about what land’s seven city and district But like Beck, he has no kind of mayor Collins would be. An unnamed council colleague described councils and its regional council ground game. His campaign him as “incredibly intelligent but prone to laziness”. Collins’ meeting attendance this into a single “Super City” in 2010 From top, Leo launch, promoted by a PR year has been relatively low at 86%, but his has delivered centre-left mayors Molloy, Viv Beck, company, attracted about in the four citywide elections Wayne Brown and 20 supporters. since. It’s not exactly a sinecure, Craig Lord. Craig Lord has main- more of a tendency driven by the tained an internet consolidation of the votes and campaign presence since he came third in machines of the city’s south and west. 2019’s race and has policies (includ- The other factor is the fracturing of the ing “removal of road restrictions”), vote on the centre-right. This year, Collins but spends a lot of his time venting faces no fewer than four rivals ostensibly on what might be considered culture to his right. The venerable centre-right war issues. He recently posted a meme campaign bloc Communities and Residents featuring a cartoon of an angry brown- (formerly Citizens and Ratepayers) has so skinned man with the words “No Efeso, far declined to indicate a preference. That we don’t need more youth workers, we call, if it comes, could be very important. need more parent training”. 32 LISTENER MAY 14 2022

ADRIAN MALLOCH Collins: “Everything I’ve done and voted on is on public record.” YEARS AND COUNTING absence involved council business for a further 6% of meetings. His response in the past has been that he’s out working in the com- Join us in 2022, as munity, and it is true that he has taken on voluntary governance we celebrate our roles with five outside organisations since becoming a councillor, 75th anniversary including chairing the Ōtara Health Charitable Trust and joining and look forward the advisory board of the Manukau Institute of Technology. to a golden future. “I think calling on people to make those kinds of comments is TICKETS FROM $21 lazy in itself,” he says. “Anyone can hide behind a screen, but what I nzso.co.nz/2022 think is important for the public to understand is that everything that I’ve talked about, everything I’ve done and voted on, is on Book with confidence public record. And I would much rather that if people had some If concerts are cancelled or rescheduled due to COVID-19 misgivings about working with mayoral candidates that they restrictions, you are eligible for a full refund. should reach out to us and talk to us.” Principal Partners The Herald story also gave voice to rumours that Collins has a testy relationship with some council staff. “I can’t think of any example where I’ve had friction between myself and council staff. I can’t name a complaint. So there’s nothing tangible to the idea that council staff have been unhappy with me.” He’d prefer to talk about his work as a consensus builder. Col- lins’ rhetoric continually circles back to ideas about involving people, listening, seeking a shared vision. His challenge will be to convince Aucklanders in Ōtara, Remuera, Henderson and Taka- puna that they do in fact have common cause in the city. It’s an ambitious vision for an election that sometimes threatens to be a vote about car parking. But this, says Collins, is the kind of mayor he wants to be. “I think the role of the mayor is, firstly, to raise the issues, similar to what we’re doing now. Say these are the big ideas – and then collaborate to find consensus. Sometimes you’re going to get strong majorities, and sometimes you’ll get just majorities. What matters is that we’ve been able to communicate. And it’s understanding that this is not central government; that this isn’t a right-left. I’m not interested in that politics. I’m interested in a politics that says, ‘we’ll talk, let’s collaborate, let’s get the best. And we’ll find some middle ground along the way’.” l MAY 14 2022 LISTENER

ESSAY ICY EMBRACE A dip in Wilkies Pools in Taranaki helps Ellen Comber reconcile her mixed emotions about the region. GETTY IMAGES T he relationship changed vegetation to momentarily rest in smooth scrambled up the gully to find a quieter with a Boxing Day volcanic rock pools before gravity beck- area for a dip. baptism. We hiked on oned and it flowed away. the slopes of Taranaki He went first, sliding down volcanic Mounga* – if walking Formed by the scouring action of rock smoothed by a 20,000-year watery 20 minutes along a first- water-borne sand and gravel, Wilkies caress into the pool’s snow-laced coolness, class track qualifies as hiking – through Pools are natural plunge pools on the ducking under and quickly emerging for verdant forest, thick with opportunistic slopes of Mt Taranaki, named after the me to follow. Physically awkward at the kāmahi trees and the damp, shady scent Wilkies brothers, locals who farmed in best of times, my approach was slower – a of mosses and liverworts. the area. They are a popular summer supine shuffle into the frigid waist-deep attraction and we watched the morning’s water, where I stood with skin searing Stepping out from a world of green, we visitors congregate on rocks and tenta- from its icy bite and mind resistant to were met by a swing bridge over Kapuni tively touch their toes to watery vessels, full immersion. Eventually, I found the Stream and from its unsteady centre, the shrieking at the brisk temperature and courage to plunge under the pool’s glassy mountain’s shy snow-capped peak was debating whether to swim. Following surface and emerged somehow reborn. visible through fast-moving summer my companion’s warning that full-body My relationship with Taranaki Mounga clouds. Water tumbled down the steep immersion was not for the faint-hearted, had changed in an irreversible and mean- gully, traversing boulders and alpine we left the safety of the bridge and ingful way. 34 LISTENER MAY 14 2022

Wilkies Pools: the natural plunge pools were formed by the scouring In association with action of water-borne sand and gravel. Four My family relocated from Westport in the South Island to New Seasons Plymouth in the North when I was 10 years old. The move from a small West Coast town to a larger west coast town was tough Vesa-Matti Leppänen Director and the dominance of Mt Taranaki on the landscape came to Anna van der Zee Violin represent everything I believed had been taken from me. The Malavika Gopal Violin loss of childhood friends and beloved grandparents; the ability Simeon Broom Violin to roam freely as a slightly feral kid; the scent of coal smoke cling- Alan Molina Violin ing to empty streets; and the Paparoa Range, its blue-green hues Vivaldi The Four Seasons entombing a deceased giant in my imagination. I was left with a Piazzolla orch. Desyatnikov Las Cuatro Estaciones gaping crater at my core. Porteñas (The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires) Hamilton “Mt Taranaki is an ugly zit!” I frequently declared to my parents Fri, 20 May, 7.30pm in explosive rants about why shifting to New Plymouth was a bad Sat, 21 May, 7.30pm Gallagher Concert Chamber “Mt Taranaki is an ugly zit!” I frequently declared to my parents Tickets from $32 / Book at nzso.co.nz in explosive rants about why shifting to New Plymouth was Book with confidence a bad move for our family. If concerts are cancelled or rescheduled due to COVID-19 restrictions, you are eligible for a full refund. move for our family. The mountain bore the brunt of my anger and Principal Partners my grief. It stood over me, moody and unpredictable, yet somehow the favourite child – my parents parading its iconic symmetrical peak to out-of-town relatives when they stayed. After many unset- tled years, I left New Plymouth, but my resentment of Mt Taranaki remained, until my Boxing Day baptism at Wilkies Pools. Submerged in the confronting cold of our chosen pool, I felt nothing and everything simultaneously. The water’s dis- tinct quality – low in sediment and high in minerals – was foreign and confusing. Accompanied by an almost unbearable chill, it jolted me from my geographic slumber and reset my fraught relationship with Taranaki Mounga into something new. I emerged to warm myself on the mountain’s firm slopes, my shivering body absorbing whispers of its legendary pain and strength. For the first time in Taranaki, I felt grounded. Returning to New Plymouth, even if only for a few days, can open old wounds to spoil a visit. However, that plunge into Wilk- ies Pools showed me I can love a mountain I had once so callously rejected. According to legend, Taranaki Mounga has always known rejection. He lost a mountainous battle with Tongariro for the love of Pīhanga and fled the central plateau to finally rest in an embrace with the Pouākai Range. The offspring of Pouākai and Taranaki became the flora, fauna, rocks and rivers that flow from their slopes – it became Wilkies Pools. On summer evenings when visiting New Plymouth, I admire Taranaki in his stoic glory, the peach and lavender tones of dusk highlighting his battle scars and his beauty. I speak to him and thank him for his strength, dignity and grace. On days when I feel my deep-seated childhood grief and resentment creeping in, I head to Wilkies Pools. I immerse myself in water so cold it reminds me that if I can sit in the freezing temperature, I can sit in the childhood feelings that occasionally rise to my surface, and momentarily rest before flowing away. l * This story uses Taranaki mita (dialect). MAY 14 2022 LISTENER

LIFE HEALTH by Nicky Pellegrino Get the drift? Treating dogs for fleas or spraying to control pests inside your home can increase children’s exposure to pesticides, a new study shows. GETTY IMAGES Pesticide exposure has been linked with Farmers who’ve only what someone has been exposed a range of health problems including sprayed pesticides to in the previous 24-48 hours. “Also, cancer – in particular non-Hodgkin should not enter the many of the pesticides currently in lymphoma – as well as thyroid dys- house in the clothes use have a half-life that is consider- function and neurodevelopmental they were wearing. ably shorter than some of the more problems in children and teens. toxic and persistent chemicals we a professor of public health at Massey used to have,” says Douwes. “They are We know pesticides are widely used here in University. Five hundred children more easily excreted, so don’t hang agriculture, as well as homes and workplaces. But aged 5-14 and from a variety of back- around in your body for that long.” how much is being sprayed and, more importantly, are these chemicals affecting our health? At the grounds were involved. They Although the study provides only moment, we don’t have enough information to give shared information on diet, a snapshot of pesticide levels at a clear answers. lifestyle and location and particular point in time, it has yielded their urine was analysed some interesting results. Now, a new study has shown that Kiwi kids are for 20 pesticide biomarkers. being exposed to 2.2-7.3 times more of an Urine samples do have As expected, rural children had organophosphate called chlorpyrifos limitations. They will reflect elevated levels of some pesticides, than children in countries such as including chlorpyrifos, during the Spain and Thailand. Chlorpyrifos is Jeroen Douwes high spray season. Less predictably, associated with neurodevelopmental urban kids had higher concentrations problems and has been banned in some of some biomarkers during the low places, including the US and Australia. spray season. Researchers believe this This was the first research at this scale is because they were eating imported done in this country, says Jeroen Douwes, fruits, vegetables and grains exposed 36 LISTENER MAY 14 2022

some studies that have shown elevated levels HEALTH BRIEFS of pesticides in house dust,” says Douwes. MELANOMA BLOOD TESTS Using sprays in the home to control insects such as flies and mosquitoes was also linked Blood tests could eventually replace to higher levels of pyrethroid metabolites. skin biopsies to look for signs of melanoma, according to research- Many insecticides have been developed to ers from the University of Michigan. act on the nervous systems of insects. “And the The team has developed a test- central nervous system we have as mammals ing method they say can detect is actually not very dissimilar to that of insects. the presence of melanoma cells Therefore, if you try to kill an insect, potentially circulating in the blood, and deter- it could have an undesirable effect on mammals mine whether all cells have been as well.” removed after skin cancer surgery. “We have a high reliance YET MORE ASPIRIN ADVICE on agrichemicals … so it is good to try to Middle-aged adults should decide reduce those levels.” for themselves if they want to take a small amount of aspirin daily to to pesticides while they were growing Douwes stresses this study isn’t an immediate possibly reduce their risk of heart GETTY IMAGES and during post-harvest storage. cause for alarm, as most exposures do fall below attack and stroke, the US Preventive guideline levels. Services Task Force recommends. Surprisingly, eating organic fruits However, the disease prevention and vegetables didn’t appear to “But we have a high reliance on agrichemicals experts advise against low-dose supply a benefit. in New Zealand and it’s probably not something aspirin for those aged 60-plus. we want to have in our food, so it is good to try to There is some evidence that the “We’re not entirely sure why,” says reduce those levels.” medication – which blocks clot- Douwes. “It may have been because ting but can cause bleeding – can people were not eating organic fruits Washing produce before eating it was found reduce the risk of cardiovascular and vegetables consistently. And we to help. And Douwes says it makes sense for disease. The taskforce’s position on did find a difference for other organic farmers who have sprayed pesticides not to aspirin has been revised many times products.” enter the house in the clothes they were wearing as new evidence comes to light. and to wash them separately from the family Not all exposures came from laundry. ICU LINK TO LONG COVID agrichemicals. Metabolites of pesticides we use in our “The other thing we should do, as a society, One in three Covid-19 patients homes were also found in the urine is look at whether we need the quantities of agri- admitted to ICU for their infection of these children. chemicals being used and whether there are end up with long Covid, compared better alternatives that are less toxic.” with one in 100 patients who Dog ownership, for instance, weren’t hospitalised, according to increased exposure to pyrethroids, Our Environmental Protection Authority has research presented at the European most likely from flea treatments, already found that there are grounds to reassess Congress of Clinical Microbiology but also possibly because animals the use of chlorpyrifos. & Infectious Diseases. Research- track dust into a home. “There are ers followed up 205,241 people in In your own home, Douwes suggests that any Sweden who tested positive during spraying to control pests or dog-flea treatments the first 18 months of the pandemic. should happen only when children are likely to They found 32% of patients origi- be out of the house for some time. nally treated in ICU developed long Covid, compared with 6% of people “One of the things we show in the paper is hospitalised without ICU admis- that if your children are still there when you’re sion and 1% of people who didn’t applying these sprays, they will have higher require hospitalisation. levels of those pesticides in their urine.” Researchers are continuing to analyse the results of this study. They are now looking at house-dust samples to check for levels of compounds. And they will also be assessing whether pes- ticide exposure may have led to any neurodevelopmental issues for the young participants. Those results are at least another year away. l MAY 14 2022 LISTENER

LIFE NUTRITION by Jennifer Bowden Bean there, done that There are easy ways to add more fibre to your diet and thereby improve your health. Question: The average Kiwi eats adequate intake standard of 30g for My doctor told me I needed to increase my fibre intake. about 20g of dietary men and 25g for women. So, you’re I changed my regular breakfast from Weet-Bix to Weet- fibre a day, well not alone. Bix Hi-Bran, with fruit and yogurt. I eat wholegrain bread below the adequate and quite a bit of fruit. Last week, I bought a few tins intake standard. Optimising fibre intake provides of beans to include in meals. What other ways can you many long-term health benefits. In suggest to help me increase my fibre intake? those of most Western nations, is improving gut functioning, it helps sadly lacking in dietary fibre. prevent constipation and digestive CAnswer: lear links exist between The most recent NZ national problems, including haemorrhoids, dietary-fibre intake and nutrition survey found irritable bowel syndrome and diver- our metabolic health, the average New Zea- ticular disease. cardiovascular lander eats about 20g of dietary fibre It also helps lower blood- GETTY IMAGES health, gut a day, well below the cholesterol levels and assists with blood-sugar level control (important health and colon-cancer for pre-diabetes and diabetes). risk, among other things. However, in recent decades, the effect of gut microflora on health has Yet our national diet, like become increasingly well recognised. 38 LISTENER MAY 14 2022

TIPS FOR ADDING through diet – and that is where optimising NUTRITION BITES GETTY IMAGES LEGUMES TO YOUR DIET dietary fibre intake plays a key role. WEIGH MORE, LIVE LONGER Add a can of baked beans, But unlike many healthy-eating messages chickpeas or red kidney beans that are relatively self-explanatory, the “eat For people aged over 80 in China, to soups, casseroles or pasta more fibre” message requires clarification. First, being overweight or mildly obese sauces. we need to understand what fibre is and which is associated with reduced mortal- Combine red kidney beans foods have a high-fibre content, then determine ity, according to an observational with mince to make a tasty how to incorporate them into our busy lives. study involving more than 27,000 Mexican-style chilli. Serve on older adults published in Nature brown rice, baked potatoes Dietary fibre is the fraction of the edible Ageing. Among those aged 80 and with skins on, nachos, tacos parts of plants that is resistant to digestion over who were followed for up to or burritos. and absorption in the small intestine. Fruits, 20 years, the risk of mortality – in Fibre up a trusty Kiwi favour- vegetables, wholegrains and legumes are the particular from non-cardiovascular ite shepherd’s pie by adding best sources. disorders – decreased as BMI baked beans to the meat increased, with the optimal BMI mixture. Beans and lentils can be the associated with longer life in those Blend kidney beans in a food base of many healthy and in the overweight-to-mildly obese processor, add onion, spices, budget-friendly meals. range. The findings suggest public sauces and breadcrumbs, health recommendations for then cook as hamburger Eating 5+ servings of fruit and vegetables a optimal weights may need to be patties. day provides an excellent foundation for your revised upward in this age group. For a Mediterranean-style fibre intake (eg, an apple, two feijoas, ½ cup vegetable bake, add a can of broccoli or one potato provide between 2-3g MATERNAL DIET A KEY butter beans to veges such as fibre each). It is also beneficial to eat wholegrain courgettes, eggplant, mush- bread and cereals each day (a serving is ½ cup Women whose diet more closely rooms, capsicums and onions. of porridge, 1 cup of cooked rice or a slice of resembles a Mediterranean dietary Add a can of four-bean mix to bread), which provide 2-4g of fibre per serving. pattern are less likely to develop salads or as a filling for baked For example, Weet-Bix Hi-Bran is an excellent pre-eclampsia during pregnancy, potatoes. breakfast choice as it provides 6.4g per serving a study published in the Journal Add chickpeas to pasta and (two biscuits), compared with 3g for standard of the American Heart Association green salads (a light roasting finds. Pre-eclampsia is a serious first gives them a lovely nutty Weet-Bix (two biscuits). complication involving severe flavour). Eating more legumes will high blood pressure and can be Hummus-type also increase fibre intake. fatal for both mother and baby. spreads and dips Legumes are plants Researchers analysed health and contain legumes, or the fruit of plants dietary data from 8500 pregnant so make a great from the family women and found a 72% higher spread for Fabaceae (formerly risk of pre-eclampsia among those sandwiches or Leguminosae). whose diet least resembled a crackers or for Peas, beans, Mediterranean dietary pattern. dipping vege lentils, alfalfa and sticks in. clover are well- TEEN DRINKING TOO HIGH known examples. A healthy and diverse Take inspiration Binge-drinking rates among Kiwi gut microflora popula- from European teens are still higher than those of tion enables our body to cultures – French their overseas peers, says a report function at its best. Indeed, casseroles and Medi- in the Journal of the Royal Society a 2020 review in the journal terranean salads contain of New Zealand. Use of alcohol, Nutrients noted that gut dysfunction tobacco and cannabis peaked underlies many of our 21st-century beans – or the Americas, among teens in the late 1990s/ chronic ailments through chronic where beans and lentils are the early 2000s, then declined rapidly, inflammatory pathways and immune base of many healthy and budget- with prevalence now much lower dysfunction. friendly meals. By increasing your than 20 years ago. However, binge- legume intake (see tip box), and The great news is that if you adding a healthy variety of drinking rates remain improve your gut microflora, fruits, vegetables and whole stubbornly high by you will almost inevitably grains to your diet, you’ll go a international stand- improve your health. Gut microflora long way to achieving just what ards, and evidence can be modified through a range of the doctor ordered. l suggests we may lifestyle factors, but most especially be at a turning Email your nutrition questions to point, with declines [email protected] stalling or revers- ing and vaping emerging as a new health risk. MAY 14 2022 LISTENER 39

LIFE FOOD Spanish succession José Pizarro’s authentic, uncomplicated recipes celebrate the melting pot of cultural influences on the Iberian Peninsula. This gorgeous recipe is a stew large handful of flat-leaf parsley, until the veggies are very tender I just love. It has a rich autumnal stalks and leaves chopped and have formed a lovely thick stew. tone, thanks to the pumpkin and chickpeas. For the vinegar, 400g tin chickpeas, drained and Add the chickpeas and vinegar I suggest you use just two teaspoons rinsed and bubble for 10 minutes or so, then to begin with. Personally, I love more – just be serve with a drizzle of extra virgin careful with it. 2 tsp sherry vinegar olive oil and a scattering of chopped extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling parsley leaves. Season to taste. PUMPKIN, AUBERGINE AND PEPPER STEW sea salt and freshly ground black Serves 6. 4 tbsp olive oil pepper 1 large onion, finely chopped EMMA LEE 2 garlic cloves, grated Heat the oil in a large casserole dish MEATBALLS ARE ONE of my favour- 1 large aubergine (eggplant), chopped (Dutch oven) or sauté pan over a ite things to cook. They’re a great way ½ tsp dried chilli (hot pepper) flakes low heat. Add the onion, garlic and to play around with different flavours ½ tsp bittersweet smoked paprika aubergine (eggplant) and gently – in my previous books and my 3 marjoram or oregano sprigs fry for 15 minutes. Add the chilli restaurant menus, I’ve experimented 1 green pepper, chopped (hot pepper) flakes, pimentón and with meatballs made of everything 2 red peppers, chopped marjoram or oregano and fry for a from squid to salt cod, and served 800g peeled and chopped pumpkin or squash minute more, then add the peppers with sauces made from almonds, 400g tin chopped tomatoes and pumpkin. Increase the heat a oranges, tomatoes and more. 400ml vegetable stock little and cook for another 10 minutes. 1 bay leaf This recipe is very quick, and really Add the tomatoes, stock, bay leaf and different to any meatball dishes I’ve parsley stalks. Season well and reduce made before. It’s perfect for a mid- the heat to low. Simmer for 40 minutes week supper or tapas evening. 40 LISTENER MAY 14 2022

know why, but I couldn’t stand lentils. I remember a big drama when I was a toddler: because I turned my nose up at lentils one lunchtime, I had to have them for dinner as well … and then again for breakfast the next day! To be fair, I was a “challenging” child, and I know I must have been difficult. Anyway, now – I absolutely love lentils, and guess what? This dish is ideal for breakfast, lunch or dinner. My mum was right. It’s perfect for all year round, too, so go ahead, enjoy! From left, pumpkin, cooled shallot, spices and chopped LENTILS WITH CHORIZO AND POTATOES EMMA LEE aubergine and pepper coriander. Season well and shape stew; Moorish meatballs into 16 walnut-sized balls. 2 tbsp olive oil with spiced saffron 250g chorizo, sliced yogurt; lentils with Heat the remaining oil in a large 1 onion, finely sliced chorizo and potato. ovenproof frying pan over a medium- 2 garlic cloves, finely sliced high heat. Add the meatballs and fry 1 small carrot, chopped MOORISH MEATBALLS WITH SPINACH, until they are golden, then transfer 300g large floury potatoes, quartered or cut into PINE NUTS AND SPICED SAFFRON YOGURT to the oven for 5 minutes to finish cooking. Remove to a warm plate large chunks 2 tbsp olive oil and cover loosely with kitchen foil. 1-2 fresh bay leaves 1 shallot, finely chopped 250g puy lentils, rinsed 300g beef mince Meanwhile, make the spiced 1 litre fresh chicken stock 300g pork mince saffron yogurt. In a bowl, mix 150g morcilla (Spanish blood sausage), chopped 2 fat garlic cloves, grated together the yogurt, garlic and sea salt and freshly ground black pepper 1 tsp hot smoked paprika mint and season well, then stir in crusty bread, to serve 1 tsp sweet smoked paprika the saffron and its soaking water. 1 tsp ground cumin Heat the olive oil in a deep casserole dish over handful of chopped coriander, plus Place the frying pan you used for a medium heat. Add the chorizo slices and cook the meatballs over a high heat and add until golden on both sides. Once cooked, remove extra to garnish the spinach and sultanas, along with from the pan with a slotted spoon and set aside 250g baby spinach a small splash of water. Mix together on a plate, leaving the reddish oil in the pan. 30g sultanas and allow the spinach to wilt and 30g pine nuts, toasted mingle with the cooking juices from Add the onion to the pan and cook for 5 minutes sea salt and freshly ground black the meatballs. Add the pine nuts, then until slightly softened, then add the garlic and return the meatballs and any resting cook for a further minute or two. Add the carrot, pepper juices back into the pan and toss eve- potatoes and bay leaves to the pan and cook for crusty bread, to serve rything together. Season to taste. another couple of minutes, stirring occasionally. SPICED SAFFRON YOGURT 300g greek yogurt Divide the yogurt between four Add the lentils, followed by the stock. Season 1 garlic clove, grated plates and top with the meatballs and well and bring to the boil. Reduce to a simmer 1 tbsp finely chopped mint leaves spinach. Serve with crusty bread. and cook, covered, for 30 minutes, or until the pinch of saffron threads, soaked in lentils have softened but still have some bite. Serves 4. The mixture should still be quite soupy; if it 1 tsp boiling water is a little too dry, add another splash of stock. 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil THIS IS MY desert-island dish, Return the chorizo to the pan, along with the without a doubt. This wasn’t always morcilla, and cook, uncovered, for 5-7 minutes. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Heat 1 table- the way – when I was a kid, I don’t Serve in warmed bowls with crusty bread. spoon of the oil in a small frying pan (skillet) over a low heat and gently fry Serves 4-6. the shallot for 10 minutes until soft. Set aside and allow to cool. I KNOW RICE PUDDING is a popular dessert in the UK, where I live, but the Spanish love this dish In a large bowl, mix together both as well. I often have rice pudding on my restaurant types of mince, along with the garlic, menus, and people love it. The way we always had rice pudding in my home was to infuse the milk with some spices and citrus, and then just slowly simmer the milk with the rice in it, so it was very simple. My recipe here may take a little more time, but if you’re looking for an easy dessert, this is it. I’m not sure if my mum would approve of this method, but I think it’s scrumptious. There’s nothing better than a dessert like this, with a slightly crunchy crust on top and that silky smooth, milky rice inside. Aproveche! (Enjoy!) MAY 14 2022 LISTENER 41

LIFE WINE by Michael Cooper Maude’s magic A former doctor’s vineyard dream is bearing fruit. EMMA LEE Baked orange W hydosomany crisp, lingering finish. Best drinking rice pudding doctors plant vine- 2026+. (12.5% alc/vol) $32 with strawberry yards? According compote. to the owners of Maude Mt Maude East Block Wānaka Maude winery, in Central Otago, their Central Otago Riesling 2021 BAKED ORANGE RICE PUDDING WITH STRAWBERRY analytical brains become impatient: From vines planted in 1994, this COMPOTE “Unlike patients, vines show, rather Mosel-like wine is light-bodied and than complain about, their symptoms.” vivacious. Bright, light lemon/green, unsalted butter, for greasing it has fresh, penetrating lemony, 100g short-grained white rice The Maude story began in 1994, appley flavours, gentle sweetness, 50g caster sugar when Terry Wilson, a former GP appetising acidity and lovely depth, 700ml full-fat milk and anaesthetist, and his wife, vigour and harmony. (9% alc/vol) $32 350ml double cream Dawn, a potter, planted their first finely grated zest of 3 oranges vines at the base of Mt Maude, on Maude Central Otago Rosé 2021 1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped a steep, north-facing site between COMPOTE Lakes Wānaka and Hāwea. Their Delicious young, this floral, single- 300g fresh or frozen strawberries, halved riesling, pinot noir and chardonnay vineyard rosé was made from juice of ½ orange vines yielded the first wines under pinot noir grown at Lowburn, in 150g caster sugar the Mt Maude label in 1999. the Cromwell Basin. Bright pink, it is crisp and dry, with fresh water- Preheat the oven to 150°C and grease a 1 litre Their daughter, Sarah-Kate, melon and strawberry flavours, ovenproof dish with butter. studied winemaking and married showing excellent intensity, delicacy an Australian winemaker, Dan and vibrancy. (13% alc/vol) $28 Mix all the rice pudding ingredients together Dineen. Since 2006, when Dan and in a large bowl, then pour into the prepared Sarah-Kate founded Maude winery Maude Central Otago Sauvignon Blanc dish. Bake for 2-2½ hours until the rice is tender in Wānaka, the company has grown 2021 and there is a lovely crust on top, but it is still a steadily, producing consistently This attractive, single-vineyard bit creamy underneath. classy wines from its own and other wine was grown at Pisa, in the vineyards in the region. Cromwell Basin. Full-bodied, it Meanwhile, make the compote. Put the is crisp and lively, with very good berries, orange juice and sugar in a saucepan Maude Poison Creek Central Otago depth of citrusy, appley flavours and over a low heat and cook very gently for 10-15 Pinot Noir 2019 a distinct touch of barrel-ferment minutes until you have a rich, reduced compote, This single-vineyard red was grown complexity. (13% alc/vol) $25 l but the fruit is still holding some shape. at Queensberry, in the Cromwell Basin. Bright ruby, it is a mouth- WINE OF THE WEEK Serve the rice pudding filling, youthful, savoury wine with dollops of the lus- with strong, ripe fruit flavours Maude Central Otago Pinot Gris cious compote. seasoned with nutty oak, good 2021 complexity and obvious potential This refined, youthful, regional Serves 4-6. l for cellaring. (14% alc/vol) $45 blend was fermented in stainless- This is an edited extract steel tanks and old oak barrels. from THE SPANISH HOME Maude Mt Maude Wānaka Central Fragrant, mouthfilling and KITCHEN, by José Pizarro Otago Dry Riesling 2021 vibrantly fruity, it has pear, peach (Hardie Grant Books, $60.00. Hand-picked from vines then 27 and spice flavours showing very Available in stores nationally years old, this intense wine is invit- good depth and complexity, and from June 1). ingly scented. It has fresh, vigorous, a dry finish. (13.5% alc/vol) $27 citrusy, appley flavours, slightly peachy notes and a basically dry, 42 LISTENER MAY 14 2022



LIFE PSYCHOLOGY by Marc Wilson Discomfort zone Doing things that are difficult shouldn’t be avoided. In fact, we should embrace the angst they evoke. GETTY IMAGES Has anyone ever said to you, when What if, rather without tribulation. More often than things aren’t going well, that than just putting up not, those computer games end with “whatever doesn’t kill you makes with discomfort, the ignominious death of my avatar. I you stronger”? Did it help? Or did we anticipated it, love the deck that I finished building it make you want to whack them maybe even actively over Anzac weekend, but my back over the head with your rolled-up NZ Listener? Okay, sought it out? still aches at the memory. maybe that’s just me. I get pretty ticked off with “live your best life”, too. fun, and it’s great sitting on the As Kaitlin Woolley, of Cornell newly built deck enjoying a beer University in the US, notes, not all But perhaps they were right. and some sunshine. goals involve fun, and we typically Generally, I prefer things I enjoy find it harder to pursue goals, no to things that “don’t kill me”. And I But I also have to admit that matter how worthy, that are tough. know I’m not alone – it’s true we at least some of the things that That’s a problem if that difficulty find things that are enjoyable, excit- I enjoy aren’t, ahem, always means we give up, or fail and then ing, and rewarding to be highly give up. motivating. Computer games are But, Woolley asks, what if we Kaitlin Woolley: doing it tough pays off. think of difficulty or discomfort as a sign that we’re making progress 44 LISTENER MAY 14 2022

new skills is a sign that the exercise is working … your goal is to push yourself to develop new skills and feel yourself improving”? What about “Your goal … is to feel awkward and uncomfortable. Feeling uncomfortable is a sign that the exercise is working. In the next game, your goal is to push past your comfort zone and … feel awkward and uncomfortable”? People were more likely to keep on swimming when encouraged to “feel awkward” or “feel upset”. towards our goals? In fact, what if, rather This is one of the experiments that than just putting up with discomfort, Woolley, and colleague Ayelet we anticipated it, maybe even actively Fishbach, carried out in collabo- sought it out? ration with The Second City theatre, a comedy and improvisation club. Half of Let me illustrate. Imagine that, without the people across 16 Second City improv warning, I tell you you’re going to have to classes were given one or other of the stand on a stage and improvise a speech, two instructions I just described. or tell jokes. Or give a lecture (maybe that’s just my anxiety dream). Research, Sure enough, “feel awkward” par- and your personal experience, would ticipants reported feeling more, well, indicate this is highly likely to make awkward than “feel yourself developing” you anxious. So let’s take a step back participants. But they also persisted and give you an opportunity to learn to longer at holding their “focus” on the improvise. task – in this case playing an assigned role – and made more overtly “risky” Would you be more likely to persist if improvisation. I told you your goal was to “feel yourself developing new skills. Developing As cool as this field experiment is (in several flavours across more than 500 student improvisers), Woolley and Fishbach also got another 1600-odd people to write about difficult emotions. The aim was to learn about the risks of Covid-19 or gun violence, or engage with opposing political views. Sure enough, people were more likely to keep going when encouraged to “feel awkward” or “feel upset and uncomfortable”. So, despite my aversion to well- meaning advice, is it useful to seek out things that won’t kill me, but aren’t much fun? Woolley notes that discomfort can also serve an important function – feeling a twinge of pain while exercising can be a sign that you’d better stop before you pop a gasket. If we look at the instructions that Woolley and Fishbach gave to their participants, it wasn’t about finding a cliff to peer over, but rather to appraise discomfort as a sign that you’re making progress — if you happen to be near a cliff. l MAY 14 2022 LISTENER

LIFE available to Kiwis, we have thousands of podcasts, audiobook and ebook services and more news TECHNOLOGY content than ever. Then there’s the bottomless pit of user-generated content on YouTube, TikTok by Peter Griffin videos, Clubhouse meet-ups and the ever-present, time-sucking pull of social media. It’s a great time to be a culture junkie, but the choice is overwhelming and the fragmentation of content across too many platforms grasping for your credit card number is turning people off. What we need is innovation in independent content- discovery tools, so we can get an honest steer. Guiding light US audience research company Nielsen surveyed TV streaming customers last year and found that We’re drowning in oceans of content but nearly half of them felt it was becoming harder to some reliable guides are at hand to help find content to watch. US viewers had more than us find what to watch, listen to and read. 200 premium streaming options to choose from and 817,000 unique programme titles, said Nielsen. GETTY IMAGES So much for Netflix and Spotify, the equivalent of Netflix chill. Netflix appears to in music streaming, also saw its share The recommendation engine is one of the have finally found its limits price hit an all-time low last month most clever but controversial creations of to growth. as it revealed it added just two mil- Silicon Valley. They are employed across The world’s largest sub- lion subscribers in the first three Facebook, YouTube, Netflix and Amazon, using scription video-streaming platform months of the year, giving it a total sophisticated algorithms that learn from your shed 200,000 subscribers in the first of 182 million. previous behaviour. But they have also been used three months of the year, its first to manipulate you, pushing you towards clickbait, decline following a decade of steady Both Netflix and Spotify have misinformation and B-grade movies. Discoverabil- growth that has seen it amass over become victims of their own success. ity functions are also exclusive to each platform. 221 million subscribers worldwide. High-growth tech companies can What we need is innovation in independent maintain their massive valuations content-discovery tools, so we can get an honest Pulling the plug on 700,000 sub- only while they continue to add steer on what to watch, read or listen to across the scribers in Russia in response to the paying subscribers. Despite forging whole ecosystem of content providers. invasion of Ukraine helped tip Netflix into markets such as India and Latin into the red in more ways than one. America and creating content in local There’s no one app to rule them all in this field The company’s share price dropped languages to suit them, the momen- yet. But there are a few I use to try to avoid drown- by 40% following the news, stripping tum is slowing for the kings of ing in articles, podcasts and TV show options. tens of billions of dollars from its content. market value. For books, you can’t go past Goodreads.com. Yes, There’s a bigger factor it’s an Amazon service, so draws on the e-commerce There is more pain to come, with underpinning this malaise giant’s recommendation engine to suggest books Netflix expecting to lose two million – the vast ocean of con- you might want to read, based on titles you’ve liked more subscribers this year as it faces tent we are swimming in the past. But its reader book reviews are honest tough competition from rival stream- in. In addition to the and informative. Metacritic.com is my go-to source ers such as Apple TV+ and Disney+, dozen or so premium for music recommendations. Feedly.com helps me and inflation eats into consumers’ video-streaming stay on top of news feeds and its new AI-driven spending power all over the globe. platforms now recommendations are very useful. While this magazine provides excellent suggestions of what to watch on TV, Rottentomatoes.com is a popular online guide. I never buy anything through any of these discovery tools, just take the sug- gestions and run, remembering that I can binge, pause and restart any monthly streaming subscription. Forget loyalty in the era of unlimited choice. l 46 LISTENER MAY 14 2022

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BOOKS Fortunes of war After decades immersed in the failed War on Drugs, American crime writer Don Winslow returns to his home turf and surf for an epic new trilogy. byCRAIGSISTERSON CITY ON FIRE, by Don Winslow (Harper- powerful trilogy bristling with rage. The Force immersed readers in a tale Lee Child TCollins, $35) called “probably the best cop novel ever he beach Don Winslow will head written”. to as soon as we finish this inter- view is about a mile away. It’s not “It’s been a roller coaster,” says Winslow just any beach, but the one Win- of his long journey to New York Times best- slow “basically grew up on” – a stretch of seller status. Rhode Island coast where waves roll on to a sandy shoreline and an adolescent Winslow Before he became “an overnight success learned to bodysurf. Where, decades later, at 55” there were decades of seeing his after eclectic jobs on several continents, he novels gain big readerships in translation once again spends time each day. while being critically acclaimed but not “From June to October, I go down there,” “Some of the incidents he says. “I write all day, then go down there in the real crime world about three in the afternoon and stay until here in New England sunset.” were very reminiscent of The Iliad.” For Winslow, the beach is a peaceful place. For Danny Ryan and the other char- widely read at home, of languishing in Hol- acters in Winslow’s new novel, City on Fire, lywood “development hell” or stumbling to though, the peaceful Rhode Island beach – a the screen with patchy adaptations. place of family, friends and summer fun – instead sparks a war. Winslow, who was married with an infant son, instead focused on his writ- Last year, Winslow, who splits his time ing and let other people think about his between California and Rhode Island, “career”. It was his long-time friend, celebrated 30 years as a published author. screenwriter-producer Shane Salerno, Although his early novels got critical who “turned it all around” by persuading praise and awards attention, it’s only in a reluctant Winslow to revisit his work recent times that his global popularity examining the failings of the War on Drugs. has skyrocketed thanks to novels such as The Cartel, The Force and The Border: epic, “After I’d finished with The Power of sprawling stories of crime and corruption, the Dog, I swore I’d never go back to that vicious criminals, dirty cops and people world. Shane persuaded me to write the with good intentions who get contaminated book that became The Cartel.” It became a along the way. Don Winslow: intrigued by the idea of melding The Cartel and The Border transformed ancient classics with modern-day crime. The Power of the Dog – Winslow’s 2005 novel about the failed “War on Drugs” and not to be confused with the 1967 Thomas Savage novel of the same name, adapted into a film by Jane Campion – into a 48 LISTENER MAY 14 2022

ALAMY MAY 14 2022 LISTENER 49

BOOKS career-altering hit. “You’ve got to put in was ready to “come home” on the page. He talks about escape from the early pages of the work. I did. For a while, I felt like a jazz was also returning to Rhode Island annu- the book.” musician, because you’re selling books in ally to care for his ageing mother. Germany and France, literally in meetings Winslow is intrigued by the “one foot in the basement of Munich bars.” “I started to see the place in a different in, one foot out” situation. He was born way. I’d left at 17 to see the world, which in New York and grew up in “a Mafia Thirty years on from his early myster- I sure did. Then settled into Southern bedroom community”, then a blue-collar ies starring grad student-cum-private California, a much different place in every beach town in Rhode Island. eye Neal Carey, Winslow’s novels have traversed Mexican cartels, surfing private He dreamed of being a writer from an eyes, a lifer cajoled by the Feds to imper- early age, having developed a passion sonate a drug lord, and a hitman turned for stories, thanks to his Navy father and surf bum whose old life comes calling. librarian mother. After leaving home, he studied history and “cobbled together a Now, with City on Fire, he comes home living” as a private investigator, photo- to New England. Set in the mid-1980s, it graphic safari guide in Asia and Africa, begins on that Rhode Island beach, where and directing Shakespeare plays at Danny Ryan watches an alluring woman Oxford. emerge from the sea. More than a foot ALAMY soldier but less than a prince, Danny is Don Winslow’s new In his mid-30s, Winslow was sitting at a part of the local Irish mob who’ve carved trilogy may well spark campfire one morning in Kenya. up Dogtown alongside the Italians. Danny “I’ve got malaria and dysentery, I strong-arms those late repaying loans or comparisons with weighed 99 pounds [45kg]. A friend of gambling debts, helps goods off the dock, The Godfather. mine at Oxford sort of challenged me a hijacks trucks. Old school: no drugs, no few weeks previously and said, ‘You’ve prostitutes. “I think crime fiction always thought about writing a book, why in general, not just don’t you do it?’” But when a modern-day Helen of Troy organised crime fiction, sparks a war between the Irish and Ital- deals with humanity Inspired by the advice of the great ians, Danny must scramble to save his in extremis.” homicide cop-turned-crime writer Joseph friends and family. Can he become a ruth- Wambaugh to “write 10 pages a day”, Win- less leader in a maze of betrayals where sense. But coming back here for weeks slow dived in. “I just promised myself I’m any misstep could mean death? What will then months at a time, I began to see it in going to write five pages a day. I started he have to give up along the way? a way that I could write it. I think maybe I that day in my tent and kept at it for three needed the distance, in space and time, to years. And that became A Cool Breeze on It’s another epic, thrilling tale from be able to go back and rediscover it.” the Underground.” Winslow, kickstarting a new tril- ogy. Bound to draw comparisons to Winslow’s main character in City on Fire Decades later, Winslow is still addicted The Godfather, it’s been turning over in shares that insider-outsider view. “Danny to storytelling. After early years writing Winslow’s mind for many years – though Ryan is sort of in it, but not of it,” says Win- in tents and on commuter trains, he now the inspiration stretches much further slow. Danny’s father was once a leader, but has that daily routine of getting up before into the past. it is now Danny’s best friend Pat’s father, dawn and writing for hours before exer- John Murphy, who runs things. cising and spending time on the beach. “Very early on I was into The Iliad and The Odyssey and the Greek dramas,” he “Danny is a little bit of an outsider, he’s “I still wake up in the morning with two says. “And some of the incidents in the real the Aeneas character, who was a minor perhaps contradictory feelings: passion crime world here in New England were player in The Iliad, who married into the and fear. I’m excited about what I’m writ- very reminiscent of The Iliad. One of the royal family but was always slightly on ing, always. And I’m scared that I’m gonna crime wars that eventually cost 40-some- the outside,” says Winslow. “I liked having hear that bucket scrape on the bottom of a thing lives began over a jealous argument that perspective from the character as dry well.” over a woman on a beach. But as in the well. He’s never quite sure he belongs, is Trojan War, that was just the pretext.” never quite sure he should be there. He With two more books in the trilogy to go, it suggests there is plenty of water left The real issue, as it always is, says Win- in Winslow’s well. slow, was about power, turf and money. “I think crime fiction in general, not “So, I got to thinking – and look, it’s not just organised crime fiction, deals with an original idea, James Joyce did it a long humanity in extremis,” he says. “The time ago – of trying to meld the Greek and situations are always Roman classics with modern-day crime dramatic and power- stories; to see if I could write a novel that ful, and deal with large could stand within my beloved crime themes of loyalty and genre, but also hit those themes that were revenge. I think we there 2000 years before The Godfather and find that universally Goodfellas and all of that.” compelling, even if we might disagree or get After researching and writing on car- quite disgusted about tels in Mexico for two decades, Winslow what goes on.” l 50 LISTENER MAY 14 2022