Belief we tend to associate with the fringes of US society have torn a swathe through Aotearoa’s traditionally easy-going if occasionally oddball community of hippies, yoga teachers, and spiritual festival-goers. From the outside, Joe Nunweek finds out if it will ever be the same. Ady* remembers the night she finally tried to intervene with Eve. … Read more
A unified rejection of the global trend towards right-wing strongmen or a blood debt from deeply conservative voters? Perhaps the election result was neither, writes Joseph Nunweek. Going by some of the electoral post-mortems, the weekend of October 17 was some kind of 4D chess triumph of the New Zealand right. I don’t claim to … Read more
At midnight last night, metropolitan Melbourne returned to lockdown and is scheduled to stay there until late August. Melbourne-based New Zealander Joe Nunweek reports from a city finding itself once more in the grip of Covid-19. On Monday morning I got a parking ticket. Previously I only used to use my car to try and … Read more
Efforts to urge the monarch to repeat a trick from the 70s and dismiss the Australian prime minister over his handling of the bushfire crisis may not be as destructive as the disinformation machine, but it does offer a revealing and worrying snapshot of what good intent looks like in 2020, writes Joe Nunweek. When … Read more
In Melbourne last week the New Zealand prime minister addressed a crowd of Australian residents desperate for a little ordinary humanity in a politician. But Joe Nunweek found one passage a little too typical of what we’ve seen and heard from our leaders before. Thursday, 18 July: a big night for New Zealanders in Victoria, … Read more
The number of ‘attachment orders’ on benefits has grown dramatically in recent years, locking some of the poorest New Zealanders into ever deeper cycles of debt. Joseph Nunweek writes. When Sharon* first heard the knock at her door and saw the men standing outside, she assumed it was something to do with her ex. Before … Read more
Infrequent flyer Joseph Nunweek gruellingly attempts to rank them all. “Toneless.” “Trivialising safety” “A juvenile mish-mash.” The real surprise last week when The Hon. Shane Jones MP criticised the latest Air New Zealand safety video wasn’t that the Minister for Verbiage would stick his neck out and create a political football – it was that … Read more
Welcome to Oceania, where the Party’s state-mandated groupthink and doublespeak has the populace cowering in fear. Thoughtcriminal Joseph Nunweek smuggled out this dispatch. It was a bright if Orwellian day in June, and the clocks were striking seven. I awoke, as ever, to the steady hiss of a hot water cylinder. I rose from my … Read more
If a review of our public housing agency is to be taken seriously, it will need to look beyond just the immediate scandal and seek to understand how its priorities mutated into those of a callous busybody, writes Joseph Nunweek If you’ve been reading this site and its familiars in the past fortnight, you’ll be … Read more
Teenage New Zealanders without a home in Australia are left in limbo, ineligible for a living allowance. Governments on both sides of the Tasman need to make the plight of these blameless people a priority, writes Joseph Nunweek. Late last week, the Melbourne community legal centre I work for (WEstjustice) joined 40 other Australian NGOs … Read more
Rent Week 2018: Last month The Spinoff reported landlords in Wellington were actively encouraging bidding wars in an attempt to hike rents. Here NZ-born, Melbourne-based tenancy lawyer Joseph Nunweek outlines a simple legislative change that would make the concept obsolete. Since I last wrote for The Spinoff about newly-unveiled changes to tenancy law in Victoria … Read more
‘You’ve seen what’s on his screen – imagine what’s on his mind’ warned the voiceover in a 1999 PSA about online paedophiles. The ad’s star Joseph Nunweek remembers its filming, and reflects on how our perception of internet safety has changed in the years since. Fame is fleeting, but it changes you. My television acting … Read more
The State of Victoria has just announced a raft of reforms aimed at strengthening the rights of tenants. NZ-born, Melbourne-based tenancy lawyer Joe Nunweek reviews the changes – and the chances of New Zealand following suit. For three years as of last month, I’ve been living in the State of Victoria. There’s living here, and … Read more
Yesterday AM Show host Duncan Garner wrote a column for Stuff which started in the queue at K-Mart and ended asking about your grandchildren. Joe Nunweek dissects this strange creation. Duncan Garner is a man who knows what he wants. A 3-pack of workwear cotton rich socks for $12. A seven-day rotation of fitted trunks. A five-pack … Read more
At the start of this year we ran a series called ‘Bad Week‘, celebrating all things Breaking Bad. One of our favourite pieces during the week was this by Joe Nunweek, who found himself deeply embarrassed by Walter White fandom. Our hero is bald, save for a goatee that would seem ridiculous were the stakes … Read more
Thirty years after the sinking of Greenpeace’s Rainbow Warrior, Joseph Nunweek sits down with a bizarre 1993 made-for-TV film about the momentous historical event. It was the 30th anniversary of the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior this weekend just past, and it’s an event that’s lived a odd sort of double life since then. The … Read more
It’s 7pm, it’s local content, it starts with a well-presented white guy driving around in a fast car. Joe Nunweek asks – did we get the 7pm show we deserved? Nature hates a void, so let us watch Road Cops reruns forever, and let us enjoy more motoring mayhem and unlawful adventures on New Zealand’s … Read more
With TV3’s drive to find a new 7pm weeknight rating-killer, Joe Nunweek looks back at their mid-90s effort, a venture so amazing and bold that it was discussed in Parliament. If the doomsayers are right – and Campbell Live is not long for this earth – it won’t be the end of an era so … Read more
Breaking Bad is one of the most acclaimed television shows of the century – of course you love it. But Joseph Nunweek strongly recommends you avoid interacting with your fellow fans. // Our hero is bald, save for a goatee that would seem ridiculous were the stakes not so high. He dresses like he’s a would-be kingpin – … Read more
An industrial-sized three-night pub quiz full of fans of a cult TV show that’s not even that good any more. Sounds like hell, right? But as Joe Nunweek finds, The Simpsons is still the exception to the rule. // Adults-only. That was my first impression of The Simpsons before I’d seen so much as a … Read more
Joe Nunweek moved to Australia recently, and found their reality television focused on national self-improvement. This is as insane as it sounds – but it’s working./ For better or worse, New Zealand’s reality TV outings have stopped short of addressing “the big questions”. Our flagship takes on the overseas formats (Idol, NZNTM, MKR) are typically blinders. … Read more