1952 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
5 days ago

Poll: How are you feeling about the role of AI in business and everyday life? 🤖💻

The Team from Neighbourly.co.nz

The Post reports that nearly two-thirds of business leaders are feeling optimistic about 2026 ... with much of that confidence driven by the rollout of AI.

We want to know: How are you feeling about the growing role of AI in business and everyday life?

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How are you feeling about the role of AI in business and everyday life? 🤖💻
  • 6.7% Excited
    6.7% Complete
  • 72.2% Cautious
    72.2% Complete
  • 21.1% Somewhere in between
    21.1% Complete
1097 votes
43 minutes ago

2 weeks left to enter The Summer Kiwi Quiz!

Summer Kiwi Quiz - 2026

Don’t miss your chance to WIN 1 of 5 Ooni Karu 2 Portable Pizza Oven bundles, valued at $1024!

All you have to do is grab a copy of your local Stuff newspaper between 1 Jan - 28 Jan and participate in the Great Summer Quiz! Answer the daily New Zealand based questions, the more answers you enter correctly, the higher your chance of winning. For more information and to submit your answers, click here.

The team at Stuff
Enter Here

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43 minutes ago

New Year, New Brain Teaser! 🧠🤓

The Riddler from The Neighbourly Riddler

Rachel goes to the supermarket and buys 10 tomatoes 🍅
Unfortunately, on the way back home, all but 9 get ruined. How many tomatoes are left in a good condition?

Do you think you know the answer? Simply 'Like' this post if you know the answer and the big reveal will be posted in the comments at 2pm on the day!

Want to stop seeing these in your newsfeed?
Head here and hover on the Following button on the top right of the page (and it will show Unfollow) and then click it. If it is giving you the option to Follow, then you've successfully unfollowed the Riddles page.

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