Phoebe Robertson

Students who started university in 2024 and are graduating this year probably don’t know this, but you’re not really supposed to have the same Salient editor for three years. The last person to edit the magazine for more than one year did so in 2000 and 2001. So, yes, it has been a while. And, thanks to a slightly strange series of circumstances that brought me back to the job in 2025, you very nearly got rid of me. After three years in this job, I have learned a lot about journalism: how to...

New ADHD rules were supposed to broaden access to diagnosis. But Te Herenga Waka’s planned free assessment pathway never opened, private assessments still cost around $1000 or more, and publicly funded care remains limited. Salient investigates the gap—and the student market in prescription stimulants growing around it. In several Signal group chats shown to Salient, prescription ADHD stimulants are advertised with the casual shorthand of any other student-marketplace sale. One seller posted...

Charlotte Lawrence has been elected VUWSA President for 2027, beating Ethan Rogacion and Skyla Ashford with a landslide 59.18% of the vote. The results were announced on Thursday 24 September at the VUWSA Annual General Meeting, following three and a half days of voting across Te Herenga Waka. During the campaign, Lawrence centred her pitch on helping students thrive, promising to make life cheaper for students, build student political power and create a greater sense of community at Te...