NZ Engine

Source: Radio New Zealand

“Ever get the feeling you’ve been cheated?” John Lydon’s closing words before stalking off stage at San Francisco’s Winterland Ballroom in January 1978, concluding the Sex Pistols’ US tour, have echoed ever since.

They’re a bitter bookend to a fractious spell in the limelight. Barely three years had passed since the band’s first gig and less than two since they exploded into the national consciousness.

Lydon’s words marked an ending, but the start was almost as combustible. Fifty years ago, on March 30 1976, the Sex Pistols played a pivotal gig at London’s 100 Club. Photographer P.T. Madden recalled the small, but select, crowd and the sense of momentum:

This video is hosted on Youtube.

. It is not like any other gig I have ever been to. It has an atmosphere of expectation which is totally exciting. This means something and there is no one here.”

A venue and a moment

The Sex Pistols as they are about to be moved by a policeman as they sign a copy of their new recording contract with A & M Records outside Buckingham Palace. (From far left to right are John Lydon, Steve Jones, Paul Cook and Sid Vicious.)

Bettmann

The 100 Club, a basement venue on Oxford Street with a history stretching back to the 1940s, had already hosted generations of musical growth in jazz and rhythm and blues. In 1976 it became a focal point for a new, abrasive sensibility. Alongside key gigs at Manchester’s Lesser Free Trade Hall and Kensington’s Nashville Rooms, it helped crystallise what punk looked, sounded and felt like.

In September, the two-day 100 Club Punk Special brought together emerging acts like Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Clash and The Damned, consolidating a scene that was coalescing around an aesthetic of nihilistic confrontation and musical minimalism. The Pistols were not alone in this but became its most visible face.

Their rise was swift. The band was signed to EMI by October 1976, only to be dropped within months amid controversy stoked by the band and their manager Malcom McLaren. A key flash-point was the furore surrounding an expletive-laden chat show interview with Bill Grundy.

Their debut single, ‘Anarchy in the UK’, released the following month, was a blunt declaration of intent. A rapid sequence of label changes followed, culminating in the 1977 album Never Mind the Bollocks, anchored by the incendiary single ‘God Save the Queen’. It was banned by the BBC and independent radio stations during the Silver Jubilee.

The Pistols’ opening salvo flared brightly and briefly, its intensity bound up with the conditions that produced it.

A soundtrack for disaffection

The Sex Pistols performing in Amsterdam in January 1977. Left to right: Paul Cook, original bass player Glen Matlock, Johnny Rotten, and Steve Jones.

Creative Commons

The optimism of the 1960s had curdled. Economic decline, an oil price shock, rising inflation and industrial unrest led to the three-day week of 1974 (in which commercial electricity use was restricted to three consecutive days per week), presaging 1978-79’s “winter of discontent”.

The 1976 sterling crisis saw chancellor Denis Healey turn cap-in-hand to the International Monetary Fund for a loan to stabilise the UK economy. This underscored a sense of the post-war economic consensus running aground. Rising youth unemployment deepened a pervasive feeling of stagnation and exclusion.

The Sex Pistols became the most recognisable expression of this broader cultural mood: caustic, disillusioned and sceptical of authority. Their salience was amplified by media outrage, oscillating between fascination and moral panic. Contemporary reports of local authority venues banning punk acts reinforced the perception of a movement defined by exclusion and resistance.

The roots of this approach were not exclusively British. Across the Atlantic, bands like the Ramones had begun stripping rock music back to its raw essentials in the early 1970s. Clubs like New York’s CBGB saw a defiant, unpolished aesthetic take shape. The Pistols and their peers translated and intensified this within a distinctly British landscape.

Cultural theorist Dick Hebdige framed punk as “homology”: the different elements of a sub-culture – clothing, art, and music – resonating with one another. Torn clothing, safety pins and aggressive performance articulated a confrontational, knowingly chaotic stance. The Pistols did not just express disaffection, they gave it visible and audible form.

From rupture to routine

Revolutions often reproduce what they set out to overthrow. Pete Townshend – once a critic of the old order, later a “rock dinosaur” target of punk – described apparent change leaving underlying power structures intact: “meet the new boss, same as the old boss”.

The Pistols’ implosion seemed to confirm this pattern of established practices reasserting themselves. But what followed was less disappearance than transformation into a different kind of cultural object – not a unified movement, but a musical style absorbed into mainstream culture.

Photo taken in 1977 of the Sex Pistols, Britain’s punk rock band. (L to R) drummer Paul Cook, bass player Sid Vicious, singer Johnny Rotten, and guitar player Steve Jones.

AFP FILES

After Winterland, the band’s remnants were repurposed through a mixture of opportunism and myth-making. Sid Vicious’s notoriety was a factor. The Virgin-produced, McLaren-narrated film The Great Rock’n’Roll Swindle also offered a fictionalised, satirical account of their rise and fall, blurring the line between history and performance.

Thereafter, the Sex Pistols’ trajectory resembled that of many rock acts they had ostensibly sought to disrupt. Lawsuits, reunions and reissues followed. Lydon’s legal battles with McLaren, and later with bandmates underscored the tensions between artistic expression and commercial control. Reunion tours, documentaries such as The Filth and the Fury, and ongoing commemorations (like this) have all contributed to their canonisation.

What began as a rupture in popular music culture became incorporated into its institutional frameworks. The Pistols’ career has been endlessly revisited and repackaged.

Even institutions that once recoiled from punk have, over time, folded it into their own symbolic repertoire. In 2016, the BBC’s flagship current affairs programme Newsnight closed with the ‘God Save the Queen‘ in deadpan response to a Conservative MP’s call for the national anthem to mark Britain’s departure from the EU. What was once treated as cultural contagion became pressed into service as establishment punctuation.

But this should not obscure the force of the original moment. In 1976, the Sex Pistols did more than generate headlines. They captured a particular moment of social disaffection and cultural experimentation that remains emblematic of how music, style and social context aligned to produce something both fleeting and enduring.

If their later career followed familiar patterns, that raw, disruptive and unresolved moment continues to resonate – long after Lydon’s final, sardonic question at Winterland.

Adam Behr is reader in music, politics and society at Newcastle University.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

As a struggling solo parent for most of the last 16 years, I know from experience that the best way to keep stomachs full and energy levels high has been to grow as much of my own food as possible.

When I was living in a dark, south-facing Wellington flat for a year, I grew coriander, kale and silverbeet in pots, hard up against the outside of the flat. When there was a spot more sun, I put in herbs. It wasn’t a lot, but I ate so much better with very little work – I don’t remember ever needing to do any gardening when there.

When I was living in a flat with a garden but was extremely time poor, I put in raspberries and let them run rampant, along with parsley and herbs. I didn’t tidy up the garden beyond making space for those things, then I reaped the benefits.

At one property, this was all the space Zoe Barry had – she nailed some planks to the wooden fence and tied everything in place.

Zoe Barry

. Right now, I have a windowsill that gets afternoon sun, so I am growing culinary ginger and turmeric. This doesn’t necessarily save me a load of money, but it does stop me from ever needing to buy either, and they taste much better than shop bought.

When planning gardens for other people I usually start by asking them what they eat, and we discuss whether it’s worth growing. Here are some really easy ideas to get you started. If all you have is a cracked bucket, or a windowsill, or a small patch of dirt, you can do this. Just growing one pot’s worth of your own food will make a difference.

How much space do you have?

Do you have space for a bucket? Start there. Start with a bucket. Bonus points if it is cracked already (bang in a few holes if not). It can go between your rubbish bins if you want, or on a cracked concrete path that you don’t use..

This was all the outdoor space Zoe Barry had at one flat – enough for three worm bins and pots growing rosemary, leafy greens, mushrooms and lots of coriander.

Zoe Barry

Do you have nothing but a balcony and a doorway? You’ll have space for a pot or two, or even a bucket.

Do you have a somewhat sunny window ledge indoors? You can reuse ice cream containers, or look for long narrow pots.

What about an overgrown garden bed? If you don’t have the energy to clear it, put pots straight on top.

Is your garden fully planted out – got space for a big pot?

Are you flatting, with a compost bin and no space for anything else? Is the compost bin on dirt? Can you plant around it, or take off the doors of the bin at the bottom and plant in there? If the compost bin is full, can you dig up some dirt from the garden, put it on top and plant on top?

Is there space for some pots around your letter box?

A bit broke? Get a broken rubbish bin or knock a bottom out of a rubbish bin (ask on free sites/social media/etc). If you have dirt available to you, you can follow the trenching method and just dig a hole, kicking dirt into it when you put the kitchen scraps in.

How to turn food scraps and weeds into perpetual garden stew

If you have a big enough set of pots (anything from a 9L bucket and up), you can put weeds and food scraps into the bottom of the pots when planting them out. This means you have to buy less dirt/potting mix (which gets expensive) and the scraps/weeds break down to provide new nutrients for your veges.

Zoe Barry put food scraps and weeps into big pots, then planted potatoes on top for the summer.

Zoe Barry

It is 100% okay to use dirt dug out of your garden to fill your pots, unless the dirt is entirely clay or sand. If you have access to a lot of clay, you can just buy a bag of builder’s sand (rougher than dune sand – important) and mix it with the clay to create a much more manageable dirt. Sand requires more compost added in, but unless you live by the beach it’s unlikely that any diggable dirt is sand.

I hate to throw things away, and throwing away dirt feels awful. Once you have a base of potting mix or dirt as described above, you’ll be able to re-use and over use it forever if you need to. You will need to add more ‘inputs’ (fertilisers) which in my situation has always been food scraps and weeds, left at the bottom of the pot, and unconsumed tea/coffee liquid as well as tea leaves/coffee grinds on top.

Do you have some money now, or will you be better off in the future? If you have some money now, set up a compost bin. If you will have some spare dosh in the future, and you really don’t want a compost bin, you will need to keep buying fertilisers.

Making compost now will reap rewards later – you won’t have to buy fertilisers and your plants will grow better.

Kath Irvine / Edible Backyard

The most nutritious things to grow year-round

Silverbeet

Silverbeet is a weather-tolerant leafy green that can be pureed into any soup or sauce. It’s high in iron and vitamin C, and you only need to add a small amount for big nutrition. Kids don’t notice as long as you don’t go overboard. It subs in for lettuce as long as you are not in snobby company. You can get huge bunches of it, put it in the food processor, and push it into ice cube trays. One ice cube per meal (being sneaky) or multiple (where the recipe calls or you can tolerate it more).

Grow and eat silverbeet until you’re sick of it, then move on to growing spinach, says gardener Zoe Barry.

Public domain

All you need to do is either pop seeds or seedlings into your pot. Silverbeet needs some amount of sun – ideally full sun, but it will grow in shady areas. If you have really shady areas, you can sometimes get away with lettuce or kale instead.

Grow silverbeet till you’re sick of it, and when you’re sick of it, grow spinach. If you are a bit fancy or unafraid, grow kale, which grows extremely easily and is a spot more nutritious.

Carrots are easy to grow in a bucket in full sun.

RNZ/Carol Stiles

Carrots

Carrots need full sun, but they areextremely simple to grow if you start with storebought vegetable mix from a garden centre or hardware store.

Oversow them, and keep the seeds moist until they sprout. Lots of people grow carrots in buckets – one seed packet will easily do 4-5 buckets. Start to pull and eat them when they are smaller, you will slowly eat your way to bigger sizes as they grow. You can plant them any time that isn’t summer, so they are good to replace tomatoes, potatoes, summer veg.

Herbs can be added to everything and will happily grow in pots inside or outdoors.

123RF

Herbs

You can add herbs to everything. If you are in low light then grow coriander, parsley and galangal ginger. If you get a lot of light, then thyme, marjoram and oregano will grow everywhere (including inside). Rosemary is an easy one, too.

Parsley grows in any light levels and can go in or on everything. I chop it finely and put it as a garnish on all sorts of things. Parsley needs almost nothing from you, but it takes a full year before it is particularly large/settled- so plant 3-4 plants and ignore it for ages.

Mint will always grow, and is very happy in low light. Peppermint plants mean you never need to buy the tea.

Rhubarb can be grown in a pot and is high in nutrients.

Cory Doctorow/Flickr

Rhubarb

Rhubarb is high in vitamin C and a really good source of nutrients. It’s fine in a pot as long as you keep feeding it liquid fertiliser (or tea leaves, coffee grinds, compost tea, banana skins).

Nodding onions

The bulbs and leaves are edible – more importantly, they look beautiful as well.

Eating what you find kicking around

Do you know what is in your garden? You can eat most of it, including tradescantia (wandering willie), which tastes a bit like lettuce (I put it in salad or soup/stew instead of silverbeet).

Tradescantia, also known as Wandering Willie, is edible and can be used in salad, soups or stews.

Onion weed is everywhere at this time of year. I use it in place of onion or chives – just chop up the leaves.

Chickweed is really nutritious and yum (but you can’t cook it, eat it in sandwiches or a salad).

Got a bay tree? Bay trees are absolute thugs that will grow anywhere and grow large. Just snap off a branch and let it dry hanging in your pantry before putting into a little jar in your spice rack.

Kawakawa is a spicy shrub which will add a bit of a kick to Mexican/spicy dishes, can sub in for pepper, and makes a delicious tea.

Fig tree leaves are delicious dried and pureed into flour, you can add up to 1/2 cup instead of flour in most recipes.

Wild fennel is not the aromatic culinary one, but a much milder version. It is good in tea (leaves), salad (leaves) and the seeds are just as good as the spices sold in the supermarkets.

Zoe Barry runs Wellington gardening business The Very Green Gardener. A version of this story first appeared in their blog, Very Good Gardening.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

A couple of weeks ago, feeling like she’d “slid back to rock bottom” after Nigel Latta‘s death, his wife Natalie Flynn asked a psychiatrist/Buddhist monk friend for life hacks on grieving.

“Grief is like the stock market. You think you’re on an upswing, then it drops, but look at the overall trend,” was his response. Viewing herself this way, Flynn says she was able to see an upward trend.

“I’m having fewer grief attacks, those times where I just feel like it’s impossible that he’s not here, and I’m moving forward, and I’m having more good days. So things are on the upswing.”

Natalie Flynn with her late husband, the clinical psychologist Nigel Latta, who died last year at 58.

Supplied

Source: Radio New Zealand

The marae mattress room is the creative inspiration behind the latest work of Tūwharetoa artist Tyrone Te Waa.

Te Waa said the mattress room on his marae is where many of his best childhood memories were formed — and that space now anchors his work on show in Dreaming from Afar, an exhibition in Auckland.

The exhibition features artists exploring traditional spaces that shape enduring connections to culture.

Tyrone Te Waa, Tūwharetoa, Image Courtesy of Tyrone Te Waa and Gus Fisher Gallery.

Supplied

Source: Radio New Zealand

All Whites, from left, playing for their club sides Ben Waine, Finn Surman, Jesse Randall and Ryan Thomas. AFP/Photosport

The All Whites played their final home games before the Football World Cup this week and the players now part ways to return to their club sides where some are chasing championships, others are in relegation fights or are just a few games into a new season.

In mid-May the 26 players who will be on the plane to the World Cup co-hosted by United States, Canada and Mexico will be named by coach Darren Bazeley.

Those selected players will then go into All Whites camp in late May before two more warm-up games in June against England and a yet to be announced opponent in the United States.

New Zealand’s first game of the World Cup is on 16 June against Iran in Los Angeles.

Until the players reconvene they have to focus on their club sides. As Bazeley said about squad selections before farewelling the players from Auckland after the Fifa Series, “there’s so much football to be played until those decisions are made”.

All Whites midfielder and PEC Zwolle captain Ryan Thomas concurred.

“You’re at a stage now where every time you step on that pitch, whether it is for the national team or for your club, you’re being looked at through a magnifying glass.”

United Kingdom

Ben Waine has been scoring for club and country. Gareth Copley

Ben Waine, who scored in the All Whites’ win over Chile this week, returns to third-tier English side Port Vale.

“Obviously at club the focus is to survive the league and to avoid relegation, so that’s a massive thing and that’s the 100 percent focus.

“But I think if you can do that and focus on that, then the rest will take care of itself and if you put your best foot forward, you give yourself the best chance.”

Port Vale do not stop play for an international window unless three players are on international duty.

“So they’re still playing, so they’re still battling away, so I’m hoping that they can keep doing well, and I can focus on what we’re doing here, and then obviously post-tour switch back into club mindset and finish the season out strong and see where that leaves us,” Waine said while in Auckland.

Port Vale’s last game of the season in EFL League One is on 2 May, meaning Waine’s club season will be over before he finds out if he is going to the World Cup.

Elsewhere in England, defender Tyler Bindon goes back to Championship side Sheffield United.

Bindon is on loan from Premier League side Nottingham Forest and has been starting just over half of Sheffield’s games this season, including getting the full 90 minutes in the last 11 games.

Sheffield are 17th in a 24 team league so Bindon will not be under some of the same pressures at his club, as some of his All Whites team mates.

Bindon’s club season also ends on 2 May.

Chris Wood has not played for Nottingham Forest since October. MI NEWS

All Whites captain Chris Wood did not play for the All Whites in the Fifa Series but if he is fit he will be the first name in Bazeley’s World Cup squad.

Wood has not played for Forest’s first team since October as he recovers from knee surgery, but after missing 22 games in the Premier League this season he could return next week.

Forest are just above the relegation zone in 16th after a tumultuous season which will end on 25 May.

Another player struggling for game time in England for a different reason is goalkeeper Max Crocombe.

Crocombe was on the bench for Millwall’s first nine games in the Championship this season. He was number one from mid-October to mid-February before being benched again for the last seven games before he played the first game of the Fifa Series against Finland for the All Whites.

Millwall are fourth in the Championship and also end the season on 2 May.

Matt Garbett is another World Cup hopeful who is currently injured. Garbett plays for League One side Peterborough but has been out since the beginning of February

He will have eight more club games to prove he is ready to be chosen for the global tournament.

Marko Stamenic captained the All Whites in the last window. PHOTOSPORT

Also with Championship clubs from Wales are stand-in All Whites captain Marko Stamenic, with Swansea, and Libby Cacace with Wrexham.

Both players will be in Bazeley’s plans, and while Stamenic has been a regular for Swansea and has impressed with the national team, Cacace has only played in 12 of the 39 possible games so far this season as he deals with a hamstring injury.

In the Scottish Premiership Eli Just has been making a statement with Motherwell as they challenge the Old Firm clubs.

“I think our group of players has exceeded a lot of expectations, so there’s a lot of positivity surrounding the club, ” Just said.

“Our fans are really behind us. The mood in the locker room is good and everyone’s focused on the last seven games finishing strong.

“I think this season will be one that a lot of players, a lot of fans will probably look back on as being pretty special.”

Motherwell has been a good fit for Just who joined the club in July from Danish side AC Horsens.

“I’ve been so fortunate, obviously arriving at the same time as the manager … I was looking for a place that I could play at a level which I knew would put my name forward for this World Cup squad and it’s just blown my expectations out of the water.

“I’ve been so lucky enjoying my football so much. First time in a few years that I’ve enjoyed it as much as I am now.”

Europe

Joe Bell stars for the All Whites and for Viking FK in Norway. Andrew Cornaga/www.photosport.nz

All Whites midfielder Joe Bell was only two games into his season with Norway first tier club Viking FK when he went on international duty in Auckland.

“We won the championship last year, so this year it’s slightly new expectations and challenges,” Bell said.

“It’s been a good pre-season leading into the start and I think the slight benefit of playing in Norway going into the World Cup would be that we’re nearly mid-season, so from a physical standpoint I should be in good shape for that.”

In Denmark’s Superliga, Callum McCowatt’s Silkenborg IF are under the relegation line.

“It’s not done yet, but we’ve got to work for it,” the midfielder said.

McCowatt’s club season will end around 17 May, about a week before he hopes to be called into the All Whites.

“I’ll come straight off the season and be fit and stuff like that.”

All White Ben Old is part of a Saint-Etienne side seeking promotion. © Bildbyrån Photo Agency 2025 © Photosport Ltd 2025 www.photosport.nz

For one of France’s biggest clubs Saint-Etienne, All White Ben Old plays in front of 35,000 fans each week. He has seven games left in the season and finishes 10 May when he hopes they will have done enough to be promoted to Ligue 1.

Old will then have about three weeks before the June window and going in for the World Cup.

Ryan Thomas has been playing overseas for 12 years, he also made his All Whites debut 12 years ago, though he missed six years with the national team due to injury and form.

Thomas plays in the Netherlands for PEC Zwolle where he has been since 2022 and will finish up the club season in late May just days before he hopes to be back with the All Whites.

Goalkeeper Alex Paulsen of New Zealand. Andrew Cornaga/www.photosport.nz

Goalkeeper Alex Paulsen is in his first season in Poland with Lechia Gdansk, where he is on loan from English Premier League club Bournemouth. Poland’s top tier competition finishes on 23 May giving the gloveman little time to switch modes from club to country.

“It’s been great so far for myself, definitely a character development type of season, and just trying to learn as much as I can, and I think for me personally, just trying to get used to the level of intensity and the fact that there’s a lot of high calibre players and a lot of them are participating in the UEFA Conference League as well,” Paulsen said.

“Trying to get used to the weather conditions as well, playing in the winter, it’s been great, so it’s been a good experience so far.”

United States

Finn Surman also plays for Portland Timbers in Major League Soccer. © Bildbyrån Photo Agency 2025 © Photosport Ltd 2025 www.photosport.nz

Portland Timbers defender Finn Surman has played every minute of his team’s Major League Soccer matches this season and has eight games remaining until the World Cup.

He has his “fingers crossed” that he’ll be playing in the tournament in a country that he has become familiar with since linking up with Portland in July.

“I’m really grateful to be at a club which I love being at, and that they give me a lot of responsibility and an opportunity to play and improve,” Surman said.

“So I’m really happy with where I’m at and I think that is a positive thing leading into the World Cup. I think there’s things that they’re pushing me with each and every day, and I think that can only help myself and our team here.”

Michael Boxall missed the last window with the All Whites but would be hoping to make the World Cup. www.photosport.nz

Experienced All White Michael Boxall captains Minnesota FC. However, Boxall has an abductor injury that has seen him sit out three of the last MLS games and the March window with the All Whites.

Boxall will have up until the last possible time to prove to Bazeley he should be at the World Cup.

New Zealand and Australia

All Whites striker Kosta Barbarouses also plays for Western Sydney Wanderers. PHOTOSPORT

Around half of the players involved with the All Whites are playing in the A-League which concludes with a Grand Final on 23 or 24 May.

Kosta Barbarouses’ Western Sydney Wanderers are likely to take home the wooden spoon so he will not be involved in the finals series and will end his season on 25 April.

Wellington Phoenix players Tim Payne, Alex Rufer, Bill Tuiloma and Sarpreet Singh are in a similar situation and could miss the finals.

James McGarry’s Brisbane Roar are currently 10th in a 12 team league and he only has three more games.

At the opposite end, Lachlan Bayliss made his debut for the All Whites in the recent window and his Newcastle Jets are on track to win the Premiers Plate and then move into the finals series.

Likewise, Auckland FC’s Callan Elliott, Jesse Randall, Logan Rogerson, Nando Pijnaker and Michael Woud will be hoping their club season continues until late May. Auckland’s Francis de Vries injured his calf playing against Finland and will be racing against time to get fit again for New Zealand as he will miss the remainder of the A-League season.

South Africa

Andre de Jong plays with the Orlando Pirates in South Africa’s Premiership and plays right through until 24 May when players are required to be released by clubs to prepare with national teams for the World Cup.

He has made 13 appearances for the All Whites since 2018 and started four matches. The 29-year-old said it was competitive amongst the playing group to get the final places in the World Cup squad.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Apollo Projects Stadium will host Super Rugby for the final time this weekend. Photosport / John Davidson

A bittersweet farewell awaits the Crusaders.

The stadium built to be their temporary home, where the side built a dynasty, will host Super Rugby for the final time this weekend.

Addington was not a state of the art, world class facility, and felt like sitting in a chest freezer for fans, but it provided a home for the franchise after its previous ground was destroyed.

Now, 14 years since the earthquake that shattered a city, a new chapter for the competition’s most successful franchise will be written as they vacate Apollo Projects for the new $683 million Te Kaha Stadium.

The Fijian Drua have the honour of sharing the Addington pitch with the Crusaders for the last time, looking to snap a horrendous record on the road. Elsewhere, the Chiefs will host the Waratahs in Hamilton, both sides fresh off victories away from home.

The Chiefs have a long list of injuries, calling on another debutant for Saturday night’s clash.

Elsewhere, former Australia rugby league international Zac Lomax is set to make his Super Rugby Pacific debut off the bench for the Western Force against the Reds, having last played the 15-man game as a child.

Moana Pasifika, the Crusaders, Hurricanes, Highlanders and Blues will all sit out Easter Weekend with a bye.

The men from the capital will keep their spot on top of the table, regardless of the weekend’s results.

Selection notes

Codie Taylor will join the 150 club, bringing up the milestone in his final match at Addington.

Fellow hooker Jack Sexton, son of former Crusader Matt, will make his debut from the pine.

Chiefs prop Reuben O’Neill will play his 50th Super Rugby match while outside back Daniel Sinkinson is set to make his debut off the bench.

Cristian Lio‑Willie will play his 50th Crusaders game.

Chief’s first five Damian McKenzie is set to return in round nine, sitting out with a concussion, while Wallace Sititi’s hamstring is still a week or two away from full fitness.

Etene Nanai-Seturo is also out for the week with a foot injury.

Crusader’s prop Tamaiti Williams will miss the rest of the season as he recovers from discitis, an infection in one of his spinal discs while captain David Havili is still nursing a heel injury, and is not due back for at least a fortnight.

Key stats

The Fijian Drua have lost their last 11 consecutive games in New Zealand
Will Jordan is the only player to carry the ball for an average of 100+ metres per match
The Chiefs have missed the fewest tackles of any team this season
The Chiefs are on an eight-game winning streak at home against teams from Australia

Crusaders vs Fijian Drua

Kick-off: 7:05pm Friday 3 April

Apollo Projects Stadium, Christchurch

Live blog updates on RNZ

Crusaders:

1. George Bower 2. Codie Taylor 3. Fletcher Newell 4. Antonio Shalfoon 5. Jamie Hannah 6. Corey Kellow 7. Johnny Lee 8. Christian Lio-Willie 9. Noah Hotham 10. Taha Kemara 11. Sevu Reece 12. Dallas McLeod 13. Leicester Fainga’anuku 14. Chay Fihaki 15. Will Jordan (c)

Bench: 16. George Bell 17. Jack Sexton (debut) 18. Seb Calder 19. Tahlor Cahill 20. Dom Gardiner 21. Louie Chapman 22. Rivez Reihana 23. Braydon Ennor.

“There will definitely be some emotion. The best thing we can do is honour it and honour the fans by playing well. That’s our goal,” Crusaders coach Rob Penney said.

Chiefs vs Waratahs

Kick-off: 7:05pm Saturday April 4

FMG Stadium Waikato, Hamilton

Live blog updates on RNZ

Chiefs:

1. Ollie Norris 2. Samisoni Taukei’aho 3. Reuben O’Neill 4. Josh Lord 5. Tupou Vaa’i (vc) 6. Samipeni Finau 7. Luke Jacobson (c) 8. Kaylum Boshier 9. Xavier Roe 10. Josh Jacomb 11. Kyren Taumoefolau 12. Quinn Tupaea (vc) 13. Leroy Carter 14. Emoni Narawa 15. Liam Coombes-Fabling

Bench: 16. Brodie McAlister 17. Jared Profitt 18. George Dyer 19. Seuseu Naitoa Ah Kuoi 20. Simon Parker 21. Cortez Ratima 22. Kyle Brown 23. Daniel Sinkinson (debut).

“We have a few out injured, which is normal in this tough competition, but the quality of the side we’re able to field shows the depth we have throughout the squad and our wider training group,” Chiefs coach Jonno Gibbes said.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

The fuel crisis has left a feeling of anxiety among Māori communities who do not know how much fuel is in their rohe, Te Pāti Māori co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer says.

Ngarewa-Packer, the party’s energy spokesperson, sat down for a wide-ranging interview with Mata host Mihingarangi Forbes and said while tikanga-led covid-19 responses proved Māori were resilient, planning a response for the fuel crisis was difficult without the most up to date information.

She said that was particularly evident in her rohe of Te Tai Hauāuru.

“We have large rural communities that don’t have public transport. We have pockets of hauora, pockets of main hospitals where whānau have to travel to for treatment to even see GPs.

“We have whānau that have to transport their tamariki to kura because there aren’t buses available. Day to day living here is extremely reliant on the ability to mobilise…. at the same time, we have a large proportion of our community, especially that have been wanting to transition away from fossils, who have been fighting seabed mining for years and have been pushing for alternative solutions in our infrastructure – they’re not seeing the alternative solutions coming.”

Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. (File photo) RNZ / Samuel Rillstone

Ngarewa-Packer sent a letter to the government requesting a cross-party committee on energy security and cost of living mitigation – a letter she said was ignored.

“A couple of days after, MBIE reached out and the Prime Minister’s Office reached out to give us a brief on what it is that they know we’re doing, but, of course, it’s not in real time,” she said.

“Even the data that we get on the supply of fuel… Monday’s data was from Wednesday midnight [and] yesterday’s data was from Sunday so it was lip service.”

She said the committee would have been a chance for the government to put aside their political differences and come up with proactive and pre-emptive responses to the crisis.

“What’s really concerning is that this is a government that hasn’t had a great relationship with Māori, with our communities, and has created some real harm.

“What it would look like is an inclusive response and that’s what we’re really pushing for and just get over each other’s politics and actually think about our communities that are going to be hurt the most.”

Ngarewa-Packer said whānau in the region should begin their rationing fuel on their own.

“We should be applying our own manāki, our own rangatiratanga and mana motuhake in how we do this.

“I’m seeing it already, our kura and our sports are using vans to pick up everyone. I’m seeing some of our local iwi are now set up ability to work in different pods and offices within their own communities so they don’t need to travel. I’m seeing thinking and planning being done to be able to identify vulnerable people, including our kaumātua, to be able to get their groceries and things.

“That’s really easing in and understanding it and starting that community thinking. When you live collectively and you think collectively, you plan differently. I don’t think the government is doing that.”

The full interview is available on the RNZ website and on Youtube.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Dame Julie Christie is producing a Tom Phillips documentary. RNZ / Mark Papalii

Inside nearly 300 pages of documents released by police lies a series of messages between Police’s director of media and strategic communications Juli Clausen and the CEO of a documentary crew Dame Julie Christie. National Crime Correspondent Sam Sherwood reports.

Police’s director of media and strategic communications Juli Clausen and Dame Julie Christie had been messaging each other for months before Clausen messaged details about Tom Phillips’ last hours.

On Thursday, police released 289 pages of correspondence in relation to the documentary including a series of messages between Clausen and Christie, the chief executive of a documentary production company.

This included the message at 6.14am on 8 September which began “I’m on a flight to Hamilton now”.

“I wanted to give u a heads up.. T [redacted] were involved in another burglary this morning. T has been shot – we have [redacted] We will do media but every man n dog there.”

The messages released on Thursday reveal the two women had been messaging since at least February last year.

The messages included conversations about the contract agreement, filming and even a message advising the documentary boss to go direct to the officer in charge, adding “everything discoverable so maybe ask for a call”.

Following the revelations, the police’s executive director media and communications Cas Carter said police were reviewing the processes around the management of the documentary. Asked about what confidence she had in Clausen she replied:

“That’s part of the review as well. That’s one of the many things that we’re looking at, at the moment.”

First contact

Documentary producer Karen Rutherford first approached Clausen about the documentary in October 2024.

By December, Christie had sent a “wishlist” to police.

The first text message between the two (according to the OIA) was on 28 February, when Clausen texted Christie shortly before 7pm.

“Hi Julie – sorry to bug u during happy hour. Do you have 5 mins for a quick chat pls. Juli Clausen.”

Shortly after she sends another text to say she was keen to get the crew back in on Wednesday.

“Regardless of where the agreement is at. We are all happy the intent to work together is there. Everything will make sense to you once you are read in.”

The following day Christie texted asking for another chat as the “guys in UK are meeting with Netflix on Monday and I would like to know what is acceptable to tell them”.

Clausen said Christie would be in a better position to update them after Wednesday.

“I have made a judgment to share more with just u so u can have some sense of what’s coming and think about how u organise.”

Tom Phillips died following a shootout with police in September 2025. RNZ / Supplied / Police

Christie and Rutherford met with the officer in charge of the investigation Detective Senior Sergeant Andy Saunders on 5 March. That evening Christie asked Clausen if she knew what the fee might be that they needed to pay police.

Clausen told her how much the cold case programmes were [this was redacted from the OIA].

Christie asked “should I put [redacted] or more?”

Clausen said she would talk to a colleague.

Christie also thanked Clausen for arranging the meeting with police.

“Today was fantastic,” she said.

“I’m beyond pleased. It’s a world first too which is even more amazing” she said in another message.

Clausen replied it was “pretty incredible access given our laws”.

“And it’s different because it’s not an unresolved case – it’s a live case. I’m going to work on STG [Special Tactics Group] next … they will be tough so need some space for them to agree.”

The contract

On 19 March, Clausen texted Christie to say she believed she had the agreement “almost ready”.

That evening at nearly 11pm, Christie texted her to say she had just got word that Netflix had signed the old contract, and would try and get the new one past them overnight.

The contract was formally agreed on 20 March.

About 5pm, Clausen emailed Police Commissioner Richard Chambers to say an agreement had been signed.

“It’s been an interesting and useful exercise to work our way through the terms of Agreement, and what’s reassuring is the certainty that Police will have final sign off.”

Clausen thanked Chambers for his support.

“It’s been helpful being able to say this project had your support.”

Dame Julie Christie’s production crew in Marokopa. RNZ / Mark Papalii

‘A saint!’

On 7 April, Christie texted Clausen saying she had a list of questions to send her in the morning. Clausen said she had some stuff for her as well.

Another text message was redacted in full.

In response, Christie said “Absolutely. Go well. I swear u r a saint!”

The following day, Christie asks Clausen to “call me asap”.

“Sounds like we have an issue”.

Clausen said she was “trying to resolve it”.

Christie said a person involved would only be with drone operations and “will never go anywhere else”.

“And we can accommodate separately if that helps. His background check was clear.”

Clausen said: “It’s not him – it’s our people. Talk soon”.

On 21 April, Christie asked if she could message Saunders direct.

“We respect completely reasons for not shooting at the drone base but wondered if we could perhaps get even 30 mins night-time flight today. That would satisfy our editorial needs.”

Clausen told her to “go direct”.

“Everything discoverable so maybe ask for a call.”

The early morning text

On 28 August, Christie texted Clausen asking if there was going to be a press conference that day. Clausen said it would be the next day.

On 29 August, Saunders fronted media to say police investigating a retail burglary in rural Waikato on 27 August believed Phillips was responsible.

After the press conference, Christie texted Clausen to say Saunders was “excellent. Better than I’ve ever heard him”.

Clausen said “we play bingo with the questions … we picked most of them”.

Then, at 6.14am on 8 September Clausen texted her to say she was on a flight to Hamilton.

“I wanted to give u a heads up.. T [redacted] were involved in another burglary this morning. T has been shot – we have [redacted] We will do media but every man n dog there.”

Christie appears to have replied immediately asking if she could call. Clausen said the door was closed, but would land at 7.30am.

“It’s big.”

Christie and the documentary crew appear to have been at the police station by 8am.

Clausen told Christie she had asked if they would be allowed to film the prep for the 11am media conference.

“To be clear, I’ve told Karen she is not coming with us to shoot prep. My decision re keeping us small.”

Just before 8am, Christie also asked if they could film Police Commissioner Richard Chambers arriving at the scene.

Christie was going to visit the scene with the officer in charge of the police investigation, dubbed Operation Curly.

Later that day, Christie sent Clausen a copy of a text she had received from another media outlet about the documentary. Christie asked if she would be around for a chat about the media query.

It appears the two women then met at a restaurant.

Two days later, Christie asked if a camera operator could attend the demolition of the campsite.

“Answer is no Julie!,” she replied.

“The weather will turn tomorrow and they are cranking thru to complete evidence gathering then dismantling and cam presence will slow them down. They said they will let u film when they find the main camp that always abandoned during drone phase. We need to leave them be today. Sorry!”

A few days later, Christie texted again asking when they might be able to join the team looking for the other camp.

“I think we need to leave some air space for now,” Clausen said.

“People v sensitive. I’m talking to them tomorrow hopefully.”

Christie said she hoped it was realised that all their filming “shows how hard the police team always worked to recover those children”.

“It would be disappointing not to be able to complete that story in the best possible way. I’ll keep in touch. So grateful for everything so far.”

In another message, Clausen told Christie police had received “a few OIAs”.

“Our normal process would be to consult u as part of reviewing for release. Wont be a quick turn around as we’ll need legal advice re contracts. But I do need to check one thing with u as soon as you can call. Thanks.”

RNZ/Mark Papalii

‘I think Netflix is your issue’

The OIA also included messages between Clausen and Rutherford.

On 18 February last year, Rutherford texted Clausen about a potential sighting of Phillips that had been reported.

Clausen said there was “nothing to film”.

“We are needing to verify report which is looking like at the mo.”

Rutherford said it was a “real shame Juli”.

“The article indicates police have already been door knocking. So disappointing, we could have filmed. Please can we lock in a day to meet Andy, by the end of today? Netflix has already questioned why we weren’t told.”

In response, Clausen said “Karen – we don’t have a written agreement or obligation yet”.

“I think Netflix is your issue to manage at the moment. I will work really hard to make it up to u but I think we will need to set some really strong and clear lines to protect the investigation.”

‘Incredibly regrettable’

Police’s executive director media and communications Cas Carter said on Thursday police were reviewing the processes around the management of the documentary, and “considering whether we need to reassess the protocols for handling such projects”.

RNZ asked Carter what confidence she had in Clausen and what concerns she had about the correspondence and whether the relationship with Christie was appropriate.

She replied: “The documentation of the communications has prompted many questions that will all be part of the review. I won’t be pre-empting that review.”

In an interview on Checkpoint, Carter said the decision to tell the documentary crew before Phillips’ family found out was “incredibly regrettable”.

She said there were a number of things that had been revealed in the OIA process that concerned her “in terms of the conversations between our people and the documentary crew”.

She did not know who gave the documentary crew permission to go into an active crime scene.

Asked if she retained confidence in Clausen, Carter replied:

“That’s part of the review as well. That’s one of the many things that we’re looking at, at the moment.”

Pressed further, Carter said she needed to review what happened during the period in question before she could comment further.

“I’ve just started reading all of this, and … I am concerned about everything that happened … that’s thrown up a lot more questions than I have answers for at the moment, and that’s why we’re looking into it further.”

She was also asked about the message from Clausen to Christie where she said “everything discoverable so maybe ask for a call”.

“That’s one of the things that I read and went ‘that’s very interesting conversation that I need to find out more about, what was the intent behind that?'”.

Carter said police still believed the idea of having a documentary was a good one, and that at the moment they still had a contract with the production company.

Chambers said on Thursday there was a “constructive relationship” between police and the documentary team.

“However, it has become apparent this documentary was not always handled in line with the usual protocols and processes that apply to documentaries police take part in.

“That included decision-making and oversight around the access the documentary crew were given at various points.

“I would not have allowed access to what was an active crime scene and had not been aware that was happening ahead of time.”

He said had he known it was to happen he would have stopped it.

“I am also disappointed the documentary team was told ahead of the family and of other media about the events of the night Tom Phillips died.

“The strict conditions that applied to the documentary project did give Police the ability to protect any sensitive information and that meant the documentary team could be given more access to Police operations than media would usually be given.”

Chambers said he would be concerned if there were any instances in which the documentary’s interests meant media did not get information or access they would otherwise have got.

“That does not serve the public interest. This was a high-profile investigation and, in my view, it is crucial police share as much as they possibly can with the media during such investigations because of the legitimate public interest.

“I have asked for further information to be sure this was handled appropriately at all stages and to allow us to consider whether police need to reassess the way we engage in such projects.”

He said police had a long history of cooperating on documentaries or programmes involving ongoing investigations.

“They offer unique and interesting insight for the public into police work and into the investigation in question.

“I do not want that to change in the future, however I do want to be certain we have robust processes in place to ensure they are handled well and fairly.”

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Two people were found dead in Hamilton East. (File photo) RNZ / Richard Tindiller

Two people have been found dead at a property in Hamilton East.

Detective Inspector Stephen Ambler said the deaths were under police investigation and at this stage being treated as “unexplained”.

Ambler said police were notified about 4pm on Thursday that two people had been found dead at a property on York Street.

An investigation was underway to find out what happened at the property.

Cordons remained in place on the street, Ambler said, and a scene guard would remain in place overnight.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

The man is due to appear in court again in June. RNZ / Richard Tindiller

A Wellington businessman who had pleaded not guilty to posting harmful digital communications has had his name suppression continued.

The 57-year-old man appeared in Wellington District Court last month charged with making a Facebook post that would cause harm to an ordinary or reasonable person and that in doing so, caused serious emotional distress.

In court it was agreed that Judge Bruce Davidson would consider the matter of the accused’s suppression based on written submissions from the parties involved.

In a judgement released on Thursday, Judge Davidson said the defendant argued that there was a “real and appreciable risk” that publication of his name would cause him and his family “extreme hardship, endanger his safety, and lead to identification of the victim/witness of the alleged offending”.

The charge related to an alleged offence on 13 January, 2026 in Wellington.

The defendant denies the charge, claiming he was not responsible for the social media post.

The judge’s decision stated that the alleged victim said the post was completely untrue and highly defamatory, and that there was a high level of stress and anxiety, both personally and professionally, arising from such offensive and unfounded allegations.

The judge said the defendant accepted he has openly sought publicity in a variety of ways.

“He is undeserving of suppression.

“He has openly courted publicity and the suggestion that publication of his name would cause him extreme hardship is fatuous.”

However, he said if the defendant’s name was published there was a real risk it could identify the alleged victim.

“As unconscionable as it sounds, by allegedly making such a dreadful Facebook post about his alleged victim, the defendant’s name, in the interim at least, must be suppressed to prevent the risk of further reputational and emotional damage” to the alleged victim.

The interim suppression would therefore remain in place.

Interim name suppression continues for the alleged victim.

The man is due to reappear in court in June.

The accused faces a maximum penalty of up to two years’ imprisonment.

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