TVNZ board member Linda Clark, a former political editor, acted as lawyer for Jevon McSkimming and helped secure a super injunction hiding child and bestiality porn allegations. ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏

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Briefing for 22 July 2025

State media director tied to court gag order in police child and bestiality porn scandal

Deputy Police Commissioner Jevon McSkimming resigned in May after investigators allegedly showed him child sex exploitation and bestiality material found on his work devices.

Broadcaster Michael Laws noted that Linda Clark, a board member of TVNZ and a former political editor, acted as McSkimming’s lawyer and was behind the push to seek a rare “super injunction” that hid not only the material and McSkimming’s name, but also the existence of the legal action itself.

‘Wellbeings’ out, focus in: National pushes back on council mission creep

The government’s push to scrap the “four wellbeings” from local government law has rattled bureaucrats but could finally rein in councils obsessed with doing everything but the basics.

The Local Government (System Improvements) Amendment Bill passed its first reading this week, stripping references to “social, economic, environmental and cultural wellbeing” from the law.

Watchdog clears banks over net zero climate lending claims

The Commerce Commission has rejected claims that New Zealand’s biggest banks colluded to impose climate-linked lending rules on farmers, despite growing concern that net zero ideology is narrowing access to credit.

Stanford signals major NCEA overhaul as internal assessments, credit-chasing erode credibility

Education Minister Erica Stanford is preparing to overhaul New Zealand’s main secondary school qualification after an internal government briefing raised red flags about its long-term credibility.

According to the Herald, the NZQA document warns that NCEA’s built-in flexibility is being overused, allowing students to skip exams and assemble credits from easier or disconnected subjects instead of following a coherent learning path.

‘We’ve lost the thread’: trans insiders admit the movement is stuck

When the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the previous Biden administration challenged Tennessee’s 2023 ban on puberty blockers and hormone therapy for minors, they hoped to deliver a knockout blow to similar laws spreading across Republican-led states.

Instead, the Skrmetti decision entrenched those bans in a 6–3 ruling, with the court rejecting the argument that the treatments were constitutionally protected.

Trump rejects WHO power grab on pandemics

The Trump administration has formally rejected a World Health Organisation agreement that critics say would hand too much power to unelected officials during health emergencies.

“Nations who accept the new regulations are signing over their power… to an unelected international organisation that could order lockdowns, travel restrictions, or any other measures that it sees fit,” US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said.

“It doesn’t even need to declare an emergency,” he added.

Robot royalty: Ai-Da unveils King Charles portrait at UN

A portrait of King Charles III painted by a robot was unveiled at the United Nations in Geneva recently, marking a first for the British monarchy and the art world.

The work, titled Algorithm King, was created by Ai-Da, a hyper-realistic humanoid robot artist equipped with AI algorithms, robotic limbs, and high-tech cameras in her eyes.