Reposted by Helen Rickerby
The Government has just rushed through its voter suppression law. The Electoral Amendment Bill will disenfranchise tens of thousands of voters—it has no place in a healthy democracy.
#nzpol
#nzpol
Voter suppression law must be reversed - NZCTU
The NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi is condemning the National-led Government’s Electoral Amendment Bill, rushed through Parliament this week, which will disenfranchise tens of thousands of New Zealanders.
union.org.nz
December 17, 2025 at 3:40 AM
The Government has just rushed through its voter suppression law. The Electoral Amendment Bill will disenfranchise tens of thousands of voters—it has no place in a healthy democracy.
#nzpol
#nzpol
Reposted by Helen Rickerby
#nzpol In the house today, Nicola Willis said that in my recent book I thought the debt limit for the government should be 80-90% of GDP. As is clear in the book - that is the Treasury's position, not mine. See P.14 of www.treasury.govt.nz/sites/defaul...
December 17, 2025 at 2:25 AM
#nzpol In the house today, Nicola Willis said that in my recent book I thought the debt limit for the government should be 80-90% of GDP. As is clear in the book - that is the Treasury's position, not mine. See P.14 of www.treasury.govt.nz/sites/defaul...
Reposted by Helen Rickerby
The problem with productivity
The problem with productivity
By focusing on how hard or how smart we work, all this talk about productivity is completely missing the point....
thespinoff.co.nz
December 16, 2025 at 9:45 PM
The problem with productivity
Reposted by Helen Rickerby
So many times, the entire nature of what I'm working on has changed because of things I've discovered during the "tedious" work that they claim AI will save me from. It's in fact extremely common that I don't know what a thing really is until I start trying to do the hard stuff and then I find out
Also just tapping the sign again — A.I. eliminates the opportunity for creative discovery on your way to the destination you *thought* you wanted. You’re making art, process is everything.
placeholder art is supposed to look like this. you're supposed to make it in 5 seconds.
it's a crucial part of the process because a placeholder will often be remarkably similar to the final art/text, because you were unburdened by bigger details when you made it.
it's a crucial part of the process because a placeholder will often be remarkably similar to the final art/text, because you were unburdened by bigger details when you made it.
December 16, 2025 at 6:42 PM
So many times, the entire nature of what I'm working on has changed because of things I've discovered during the "tedious" work that they claim AI will save me from. It's in fact extremely common that I don't know what a thing really is until I start trying to do the hard stuff and then I find out
Reposted by Helen Rickerby
The NZ Govt has announced that it will be reducing support for the Total Mobility scheme that subsidises travel for some disabled people
That money being taken from disabled people is 25% of the tax rebates that were introduced for a tobacco company
#nzpol
www.stuff.co.nz/politics/360...
That money being taken from disabled people is 25% of the tax rebates that were introduced for a tobacco company
#nzpol
www.stuff.co.nz/politics/360...
Why it will soon cost more for disabled people to travel
Disability advocate Blake Forbes says the Government is severing a “lifeline” for some disabled Kiwis, after it confirmed prices would increase.
www.stuff.co.nz
December 16, 2025 at 4:48 PM
The NZ Govt has announced that it will be reducing support for the Total Mobility scheme that subsidises travel for some disabled people
That money being taken from disabled people is 25% of the tax rebates that were introduced for a tobacco company
#nzpol
www.stuff.co.nz/politics/360...
That money being taken from disabled people is 25% of the tax rebates that were introduced for a tobacco company
#nzpol
www.stuff.co.nz/politics/360...
Reposted by Helen Rickerby
Fuuuuuuuuuuck.
Now that it's public: RIP FluTracking, which I understand only cost $50k per year to administer, yet provided incredibly valuable and irreplaceable information on levels of influenza-like-illness.
What an utterly dim decision.
What an utterly dim decision.
December 16, 2025 at 8:00 PM
Fuuuuuuuuuuck.
Reposted by Helen Rickerby
Check out the December issue!
Featuring guests Tony Guo, Helen Rickerby, Ruby Porter and John Fenton, along with the Monica Taylor Poetry Prize winner, Jilly O'Brien.
There's also an art essay by Samuel Te Kani, and so much more!
We hope you love it 🩵
www.takahe.org.nz/takahe-115/
Featuring guests Tony Guo, Helen Rickerby, Ruby Porter and John Fenton, along with the Monica Taylor Poetry Prize winner, Jilly O'Brien.
There's also an art essay by Samuel Te Kani, and so much more!
We hope you love it 🩵
www.takahe.org.nz/takahe-115/
December 12, 2025 at 9:31 PM
Check out the December issue!
Featuring guests Tony Guo, Helen Rickerby, Ruby Porter and John Fenton, along with the Monica Taylor Poetry Prize winner, Jilly O'Brien.
There's also an art essay by Samuel Te Kani, and so much more!
We hope you love it 🩵
www.takahe.org.nz/takahe-115/
Featuring guests Tony Guo, Helen Rickerby, Ruby Porter and John Fenton, along with the Monica Taylor Poetry Prize winner, Jilly O'Brien.
There's also an art essay by Samuel Te Kani, and so much more!
We hope you love it 🩵
www.takahe.org.nz/takahe-115/
Reposted by Helen Rickerby
A new grant! Te Waka Taki Kōrero – Māori Literature Trust invites submissions from mid-career Māori writers seeking to undertake development opportunities between February – May 2026. There are two grants available to the value of $6,000 each. Deadline 30 Jan 2026.
Apply Now: Te Tupu Hauroa Development Grants 2026
The Māori Literature Trust invites submissions from mid-career Māori writers seeking to undertake development opportunities between February – May 2026.
mlt.org.nz
December 15, 2025 at 8:17 PM
A new grant! Te Waka Taki Kōrero – Māori Literature Trust invites submissions from mid-career Māori writers seeking to undertake development opportunities between February – May 2026. There are two grants available to the value of $6,000 each. Deadline 30 Jan 2026.
Reposted by Helen Rickerby
Merriam-Webster’s human editors have chosen ‘slop’ as the 2025 Word of the Year.
December 15, 2025 at 2:07 PM
Merriam-Webster’s human editors have chosen ‘slop’ as the 2025 Word of the Year.
Reposted by Helen Rickerby
This is such patronising bullshit. We’re not aspiring to “unrealistic” things like a three-day work week, a holiday house and a pony. We want kids fed, a health system, a role in life for everyone. Those things aren’t unrealistic, they’re a *choice* successive governments are making to deny us.
"We've had a series of governments now who have encouraged people to be aspirational for New Zealand and have promised things that have been completely unrealistic. ... I'm not going to fall into that trap."
#NzPol
#NzPol
'Opportunity to stamp my own mark': Chris Hipkins promises a different Labour
The last election saw Labour's six years in government come to an end, and Hipkins returning to the opposition benches just 10 months after becoming prime minister.
www.rnz.co.nz
December 14, 2025 at 6:18 AM
This is such patronising bullshit. We’re not aspiring to “unrealistic” things like a three-day work week, a holiday house and a pony. We want kids fed, a health system, a role in life for everyone. Those things aren’t unrealistic, they’re a *choice* successive governments are making to deny us.
Reposted by Helen Rickerby
Just to be clear what is (and isn’t) happening here. The Govt MPs are empowering a select committee with a majority of its MPs on it to stuff more things into the government’s bill, because these things procedurally couldn’t be included in the bill when introduced.
Crimes bill adds things outside the usual rules
Parliament has been pushing hard, rushing through bills and working under urgency all week. In that scramble, one bill bypassed the rules, adding things not usually allowed.
www.rnz.co.nz
December 12, 2025 at 7:48 PM
Just to be clear what is (and isn’t) happening here. The Govt MPs are empowering a select committee with a majority of its MPs on it to stuff more things into the government’s bill, because these things procedurally couldn’t be included in the bill when introduced.
Reposted by Helen Rickerby
"the House has spent 30.4 percent of this Parliament sitting under urgency, compared to 15.7 percent of the previous Parliament"
And the previous Parliament was passing life-saving legislation during a pandemic! That was necessary legislation! What is all this bullshit #nzpol
And the previous Parliament was passing life-saving legislation during a pandemic! That was necessary legislation! What is all this bullshit #nzpol
December 12, 2025 at 2:16 AM
"the House has spent 30.4 percent of this Parliament sitting under urgency, compared to 15.7 percent of the previous Parliament"
And the previous Parliament was passing life-saving legislation during a pandemic! That was necessary legislation! What is all this bullshit #nzpol
And the previous Parliament was passing life-saving legislation during a pandemic! That was necessary legislation! What is all this bullshit #nzpol
Reposted by Helen Rickerby
IMHO, this whole Ruth Richardson vs Willis debate is a beat-up designed to make Willis look more moderate and to give her an excuse to make even bigger cuts to public servants and social services. They are not to be trusted, and this is manufactured meddling.
December 10, 2025 at 6:24 PM
IMHO, this whole Ruth Richardson vs Willis debate is a beat-up designed to make Willis look more moderate and to give her an excuse to make even bigger cuts to public servants and social services. They are not to be trusted, and this is manufactured meddling.
Reposted by Helen Rickerby
Fonts are woke now? Truly we live in the stupidest timeline.
Marco Rubio ordered diplomats to return to using Times New Roman font in official communications, calling his predecessor's decision to adopt Calibri a “wasteful” diversity move
Rubio Stages Font Coup: Times New Roman Ousts Calibri
The secretary of state called it a "wasteful" diversity move, according to an internal department cable seen by Reuters.
www.huffpost.com
December 10, 2025 at 5:41 AM
Fonts are woke now? Truly we live in the stupidest timeline.
Reposted by Helen Rickerby
Depressing to see @henrycooke.bsky.social repeating nonsense about housing and the RMA: "Essentially we all stopped building new housing in recent decades". This is total nonsense - there has been a massive boom in housing builds, especially in Auckland after the 2016 unitary plan. Evidence:
December 9, 2025 at 8:38 PM
Depressing to see @henrycooke.bsky.social repeating nonsense about housing and the RMA: "Essentially we all stopped building new housing in recent decades". This is total nonsense - there has been a massive boom in housing builds, especially in Auckland after the 2016 unitary plan. Evidence:
Reposted by Helen Rickerby
What I read in 2025 (6):
Anna Jackson's Terrier, Worrier: A Poem in Five Parts
A splendid prose poem about affirmative doubt, in five seasons, from summer to summer, because you can only be aware of summer when you get back to it. A focused, feeling exploration of thinking. Somewhat fearless.
Anna Jackson's Terrier, Worrier: A Poem in Five Parts
A splendid prose poem about affirmative doubt, in five seasons, from summer to summer, because you can only be aware of summer when you get back to it. A focused, feeling exploration of thinking. Somewhat fearless.
December 9, 2025 at 2:59 AM
What I read in 2025 (6):
Anna Jackson's Terrier, Worrier: A Poem in Five Parts
A splendid prose poem about affirmative doubt, in five seasons, from summer to summer, because you can only be aware of summer when you get back to it. A focused, feeling exploration of thinking. Somewhat fearless.
Anna Jackson's Terrier, Worrier: A Poem in Five Parts
A splendid prose poem about affirmative doubt, in five seasons, from summer to summer, because you can only be aware of summer when you get back to it. A focused, feeling exploration of thinking. Somewhat fearless.
Reposted by Helen Rickerby
Hello fellow patriots
Did you know that at 3.30pm today the govt is introducing an “undisclosed bill” which, as the title suggests, means no one knows what it is.
The opposition needs to prepare for a bill that they haven’t been told about…can someone tell me how that is democratic?
Did you know that at 3.30pm today the govt is introducing an “undisclosed bill” which, as the title suggests, means no one knows what it is.
The opposition needs to prepare for a bill that they haven’t been told about…can someone tell me how that is democratic?
December 8, 2025 at 11:58 PM
Hello fellow patriots
Did you know that at 3.30pm today the govt is introducing an “undisclosed bill” which, as the title suggests, means no one knows what it is.
The opposition needs to prepare for a bill that they haven’t been told about…can someone tell me how that is democratic?
Did you know that at 3.30pm today the govt is introducing an “undisclosed bill” which, as the title suggests, means no one knows what it is.
The opposition needs to prepare for a bill that they haven’t been told about…can someone tell me how that is democratic?
Reposted by Helen Rickerby
While the govt celebrates the OCR being at 2.25%
they're happy to keep interest rates on overseas Student Loan borrowers at 4.9%.
71% of overseas Student Loan borrowers can't repay the total of $2.193 billion in overdue debt, which still keeps growing.
#nzpol
action.greens.org.nz/student_loan...
they're happy to keep interest rates on overseas Student Loan borrowers at 4.9%.
71% of overseas Student Loan borrowers can't repay the total of $2.193 billion in overdue debt, which still keeps growing.
#nzpol
action.greens.org.nz/student_loan...
We need an inquiry | Overseas NZers Student Loan Repayment Scheme
We need an inquiry into the Student Loan Repayment Scheme for New Zealanders living overseas!
action.greens.org.nz
December 8, 2025 at 11:12 PM
While the govt celebrates the OCR being at 2.25%
they're happy to keep interest rates on overseas Student Loan borrowers at 4.9%.
71% of overseas Student Loan borrowers can't repay the total of $2.193 billion in overdue debt, which still keeps growing.
#nzpol
action.greens.org.nz/student_loan...
they're happy to keep interest rates on overseas Student Loan borrowers at 4.9%.
71% of overseas Student Loan borrowers can't repay the total of $2.193 billion in overdue debt, which still keeps growing.
#nzpol
action.greens.org.nz/student_loan...
Reposted by Helen Rickerby
This Bill threatens every worker in New Zealand. Brooke van Velden's Employment Relations Amendment Bill has come back from Select Committee - and she's made it EVEN WORSE for workers. #nzpol
union.org.nz/employment-b...
union.org.nz/employment-b...
Employment bill is worst attack on workers in decades - NZCTU
The NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi is condemning select committee changes to the Employment Relations Amendment Bill, which would give bad employers an even greater ability to exploit workers.
union.org.nz
December 8, 2025 at 10:34 PM
This Bill threatens every worker in New Zealand. Brooke van Velden's Employment Relations Amendment Bill has come back from Select Committee - and she's made it EVEN WORSE for workers. #nzpol
union.org.nz/employment-b...
union.org.nz/employment-b...
Reposted by Helen Rickerby
Thank you NZ Greens for saying this so clearly.
December 8, 2025 at 2:06 AM
Thank you NZ Greens for saying this so clearly.
And I 'm so delighted to be featured in the forthcoming December issue of takahē!
So excited to be featuring new poems by Helen Rickerby in the forthcoming December issue!
The selection comes from her next book, 'My Bourgeois Apocalypse'' (Auckland University Press, 2026).
The selection comes from her next book, 'My Bourgeois Apocalypse'' (Auckland University Press, 2026).
December 5, 2025 at 11:22 PM
And I 'm so delighted to be featured in the forthcoming December issue of takahē!
Reposted by Helen Rickerby
Prompted by the Self and Sequence: Lyric Diary symposium, Volume Books has put a page of books together that use fragments as form
volume.nz/volumebooks/...
volume.nz/volumebooks/...
Volume Focus: FRAGMENT AS FORM — VOLUME
A selection of books from our shelves that use the accumulation of fragments as a literary form. Click through to find out more: Garments Against Women Terrier, Worrier Flickerbook ...
volume.nz
December 5, 2025 at 1:05 AM
Prompted by the Self and Sequence: Lyric Diary symposium, Volume Books has put a page of books together that use fragments as form
volume.nz/volumebooks/...
volume.nz/volumebooks/...
Reposted by Helen Rickerby
✨ We're thrilled to announce Hungus by Amber Esau (Ngāpuhi / Manase) is coming 12 March 2026 – the arrival of a dazzling new voice in Aotearoa poetry.
teherengawakapress.co.nz/products/hun...
teherengawakapress.co.nz/products/hun...
December 4, 2025 at 2:16 AM
✨ We're thrilled to announce Hungus by Amber Esau (Ngāpuhi / Manase) is coming 12 March 2026 – the arrival of a dazzling new voice in Aotearoa poetry.
teherengawakapress.co.nz/products/hun...
teherengawakapress.co.nz/products/hun...
Ooh, advanced warning of my new (forthcoming) book is up on the AUP website: aucklanduniversitypress.co.nz/my-bourgeois...
My Bourgeois Apocalypse
A surprising and genre-bending poetic memoir about the years when everything got weirder.
aucklanduniversitypress.co.nz
December 4, 2025 at 3:40 AM
Ooh, advanced warning of my new (forthcoming) book is up on the AUP website: aucklanduniversitypress.co.nz/my-bourgeois...