The Paralympics got underway this week in Paris, and for the first time in 16 years, Team New Zealand is missing a familiar face.

Dame Sophie Pascoe, New Zealand’s most decorated Paralympian, has decided to forgo this year’s Games in favour of staying home with her young baby.

Pascoe is a 4-time Paralympian, bringing home a total of 19 medals – 11 Gold, 7 Silver, and 1 Bronze.

However, while she may not be competing this year, that doesn’t mean she’s uninvolved, as Pascoe is presenting New Zealand’s TV coverage of the Games.

She told Newstalk ZB’s Jack Tame that as the Paralympics came closer she was feeling a bit nervous about presenting, as well as a bit of FOMO from not being over at the Games, however when they began she was content with her role.

“I'm right where I need to be with my family, with my baby and right here, presenting and helping out the Paralympic team, but still feeling like I'm part of the team, but just in such a different capacity.”

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In 1999 the British Post Office introduced a faulty piece of accounting software, the consequences of which would see over 900 subpostmasters wrongly prosecuted for theft, fraud, and false accounting.

Some lost their businesses, jobs, and homes, and many were left financially ruined. Others were convicted and sent to prison, some dying while they waited for justice.

The case has been highlighted in the ITV drama Mr Bates vs the Post Office; the prosecution of Post Office subpostmasters being described as ‘Great Britain's worst miscarriage of justice’.

Alan Bates, a former subpostmaster, has been leading the charge and this week gave a strong witness statement at the public inquiry into the Horizon IT scandal.

He told Newstalk ZB’s Jack Tame that the outpouring of support from across the nation has been absolutely wonderful, and they may need to engage it going forward.

“Some of the, if you might call them, the baddies in all of this might be trying to get away scot-free,” Bates said.

“We have real concerns that they need to be held accountable for their actions in all of this, and often that fails to happen in so many of these big scandals with big firms.”

Bates told Tame that he’s never really struggled with accounting, so when the Horizon system was introduced to his own Post Office, he could see it was lacking from the outset.

“Once problems started occurring, it was pretty obvious what was the root cause of it all.”

He’s worked with computer systems before so he could not only see the issues with the programme itself, but with the stances the Post Office was taking on it.

Bates said they could never give him an assurance over the accuracy of the system, and they kept swearing no one else could access it, despite it being a network system that anyone could access if they had the right codes.

“They just terminated me, given me three months' notice and walked off with the investment.”

Bates professes to be something of a stubborn man, telling Tame that he knew his stance on the system was right and so he dug his heels in on it.

“We started meeting others over the years, and then we found out we weren’t the only ones, and they weren’t the only ones, and we sort of grew from there.”

In Bates’ opinion, a lot of this whole event has been about controlling the narrative, which the Post Office with its significant resources was able to do for ‘donkey’s years’.

“It wasn’t until we got them in the court, into the high court, and we got the judgements, the outstanding judgements from Judge Fraser, that the narrative changed.”

“They started losing their footing in all of this, and we started to take over.”

The most important thing in all of this, Bates told Tame, is getting the financial redress for the victims.

“They’ve been waiting far too long.”

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Dame Kiri Te Kanawa has had an eventful life.

One of New Zealand’s most prolific performers, the opera singer has performed in countries all over the world in several different languages, receiving a slew of honours over the years.

She retired in September 2017, her last performance taking place in October of 2016.

Since then, Te Kanawa committed herself to nurturing young artists, sitting as a judge in singing competitions and establishing the Kiri Te Kanawa Foundation which supports young musicians and singers in realising their dreams.

Te Kanawa recently moved back to New Zealand after living in the United Kingdom for over 55 years, and her connection to both countries saw her sent as one of NZ’s official delegates for the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II.

Her 80th birthday is coming up this week, Te Kanawa telling Newstalk ZB’s Jack Tame that she can’t believe she got to this age.

“I thought 70 was bad enough, now we’re at 80.”

The celebrations might not be exactly what you’d expect for such a milestone, Te Kanawa revealing that she and her husband are going fishing.

They plan to just get enough for the table, as being out on the water is what Te Kanawa really enjoys.

“I’m, you know, a Pisces, my husband’s an Aquarius, so we’re water people.”

Te Kanawa moved back to New Zealand in 2021, settling down in the Bay of Islands.

While she does feel that it was the right choice, she does still feel homesick for England after having lived there for such a long time.

“We did it and we’re pleased we’ve done it, but I’ve left an awful lot of my heart behind.”

“But home is here, and I am thoroughly enjoying all the different things about New Zealand which I never knew about.”

One such thing is kiwis' refusal to give way to others in traffic, a contrast to the politeness she’s used to in England.

“There’s a whole lot of little things that people don’t do or do do that are nice.”

Despite having such a long career, Te Kanawa revealed that she doesn’t look back on it all that much, the rapid pace of her life and career overwhelming.

“It took me several years to calm down and about a year to sort of say that I’m not going to sing again.”

“It’s best not to look back, it’s always best to look forward.”

Since retiring from performing, Te Kanawa has instead put her efforts into supporting the next generation of artists with the Kiri Te Kanawa Foundation.

“We’ve had a lot of great successes,” Te Kanawa told Tame.

Some of the people the Foundation has supported have gone on to get major roles at Covent Garden, some singing in Glen Bourne and Salzburg.

“I’m so pleased that we’ve, we’ve helped them a lot, and it’s a lovely little group now that we’ve been sort of really mentoring.”

Mentoring is what she’ll continue to do, Te Kanawa having no plans to perform in public again.

“The past is in the past,” she said.

Te Kanawa told Tame that while her voice was very beautiful in the past, she hasn't trained it in years.

She said that even if she tried to start training it again, it would take months to get it anywhere near what she would like it to be.

“It’s just best to leave it, go to sleep, and let’s enjoy the youth of today.”

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Tom Sainsbury wears many hats - actor, writer, comedian, director, host, influencer - across film, tv, stage, and social media here in New Zealand and on international projects.

Kiwis might know him for his political impersonations or shows like Wellington Paranormal.

Tom is hosting a winter special of New Zealand’s International Comedy Festival, and having just returned from a very glamorous international sojourn, he joined Jack Tame in studio for a chat.

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This sticky cake is studded with tangy feijoas and has a chewy caramelised coconut topping added halfway through cooking and it’s just gorgeous.

Makes a 23cm cake.

Ingredients

1 cup pitted dates

1 cup boiling water

1 teaspoon baking soda

130g butter

½ cup white sugar

½ cup brown sugar

1 large egg

1 ¼ cups plain flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

Pinch salt

½ cup dessicated coconut

1 cup peeled and diced feijoa

Coconut topping:

1 cup shredded coconut

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup milk

50g butter

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 170 C. Grease and line a 23cm round baking tin.

2. Cover dates in boiling water and leave to soak for 5 minutes then add baking soda and blend to a chunky paste in a food processor.

3. Cream the butter and both sugars until pale and creamy then beat in the egg and beat for one minute more. Add the date paste to the creamed mixture and stir until combined. Sift in flour, baking powder and salt. Fold in coconut and feijoa chunks until combined. Scrape into baking tin, gently smooth the top and bake for 30 minutes. While it cooks make the coconut topping by combining all ingredients in a small pot over a low heat until melted together.

4. At 30 minute mark, gently spoon the coconut topping over the cake, in an even layer. Continue to cook for a further 25-35 minutes until topping is golden brown and a skewer inserted comes out clean. Run a knife around the edge of the cake to loosen the topping from the tin and leave for one hour before gently turning out and cooling fully.

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Mark Gregory is a chef who has worked around the world, cooking for royalty, music legends and sporting greats - and has spent decades in top European kitchens.

He’s appeared on TV shows like Ready Steady Cook and the BBC’s Good Food Show and Mark was the first kiwi chef to be awarded both the Master of Culinary Arts by the Royal Academy and France’s Master Craftsman status.

He joins Francesca Rudkin in studio to talk all things Christmas cooking and his cookbook 'Christmas at the Castle'.

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From NME - “Contrasting with this recollection, there’s a peacefulness to ‘Mahashmashana’, the tone grounded even when its author veers into psych-rock (the pounding ‘She Cleans Up’) and strutting funk (‘I Guess Time Makes Fools of Us All’). Half of its eight tracks spool on for more than six minutes and he’s not minded, these days, to explain them in interviews or on social media. Insteadhe’s bowed out from the spotlight to produce a record that tunes into love, ageing and the search for meaning without the compulsion for a punchline or wry aside.

As a result, the lush ‘Mahashmashana’ doesn’t quite mainline the zeitgeist in the same way that ‘Honeybear’ and ‘Pure Comedy’ did. Then again, there’s something to be said, in 2024, for logging off in favour of self-reflection. On the swooning ‘Mental Health’, Misty rejects the hive mind, concluding that his own particular “insanity” is “indispensable”. Whoever the folk he is underneath that beard, the good Father can’t help but share words of wisdom.”

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Still have a gift or two to pick up? Catherine has a round-up of her top books from the year...

Fiction

The Waiting by Michael Connelly

Intermezzo by Sally Rooney

Frankie by Graham Norton

Southern Man by Greg Iles

We Solve Murders by Richard Osman

Non-Fiction

The Elements of Marie Curie by Dava Sobel

Framed: Astonishing True Stories of Wrongful Convictions by John Grisham & John McCloskey

The Seige by Ben McIntyre

From Here to the Great Unknown by Lisa Marie Presley & Riley Keough

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