Joseph Nunweek

Contributing writer

Joe Nunweek works in community law in Melbourne and is the co-founder of Auckland arts and culture website The Pantograph Punch.

Society
Nov 20, 2020

Mystic paranoia: How conspiracy theories infiltrated the NZ new age community

Belief we tend to associate with the fringes of US society have torn a swathe through Aotearoa’s traditionally easy-going if occasionally oddball community of hippies, yoga teachers, and spiritual festival-goers.

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Politics
Oct 25, 2020

Expecting less – or more – of Labour's new voters

The idea that Labour won thanks to strategic lifelong National voters making the ultimate electoral sacrifice is absurd.

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Society
Jul 9, 2020

Back to day one: A letter from Melbourne as lockdown begins, again

As the city returns to lockdown for another six weeks, Melbourne-based New Zealander Joseph Nunweek explains how things got so bad.

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Politics
Jan 16, 2020

The buzzy Australian campaign calling on the Queen to fire Scott Morrison

Efforts urging the monarch to dismiss the Australian PM over his handling of the bushfire crisis provide a revealing and worrying snapshot of what good intent looks like in 2020.

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Politics
Jul 23, 2019

Jacinda Ardern and bringing the people

In Melbourne last week the New Zealand prime minister addressed a crowd of Australian residents desperate for a little ordinary humanity in a politician.

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Politics
Apr 23, 2019

How Winz debt collection arms the ‘war on the poor’

The number of 'attachment orders' on benefits has grown dramatically in recent years, locking some of the poorest New Zealanders into ever deeper cycles of debt.

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Society
Dec 3, 2018

Which Air New Zealand safety videos are the best (and worst) of all time?

Infrequent flyer Joseph Nunweek gruellingly attempts to rank them all.

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Media
Jun 12, 2018

Big Sister is watching you: Just another day under Jacinda’s Orwellian eye

Welcome to Oceania, where the Party's state-mandated groupthink and doublespeak has the populace cowering in fear. Thoughtcriminal Joseph Nunweek smuggled out this dispatch.

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Society
Jun 6, 2018

If only Housing NZ’s contemptible tactics stopped at the meth-test debacle

If a review of our public housing agency is to be taken seriously, it will need to look beyond just the immediate scandal and seek to understand how its priorities mutated into those of a callous busybody

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Society
May 23, 2018

How at-risk young Kiwis in Australia are failed by Canberra and by Wellington

Teenage NZers without a home in Australia are being left in limbo, ineligible for a living allowance.

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Society
Feb 28, 2018

Speculators hate him! One weird trick to end rental bidding wars

Last month we reported landlords in Wellington were actively encouraging rental bidding wars. Here a tenancy lawyer outlines a simple legislative change that would make the concept obsolete.

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Media
Nov 19, 2017

That time I starred in a ‘stranger danger’ internet safety ad

'You’ve seen what’s on his screen – imagine what’s on his mind' warned the voiceover in a 1999 PSA about online paedophiles. The ad's star Joseph Nunweek remembers its filming, and reflects on how our perception of internet safety has changed in the years since.

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Society
Oct 11, 2017

Victoria is planning to revolutionise rights for renters. Why isn’t NZ doing the same?

The State of Victoria has just announced a raft of reforms aimed at strengthening the rights of tenants. NZ-born, Melbourne-based tenancy lawyer Joe Nunweek reviews the changes – and the chances of New Zealand following suit.

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Media
Oct 8, 2017

Duncan Garner went to buy undies at K-Mart and came back in agony for NZ’s soul

Yesterday AM Show host Duncan Garner’s latest column for stuff started in the queue at K-Mart and ended asking about your grandchildren. Joe Nunweek dissects this strange creation.

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Television
Jan 9, 2016

Summer Reissue: Breaking Bad is Still a Great Show. Shame About the Fans.

Of course Breaking Bad continues to be one of the most acclaimed shows of the century, even now with its own prequel in 2015. But what about the fans? Joseph Nunweek reckons that they are the real danger.

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Television
Jul 13, 2015

Feature: The Cinematic Sinking of the Rainbow Warrior – Comedy Frenchies and Porno David Lange

Thirty years after the sinking of Greenpeace's Rainbow Warrior, Joseph Nunweek sits down with a bizarre 1993 made-for-TV film about the momentous historical event.

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Television
Jun 2, 2015

Telling Our Stories: Is ‘Road Cops’ the New Campbell Live?

It’s local content, it starts with a well-presented white guy driving around in a fast car. Joe Nunweek asks – did we get the 7pm show we deserved?

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Television
Apr 16, 2015

Throwback Thursday: Remembering the 7pm Slot of Heroes

With TV3’s drive to find a new 7pm weeknight rating-killer, Joe Nunweek looks back at their mid-90s effort, a venture so amazing and bold that it was discussed in Parliament. If …

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Television
Feb 5, 2015

Bad Week: Great Show. Shame About the Fans.

Breaking Bad is one of the most acclaimed television shows of the century – of course you love it. But Joseph Nunweek strongly recommends you avoid interacting with your fellow fans. // Our hero …

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Television
Jan 1, 2015

Summer Reading: How an Australian Simpsons-based Pub Quiz Shows TV Fandom at its Best and Blurst

An industrial-sized three-night pub quiz full of fans of a cult TV show that’s not even that good any more. Sounds like hell, right? But as Joe Nunweek finds, The …

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Television
Dec 5, 2014

Who Will Fix Australian Race Relations? Reality TV Will!

Joe Nunweek moved to Australia recently, and found their reality television focused on national self-improvement. This is as insane as it sounds – but it's working./ For better or worse, New Zealand’s …

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