Housing justice - free public talk
Join us to hear Brook Turner talk about housing justice in Auckland and New Zealand Aotearoa. Thursday 18 May, 6.00 p.m.
172 Hinemoa Street, Birkenhead.
The housing crisis has reached catastrophic levels in recent times and been exacerbated by the effects of Covid19, the cost of living, recent weather events, and the looming recession. Yet, there remains hope that if Kiwis can band together, justice, equity and a chance at a fair go are still within reach. In this talk Brook will speak to the sobering realities many people face who are experiencing homelessness while pointing to hopeful threads of innovation that could help Auckland and NZ return to our egalitarian roots.
Brook is an executive leader with entrepreneurial flair and insightful perspectives on social change. Brook’s values are based on his strong training in empowerment-based practice and uphold the mana and dignity of every individual while working to create strengths-based solutions to wicked problems. As a leader, Brook’s philosophy is to grow people first and collaborate to achieve collective impact where it doesn’t matter who receives the credit. Brook is a Kiwibank Local Hero recipient, a Rotary Paul Harris Fellow, and an alumni member of Leadership New Zealand. His influence and impact spans from developing solutions to homelessness to working on the issue of food sovereignty. Brook’s charismatic and common-sense approach means his work is always exhilarating and thought provoking.
Brook recently submitted his thesis for his master’s degree in applied Practice (Social Practice). Titled ‘Self-determined Housing Choices for Young People Leaving the Care System,’ the thesis investigates the issue of homelessness amongst rangatahi while examining possible answers to what is a serious issue in Aotearoa New Zealand.
(This is another of the talks hosted by Onewa Christian Community.)
Some Choice News!
DOC is rolling out a new tool to help figure out what to tackle first when it comes to protecting our threatened species and the things putting them at risk.
Why does this matter? As Nikki Macdonald from The Post points out, we’re a country with around 4,400 threatened species. With limited time and funding, conservation has always meant making tough calls about what gets attention first.
For the first time, DOC has put real numbers around what it would take to do everything needed to properly safeguard our unique natural environment. The new BioInvest tool shows the scale of the challenge: 310,177 actions across 28,007 sites.
Now that we can see the full picture, it brings the big question into focus: how much do we, as Kiwis, truly value protecting nature — and what are we prepared to invest to make it happen?
We hope this brings a smile!
Have you got New Zealand's best shed? Show us and win!
Once again, Resene and NZ Gardener are on the hunt for New Zealand’s best shed! Send in the photos and the stories behind your man caves, she sheds, clever upcycled spaces, potty potting sheds and colourful chicken coops. The Resene Shed of the Year 2026 winner receives $1000 Resene ColorShop voucher, a $908 large Vegepod Starter Pack and a one-year subscription to NZ Gardener. To enter, tell us in writing (no more than 500 words) why your garden shed is New Zealand’s best, and send up to five high-quality photos by email to mailbox@nzgardener.co.nz. Entries close February 23, 2026.
Share your favourite main crop potato recipe and win a copy of our mag!
Love potatoes? We will give away free copies of the May 2026 issue to readers whose potato recipes are used in our magazine. To be in the running, make sure you email your family's favourite way to enjoy potatoes: mailbox@nzgardener.co.nz, by March 1, 2026.
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