The Commune: Episode Six — The Centrepoint Kids
Podcast by Stuff Audio
Released: June 5, 2022
Series Theme: Investigating the notorious free-love Centrepoint commune in New Zealand—its culture, crimes, and the impact on children who lived there.

Main Theme/Purpose

This episode dives into the childhood experience at Centrepoint Commune during its heyday in the mid-1980s. It explores daily life in the community from the perspective of children and teenagers, juxtaposing the outwardly utopian, “free” environment with accounts of emotional neglect, abusive practices, and the sexualization of minors. Through first-person testimonies and analysis, the episode asks: what was life really like for the so-called “Centrepoint kids”—and what did the adults fail to see?

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Centrepoint’s Expanding Influence (Abortion Clinic Takeover)

• [00:30] Auckland’s only dedicated abortion clinic, the Auckland Medical Aid Centre (AMAC), is gradually infiltrated and controlled by Centrepoint members, to the discomfort and suspicion of staff.
• Unqualified Centrepoint members begin “counselling” at the clinic; male commune members lounge in common areas, inappropriate for vulnerable clients.
• Profits and salaries begin funneling to the commune, further blurring ethical lines.

2. Centrepoint in the ‘80s: Outward Acceptance, Inner Rot

• [06:39] After high-profile investigations stalled, communal abuses went undercover. Externally, Centrepoint faded into background noise in New Zealand culture, even attending Easter shows and gaining positive media coverage.
• Despite old tabloid exposes, the commune boasts new enthusiasm, attracting more members via the lure of therapy, communal support, or escape from the outside world.

3. First-Hand Accounts: Adults and Children

Peter Calder’s Adult Perspective

• [09:07] Journalist Peter Calder lived at Centrepoint with his family as a “resident visitor” in 1985 and recalls both the appeal and strangeness:
  • Therapy sessions were confronting but enlightening (“I learnt a hell of a lot from it, about myself, about the way I was in the world” – Peter, [09:49]).
  • Free love had its downsides: “I found the sexual freedom quite bruising… my parents are right, sex is better with someone you love… the sex I had with people I didn't love… was a somewhat bruising experience” – [13:29].
  • Still, communal parenting and support was, at times, “unbelievably good” for raising young kids—plenty of shared care and resources.
  • Frustrates the external obsession with surface-level details: “People are obsessed… My God, these people live like animals. They go to the toilet without a door! Those are trivial, superficial things…” – [10:47].

The Meiklejohn Family: Angie and Renee

• [16:16] Angie and Renee, two sisters who moved to Centrepoint as children, describe their arrival as escape from family chaos:

  • Their mother sought support after mental health struggles, believing the commune would help raise her children.

• Renee’s Childhood at Centrepoint:

  • [19:58] First impressions: nature, children everywhere, communal living felt exciting at first—“a never-ending school camp.”

  • Food was “amazing,” communal meals, social rituals like “birthday tables” were memorable.

  • The children had extraordinary autonomy: “We could actually turn the dryer on with one of us in it and we would go around. It was fucking hilarious. And we used to do that.” – Renee, [23:54].

  • Adults were emotionally and physically distracted; children formed their own “wolf packs.”

  • Property theft, both within and outside the commune, became a casual, even game-like, behavior among kids.

  • Exposure to Adult Sexuality:

    • Open sexual activity was normalized. “At any time of the day or night, people would be fucking. So there would be sounds of fucking. So we were already almost desensitized…” – Renee, [27:40].
    • Kids became curious, experimented young; at age 12, Renee was pressured by leader Bert Potter to “lose her virginity”: “I remember being called up to Burt’s to talk about losing my virginity… It was a task.” – [28:31].
    • The expectation and sexualized environment meant children experienced premature sexualization, often interpreted only years later as exploitative.

4. Therapeutic Practices and ‘Feedback’

• [31:19] “Feedback” was central—ostensibly openness, but functionally a license for aggressive verbal attack. All had to “stand there and take it.”
  • Angie: “You would just diminish yourself until you became whatever was required or accepted.” – [33:31].

5. Enforced Hierarchies among Children

• [33:59] “The hierarchy” exercise involved publically ranking and physically moving children up or down a lineup, based on adult feedback—resulting in widespread humiliation and shaming.
  • “Being sexually promiscuous got you to the top. Being pliable to the elders, to Burt and his cronies, got you to the top.” – Renee, [39:44].

6. Abusive Dynamics: Hypnosis and Exploitation

• [40:40] Hypnotherapy experiments led, unmonitored, by older teens on younger ones; used to facilitate, at times, sexual abuse and boundary violations (“I went along with the things and they really believed me… one boy coming over and helping himself to my genitals and being so petrified that I couldn’t… I was absolutely frozen and I couldn’t move.” – Renee, [41:30]).

• Relationships between much older and younger children were openly visible, leaving even the children themselves disturbed (“I remember them walking around the community holding hands… what the actual fuck…” – Angie, [43:11]).

7. The Double Life: School vs Centrepoint

• [45:17] School becomes a haven for kids like Angie: “School was quite heavenly in lots of ways because there was much less expectation, especially emotionally and, you know, sexually… It felt really safe for me.”
• Teachers and principal recall Centrepoint kids as normal—sometimes insular, but mostly indistinguishable from their peers. No formal concerns or interventions.

8. Adult Denial and Rationalization

• [48:51] Some adults, like Barry, had intuitive concerns about child welfare but were stonewalled by leaders and therapists: “Things aren’t right with the children here.” Therapist: “The children are fine. Go and look at your own pain.” – [49:07].
• Despite visible behavioral issues in kids, adults rationalized or redirected criticism, avoiding accountability.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the external obsession with commune eccentricities:

  • “My God, these people live like animals. They go to the toilet without a door! …Those are trivial, superficial things, in the same way… surrender of all their worldly goods was a very, very minor thing…” – Peter Calder ([10:47]).

• On sexual freedom and its price:

  • “I found the sexual freedom quite bruising… as I got older… sex is better with someone you love…” – Peter Calder ([13:29]).

• Adult distraction and children’s autonomy:

  • “…the spotlight wasn’t on us, so we could kind of do what we wanted. Because the adults were so busy getting fucked and getting fucked up.” – Renee ([24:38]).

• Early sexual pressure from leadership:

  • “I remember being called up to Burt’s to talk about losing my virginity… it was a task.” – Renee ([28:31]).

• On the shaming effect of Centrepoint’s hierarchy exercise:

  • “Being sexually promiscuous got you to the top. Being pliable to the elders, to Burt and his cronies, got you to the top.” – Renee ([39:44]).

• Feedback as a corrosive force:

  • “You would just diminish yourself until you became whatever was required or accepted.” – Angie ([33:31]).

• Teachers’ perceptions:

  • “They just look like regular kids.” – Jenny Helen ([47:00]).

• Obstacle to external help:

  • “Things aren’t right with the children here.”
    “The children are fine. Go and look at your own pain.” – Barry and senior therapist ([49:07]).

Timeline of Important Segments

• [00:30] — Centrepoint’s infiltration of Auckland’s abortion clinic.
• [06:52] — Centrepoint’s shift to social normalcy and continued growth.
• [09:07] — Journalist Peter Calder’s introduction and reflections on commune life.
• [16:16] — The Meiklejohns arrive at Centrepoint; Angie and Renee’s background.
• [19:58] — Renee describes her childhood life at Centrepoint.
• [23:02] — Maximum freedom but extreme adult distraction for children.
• [25:24] — Sexual atmosphere; adult encouragement of child/teen sexual exploration.
• [28:31] — Bert Potter’s direct intervention in Renee’s sexual development.
• [31:19] — “Feedback” and emotional exposure as a communal practice.
• [33:59] — Introduction of “hierarchy” and its impact on children.
• [40:40] — Hypnosis and sexual abuse among teens/children.
• [43:11] — Relationships between younger and older children.
• [45:17] — School life as safe haven; teachers’ and principal’s commentary.
• [48:51] — Ongoing adult denial; Barry’s failed attempts at raising concerns.

Conclusion

Episode six of The Commune confronts the uncomfortable reality behind Centrepoint’s “liberated” community—especially for the children caught in its experimental crossfire. While the commune's ideals of shared parenting and radical therapy are described with some nostalgia by adult interviewees, the kids’ testimonies reveal a darker flip side of benign neglect, humiliation, and premature exposure to adult sexuality. Meanwhile, external institutions like schools failed to see, or felt unable to address, hidden harms. The episode masterfully balances recollection, analysis, and emotion, spotlighting the lived experiences of the Centrepoint kids and raising critical questions about complicity, denial, and the unintended consequences when adults pursue utopia.

Further Listening:
Next episode delves into the aftermath as some adults and children start to confront what was really happening at Centrepoint.