Nexus 2020 Issue 9 - The Quarantine Chronicles 5

QUARANTINE CHRONICLES

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Editors

Josh Umbers josh@nexusmag.co.nz

THE ALL NEW

OCCUPANCY: 100,000+

Donnella Ngohe donnella@nexusmag.co.nz

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Luka Love luka@nexusmag.co.nz Harry Malcolm harry@nexusmag.co.nz

BUDGET

Design 23

Ashlea Curran design@nexusmag.co.nz

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Centrefolds

Wenyue Ruan wenyue@wsu.org.nz

Nexus legalizes marijuana 12

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Nat Calvert Nat@nexusmag.co.nz

Digital Assets

Nat Calvert Nat@nexusmag.co.nz

Advertising + Production James Raffan + Kendrah Worsley comms@wsu.org.nz

BRIEFING

Cartoon - Pg. 23

DEBATABLE

Jack Stack

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Contributors Kyla Campbell-Kamariera Caitlin Walters-Freke

Nelson Cooper

y ngr

Aunty Slut

O VE

R + hu

Grace Mitchell

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HUNG

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CONTENTS

Renee Boyer Mia Milne

Donnella Ngohe / donnella@nexusmag.co.nz

What a week! It was the first time I experienced the parliamentary channel, and from what I saw, Winston Peters and the interior designer both come from the same century.

I discovered budget day was a thing, David Seymour made an everlasting first impression, and the tempo of his speech had me thinking that the cup he was sipping from had a different flavour to everyone else’s water.

Moving on, level 2 came up fast, and I was concerned not about going to the pubs (because you’re allowed 100 in contrast to 10) but, for the police officer, who hand-delivered a pamphlet reading “Do you suspect illegal drug activity in your neighbourhood” followed by “know the warning signs and what you can do about them.” As if this week couldn’t get more out the fucking gate, this showed up.

I was intrigued to know what this pamphlet was about. I turned the page to read “warning signs of a drug house” with an insert of a clip art version of a green leaf. Keep in mind my family is the only Māori on our block so you could imagine what was racing through my mind. Nevertheless my eyes continued to read through the seven bullet points. It was clear they were committed to getting a message across which one I was unsure of. The second bullet point got me a little… “Visitors appear to be acquaintances rather than friends.” Fuck to be on Tinder in Cambridge; you’re bound to make the next Tui ad – acquaintance? Yeah right?

Assessment week has arrived for some, and with exams being exempt from this Trimester, there is more demand to have assessments handed in on time with high standards, and these added quizzes are just an added inconvenience. But if anyone hasn’t told you yet, I’m fucking proud of you, keep pushing forward. You have studied through a fucking pandemic; not many can say that. In saying this outside of WSU, GP, or general service office hours, please don’t hesitate to use the 1737 number if ever you need to talk to someone.

This brings me to introduce our lineup: Queen k is back in the kitchen, Jamie and David are head to head talking budget, Nexus fixes everything because we are G.c’s like that and some of your all-time favourites. We also have a special edition, as suggested by the big boss to dig deep into our stories, our struggles, our journeys, and this we did indeed. You never know what someone is going through and that e te iwi includes us.

Kaua e mate wheke mate ururoa Dee x

NEXUS MAGAZINE / ISSUE 9

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Rebuilding Together Jamie Strange

New Zealanders work best when we work together, and over the last few months, that’s exactly what I’ve seen right across our country.

We united as a team of five million to fight COVID-19. We went hard and early to break the chain of transmission and stop the virus in its tracks. We stayed home and we saved lives. And, thanks to all of you, so far it’s working.

Now, as we continue to play it safe to stop another outbreak, it’s time for us to rebuild and recover together. The global economic shock of COVID-19 presents challenges not seen in New Zealand since the Great Depression, but there is a clear path through.

To get our economy moving, we know our focus needs to be on jobs. That’s why, from the very beginning, our economic response has prioritised protecting jobs and keeping businesses afloat. From the wage subsidy scheme to interest-free loans for small businesses, we moved quickly to get money out the door to support workers and businesses.

Now, we’re taking the next steps in our plan with Budget 2020: Rebuilding Together.

This year’s Budget is all about getting New Zealand moving again. The centrepiece is our $50 billion COVID Rebuild and Recovery Fund, which will create jobs, get business moving and support New Zealanders.

The fund includes a targeted extension to the wage subsidy to keep the most affected Kiwis in work. In the Waikato and Bay of Plenty regions this will be especially welcome in the tourism, hospitality, events and export education sectors.

The Budget also includes initiatives to create new jobs, train people to have the skills they need for the jobs we have, and support people to get into work. This means we’re investing in major new infrastructure, and also in projects like:

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- Boosting the apprenticeships scheme to enable people to upskill and retrain, and partnering with industry to fill skills gaps in the workforce.

- Creating thousands of new jobs that help to protect our environment, including through our Jobs for Nature programme.

- Investing in businesses to boost their research and development, which will create jobs and lift wages.

This year’s budget is also about rebuilding our economy better.

That’s why we’re building 8,000 public houses. This will help the construction sector get moving again and get people back into work, while providing warm, dry homes for thousands of families.

That’s why, with Budget 2020, we’re expanding the Lunches in Schools programme. This will make sure up to 200,000 Kiwi kids can learn on a full stomach, helping to lighten the load on families struggling in the aftermath of COVID-19, while creating local jobs in communities around New Zealand.

And that’s why we’re giving more support to our hospitals and clinics to keep delivering the world class healthcare we’ve come to value more than ever.

Now’s the time to create a New Zealand we’re truly proud of.

Now’s the time to stay safe, lock in the gains we made in recent weeks, and recover as a nation. Now’s the time to build back better. Now’s the time to rebuild together.

DEBATABLE With all the pre-budget 202 talk being about how transformative it would be and that it was likely to be a once in a generation response we thought we would give Jamie and David some extra space to let us know their thoughts

The Budget Missed The Mark David Bennett

Budget 2020 will be the most important budget for the tenure of this Government. We have a Government facing some of the worst business confidence levels in over a decade, climbing unemployment rates and limited future growth. With an economic recession predicted to exceed the worse that we saw during the GFC, it is important that this budget is right.

This Budget missed the mark. It can easily been as seen as an attempt to keep the economy on life support until the election.

It needed to make some tough decisions rather than putting these off to after the election.

The most notable aspect of the budget has been the extension of the wage subsidy scheme ($3.3 Billion) for another 12 weeks, which will provide much needed support to businesses and keep people employed. However, the subsidy finishes shortly before the election, which could be seen as a way to bolster unemployment numbers prior to the election. It is effectively keeping people off the unemployment queues before the election.

Despite being disproportionately impacted by COVID-19, only $20 million was allocated for students in this budget. The best

thing a Government can do for students is to create a strong and buoyant economy so students can get the jobs to reward them for their sacrifices while studying. This Budget does nothing long term for the economy.

The Budget effectively borrows large sums of money for two purposes. The first is to get the country through to the election so that voters notice as little as possible of the economic carnage ahead. The second is the $20 billion slush fund that has been set aside for election promises.

Both of these would have been better utilised for real infrastructure to provide a stronger economy in the future.

These hard economic decisions were not made. The suggested unemployment and growth rates in the Budget are simply overly optimistic and being used to hide the true impact of the economic issues we will face in the future. This is a common trick of Governments to overstate economic growth in a way to alleviate their borrowing or deficit predictions.

In the Budget public debt is expected to increase by $140 billion.

This means that taxes are on their way. The Government has refused to answer questions on their tax intentions. It is obvious they will tax New Zealanders higher in the future and this directly affects students as future high income earners in the community. Students will become the wage and salary earners of the future that will pay for a Budget that put off any economic decisions, and was designed to try and re-elect a Government by not dealing with the real issues the economy faces at this time.

NEXUS MAGAZINE / ISSUE 9

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(This is another story). I was entering a new chapter; I pushed past the fear and applied to enrol at the University of Waikato. I was happy, nervous, and determined to go back to school.

2016, my father was diagnosed with Lymphoma, and I moved back home to look after him. This was supposed to be a chance for not only me but my proof to show my father we can do this. Chemo started and finished, and fortunately, he was cleared of cancer. This gave me new confidence, and we were unstoppable.

December 2017 and I lost my dad to a stroke – my world stopped, and I was scared. I was scared to carry on, scared to live the rest of my life, afraid to take on this new journey without him. My grades were affected, mental health was spilling out of control, and there was more pressure to look after everyone now more than ever. I still take it day by day, month by month, year by year.

A Day In A Life Of Dee Donnella Ngohe

I have had my fair shares of ups and downs. I was bullied since childhood for my size. I was always bigger than your average, even at my smallest. My closest family members would always remind me of this, and if it wasn’t them, it was the kids at school – there was no escaping it. At the age of 7 and 8 years old, I was sent to a health camp – it turns out my mother agreed with these bullies too.

I lost one of my brothers at ten years old, and through my toughest days, he would always remind me of my beauty, I was ten, and that is what a brother was supposed to say – little did I know he meant it.

I entered my teens and the pressure for me to succeed was heavy. My older brother was incarcerated and my parents had little knowledge of any education. I was my family’s only hope to break the cycle. My older brother, who is still alive, was heavily involved with my upbringing, my parents were present, and then some days they weren’t. It was normal and I was ok with this.

It was at the age of eighteen that I decided I was going to work so I could give back to my parents. Ten years later and my hospitality journey came to an end due to workplace bullying 8

Fast forward to twenty-twenty, I gained a teenager, I lost another father figure, and my world came crashing down. It was December 2017 all over again, and I was fucking exhausted. On top of this, we were just about to enter a lockdown. A place I spent my time escaping is now about to become a place of no escape, and my anxiety was at an all-time high.

Two weeks into lockdown, I was beginning to feel something was off, and I felt changes that raised a few red flags. I went to the doctor, and the results weren’t very good. I was on bed rest and came to a point where I couldn’t sit in a chair or stand longer than 5 mins. My body was failing me, and I had no idea what the fuck to do. I had to dig deep and fight, fight with all I had to bounce back because I had a job to complete, assignments to hand in, a mother about to go into surgery, a teenager needing my undivided attention, and a partner’s health that was declining too. On top of this, fight with what I was dealing with physically, mentally, and spiritually. These people depended on me, and in all honesty, I was at an all-time low, and I had no idea what I was going to do. Was this it? All I had on my mind was someone out there has it worse than me, and I was still breathing. I am nowhere near 100% however, I’m here to fight another day and I can’t complain.

Twenty-five years of vivid memories, and it still scares me to this day. My whole life wasn’t all a misery. Amongst those years, I learned to grow some thick skin, created my most memorable milestones, friendships, life lessons, fuck the list goes on.

However, these last few months have forced me to reassess what is more important. Where to from here? I have no fucking idea but to revisit goals, adjust lifelong habits and put my health first.

Editorial Reflection Josh Umbers

As we move out of lockdown and back into a normal world I’ve done a bit of thinking about what lockdown has done for me.

It’s been a totally different stage of life that I never saw coming, none of us did to be fair. The first thing it taught me was how grateful I should be to see my mates every day or two. It was one of the first things that impacted me and probably impacted me the most. I’m a person who thrives off being around other people, a social butterfly if you will. The last two months absolutely strangled the living daylights out of my social skills, even when I went out in public properly for the first time (which was about 1 week into level 3) to go to the supermarket I found myself feeling kind of anxious around people and sticking to the 2 meter rule. It’s not like I was scared of Covid itself, it was more like a “will they have a go at me if I accidentally get too close?” type thing.

I also got reminded about how important sticking to a routine is. I don’t know about you, but staying up till 3 or 4am browsing the internet became a staple for me and it ruined my work ethic during the day because I didn’t wake up till 12pm or so, and even then I’d be absolutely knackered and just couldn’t be fucked doing anything at all. So obviously I had to get that sorted out, which I have and it involved staying up till 7am, setting an alarm for 10am and passing out peacefully in bed the next night well before midnight. Unorthodox, I know, but it worked and my routine is as safe as seat belts now. Moral of the story, don’t have a global pandemic so you can keep your routine. Just kidding, just don’t let yourself go and you’ll be all safe.

Editorial Reflection Harry Malcolm

Quarantine, to me, was pretty eye opening. I don’t think it was some massive sacrifice and it won’t go down in history as testament of human endurance. We didn’t do anything particularly awe inspiring or special. We didn’t put a man on the moon. Rather, quarantine was a series of small sacrifices of things we took for granted every day. Seeing your friends, not having a scrap over the last toilet roll, doing what you pleased were sacrifices that we all had to make and most of us followed through on. However, I also felt like it made people more aware of the underlying science behind things such as viruses. People slowly stopped listening to the “drink hot water, point your bare asshole toward the sun and corona virus can’t hurt you” bullshit they saw on Facebook. Instead people finally started listening to our doctors, nurses and the stunning, brave and, let’s face it, sexy Dr. Ashley Bloomfield. I really hope people take this opportunity to not trust everything they see online and start actually thinking for themselves. I was pretty happy that the whole country actually listened to science and didn’t shit the bed like that country next to Canada. Now that was fucking inspirational. Americans once again proved that they could fuck themselves and each other simultaneously with their disaterous leadership and uneducated decisions. Overall, I would say it was kind of incredible to see how drastically under-prepared we are, individually, nationally and globally, for any kind of catastrophe.

With the world set to go down the shitter at any moment in the next decade or so, I find it hard to believe that it’ll just be toilet paper we’re fighting over when the big one comes. I think we should use this opportunity to address the blatant leaks in our ship that this whole virus drama has exposed. Humans have always had a way of learning from their mistakes, and we literally just proved normal doesn’t work, so why does everyone want normal back so bad?

NEXUS MAGAZINE / ISSUE 9

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Nexus legalizes marijuana 10

Josh Umbers

Alright, this week Nexus is going to legalize Marijuana. Yep, I said it. We’re going to legalize the weed, the devils lettuce, whatever you want to call it. It’s about time someone in this country stepped up to the plate and did the unthinkable. But is it really the “unthinkable”? No, it’s just something that our out of touch politicians would hate to normalize and let us freely smoke in the comfort of our own homes. However, not to worry, all God-fearing boomers and Politicians in this country have given in, and Nexus has legalized it. Hooray! Now, what are some benefits you may ask? Well, I will list them off below. Starting with decreased crime and strain on our legal system.

Currently in this country for possession of marijuana you can cop a maximum of a 3 month jail term, or a $500 fine. There is usually a presumption against imprisonment though, which shows me that the Police in this country are over throwing people in the cells for possessing a few herbs that make them feel good. According to the Community Law NZ website, It will be rare for the police to bring a charge against you just for possession of a class C drug like cannabis if you haven’t committed any other offenses at the same time. Usually they’re brought in addition with other charges like assault, theft, resisting arrest, etc etc. However the threshold for supply charges sits at 28 grams, or 100 joints. This carries a maximum of 8 years imprisonment, and cultivation of it carries a maximum of 7 years.

Between 2007 and 2011 there were 12,895 convictions of minor drug offenses by under 25’s in New Zealand. Over that same period of time it cost the taxpayer $59 million, with the average cost being around $18,000. At what point does the cost outweigh the benefit of them being convicted? Fifteen percent of adults used cannabis in the past year, and 8.5 percent, or 330,000 adults, smoke cannabis monthly. Use is higher in Māori, young people and those in more deprived neighborhoods.

Obviously the use of any drug at a young age can be harmful to the user, but we have to think if people are going to smoke cannabis no matter what the law is, even though there are punishments against it, is it worth it remaining a crime to be in possession of it?

Across the globe, there has been great evidence of lower crime rates seen from the legalization of the sale of cannabis.

- In the United States, a 2017 study found that the introduction of the medical marijuana laws caused a reduction in violent crime in states that border Mexico.

- Oregon legalized it in 2014 and has seen a 10% decrease in violent crime and a 13% drop in the murder rate - The percentage of female prisoners in Uruguay has fallen since the legalization in 2013 So there’s a few points about the crime rates decreasing in areas where cannabis is legal. That’s great, but I think we can improve on this. We have a fairly large neighbor called Australia and drugs over there are a huge no-no. Depending on the state you might get a warning for possession, and be expected to attend a counseling class, or pay a fine. However the maximum jail sentence is usually between 2-3 years. What I’m saying is if we legalized it here we could have a bigger influx of tourists in this country just because they can smoke weed. This is proven in Amsterdam already. Earlier in the year the Mayor of Amsterdam considered banning tourists from buying these types of products in their coffee shops. They haven’t done it and the numbers point to why. 17 million people visit Amsterdam every single year, and the city only has a population of 1.1 million, and to be fair they were struggling to cope with such large amounts of visitors every year. The Mayor cited a survey which revealed that roughly 34% less visitors would make it a destination every year if they couldn’t access these treats. Of the British visitors surveyed, 42% said they would return to Amsterdam less often.

Among respondents of all nationalities, 40% said they would no longer use “hashish or weed” on their visits if such a ban was enforced. One in five (22%) said they would let someone else go to the coffee shop, and 18% said they would find another way to buy the drug. What we can take from that is having an area where it is legal can help draw tourists. This country thrives on tourism and it’s one of our biggest industries, given the hit it’s taken lately, why not have another reason to come over and see our country? Take a road trip round the country, enjoy the scenery, stop in Raglan, get blazed while you watch the surfers.

Not bad. Anyway, it would give tourists another thing to spend their precious dollars on when they make the voyage over to

the land of the long white cloud. Geddit? Ok. We could stick an excise tax on it too, this has raked in millions with items such as alcohol and tobacco already.

- Washington made the most tax revenue out of any U.S states in 2018, with a haul of $319 million USD. - California was close behind at $300 million, with Colorado close behind at $266 million

Let’s just have a regulated market so people know what they’re buying and don’t end up smoking tea leaves sprayed with fly spray The best bit about this revenue is what it’s used for. According to Forbes, most of the money was used to support jobs in school construction, drug abuse programs and medical research. In Aurora, Colorado, $900,000 was used towards opening a space for individuals experiencing homelessness. A whole new stream of tax revenue can open up new avenues in which to spend it. Why not use it towards sheltering and feeding our homeless? Or using it towards community facilities that are underfunded. Or anything, there is so much good that can be done with the money that could come from it. A report published this year on Newshub showed that it could bring in $490 million each year, but only if it is good enough to wipe out the black market. But why wouldn’t it, wouldn’t you be willing to pay a bit more for something that has zero chance of being synthetic? I sure as hell would. I think it would do well anyway regardless of whether it completely stamps out the black market or not.

The last reason is that I would be glad that I wouldn’t have to go through some dodgy bloke to get it. I don’t smoke it, and I’m sure not all drug dealers are dodgy. But synthetics do get sold in this country, and they do put people in hospital. Let’s just have a regulated market so people know what they’re buying and don’t end up smoking tea leaves sprayed with fly spray. How good would that be?

I think I’ve left you with a few good reasons, and Nexus would probably run a pretty decent industry of the legalized smokey grass. When you go to vote in the Cannabis referendum this year, maybe think about a few of these reasons, but also remember to research the negatives as I’ve only listed the positives in this article.

NEXUS MAGAZINE / ISSUE 9

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Nexus Meets An Economics Professor To Discuss The Budget Josh Umbers

BUDGET

Editor Josh Umbers recently sat down (virtually) with the University of Waikato’s own Associate Professor of Economics Dr. Michael Cameron to have a wee chat about this year’s budget.

Here is how it went.

Nexus: For someone who is reading this and isn’t an economist, what is the budget?

Michael: The Budget is a document where the government outlines what it expects its revenue and spending for the coming financial year. The government typically uses the announcement of the Budget as an opportunity to outline new programmes and policies that have spending implications, which is why you often see the costs reported over a number of years, rather than one.

Nexus: How much is it usually, and how much is it this year?

Michael: The government’s total revenue (from taxes and other sources) is usually in the range of $80-90 billion per year. Of course, most of that revenue is already accounted for in current spending plans, which is why you don’t see $80-90 billion dollars of announced spending in a ‘normal’ budget.

This year, the proposed spending is $110-120 billion per year for the next five years. So, the government is proposing spending about $30 billion more than usual. With no projected increase in revenue, that means several years of deficits (where the government spends more than it is receiving).

Nexus: Where does the government get all of this money from?

Michael: Government revenue is mostly from taxes (income tax; company tax; GST; excise taxes on petrol; withholding tax on interest; etc.), with much smaller amounts from user charges and other sources.

When the government spends more than it earns, it must get the money from borrowing. Just like a household, the government will need to pay that borrowed money back later, with interest (of course, because the government is a low-risk borrower, it pays a much lower interest rate on its borrowing than households do).

Nexus: How can we expect this ‘COVID-19’ fighting fund to be spent?

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Michael: In the Budget, the government announced $62.1 billion of fiscal support related to the COVID-19 crisis. Of that $62.1 billion, $12.1 billion was the Economic Relief Package they announced in March (wage subsidies, etc.). That leaves $50 billion, which they are referring to as the “COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund” (CRRF).

However, to a great extent it depends on whether we see a second wave of infections, how quickly the global economy recovers, whether a trans-Tasman ‘travel bubble’ is introduced and when, and so on. There are many variables that will affect how the economy tracks through the rest of this year and beyond.

Some of the CRRF is already committed, including $10.7 billion to extend the wage subsidy scheme and make some other tax changes. We can probably expect the remaining $39 billion to be spent on targeted responses to the crisis.

Nexus: We have seen that the govt is set to borrow a huge amount, how can this affect us personally?

Nexus: What are some challenges that could be addressed by this year’s budget?

Michael: I know a lot of people were disappointed that this Budget was not able to address some of the big issues like climate change, mental health, or inequality, that many were expecting from the ‘well being’ budget. However, this Budget has importantly, and rightly, focused on returning the economy to normal through a focus on jobs and stability. Getting the economy back on track, while ensuring that we are mindful of the bigger issues, was important.

Nexus: What do you think could be some positives from this year’s budget?

Michael: There is a saying, “Never let a good crisis go to waste”.

The government has taken the opportunity to accelerate spending on infrastructure, housing, and the environment. This is the type of spending that will have long-term benefits to New Zealand.

Nexus: What do you think could be some negatives?

Michael: Just like for households, there is ‘good borrowing’ and ‘bad borrowing’. Good borrowing protects your income and assets, and creates opportunities for the future. This government is borrowing a lot to fund this spending, and it remains to be seen how much of this is ‘good borrowing’.

Nexus: Do you think we still haven’t seen the worst of it (recession) yet?

Michael: The physicist Neils Bohr once said “It is very hard to predict, especially the future”. Treasury is predicting a short and sharp recession of only a few months, followed by a return to growth and eventually the economy returning to its long-run trend by 2024. However, that doesn’t mean that we won’t be experiencing a long period of higher-than-usual unemployment.

Michael: Obviously the borrowing has to be paid back at some point, with interest. That means that taxes will have to be higher in the future than they otherwise would be.

New Zealand is somewhat unusual in that the balance between public debt and private debt was heavily towards private debt. That’s what has given our government the scope to borrow so heavily to deal with recent crises (GFC, Christchurch earthquakes). If New Zealand’s total debt burden (public and private) starts to be seen as problematic by our creditors (or even by the credit rating agencies), we might face higher interest rates in the future.

Nexus: In a time where many workers are being made redundant, what are some ways we can get the economy growing again?

Michael: Fortunately, while the COVID-19 crisis has led to a short and sharp ‘shock’ to the economy, many closed businesses, and lots of workers without employment, these effects are likely to be temporary for most. Many businesses are already starting up again, and demand for goods and services hasn’t gone away in most cases, it was just delayed. On the other hand, for some businesses this crisis was the final straw and those businesses will not return.

To get the economy growing again, it would be good to focus on making it easier for small and medium-sized businesses to start up. Many of the businesses that have shut down were small and fragile, and it takes drive and commitment, and a bit of funding and luck, to set up a successful small business. I’m confident that within the group of newly unemployed people, we have the drive and commitment, and the government could usefully help out with providing or guaranteeing some of the funding necessary to start new businesses.

I extend my thanks to Dr. Michael Cameron for taking the time out of his day to answer questions that have been on peoples’ minds recently. We hope you can take something away from this.

Nexus: Why/why not?

Michael: As I noted above, most businesses are already returning and many workers are back at work already (albeit not in the same way, or at the same intensity, as before the crisis).

So, we may already be through the worst of the recession.

NEXUS MAGAZINE / ISSUE 9

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REO TAUIRA Vision Aotearoa Kyla Campbell-Kamariera

Ki te kāpuia e kore e whati!

With all that’s going on in the world at the moment, especially within te ao Māori, it is really important that we more actively think about and work toward the Aotearoa New Zealand that we want to live in.

Appropriation of Māori culture and motifs, rushed legislation that breaches human rights, racism and major suppression of tikanga are continuous battles that in 2020 we’re still fighting as a result of colonisation, need I remind amidst a global pandemic too… These kaupapa among many others have made their way on every social media platform and is collectivising Māori voices. But we shouldn’t wait for shit to hit the fan to rise up.

We have a history of being active and fighting against injustice.

At the end of the day, its imperialism that plays the constant role in our oppression.

I envisage the day that all Māori are employed in the practices of mana motuhake. That every Māori is in pursuit of Māori sovereignty and self-determination. It is absolutely easier said than done. There is not one same version of Māori sovereignty when we consider how each and every one of us has been conditioned by colonisation.

Te iwi Māori have a history and tradition of resistance in the pursuit of protecting our mana motuhake, our taonga, our futures and our lives! Resistance is liberating! But how long is enough? The digital blame game that has taken place over social media lately has had some of te iwi Māori turn on our own Māori politicians. Ka aroha. The fight is against imperialism.

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Not the individuals who sit in Parliament and are ridiculed 24/7 who then have to go home and parent their tamariki and mokopuna. Who is someone’s son or daughter. Let that sink in…

I think we are at a stage now where we need to recover from tactics of nasty personal ridicule and empower each other like never before! Ki te kāpuia e kore e whati.

Racial power imbalances are inherent in our country when we are supposed to be in partnership, participation and protection together. We know this isn’t happening. But current hegemonic practices of westernisation doesn’t allow any of the aforementioned anymway. This is evidenced by the development of a great number of counter-strategies that are more reflective of, appropriate and applicable to the Māori agenda. In modern day warfare these have been our weapons against the system. Empower each other, Māori mā!

Tā Himi Hēnare once said, “It is preposterous that any Māori aspire to become a poor Pākeha, when their true destiny, prescribed by the Creator, is to become a great Māori”. Māori have the potential to achieve greatness as a people but we need to operate with the collective interests of our people to fulfil that vision. This will provide the foundation to break new ground as Indigenous leaders of the world and of our own nation.

Mātike mai te iwi Māori. Kei a tātou!

SPONSORED BY

RAISED COURSE RELATED COSTS There are many good things in life, being the fourth user of a Netflix account you don’t pay for is definitely one. Another?

Having a baby smile at you instead of crying like it does with everyone else (one of life’s greatest accomplishments). The best thing right now though, is hands down hearing the news that course related costs have been raised by another $1000.

For most students, the number of hours being offered at work are currently fluctuating more than the waistline of a middle aged man attempting to diet, which means many of us are earning significantly less. Additionally, the hours that we do work are probably at a rate less than normal too, ie. we’re only receiving 80% of our regular paycheck. Candidly, it’s nice to be able to pay rent and eat, and an extra $1000 in the pocket definitely paves the way to getting a peaceful nights sleep.

Tertiary life and living paycheck to paycheck kinda go together like New Zelanders and binge drinking…It’s common but doesn’t always set you up for a good week should something go wrong.

Having that extra $1000 on hand when the car you bought for looks and not long term efficiency shits the bed, is an absolute life saver.

Aside from deleting the $1000 from your bank account come Re Oweek (or sooner), there actually are a few other viable options to consider doing with your funds, aside from actually using them for the intended purpose. Do some research and invest it, (to help your future self to prosper or something like that).

You could put it towards some gear, and by that, I mean the type that will help turn your hobbies into a tidy little side hustle.

Decent music equipment, to land you a gig or two and earn some extra $$, or maybe quality pens and paints to sell your creative endeavours. Call it what you want; additional debt, a ‘later’ problem, or a helping hand (out)- but considering we’re currently living in an economy that needs us to spend, it could be argued that taking out our course related costs right now, is a student’s civil duty…

INCREASED COURSE RELATED COSTS – THE DARK SIDE Debt. It’s a funny word with a useless B in the middle and a long, fascinating history that has grown uglier and uglier over time.

It’s one of those nebulous things that doesn’t seem like a big deal until border security stop you at the airport over unpaid parking tickets. It is, like most things in modern life, a fiction.

One that we all agree on despite it being mostly pretty shit to everybody unless you’re a merchant banker. Which, if you are reading this, you are not.

Over the years to come most of you are going to rack up extraordinary levels of debt. This debt is the price of a ticket into modern professional life. It wasn’t always that way. Our parents studied for free then pulled up the ladder after themselves and charged us for a leg up. The rotters. But this tirade isn’t about your shitty parents. It’s about student debt and how much of it you are already in. You will be paying it off for years into your adulthood. All of your paychecks will be garnered until the Government has decided you’ve paid your penance and can now start trying to desperately scrabble together enough savings to go into even more debt buying a house. Which may still never happen because… well, I’ve said enough about your parents.

The point is this. We all know you are never going to spend your course-related costs on anything even remotely course-related.

It’s a windfall that will inevitably (and quite rightly) be blown on something self-indulgent and stupid. You might justify your new laptop as being “essential for school” but your browser history tells a different story. A cool G is enough to drop on such flights of fancy. That, every year over a 3-4 year degree amounts to probably an entire year of your life to pay back. There is no need to make it two for the sake of an electric scooter that will likely end up at the bottom of the Waikato River one night out on the piss. Leave it well enough alone, your future self will thank you.

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Love After Lockdown As I write this, we’ve just wrapped up our first weekend in the sweet new freedom gained in level 2. The general vibe is fantastic. If you’re in a couple, then congratulations, that means you survived iso. So you probably do rather like each other.

The rest of us are also in a bloody great position, strategically speaking. Maybe things blossomed with your love interest in iso, in which case the suspense makes things all the sweeter. Good fucking riddance to blue balls. Or, if you’re unlatched, you’ve reemerged onto the social scene like a newborn from the womb; dripping wet, virginal, and ready to experience the smorgasbord that life has to offer. Seriously, it’s an absolute free for all out there.

Alright. Bleacher Report. Already I’ve witnessed an unprecedented amount of bravery. I’m talking two certain good mates who hooked up, reigniting the embers of a drunken pash that we still give them shit for to this day. I’m talking a certain friend who confessed feelings for another certain friend in the beginnings of a potential love affair that’s only been in the making for just about the entirety of undergrad. I’m talking a certain pal who – god bless – finally hooked up with a certain male she’s had her eye on for a painstakingly long time (you may have noticed, there was a trend). People got with their exes. Hook-ups occurred that people didn’t remember. Simp-y behaviour spread like an STI in College Hall.

As for your columnist? Well, I spent the night hopping a few 10-man flat parties with an attractive lad. One that I definitely should not get with – why is that always the way? – for several very good reasons. Come 3am, some guy I literally have not spoken to since I was maybe 15 flicked me a string of messages and missed calls asking me to come over. That gave me a good laugh. And overall, lads were throwing out sifty shots like confetti. My tits haven’t heard that much praise since I last spoke with random drunk girls in the Outback bathroom (shout out to those good bitches). Forgive me if that sounds

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a little unhumble. If that’s even a word. It was just all so goddamn entertaining. After recalling the absolute spectacles I’ve witnessed this past weekend, I’m feeling a lot of things.

Shock. Surprise. But mostly, joy. Pure, pure fucking joy. Because my goodness, does it feel good to see the return of physical chemistry. The tea is well and truly back on the table.

Our experimental uni years are filled with a lot of exciting things somewhat unique to young adulthood. Hook-up culture. Peak hormone concentrations. Social lubrication and conversational foreplay provided courtesy of casual alcoholism and recreational drug use. I don’t know about you, but iso has reminded me that we need to take these fleeting years by the balls. Sometimes it feels like sex in the digital age is so easy to come by that it gives us a pretty ‘ceebs’ attitude towards making effort in the flesh.

Not always, but sometimes. Fuck that. We’ve had a taste of what it’s like when we physically can’t socialise with each other, and let’s not forget how that felt. Let’s talk to those crushes we’ve got our eye on more in person, and less on apps. Spend more time doing shit with the special people in our life, less time on our phones. More getting to know people in real life, less Instagram stalking.

After a month of witnessing some serious zombie-ing, breadcrumbing, and simpling (basic dating terminology, please look it up) and a general trend of lads becoming much braver in the DMs than they’d ever been in real life, let me advise you: don’t just be brave on Tinder – be brave in person. Offer to buy that chick a drink. Send that crush a pic of you in your butt. Send back a video of you nutting. It comes down to this: 1) take every politically incorrect thing I say with a grain of salt, 2) confidence is sexy, and 3) your arse might never again look as good as it does right now. Hold yourself accordingly.

Let loose, kids. I can’t wait to hear of more terrible decisions in the weeks to come x

AUNTY SLUT Dear Aunty Slut, I like porn. A lot. I think it’s sexy but my girlfriend is really anti it. I’d like to watch it together and maybe have a sexy time, but she’s just not keen. How can I tell her it’s harmless?

Screen Addict Dear Screen Addict, I’m not exactly a porn connoisseur, but I think I can take an educated guess as to why your girl isn’t all that keen on porn.

It might be because on the whole, porn treats chicks like shit.

I know I’m making a generalisation here, but there is a reason why porn made specifically for couples or women is described as ‘female friendly’. It infers that most porn isn’t female friendly, and as a rule, it isn’t.

Most porn is marketed to men, so it makes its money by presenting sex as something done TO women BY men. Kind of a, “have penis will conquer” attitude that quite frankly, turns me right off. I’m not sure your girl wants sex to be something done TO her either- she probably wants it to be something that’s done WITH her. You know- sexy time where two people’s desires are being fulfilled, not just one? Because 90% of the things you see happening to women in porn DON’T FEEL NICE. The cunnilingus is perfunctory and terrible, the ‘jack-hammer’ (while it has its place) isn’t going to get a girl off on its own and there is nothing sexy about getting cum in your eye. Seriously.

In porn, men are often reduced to disembodied cocks so that the average guy watching can project themselves into a scene.

While I’m definitely not okay with the reduction of humans to disembodied genitalia, this sort of ‘point-of-view’ porn looks where the man looks, and as a result, women are often

presented as objects without desires or feelings of their own.

I’m even less okay with that than I am with disembodied cocks.

The women in porn are there to cater to the whim of the man.

They are presented as available to any man watching. It’s icky.

And the message it perpetuates is actually fucking dangerous.

And if the part where she doesn’t have much of a say in what’s going on doesn’t bother her, perhaps it’s the fact that she’s worrying that you expect her to look, sound or act like the girls in the videos you watch. Science yo- men who watch porn rate their partners as less attractive than men who don’t. And women are already busting themselves to live up to unrealistic expectations out and about- why would they want to look at a bunch of make-up covered, perfectly lit, shaved, tanned and surgically altered women leaping about on the end of disembodied cocks? So they can worry about living up to unrealistic expectations in bed?

Porn stars are actors- they do this for a living. They are paid to smile and scream and ‘enjoy’ things, even if they don’t. Porn presents women that are up for anything- and any half arsed internet search brings up some freaky looking shit. I’m pretty kinky, but most porn is so proudly misogynistic that I just can’t go there. I actually sat down once to hunt out something that I liked but the titles were enough to make my flesh crawl- “Rapers of the Lost Arse” (sex without consent = rape. Rape = not funny, fun or nice in any way whatsoever), “Your Quim is My Gym” (reduces women to things to be played with by some guy) and my personal favourite “Horny Slut Gets a Gang Bang and a Cum Filled Arse”. That’s just dripping in love and trust and pleasure for both parties isn’t it?

Screen Idiot - you have a real live woman who, for reasons far, far, far beyond my comprehension, actually wants to have the sex with you. A warm, nice smelling, nice tasting human being. And you want to watch a screen instead? For the love of orgasms turn off the screen and turn on your woman! If you can. Good luck!

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Mullet of the Week - Jacob Nelson Cooper

Jacob: It’s generally like, ‘Oh yeah, nice, quality, quality, quality, quality, quality.’ No um, yes people are pretty stoked about it.

Mum was like, kind of disgusted but other than that 100%.

Nexus: Can you please introduce yourself, who you are, where you’re from?

Nexus: Have you encountered any other people with mullets and how has that gone, if so?

Jacob: Kia ora, my names Jacob. I’m from Wellington and I’m here at the Student Media Awards representing Massive and MAUSA. I love it.

Jacob: Yes, mullets are coming back in. They’re very hot right now. This guy, who does this programme called Political Cuts which is like a pop-up barber place, I did his design work and he had a mullet and he was like I’m gonna hire you, I’m gonna choose you as my designer because you’ve got a mullet and I was like yes - Mullet Community. I love it, yeah.

Nexus: Sure. Which university are you representing?

Jacob: Massey University in Wellington.

Nexus: Cool. Can you walk us through your mullet journey?

Nexus: Amazing, can you describe for us the New Zealand Mullet Community?

Jacob: Okay so I’ve actually gone on quite a hair transformation in the last couple of years - I’ve tried everything. I dyed my hair platinum blonde, I had it really long, and then cut it all the way short, I had like the Eminem look, and then I was oh not a fan of the platinum so just cut it off and then I was like you know what I feel like mullets are the new thing so just mulleted myself a mullet.

Jacob: Well I’m kind of on the outs. I haven’t really got two feet in the door, I’ve got one foot in the door. As you can see my mullet is not a full, long, like you know. I’ve still got a bit at the top here but um yes, I would say very proud, very strong, very niche. But I’m loving it.

Nexus: Where, when and who created this mullet?

Jacob: Yes. I would say chop it off, chop off the sides, and just go for it. It’s just a quality investment all round. Easy to maintain, pop out of bed and bam, mullet. It’s good.

Jacob: In my bathroom, my best friend, just slice if off, an um when - last year, no this year like three months ago. I couldn’t be happier with how its turned out.

Nexus: Amazing. Can you please tell us some of the reactions to your mullet?

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Nexus: Do you have any advice for people considering mullets?

Nexus: How would you describe your mullet Jacob?

Jacob: Party in the back, party in the front. It’s just so good.

FROM THE EDGE OF THE APOCALYPSE #5 THE ALL NEW

OCCUPANCY: 100,000+

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FEEL GOOD NEWS Researchers from the LAMP Lab at the University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering have created a textile coating that both repel liquids like blood and saliva

but also prevents viruses from adhering to the surface.

Brazillian 11-year-old Gui Khury became the first skateboarder to ever land a 1080-degree turn on a vertical ramp. He was able to do it by using his time off from school amidst the pandemic to train.

Pedestrians all over the world are being encouraged to laugh on their walks through their neighbourhoods by doing their best silly walks similar to the Ministry for Silly Walks comedic sketch by Monty Python.

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A team of scientists in Kenya and the UK have discovered a microbe completely protects mosquitoes from Malaria. They

found a protective fungus called ‘Microsporidia MB near the waters of Kenya’s Lake Victoria.

Green Circle Growers of Ohio are honouring America’s healthcare workers by donating $1 million in orchids to frontline caregivers to seven of the hardest-hit markets: Boston, Dallas, Detroit, Los Angeles, New York, Tampa and Cleveland.

The cast of Parks and Recreation came together for a half-hour reunion episode to raise money for the Feeding America’s COVID-19 Relief Fund.

According to NBC, the special has reportedly raised more than $3 million and is still receiving donations.

A new Banksy art piece is now at Southampton General Hospital in England.

The artwork shows a young boy playing with a nurse wearing a cape and face mask and Spiderman and Batman action figures are discarded on the floor.

Diminutive post TOP 10

People To Replace Simon Bridges

10. Mike Hosking - lesh GO

Furniture sales ahead of sesh

There’s been a massive surge in the number of furniture sales around the country this week ahead of what is predicted to be the sesh of all sesh’s. Stores such as K-mart, Big Save and the Warehouse are all lowering prices on these items wherever they can.The consensus on why such low prices were occuring around the country was clear. Nexus spoke with Ray, a long time manager/owner of a Harvey Norman franchise and a keen businessman. “Look these godless uni students want furniture to break when they get rowdy and by god if I’m not the one profiting off it you can bet your ass the Warehouse down the road will be” says Ray. “I had one absolute nonce come in and ask for 2 ottomahns, a recliner, a TV and an outdoor table. I don’t think they’ll live to see the morning light if I’m honest”. With record profits to be made, competition among stores is high.

K-mart has placed a buy one get a free sledgehammer deal with it’s ceramic pots. There is going to be some serious pain brought to these random objects.

9.

Mark Richardson - he would hit Labour for six

8.

Sir Peter Jackson - LOTR will then be taught in schools

7.

Richie Mccaw - quite literally fit for the job

6.

Sir John Key - just want John back :’(

5.

Christopher Luxon - former Air NZ CEO, pretty good man for the job I say

4.

Judith Collins - mmm Crusher Collins, she’d be good for it

3.

Paula Bennett - yep, she’s as sharp as a stick

2.

Neil fucking Wagner - imagine him just bowling bouncers at Cindy all day

1.

SBW - The man will probably do anything now that he’s washed up

WHATS HOT Student excited to be “back on the horse again”

Local third year commerce student Sam recently spoke to Nexus about being allowed to piss up with the boys again. He said he was stoked to have his one personality trait back after the Government swiped it away from him. “Fuck I’m kinda sad about not getting to do noms anymore aye, did them like 3 times a week in my parents garage aye hahah fuck it was so loose. Nah my parents only scolded me once for it aye they’re goodcunts”.

Nexus didn’t know what to think of this, suggesting that Sam might have a drinking problem. To which he replied “haha do you know Blair? Blair Shco!! Hahah see you boys at Greensboro tonight, be there or be square aha big sesh”. Nexus did not attend this pissup.

WHATS NOT

The polar ice caps

The 11th person at a piss-up

Supreme Leader Ardern

My ageing flat in winter

Dental hygiene

Stinky Simon Bridges

Friends

Rent

Wanking

Turning 22

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The sesh. We’ve done it. Aunty Cindy has finally let the boys and I get fucking twisted again and I am so, so thankful for that. Seeing the boys again was one thing, but to get absolutely lazered and all round weird on top of that? Fuck yeah, it’s been an absolute treat. However, I did not miss the dusty Sundays where my flatmates and myself just sit around in the lounge all depressed, not conversing with each other until we go to bed early because we’re so wrecked.

Part of my routine is coming back, and I’m fucking stoked to say the least. Cheers boys and girls.

RED CARD IDEA Lets get blasphemous

Alrighty, let’s get blasphemous.

This week’s red card involves early day drinking and assigned challenges. What’s not to love?

We start the day by randomly assigning each attendee a god.

That is their god for the day.

What gods you choose are up to you. Each god entails a different challenge to be done while drinking. For this example I’ll use 5 people, 5 different gods. Jesus, Dionysus - god of wine, Artemis - god of the hunt, Poseidon - god of the sea and Aphrodite - god of love. As Jesus your job is to pass out, resurrect yourself and make town. Dionysus must drink red wine for the entirety of the day with a minimum of two bottles.

Artemis must try and catch a wild animal while they’re steamed by the end of the day. Poseidon must identify and jump into a duck pond. And finally, Aphrodite must attempt to fuck a fresher.

With so many cultures around the world your god’s are essentially limitless, get creative with your challenges and have fun. Failure to complete your challenge makes you Vulcan, the god of fire, and you must attempt to one-drag a durry until you spew.

BRIEFING DRINK OF THE WEEK

Woody’s

Woodstock - Bourbon and Cola. If four wheel driving, taking home a 3/10 and climate denial was canned, this would be the result.

Woodstock seemed to just appear out of nowhere for me, like I’m fucking bewildered as to how this drink made a name for itself.

The taste itself isn’t special, there’s no cult following similar to the likes of your Billy Mavs and it’s just a little bit too bogan. And yet, I find myself drawn to it on occasion, tempted by the unique night of carnage that’ll follow. It’s not the most amazing bourbon and cola out there, nor the most recognizable, but it’s always there for you, ready and waiting when you need it…...kind of like Ben Smith. Anyways it’s an old brew with a normal taste and a fucking high work rate. Woodstock is your week’s drink of choice.

SESH WARS EPISODE 9: Shit.

The 2020 Waikato O’Week bender was a crook one I’ll tell you that. 5 straight days of getting into absolute states and disrespecting our bodies. I’m pretty sure I lost a few kgs throughout that week because our diet consisted entirely of piss and two minute noodles. I can tell you right now, those two things run an absolute number on your downstairs department as I unfortunately found out the hard way. This happened on probably day 3 of 5, and bear in mind, myself and a mate spent this time down from Auckland staying in some friends’ flat in Hamilton. It was an early start that day, we’d gone down to the piss store at around 11 am or so, and it was straight into it when we got back, despite us all being extremely dusty from last night.

It was probably a very bad idea for me to start sinking as early as I did, but fuck it, o week isn’t for playing silly buggers. Seeing as I’d barely eaten in the last few days, I decided to make some noodles.

So I’m in the kitchen right, piss in one hand, filling the kettle with the other, and that’s when it happens. It just slips out. And when I say slips, I mean it, because this shit was straight liquid. I fully stopped for a minute in disbelief wondering how I’ve managed to pull this one off. At this stage the boys are all in the lounge so I haven’t been exposed yet, so I stood there for a few minutes, shit in pants, contemplating if I try and sneak off to clean up, or if I tell them. I went for the safe option, and boosted to the bathroom with some fresh undies to inspect the damage, and there was damage, believe me. After rinsing off the undies and chucking them under the hosts bed, I delivered the news to the boys.

Looking back on it, I’m bloody proud of it. You’ve never truly been on a bender unless you’ve shit yourself in the process.

NEXUS CREATIVE SPACE

Fault Lines - Renee Boyer

We’ve been walking along this road for hours. You’ve stopped complaining, finally, your throat too parched to force sound out. Small mercies.

It’s my fault. I knew you weren’t outdoorsy from our first date. Movie and dinner, your choice. I don’t wear makeup, but I made an effort for you.

On our fifth dinner date, fuelled by one too many glasses of pinot, I suggested a weekend hike. Offered to loan you the gear (my ex’s, but you didn’t need to know).

An easy track, nice hut. You agreed, reluctantly.

My feet are blistering and yours must be agony. You’ve already snapped a shoelace and had to replace it with the ribbon from your ponytail. I’m too scared to look back, but your heavy footsteps and breathing reassure me that you’re following.

It *is* my fault, but I’ve hiked this track so many times I never thought to check for updates online. How was I to know the hut burned down? Or that bushfires had obliterated most of the track markers?

I thought the bivouac I dragged together was pretty good. It wasn’t the clean, dry hut I’d promised, but there could have been romance in pressing ourselves together for warmth on the damp ground. You just turned your back, muttering about your gym gear getting stained with leaf pigment. I don’t know why you thought Lulu Lemon or whatever was good for hiking.

And I got us out of the bush unscathed. We had to cross the river more times than I anticipated, but we dried out on the bank after that last crossing. You seemed to enjoy building that little stone stack, like some kind of river god icon. And you’ll have amazing photos to post on Instagram when we get back into wifi range. I’m sure your phone will work once it dries out.

Sweat is dripping into my eyes, and I push my fringe back, again. I realise the rumbling I can hear isn’t my stomach, and turn to see the outline of a vehicle approaching from behind. I stop, and you turn to look. I point, mute with exhaustion.

The driver is a woman, short and muscled. You pull yourself into the cab with more energy than I’ve seen in two days, and scoot over next to her. I stay silent as you explain our predicament. The driver listens and nods. She hands you a battered Tupperware bottle and what looks like a stained apron, and you splash your face and pat it dry as enthusiastically as if it’s Evian and a spa towel.

When we arrive at the car park, I swing out of the truck with my pack. You don’t.

I wave as the truck pulls back onto the road, but you aren’t looking. I load my backpack into the car, turn up the volume on the music you hated, and head for home.

Alone.

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Keen for some free BurgerFuel? Simply snap us the shitfest of your student lifestyle for the chance to win. Vouchers will be stored for the winners until we are allowed back outside.

WINNER

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AQUARIUS JAN 20 - FEB 18

LEO JUL 23 - AUG 22

The return to normality can be weird and difficult. If you go in with those low expectations you may be presently surprised.

Like that time you got socks for Christmas only to put them on in tears and find out they’re actually really comfortable.

Your glorious moment has arrived. But you don’t need this to tell you that. You probably won’t even read this because why would you? You’re allowed outside again! Dance like nobody’s watching, drink in the admiration of random strangers like you deserve it.

PISCES FEB 19 - MAR 20

VIRGO AUG 23 - SEP 22

Your desire to drift off into dream time is going to conflict sharply with your due dates.

Focus on things in the order of the shitstorm they will cause if you don’t do them on time.

That 1% quiz can wait when your house is on fire.

A stitch in time saves nine is folk wisdom from a time when people still mended the holes in their clothing. It means getting something sorted early will save you a lot of hassle in the long run. Apply this to your uni assignments.

Or an STD check.

ARIES MAR 21 - APR 19

LIBRA SEP 23 - OCT 22

Just because the bars open this week doesn’t mean you have to behave like an animal.

There will be plenty more to drink for the rest of your life until you wind up living under a bridge filtering meths through a piece of white bread. Pace yourself.

The time of vacillation is upon you. Don’t do anything without carefully weighing the options. After this results in not achieving anything this week, resolve instead to carry a coin and flip it to make all your important life decisions.

TAURUS APR 20 - MAY 20

SCORPIO OCT 23 - NOV 21

Your stubbornness will pay off this week and people will stop calling it stubbornness.

Instead it will be referred to as your winning perseverance, grit, stick-to-itiveness. This only happens when you win though, the rest of the time it’s just you being stubborn.

That fire you started in a trash can when you were a kid achieved exactly the same amount of good as that fire you started in your closest relationship. This is your mess to do with as you please. Fix it or pour gas on it. Either is fun for spectators.

GEMINI MAY 21 - JUN 20

SAGITTARIUS NOV 22 - DEC 21

A conscience can be a bastard of a thing and after picking on Geminis too much lately the stars decided they had to be nicer to you. So they googled “nice things about Geminis”. Go you clever, independent, rebellious thing you.

A wise man once said “Never miss an opportunity to keep your mouth shut.”

That’s good advice in general but especially important for you right now. It will lend you an air of mystery which you might otherwise dispel with your present inanity.

CANCER JUN 21 - JUL 22

CAPRICORN DEC 22 - JAN 19

Two steps forward, one step back. You’ll still get where you’re going and as an added bonus, you’ll get there half as fast. Walk on the sunny side of the street this week and ignore people who try to tell you to walk on the sunny side of life. They’re hiding something.

Relax. You’ve set the wheels in motion, now all you can do is sit back and wait to see what happens. Sometimes doing nothing is the best possible thing you can do. As hard as it might seem, it’s not as hard as the inevitable silence after your third unanswered text message.

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WAIKAT BUNKERS

PapakÄ inga Far from Cambridge proudest dwellings of the year stands a home fit for this editor. Leaky spoutings, rusted rooftop and a section the size of a half a cul de sac stands a home similar to her characteristic - rough on the outside but full of heart on the inside.

If you want to show us pictures of how your quarantined then send eight pics to editor@ nexusmag.co.nz and we will reward you with pizza from Sals when all this is over!

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R + hu

O VE

y ngr

This week Nexus delves into the dishes of people who think they’re fucking heroes for saving the world. We get it, you’re a vegan. However, these recipes will bring you back to your organic roots and put you on track for a healthy lifestyle. And no, they’re not boiled grass, grow up.

HUNG

Falafel Burgers Ingredients: 400g can chickpea, rinsed and drained 1 small red onion, roughly chopped 1 garlic clove, chopped 1 tsp ground cumin 1 tsp ground coriander 1⁄2 tsp harissa paste or chilli powder 2 tbsp plain flour 2 tbsp sunflower oil toasted pitta bread, to serve 200g tub tomato salsa, to serve green salad, to serve

Method: Drain a 400g can chickpeas and pat dry with kitchen paper.

Blend along with 1 small roughly chopped red onion, 1 garlic clove, 1 tsp ground cumin, 1 tsp ground coriander, ½ tsp harissa paste or chili powder, 2 tbsp plain flour and a little salt.

Blend until fairly smooth, then shape into four patties with your hands.

Heat 2 tbsp sunflower oil in a non-stick frying pan, add the burgers, then quickly fry for 3 mins on each side until lightly golden.

Serve with toasted pitta bread, 200g tub tomato salsa and a green salad.

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Kidney Bean Curry Ingredients: 1 tbsp vegetable oil 1 onion, finely chopped 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped thumb-sized piece of ginger, peeled and finely chopped

Kumara + Rosemary Soup

1 small pack coriander, stalks finely chopped, leaves roughly

Ingredients:

400g can kidney beans, in water

2 tsp olive oil, plus extra for brushing

cooked basmati rice, to serve

shredded 1 tsp ground cumin 1 tsp ground paprika 2 tsp garam masala 400g can chopped tomatoes

1 onion, chopped 3 garlic cloves 750g sweet potato, peeled and cubed 1l vegetable stock 2 rosemary sprigs 8 slices bread (ciabatta is good)

Method: Heat the oil in a large saucepan, then fry the onion until soft. Crush 2 garlic cloves, add to the onion, then fry for 1 min more. Stir in the sweet potato, then cover with the stock and bring to the boil. Strip the leaves from one of the rosemary sprigs, then add to the pan. Simmer for 10 mins until the potato is soft.

Method: Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a low-medium heat. Add onion and a pinch of salt and cook slowly, stirring occasionally, until softened and just starting to colour. Add garlic, ginger and coriander stalks and cook for a further 2 mins, until fragrant.

Add the spices to the pan and cook for another 1 min, by which point everything should smell aromatic. Tip in the chopped tomatoes and kidney beans in their water, then bring to the boil.

Turn down the heat and simmer for 15 mins until the curry is nice and thick. Season to taste, then serve with basmati rice and the coriander leaves.

Meanwhile, heat oven to 180C. Place the bread on a baking sheet, then brush with olive oil. Slice the remaining garlic clove in half, then rub the cut side over the bread along with the leaves from the second rosemary sprig. Season, then bake for 10 mins until crisp and golden.

Use a hand blender to roughly purĂŠe the soup, adding a splash of hot water if it seems too thick. Season well, then pour into warmed bowls and serve with the toasts.

NEXUS MAGAZINE / ISSUE 9

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NEXUS MAGAZINE / ISSUE 9

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