Me: attempts hold child protection agency accountable over three children missing for three years Agency:

Every single sentence in @bernardchickey.bsky.social's newsletter this morning was bleaker than the last but this really stood out to me even amid that

This is good news but Luxon doesn’t mention Family Court …. www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...

Tom Phillips is dead after a police shooting, and his three children have been found alive. The immediate danger is over. But a larger question lingers: who decided Tom Phillips was safe enough to be left alone with his children - and why? My story: www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...

"If New Zealand is to learn anything from Tom Phillips' abduction of the children there must be an urgent and full independent inquiry, informed by specialists in family violence, into the entire response to this case," said Backbone Collective co-founder Deborah Mackenzie.

Tom Phillips is dead after a police shooting, and his three children have been found alive. The immediate danger is over. But a larger question lingers: who decided Tom Phillips was safe enough to be left alone with his children - and why? My story: www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...

Until now I have resolutely stayed out of the Phillips' case because at one point several years ago I wrote so much about Family Court that it began to impact my mental health and possibly my fertility BUT today I wrote a backgrounder and I really want to point something out /1

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has hinted a long-awaited decision on whether to weaken methane targets is due "very, very shortly." But what is the "no additional warming" approach and why is it so controversial? New from me: www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...

Opinion: Amazon's NZ boss makes one of the clumsiest and most embarrassing attempts to spin good news out of a fiasco, in a long time, writes Jonathan Milne. - Newsroom Pro - $ -

Officials warn workplace safety reforms risk repeating the failures identified after the Pike River disaster. WorkSafe cautioned changes could create loopholes where unsafe companies escape prosecution. 70 people were killed at work last year. Full story: www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...

More sterling work from @kirstyjohnston.bsky.social here…

Officials warn workplace safety reforms risk repeating the failures identified after the Pike River disaster. WorkSafe cautioned changes could create loopholes where unsafe companies escape prosecution. 70 people were killed at work last year. Full story: www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...

Anyone who’s tried to get their head around the energy market knows it’s absolutely mind-bending. Here’s a summary of the millions things I’ve read and people I’ve talked to that probably won’t make you feel better but might explain your existential dread open.substack.com/pub/kirstyjo...

To quantify the policy shift in my story on the Zero Carbon Act today I dug through multiple reports, addenda, and leaned on the Parliamentary Library - trying to track what’s happening. I’ve put some links to the key documents here open.substack.com/pub/kirstyjo...

The Zero Carbon Act in 2019 represented then-Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's promise to tackle her generation's "nuclear-free moment" head on. Six years on, analysis (by me) suggests the law has been hollowed out to little more than a husk. www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...

I listened to a lot (A LOT) of Nate Hagens excellent podcast on maternity leave and was resolute that when I got back to work I'd get my head around the energy market. I would have absolutely made another resolution if I'd known

Pretty accurate take on being a journalist in 2025. Thanks @frankritchie.bsky.social and team for doing this work www.nzherald.co.nz/business/med...

"Without significantly investing in alternative modes, and then investing the revenue in frequent buses, protected bike lanes, or better train services, this isn't a congestion charge, it's just a tax on those who can't afford it” - Tim Welch www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...

An incredibly powerful collection of women hearing and submitting to the People's Select Committe on Pay Equity today - Dame Sylvia Cartwright speaking now www.payequity.org.nz/hearings

Fun fact: I was in the first cohort to do NCEA. Can't believe I'm revealing my age to the entire internet but here we are

#NZpol “But experts, including the government's own officials, warned the ban was not the main driver behind a lack of investment in gas or New Zealand's high energy prices - and won't be a magic fix for them either.” @kirstyjohnston.bsky.social at RNZ: www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...

For all the newsletter fans, I’ve started a Substack. It’s a space for stories - on climate, inequality, work, gender -and the things that don’t always make it into the final cut. First post is up now: open.substack.com/pub/kirstyjo...

Why can someone in one part of NZ get surgery in months, while others wait years in pain? New data shows the postcode lottery for hip and knee replacements is still going strong. Great reporting by @kiwifarah.bsky.social www.rnz.co.nz/news/in-dept...

NZ’s gas supply is collapsing — and the govt’s big fix? More drilling. But experts (including Shane Jones’ advisors) say it likely won’t work, and there’s no backup plan if it fails. My story here www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...

More great work from @kirstyjohnston.bsky.social here… www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...

NZ’s gas supply is collapsing — and the govt’s big fix? More drilling. But experts (including Shane Jones’ advisors) say it likely won’t work, and there’s no backup plan if it fails. My story here www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...

Personally I love it when the government works very hard to keep massive law changes a secret and then retrospectively releases all the information about it at 8.34pm on a Thursday www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...

Personally I love it when the government works very hard to keep massive law changes a secret and then retrospectively releases all the information about it at 8.34pm on a Thursday www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...

Trump administration is going to go after the "endangerment finding" that's the basis of pretty much all federal climate regulation. A huge gift to the fossil fuel industry and a "screw you" to the world.

"In all of that darkness this is a ray of sunshine, this is a beacon, it gives us hope that we can leverage these decisions and effect change" - Mike Smith on the ICJ climate ruling

Youssef Hassouna, journaliste vidéo pour l'AFP à Gaza, raconte son quotidien éprouvant dans le territoire palestinien en danger de famine: pour couvrir la guerre, le reporter marche "14-15 kilomètres par jour" et a perdu près de la moitié de son poids.

I cannot express enough that if public agencies don’t want to receive endless OIA requests which they deem “fishing expeditions” then they need to at least try to answer a simple question without saying “this needs to go under OIA”. Like sorry but you cannot have it both ways sir

The RBNZ just decided to stop cutting rates. For now. It doesn’t matter. The 225 bps of rate cuts in 12 months aren’t stimulating the economy like previous similar sized rate-cut cycles did. That’s because our economy is even more of a housing-market-with-bits-tacked-on that it ever has been. 1/n

Talked about a wholllle bunch of my favourite things - recommendations for books, podcasts, apps and a bit of music, with stories from my life, on Radio New Zealand this afternoon: www.rnz.co.nz/national/pro...

www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa... Southern Ocean getting warmer and saltier, will 'change the way the planet works' | RNZ News

So have Air New Zealand totally outsourced all their customer communications to AI now? I’ve been interacting with various chatbots and maybe email bots for two weeks and it’s … odd. And frustrating obviously but mainly just deeply weird and the emoji use in particular is doing my head in

I’m devastated by this loss. Hilary was so staunch and kind and clever - one of my best contacts, an inspiration, and a friend. So many people will miss her, not least the autism and disability communities. I feel so sad, and so privileged to have known her 🤍 www.whaikaha.govt.nz/news/news/ac...

oh www.stuff.co.nz/motoring/360...

In hindsight, building a home office with a tin roof when one resides in an extremely pluvial region was potentially a bad idea

A full breakdown of what NZ spent on MethaneSat. Missing satellite cost NZ extra $3m because of delays www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...

h/t @kirstyjohnston.bsky.social for the OIAs. Audio of the Morning Report piece on this, here: www.rnz.co.nz/national/pro... www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...

Democracy while female www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...

Is there a LOT of government/policy/legislation changes happening right now or does it just feel that way in comparison to my calm, quiet year off with my baby? Someone introduced me to the term "flooding the zone" this week but I feel more ... drowning

I found myself wondering if “woke” was simply the new “politically correct” and anyway the history of political correctness is quite interesting, someone wrote this whole article on it theconversation.com/political-co...

Thanks @thespinoff.bsky.social for this review of our podcast 😍

Who's the biggest public transport nerd in Auckland? I need help. Please feel free to self-nominate or put forward your peers

A top government minister personally added a fossil fuel lobbyist to the shortlist of candidates to help govern the country's main energy-saving agency. Simeon Brown then overrode official advice to appoint the lobbyist to the role. www.rnz.co.nz/news/environ...

Domestic violence advocates have been warning that Destiny’s Man Up programme is dangerous for years. Police and the courts keep using it. www.rnz.co.nz/news/in-dept...

Domestic violence advocates have been warning that Destiny’s Man Up programme is dangerous for years. Police and the courts keep using it. www.rnz.co.nz/news/in-dept...