Zombie Towns: Everything I Missed – Details, episodes & analysis

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Zombie Towns: Everything I Missed

RNZ

News

Frequency: 1 episode/2d. Total Eps: 3

Economist Shamubeel ‘zombie towns’ Eaqub travels to Balclutha and Tokoroa to find out what’s really going on in heartland New Zealand, analysing how struggling communities regain their financial mojo.

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Data updated on 28/09/2026

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Tokoroa (Part 1)

Season 1 · Episode 2

Sunday, September 27, 2026 • Duration 23:37

Tokoroa is a new town which sprung up because South Waikato is able to produce some of the fastest growing pine trees in the world. Forestry meant that South Waikato was once one of the wealthiest regions of New Zealand. But today it is one of the poorest as globalisation forced the loss of jobs. Just as Balclutha struggled 40 years ago, Tokoroa is struggling now.

In this episode, Shamubeel talks to:

Andrew Dobbs - redundant mill worker
Gary Petley - mayor of South Waikato
Alan Blair - former millworker
Apii Solomon - Tokoroa teacher and member of the Tokoroa Cook Islands community
Red Middlemiss - unionist
Lisa Karauma - former millworker, now works in retail
Larry Sullivan - retailer and Tokoroa stalwart
Nancy Chhur - Cambodian immigrant and business owner
Thelma Popata - Tokoroa gym owner

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

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Balclutha (Part 1)

Season 1 · Episode 1

Sunday, September 27, 2026 • Duration 19:37

Economist Shamubeel Eaqub recounts how the term 'zombie towns' created an outcry in rural New Zealand. Now, a decade on, he wants to understand if anything has changed in the provinces. Did he miss something back then? Why have the economic statistics started to change - albeit slowly? What's going on in New Zealand's economic heartland? He chooses to focus on two towns: Balclutha and Tokoroa. He travels first to South Otago, where he quickly discovers locals determined to show him they are not the walking dead.

In this episode, Shamubeel talks to:

Nigel Stirling - South Otago farmer and former RNZ economics correspondent
Ruth Baldwin - manu whenua
Bryan Cadogan - three-term mayor of South Otago
Olive Glover - lost two farms as a result of Rogernomics reforms
Dr Branko Sijnja - Balclutha general practitioner

You can read more about the series on the RNZ website here

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Zombie Towns: Everything I Missed – Details, episodes & analysis

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Zombie Towns: Everything I Missed – Details, episodes & analysis

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