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a strong emphasis on signs on the so-called ‘prosperity gospel’ (God wants you to be rich so if you give the church all of your money He will make you rich), and is generally characterised by huge, expensive buildings with smoke machines and services with high production value. 1News claim to have spoken to ‘dozens’ in these churches around the country with similar grievances to the ones raised by ex-ARISE members, which mainly centre around mistreatment of young volunteers and interns. A few prominent members of ARISE have addressed the controversy on Instagram, but for many it is seen as too little, too late.

A landlord in Canterbury has been fined after telling their tenants they weren’t allowed a trampoline on the property.

After an investigation, the Tenancy Tribunal ruled that the ‘unenforceable’ clauses on the tenancy agreement, such as banning any fun, showed an attempt at ‘unreasonable control’ by the owner. Many tenants (especially students) don’t realise that a lot of what your Property Manager expects from you has no legal basis, and isn’t actually your responsibility at all - this includes things like ‘professionally cleaning’ carpets, agreeing to having no parties, etc.. Even if you did agree to similar clauses on your tenancy agreement, they aren’t actually enforceable, as the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 supersedes any bullshit that your landlord puts on there. In fact, your only responsibility is to keep the property ‘reasonably clean and reasonably tidy’ (Section 40(1C)). If you want to check the legality of your tenancy agreement, you can use this handy tool at www.checkmyclause. co.nz. This story follows another story of a flat in Dunedin supposedly meeting the ‘healthy homes standard,’ despite mouldy conditions sending the tenant to the emergency room. Landlords are just the best, aren’t they? It’s definitely a real job, too.

新闻 / WIHIRI NIUHI

NEXUS Heritage New Zealand are seeking up to $300,000 in damages after construction company J Swap allegedly destroyed part of a 700 year old pā. Concerns were raised back in January, when Stuff reported that a section of Pirauiti Pā had collapsed after blasting from J Swap’s neighbouring Waotu Quarry - which only came to light after a local farmer tipped off members of Ngāti Huri. J Swap claim that bad weather caused the slip - not drilling holes, placing explosives in said holes, and detonating the explosives right underneath the Pā. J Swap responded to questions from Nexus with an email that simply read, ‘Roger.’ I literally have no idea what that means.

One of Aotearoa’s bloodiest battles will be commemorated with the reconstructed Rangiriri Pā opening last weekend. British troops attempting to steal land clashed with Māori at the defensive redoubt in 1863, but were initially thwarted by both strong defences and the overall design of the Pā. The eventual loss of the battle of Bloody ‘Rangiriri’ led to 1.3 million hectares of land being stolen by British losers. The $3 million project led by Iwi hopes to see tourists brought to the area to learn more about the history of Aotearoa. I riro whenua atu me hoki whenua mai.

Small Town Short News

Jared Ipsen

Farmers in the Waikato are worried after several fall armyworm

caterpillars were found at properties in Tamahere. The pest insects, known by moth nerds as spodoptera frugiperda, are known for the speed in which they destroy crops in the later stages of their lifecycle, and have been observed travelling distances of up to 400 kilometres with a good tailwind. Fall armyworms have already wreaked havoc on Australian crops, with studies estimating an up to $40 million cost to farmers over the next decade. Local farmers hope to control the moths with spraying and upcoming harsh winter conditions.

A Tokoroa man failed to stop Council felling a tree after he almost

fell out of it himself. After the 60 year old Liquidambar tree’s roots were found to be damaging the surrounding roads and footpath, the tree was set to be removed when a passionate neighbouring resident climbed the tree in an attempt to save it. The tree removalists later helped him down from said tree after the man slipped from the branch he was posted up on, and he was arrested a few hours later. I was going to reach out to the man for comment, but after seeing his Facebook page, I decided it was best to just let dead trees lie.

A man who owns a farm in Morrinsville has been sentenced to

home d for crimes against the environment. Several complaints from members of the public about the farmer led to an investigation by Waikato Regional Council, which found that homie was just straight up dumping thousands of tonnes of ‘liquid waste’ in to the Piako River. This charge followed years of similar shit cunt behaviour from the man - in addition to being charged with ‘discharging contaminants into the environment,’ bro has also been found guilty of breaching court orders and ‘excavating a stream.’ The man faces a $100,000 fine and five months indoors to think about what he’s done.

Over in Te Awamutu, tensions are rising over a proposed plan to

hide our rubbish and waste crisis by just like, burning it all in a

giant incinerator. A proposal from Global Contracting Solutions will see a large incinerator built in TA which will, according to Sue Coutts, run ‘24 hours a day, 7 days a week’ and burn up to ‘166,525 tonnes of municipal solid waste, plastics, tyres and flock.’ While burning all of our trash sounds good in theory, opposition groups point out that incineration creates a highly toxic, poisonous, carcinogenic chemical called ‘dioxin,’ which probably isn’t a good thing to have floating around ambiently in the atmosphere. Studies conducted around similar incinerators in Europe have found that living in the area causes ‘lung cancer, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, soft tissue sarcomas and childhood cancers,’ among other things. Seems legit I guess?