Zoë Mills

Salient Magazine • 1st October 2023

D-Day for Humanities as Confirmed Course Cuts Rock University —

The long-winded process of staff cuts at Victoria University of Wellington finally has an end in sight, with Vice-Chancellor Nic Smith sending an email to all staff and students on 21 September, communicating the university’s final decision for courses set to be cut.

The decision is the result of the financial sustainability process started by the university in May to cover a projected $33 million deficit for 2023, caused by drops in enrollment and bungled financial decisions by past university

Salient Magazine • 13th August 2023

Candidate Kōrero: Ibrahim Omer

During his three years at Victoria University, Ibrahim Omer had a strict ritual every Friday afternoon: getting a coffee from Vic Books and a packet of sushi from MakiMono. Omer looks back at this time with fondness, and expressed immediate concern at the lack of students on campus before we even stepped foot into the Salient studio - “it's so quiet!”

Originally from Eritrea, Omer arrived in Aotearoa as a refugee in 2008, graduated from VUW in 2016, graduated from VUW in 2016, and in 2020 was e

Salient Magazine • 1st October 2023

Candidate Kōrero: Prime Minister Chris Hipkins (Labour Party) —

We met the Prime Minister at his office in the Beehive—Chippy was 15 minutes late, largely due to a tray of sausage rolls being wheeled into his office (Fair enough).

“Hi, I’m Chris,” the PM introduced himself, chipper if not a bit clammy, fresh from National’s tax policy announcement (and Labour’s worst polling results since 2017, dipping into the 20s). We took a seat on one of the sofas in his Beehive office and wasted no time getting stuck in.

Chippy was VUWSA president in 2000 and 2001, wh

Salient Magazine • 23rd April 2023

19 Fired Up Stilettos Kick Up a FUS at Parliament Protest — Salient Magazine

The 19 Fired Up Stilettos (19FUS) brought sex worker rights into the light last Sunday during a protest outside of Parliament. They called legislative reform to protect sex workers from abuse, unfair pay cuts, and exploitation from employers. This includes changes to prevent a club or agency taking over 20% of pay from a sex worker, as well as banning ‘coercive’ fines and bonds.

A crowd of around 300 people gathered at Parliament to support the protest. In between speeches from sex workers and

Salient Magazine • 2nd April 2023

“Unempathetic”, “Frustrating”: Substandard Care at Student Health Services Causes Strife —

Students are reporting increasingly “unempathetic” and “uncompassionate” experiences with reception staff and general practitioners (GPs) at Mauri Ora – Student Health. Students are feeling increasingly disregarded by the lack of communication and longer wait times from the healthcare provider.

Amy, a second-year student, described her Mauri Ora appointments as “bad experiences”. Amy called Mauri Ora in regards to a mental health issue, and says that the receptionist “showed no emotion or compa

Salient Magazine • 14th May 2023

“Accessibility Is More Than Just Wheelchair Access”: Accessibility Concerns Raised with Halls of Residence —

Former Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington student Taiming Zhang is suing the university for $35,000, alleging that the age-limit policy at the halls of residence meant that he was left in severe pain commuting to and from the university.

The case has sparked discussion around current accessibility issues at the halls of residence, raising questions as to whether the current accommodations are enough to support disabled students.

Taiming Zhang, a 22-year-old arthritic student, wa

Salient Magazine • 22nd May 2022

“I Visited the Anti-Covid Mandate Protests. Here’s What Happened.” —

Since the anti-Covid mandate protests shut down Parliament grounds last February, groups of smaller protests have sprung up across the city to protest everything from vaccines, mandates, to the Prime Minister herself. In April, Unite. NZ, a leading organiser of February’s events, took to the streets for a 14-day series of protests across Wellington city. Each day had a new theme or demand relating to Covid-19—themes ranging from “misinformation,” to “police brutality,” to specific amendments act

Salient Magazine • 7th May 2023

National’s New “Pro-Renter” Policy Slammed by Critics as “Cooked” and “Regressive” —

The National Party has proposed to reinstate no-cause evictions for renters as part of a suite of proposed reforms, citing the Labour Government’s ‘lack of support’ to landlords as a cause.


The policy would allow landlords to evict tenants from their rentals without a formal reason. National has also proposed that fixed-term tenancy contracts would roll over into periodic tenancies instead. These changes were implemented by the current Labour Government in 2020 under the Residential Tenancie

Salient Magazine • 9th July 2023

Hundreds of Proposed Job Losses, Programmes to be Cut, and a Government Funding Boost: What the Fuck is Happening at VUW? —

After the University of Otago announced they had a $60 million debt in early May, suspicions of a similar blow at Te Herenga Waka arose. On 24 May, Vice-Chancellor Nic Smith presented a forum entitled ‘Achieving Financial Sustainability’. The presentation detailed immense debt for the university—a predicted forecast of $33m for 2023 alone—and major job cuts. Areas under review at this period included ‘central service units’, such as roles in Human Resources and Engagement, as well as staffing wi

Salient Magazine • 16th July 2023

Wake Up Babe, New Council Housing Just Dropped — Salient Magazine

…except it’s not the type of housing that Wellingtonians were hoping for.

Wellington City Council (WCC) have completed the latest installment of Te Kāinga affordable rental programme, a development consisting of three different apartment buildings on Willis Street. Combined, the buildings house a total of 178 two or three bedroom apartments, but the price tag has raised eyebrows.

The two bedroom apartments advertised on the Te Kāinga website range between $621 per week to a steep $770 p/w. Thr

Salient Magazine • 19th March 2023

Escort Agency Targets Students with Misleading Job Advertising — Salient Magazine

Suspicious posters erected throughout Kelburn campus advertising part-time roles at an unnamed “nightclub” were actually recruiting for full-service sex work roles at an escorting agency in Wellington Central.

The posters, which have been removed, exclusively asked for “female” applicants. The advertisement did not describe the role further than “nightclub work”, but emphasised the high pay rate of $250 per hour and $150 per half hour. “Pay for the resources you can't afford, Bus Fares, clothin

Salient Magazine • 26th March 2023

University to Take a “crisis approach” to Tackle Crushing Debt and Low Enrolments — Salient Magazine

The university is taking a “crisis approach” in an attempt to increase domestic enrollment numbers after extremely low enrollments in the past few years.

Documents leaked to Salient detail statistics regarding the decline in enrolment numbers, university debt, and the university's plan moving forward to increase enrollments. This information was presented to staff last week.

Total Domestic EFTs (Equivalent Full-Time students) enrolled are currently at 13,524, down by 1463 students in compariso

Salient Magazine • 3rd September 2023

Christian Fringe Cult Reportedly Back on Campus — Salient Magazine

Do you come to uni to escape the Cuba St preachers? Sorry to break it to you, but there’s been an influx of fringe religious groups approaching students on campus. Last week, a post on the VUW: Meaningful Confessions page asked about a recent resurgence of on-campus preachers.


“What is up with the amount of bible preachers around campus at the moment? [...] I really don’t like being approached and made uncomfortable when I’m running on 4 hours sleep and an assignment was due yesterday […] Thi

Salient Magazine • 8th October 2023

OPINION: Not Keen on Either Chris? That’s Fine, You Still Have Options —

Whether you're a politics nerd like me, or someone who can't stand it, I think that we can all agree that this election has been one of the most dry, bland, and uninspiring contests of recent years.

We’ve got a choice between Chris and Chris for PM; one with hair, and one with considerably less hair; a seasoned politician and a seasoned businessman. The same lines are recited and the same pandering becomes easy to see through. ‘Does it really matter which Chris gets my vote?’ I pondered after t

Salient Magazine • 6th August 2023

VUWLSS $120 Ball Tickets “Out of Touch” and “Hypocritical” — Salient Magazine

Law students are doing what they do best: arguing. VUWLSS have announced the prices to the annual Law Ball event, and the steep ticket prices are causing havoc in the Law faculty.

A series of anonymous complaints posted by VuW: Meaningful Confessions have called out the society for steep ball ticket prices.

“How are these ticket prices justified?” wrote a disgruntled student. “So tone deaf given the cost of living crisis and that not everybody in law school is privileged enough to be able to s

Salient Magazine • 6th March 2022

Student Homelessness — Salient Magazine

Our vision of what homelessness looks like is tainted.

When we think of homelessness, it's easy to imagine a far-away abstract visual of what that looks like: a person living on the street or sleeping in a doorway. But in reality, it’s right on our doorstep: It looks like couch surfing for months on end in between flats, being forced out of a flat due to unlivable conditions, and living in cars or vans. It’s time we address the rapidly growing issue of student homelessness in Wellington.

While

Salient Magazine • 24th July 2022

School Strike For Climate: Reflecting On Pākehā-Centric Activism —

Sophie Handford, often dubbed “Aotearoa’s Greta Thunberg”, was one of the young climate activists who founded the New Zealand branch of SS4C. Leading up to the first series of strikes in 2018, she found herself becoming the face of the movement. I spoke to the Kāpiti-based activist, where she resides as the youngest city councillor, after retiring from School Strike in 2021.

The School Strike movement began in Sweden and gained media attention after thousands of students participated in strikes

Salient Magazine • 30th April 2023

New “Cost-of-Living” Scholarship Announced by University —

Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington has announced a new “cost of living scholarship” to help support students as the cost of living soars.

In an article published by Re: News, the university shared news of a “recently announced” scholarship, aimed at helping Te Herenga Waka students who are feeling the burden of the cost of living crisis.

The scholarship is yet to be listed on the university’s scholarship database, but can be found under a donations page on the university website

Salient Magazine • 29th May 2022

How K-POP Fans Have Changed the Face of Activism —

K-pop has taken the world by storm; a global phenomenon currently dominating the musical, fashion, and pop cultural spheres. Korean pop music is known for a myriad of girl-groups and boy-bands, catchy hits, complex dance routines, and dedicated fan-bases.

K-pop fans have a reputation for being one of the most loyal and extreme fan bases on the planet. Extreme fans are commonly known as ‘stans.’ Regular fans may engage with artists and bands in a casual way, such as listening to their music, goi

The Spinoff • 1st September 2021

How social media is exposing the cracks in our mental health system

For disabled people, an inquiry into abuse is only the first step

Disabled people still have less societal power than the able-bodied, and where there are inequalities of power there is room for abuse.

NZ Herald • 19th May 2021

Zoe Mills: The Sudanese influencer and the blue circles

A protester flashes the victory sign in front of burning tires and debris on road 60, near Khartoum's army headquarters, in Sudan. File photo / AP

A protester flashes the victory sign in front of burning tires and debris on road 60, near Khartoum's army headquarters, in Sudan. File photo / AP

If you use any form of social media, it's likely your feed has recently been flooded with blue circles.

The social media movement #IAmTheSudanRevolution encourages people to change their profile pictures

Tearaway • 23rd March 2021

In Conversation: Clap Clap Riot

Since the band’s debut in 2008, Auckland-based band Clap Clap Riot have dominated New Zealand’s indie-rock scene – now, they’re back for more in 2021.

The band is currently prepping for the release of their latest album and is set to tour the country this March – the first tour for the band since 2019.

I got to sit down with the band’s guitarist Dave Rowlands to chat about the group’s latest record, the recording process, and the upcoming tour.

As we chat through Zoom early on a Monday mornin

Tearaway • 12th October 2020

Youth Wings: ACT's Felix Poole

The Spinoff’s Youth Wings series featured a debate in September — our Mavericks sat down with each of the Youth Wings* to understand what their parties are about.

Will you see yourself reflected in the wings or do they look the part but speak like a retired veteran? ZOE MILLS sat down with Young ACT’s Felix Poole to find out.

He enjoys video games.

He lives in a shoddy student flat.

He used to scrape grease out of the fryers at McDonald’s

He is also president of the youth wing of the ACT P

Tearaway • 17th August 2020

ROONIE: NZ's next big thing

If there’s a name that you are bound to hear on the radio any time soon, that name is ROONIE – or more specifically, Michaela Pointon.

The 19-year-old has recently re-established herself on the NZ music scene as pop artist ROONIE – complete with her debut release My Heart, a vibrant track that matches her bright personality to a tee. I sat down with ROONIE to chat music, inspiration and her goals for the future.

The past year has been one of significant change and growth — in particular, the s