June 2014 Archives

The Australian mini-series “The Code” starring Lucy was featured in the MIP TV Magazine 04 April 2014 Issue.

The mini-series will be seen in Australia on ABC1, BBC4 has bought the series in the UK, DirecTV in the U.S., Sundance Channel, Latin America and Denmark’s DR.

The air date has not been announced (other than it being sometime in the middle of the year) and there was talk about it being in June or July. Since we are now at the end of June, looks like July or August (hopefully). As soon as the date is announced, I’ll be updating the AUSXIP Lucy Lawless The Code Subsite so make sure to bookmark that page for all news related to the mini-series

MIP TV Magazine
04 April 2014

The Code (6 x 6)

Stretching from the spectacular red desert of Australia’s outback to the cool corridors of power in Canberra, The Code tells the story of two very different brothers who unearth information those at the highest levels of political power will kill to keep secret.

In the middle of the outback a stolen 4WD collides with a transport truck.  Two local kids in the car are hurt. Badly. Someone should have called for help.  But they didn’t. They didn’t because that ‘someone’ works for a major stakeholder in an international research project no-one talks about.

The kids’ accident would have remained a mystery if it weren’t for Ned and Jesse Banks – a young internet journalist desperate for a break, and his troubled hacker brother on a strict good-behavior bond.

Ned and Jesse are gifted a poisoned chalice when a phone video of the outback accident arrives in their in-box. And posting it on-line will cost them more than they ever imagined. Together, they suddenly become the unlikeliest crusaders for democracy.

The decision to dig deeper drags the brothers into the darkest heart of politics, and the web of black marketeers and the international agencies who monitor and manipulate them.

The question is just how far those in authority will go to keep their explosive secret safe.

And just how far the two brothers will go to reveal the truth.

Starring:

• Lucy Lawless as ALEX WISHAM (Spartacus, Top Of The Lake, Xena: Warrior Princess)
• Adam Garcia as PERRY BENSON (Camp, Coyote Ugly, Hawthorne)
• David Wenham as IAN BRADLEY (Top Of The Lake, Better Man, 300)
• Aden Young as RANDALL KEATS (I Frankenstein, Rectify, East West 101)
• Chelsie Preston Crayford as SOPHIE WALSH (Underbelly, The Mystery Of A Hansom Cab, Dripping In Chocolate)
• Ashley Zukerman as JESSE BANKS (Terra Nova, The Pacific, Rush)
• Dan Spielman as NED BANKS (Offspring, Secret Life Of Us, An Accidental Soldier)
• Dan Wyllie as LYNDON JOYCE (Tangle, Underbelly, The Broken Shore)

Here’s some pics of Lucy from the Bloomsday event in Auckland on 16 June 2014. You can find out more about this event by going to the AUSXIP Lucy Lawless Bloomsday Event Subpage

From last week-Pics of JEWS BROS BLOOMSDAY @ http://t.co/Nm6V0y5TCw Michael & @RealLucyLawless chat during interval: pic.twitter.com/kN8p3KqdBZ

— MichaelHurstNow (@MichaelHurstNow) June 23, 2014

Lucy Lawless at the bar at Thirsty Dog Tavern & Cafe during Bloomsday event https://t.co/sPwKh0Bb0s pic.twitter.com/opvgrINJgS

— AUSXIP Lucy Lawless (@lucylawlessnet) June 22, 2014

Here’s a new video of Lucy promoting “Climate Voter”

Lucy Lawless is a #climatevoter. Become one too climatevoter.org.nz

SFX Magazine - 250th Issue
June 2014

1995 was a year in which science fiction became science fact

Then there was Xena: Warrior Princess with Lucy Lawless. Xena and her sidekick Gabrielle gave us powerful female characters that literally kicked butt while brandishing both swords and their wit. Xena was a character that became the subject of feminist studies lessons and lesbian love poems. For me she represented a strong- willed woman who was able to hold her own with the likes of Hercules. Plus she actually looked like a real woman who could lift a gigantic sword instead of the stick- thin supermodels we have as heroines today.

Lucy on List of Who do we really trust?–
Rodney Times 24 June 2014

Dame Alison Holst of Orewa is ranked the third most trusted woman in New Zealand in a Reader’s Digest pollFirst woman last year, she comes in ninth on the overall list.

That’s behind former television identity Judy Bailey and shot putter Valerie Adams.

For the men soldier Willie Apiata, New Zealander of the Year Dr Lance O’Sullivan and All Black captain Richie McCaw make up the top three.

Others to feature include weather man Jim Hickey (8), Mad Butcher Sir Peter Leitch (11), TV presenter Toni Street (27), fellow presenter Simon Dallow (36), the Topp twins (47), Te Radar (60), Lorde (61), actor Lucy Lawless (71), entrepreneur Alan Gibbs (74) who has a sculpture, giraffe and other exotic animal farm at Kakanui, former Rodney MP Lockwood Smith (76), now New Zealand High Commissioner to Britain, Helensville MP John Key (86), Bethells Beach environmentalist Gary Taylor (88), and Kim Dotcom of Coatesville (99). Along with New Zealand’s most trusted people, Digest also released the most trusted professions, the top three being firefighters, paramedics and rescue volunteers.

Politicians, door to-door salespeople and telemarketers ranked at the bottom, being the three least trusted professions.

Doctors, pharmacists and vets ranked 6, 7 and 8, police 10, teachers 11 and farmers 14.

Journalists maintained a low rating at 43. Reader’s Digest

The NZ Herald has an article about the launch of "Climate Voter" in Auckland today - Lucy helped launch the event.

Climate Voter was launched at in Auckland this afternoon

"I'm going to wear my Climate Voter t-shirt until September 20," campaign supporter Lucy Lawless said.

Ms Lawless felt her NZ Herald guest editorship earlier this month was "about giving people credible information." Now she hoped prominent friends would join as Climate Voters. "I love the non partisan aspect because we need to say this is a social justice issue," Ms Lawless said.

Read full article

Lucy has launched a new climate change initiative called "Climate Voter"

What is "Climate Voter"?

Being a Climate Voter means you care about climate change and you want all political parties to do something about it. It means you want real action on climate change and you're prepared to use your vote to get it. It says you support strategies to rapidly phase out fossil fuels and grow New Zealand's clean energy and low-carbon potential.

Climate Voter is a non-partisan initiative powered by an alliance of New Zealand organisations. It aims to empower climate concerned citizens to use their vote in the September 2014 election to make a difference for the good of present and future generations.

In the lead up to the election we will be asking political parties where they stand on key elements of climate related policy with a #ClimateVoter question of the week. Near election day we will host a live debate between all major political parties inviting them to convince Climate Voters that their party will take real action on climate change.

Lucy has tweeted about it:  

I signed on as a Climate Voter.... Join me. http://t.co/t2ebrUyvSE #ClimateVoter via @ClimateVoterNZ

-- Lucy Lawless (@RealLucyLawless) June 22, 2014

Over on Facebook actor Cameron Jones

Joined forces with fellow actor and kiwi, Lucy Lawless today to launch 'climate voter'.
It's not about being left wing or right wing.

It's about using your vote to ensure the longevity and sustainability of our beautiful country at this years election.

www.climatevoter.org.nz

Source

The NZ Herald has a review of the Bloomsday event on 16 June in Auckland where Lucy read Molly Bloom.

On Monday's rainy night, exactly 110 years to the day since James Joyce's Leopold Bloom supposedly took an odyssey around Dublin, I pushed open the door to the Thirsty Dog on Karangahape Rd and fell into Ireland. Or rather, I fell into what the Jews Brothers Band called "the only Jewish-Catholic convocation in the known world", their chaotic celebration of Bloomsday, crowded by poets, musicians, unionists, sociologists and (other) old codgers.

Janet McAllister writes about Lucy’s performance:

After nearly three hours of slapstick, Lawless finally came up onstage as the faithless, disappointed wife Molly Bloom. Without affectation, she became still, and so did the previously raucous room. It would have been easy at a pub jolly for an actor to self-consciously curl her lip at the naughty bits for easy laughs, but Lawless didn't do that, and her Molly didn't "put on" sexy. Instead, at a microphone in street clothes, reading from Joyce's text, Lawless gave the best live performance I've seen her give. She nailed talking about being nailed.

Read the full article on the NZ Herald Site

Here’s some of Lucy’s performance on Monday night’s Bloomsday cabaret. I’ve cleaned up the footage from the video and turned them into b/w snaps

WATCH VIDEO

Spartacus: The Complete Series on Blu-Ray and DVD set for release on 16 September. Thirteen-Disc Set Contains All 39 Episodes and New Bonus Features! Here's the press release and box art from Anchor Bay Entertainment!

PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 17, 2014

“Pulse pounding entertainment.” – Huffington Post

ANCHOR BAY ENTERTAINMENT BRINGS YOU THE BIGGEST AND BADDEST BOX SET OF THEM ALL!

“SPARTACUS: THE COMPLETE SERIES” ON BLU-RAY™ + Digital HD with Ultraviolet™ AND DVD SEPTEMBER 16, 2014

Thirteen-Disc Set Contains All 39 Episodes and New Bonus Features!

Beverly Hills, CA – All hail Spartacus - his legend will live on! Anchor Bay Entertainment releases every season of the acclaimed Starz Original series in a complete muscular thirteen-disc Blu-ray™ + Digital HD with Ultraviolet™ and DVD box set on September 16th. From executive producers Rob Tapert, Sam Raimi, Josh Donen and Steven S. DeKnight, here is every moment - uncut and uncensored – of the series that broke all the rules and took no prisoners! “SPARTACUS: THE COMPLETE SERIES” is a beautifully packaged collection that contains a full disc of new bonus features. The Blu-ray™ + Digital HD with Ultraviolet™ edition contains three new audio commentaries for the first season that are exclusive to this collection. A limited edition Blu-ray™ + Digital HD with Ultraviolet™ set packaged with a Spartacus collector’s figurine will also be available with an SRP of $199.99. SRP is $149.99 for the Blu-ray™ + Digital HD with Ultraviolet™ and $119.98 for the DVD. Pre-book is August 13th.

“SPARTACUS: THE COMPLETE SERIES” is the classic tale of Spartacus, the Republic’s most infamous rebel who comes alive in the first season of “Spartacus: Blood and Sand.” Then comes “Spartacus: Gods of the Arena,” the prequel that explores a deadly history before the arrival of Spartacus, and the death he now carries with him. The second season, “Spartacus: Vengeance,” continues to follow Spartacus as he is faced with a choice to either satisfy his personal need for vengeance, or make the sacrifices necessary to keep his growing army from breaking apart at the seams. Finally, in “Spartacus: War of the Damned,” Spartacus will carve his name into history as he plots to avenge his wife’s death and leads Batiatus' slaves in a bloody uprising that will not be forgotten or equaled.

“The gods finally bless us with the complete collection,” says creator and executive producer Steven S. DeKnight. “Spartacus was a true labor of love for everyone who worked on it and I’m incredibly proud to present all 39 episodes in stunning High-def for the fans to enjoy at their leisure, but make sure you watch them in the order they first aired to revel in the experience as originally intended.”

New Bonus Features:

• SPARTACUS Fan Favorites With Liam McIntyre
• Scoring A Hit: Composer Joseph LoDuca
• An Eye Full: Roger Murray
• SPARTACUS: Paul Grinder
• The Last Word: John Hannah

Lucy was at the Thirsty Dog Tavern in Auckland yesterday for the Bloomsday Cabaret where she read from James Joyce's Ulysses. Lucy Tweeted before the event. Here’s a video of the performance (or some of the performance)

and some screencaptures from the video by Thirsty Dog Cafe

Here are some screencaps (very grainy) of Lucy at the end of the video

I get to intone #JamesJoyce's immortal words of Molly Bloom's Solliloqui @ Bloomsday Reading tonight. Heaven, that's where I am! @ThirstyDog

— Lucy Lawless (@RealLucyLawless) June 16, 2014

WATCH THE VIDEO via Facebook. Lucy can be seen at the end of the video - very grainy.

Lucy’s tweeted the following about an hour ago about the Bloomsday Cabaret in Auckland tonight.

I get to intone #JamesJoyce's immortal words of Molly Bloom's Solliloqui @ Bloomsday Reading tonight. Heaven, that's where I am! @ThirstyDog

— Lucy Lawless (@RealLucyLawless) June 16, 2014

WHEN: MONDAY NIGHT, JUNE 16, 7.30 - 10.30pm
WHERE: THIRSTY DOG TAVERN, Corner Howe Street and Karangahape Road, Auckland
WHAT: BLOOMSDAY with THE JEWS BROTHERS BAND and a cast of thousands!

Lucy Lawless and Michael Hurst, stars of the epic sandals & skirts TV soap Xena, Warrior Princess, will be re-united in June in a K Rd pub for Auckland's fabulous annual literary bash, The Jews Brothers' Bloomsday.

They'll be part of a tribute to James Joyce's masterpiece Ulysses, celebrated in pubs the world over on June 16, the world's sole annual commemoration of a totally fictional date, June 16, 1904, a date in which something happened only in a book.

On that single all-including day, Irish saint, scholar, hurler Joyce re-imagines Homer's epic poem The Odyssey unfolding its ten Mediterranean years out onto the streets and seaside and red-light district of Dublin, 1904.

It's a day now celebrated as "Bloomsday", in which Homer's hero Odysseus becomes a Dublin Jew, Leopold Bloom (in the words of one essayist "the greatest Jewish character in world literature, more forgiving than Moses, funnier than Jesus, filthier than Portnoy").

Sighed French Nobel Literature prize-winner Albert Camus, "The poignancy of the enterprise..." God knows what Camus would have thought of this internationalist musical cabaret version, done in a pub on the corner of Howe St and K Rd deep down in the South Seas.

But it's a lovely madness, fittingly pulled off amidst massage parlours and hookers. "It's not the Ku-dam," cries out chanteuse Linn Lorkin, "Or the Reeperbahn, or the port of Amsterdam! It's Karangahape-dam!"

This year's Auckland Bloomsday has a dazzling line-up of talent that top-bills with Lucy Lawless reading from Molly Bloom's midnight dreamy soliloquy, Michael Hurst as young Stephen Dedalus (and also as outrageous French cabaret star of the 1930s, the wonderful Josephine Baker!), Bruce Hopkins as the fiercesome transvestite dominatrix Bella Cohen and Unite Union organiserJoe Carolan as the frothing nationalist, The Citizen (and his mangy dog).

Yuko Takahashi will be singing Mozart, so will Farrell Cleary, aka Blazes Boylan. Tenor and political commentator Chris Trotterwill sing Dominic Behan's The Patriot Game, Jean McAllister will be backing Linn Lorkin, Hershal Hersher, Peter Scott and Auckland's yiddisher Jews Brothers Band.

Dublin actor Brian Keegan will be reading from The Book.

And there'll be a surprise appearance from Dame Sister May Leo, dropping in from heaven. 

Thirsty Dog Tavern, Karangahape Rd
Monday night, June 16, 7.30pm-10.30pm.

The following appeared in the “In Brief” section of the Weekend NZ Herald of 14 June 2014

Clarification A message from Lucy Lawless in yesterday’s edition said Standard & Poor’s had given New Zealand a ‘ D’ for projected creditworthiness. We’re happy to clarify that was a figure of speech rather than referring to D for Default. The comment referred to a table ranking 116 countries by vulnerability to climate change. New Zealand was 72nd, between Mongolia and the Dominican Republic, about four- fifths of the way down the list.

This is a clarification to Lucy’s editorial

You can find out more about Lucy’s guest editing on the NZ Herald on AUSXIP Lucy Lawless NZ Herald Subpage

Editorial by Lucy Lawless
13 June 2014 Issue of NZ Herald

A hundred times I tried to turn down the guest editorship. But eventually their persistence and my hunger for new challenges won out. And maybe I could do some good? I canvassed interesting people I know for great untold stories in their field. I was inundated with suggestions. But in the end, you can only do what’s authentic for you.  I have always been a cheerleader in the fight against child abuseand neglect. Likewise, climate change, which just proves that child neglect is intergenerational.  Given that Standard & Poors recently gave NZ a ‘D’ for creditworthiness owing to our vulnerability in the face of climate change and an ageing population, the major parties might want to reflect on their choice to ignore our lack of preparedness. They risk looking like denialists, stuck in the dark ages or worst of all, deep in the pocket of supra-national oil companies who are concerned about no one’s survival but their own.

Yep, climate change is blowing into town like the Whore of Babylon — and she wants her money! Unfortunately, so does everybody else. No lightbulb or factory to change. I’ve always thought that enlightened self-interest would light the way forward but evidently blatant self-interest is the only force that actually works in the world of business. So, instead of me bleating on about the catastrophic climate change, only  we have tried, when highlighting issues, to present workable solutions as suggested by people who actually know what they’re talking about.  Dairy farmers are doing great work cleaning up farming practices. To be fair, the driving force is not concern re climate change but low input farming is definitely better for the planet. Because of our ageing population and straitened hospital budgets, I wondered if it would be a case of geriatric the time I was 64. Happily, the good folks at the Starship Foundation are showing how we are all going to be better off by factoring social profit into the accounting. It’s a formidable case of a stitch in time.

We want to be encouraging of emergent technology and research. Research doesn’t sound sexy but by collecting and sharing valid data, we feed into the world knowledge bank and eventually it results in better outcomes, better remedies.  It’s a tricky world but good things are happening. Believe it.

On Monday Lucy along with Michael Hurst and other performers will be celebrating James Joyce’s Ulysses.

The following article appeared in the Auckland City Harbour News for 13 June 2014

I saw the front cover of the NZ Herald today and got a little inspired!

Check out all of Lucy's guest edited NZ Herald on AUSXIP Lucy Lawless

and here is my art.

Lucy Lawless interview: Patrick Kelly’s dream is that he’ll wake up and find he’s no longer needed. But the paediatrician knows society will have to make big changes before that happens.

I met Dr Patrick Kelly in 2000 after a spate of infamous abuse cases brought to light the horrifying extent of child maltreatment in New Zealand. Dr Kelly, a paediatrician at Starship, was one of the great minds behind New Zealand's first multi-agency centre, Puawaitahi.

Behind its unremarkable facade, child protection specialists from the police, CYF and Starship work in close proximity to improve the lot of children who suffered brutality and neglect. I wanted to talk to Dr Kelly about how things have changed in the past 14 years.

Lucy Lawless: It doesn't look like you're working fewer hours, Patrick.

Dr Patrick Kelly: You'll get a call at 2am and the last thing you may want to do is get out of bed, but once you come in and see a teenager, typically 13, 14 or 15, who has been raped, you become engaged in the fact that this is a teenager who has been through an incredibly difficult experience. They often come in very upset, they may not be particularly well supported and you know you've done a good job when, at the end

sure, you've given the police a forensic rape kit, but more importantly, the young person walks out of the room with their eyes up, maybe even smiling, with a new set of clothes and feeling this is not the end of the world for them. We hope we give them a sense that there is a way forward out of this."

It is typical of the discretion that Dr Kelly's profession demands, that he will use fairly benign terms to describe some of life's grimmest experiences. "Traumatic" and "disgusting" become "difficult". "Mother too drunk to care" may become "not particularly well-supported". You have to listen carefully.

LL: In fact you deal with kids much younger than 13, don't you?

PK: Our work is roughly 50/50 split between various forms of sexual assault, which nowadays tend to be largely in teenagers, and physical abuse and neglect, which tends to be largely in much younger kids. The seriously abused kids are the ones who end up in Starship. For them the mortality rate is quite high, 10 to 20 per cent. The children most likely to die are the ones who come in with head injuries from being shaken or slammed, or abdominal injuries from being stomped or punched.

LL: Are the impulses behind that similar to a shaken baby situation - the frustration with a child being ... well, a child?

PK: The factors are complex. In that situation, the person who injured the child typically doesn't volunteer exactly what they did or why, but when that information comes out it's often about a child who was crying or a toddler who was demanding - just doing what babies or toddlers normally do - with an adult who for some reason cannot cope or doesn't want to.

Sometimes it's where the adult, particularly the male, doesn't have any biological relationship to the kid, so this is a child whose behaviour he has no particular motivation to tolerate. But not infrequently it's the child's own parents ... In a lot of cases it's fairly ordinary people who just crack under the pressure. They shake that baby, often with the intention, not of hurting them, but of shutting them up.

LL: And even one shake can do it?

PK: If it's violent enough, one shake can do it. Violent to and fro movements cause subdural bleeding. The immediate outcome is that the baby is concussed, so she might stop crying, which is exactly what the caregiver was wanting. But they may not realise the only reason is that they've essentially knocked her out. Even if it never happens again, that child could still have some long-term neurological problems as a consequence of that event.

He tells of a case where he came in to treat a 15-year-old girl who had been raped. Although she was sociable and attractive, it became apparent during the assessment that she had a mental age of about 8. She was unaware of boundaries and often found herself in dangerous situations. Dr Kelly went back through her files and discovered that she had indeed been at the (then) Princess Mary hospital as a shaken baby, at the age of 9 months. Clearly, these children do not grow up and out of it.

PK: I meet young adult males with major learning and behavioural problems. Some are parents of babies who they now shake. And I wonder how many of them sustained injuries as babies. The lack of effective intervention early in their lives creates a miserable legacy.

Dr Kelly suggests it's been 20 years of missed opportunities. He says a commitment to research the interventions that worked (and didn't) in 1994 might have meant a lot fewer referrals in 2014.

SOCIAL INEQUITY

LL: Are we doing any better yet?

PK: There's been a huge increase in notifications and part of that's around public awareness, but I suspect there has also been a true increase.

LL: Why do you think that is?

PK: It's tempting to link our possibly increasing rates of child maltreatment to the huge increase in social inequality in New Zealand in the last 20 years.

LL: Do you?

PK: I'm reluctant to draw a direct relationship because if you do, it implies that because you are poor you are more likely to abuse your children and I don't think that's true. It's not as simple as that. But I think the more stress you put a family under - all other things being equal - the more likely it is that the family's going to crack. We know that during the recent economic crisis, rates of abusive head trauma in children went up in the US.

And if you look at countries like in Scandinavia, where rates of child maltreatment are much, much lower than ours, their rates of social inequity are also much, much lower.

SOCIAL DISINTEGRATION

LL: So the issue is money?

PK: Money is only part of the issue. It's also about social disintegration. For example, our own evidence at Starship would suggest that the rate of shaken baby syndrome in Pacific islanders is no higher than the general population in the first year of life, whereas it is in Maori. And I have wondered if that is because many urban Pacific Island babies are still much more in the bosom of their extended family.

LL: There's always someone to pass the baby off to?

PK: Well, exactly. If you've got 13 people living in the house, six of whom are female and many of whom have extensive experience with childcare, then you've got an insurance policy for when you lose it in the middle of the night. Whereas if you are a young Maori urban mother, cut off from your tribal roots and family, who's flatting somewhere with a whole bunch of unrelated people who are abusing drugs and alcohol, and you lose it in the night, you don't have much of a support network.

But it's important to note that the same stresses and factors can be seen in every ethnic group, and it's not just the people we usually perceive as "at risk". Being an upper-middle-class Pakeha with a tertiary degree doesn't prepare you for parenthood or ensure that you won't lose your temper with a crying baby in the middle of the night.

WHERE TO FROM HERE?

LL: What can we be doing better - apart from everything?

PK: I really like what Russell Wills, the Children's Commissioner, is proposing and his plan for the abolition of child poverty, which creates a level playing field for children in the first five years of life, which are so profoundly important.

The Vulnerable Children's Bill and the Children's Action Plan have some excellent ideas - for me, the most important is that the health system (for the first time) will have some responsibility under law for child protection. However, the Children's Action Plan proposes, for example, that all frontline professionals in health and education will be trained in appropriate response to child abuse and neglect by the end of 2015. Well, who is going to do it? It's the kind of training for which you don't want people running a slide show out of a book. You want people who know, from experience, the realities of child abuse and the realities of being a front-line professional in health or education.The ambition is laudable but it's a huge workforce development issue.

I don't think the people in Wellington and the upper echelons of decision-making realise the dearth of clinical resource at the front line. I think people assume that doctors and nurses know what to do, but in fact most of them don't because they've never been trained.

LL: What is it you want?

PK: I want the health system to think of child protection as a health responsibility. It is everyone's responsibility, but each part of the system has a responsibility to get its own house in order. Health professionals care about children, but often have little to do with child protection. To create a culture shift within the health system, there needs to be a funded nucleus of health professionals in every DHB, for whom child protection and associated system changes are key parts of their responsibility, just as we do for rheumatic fever, obesity, diabetes. We don't say to social workers "go and sort out diabetes". Social workers are a key part of the workforce, but they can't do this by themselves.

For kids who have been abused or experienced serious neglect, there should be positive discrimination in their favour. We should never allow that child to drop out of the system again. And if we have to go hunting for them and if that costs money ... [he shrugs.]

LL: Are you talking about a victim register?

PK: Well, I don't like the word "victim" and I don't like the word "register", which just sounds like another database. But I am talking about a concept and a commitment of no child being lost, the resource and the determination to do what's necessary to follow the children who have come to harm and to ensure that things are changing in their lives. We already have the means, if we had the motivation. We need a change of culture.

A child comes through this centre, we try to do a really good quality process in making the diagnosis, working with CYF, going to family group conference, being part of a court process, if that happens. But at some point, the case will be closed. The assumption is that if something bad is happening, someone will let us know. And that's a hugely dangerous assumption.

CYF's own data suggests that without concerted intervention, children who are notified in the first two years of life are likely to be repeatedly renotified because they are living in a toxic environment. They are like the canary in the mine, and by the time the system finally gets around to realising that, the child has suffered too much for too long, the consequences may be difficult or impossible to repair.

Dr Kelly stresses the social cost of that. The upfront cost of long-term follow up may seem prohibitive to bean counters, but getting in early is the right thing to do, morally, socially and economically.

He is tired of seeing hastily put together initiatives waste time and money while children keep coming into Puawaitahi tattered and torn.

PK: And I'm tired of people describing a place like this as "the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff". I feel there is this perception, at a policy level, that primary prevention is "good" and the kind of work that a team like ours does is just about putting the boot into people who have abused their children.

But I don't really care whether or not someone goes to prison for this. I care that this child is kept safe. From my perception, children who have already suffered harm are simply those who are at highest risk. If we cannot keep even them safe from further harm, how can we possibly say we know how to prevent it in the first place?

Lucy says:
Dr Kelly's fondest dream is that he should someday be put out of business. Until then he and his team will continue to stitch little girls back together and to redignify kids who've been polluted by the actions of grownups. He knows the issues only too well and has strong opinions on real solutions.Why on earth would we not listen to him?

On the web: starship.org.nz

- NZ Herald

When Xena Met Captain Kirk–Lucy Interviews William Shatner
NZ Herald 13 June 2014

I catch up with William Shatner as he enjoys a rare moment of respite in a deluxe massage chair overlooking the Niagara Falls. He's been glad-handing admirers at fan conventions across America because, he says, his horses keep him poor. Hard to believe. Tomorrow he goes to shoot a movie in Georgia. At 83, the man never stops.

Lucy Lawless: Hi, I'm sorry to interrupt your session with your massage chair. Is it in your room?

William Shatner: It's the best massage chair I've ever seen. The ones I've always used just push you around a little. This is a great massage chair.

LL: And it squeezes your legs, right? Is it one of those ones?

WS: And your feet!

LL: Oh nice!

WS: And then your hips and then your shoulders, and then you put your arms under something and it presses down on your arms!

LL: Wow, cool. And you cannot watch television while sitting on one of those, have you noticed?

WS: You know, you have to give yourself to the chair. Queen Elizabeth does, why can't we?

LL: I've got a few questions that were submitted by journalists who were very excited. You covered Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds on your Transformed Manalbum. It's the 50th anniversary of the Beatles invading the US.

What are your memories of the period and was your reading of the song influenced by Peter Sellers who had done A Hard Day's Night and She Loves You some years before?

WS: Well, I know nothing. Fifty years ago I was dimly aware of the Beatles. I thought they were strange, I thought their music was simplistic, I thought their haircut was ridiculous and I found them somewhat offensive.

It took me till about 10 years ago. I had an iPod that was empty and a friend of mine said, "Oh, I'll give you all my songs," and I think it is against the law but I did it, and they downloaded all their songs. So I realised as I walked away that I had somebody else's musical soul in my iPod. I was shooting a movie at the time and I was shooting late at night so I had to stay up, and I couldn't make much noise, so I used earphones which I'd never really done before, and I plugged in this iPod, the music of which I didn't know what the contents were. And I found the Beatles'White Album, and I played it, listening now because the earphones were intently beaming that music into the centre of my brain. And I suddenly hear the Beatles' music for the first time, and fell in love with the Beatles and Beatle music. I ended up last year, we were doing a Shakespeare reading in front of a thousand people, a group of Hollywood people, and myself, and George ...

LL: Harrison?

WS: No, give me the next Beatle ... [Lucy names the Beatles] Paul McCartney! Paul McCartney was part of the Shakespeare reading in that he supplied mood music, and I got to sing Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds with Paul McCartney. ... And that's my Beatles story.

LL: Wow.

WS: Isn't that a wow?

LL: That is really a wow. Do you have a favourite Beatles song apart from that one?

WS: Well, I did Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds on an album and it was scoffed at at first, and then second glance, it was merely laughed at. And I was stuck with the interpretation of a drug addict searching for LSD, which I thought the song was about - well, that's general knowledge. When I asked Paul about it he said no, it was taken off crayon drawings that his child had pinned up on the refrigerator. Is this getting complex?

LL: No, no, I love it. You know, I watched you on YouTube, I think it was in 1972 where Bernie Taupin introduced you doing a spoken word rendition of Rocketman, and from the polite applause at the end I felt like your absurdist humour was too far ahead of the curve of Hollywood. It really took them till the 90s to really catch up to you.

WS: [Laughs] I was trying to do Frank Sinatra doing Bernie doing Rocketman.

LL: Didn't you get the sense that people didn't get you? Did it ever bother you?

WS: Well what bothers me is, sometimes I'm playing with the fun of it and other times, the lyric is so good that I'm able to use it as poetry, backed by a melody line and they don't know whether to take it seriously or not. So I have a new album out there, the lyrics of which I wrote, and a really well-known musician by the name of Billy Sherwood, who's played with the group Yes for many years, wrote the music. And ...

LL: What's it called?

WS: ... the lyrics I take seriously. And the music. And it's sort of a concept album. It's a progressive rock album.

LL: Where can we buy that?

WS: Turn left when you leave the house.

LL: So you can get it at a record store? 'Cause it's not on iTunes, is it?

WS: I believe it is, it's called Ponder the Mystery.

LL: So you mentioned Shakespeare, and you were trained as a Shakespearean actor. Was it a great surprise to you to find yourself out in space?

WS: No ... though the words that Shakespeare wrote have a certain ring and cadence to them, speaking the English language can be rhythmic and beautiful no matter who wrote it, even in its simplicity. So there were many scripts that Star Trek had that had a beauty about them and an intention about them and I was just coming off the stage so I was rather stagey in my delivery, was rather theatrical in my delivery, so it wasn't that far from ... don't mean to make it sound like Shakespeare ... but it wasn't that far from the rhythmic delivery that one assumes is required by Shakespeare, although I don't necessarily subscribe to that school either.

LL: Did you see yourself very much as a jobbing actor at the time?

WS: Yeah, what people don't understand about what we do, you and I, is that you also do it to make a living, and you might take jobs that you wouldn't ordinarily take for a variety of reasons, not the least of which it pays very well.

LL: Did it pay well? Because I don't think people realise that the original series ofStar Trek only went for three years, from 1996-1969.

WS: No, it didn't. It didn't pay well when we did it, and it was before the time when you got residuals. So we've never gotten residuals as a result of Star Trek.

LL: I think it had modest success in its first run, did it not? Did you feel you had made it?

WS: No, it was ... in the 30s and 40s of popular shows, so it wasn't disastrous but it wasn't in the Top 10.

LL: Did you ever have the feeling 'I've made it'?

WS: No. I wrote a song, that's on an album called Has Been, in which I bemoan the fact I've never known when I made it. I've never made it in my opinion.

LL: Is that what drives you? Because sincerely, you're the most vital and the most creative fella I think I've ever met. Is it curiosity, is it a compulsion, is it something from your childhood that makes those decisions for you ... what drives you?

WS: Well, I think really what drives me, is I have the opportunity to do these things. Most actors are trying to do one thing, I'm being offered to do a variety of things, whether it's designing a watch, designing a motorcycle, doing man-in-the-street interviews, playing in Shakespeare, appearing in front of a crowd and ad-libbing for an hour, and entertaining them, doing a one-man show in front of thousands of people, and entertaining for two hours, and keeping them entertained, keeping their attention, and the variety of things that I do is because I've been given the opportunity and I keep thinking ... I've just got to do this one thing, before I start thinking about time and the usage of time. It's that but it's also the curiosity. Doing a one-man show on Broadway is berserk, you'd have to be insane. It's a death wish in a way because you leave yourself open to such criticism.

I mean, I was rehearsing when Charlie Sheen went out on a one-man show and got laughed off the stage. And that's not dissimilar to a time when I went into a large tank that had a couple of orcas in it and swam with the orcas and on the way up to San Francisco to do it, I was reading in the newspaper how a trainer got pulled down and killed by an orca and that was the subject of a documentary called Black Fish, and at the very time it was happening, I was in a pool in San Francisco (that happened in San Diego) and the trainer was saying to me, "Now listen, I'm going to tell you this just once but you've got to be very, very careful. When you put your arms around the orca, he's going to dance with you, and when I blow this whistle, you must drop off, and I'll attract his attention with a fish. You must swim as quickly as you can to the dock."

LL: Well, you were bonkers to get in the water.

WS: Bonkers is right, my dear.

LL: Yes, well, you are a very adventurous performer as well. Did you ever find yourself on stage and realise that you were way out on a limb?

WS: I'm with a leading actress and we're rehearsing a play, the author of Boys in the Band which was a hit Broadway show, written about gay boys, had this major success, the thing had run for two years, Jose Quintero was directing. Does that name sound familiar to you?

LL: Yes.

WS: Jose Quintero was a great American director, one of the top few, and he was directing the play, and I can't think of the guy's name, the author, but he had written Boys in the Band, and I was with this leading lady and we rehearsed with Jose Quintero and we were opening in Los Angeles prior to going to Broadway, and the opening was the two of us to stand in front of the curtain on the apron and do something, deliver some words. And the house lights go out, the stage darkens, we were waiting for the lights to come up on us and we were in front of the critics and the Hollywood audience, I mean who could be more bitingly critical, and she says to me, are we in a disaster?

And then the lights come up.

LL: And you didn't think you were until that moment. And then you knew.

WS: You can't allow yourself to think this is disastrous otherwise how can you go out on stage?

LL: So you came to NZ in 2011, you performed your one-man show, a collection of stories about your brilliant and textured life thus far. Your stories about your marriages brought the house down. You lost your third wife, Noreen, to alcoholism. What did you learn from your life with Noreen?

WS: I learned that love does not conquer all. I thought that with lavish applications of love which I deeply felt for her that I could change the course of her alcoholism. In fact, I'd been warned not to marry her because of alcoholism, but I loved her so much that I thought that and she thought as well, or at least gave lip service to it, because as you may or may not know, an alcoholic is very devious, and I thought I could cure her or at least dissuade the devils that drive somebody to alcohol. And I learned that it doesn't. It isn't fairy book like that. It generally doesn't work, I suppose it does with some people ...

LL: So instead of all the love in the world, what is it that you think they need?

WS: Well, they know intellectually that they are killing themselves. They know from going to AA even in a cursory way that they are going to die from cirrhosis of the liver, of an accident, like a car accident, or drown, those are the three major reasons for ... and drowning, I believe, is the chief cause of death in alcoholism and they all know that, intellectually. But the brain grows dendrites, new material, to accommodate the alcoholism, and then it craves the alcohol, the body grows something else, like a callus, which replaces the worn skin, that is what the body does to defend itself or assimilate the alcohol. And then now it becomes a physical thing and it isn't just mental. It starts off being a mental disease and turns into a physical requirement like food and air. And how do you get somebody off food and air? And these are only truths I learned subsequent to all of that.

LL: There's no easy answer, is there?

WS: No, so the recidivism rate or the rate at which alcoholics can be cured is so slim, you know, the truth of the matter is AA is about 10 per cent ... they can help maybe one person out of 10 ... the rate is very, very bad.

LL: Are you kidding?

WS: No, there are spas that say "we have a 90 per cent success rate" and Noreen went to all of them. And there's no 30 days. It takes years, and you've got to be in a place for years or at least a year. To begin to allow the thing that the brain grows which, as I understand it, is like a dendrite, like a vine, like a nerve ending, to accommodate the alcohol, for it to die off. Like if you starve a root.

LL: Who impresses you, Bill?

WS: Who impresses me? My darling, you walked into that room and I was bowled over ... your spirit, your beauty, your stature, everything about you is impressive.

LL: Well that's not getting in print, I can tell ya! Well, aside from me, then? Clearly ...

WS: What impresses me? I'm impressed, I befriended, I had a really interesting experience, and I haven't quite explained it to myself yet ... I've been doing some man-on-the-street interviews, I'm calling it Brown Bag Wine Tasting, and I get the strangest people and ask them to have a sip of wine with me, and use it as an insert into a conversation. So I've recently sold the show and they then wanted 10 more and they arranged for 10 or 15 people for me to interview. So they found one person that remains in my mind, actually more than one, but this one is a really good example, so there was this young African American kid, maybe in his middle 20s, so I'm sitting at the table and we're introduced and they start rolling the cameras and I say, "Let's taste this wine." I said, "What kind of wine do you like?" And he said, "I've never tasted wine," and I said, "Well this is a wine show." The people had been playing a joke on me. Not a joke, but to see how I would handle it. So I began, rather than cutting it short or talking down to him, I began to educate him on the complexities of wine, like you would a child. And this 24-year-old marijuana dealer, he deals in marijuana, that's how he's begun to make money legitimately, because it's medical marijuana in California, he's begun to work himself out of the ghetto, he has a wife or girlfriend and child, he now has a home, he's driving a car, and he's 24 years old and he's making money on dealing marijuana, but what impressed me was his openness, this absolute vulnerability to the world around him which he's never seen before.

LL: I guess I've only got one more question because I've taken up enough of your time. You do a lot of work for charity, and in fact you've sold a kidney stone for $75,000 to benefit Habitat for Humanity.

WS: The cast of Boston Legal kicked in $25,000 and the $100,000 we gave to Habitat for Humanity and they built a house for a family in the New Orleans area that was devastated by the hurricane.

LL: Hey, you got any more of those?

WS: Kidney stones? Well I'm drinking a lot of calcium stuff so I'm hoping to make one.

LL: You're a wonderful man, thank you so much.

WS: Ta, ta, dear ...

- NZ Herald

Added some high res scans, video, editorial and a cute artwork to the page!

Check it out! Click on the thumbnail to take you to the page or click here

Here are the photos and video from today’s newsroom meeting to put to bed tomorrow’s edition of the NZ Herald. There are quite a few of them so here goes!

Read the Transcript of the Lucy Chat with fans here

VIDEO

Guest Editor Lucy Lawless at NZ Herald Office 12 June 2014
Posted on: 12th June 2014

NZ Herald guest editor @RealLucyLawless, @ShayneCurrieNZH and @nzherald editors discuss tomorrow’s front page 12 June 2014 New Zealand actress Lucy Lawless was in the New Zealand Herald newsroom today to guest edit this Friday’s edition of the NZ Herald. Lucy has chosen the theme “A Brighter Day” for her edition. She has commissioned several interviews and photographic [...]

PHOTOS / TWEETS

NZ Herald Live Chat with Guest Editor Lucy Lawless–Transcript
12 June 2014

New Zealand actress Lucy Lawless was in the New Zealand Herald newsroom today to guest edit this Friday's edition of the NZ Herald.

Lucy has chosen the theme "A Brighter Day" for her edition. She has commissioned several interviews and photographic initiatives which reflect this.

This is the chat with fans where she discussed the vision for her edition of the New Zealand Herald, her view of the media and news, and her career. 

Lucy’s Responses are in red.

Hi everyone, Lucy is with us now for today's live chat.by Paul Harper 10:26 AM

lucy.lawless
Hello people! Got questions? Bring it!
10:27 AM

What would you definitely change about New Zealand when you were given the change to do so?by martine 10:27 AM

lucy.lawless
I would have made us go organic back in the 1980s. Couldn't figure out why Helen Clark didn't go that way
10:28 AM

Lucy, what will be different about tomorrow's Herald compared to the usual paper?by Ed 10:28 AM

lucy.lawless
There's more than 25 assignments I've commissioned - from sustainable farming to a hip-hop artist, Brooke Candy
10:30 AM

Hi Lucy, do you think there is enough climate change coverage in the media? If not, why do you think there is a lack of coverage?by Tina 10:30 AM

lucy.lawless
It is without a doubt the gravest challenge the world faces today but in my opinion most people find it too big to cope with. Sometimes you have to appeal to the economics of it; I find that awful but necessary
10:31 AM

You have played very interesting character roles and now being a guest editor. Are there any further plans in this direction? What are your further projects if you can reveal them ofcourseby martine 10:32 AM

lucy.lawless
I've never had plans of any sort; my plan is to eat life
10:33 AM

Tomorrow's @nzherald features a wonderful interview with my arch-nemesis/main squeeze William Shatner #startrekby lucy.lawless
10:33 AM

You did a lot of preparation for this NZ herald special edition. How do you see 'A brighter day' for New Zealand and for the whole world?by martine 10:34 AM

lucy.lawless
I use brighter in the sense of more intelligent...we can always do things smarter, cleaner, and more profitably. Social profit also has to be factored in.
10:35 AM

lucy.lawless
I did about three days of canvassing other people in interextring walks of life about whatr they thought I should do but in the end, I could only commission things that I felt truly passionate about.
10:36 AM

Hi Lucy, what media sources such as blogs or podcasts do you like to regularly follow?by Claire 10:36 AM

lucy.lawless
@PEI, MSNBC, Daily Show and National Radio in NZ
10:37 AM

lucy.lawless
Sorry, that's Partially Examined Life, a philosophy podcast by four nutty guys.
10:38 AM

NZ Herald guest editor Lucy Lawless answering your questions.
by Paul Harper 10:38 AM

Lucy, I admire the work you've been doing to save our environment. But right now I'm here to ask the inevitable "Xena" question: You tweeted there was some talk about reviving the character. What's the latest?by CH 10:39 AM

lucy.lawless
It goes thru many incarnations. Sometimes I'm in it, sometimes I'm not!
10:40 AM

lucy.lawless
Truthfully, I don't know where it's at. Rob is incommunicado so I can't ask the latest.
10:41 AM

There is talk about doing a Xena movie on facebook and twitter. Are u willing to do a movie if it comes to that?by Melissa 10:40 AM

lucy.lawless
Yes, But can I wear a mumu?
10:41 AM

I see you are wearing 100% ok bracelets. Are there any stories relating to the LGBT communityby Claire 10:42 AM
I just think the Tino Pai idea is great. Straight folks letting gay people know they're 100% okay with you.by lucy.lawless 10:43 AM

lucy.lawless
I hate that kids grow up feeling they are not acceptable because of the wzy they are born. There's no choice in the matter.
10:43 AM

Lucy, do you think the LGBT community is represented in NZ media in an accurate and positive light?by T 10:43 AM

lucy.lawless
You'd have to ask them.
10:44 AM

hei Lucy...thanks to be here today.... about your politics activites, any plan to candidate yourself? can you tell us something about this?by Bianka Brauns 10:44 AM

lucy.lawless
I don't wee myself as political. All things are about fairness or the greater good. I don't always know the answers but unless people can share information, we can't find the best solutions available in the current state of knowledge
10:47 AM

lucy.lawless
Then as we grow wiser, we'll make better decisions. Politics sometimes gets in the way of collective wisdom.
10:47 AM

Hi Lucy. What was the last book or article you read that had a positive influence on your life?by Sarah McNab 10:48 AM

lucy.lawless
Make I have just finished Masha Gessen's 'Words will break Cement' about the Pussy Riot trial. I think it shows the effects on the ground of the Putin's ghasly ascent. I abhor censorship and now understand what cracking down on the right to protest (as has recently happened in NZ), is a civil rights issue.
10:51 AM

lucy.lawless
See also, 'The Man without a Face' also by Masha Gessen.
10:52 AM

Lucy, how did you originally get involved with Greenpeace and its activities in NZ?by SM 10:53 AM

lucy.lawless
When the Greenpeace ship was bombed in Auckland harbour by the French Government, the whole of NZ was galvanised behind them. It was very instrumental in fighting for a Nuclear-Free Pacific. And then I met them while filming a movie about the bombing. And I found them to be great human beings, intelligent, educated, realists but fearlessly fighting for a better world for our kids.
10:56 AM

lucy.lawless
And Kumi Naidoo is a champ!
10:57 AM

How does make you feel knowing that your a role model to so many people? Does it make you nervous.. i always said.. I'm a Lucy Lawless Fan.. you are an amazing woman I am in awe of youby lisaxena 10:57 AM

lucy.lawless
I long ago realised that I am not responsible for whatever it is you guys are attaching to. I have enough on my hands being a reole model to my kids. If you guys do good on behalf of Xena, It's because of your efforts, not mine.
10:59 AM

lucy.lawless
And if you do something stupid, I take no responsibility for that either.
10:59 AM

lucy.lawless
We're all grown ups here
10:59 AM

Hi Lucy, What did you find most challenging about being guest editor?by Christine Elizabeth 11:00 AM

lucy.lawless
Saying Yes.
11:00 AM

lucy.lawless
Tried to weasel out a huyndred different ways
11:01 AM

NZ has the 4th largest EEZ in the world. Less than 0.5% is protected. NZ presents itself to the world as a global leader in ocean management but has little to be proud of when it comes to marine protection. As a nation are we politically apathetic when it comes to our environment? Or unimaginative? Surely our ocean is a national treasure so why don't we value it?by Bronwen @thekermadecs edited by Paul Harper 11:02 AM

lucy.lawless
Coz we trust authority too much? we are in a malaise. It's so snug with our heads in the sand!
11:04 AM

lucy.lawless
I also think the middle class have a very low threshold for pain. The poor are already living with max pain.
11:05 AM

You've been so concerned about the present and future of our planet, what's the main thing you would like your children keep in mind about the environment when they grow up?by sharkerbx 11:04 AM

lucy.lawless
The main project we all have ahead of us is generating our own power. Solar and wind are the best way to cut down our footprint.
11:06 AM

Since you obviously decided to go ahead with being guest editor, what have you found most rewarding about the experience?by SM 11:07 AM

lucy.lawless
Don't know till I see the edition. The team here is pretty magnificent.
11:08 AM

lucy.lawless
I loved doing the interviews, though I'm not sure what interests me is going to interest you all.
11:08 AM

Hey Lucy! Xenite here ^^ Well, the world knows you like Xena the warrior princess and I would like to know if you sometimes don't feel locked in this character, you know, you did so many works after that. Do you ever feel upset about it ?by LiviaVenusAhHa 11:08 AM

lucy.lawless
NOpe. I am grateful for everything tht show gave me.
11:09 AM

lucy.lawless
Great friends, memories, lotta laughs a house a husband, and I guess that means my kids too.
11:09 AM

What was the most interesting topic you managed for this NZ edition?by martine 11:09 AM

lucy.lawless
Shaken Baby prevention and the Sustainable Farming pull out. Why smart farmers are being rewarded for their efforts.
11:10 AM

Are you interested in further study? I read you went back to Uni recently.by Char 11:10 AM

lucy.lawless
Yes, actually. I went to uni cos I couldn't leave the country while the trial was on and it changed my life. I have to thank the justice system for that
11:11 AM

lucy.lawless
plus my community service was the most fun I'd had in ages. Worked in a resthome and hospital for the elderly. It was geat fun
11:12 AM

How do you think we can get environmental and humanitarian messages pushed to the top of the page in today's society?by Emma Bryant 11:12 AM

lucy.lawless
It's very difficult because many people do not see the big picture nor take the long view. So they don't care about what is not whacking them on the head right now.
11:14 AM

lucy.lawless
you have to appeal to enlightened selfinterest. But sometime only pure selfinterest will work.
11:14 AM

The hyena call you used to do as the Warrior Princess - I've always been fascinated as to how you do it! Is there a special technique? And how did it come about? Was it your idea? Ps, Good luck with tomorrow's edition. Original Warrior Princess Fan :)by Happy 11:14 AM

lucy.lawless
It's a bastardized version of the Arabic women's cry. and yes, it's a trick that only the initiated can do. Abandon all hope, pal
11:15 AM

Hey Lucy! What is your favorite character that you have portrayed in recent years? Everyone loves Xena, but what about your other roles?by Laura Caldwell 11:16 AM

lucy.lawless
Lucretia will always hold a special place in my heart. She nearly broke me!
11:18 AM

lucy.lawless
Xena DID break me
11:18 AM

Lucy... i would like to know if you ever had to say NO to act in a movie because you didnt agree with the kind of the character you would perform...by Bianka Brauns 11:18 AM

lucy.lawless
Umm, I did turn down Sharknado recently. actually the role was not bad.
11:19 AM

lucy.lawless
Was that a mistake?
11:20 AM

Hi Lucy, Will you be back on Parks and Rec next season?by rs cyr 11:20 AM

lucy.lawless
Probably at some point.
11:20 AM

lucy.lawless
I got a lovely letter from Nick yesterday. The man is a prince!
11:21 AM

One more question…by Paul Harper 11:21 AM
Hi Lucy! Just wondering what your reaction is when you see many fans, like myself, dress as Xena? Is it weird or do you find it cool?by XenaBattleCry 11:22 AM

lucy.lawless
Help yourself. SOmeone's gotr to!
11:22 AM

lucy.lawless
I loved that photo on Twittter of the XenaLisa. Very funny and well done!

11:23 AM
Follow me thru the day with the hashtag #lucysheraldby lucy.lawless 11:22 AM

Thank you to everyone for your questions, sorry not all of them could be answered today. And thank you Lucy for taking the time out from editing tomorrow’s paper to chat with our readers.by Paul Harper 11:22 AM

lucy.lawless
Mwah!
11:23 AM

Original chat was conducted here

How cool is this - this is the June 16-29, 2014 Issue of TV Guide. Has a great quote from Renee!

Click on the thumbnail for the larger scan

New Zealand actress Lucy Lawless will join us in the New Zealand Herald newsroom tomorrow to guest edit this Friday's edition.

Lawless, best known for playing the title character of the internationally successful television series Xena: Warrior Princess but also a passionate advocate for the environment, has chosen the theme "A Brighter Day" for her edition. She has commissioned several interviews and photographic initiatives which reflect this.

Lawless joins us at 12.30pm tomorrow to discuss the vision for her edition of the New Zealand Herald, her view of the media and news, and her career. Ask your questions below and join the discussion.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11271963&ref=NZH_Tw

Lucy Tweets about the Upcoming Guest Editor at the Herald gig:

Look out! Next guest editor: Lucy Lawless - National - NZ Herald News http://t.co/7zqOyvRQpm via @nzherald

— Lucy Lawless (@RealLucyLawless) June 7, 2014

pic.twitter.com/OsWkYJFnh6

— Lucy Lawless (@RealLucyLawless) June 9, 2014

Thank-you, Darling man for the @nzherald interview. As always, you are a delight! @WilliamShatner

— Lucy Lawless (@RealLucyLawless) June 9, 2014

@WilliamShatner @nzherald Absolutely, I will!

— Lucy Lawless (@RealLucyLawless) June 9, 2014

Looking forward to having the Warrior Princess in @nzherald newsroom on Thurs, our guest editor @RealLucyLawless http://t.co/xIX2KbIdoX

— Cathy O'Sullivan (@CathyKoo) June 9, 2014

.@nzherald guest editor Lucy Lawless has been in the newsroom, interviewing William Shatner. Their encounter will run in Lucy's paper on Fri

— Shayne Currie (@ShayneCurrieNZH) June 9, 2014

Here's a roundup of some Lucy pics from twitter:

Lucy Lawless Dine & Dash - wonder what happened to that show? pic.twitter.com/Izt9KsI7eJ

— AUSXIP Lucy Lawless (@lucylawlessnet) June 8, 2014

Karl Urban and Lucy Lawless - Xena in Red! Xena Episode "When In Rome" pic.twitter.com/bNCQmm10P0

— AUSXIP Lucy Lawless (@lucylawlessnet) June 8, 2014

Photobomb @RealLucyLawless @kathycumming @DeniseRocheMP #Green2014 pic.twitter.com/xW312GmbgE

— Green Party NZ (@NZGreens) June 2, 2014

That one time I met @RealLucyLawless. pic.twitter.com/GbWJse6O66

— Bill Meeks (@billmeeks) June 1, 2014

#TBT it's everyone! @TahmohPenikett @theaarondouglas @edwardjolmos @RealLucyLawless @kandysemcclure #gracepark #BSG pic.twitter.com/ehjRBD1BQQ

— BSG Museum (@BSGmuseum) May 29, 2014

The New Zealand Herald is proud to announce NZ's very own Warrior Princess, Lucy Lawless, will guest edit next Friday's edition.

Lawless will be in the Herald newsroom on Thursday, directing and guiding the tone and content for the following day's issue. She will lead the daily news conference, where the news, world, sport, business, illustration and digital editors will present their content lists and ideas.

Herald editor Shayne Currie said Lawless was a special New Zealander, respected here and internationally as an actress and advocate for the environment.

"Lucy has been brilliant — she's already come up with a list of more than a dozen assignments for the editorial team, across a wide range of subjects and disciplines. She's selected the theme 'A Brighter Day' and she's been fully involved in several interviews and photographic initiatives. With a special cover wrap, it promises to be a keepsake edition."

Lawless, best known for playing the title character of the internationally successful television series Xena: Warrior Princess, says: "The NZ Herald not only reflects what's going on and what's interesting to the public, but advances issues in the public interest. This issue is about giving readers solid facts so they can make up their own minds on some of the biggest issues New Zealand faces today."

The guest editorship initiative was announced at the Herald's 150th birthday celebrations. Sir John Kirwan became the first guest-editor of the Herald, last December.

"It's a great pleasure to welcome Lucy to the Herald team and we're confident she's going to challenge us to deliver a very special and personal edition," said Currie.

The following article appears on the newstalkzb.co.nz website. There is a brief mention of Lucy – see below. Click here to read full article

Green Party launches carbon tax plans
1 June 2014

Climate change is expected to become a pivotal election issue, following a carbon tax policy announced today.

The Green Party, if elected to form a government, wants to scrap the emissions trading scheme and impose a carbon tax on all sectors, excluding agriculture....

The Greens are harnessing starpower to push their new carbon tax policy - flying actress Lucy Lawless to the Hutt Valley from Auckland for their AGM today.

The Xena: Warrior Princess star is a passionate climate activist, but not a Green Party member.

However, she applauded the policy - which would see dairy farmers made to pay their share, alongside most other big emitters - with the money going to tax cuts for individuals and companies.

Lucy Lawless says she'd like to see National and Labour come up with innovative ideas to tackle carbon emissions.

here are two cool pics of Lucy from the NZ Green Party Policy Launch – Lucy Attends Greens Party New Climate Change Policy Announcement and Video of Lucy at the Green Party Policy Launch 01 June 2014

Dating bias #green2014 @RealLucyLawless #climate @NZGreens pic.twitter.com/KRfPz0jXV7

— Kathy Cumming (@kathycumming) June 1, 2014

.@RealLucyLawless at @NZGreens AGM to hear @RusselNorman's keynote speech on an issue close to her heart.#green2014 pic.twitter.com/76S6bS7nFT

— Kathy Cumming (@kathycumming) May 31, 2014

Green friends @pakaraka @RusselNorman and @RealLucyLawless #Green2014 pic.twitter.com/CgW0rPamyP

— Green Party NZ (@NZGreens) June 1, 2014

Lucy Lawless has come to hear Russel Norman's keynote speech at the @nzgreens conference. pic.twitter.com/wl2sapS5hL

— Annabel Reid (@AnnabelReid) June 1, 2014

OneNews had a segment about the Green Party Policy launch of a Carbon Tax to replace their Emissions Trading Scheme.

Here are some caps of Lucy being in the audience and being interviewed

and one from TV3 News

Watch the video of TV3 here

Stuff.co.nz has an article about the Greens Party in NZ announcing a new policy and Lucy was in attendance.

The article reads in part:

The Greens have launched a controversial new climate change policy - a carbon tax.

In the audience for the announcement was Hollywood actress and environmental activist Lucy Lawless.  Lawless flew down from her home in Auckland this morning to hear the speech.  She was given details of the policy days ago, but admitted she doesn't understand the details.

"But I think it's very energising. It's a great relief to me that someone is taking some leadership towards mitigating the effects of climate change," she said.

"I think fair has got to be fair."

She admitted she flew down at the last minute but doesn't fly "frivolously."

She came as "a mother" but is not a party member. Lawless wouldn't say if she will play a role in the election campaign.

"Somebody has got to say these hard truths and the Green Party is doing it."

Click here to read full article

Green Party NZ tweeted the following pic

Green friends @pakaraka @RusselNorman and @RealLucyLawless #Green2014 pic.twitter.com/CgW0rPamyP

— Green Party NZ (@NZGreens) June 1, 2014

A Sky news reporter tweeted about this with a pic of Lucy

Lucy Lawless has come to hear Russel Norman's keynote speech at the @nzgreens conference. pic.twitter.com/wl2sapS5hL

— Annabel Reid (@AnnabelReid) June 1, 2014

and Lucy tweeted about the event this morning:

About to hear @RusselNorman announce the @NZGreens' plan for tackling Climate change, thebiggest issue of our time #Green2014

— Lucy Lawless (@RealLucyLawless) June 1, 2014