NEWS | ISSUE FOUR/20 | RONGO Ā / DRUGS Written by Tashi Donnelly she/her | @tashi_rd | Editor Auckland-based HIV support organisation Body Positive is now offering free sexual health checks to everyone, including international students , regardless of age, gender, sexuality, or visa status. The expanded service comes as rates of sexually transmitted infections like chlamydia, gonorrhoea, and syphilis continue to rise across New Zealand, particularly among people aged 18 to 2

NEWS | ISSUE FOUR/20 | RONGO Ā / DRUGS Written by Tashi Donnelly she/her | @tashi_rd | Editor The Basics Yes, New Zealand now has roadside drug testing. This began in Wellington in December 2025 and has been rolling out nationwide through 2026. This means that the police can stop any driver, anywhere, at any time, and administer a saliva drug test (similar to a breathalyser, which is used to test alcohol levels). You don’t need to be driving badly or suspected of impairment;

NEWS | ISSUE FOUR/20 | RONGO Ā / DRUGS Written by Liam Hansen they/them | @liamhanse.n | Associate Editor One in seventeen people live with rare disorders in Aotearoa - a catch all term for the thousands of specified health conditions that, on their own, affect a small handful of Kiwis that are left without a unified health organisation to provide them with support, care, and community. Rare Disorders New Zealand fills this gap, fighting for over 300,000 Kiwis through educat

NEWS | ISSUE FOUR/20 | RONGO Ā / DRUGS Written by Liam Hansen they/them | @liamhanse.n | Associate Editor Student presidents and representatives of various university student associations across the motu have united in their call for targeted student support amidst the cost-of-living crisis. While students have been struggling to stay afloat since the economic ramifications of the pandemic (and a good bit before then), the recent increase in fuel prices due to the US/Israel

EDITORIAL | ISSUE FOUR/20 | RONGO Ā / DRUGS Written by Tashi Donnelly she/her | @tashi_rd | Editor Nau mai haere mai, welcome to the rongoā/drugs issue of Debate . Although the word ‘drug’ is defined by the Oxford Dictionary as ‘a medicine or other substance which has a physiological effect when ingested or otherwise introduced into the body ’ , we tend to associate it more with recreational use than with medical use. But before we get into it, I want to take this opportunity

The Work of Cinema in the Age of Algorithmic Reproduction WEB EXCLUSIVE Written by Trevor Pronoso | Contributing Writer Last February, the Library of Congress discovered what was thought to be a lost film by renowned early cinema illusionist Georges Méliès titled Gugusse and the Automaton (1897). What makes this film uniquely special isn't just limited to film historians and cinephiles (though it doesn't hurt to see more recovered films lost to time). What makes this film tr

REVIEW | WEB EXCLUSIVE | ARTS Written by Sanskruti Banerjee ( she/her) | @san._.banerjee | Contributing Writer BEHIND AERA THE LABEL Aera The Label, featuring their limited edition runs of ready to wear clothing made their debut of the Ride My Coattail collection, at Ahua Fashion Week 2026. Aera’s house of experimentation and stories revolves around conceptual fashion, every piece underpinned with whimsical, lace and flowy incorporations. A brand that celebrates community an

RICK'S REEL RECOMMENDATIONS | ISSUE THREE | WHENUA Written by Ricky Lai (he/him) | @rickthelai & Letterboxd | Film Columnist Chocolat (Claire Denis, 1988) Don’t get mixed up here: I don’t mean ‘ Chocolat ’ (2000). Not the shlocky rom-com starring Juliette Binoche as a travelling chocolatier who brings love back to rural France with the power of sweeties, the DVD which you find on op-shop shelves next to Hayley Westenra CDs. I mean the lesser-known ‘Chocolat’ , about a nati

SPORTS | ISSUE THREE | WHENUA Written by Luke Fisher (he/him) | @lukefish7__ | CONTRIBUTING COLUMNIST My first encounter with the concept of climate change was seeing the bumper stickers on my primary school bible studies teacher’s van. Climate change is just a load of hot air. It’s always been hot. Aged seven, I didn’t have a clue what these meant. I honestly thought the first one was nothing more than a scientific fact. But fast forward 14 years (good god), and the phrases

FEATURE | ISSUE THREE | WHENUA Written by Elise Sadlier (she/her) | @elise_sadlier | Contributing Writer Illustration by Skye Lunson-Storey (she/they/ia) | @uku_rangi E tōku Whenua, Do you hold a place for me still? My ancestors are pressed into the soft moss of the Mangaoporo Valley I circle home like the Kārearea always swooping, never landing It is the east and you are the sun. I spent a month of my summer this year at home, in Gisborne. While I was there, my friend