Our Conference is Nigh

20^th July 2026

It’s less than two weeks until our conference in Christchurch, and we’re busy sorting out the last few loose ends. We now have tickets available for our Saturday evening soiree, so if you’re coming to the conference and want to chill out with other skeptics, the committee of the NZ Skeptics, the SGU and some of our other weekend speakers, make sure you grab your tickets soon! It’s only $40 for an evening featuring entertainment, canapes, and cheap booze.

We also have our AGM on the Sunday of the conference, so if you’d like to join our committee, or have a burning issue that you think we should be aware of, please join us in person or online. If you’re a member you should have received an AGM reminder already, with another two to come.

As our newsletter falls on the conference weekend, it’s likely that we won’t be able to get a newsletter or podcast out for that fortnight. But, rest assured, we’ll be back in four weeks.

In this week’s newsletter, we start with a brief hello from Jay Novella of the Skeptics Guide to the Universe podcast. I’ve written about a creationist documentary we went to see at my local church a couple of days ago. Katrina has read over the NZ Police’s updated advice on dealing with Sovereign Citizens, and breaks down what it all means. Bronwyn has looked at the history of sponsored famines, and why they’re falling out of popularity. And finally I’ve put together pictures of some light-hearted vandalism of the portraits in Rationalist House in Auckland.

Mark Honeychurch

A Message from the SGU

Jay Novella - 20 July 2026

Hey New Zealand! SGU is coming your way soon.

Review: Universe Designed

Mark Honeychurch - 20 July 2026

On Friday night Bronwyn, Tim and I went to the New Zealand premiere of Universe Designed, a new Christian movie that attempts to prove that the universe, earth, life, and humans are not the result of random, undirected processes, but instead are created by a loving God. The subtitle of the movie sums up at least part of the movie's message nicely - “_Creation is an act, not an accident_”.

Updated Guidance for Police on SovCits

Katrina Borthwick - 20 July 2026

In late February the police issued an updated chapter in their manual on sovereign citizens (SovCits). This is a 24-page chapter aimed at assisting police officers in managing problematic behaviours from SovCits in a professional and respectful way.

Making cents of charity: Famine as fundraising

Bronwyn Rideout - 20 July 2026

I've contemplated writing a series about charities and common fundraising practices since Christmas, when retrospectives and takedowns of Band Aid's 1984 hit Do they know it's Christmas? made their annual rounds. To be up front, I worked as a door-to-door fundraiser in Canada for several months while I waited for my visa application to return to New Zealand to be approved. It was a great job, and allowed me to work on behalf of global charities like World Wildlife Fund and Doctors without Borders. It also gave me insight into the pitfalls and controversies that exist in this field, and how charities and their audiences mutually struggle to adapt to each other's evolving needs and interests. Practices for public engagement that seemed well-meaning in the 1970s continue, despite decades of criticism about child safety and questions about how much money actually reaches people and communities most in need.

Dead Old White Men