TOP Leader Raf Manji: On Despondency, Political Potential, and Progressivism

Posted 10:44am Sunday 1st October 2023 by Annabelle Parata Vaughan

The Opportunities Party Leader Raf Maji is sort of like that international student who showed up in your Geology class one afternoon: you aren’t too sure who he is or where he came from, but he seems pretty cool and is giving all the other popular kids a run for their money. While TOP has yet Read more...

Local Candidates Debate: A Summary

Posted 10:48am Sunday 1st October 2023 by Hugh Askerud

With all major parties (bar ACT, surprisingly enough) wanting a slice of the student voting pie, OUSA in conjunction with POLSA hosted a high-octane debate in the union hall at 1pm last Wednesday. The result was largely underwhelming, as candidates showed the utmost respect for one another in Read more...

Winston Peters: In His Reputation Era

Posted 12:24pm Monday 18th September 2023 by Fox Meyer

Winston Peters is the stuff of legend in the New Zealand Government. He’s the only diplomat that’s ever been invited to North Korea. He’s also the longest-serving MP, entering Parliament in 1979 - before the rise of neoliberalism or the inception of the internet - during a time of Read more...

Chlöe Swarbrick: On Harm Reduction, Landlords, and (still) being the Youngest in Parliament

Posted 4:34pm Monday 24th July 2023 by Annabelle Parata Vaughan

Whether you love her or hate her, over the past few years, it’s been hard to ignore Chlöe Swarbrick. The 29-year-old Green Party Member and Auckland Central MP was elected to office at 23, making her the youngest politician to enter parliament since Marilyn Waring in 1975. In 2023 Read more...

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins: On the Tertiary Sector, Student Life, and Protesting

Posted 9:44pm Tuesday 18th July 2023 by Annabelle Parata Vaughan

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins represents one thing: hope. At least, hope for rangas and hope for people from The Hutt that, despite the circumstances they were born into, they too can achieve their dreams. While he now has the biggest job in the country, it wasn’t long ago that Chippy was just Read more...

Georgina

Posted 3:26pm Sunday 26th March 2023 by Elliot Weir

[Content warning: Brief discussion of sexual assault and suicidal thoughts.] Georgina Beyer was the world’s first openly trans mayor, among many, many other things. She died earlier this month, but will hold forever an important place in New Zealand (and world) history. Georgina grew up Read more...

Former Green Party Co-leader Joins Law Faculty

Posted 2:15pm Sunday 19th March 2023 by Nina Brown

Former Green Party Co-leader Metiria Turei has joined the Otago Uni Faculty of Law as a Senior Lecturer. This semester, she is taking the third-year compulsory law paper LAWS302: Jurisprudence. Critic Te Ārohi spoke to students to see what they thought about the Uni’s newest Read more...

These “Freedom of Speech” Protests Remind me a lot of Woodstock ’99

Posted 6:26pm Friday 2nd September 2022 by Fox Meyer

It was 1999: the leather was low-cut, the tensions were high, and the dreadlocks were very, very white. The original Woodstock co-founder decided to throw another event to promote “peace and love”, which ended in a fiery riot. The first red flag was that he decided to host the hippie Read more...

Students Make a Stand for Reproductive Rights

Posted 2:50pm Monday 25th July 2022 by Zak Rudin

Last Saturday, almost 200 Otago Uni students organised a peaceful sit-in at the lower Octagon to protest the overturning of Roe v Wade. The hour-long protest included speeches, music and (of course) TikToks. On June 25, the United States Supreme Court announced the overturning of Roe v Wade, a Read more...

Editorial: Chlöe Swarbrick Knows Muay Thai

Posted 2:21pm Sunday 17th July 2022 by Fox Meyer

Last week, experienced Muay Thai champion and Green MP Chlöe Swarbrick defended her title against the underqualified and inexperienced challenger Fox Meyer, editor of Critic Te Arohi, in what viewers described as a “one-sided beatdown for the ages”. “I didn’t know Read more...