Alison Mau

Shame on our misogyny: It's no wonder Jacinda Ardern was driven from office

Alison Mau is a senior writer at Stuff, and editor of the #MeTooNZ project. OPINION: Friends, if you have become used to using the name ‘Cindy’ to describe the prime minister - you know, with that ever-so-slight hint of a sneer - it's likely we're…

Delays, lost baggage all part of the roller-coaster ride of travelling in 2023

Alison Mau is a senior writer at Stuff, and editor of the #MeTooNZ project. OPINION: Will we ever get back to situation-normal in the skies and if so, when? Back in the days when Auckland had a summer - namely, Christmas Day - we pulled our puffas…

How quiz night changed my life

When Alison Mau moved to a new town, she knew she needed to make friends. Little did she know how engrossed in trivia she would become. February I am new to this district. I am also a Covid cliché - fled the city in the middle of the pandemic, landed…

Jacinda Ardern, Sanna Marin and the misogyny that's baked into us all

Alison Mau is a senior writer at Stuff, and editor of the #MeTooNZ project. OPINION: We should be surprised, it being 2022 and all. Surely the days of casual sexism aimed at women - politicians or otherwise - by professional journalists are well and…

Naming Alvin Rolfe: Tribunal decision gives former student her life back

Tammy Valler talks about the Disciplinary Tribunal's decision on her former Waikato teacher. The Teaching Council's Disciplinary Tribunal has opted to name a teacher accused of having sex with a student, after the case against him collapsed in a…

Twitter's my poison of choice, but I'll quit if it goes south under Elon Musk

Analysts say Musk won’t want to drive advertisers away from the platform. Alison Mau is a senior writer for Stuff, and editor of the #MeTooNZ project. OPINION: There was a time when my family was very angry with me for my addiction. At first,…

The waterfront gamble: Can Wayne Brown give port land back to Aucklanders?

After almost three weeks in the job, Auckland mayor Wayne Brown held his first media conference on Thursday, alongside his newly unveiled deputy Desley Simpson. Alison Mau is a senior writer at Stuff and editor of the #MeTooNZ project. OPINION: I was…

The tragedy of Dr Tony Hanne, and why we should all care

Alison Mau is a senior writer at Stuff, and editor of the #MeTooNZ project. OPINION: It's been the perfect storm. Rapidly increasing numbers of adults seeking help for a debilitating condition - and lengthening wait times amid a chronic lack of…

From Sylvester to Siouxsie: Director Gwen Isaac gets ready to launch new doco

Gazing through a viewfinder as Sylvester Stallone set fire to a tract of Thai jungle was not exactly where Gwen Isaac expected to find herself as a first-time mother. Nor was breastfeeding her 6-month-old inches from a baby cobra nest (not…

Bullying and harassment: How safe are public sector workers?

Kassandra Hey’s mother Katrina died of a suspected suicide on Christmas Day last year. (Video first published on July 21, 2020) Alison Mau is a senior journalist at Stuff, and editor of the #MeTooNZ project. OPINION: You could be forgiven for…

Woman abused by kickboxer Hayden Todd remembers 'fighting for my life'

After a final, 90-minute beating that came close to killing his victim, kickboxer Hayden Todd showered, put on his signature gold jewellery and waited for his ride to the airport for a flight to Queenstown. The woman he abused says watching Todd…

From big policy to potholes; no matter the race, the abuse continues

Local Government NZ chief executive Susan Freeman-Greene talks about how to tackle the uptick in racism and gender discrimination in local body politics. (First published July 18, 2022) Alison Mau is a senior writer at Stuff. OPINION: Less than a…

Niwa must pay 'diligent and loyal' ex-employee $35k after 13-year harassment case

Niwa wrongly accused a woman who had been an employee for 20 years as having contributed to her own unfair dismissal, after she was sexually harassed by the first mate on a sea-going research vessel. The Employment Court has ordered Niwa Vessels Ltd…

Tāme Iti and the art of making a point

Alison Mau is a senior Stuff journalist. OPINION: Journalists - unless they've spent years covering a specialist area of reportage - can generally talk for a minute or so on almost any subject, but no more. This is a joke I often use to excuse my…

The conversation we've all been putting off is inevitable with the death of The Queen

Alison Mau is a senior writer for Stuff. OPINION: So. The Queen died and it was not a surprise, but still a shock. I found out she’d passed in the same way the prime minister and many other Kiwis did - no, not by the beam of a policeman’s torchlight…

The power of podcasts - what The Teacher's Pet tells us about abusive relationships

Alison Mau is a senior Stuff writer and Sunday Star-Times columnist OPINION: Podcast fans, raise your hands. I'm one of you. A good podcast - and that's a very subjective measure, isn't it - can fill your ears and your brain with funny, challenging…

Victim of rapist Craig Koning not told he was being released from prison

The woman who was raped by charity boss Craig Koning is furious she wasn’t notified her attacker was being released from prison. Craig Koning was jailed in 2020 for the rape of then-girlfriend Amy Coronakes 16 years prior. On Wednesday, Stuff…

Evolution and unrestrained love means it's a Dog Day, every day

Auckland dog trainer Alex Schanzer says that when choosing a dog, you have to weigh up the options. Alison Mau is a senior writer for Stuff and editor of the #MeTooNZ project. OPINION: Friday was International Dog Day. As…

Wronged academic gets public apology as high-profile #MeToo case comes to an end

Auckland University of Technology has publicly apologised for failures in a major sexual harassment case, revealed by a Stuff investigation in 2020. The university apologised to Australian MP Dr Marisa Paterson after the case went to the Human Rights…

The movie star, the rocker and the Prime Minister - what a strange time to be a woman in the spotlight

Marin is facing a backlash over the video, but she is defending what she did in her free time. Alison Mau is a senior writer for Stuff. OPINION: The video shows a small group of friends at a party. There's low lighting, dancing and miming to music,…