Simon Wilson
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Articles by Simon Wilson
Why hasn’t health minister Simeon Brown been sacked?
Health minister Simeon Brown presides over a health system riddled with scary bad indicators of failure. Among the things we’ve recently learned: A seriously ill woman īn a rural South Island town was denied access to Dunedin Hospital by three different departments, who were too stretched to admit her, and later died of complications arising from her not receiving timely care.
Hopetown by Simon Wilson
Enrolled yet? And everyone you know and all their 18+ kids and all their friends? The deadline is this Sunday October 25 at midnight and anyone at all can do it right here. Last Friday I gave a talk at a Going West event in Titirangi, celebrating 30 years of west Auckland’s fabulous literary festival and its many related activities.
Politicians and gangs, Tāmaki kids, pay equity and Chlöe v Q
Bumpa Mahauraki and Lani Clark with Robert Muldoon’s widow Thea in 1992. Te Pāti Māori and Green MPs are not the first politicians to visit gangs. Some of us remember Rob Muldoon. I’ve spent a little bit of time with Denis O’Reilly recently. He’s an activist, community worker and life member of Black Power who runs a large marae trust in Hawke’s Bay where he does a lot of work on drug programmes.
Can Britain's offshore tax havens survive?
What are tax havens? Tax havens are small, well-governed, offshore financial centres that offer low or zero taxes, combined with secrecy – or at least strict privacy – regarding client and ownership information. Many of them are islands connected in some way with Britain to exploit the country's legal frameworks, stability and access to the City of London, but with the convenience and flexibility of separate fiscal regimes.
Why aren’t we talking about child poverty?
Child poverty was a hot topic in the last three elections. But it’s slipped off the agenda, even though it’s got worse. What’s going on? Here’s an AI test. Artificial intelligence could identify every benefit and service each one of us is entitled to. It could also ensure we are helped to claim those benefits and services, and that government officials do not obstruct the process. Further, it could identify kinks and problems, and devise ways to overcome them.
They’re losing their shit over Chloe Swarbrick
The Prefu’s defective, Opp’s got bottom lines and Luxon’s got “balls”, but Chloe doesn’t know finance? Greens co-leader Chloe Swarbrick with Auckland Business Chamber’s Simon Bridges, talking finance stuff at a chamber event. Honestly, all the people losing their shit about Chloe Swarbrick becoming minister of finance. Why so surprised? She’s been saying for years she fancies doing that one day.
Dirty work and the disinfecting sunshine it deserves
Nicky Hager speaking at his book launch. The central allegation of Nicky Hager’s new book Dirty Work is that the Taxpayers’ Union (TU), at the instigation of its executive director Jordan Williams, deliberately created a campaign of racial hatred against Māori, as a way to ensure the National Party won the 2023 election. Hager reveals that the TU turned a relatively obscure argument in 2021 about how water utilities are managed into a major social conflict.
Why aren’t our politicians worried about AI?
Here’s the thing about “artificial intelligence”. AI. It’s easy to see how computers powerful enough to harness the knowledge of the entire world and improve themselves could bring great advances to humanity. Medicine, for example, will get new drugs, new treatment methods, new diagnostic abilities, better reach into hard-to-treat populations, better preventative capacity, better teaching and learning, surgical precision beyond the scope of humans. We could really do with all that.
Cheering the CRL: “People are living like this all round the world”
Success has many mothers and fathers: Simeon Brown, Auckland Transport CEO Stacey Van Der Putten (obscured, in mauve), Nicola Willis, Chris Bishop, Christopher Luxon, Carmel Sepuloni (behind the ribbon), Wayne Brown, Desley Simpson, Chloe Swarbrick. Guess who this is: The City Rail Link will mean fewer cars on the roads, more productivity, more time for people to spend with their families. It is so much more than a public transport project and will have economic benefits for decades to come.
We’ll always have Paris, or will we?
Christopher Luxon, fresh from attempting to persuade King Charles he’s a climate activist. How good to hear the prime minister this week declaring he would not bow to Act and NZ First’s desire to pull New Zealand out of the Paris Accord on climate. Signed, as he surely remembered, by a National-led government in 2016. But wait. Why did he say that? Is this a real commitment or a performative display?
Who We Become: The Moonshot Tape by Lanford Wilson
Who We Become: The Moonshot Tape by Lanford Wilson Deep Flight Productions Genre: One Person Show, Theatre, Theatrical Storytelling Venue: Haldane Theatre at theSpace @ Surgeons' Hall Festival: Edinburgh Fringe Award-winning, five-star production of a play by a Pulitzer Prize winner. In this compelling monologue, Diane, a successful writer, returns to her Missouri hometown to help her ageing mother.
Hopetown by Simon Wilson
National’s lead ideologue, Simeon Brown. Simeonism. It’s got into almost everything: health, transport, housing, resource management, urban renewal, energy, education, climate change, governance. It’s obviously there in the decision not to proceed with a visitor bed levy: a decision whose consequences reach far beyond tourism and hospitality. It’s especially there in National’s election mantra “no new taxes”. It’s a war, being waged against Auckland.
Famous Last Words
Famous Last Words Montseratt Productions Genre: New Writing, Short Plays, Theatre Venue: Space 3 at theSpace on the Mile Festival: Edinburgh Fringe Two failing writers recalling a drunken night remember a stroke of fortune which motivates them to finish their play.
Bi-Curious George: Snail Trail
Bi-Curious George: Snail Trail Bi-Curious George Genre: LGBTQ+ Theatre, Physical Comedy, Queer Theatre Venue: Below at Pleasance Courtyard Festival: Edinburgh Fringe Meet George. He has a soft belly and a tendency to hide in his shell when he’s overwhelmed. Lots of you think he’s a pest. You think he’s disgusting and that he ruins your garden. But we could all learn a thing or two from George.
The Horse That Jumped at the moon
The Horse That Jumped at the moon Bonnet and Belt Theatre Company Genre: Storytelling, Theatre Venue: Space 1 at theSpace on the Mile Festival: Edinburgh Fringe The Horse That Jumped at the Moon (formerly Boat Horse) is an exciting and funny musical romp through the days of the horse drawn boats on the English canals. John and Molly Swift (played by real canal boat people) tell the story of Tommy, the horse that hated the moon, and other tales, through original music, poetry and puppetry.
Japanese Grandma Funeral
Japanese Grandma Funeral Kento Morita Genre: Clown, Storytelling, Theatrical Clown Venue: Playground 1 at ZOO Playground Festival: Edinburgh Fringe Kento the clown missed his grandmother’s funeral in Japan due to Covid restrictions. He’s trying to recreate the traditional rites, but it keeps going wrong. Can the audience help him achieve closure in this gentle, heartwarming comedy?
Fear and Misery of the Third Reich
Join us for a one-of-a-kind adaptation of Bertolt Brecht’s Fear and Misery of the Third Reich in a re-imagined setting. Across seven playlets, this 45-minute performance will immerse viewers in themes of betrayal, violence, bureaucracy and dictatorship. Ordinary people struggle and fight against extraordinary pressures, creating an urgent and thought-provoking theatrical experience.
Bloody Mary’s
Bloody Mary’s Fat Pooch Productions Genre: Theatre, Theatrical Storytelling Venue: Venue 45 at theSpace @ Venue 45 Festival: Edinburgh Fringe Set in 1823, an Edinburgh riddled with greed and decay, Mary McKinnon is the queen of the night. Her brothel, Bloody Mary’s, is successful, her reputation untouched… Until one night of violence changes it all.
The Landlady
The Landlady Brooke Flint Genre: Comedy, Stand-Up, Storytelling Venue: Olive Studio at Greenside @ George Street Festival: Edinburgh Fringe A fish out of water finally gets her legs, only to discover the patriarchy is alive and well on dry land and… her sister is dead. Making her Edinburgh Fringe debut, Brooke uses insightful observational comedy and clever act-outs to explore faith, addiction, grief and the absurd. An ex-Mormon desperately seeking signs, meaning and a punchline. Funny. Heartfelt.
Our Seventh String
Our Seventh String Paperfolk Theatre Genre: Musical Stories, Musical Theatre, Theatre Venue: Venue 45 at theSpace @ Venue 45 Festival: Edinburgh Fringe After seven years, a Melbourne share house welcomes the unexpected return of old friends, flames and foes, reuniting for one final song. As past and present collide, buried tensions resurface and the ties that once bound them begin to unravel.
Book Club
Grab your wine, nibbles and notebooks and get ready to join Linda and her fellow “book clubbers” as they attempt to dissect the classics. This award-winning comedy explores the idiosyncrasies of a mismatched group brought together (through Linda’s heavy persuasion) by their love, or mild interest, in books. As they journey through the novels, free-flowing wine and endless crisps, one question remains: can this motley group of strangers actually become friends? And what exactly is a cheese puff?
Atomic Tales
Atomic Tales Elena Arvigo / Rhymes with Purple Genre: Solo Performance, Theatre, Theatrical Storytelling Venue: Playground 1 at ZOO Playground Festival: Edinburgh Fringe A hymn to life in the darkest moments – 26 April 1986: Chernobyl nuclear power plant explodes in Ukraine. This intimate performance explores the deeply human side of the tragedy – not a reconstruction of events, but of emotions through the memories of Lyudmila, the wife of a firefighter.
A Costume Drama
A Costume Drama Play the Field Productions Genre: character comedy, Comedic, Theatre Venue: Playground 3 at ZOO Playground Festival: Edinburgh Fringe With the 2026 Mascot Grand National rapidly approaching and her shell-suit sporting dad indisposed, reluctant Ella must fill Eddie The Egg’s incredibly big boots in this heartwarming, hilarious story about one extraordinary race for glory.
Opportunities lost: Learnings from a big political week
Chris Luxon and Erica Stanford: besties again? There’s a bunch of people in Auckland right now obsessed with the idea that the old boss has to go. The most ambitious among them have even been sneaking around doing dirty deeds. But in the way of these things, the plotters have lost their nerve, or gone mad, or both, and in the end everything falls apart. The malcontents lose “big time”, as rugby sage Justin Marshall likes to say.
The Last Five Years
The Last Five Years is an intimate musical about a five year relationship, told through a unique structure where his story moves forward and hers moves backward, only meeting once in the middle at their wedding. Anna Schneider and Ben Templeton bring chemistry and evocative vocals to Jason Robert Brown’s emotionally powerful and lyrically impacting score. It takes us to all of the places where love, desire and longing touches each of us.
Life of Pie
Life of Pie 31DaysofPizza.com Genre: Theatre, Theatrical Storytelling Venue: The Annexe at Paradise in The Vault Festival: Edinburgh Fringe Through live music, storytelling, and extra cheese, pizza blogger Sean Taylor shares his quest for home – one slice at a time. Raised in a nomadic Mormon military family, Sean found stability in one unexpected constant: pizza.
BURN
Condemned in history as a brutal queen unfit to rule, ‘Bloody’ Queen Mary converses both with her own historical legacy and the archbishop she has condemned to burn at the stake in this defiant, feminist play. Mary, a queen vilified in history, a delusional madwoman. Cranmer, a historical martyr. History tells us so. But what of the woman behind the bloody reputation? What of the man behind the martyr?
The Naked Truth
The Naked Truth Lynne Jones as Unconditional Possible Girl Genre: LGBTQ+, Spoken Word, Theatrical Storytelling Venue: Snug at Paradise in Augustines Festival: Edinburgh Fringe The Naked Truth is a 30-minute spoken-word show that takes audiences on a fast, funny and emotionally charged journey into the things we usually keep to ourselves. Playful, provocative and uncomfortably relatable, it moves quickly between laughter, recognition and the occasional: did she really say that?
Keeping Secrets
Keeping Secrets Balancing Act Theatre and Jim Vetter Productions Genre: Theatre, Theatrical Storytelling Venue: Stephenson Theatre at theSpace @ Surgeons' Hall Festival: Edinburgh Fringe Engaging, moving and hopeful, this one-person show examines links between what magicians do and what child sexual abusers do – and how secrets can be powerful in positive and destructive ways.
Queen of The Empire
Queen of The Empire Sasha Snowdon Genre: Theatre, Theatrical Storytelling Venue: Stephenson Theatre at theSpace @ Surgeons' Hall Festival: Edinburgh Fringe Drinking, dancing and debauchery – just another night at The Middlesbrough Empire! And Lizzie, Boro’s resident party girl, loves nothing more than a wild night out. But behind the dresses, drunks and drama, her family fractures under the weight of a devastating illness. When Lizzie is ultimately forced to face her reality, is it all too late?
Simon Wilson (@simonbwilson)
It’s staggering that neoliberals believe they’re doing a good job. It was governments, and not the market, that abolished slavery, gave women the vote, brought the world out of Depression in the 1930s and defeated fascism in the 1940s. And governments didn’t do these things on their own, but were pushed to it by mass movements, civil disobedience and even war. It was governments that saved the neoliberal finance houses after the global financial crisis of 2008.
Dreaming of Max
Dreaming of Max Jackie Kleefield Cohn Genre: Storytelling, Theatre Venue: Sprout Studio at Greenside @ George Street Festival: Edinburgh Fringe A woman travels across Europe pursuing a man she barely knows. Captivated by the memory of his eyes, she follows clues always just missing him. A solo show about following your heart and taking leaps of faith into the unknown. What begins as a search for Max becomes something deeper: the discovery of a new, unexpected life.
Everything everywhere all at once
A session at the Ōtaki Summer Camp, and no, that’s not me speaking. Photo: Sam Bavitz In January this year, I was invited to give a talk to the Ōtaki Summer Camp, an annual gathering for people aged 17-35 who are interested in progressives politics. The investigative journalist Nicky Hager was one of the organisers and he suggested the topic: the worst government of my lifetime. I had to think about that. Is it? Why? I decided he was right.
Durham Fringe Festival 2026
To Capture the Wildlife Rocket Theatre Company Genre: Musical Theatre, Theatre Venue: Assembly Rooms Theatre Festival: Durham Fringe Festival A musical about grief, young love, and navigating the pains of life and death. After the loss of her mum, Morgan has a chance meeting with an unusual girl in a graveyard. Soon, they begin to meet there every week, and grow closer, but can their strange, transient friendship survive this tumultuous time in their lives?
Durham Fringe Festival 2026
The mastermind. The conman. The inside guy. We’re assembling a team. We’re doing a heist. Are you in? From magician and storyteller Chris Cook comes a show full of comedy and misdirection about audacious cons and daring thefts. How to Steal a Masterpiece promises comedy, misdirection and a story of theft, and for the most part, it delivers exactly that kind of good natured criminality. Cook is, first and foremost, a showman, and that’s the beating heart of this piece.
Hopetown by Simon Wilson
Why are energy and health minister Simeon Brown and his boss, Christopher Luxon, so keen on gas? It’s hard to find anybody who thinks it’s a good idea to build a liquid natural gas (LNG) terminal in Taranaki. Apart from the government and the gas industry itself, that is. So why is it happening? And why has the government allowed the resumption of gas and oil exploration? Are these things by any chance related? Why yes.
Durham Fringe Festival 2026
The Marsh Family The Marsh Family Genre: Music Venue: Palace Green Stretch Tent Festival: Durham Fringe Festival The Marsh Family, a real-life musical family of six from Kent, first captured a worldwide audience during the pandemic, appearing on BBC’s Comic Relief and Jimmy Kimmel Live, and have since built a global following with millions of views. Versatile and independent, their music spans genres, delivering a distinctive mix of heart, humour, and hope.
Durham Fringe Festival 2026
A Queer Little Murder Pineapple Rummy Productions Genre: LGBTQ+ Theatre, Theatre Venue: Fellows' Garden, Durham Castle Festival: Durham Fringe Festival When the sheriff of a small and incredibly queer town winds up dead, the audience must decide who committed the murder. Every queer stereotype is a suspect in this whodunnit! A bloodcurdling scream from offstage starts the show and instantly grabs your attention. It’s a bold entrance, designed to hook you before you’ve even settled into your seat.
Durham Fringe Festival 2026
This gloriously comic reimagining of Jane Austen from Menstrual Rage Theatre Company puts Emma Woodhouse in control of her own story, muting the insufferable Miss Bates, skipping past the slow-burn moments, and generally bending Highbury to her will. This is a brilliant comic adaptation and the cast commit to it with total, unshakeable conviction.
Simon Wilson (@simonbwilson)
Make money doing the work you believe in Start your SubstackLearn more
Damn, The Odyssey seems familiar
Matt Damon as Odysseus with Zendaya as Athena in The Odyssey. Elon Musk and his keyboard army of the underworld got so upset that Lupita Nyong’o, a Black woman, was cast as Helen of Troy in The Odyssey. But that will fade to nothing compared to the wrath of Hobson’s Pledge when they find out about this movie. It runs on manaakitanga.
Housing, Fonterra, cement: the crisis of predatory delay
Auckland councillor Julie Fairey. “Predatory delay,” said Auckland councillor Julie Fairey last week, and she might have been lobbing a hand grenade into the meeting, except by that stage, early in the evening, most of her colleagues seemed too exhausted to care. One councillor denied it, quietly, and that was that. They were debating housing density and although the outcome wasn’t in doubt (the split was 15-7), the going had been tough.
Paul Henry: Cometh the hour, cometh the showman
Act’s new Captain Fantastic and some other guy. I’ve had several encounters with Paul Henry over the years. Three stand out. Many years ago, when I was editor of Metro magazine, we organised a celebrity photo shoot at Soul in the Viaduct. The idea was to run a single photo over several spreads, Vanity Fair style. It was a massive undertaking, with cables and equipment everywhere, technical crew, makeup and hair, more than 30 celebrities and several hangers-on.
Be careful what you wish for: The trouble with TOP
Actually, it’s not just one question. Qiulae Wong, known as Q, leader of the newly reinvented Opportunity Party (TOP), has pulled off a remarkable trick. She has successfully presented her party as the answer to every question. Whatever distresses you about politics today, the answer is: TOP. You’re a greenie who wants a party that will work with National? TOP. You’re a libertarian disgusted by Act’s law-and-order numbskulls, and/or its climate deniers and gun lobbyists? TOP.
What should we do about Brian Tamaki?
What an arsehole. But I guess one thing you can say about Brian Tamaki is that he reminds us that free speech is not an abstract, high-principled thing. Words can be dangerous. People can get hurt. The free-speech debate got a good airing on Thursday night, when two teams squared off in the second annual Keith Locke Memorial Debate. The moot: “That hate speech laws threaten free speech.”.
The case for voting Green
When the Green Party faithful assembled for their annual “State of the Planet” address in Wellington in April, there was another party going on out the back: music and noisy voices, disrupting local MP Tamatha Paul’s warm-up speech. The venue was an atrium that joins a collection of boutiques, offices and hospo ventures in buildings just off Courtenay Place. It was a good event space, except that behind the screens it opened onto a bar, which is where all the noise was coming from.
This transport policy will sweep the world
Labour leader Chris Hipkins and the joy of trains. It’s alive! On Wednesday Labour announced its first new policy in over 200 days: a $20 public-transport fare cap in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, with a $10 cap everywhere else. And I am here for it. Lots of people aren’t: hoo boy, the snarkiness is out there. But this policy is great. Not perfect, but definitely great. I’m picking low-capped fares will soon be normal all over the world, quite possibly as soon as the end of this decade.
Hopetown by Simon Wilson
Activist, legal claimant and national hero Mike Smith. Mike Smith is not alone. The activist who wants to take major carbon emitters in New Zealand to court for sabotaging our climate goals has many counterparts around the world. In the US, a 20-year-old student called Eva Lighthiser and 22 other young Americans are locked in a legal battle to hold Donald Trump and his government to account for “boosting planet-warming fossil fuels”.
Simon Wilson (@simonbwilson)
Make money doing the work you believe in Start your SubstackLearn more
Hopetown by Simon Wilson
Discover more from Hopetown by Simon Wilson Dedicated to progress, in Aotearoa and abroad, in politics, climate, urban issues & culture. Over 1,000 subscribers Already have an account? Sign in Deliberative democracy in action in Auckland Bennie Safdie as Edward Teller in Oppenheimer.
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