New Zealand Listener Issue 14, 2022

I have been interested in trains for as long as I can remember. Over the past 20 years, my interest has also developed in transport politics, as I have realised that road lobby groups are both numerous and powerful, and politicians have been averse to rail. Apart from trains, I have a passion for social equity and the environment and have found that in transport politics I can combine all three passions. Although public-transport activists over the past 20 years in Auckland have found considerable satisfaction, recent years have been much less gratifying. In February, the government announced its intention to build light rail from the Wynyard Quarter to Auckland Airport. Hoping for a stallion and expecting a camel, we were given a platypus. It has tried to be all things to everybody,…

WINNING CAPTION Bill Stewart, Auckland FINALISTS Cookie Monster: “Look, Jacinda, there’s the United Nations building. Elmo: “Yes, Christopher, and there’s Wall St.” – Niels Jonker, Wellington Elmo: “I’m still on minimum wage. You?” Cookie Monster: “Yup. Still paid crumbs.” – Mike Hamblyn, Dunedin Caption: National’s Cookie Monster expands at expense of Labour’s Elmo. – Hans Zindel, Palmerston North Elmo: “Returns of Sesame Street AND Sex and the City. ‘Just like that!’ But at least my hair colour is still the same.” – Katrin Eickhorst, Wellington. Cookie Monster: “Hello, I’m the Cookie Monster. And to my right is our old friend Elmo, and to my left is our new friend Bruce Farsight! Nice to see you – to see you nice.” – Clark Robbie, Auckland Caption: Police go under cover at anti-mandate protesters’ strategy meeting. – Bob Richardson, Christchurch Elmo: “Cookie Monster…

Oh, for the day when those who rape are actually convicted without the complainant being further brutalised by the justice system. I was interested to read about the rape myths researcher Elisabeth McDonald describes (“Bitter justice”, March 19). Fifty years after being raped, I can remember exactly the scene – the rapist’s face, the sounds and smell – yet do not know the date, the day of the week or the season. There were no threats or physical violence, and I didn’t tell, scream or fight back. I was trapped; I was in a very dangerous situation and had to wait until it was over to escape. Had I screamed or fought back, I might not be here now. I was a teenager, my rapist a man in his 30s: a trusted friend of…

“I believe in luck: how else can you explain the success of those you dislike?”– Jean Cocteau“I will not have my life narrowed down. I will not bow down to somebody else’s whim or to someone else’s ignorance.”– Bell Hooks“There are many truths of which the full meaning cannot be realised until personal experience has brought it home.”– John Stuart Mill“I can say with absolute certainty that’s the warmest reception anyone has ever received on Zoom.” – Seth Myers on Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s video call address to Congress“At what age can you visit home without getting in trouble, because it’s not 29.”– Seen on Twitter“Rejection, I have found, can be the only antidote to delusion.”– author Ottessa Moshfegh“It’s the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting.” –…

1. Which former James Bond actor also played Simon Templar in the TV series The Saint? ❑ George Lazenby ❑ Roger Moore ❑ Timothy Dalton ❑ David Niven 2. Which company is known informally as the Blue Oval? ❑ Ford ❑ Pfizer ❑ Samsung ❑ Intel 3. Which of these people was NOT a child of Henry VIII of England? ❑ Mary I (Mary Tudor) ❑ Edward VI ❑ Charles I ❑ Elizabeth I 4. Which town is known as the kūmara capital of New Zealand? ❑ Morrinsville ❑ Helensville ❑ Dargaville ❑ Hunterville 5. What kind of product was first sold to consumers in 1888 with the slogan “You press the button, we do the rest”? ❑ Vacuum cleaner ❑ Electric washing machine ❑ Film-roll camera ❑ Ballpoint pen 6. In which country is Albertville, the location of the 1992 Winter Olympics and Paralympics? ❑ United States ❑ France ❑ Switzerland ❑ Canada 7. Who titled their hit 1985…

If the Labor Party loses the coming Australian general election and heads beyond a miserable decade in opposition, then it will most likely hold Vladimir Putin much to blame. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could not have been better timed to throw Australia’s incumbent Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, the lifeline he craves as the polls turn savagely against him. They are forecasting Anthony “Albo” Albanese’s victory at the election, which, at the time of writing, is expected in late May. Albanese, 59, is an economics graduate and one-time Labor-left bovver boy, raised in inner Sydney’s state housing by his cleaning-lady mum. He was, until Putin’s tanks rolled into Ukraine, generally believed to be likely to regain for Labor the prime minister’s office that Kevin Rudd last occupied for the party in 2013. To the…