Our 2024 Awards

Bent Spoon

Although not the winner of the Bent Spoon, of note this year there were some bad decisions made by our current coalition government. Their repeal of the Therapeutic Products Act, for example, has been a disappointing change. The new legislation was far from perfect, but at least it was a start when it came to regulating alternative medicine. But sadly all that work has now been thrown away. In its place, the coalition plans to work with natural health practitioners on creating a new Act for regulating natural health products. This unearned trust in homeopaths, acupuncturists, naturopaths and others shows a disappointing lack of understanding of the dangers of these therapies as an alternative to real, proven medical treatments.

However, our Bent Spoon for 2024 goes to someone with more authority in New Zealand than our government – King Charles. His dedication to promoting pseudoscientific alternative medicine has been ongoing for decades. We now know that for years he’s been involved in lobbying the UK government to support homeopathy through the NHS – as the Black Spider letters revealed when they were released. Sadly his elevation to King has not stopped his support of this, and more dangerous, nonsense. You only have to read the article Louise wrote for our newsletter earlier this year to see the long relationship he’s had with bad science.

After his coronation, it was revealed that King Charles had appointed a homeopathy-prescribing doctor as the head of the royal medical household. Dr Michael Dixon is also a keen advocate of Thought Field Therapy (a modality very similar to EFT – Emotional Freedom Technique – where “acupressure” points are tapped), herbal remedies, and faith healing as medical treatments.

In June this year, Charles confirmed that he will continue in his role as Patron of the “Faculty of Homeopathy” in the UK, a position he’s held since 2019. To many, this will be seen as official royal approval of homeopathy as a treatment, even though it’s never been proven to be effective for any medical condition. And, of course, homeopathy’s claims such as water having memory and “like curing like” are utterly scientifically implausible.

Just last week, after a visit to Australia, King Charles visited a controversial wellness centre in Bangalore, India – and this was not his, or Camilla’s, first visit. Soukya offers a long list of unproven treatments at high prices, including Ayurveda, Homeopathy, Naturopathy, Acupuncture and Reflexology, and claims that it can treat around 100 serious health conditions with these therapies. The very public reporting of the visit has doubtless raised the profile of this dubious business.

When Prince Charles became King Charles he failed to stop promoting harmful pseudoscience, instead choosing to use his new role to support the same causes he was criticised by medical experts for supporting while he was the Prince of Wales. And, for this, we award King Charles with this year’s New Zealand Skeptics Bent Spoon award.

Bravos

Each year the New Zealand Skeptics recognise a number of media professionals and those with a high public profile who have provided food for thought, critical analysis and important information on topics of relevance to our interests.The NZ Skeptics are pleased to recognise excellence where it occurs, with our annual Bravo Awards. This year, we are recognising the collective efforts of the team at The Press for an exceptional year of reporting on cults in the Canterbury region, as well as their clear support of the Decult conference, and for providing a platform for survivors to share their stories.

In particular, we want to acknowledge the following reporters:

  • Martin Van Beynen for his April 6th expose, Bernie Prior: The Governors Bay guru
  • Sinead Gill for her articles on the Catholic sect, Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer, and on the Decult conference
  • Tatiana Gibbs and Philip Matthews for their work on Decult

Skeptic of the Year

Our annual Skeptic of the Year award is given to someone in New Zealand who’s been working at the coal-face, fighting against the rising tide of pseudoscience and bad beliefs prevalent in our society. The award comes with a year’s free membership to the NZ Skeptics and a $250 cash prize.

This year’s Skeptic of the Year award goes to Anke Richter, who has shone a light on the murky world of cults, ensuring that New Zealanders are better informed and less likely to be sucked in by a guru, and that better support is available for those who are trying to leave. Her tireless work this year, preparing and running the recent Decult conference in Christchurch, was a labour of love. Anke has deep concern for those who have been abused by cult groups, something that sadly happens all too often in New Zealand to unwitting victims.