Hi and welcome to the 37th edition of Werewolf. Local government politicians go to the polls this year - so we’re kicking off our first 2013 issue by focusing on local body politics in Wellington, as it awaits the arrival of the city’s new chief executive, Kevin Lavery. To canvass the options currently facing the capital, new Werewolf contributor Sue Kedgely conducted a wide-ranging interview with the incumbent mayor Celia Wade- Brown. Moreover, in our cover story we assess the outsourcing and privatising of Council jobs and services that have been carried out in the past two years, apparently under the noses of the elected left-leaning members of Council.

Also in this issue….in her “Policing Pregnancy” feature, Alison McCulloch examines the growing readiness of the authorities to intervene in pregnancy (supposedly, to protect the fetus) and Alison challenges the way such actions are infringing on the rights and freedoms of the women involved. In this issue, we also update Julian Assange’s current situation , via a brief interview conducted with his lawyer Jennifer Robinson , while she was in New Zealand recently supporting the West Papuan independence leader, Benny Wenda.

In his latest article, our globetrotting regular writer Brannavan Gnanalingam outlines his travel experiences of “looking like a Muslim” – and concludes that the racial and religious profiling that Richard Prosser MP was advocating is already a fact of life for thousands of people with dark skins and non-Western names. In a reprinted feature from the UK, Maggie Murphy explains how Pussy Riot was just the visible surface of the Russian Federation’s plans to erode fundamental human rights , while in a similar story, we suggest a change to our Bill of Rights that would – among other things – give real teeth to the Living Wage campaign .

In his film feature this month, Philip Matthews suggests that Quentin Tarantino is recycling in Django Unchained the same old bag of tricks that seemed fresh 20 years ago in Pulp Fiction. By contrast, Philip finds a lot to praise in Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master which really hasn’t got much to say – pro or con -about Scientology, but weaves its own spell. In another film feature, we try to sort out what’s true – as compared to what’s only dramatically true – about Zero Dark Thirty, and why Kathryn Bigelow's film matters more than its distant cousin, Argo. In his satirical column, Lyndon Hood has an imaginary text fest with Prime Minister John Key and they share lots of stuff about the economy and refugees ‘n’ things.… Finally, in our music column The Complicatist this month, we celebrate the crash and burn life of Gary Stewart , one of country music’s most troubled and talented sons.

Thanks to Lyndon for helping me post this online. And thanks to everyone who’s got this far, and shown an interest in reading Werewolf and keeping it going. Thanks a lot. If you want to be involved and want to talk over some story ideas, contact me at gordon@scoop.co.nz

Cheers,
Gordon Campbell
Werewolf/Scoop
gordon@werewolf.co.nz