Documents released to Salient under the Official Information Act reveal the university ordered the removal of posters protesting staff cuts around campus ahead of Open Day. A staff member, whose name was withheld by the university, emailed the communications department in early August saying, “We have seen quite a few posters and fliers dropped across campus about “staff cuts” and “programme cuts” etc.”
Read MoreA curious condom machine in a men's bathroom on Kelburn campus has vanished following reporting by Salient, with the university sending mixed signals. The coin operated machine piqued Salient’s interest in April for its retro charm and bizarrely off-branded product.
Read MoreWhen it comes to Te Pāti Māori’s political ideology, co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer says it’s complicated. While the party was formerly “comfortable with National”, she says they now “lean left” in the “Western-centric sense”. But Ngarewa-Packer thinks they’re best described as simply “indigenous”.
Read MoreNicola Willis says she was never “a Young Nat or anything” during her time at Victoria University of Wellington. It's been a huge turn around for the MP vying to be New Zealand’s next Finance Minister, who says she “wasn’t even into politics” while studying a BA in English Literature in the early 2000s.
Read MoreWinston kindly came along to the Salient office for a robust and hostile 30-minute chat peppered with personal insults, including calling me ignorant, a hypocrite, and saying I need to find a new job.
Read MoreThe Green Party have hit the ground running this election, being the first party to release their full suite of policies, which they say are unapologetically student focused. The Party’s policies include a free universal student allowance, reforming student accommodation, and working towards a student debt write-off.
Read MoreKarunā Muthu describes himself as a “political animal”. He's not lying; rocking up to our interview in his royal blue National Party branded jacket, he jokes that he’s going to be the Prime Minister of New Zealand. The National Candidate for Rongotai is optimistic he’s able to turn Rongotai blue, despite it being a safe Labour seat since 1996.
Read MoreIf you get the feeling you're being fleeced at the self-checkout, you're not mistaken: the price of food has increased a fat 8.9% over the past year. The cost of living crisis has financially crippled Aotearoa and students are feeling the squeeze. But there seems to be a glimmer of hope on the financially chequered horizon: New World Metro.
Read MoreFreshers have been left itching and scratching as an unwelcome guest has taken over VUW’s Capital Hall: an outbreak of the small skin burrowing mite commonly known as scabies. Salient understands a small group of residents first noticed some unwelcome itches two weeks ago, and have since informed staff they were receiving treatment for scabies, causing mite hysteria throughout the hall.
Read MoreDr Scott Sheeran has lived many lives before throwing his hat in the ring for Wellington Central. He went from being “famous for not turning up at school”, and sporting dreadlocks while in a university band, to becoming a published author on human rights law and working multiple stints at the UN.
Read MoreThe polarising Let’s Get Wellington Moving (LGWM) initiative is on the rocks, with National campaigning to scrap the project and Labour refusing to commit its support after the election. LGWM is a joint initiative between Wellington City Council, Greater Wellington Regional Council, and central government.
Read MoreTamatha Paul (Waikato Tainui, Ngāti Awa) was in Bunnings trying to find a new light for her flat when her phone “started blowing up” with the news that Labour Party MP Grant Robertson wasn’t standing for Wellington Central this year. After receiving a phone call from Chlöe Swarbrick urging her to “just do it bro” and being pestered around Wellington by Green Party Councillor Thomas Nash, Paul said “the stars just aligned” and she decided it was the right time to run for Parliament.
Read MoreStudents are catching on to an apparent vending machine loophole, getting free sweet treats from a machine that dispenses beverages—specifically, Vanilla Coke Zero Sugar—seemingly free of charge. Multiple informants told Salient that when paying with Apple Pay, a machine in the Rankine Brown Library displays a message stating ‘Your account will be billed’, but the billing in question never eventuates.
The launch of NZSTYLE (@nzstyled) on TikTok has caused a stir in Pōneke. The account premises itself on spotlighting the best dressed people in Wellington, but its method for doing so has drawn criticism from some. The account does not ask the people it films for permission. Instead, it captures subjects from a distance without their knowledge.
Read MoreStudents live in some of the shittest housing in Aotearoa. Our flats are old, damp, and bloody freezing in winter. Too many of us have to wait until our free hours of power kicks in at 9 p.m. to flick on those heaters and keep a reasonable temperature. After three hours, the cold seeps back in through uninsulated walls.
Read MoreTe Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington is now in “survival mode”, according to Vice Chancellor Nic Smith. A forecast $33 million deficit in the university’s finances for 2023 could mean 10% of the current 2468 staff employed at the university would lose their jobs.
Read MoreThe arrival of Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington’s new Vice Chancellor Nic Smith has been a largely quiet transition. But according to urban legend, Smith is partial to a lunchtime workout at the University Recreation gym.
Read MoreThe Vice Chancellor is working on a shakeup to the Senior Leadership Team, introducing three new positions and scrapping the current Pro Vice Chancellors.
Read MoreThe three big contenders are finally known in the race for Wellington Central after National announced that international human rights lawyer Dr Scott Sheeran will contest the seat in this year's general election.
Read MoreWellington City Council have landed themselves in a precarious pickle after the city began raining streetlights. The 11kg light fixtures, which weigh approximately the same as a medium sized dog or 24 box of Speights, have started falling from their poles with a total of 17 hurling to the ground so far.
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