Paula Penfold

Who knew what about an exchange student’s abuse – and the question she wishes someone had asked The church response to Rabea Santjer – then and now, and the questions that remain.

And here is part three.

More than a decade on, she returned as a tourist to confront the man who had abused her A return trip to New Zealand for a woman who’d previously travelled here as an exchange student led to a police investigation and a guilty plea.

Here’s part two. And part three will be out tomorrow.

www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/3609...

At 16 she came to NZ for a year. What happened in her host family’s home stayed hidden for years She expected adventure and independence. What happened inside her host family’s home would take more than a decade to confront.

Here’s part one of Rabea Santjer’a story. Massive respect to her for being willing to have her name suppression lifted so she could speak publicly.

(I made the request in November.)

Wondering why* a Minister’s office would send 120-odd pages of OIA docs at 6.13pm on a Friday?

*not wondering why

Thank you! Shall fix

🙏🏼😊

Paula Penfold searched 1000 New Zealand Epstein files. Here’s what they reveal Inside the web of connections revealed in more than 1000 New Zealand documents from the Epstein archive.

You’re welcome.

There’s also a tool in here so you can search the files yourself .. easier than the DOJ site which is clunky as, and I’ve stripped out the duplicates/irrelevancies

‘A Jenga tower’: Why NZ’s health cybersecurity is leaving patients exposed – expert Prompted by a single breach, a cybersecurity specialist scanned hundreds of health systems and says the results point to a much bigger problem

Seems less than ideal

Why apologies don’t bring closure Stories that never quite feel finished

Why apologies don’t bring closure

Thanks @sanjanah.bsky.social
If you didn’t catch it the first time, here’s some uplifting summer viewing

Also I know.. I know.. about Substack. I did start the process of transferring to Ghost. But yeah. Like I say. Busy year 😪

Not the News: Some thoughts at the end of a very long year The parts of the job that don’t make the news

The cat sitting on the dog sitting on me sitting on the window seat trying to read the paper

A useful thread for holiday conversations with *that family member*

Opinion | Trump Is Getting Weaker, and the Resistance Is Getting Stronger

Trump Is Getting Weaker, and the Resistance Is Getting Stronger www.nytimes.com/2025/12/26/o...

Where did caperberries go?

He used to be my boss at TV3 back in the day so I’m like .. Jaaaasooonnn

*small country reaction* I did hit him up on the socials! Stand by ..😂

😂

I feel as though they are spending gazillions on endless customer (non)service. They also sent me a modem after I’d cancelled because of the fact that they hadn’t sent me the modem 🫤

But what (probably naively) I still get surprised about is how those above her seemingly have (had?) no issue with any of the warning signs eg the China trips which were all goods 👍🏼

That is surely the situation. Because if it’s not …

That’s so kind. Thank you.

I’ve just been asked for my name and PIN number for the third time in an hour so ..
😬😬😬

It is actually shockingly bad

Good luck with that.

It’s almost laughable except for it’s a time consuming endless nightmare

Thanks.. worth a shot!

Has anyone ever tried to (repeatedly) cancel an account with One NZ (for a service that wasn’t delivered) and then got stuck in a vortex where they tell you it’s cancelled and fees are waived then bill you again so you cancel again by email, online, messenger, phone then they bill you again and😬

How a trusted senior police official became a foreign state’s ‘gatekeeper’ Emails show a trusted police liaison officer was a key point of contact for a foreign state - in ways that raised alarms inside police

Ok bye I’m going on holiday now 👋🏼

‘No due diligence’: The failures behind a $1.7m Govt contract for a firm linked to an advisor Conflict of interest concerns led to an independent review of Health NZ procurement practices. Its findings are damning.

This probity review was ordered after Stuff’s questions about a conflict of interest concern.

It would have been a short report if they’d written what checks were done instead of weren’t.