1930 days ago

Was Bill Sutch a spy?

Reporter Community News

It has taken nearly 50 years but a new book on Bill Sutch is sure to spark debate in to an old controversy.

In September 1974, Bill Sutch was arrested and charged under the Official Secrets Act 1951, after a series of clandestine meetings with KGB agent Dimitri Rasgovorov, an official at the Soviet Union's embassy, in Wellington.

He was subsequently acquitted but documents later found in the KGB archive suggested he was a Soviet agent.

His son-in-law, Keith Ovenden, has now written a book, Bill & Shirley: A Memoir, looking at the life of Sutch and his wife Shirley Smith. Smith was a prominent lawyer and the first woman in New Zealand to be a full member of a university law faculty.

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More messages from your neighbours
1 day ago

Poll: Is it ok to regift something that you have been given?

The Team from Neighbourly.co.nz

🎁 Holiday Gift Chat!

Do you ever regift?
What’s your take on asking for a receipt if a gift doesn’t fit?

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Is it ok to regift something that you have been given?
  • 78.3% Yes! It's better to regift what I don't need
    78.3% Complete
  • 21.7% No. It's the thought and effort that matters
    21.7% Complete
387 votes
29 days ago

Some Choice News!

Kia pai from Sharing the Good Stuff

Many New Zealand gardens aren’t seeing as many monarch butterflies fluttering around their swan plants and flower beds these days — the hungry Asian paper wasp has been taking its toll.

Thanks to people like Alan Baldick, who’s made it his mission to protect the monarch, his neighbours still get to enjoy these beautiful butterflies in their own backyards.

Thinking about planting something to invite more butterflies, bees, and birds into your garden?

Thanks for your mahi, Alan! We hope this brings a smile!

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1 day ago

Speed limits around NaeNae

Susan from Naenae

Hi Neighbors, Just a heads up, I have just received a $170 fine for driving at 50km on Rata Street Naenae on a SUNDAY Morning. I wrote to NZTA pointing out and sending in a photo of sign stating that it was 30km on school days between those hours, but they said that the whole of Rata Street and some surrounding streets are 30km 24/7 and have been for over a year. Did I miss this been advised by council? Always good to be informed. Merry Christmas to all