New Zealand Listener Issue 10, 2023

Hundreds of millions of dollars of scoured wool sits ruined in a Napier warehouse, supplied by exporters who cannot meet their contracts this year. The sale of that wool would have benefited the families of farmers, farm suppliers, wool processors, transporters and port handlers. There are many similar stories of ruin across the regions devastated by Cyclone Gabrielle. The nearby Port of Napier, where that wool would have left the country, worked hard to restore normal operations to disrupted supply chains, while also operating as a temporary morgue. The regions affected make up more than 40% of New Zealand’s agriculture industry, and in 2020, they contributed 42% to the country’s agriculture GDP. Although not all agricultural production in those regions was severely affected by the cyclone, these figures highlight how widespread the…

WINNING CAPTION Joanne Buchanan, Lower Hutt FINALISTS James Shaw: “Finally, this is a way to create waves.” – Trish Bishop, Hamilton Third paddler: “Get your shirt off, James. You’re not a wahine!” – David Field, Rotorua Third paddler: “Come on, James, you are used to putting your oar in.” – Lex Telfer, Christchurch James Shaw helps paddle the Green Party’s new carbon free interislander ferry. – Mike Hamblyn, Dunedin The Green Party’s James Shaw launches new transport policy “where everyone can safely, conveniently and independently get where they need and want to go with minimum harm to the planet”. – Mary Timings Green Party co-leader has methane gas leak. – Steve Horne, Raglan Caption Competition {listenercaption@aremedia.co.nz} TO ENTER Send your captions for the photo at right to listenercaption@aremedia.co.nz, with “Caption Competition No 501” in the subject line. Alternatively, entries can be…

Congratulations to the Listener for explaining the need for everyone to set up an effective advance directive while we are still mentally competent (“Stroke of courage”, February 25). Unfortunately, the claim by the Health and Disability Commissioner’s Office that they have received only five complaints over the past eight years is highly misleading, as the End-of-Life Choice Society regularly hears of situations where a patient’s requests have been ignored or not seen by their medical team. As your article points out, the inclination to treat and prolong life is deeply embedded in medical practice and custom. The medical profession must understand that the legal and witnessed request contained in an advance directive to minimise futile medical treatment needs to be respected. In addition, a countrywide system for storing and retrieving this information…

The QI elves are a team of writers and comedians who find the answers to impossible questions, doing the research for the long-running QI TV series, podcasts and the spin-off books. For the next little while, we’ll be running some of their finest findings: the weird, wonderful, witty and wise, from their latest book, 222 QI Answers to Your Quite Ingenious Questions. Which animal is slower, a tortoise or a sloth? It’s the sloth that’s usually more slothful. They can manage only around 0.27 km/h, while your average tortoise can go at a breakneck 0.5 km/h. Strangely, though, a sloth is a lot faster in the water than it is on land or in a tree, and can swim at around 0.8 km/h. So if a tortoise and a sloth were to compete…

“You remind us that freedom is priceless; it’s worth fighting for for as long as it takes. And that’s how long we’re going to be with you, Mr President: for as long as it takes.”– US President Joe Biden addressing Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv, Ukraine“Get your bloody patches off, go and get a whole lot of wheelbarrows and shovels and start helping people instead of adding to already super-high levels of stress.”– Police Minster Stuart Nash“Times are tough, but don’t be a dick.”– Vodafone NZ’s Jason Paris via Twitter after generators were stolen“I always wanted to be somebody, but now I realise I should have been more specific.”– Lily Tomlin“Anything can be a UFO if you’re not very curious.”– as seen on Twitter“The test of a first-rate intelligence is the…

1. After the release of the TV series Enola Holmes in 2020, the estate of Arthur Conan Doyle sued Netflix for copyright over which aspect of Sherlock Holmes? ❑ Sexuality❑ Clothing❑ Diet❑ Emotions 2. Presbycusis is: ❑ Age-related hearing loss❑ Age-related failing eyesight❑ Age-related voice changes❑ Age-related balance problems 3. The botanical name of pōhutukawa is: ❑ Metrosideros excelsa❑ Vitex lucens❑ Podocarpus totara❑ Alectryon excelsus 4. How many clubs are in the English Premier League? ❑ 18❑ 20❑ 22❑ 24 5. Which city will host the 2024 summer Olympic Games? ❑ Budapest❑ Paris❑ Hamburg❑ Rome 6. Monrovia is the capital of: ❑ Ghana❑ Liberia❑ Kenya❑ Sierra Leone 7. Which river flows through the city of Shanghai? ❑ Yellow River❑ Yangtze River❑ Pearl River❑ Huai River 8. Fox Mulder of the X-Files TV series was played by who? ❑ Gillian Anderson❑ David Duchovny❑ Robert Patrick❑ Mitch…