We've got a problem 
The three men responsible for the 2008 attack on the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) base at Waihopai — a schoolteacher, a Catholic priest and a farmer, who openly admitted to the crimes — were acquitted of all charges in Wellington District Court. "After a week-long trial, the jury took a mere two hours to rule that the men should be set free since they were acting for the greater good," writes Forbes deputy lifestyle editor Eric Arnold. "Were they?" Arnold pontificates. "Perhaps. The extension of U.S. government tentacles around the world is often troubling even to Americans. But the jury's decision is much more troubling. It conveys to the rest of the country — and to the larger world — that in New Zealand crime is OK if you believe you're in the right. It also shows that xenophobia is becoming as [much a part of New Zealand culture] as rugby and meat pies. I can't say that I saw the crime or even the acquittal coming, but I don't find either surprising. Spend a year in rural New Zealand and you'll learn that the country, for all the virtues and benefits it enjoys by being small and far-flung, is also greatly impaired by these two things, for they stir a sense of one-dimensional, nativist paranoia in many of its people that only grows stronger by the day … Progressive people affect change by using their brains, not their sickles and their sense of paranoia. History's already seen how that sort of thing shakes out, and I'd hate to see it repeat in New Zealand." 
(19 March 2010)

Green mirage 
The Guardian newspaper's 'greenwashing exposer' Fred Pearce uncovers a number of offending countries who have succeeded in raising their emissions from 1990 levels despite signing up to reduce them. "Step forward Spain, Portugal, Ireland and Greece — all with emissions up by more than a quarter ... US and Australia, which both reneged on the protocol after signing it. And Canada, which never reneged but still has emissions up by a quarter… But my prize for the most shameless two fingers to the global community goes to New Zealand, a country that sells itself round the world as 'clean and green'." "New Zealand secured a generous Kyoto target, which simply required it not to increase its emissions between 1990 and 2010. But the latest UN statistics show its emissions of greenhouse gases up by 22%, or a whopping 39% if you look at emissions from fuel burning alone." 
(12 November 2009)

Strengthening relations 
New Zealand's outgoing ambassador to Vietnam James Kember has received a medal from the Vietnamese government for his contributions to relations between the two countries. Speaking at the award presentation ceremony in Hanoi, President of the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisations (VUFO) Vu Xuan Hong said during Ambassador Kember's term of office for the last three years, friendship and co-operation between Vietnam and New Zealand have seen progress in all areas from politics to economics and trade. Kember said it was an honour for him to receive the award and reaffirmed that no matter what position he takes in future, he will continue to play his part in strengthening and developing friendship and co-operation between the two nations. Kember's foreign service includes postings in China, New York, New Caledonia and the Cook Islands. 
(22 August 2009)

Holding them accountable 
New Zealand academic and Professor of international political economy at Oxford University, Ngaire Woods, may have the answer to preventing another economic crisis with a new book The Politics of Global Regulation — the culmination of a five-year study with Oxford colleague Walter Mattli. At its crux, the book addresses why, with globalisation having taken off, the global economy has such a lack of effective regulation. It's a groundbreaking study because it's the first time scholars have looked at what Woods calls the theory of global regulatory capture, which is effectively what has happened in finance. "Those parts of the financial sector that are global and highly leveraged very effectively avoid the kind of regulation that is required, because these institutions are too large to let fail," says Woods. Woods and Mattli's solution to the conundrum of how we "prevent this happening again", is two-fold. First, there needs to be better monitoring by whomever supervises banks and the financial sector. The second, more ambitious solution calls for a global adjudication mechanism, similar to the disputes settlement mechanism at the World Trade Organisation. 
(19 June 2009)

Leading negotiant 
New Zealand's Ambassador to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Dr David Walker has been appointed as the new Chair of the WTO Doha Round Agriculture Negotiations. Walker replaces fellow New Zealander Crawford Falconer, who will be returning to Wellington to become deputy secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the WTO said. Walker's resume includes active roles in past trade negotiations, including the GATT agreement and Uruguay Round. He is the third successive New Zealander to chair the Agriculture Negotiations. 
(22 April 2009)

Clark first choice for UN role
Former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark has been tipped to head the United Nations Development Programme, according to an unnamed UN official. If confirmed in this posting, Clark will be responsible for the administration of projects in 166 countries and become the third most powerful official in the UN’s hierarchy. With an annual budget of US$5 billion, the Programme’s activities are targeted to achieve the UN’s Millennium Development Goals, which address such global issues as poverty, education, health and environmental sustainability. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who reportedly nominated Clark for the post, is expected to officially announce her appointment today.
(25 March 2009)

Leader for change
Time calls John Key’s election win “an emphatic triumph”, and in a Q&A, Key notes that “we are 22nd out of 30 countries in the OECD for average income. I think this is grossly inadequate. We’re on the edge of Asia, which arguably will be the fastest-growing region in the world for the next decade or two. We’ve got to be able to do a lot better.” And ...“I was blessed to have a mother who understood that education was a liberator and that you get out of life what you put into it. And so one of the things that really concerns me is the long tale of underachievement in New Zealand …” And … “The biggest challenge for any Prime Minister is to stay connected with the people who elect you. Once you lose sight of that, then the end is probably not that far away.”
(1 December 2008)

Indigenous art in the spotlight 
The Musée du Quai Branly, French President Jacques Chirac's long-awaited €235.2 million shrine to indigenous art, was officially inaugurated on June 21 in Paris. The Quai Branly boasts a collection of 300,000 works from Africa, Asia, Oceania and the Americas, including a 19th-century Maori woman's cloak, the prows of a war canoe and a carving from a marae entrance. Contemporary photographic works by Michael Parekowhai and Fiona Pardington are exhibited in the museum's garden. French opinion is hotly divided over the Quai Branly - while some hail it as a symbol of the universality of art, others see it as an archaic reminder of European colonialism. Chirac has made it his project since 1996. "There is no hierarchy among the arts, just as there is no hierarchy among peoples," he proclaimed at the inauguration. 
(21 June 2006)

Top 10 for 100%
New Zealand has ranked 10th in an index of the strongest brands in the world compiled by marketing research firms Anholt-GMI. New Zealand had positive brand values and managed, like Ireland which came 13th, to punch above its weight on the global stage, the survey said. "Both countries have relatively small economies and few well-known local brands, but have nonetheless managed to become well known and highly regarded." The survey's authors said New Zealand could thank its "vigorous, well co- ordinated and unusually thoughtful promotional campaigns" under the banner of "100 percent Pure". The Lord of the Rings trilogy was another factor. New Zealand did best on tourism and investment and immigration. It scored least on culture and heritage and exports. The top ten nation brands are Australia, Canada, Switzerald, United Kingdom, Sweden, Italy, Germany, The Netherlands, France and New Zealand. 
(3 August 2005)

No more 5 cent lollies
NZ’s 5 cent coin is soon to be no longer, thanks to a major overhaul of the national currency by the central bank. 1 and 2 dollar coins will remain unchanged but 10, 20 and 50 cent pieces will be made smaller and lighter.
(31 March 2005)
   

Australia looks to the near east
The Australian features a 20 page special report on The Pacific. Strongly focused on NZ, the supplement includes a regional overview ("Australia is said to be the superpower of the South Pacific. If so then New Zealand is certainly the second power, with Wellington playing London to Canberra's Washington. The relationship between New Zealand and Australia is fascinating, multi-dimensional and elusively complex."); CER ("Twenty years of closer economic relations have been boon to both sides of the Tasman" Tim Harcourt); building cultural bridges (focusing on Dr Mein Smith and Professor Hempenstall's efforts to set up a trans-Tasman research centre in NZ); fashion: a case study of World's designs in the Aussie market; the mateship of regional policing; energy and freight provision in NZ; and the proposed Air NZ-Qantas merger.
(25 August 2003)
         

Clark puts money where her mouth is
The NZ government is contributing NZ$3.3 million in humanitarian aid to war-torn Iraq. The announcement by Foreign Minister Phil Goff came just days after the U.S and its allies commenced war in the Middle East. The money will be spread amongst relief agencies including the World Food Program, UNICEF and the Red Cross.
(20 March 2003)
   

The taxman only rings once
An end to double-taxation in Australasia seems imminent after meetings between Australian Treasurer Peter Costello and NZ Minister of Finance Michael Cullen. The removal of "triangular-tax" is expected in the near future, in a move sure to encourage Trans-Tasman investment.
(19 February 2003)
      

Enough with the pavlova war
"ANZAC sibling rivalry must end," says High Court judge Michael Kirby. Kirby has proposed a common passport, currency and tax system to honour the 2015 centenary of Gallipoli. Visiting Australian Treasurer Peter Costello: "A single Anzac currency might be possible in future but political union is unlikely."
(21 February 2003)
   

A strange breed
"Because of the congenial climate and lack of pollution, Godzone politicians are generally taller and stronger than those cloned overseas. Nestled at the bottom of the world, gravity is stronger and extra strength is required to stand and face the disbelieving people." Upper Hutt wit Lance Broughton pokes fun at local politicos courtesy of satirical site, goOff.com.
(3 December 2002)
   

"Go to the world girls and conquer it".
"Top city dame teaches Brit woman a trick or two": BBC News series on women in business profiles overachieving NZer and head of City of London, Dame Judith Mayhew."For a glimpse of Britain's future, look not to your horoscope or government flier, but the next flight to Wellington, Auckland, or Otago. Matthews explains her femme edge: "The colonies developed women's rights early on, because you could not ignore half your workforce, ... They had to clear the land with the men and get the tents up. New Zealand is led by women. The prime minister is a woman, the chief justice is a woman, the governor general a woman, the chief executive of the largest company is a woman..." (above: Mayhew meets Rudolph Giuliani)
(10 October 2002)
      

---

New Zealand zeal
Kiwi beats the Tigers: "Kiwi businesspeople often speak of their country as a cork floating on the sea of the world economy. At least their cork floats; so many other nations have sunk in the past decade including Argentina, Russia, Thailand, South Korea [...]". A growing economy makes the Kiwi state an attractive option for investors: "if you are an optimist about the world, place your chips on the Kiwis." 
(July/August 2002)

---

NZ press-ganged in The Australian
Greg Sheridan, using some sobering cliches, gives his views on the trans-Tasman relationship: as well as comparing NZ to Tasmania he invokes ghosts of ANZUS past and our "unreliable" unwillingness to join Australia in Pax-Americana, as reasons why NZ won't be part of a joint free-trade deal. "NZ is a place of infirmity and irrelevance [...] the Howard Government is well advised to keep its distance from the eccentric Kiwis." Read one way it's a decent snapshot of how some Aussies see us through the corkscrews; read another, it's a strong provocation and affirmation of the edge metaphor.
(20 July 2002)
         

---

Pacific protest
Yachts containing more than 50 protesters from NZ, Australia and Vanuatu confronted a ship carrying nuclear waste through the Tasman Sea from Britain to Japan. According to Greenpeace, the cargo contained enough nuclear material for 50 bombs, thus rendering it a terrorist target as well as a potential environmental disaster. 
(22 July 2002)
          

---

Georgie girl  
"Quintessentially NZ story" highlight of Sydney Film Fest. Annie Goldson's "Georgie Girl" follows the edgy life of Georgina Beyer - the world's first transsexual MP - from her days as a sex-worker and drug user, to her inauguration as Mayor of Carterton and eventual election to Parliament: "the stallion who became a gelding, the gelding that became a mayor, and the mare who finally became a member".
(9 June 2002)
      

---

Off the sheep's back?
The BBC looks at the changing iconic status and importance of the sheep to the New Zealand economy. Sheep numbers have fallen from 70 million to 40 million in the last two decades and farmers are under increasing pressures to diversify as drought and rising returns from forestry and the dairy industry have meant that sheep farming pastures are not so green. Still, it concludes, culturally and economically NZ will continue to count on sheep - zzzzz. 
(2 May 2002)
           

---

Wading into a globalisation debate
Prospect ("Britain's intelligent conversation") hosts a debate between prominent LSE economist NZer Robert Wade and Martin Wolf over whether global inequality and poverty are actually getting worse. Wade: "At the heart of our disagreement, I think, is the question about how far rich countries in general should go in using the power our superior resources give us."
(30 January 2002)
              

---

"Come together"
Wearing a traditional Maori cloak of native bird feathers, the Queen calls on New Zealanders to work together to resolve lingering differences between indigenous Maori and the Government. Elizabeth II was on her 10th tour of New Zealand as monarch. In a case of Queen-to-queen Her Majesty meets MP Georgina Beyer, the world's first trans-sexual Member of Parliament. And Sir Edmund Hillary pumps for the monarchist status quo.
(26 February 2002)
         

---

Kiwi bashing is no joke
Air New Zealand's role in the financial difficulties of Ansett Australia has created heated comment in the Australian media. "In recent days it has not been difficult to come by jokes and derisive comments about New Zealanders. Some jokes, however, go beyond the pale."
(19 September 2001)
                

Kudos for Kiwis
Messages of thanks and congratulation pored in from all over the world in response to New Zealands' decision to take in the Afghan refugees. "By accommodating our homeless and stranded children and mothers, New Zealand has placed herself in the hearts of the Afghan people," said Afghanistan's consul in Australia, Mahmoud Saikal. (Times of India discusses the situation: so does CNN).
(10 September 2001)
             

The Pacific Petri Dish
The Australian takes an editorial swipe at the Triple Bottom Line approach advocated at New Zealand's Knowledge Wave Conference. Paul Kelly believes "New Zealand today raises loud alarm bells for an Australian."
(8 August 2001)
         

Once more around the track
Driving-man New Zealander Scott Dixon turns twenty-one, old enough to have a drink to celebrate being the youngest-ever winner in major open-wheel racing.
(21 July 2001)
             

Don't bank on British security
NZ is light years ahead of Britain for banking security. "I don't want to sound like a homesick Antipodean", writes Charlotte Denny, "but ever since I arrived here 10 years ago, the true awfulness of the British banking system has always puzzled me."
(2001)
 

Compensation won
International interest raised by Waitangi Tribunal ruling on compensation for Moriori descendents of survivors of the 1835 Chathams massacre.
(16 June 2001)
               

Groundbreaker Gov-Gen
"As one of the few female law students of her generation, [Dame Silvia] Cartwright was barred from the Law Students association, denied access to textbooks and told she was only at university to find a husband."
(1 April 2001)
      

Jumping Jackie Flash
Australia's Sports Minister and Howard political protégé, New Zealand-born Jackie Kelly ducks the limelight after "a huge year".
(1 April 2001)

Head for debate
Commonwealth Sec-Gen and former New Zealand 2IC Don McKinnon indicates the next Leader of the Commonwealth might be up for debate after the Queen moves on.
(7 April 2001)
           

Peace memorial visit
Helen Clark, noted in Japan as the leader of a "declared anti-nuclear country", visited the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum during her official trip to Japan.
(16 April 2001) 
      

Hat Trick
"I think it has become so normal in New Zealand that there are women in senior positions, that I was taken aback by this attention," says Dame Silvia Cartwright. The  new Gov-Gen completes the female trinity of top constitutional positions.
(22 March 2001)
           

Ambassador goes nutty
"I love New Zealand and New Zealand has been a warm and just an extraordinary experience," says former US ambassador Carol Mosley-Braun, returning to the States to take up pecan farming.
(1 March 2001)
                 

Edge unity
"There are no two countries in the world that are closer historically, culturally and economically than Australia and New Zealand," stated Australian PM John Howard on a friendship visit, claiming a "relationship that has substance and durability beyond the political complexion of governments in power in Canberra and Wellington."
(1 March 2001)
                

Troubled Tainui 
A brief look at the finances and politics of Tainui since the $170m settlement.
(28 November 2000)
          

Beauty reigns 
National MP Korean-born Melissa Lee has been voted one of "the most beautiful women in politics in the world" by Spanish newspaper 20 Minutos, a poll which also included Hillary Clinton. Photos of 60 female politicians from 30 countries were posted on the newspaper's website, with voting buttons under each picture. Lee has 20 years journalism experience including a 5-year stint at the Sunday News and writing for numerous publications including the New Zealand Herald, The Listener and various other magazines. She is New Zealand's first Korean MP. 
(26 March 2009)

Fatter but happier 
New Zealand men are a little shorter than the Organisation for Economic Co-operation Development average and New Zealand women are quite a bit shorter according to the latest report from the Organization, a report released every three years. We watch the least amount of television, and place behind only France when it comes to how much time we spend eating and drinking. The study, which is based on government data and Gallup polls from the OECD's 18 member countries, includes a broad spectrum of "social indicators" — from education spending and fertility rates to adult height and "life satisfaction" — to determine how the different societies stack up. Most New Zealanders rate their life satisfaction at 7.5 out of 10; the OECD average was 6.7. "Clearly you don't have to have a really high average income to be pretty satisfied with life," Massey University sociologist Paul Perry said. The study also shatters several national stereotypes: we play the least amount of sport, we have a problem with obesity, and we have less leisure time than many other countries. 
(6 May 2009)

Symphony ire 
New Zealand anti-apartheid activist John Minto recently flew to Capetown to lend his support to 127 families who for the past 14 months have lived in makeshift homes on Symphony Way pavement in the township of Delft having been evicted from houses they illegally occupied in the N2 Gateway Project in February last year. "Symphony Way is a microcosm of the bigger problem in South Africa," Minto says. "We didn't expect things to change overnight — we didn't expect miracles. But when we were protesting during apartheid we didn't do it to make a few black people rich. It's a huge disappointment." Now in his 50s, Minto is turning his ire on South Africa's democratically elected government, claiming the poorest citizens are still living under a form of apartheid. "In South Africa the links between politicians and business are very strong, but the links between politicians and people are very weak." writes a weekly column for The Press and is editor of the Workers' Charter newspaper. 
(19 April 2009)

Clark's UN role confirmed
Helen Clark’s nomination to lead the United Nations Development Program has been officially announced by Michele Montas, spokeswoman for the UN secretary general, in New York today. As the former New Zealand Prime Minister, Clark is the first politician to occupy the role of Administrator, which effectively places her as third in command of the UN. The nomination announcement noted Clark’s “outstanding qualifications and numerous accomplishments in her long career”. Phil Goff, Ms Clark's replacement as the Labour Party's leader, has called the appointment “great for her and great for New Zealand".
(27 March 2009)

The siege of Helengrad
Antony Green, election analyst with the Australian Broadcasting Commission, summed up Election 08 thus (abridged): “Whether New Zealanders wanted change or just a change of government is the mandate question that John Key will face. He has stressed that he wants to run a centrist government and promised, in the face of a Labour scare campaign, that he will limit himself to the moderate promises he made in the campaign … “There has always been a whiff of political correctness about [Helen] Clark. As a feminist and one of the first women elected to the New Zealand Parliament for Labour, there was always much resentment against her intellect and ambition within Labour ranks. Yet while her personal political views were strongly ideological, as leader of a democratic party she was rarely prepared to take on issues she viewed as electorally divisive or as lost causes. She learned the art of compromise in … the coalition-building required to work politics in an MMP Parliament … Hard work on policy formation and a deep understanding of the process of government and politics made her a formidable politician … “Key comes to power at a difficult time for New Zealand. Economic figures released ahead of the campaign revealed that the country’s economy had moved into recession even before the full effects of the global financial crisis had been felt … “The biggest economic problem faced by Key will be New Zealand’s struggle to retain its younger educated workforce, forever lured across the Tasman or further afield by higher-paying jobs. For much of the Kiwi diaspora, returning home is an ever-present but always impractical dream. Now the country has a Prime Minister who has lived the overseas dream and then returned to try to enrich the land of his birth.” Spectator Australia’s report also noted “The last two decades have also seen New Zealand address the unresolved legal problems stemming from the Treaty of Waitangi…New Zealand has become a country more at ease with its indigenous past than its larger cousin across the Tasman.”
(13 November 2008)

Beyer receives iconic status
Former mayor of Carterton and Labour MP Georgina Beyer - the world's first transsexual to hold such positions - is interviewed by Boston publication Windy City Times about her recent selection as one of 31 individuals named by the American Equality Forum for the 2008 GLBT History Month. Each year, GLBT History Month highlights the achievements of gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender icons. The 31 icons, living or dead, are selected for their achievements in their field of endeavour, their status as a national hero, or their significant contribution to GLBT civil rights. Beyer is included alongside authors Tennessee Williams and Alice Walker, fashion designer Gianni Versace and photographer Robert Mapplethorpe. "To be selected as a GLBT icon is awesome and humbling," Beyer says. "It has also helped to restore faith in myself and that the trials and tribulations [of my life] were a worthwhile endeavour." Beyer resigned from parliament in February 2007. Her life is recounted in Cathy Casey's 1999 biography Change for the Better. 
(4 October 2008)

Dining with giants 
Canterbury University Professor of Philosophy and Arts & Letters Daily founder, Denis Dutton, was invited to the White House Press Correspondents' Annual Dinner, as a guest of The Washington Post. The black tie event - a celebrity roast of the current US President and celebration of the free press - is a who's who of celebrities, power brokers and political juggernauts, and invitations are notoriously hard to secure. Dutton wrote a full report for the Sunday Star Times: "I never met the President, who left the event immediately. But I encountered one of his speech writers, a man who reads Arts & Letters Daily 'every few days.' Later on that night, a journalist introduced me to the director of a policy unit at the White House. He reads Arts & Letters Daily 'regularly,' but since he can't every day, someone on his staff is assigned to check it for essays and articles relevant to government initiatives. A little like that old Steinlager ad, I guess: a picture of the White House overwritten, 'They're reading our webpage here.' To what effect remains a mystery to me." 
(7 May 2006)

Jobs for (almost) all
Unemployment in NZ is at a 16-year low of 4.7% thanks largely to net gains in permanent and long-term migration. Employment Minister, Steve Maharey: "We are now experiencing lower unemployment than all our major trading partners,'' including Britain, Japan, Australia and the US."
(9 August 2003)
   

WTO tangle
"It's a little puzzling that the major trade remedy for an organization that promotes liberalized trade is to restrict trade," says Mike Moore, referring to the problems in enforcing WTO rulings. Will the next round of talks under his leadership find a way to sort this out? Also, Moore blasts anti-WTO protesters.
(23 July 2001)
           

 
Nearly there
"In principle, we are just about there. I want it and everyone wants it," says former NZ-PM, WTO head Mike Moore, confirming his work on bringing China into the WTO has nearly reached its conclusion.
(28 June 2001)
             

The ghost of Rob
"A late but not widely lamented New Zealand prime minister once introduced strict currency controls. When asked if the fixed rate was not out of line with market reality, he responded that the value of the New Zealand dollar was exactly right; all the other currencies were out of line..."
(19 May 2001)

Election aid
New Zealand will provide personnel, technical and funding assistance to ensure Fiji's up-coming elections run properly.
(15 May 2001)
          

In The Black
The New Zealand trade surplus for April comes in at $391 million.
(28 May 2001)
              

Young diplomats
Exchange student are young diplomats, Prime Minister Helen Clark told a high school in Osaka during a speech promoting youth exchanges between New Zealand and Japan.
(17 April 2001)
        

Green Edge
The Greens are a  presence in parliaments around the world - the revolution started in Wellington.
(19 March 2001)
             

Relations open
New Zealand to open diplomatic relations with North Korea.
(25 March 2001)
       

Co-operation
The time is right for co-operation between India and New Zealand on food processing, IT and forestry, says Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Phil Goff.
(6 March 2001)
              

Making waves
"Where once New Zealand seemed bent on shrinking the public sector to anorexic proportions, it is new pumping it full of new blood. New Zealand has a long record of setting global trends. It was first to give votes to women, first to create a welfare state, first to baulk at nuclear power and first to tear down the state in favor of the market. If New Zealand is heading the other way now, we should all take notice: we have followed in their wake before."
(17 February 2001)
              

McKinnon calls for debt relief 
Commonwealth Sec-Gen Don McKinnon has called on G-7 countries, the World Bank and the IMF to "just do it" on the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative which would write off debts owed by some of the world's poorest countries.   
(22 September 2000)
                 

Enigma funds school 
Though New Zealand tycoon Christopher Chandler keeps a reclusive profile, he has invested $50 million in a business school for students from developing countries in Boston. Chandler, a beekeeper's son from Matangi who has built a fortune estimated at $1.7bn (£866m), has been a called an antipodean version of Warren Buffett. Along with his brother Richard, he has bought and sold chunks of Hong Kong property, Brazilian telecoms, Japanese banks and Russian electricity enterprises. The Legatum Centre for Development and Entrepreneurship is intended to create a generation of business leaders in poverty-stricken parts of the globe. The Centre's director Iqbal Quadir describes Christopher Chandler as a "very global person who cares about how the world is shaping up". Last year Chandler invested $25m in India's leading microfinance lender, Share Microfin, which specialises in microfinance schemes for people who have no access to formal banks. 
(22 May 2008)

Cattle for capital 
New Zealand dairy farmers are benefiting from a worldwide demand for milk and cheese with Fonterra Cooperative Group members promised big payouts for their efforts this year. Never before has the term "cash cow" been more appropriate. Senior economist for Westpac Institutional Bank Doug Steel said demand is being driven by the urbanisation and economic growth of emerging markets, with a significant contribution from freshly enriched oil-producing nations. Steel said this is particularly true in the South Island. "Those farmers have had by far their best year, probably in history and certainly in recent living memory" One hundred farms a year are converting from lamb and beef to dairy in Southland alone. But more cows equals more methane, so scientists in New Zealand and Australia are developing a strain of "burpless" grass for cows that would maintain dairy herds' productivity and profitability while reducing their wind problems.
(10 May 2008)

Moore to head charity 
Former prime minister and World Trade Organisation Director-General Mike Moore has been hired by Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman. Moore will chair the Altimo Foundation, one of Fridman's charitable organisations associated with the telecom arm of the Alfa Group. The foundation will focus on fighting poverty in developing countries. Credited with restoring confidence in the multilateral trading system following the setback of the 3rd WTO Ministerial Conference held in Seattle in 1999, Moore is also author of a number of books including World without Walls, a reflection on his time at the WTO. Moore is widely regarded as one of the most powerful voices in the debate about the future of globalisation. 
(30 March 2008)

Gov-Gen reflects on changing nation 
NZ Governor-General Anand Satyanand gave an exclusive online interview to Indian TV station NDTV. In it, he discussed NZ's increasingly multicultural makeup, as well as his own Indian ancestry. "New Zealand, like all countries, continues to have disparities in race and other areas but my appointment is symbolic of this country's commitment to ending those disparities," he says. "Since the first New Zealand-born Governor-General was appointed in 1967, two Governors-General have been women (Dame Catherine Tizard and Dame Silvia Cartwright) and one has been Maori (Sir Paul Reeves) and their appointments in turn reflect other changes within New Zealand." Anand Satyanand succeeded Dame Silvia Cartwright as Governor-General in 2006.
(8 January 2008)

Renewing friendships, broadening horizons
Helen Clark was the first foreign leader to meet with Kevin Rudd in his new role as Australian prime minister. The pair met for a casual lunch at Rudd's Brisbane home, where they discussed climate change ahead of the summit in Bali. "We'll be in close contact as governments on the challenges we face with climate change, the challenges we face with Bali, plus the negotiating agenda over the next couple of years - it's going to be a tough, hard negotiation," said Rudd in the Sydney Morning Herald. "But when you've friends with common interests then we can work these things through." Rudd and Clark have known each other for a long time, and Rudd described their meeting as renewing a friendship. "As for New Zealand, we have so many things in common," he said. " ... I look forward to not just continuing this relationship but broadening it." Rudd's election marks the first time that Australia and NZ have both had Labour governments since 1990.
(9 December 2007)

NZ unites against death penalty 
NZ has joined a United Nations effort seeking the worldwide abolition of the death penalty. Co-sponsors of the UN resolution include Brazil, East Timor, Gabon, Mexico, the Philippines and Portugal. "Capital punishment is the ultimate form of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment," said PM Helen Clark, in a speech marking World Day Against the Death Penalty. "The death penalty violates the right to life ... it is known to have been inflicted on the innocent." The last execution in NZ occurred 50 years ago, and the death penalty was abolished for all crimes, including treason, in 1989. 
(9 October 2007)

Senior Iraqi posting for Shearer 
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has named New Zealander David Shearer as his deputy special representative for Iraq. Shearer will also serve as Iraq's UN resident coordinator and humanitarian coordinator. "David's a pretty special guy. He's hugely regarded by those he works with and people within the UN," said NZ Foreign Affairs Minister Phil Goff, who went to Papatoetoe High School with Shearer. "He'll do as good a job as can be done in a situation that is clearly having tragic consequences in the sheer loss of life and sectarian violence." David Shearer has worked for the UN since 1995, in such global hotspots as Lebanon, Serbia and Rwanda. He has headed the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Jerusalem since February 2003.
(24 August 2007) 

A rebel remembered 
British political figure Anne Gilman, "a rebel from New Zealand", has died aged 76. Gilman was born in NZ and attended Canterbury University, where she founded the student magazine, Canta. Gilman's daughter, Catherine, describes her mother as a "colourful and lively bohemian woman, [who] had been a vegetarian since the age of six" in an obituary for the Guardian. Gilman became mayor of the north London borough of Islington in the 1990s, after many years working for trade unionist and communist groups in the UK. Her mayoral inauguration ceremony featured Maori dancers and her "greening" project for Islington included the planting of numerous native NZ trees. 
(5 July 2007)

Three strikes, you're out 
Rainbow Warrior bombers Dominique Prieur and Alain Mafart have lost a third court appeal to prevent TVNZ from screening footage from their 1985 trial. Three NZ appeal court judges unanimously granted the channel permission to air the video recording, which shows the French secret agents pleading guilty to the manslaughter of Dutch photographer Fernando Pereira. The footage has never before been released. 
(8 August 2006)

Hunt fights for our rights 
Waikato University graduate Paul Hunt has built a high profile international career as a human rights lawyer and independent expert. Hunt was elected to serve on the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in 1998. In 2001 he was enlisted by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, to co-author the Guidelines on Human Rights Approaches to Poverty Reduction. In 2002 he was appointed UN Special Raconteur on the right to health, a role he remains in today. He has lived and worked in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and South Pacific, has written prolifically on economic, social and cultural rights, and is an active member of the global Make Poverty History campaign. "Making poverty history is not just a question of morality, charity or self-interest," he says on the Realizing Rights website. "Developed countries have a human rights responsibility, binding in international law, to assist Africa and others burdened by poverty … Making poverty history - and ensuring a fair deal for Africa - is the greatest human rights campaign of our time." 
(January 2006)

David Lange 1942-2005
Former Prime Minister David Lange died on Saturday 13 August aged 63 after a long battle with ill health. He was regarded as "the best loved New Zealand political figure of the last 20 years" (Guardian Unlimited). Elected to office in 1984 at the age of 41 (New Zealand's youngest Prime Minister), Lange inherited a country in the midst of a political and economic crisis. The policies his government employed to steer the country through this era of transition were certainly radical. Lange's greatest legacy to New Zealand will likely be his anti nuclear policy. Lange's "No-Nukes" stance took New Zealand's foreign policy to the world stage and carved out a path for other countries to follow. During a debate on nuclear weapons against American evangelist Jerry Falwell at the Oxford Union, Lange, a highly skilled orator, famously responded to an interjector by saying: "Hold your breath just for a moment. I can smell the uranium on it". Working as a lawyer in South Auckland for many years, Lange had always been an advocate of those marginalized by society. He received great respect from the Pacific Island community when he actively campaigned against the "Dawn Raids". Lange's strong social conscience stemmed from his Methodist beliefs. His sharp wit and luminous personality have found no equal in New Zealand's political history. Throughout the ups and downs of his leadership Lange kept his sense of humour, a trait he reportedly maintained until the last moments of his life.

Obituaries ran in The Guardian, The Times, The Independent, The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Daily Telegraph (Australia), The LA Times, The New Zealand Herald among others.

Kyoto Protocol a “feelgood gimmick”
Meanwhile, SMH columnist Miranda Devine says “Our Kiwi neighbours, once smug about ecological superiority, face a cost blow-out from the treaty exceeding $NZ1 billion ($900 million). The farcical result is that even though the country produces only 0.2 per cent of the world's greenhouse gases, it is to be punished as if it were a big polluter because it is unlikely to meet its emission targets. The Government has admitted it will exceed its Kyoto target by 36 million tonnes of carbon dioxide between 2008 and 2012. In their enthusiasm for the project, New Zealand officials miscalculated carbon dioxide inputs and outputs, claiming there would be a net profit in carbon credits from the treaty. They reportedly counted some forests twice and didn't account for increased car use due to a booming economy. So, instead of profiting by being a global green goodie, it will have to buy carbon credits to meet the shortfall, which will cost as much as $NZ1.2 billion. Worse, a consultant's report released by the industry group Business New Zealand last year calculated a future liability of as much as $NZ14 billion under the protocol over the next 20 years. 
(4 August 2005)

Closing the gap
NZ ranks sixth overall in a new study measuring the gap between genders by the Geneva-based World Economic Forum. The top five positions went to Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Norway and Iceland. The WEF appraisal of 58 countries assesses patterns of inequality in areas such as economic status, political empowerment, health and education.
(17 May 2005)

New law embraced
Planet Out feature looks at the newly instated Civil Union Bill in NZ. More than 600 couples registered for a civil union in the first week after the law came into effect. The article quotes GayNZ.com writer, Craig Young: “I think most of our fellow New Zealanders have realized that a pack of rabble-rousing fundamentalists were the only ones getting into hysterics about civil unions, and don't mind us having our day at the registry.”
(26 April 2005)
   

Mutual milestone
76 Tampa refugees were made NZ citizens on April 8, including the youngest on board Azizullah Mussa (now 17). “I've been waiting three years for this day to come. I can call myself a Kiwi now,” he said. NZ accepted 208 people from the Tampa as refugees; 131 straight from the boat and a further 77 from the resettlement at Nauru. PM Helen Clark: “Today's ceremony is a milestone in the lives of these new young New Zealanders. They are already making a positive contribution to NZ life, and our lives have been enriched by having them here.”
(8 April 2005)
   

Simple is best
The British government is officially considering modelling its pension system on NZ’s current superannuation scheme, which is described in the Guardian as “a model of elegant simplicity compared with Britain's multi-layered mixture of private and state provision, means tests and tax allowances.” A group of British officials visited NZ in early March to assess the system and have come out decidedly in its favour, as has the British media.
(6 March 2005)
  

National symbol under question
NZ’s growing movement in support of a new national flag featured in the Daily Telegraph. Wellington businessman Lloyd Morrison officially launched the campaign in January, with the support of numerous high profile sporting, political, and entertainment industry figures. The most popular alternative to the current flag is a white silver fern on a black background, which many Kiwis already regard as their national symbol.
(27 January 2005)
   

Signed and sealed
The passing of the Civil Union Bill, giving gay and lesbian couples legal recognition in NZ, made headlines around the world. “It is just a fantastic day for us,” said Christians for Civil Union member Margaret Mayman in the Sydney Morning Herald. “[It] makes you really proud to be a New Zealander, in the sense of feeling at home and equal in this country.”
(9 December 2004)
   

Mind the gap
The Herald ran a lengthy feature on trans-Tasman cultural differences prior to the Australian elections, claiming that “geologically, the land masses are creeping together again. However, all other evidence points the other way.” According to the writer, the shift in national identities began with NZ’s anti-nuclear stance in the 1970s and has been exacerbated by such recent issues as the war in Iraq. “NZ sees itself as a country that wants to make its own judgement,” says Foreign Minister Phil Goff. “Not just to be an echo of another nation.” The “browning” of NZ - its move towards a distinct Pacific/Asian identity - is another major factor.
(9 October 2004)
   

Crusader of the highest order
NZ’s foremost campaigner against apartheid, Trevor Richards, was awarded the Supreme Companion of OR Tambo by South African President Thabo Mbeki in Pretoria. “Its not every day that one wakes up and wonders what award they will be receiving today,” said Richards, the founder and leader of HART (Halt All Racist Tours) and author of seminal anti-apartheid work Dancing On Our Bones. In an inspiring address, President Mbeki described the national order recipients as “beacons that must guide us forever as we build a society founded on the high ideals of freedom, justice, equality and human solidarity.”
(29 October 2004)
  

The sheep that roared
An Australian feature by Claire Harvey likened the Israeli passport scandal to the infamous Rainbow Warrior incident of 1985. PM Helen Clark has cut diplomatic ties with Israel until an official apology and explanation is offered stating, "We're a small, friendly nation on the edge of the world. You do not expect your friends to do this to you." A Mr B Hill of Nelson had his views regarding the incident  published in the Gulf News: "NZ's brave denouncement of Israeli spy activities in its territory has revealed that NZ may be a land of many sheep but it doesn't act sheepishly on the world stage. When much larger countries cower down to the global whims and diktats of powers, it is good to see a small country stand up for its international integrity, and goodwill. The sheep has roared and it has been heard around the world."
(16 July 2004) 

Easy money
NZ has the world's third freest economy, according to an annual survey by the Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal. Hong Kong took the top spot for the tenth consecutive year, followed by Singapore.
(9 January 2004)
   

Knowledge economist
Finance Minister and Deputy PM, Dr. Michael Cullen, articulates the edge phenomenon in a lengthy interview with the Economist. “[There is] a very significant solid eclectic range of niche manufacturing and service industries which have developed in NZ, and continue to develop at a strong pace. These are industries which really build on flipping over NZ’s disadvantage of scale and distance, and concentrate on areas where distance isn’t important, and where small size is actually an advantage, like the ability to engage in short-run production, for example, the ability to be highly innovative and flexible, so you’re not locked into just punching out huge numbers of electronic boxes one after the other. We can never compete with that, but we increasingly do elsewhere. People are often quite surprised to find that what they’re using, what they’re doing, what they’re seeing, is actually NZ product.”
(2 December 2003)
    

Land of milk and honey
The NZ economy is currently on a high, with the lowest unemployment rates since 1987, 26,000 new jobs created in the last 3 months, and a $1.2 billion surplus in the first 3 months of the year - $730 million more than predicted in the 2003 budget. An LA Times feature on the "Frodo economy" cites the LotR trilogy as a primary factor behind the remarkable financial boost: "Much of the payoff was tied directly to the estimated $500 million that was spent to make the three movies ... For a time, the production engaged 23,000 workers, making it the largest private employer in NZ. Then came the tourists, and scores of new restaurants and bed and breakfasts to cater to them. From the majestic fields of Twizel in the heart of the South Island, the site of the 'Pelennor Fields,' to the artisan colony of Nelson on the coast of Tasman Bay, where the trilogy's pivotal One Ring was forged, nearly every small town and cozy hamlet has benefited." 
(11 November 2003)
   

Little Brother is watching…
NZ’s National Radiation Laboratory has been given the government go-ahead to build a NZ$1 million nuclear test monitoring station in Fiji. The station will be one of a global network of 321 facilities set up in support of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. The National Radiation Laboratory already oversees two similar stations in NZ and another in the Cook Islands.
(24 September 2003)
   

The bomb stays banned
July marked the 30th anniversary of "what was probably the first state-sponsored Ban the Bomb protest" - NZ PM Norman Kirk's diplomatic and symbolic attack on the French government. In outrage at continued nuclear testing by France in the South Pacific - despite an International Court ruling banning them from doing so - Kirk sent the frigate Otago on a mission of peaceful protest, to act, in his words, "as a silent accusing witness with the power to bring alive the conscience of the world." Kirk's actions made international headlines, and began a legacy of anti-nuclear opinion in NZ, which continues today.
(26 July 2003)
   

Miss speaker ...
Georgie Girl - the award-winning documentary on transsexual NZ MP Georgina Beyer - screened on American public television last month as part of the acclaimed Point of View (POV) documentary series. Described as "an extraordinary counterpoint to American politics," Georgie Girl opened POV's program in honour of Gay Pride Month. The American screening marks the fourth major international coup for the Annie Goldson produced doco, which has already aired on CBC Canada, SBS Australia and Britain's Channel Four.
(24 June 2003)   

Frankly fascinating
Mike Moore's A World Without Walls hailed as a fascinating, candid and paradoxical account of ideals versus bureaucracies in Foreign Affairs magazine. "When all is said and done, [Moore] believes democratically elected governments and markets will respond appropriately to the challenges they face. The forces of openness, freedom, competition, and, of course, free trade will prevail. Moore is too modest to say so himself, but having able politicians at the helm of international institutions does not hurt either."
(May-June 2003)
      

Nearest neighbours worlds apart?
Gerard Henderson  makes a pre-ANZAC Day assessment of current Aussie-Kiwi relations. "The Australia-NZ commercial relationship has never been healthier  … However, the trans-Tasman economic co-operation has been accompanied by an increasing disagreement on security issues. The NZ is still in Anzac. But these days the term symbolises more about the past than about the present - still less the future. Alas."
(22 April 2003)
   

A view from the right
Robert Darwall proffers an aggressive and provocative outsider analysis of NZ's economic reforms in April's Policy Review. "Steep cuts in welfare programs and the most radical shake-up of labor law outside Margaret Thatcher’s Britain. [...] On these South Pacific islands of a little under 4 million people has been distilled the political dynamics of market-based reform and the countervailing forces opposed to it." Darwall asks the big broad questions, but the answers sometimes seem to have come direct from the textbook.  
(3 April 2003)
   

These boots are made for walking ... on
Dame Judith Mayhew will not seek re-election to her position as head of the City of London Corporation, claiming she is "doing too much." She's not joking either - see above for BBC profile. Described as "one of Britain's most powerful women," Dunedin-born Mayhew has been a formidable force on the financial and political scene for some time now. Observer: "She may have relinquished the top job at the corporation but her mover-and-shaker role seems unlikely to diminish. Expect to see her name at the top of many more 'power' league tables."
(3 November 2002)
    

On the straight and narrow isles
A survey of 102 countries by German-based Transparency International found NZ to be one of the least corrupt states. The annual report claims "to reflect perceived levels of corruption among politicians and public officials." NZ scored 9.5 out of 10 on the Perceived Corruption Index, with only Finland rating higher on 9.7.
(29 August 2002)
        

Clean and green: even out of the lab?
"The clean green reputation of NZ - an image worth millions, according to the environment industry - is under threat." The GM issue continues to divide NZers, rearing its head in  the fields of economics, agriculture, tourism, and, of course, ethics. "New Zealand is one of the few countries left in the world where the entire production of food is GM-free," said Jim Kebbell, who runs the country's biggest organic retail outlet, Commonsense Organics. "On large animal research, we are ahead of the rest of the world, but unless we commercialise it, we will lose that advantage," said Francis Wevers, head of the Life Sciences Network lobby.
(22 July 2002)

"She's a go-getter and a good chap"
Georgina Beyer interviewed in the Independent in the wake of promoting Georgie Girl in Sydney. A mass of contradictions - "she might judge a sheep show one day, march in a gay pride parade the next" - Beyer is proving to be a groundbreaking ambassador for NZ, her success suggesting how far the nation has come in terms of tolerance and diversity. 
(19 July 2002)
         

Sirs and Dames or Sheilas and Cobbers? 
Four NZers received our country's highest award via the Queen's jubilee year honours list. Those admitted to the Order of New Zealand were; ex-Governor General Dame Catherine Tizard, Auckland anthropologist and Maori leader Sir Hugh Kawharu, former Court of Appeal president Lord Cooke of Thorndon, and Christchurch justice campaigner and activist for the disabled Dame Ann Ballin. 
(5 June 2002)
          

Give Me Your Skilled, Your Entrepreneurial
Immigration issues are foremost in a feature interview with Helen Clark in The Bulletin. Clark contributes to the discussion about immigrants' contribution to growth, or lack thereof, and muses on NZ's wider place in the world. "The challenge remains, however, to convince New Zealanders that they can easily become irrelevant in a world that is constantly striving to outperform."
(22 May 2002)
        

Middle line management
NZ Reserve Bank governor Don Brash, has stepped down after 14 years in the top job as central banker to make a new career for himself as a politician. Widely regarded as the architect of New Zealand's low-inflation economy. Finance Minister Michael Cullen says Brash was "a leading central banker recognized around the world for his commitment to price stability."
(26 April 2002)
 

The B-list of baaad has an axis to grind
International relations satire: bitter after being snubbed for membership in the "Axis of Evil", peer-conscious nations rush to gain triumvirate status in what becomes a game of geopolitical chairs: "Spain, Scotland and New Zealand established the Axis of Countries That Be Allowed to Ask Sheep to Wear Lipstick". Scottish Executive First Minister Jack McConnell: "That's not a threat, really, just something we like to do". 
(6 February 2002)
    

World First
Associate finance minister Trevor Mallard is the first person to conduct a euro cash transaction, exchanging NZ dollars for new euro notes at Wellington's airport.
(1 January 2002)
         

Dealing to the Queen
It's only a matter of time before New Zealand becomes a republic says PM Helen Clark, stressing that it's still not a high priority.
(10 July 2001)
           

Womanly example
Japanese society should look to New Zealand for kick-ass high-profile female role-models suggests PM Helen Clark.
(10 April 2001)
               

Bank on it
Here it comes - the People's Bank. Lower fees, more branches, but there is a risk.
(15 February 2001)
              

Seats of power
New Zealand backpackers unwittingly helped end apartheid, acting as bus-filling decoys for safari-organising gun-runners.
(11 February 2001)
             

Never say die
One of Briton's most popular MPs before being expelled from the Labour party for communist sympathies, New Zealand-born John Platt-Mills is still a practicing lawyer at 94. "Is there anything else he wants to achieve? 'Yes, I'd like to set an example...that chaps can go on indefinitely. There's no need to die.'"
(2 January 2001)
             

Big job for McKinnon
"Turbulence in Zimbabwe, civil war in Sierra Leone, the violent overthrow of prime ministers in Fiji and the Solomons; the Commonwealth's programme of improving the quality of democracy ran into political setbacks in 2000. On the other side of the balance sheet, there was progress in focussing word attention on the problems faced by small states."
(15 January 2001)
       

Over the back fence
"I think we should say this is not small-town New Zealand, it’s big town America. Whether we meet as neighbours is something for the future," says Jim Bolger, asked about Bill and Hill, his ex-Presidential neighbours.
(28 January 2001)
          

Controversial precision 
"New Zealand is joining the global race to meet a surging demand for energy and minerals, with a plan to open up highly protected conservation areas to mining," writes Paul Cleary for The Australian. The country has also commissioned extensive geological surveys, which have identified a massive resources bounty that the new conservative government is rushing to develop. The government has called for submissions on a plan to allow mining on 7000ha of the most environmentally sensitive land in the country. The decision follows a geological study that revealed potential for gold, silver, coal and rare earth elements in these areas. Better known for its tourism, sheep and dairy, New Zealand is emerging as a significant oil producer, potentially making it the Norway of the Pacific. New Zealand's mineral resources excluding coal and petroleum have been estimated at about $194bn. Energy and Resources Minister Brownlee said coal resources could be worth just as much, with substantial known reserves in the South Island. He said the 7000ha area was a tiny part of the 4.6m hectares in Schedule 4, and that the "precision" mining that he envisaged would not tarnish the country's brand image, "100% Pure". 
(27 April 2010)

Happy birthday 
"New Zealand has marked the Queen's 84th birthday by rejecting an attempt to abolish the monarchy," writes Paul Chapman for The Telegraph. A bill that would have set up a referendum on the country becoming a republic was thrown out by parliament on its first reading, by 68 votes to 53. Keith Locke, the Green MP who tabled the bill with Labour's support, said it could have led to an elected president having similar powers to the Governor-General, the Queen's representative. "The question many New Zealanders ask is: Why should we have a head of state on the other side of the world who is not a citizen of our country?" Chairman of Monarchy New Zealand Professor Noel Cox hailed parliament's stand, saying: "New Zealanders should strongly support their democratic monarchy, and are rightly proud of it. "He condemned the bill as "an expensive and time-consuming waste of taxpayers' money". An opinion poll, conducted by the Republican Movement just before the vote, showed 45 per cent of respondents favoured Prince Charles becoming the next king of New Zealand, with 43 per cent supporting a republic. Women supported the monarchy more strongly than men. 
(22 April 2010)

Division debate 
"There has always been sense in New Zealand and Australia being one country," writes the Anthony Mason Professor of Law at the University of NSW George Williams in an opinion piece called, 'A nation girt by sea — and divided by it'. "The chance for them to join together arose at federation in 1901, but the opportunity was missed when the new nation included only the Australian colonies," Williams continues. "Debate on a New Zealand–Australia merger has been sparked by an opinion poll commissioned by New Zealand television showing some support for the move. Not surprisingly, more Australians than New Zealanders are in favour, with 24 per cent of the New Zealanders and 37 per cent of the Australians polled believing the two nations should join forces. As the recent poll suggests, the greater obstacles lie on the other side of the Tasman. There have always been good arguments to join. Many are economic. We could be stronger together. Though as the recent poll suggests, the greater obstacles lie on the other side of the Tasman. It is one thing for Australians to accept New Zealand as a seventh state, it is another again for New Zealanders to see their nation swallowed up by its larger neighbour." 
(30 March 2010)

To scrap or not to scrap 
The New Zealand Herald has called for the country's 108-year-old-flag to be scrapped. Under the banner headline "It's time for a change", The New Zealand Herald, the country's largest circulating daily newspaper, devoted almost its entire front page to the issue. In an editorial published on the eve of Waitangi Day, the Herald said the flag "harks back to a time when maps of the world had huge slabs of British Empire red on them. But it says little else. Worst of all, it is nondescript. The flags of more than 20 countries and territories carry the Union Jack in their left corner." The Herald called for a panel to be set up to commission alternative designs and for public submissions to be considered by a select committee of parliament. Ideally, the paper said, a new design would be adopted in time for the Rugby World Cup, which New Zealand is hosting in 2011. 
(4 February 2010)

Arguing the green 
"Sometime in the 2020s, New Zealand will become responsible for a massive surge in emissions from its forests," writes Fred Pearce in his Guardian series 'Greenwash'. "The central problem seems to be that when it comes to carbon, Middle Earth is a scientific minefield," Pearce continues. "And the Kyoto rules give the government considerable potential to pick and choose which carbon emissions and which carbon sinks from forests it declares for the purposes of meeting its targets. In a nutshell, the Kyoto protocol allows New Zealand to ignore what is happening across the wider landscape and simply report the growth of its 600,000 hectares of new forests, planted mostly during the 1990s. That sounds dodgy, though within the Kyoto rules. Even so, if these 'Kyoto forests' had been specifically planted as part of a genuine policy to cut the country's long-term contribution to global warming — we might still applaud. Unfortunately it is not quite like that."
(19 November 2009)

Compensation comparisons 
New Zealand "has some good ideas" when it comes to tort reform writes Newsweek blogger Katie Connolly, who uses this country's government-operated Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) as an example of a system the US ought to consider "within a comprehensive health-care reform package, particularly when the political upside is so evident." "In the US many patients' claims fail because they can't prove negligence. Many Americans harmed during their treatments are simply ineligible for compensation because they weren't victims of negligence. In New Zealand anyone who has suffers a medical injury, irrespective of whether it was the because of negligence, can receive compensation. They just need to prove a link between their treatment and the harm. New Zealand's commission is also significantly cheaper to operate than American's malpractice system. Instituting a commission-type system in the US would increase the number of people receiving compensation for poorly administered care, while decreasing the financial burden on the health-care system." Following the 1967 'Woodhouse Report' the Accident Compensation Commission was established in 1974 to operate the 1972 Accident Compensation Act, and the 1973 Amendments. 
(13 October 2009)

Wall Street suggestions 
"The findings of the 'Emissions Trading Review Committee' … is green PR gone wild," writes the Wall Street Journal. "New Zealand already boasted one of the world's most pristine environments before it passed cap-and-trade last year. The law, if anything, has made the country less green, not more so." The article goes on to suggest that: "The best advertisement for New Zealand isn't to support ideas that make the country poorer. Instead, Key's government would do better by focusing on encouraging strong economic growth to support a vibrant, entrepreneurial society. That way, tourists may want to come to New Zealand and stay." 
(7 September 2009)

Tasman union imminent 
Flights between New Zealand and Australia will soon be as cheap as domestic flights under new efforts to streamline trans-Tasman travel. Following talks between New Zealand Prime Minister John Key and Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, travellers could benefit from no departure fees, the scrapping of duplicate quarantine, customs and security checks and allowing planes to land at domestic terminals. The two countries would recognise each other's security, immigration and quarantine checks, effectively setting up a "high ring fence" similar to that in the European Union. Open border air travel is not unprecedented. A similar model has been operating between the US and Canada for about six years, where customs and security clearances at the end of the journey were abolished.
(16 August 2009)

Madcap genius 
What were the 1949 "leading thinkers at the London School of Economics" to make of New Zealand inventor Bill Phillips' hydraulic water system used to predict the economy, wonders New York Times' columnist Steven Strogatz. "Pacing back and forth, chain smoking in front of the luminaries" Phillips' machine "worked perfectly that day at the L.S.E., and soon attracted worldwide interest. Copies of the 'Moniac,' as it became known in the United States, were built and sold to Harvard, Cambridge, Oxford, Ford Motor Company and the Central Bank of Guatemala, among others. In all, it is thought that only 14 Phillips machines were ever built. Though it's tempting to view the Phillips machine as a relic of a bygone era, in one way it's just the opposite; there's something about it as fresh as the day it began gurgling. Look at its plumbing diagram. It's a network of dynamic feedback loops. In this sense the Phillips machine foreshadowed one of the most central challenges in science today: the quest to decipher and control the complex, interconnected systems that pervade our lives." 
(2 June 2009)

Not much on television 
Birth rates in New Zealand are the highest since 1991 with the average number per woman at 2.2 births. In the 12 months to March 31 this year, 64,160 babies were born Statistics New Zealand reported. Despite that, it remained about half the peak of 4.3 births per woman reached in 1961. New Zealand women on average now have children about five years later than their counterparts 40 years ago, with the median age of 30, compared with 25 in 1969. Auckland psychologist Sara Chatwin, a mother of four, said the statistics could be referred to as "Baby Boomers Mark II". "A year of lacklustre performances by our national sports teams could have seen people turn to child-rearing to focus on something positive", she added. 
(19 May 2009)

Key looks ahead 
The idea of growing a nation out of recession by improving productivity puts Prime Minister John Key and his conservative National Party at odds with Washington, Tokyo and Canberra writes Mary Kissel for the Wall Street Journal. You have to travel far to find a national leader who is talking about market-based approaches to the global recession. "We don't tell New Zealanders we can stop the global recession, because we can't," says Key. "What we do tell them is we can use this time to transform the economy to make us stronger so that when the world starts growing again we can be running faster than other countries we compete with." Key's coalition government, which includes parties to the right and left of the Nationals, has moved fast to implement a program of tax cuts, regulatory reform and government retooling. He won't label it supply-side economics and smiles when I ask if he's a Milton Friedman or Friedrich Hayek acolyte. "I'm not deeply ideologically driven," he says. "I believe in good center right politics."
(6 March 2009)

To save the Queen or not 
Former Prime Minister Helen Clark, 59, who has given her valedictory speech to the House after 27 years as an MP, said the country's institutions had "evolved a long way from our colonial heritage". "Many of our forebears came to this land to escape the class-bound nature of Britain, where their place in the economic and social order was largely prescribed by birth," Clark said. "I deeply detest social distinction and snobbery, and in that lies my strong aversion to titular honours. To me they relate to another era, from which our nation has largely, but obviously still not completely, freed itself." Opinion polls have shown a majority of people, particularly the elderly, favour retaining the monarchy, but the number has declined in recent years to only slightly above 50 per cent. Clark takes up a post as head of the United Nations Development Programme in New York. 
(8 April 2009)

No with black 
A protest against Section 92a, an amendment to New Zealand's copyright law due to come into force from February 28*, has resulted in an "internet blackout", part of a political protest against the law that has angered internet campaigners. Section 92a tells internet service providers that they "must adopt and reasonably implement a policy that provides for termination" of accounts used by anyone deemed a "repeat infringer" — regardless of whether the person has been convicted of a crime or not. Internet users accused of copyright infringement can have their internet connections cut legally without a trial. As part of the protest, New Zealand's Creative Freedom Foundation is asking internet users to replace their photos and icons with blank spaces to give people an idea of what the internet could look like under the new regime. Director of the CFF Bronwyn Holloway-Smith says thousands of New Zealand musicians and artists have signed a petition against the law, and that the public needs to voice its frustration. "Treating fans as guilty until proven innocent isn't what artists want done in their name and many see that as being damaging to creative industries," Holloway-Smith says.
(16 February 2009) 
*In a post-cabinet press conference on February 23, Prime Minister John Key announced that the implementation of the legislation is to be delayed until March 27.

Onward and upward 
Former Prime Minister and Labour Party leader Helen Clark is a candidate for the position of administrator of the UN Development Program, three below the UN secretary-general. The role becomes available in August when Turkey's Kemal Dervis retires at the end of his four-year term. Clark said: "This position came up at short notice. It's a very senior position and will be hotly contested by a number of candidates." The administrator of the UNDP is appointed by the secretary-general of the UN, Ban Ki-Moon, but the appointment must be confirmed by the General Assembly. The UNDC is the UN's global development network, overseeing a budget of $US5 billion. Its head office is in New York, and it has 140 offices around the world. 
(8 February 2009)

Teaming up for culture
New Zealand and South Korea are forging an artistic alliance with a film co-production treaty signed in September 2007 and the forthcoming New Zealand Cultural Diplomacy International Program which will be held over three days in April 2009. The Program will be the first and largest New Zealand event in Korea and will take place in Seoul. A preview event, ‘Celebrating New Zealand’ held this month “allowed guests to get a quick glimpse of New Zealand culture, which is expected to widen perspectives of the island country to Koreans, about which little is known other than it is an English-speaking country.” New Zealand Ambassador Jane Coombs called the film treaty “a true milestone” in Korea-New Zealand relations.
(23 November 2008)

Key in Clark out 
National Party leader John Key, 47, has ousted Labour's Helen Clark from office and a nine-year term, with a mantra of change. Prime Minister Helen Clark conceded defeat. Clark, 58, has led the country since 1999 and was seeking a fourth term. She said she would remain in Parliament but will quit as Labour Party leader. In his victory speech, Key said: "Today, New Zealand has spoken, in their hundreds of thousands, they have voted for change." Foreign affairs and trade policies are unlikely to change under the new leadership — including the ban on nuclear-powered ships entering New Zealand's ports that has rankled the United States. In other publications, Britain's Telegraph described Key's victory as putting "Boadicea to the sword." In the Guardian: "[Key] has taken a more pragmatic approach by accepting many of the Labour government's policies ... by moving [the National Party] towards the centre and broadening its appeal to blue-collar workers." And in the Australian: "Far from killing him, Key, the son of a poor Jewish refugee widow who grew up in a housing commission flat, learnt about making money from hard work. On Saturday night, he achieved the second of his two boyhood goals in life. He wanted to be a millionaire — he achieved that years ago — and he wanted to be the prime minister of New Zealand." 
(8 November 2008)

Questions of difference 
Are New Zealanders really afflicted by a 'tall poppy syndrome'? Do they lack in confidence? Are they indeed Australia's poor cousin? And if so, does this mean the New Zealand culture is to blame for widening the income gap between the two countries? Phil Rennie, policy analyst with the New Zealand Policy Unit of the Centre for Independent Studies, discusses these questions. He explores the significant role cultural differences play - particularly in comparing Australia and New Zealand - including: attitudes to success, assertiveness and ambition, and financial literacy. The differences were well summarised by former Australian Treasury Secretary Ken Henry, who told a New Zealand audience in 2003 that Australia is prospering because of 'good policies.' When asked 'what else?' he replied, 'good policies.'"
(24 March 2008)

Z-files: conspiracy theory
"Pretty unlikely", is the way Helen Clark responds to allegations that her predecessor David Lange received death threats ("liquidate him") from former US vice-pres Dan Quayle over his government's anti-nuclear stance. 
(28 March 2002)
           

"Names will never hurt me?"
Deputy PM Jim Anderton tells the Australian Government to stop its "insults", after Aussie Defence Minister Robert Hill dubs New Zealand  "Tasmania". "For God's sake", Anderton says, "we're the closest neighbours to each other, so we need to get on by and large".
(5 February 2002)   
           

Lessons from the Kiwi experience
The Scotsman praises "small, proud" New Zealand - "the more the government intervenes in industry the less enterprise and boldness there is. By rolling back the frontiers of the state New Zealand has discovered enormous energy and drive. These are qualities we could do with in Scotland".
(14 January 2002)
       

NZ among ten most competitive
New Zealand ranks amongst the ten most competitive countries in the world, according to a survey conducted by the World Economic Forum (WEF). New Zealand perches at #10 on the index, which the WEF argues is an accurate projection of future economic growth potential.
(17 October 2001)
     

Get up stand up - Kiwi cultural laboratory 
New Zealand doesn't get the attention it deserves as a "kind of cultural laboratory for issues such as the rights of indigenous inhabitants or the equality of women".
(15 July 2001) 
           

Private worries
New Zealand's privacy laws touted as an example for Australia to follow in protecting the rights of its citizens and mesh better with EU legislation.
(26 June 2001)
         

Cabinet re-maker
New Zealand's cabinet rulebook gets an overhaul to make it coalition compatible.
(10 April 2001)
         

Protest flotilla
"The people who live around the Japanese reactor that the plutonium is destined for don't want it, Australians and New Zealanders don't want their seas being used to transport it and Pacific Islanders are vehemently opposed," says New Zealander Henk Haazen, spokesman for the anti-nuke shipment protest flotilla.
(28 February 2001) 
             

Into the black
New Zealand leads the pack in debt reduction, cutting government debt from 65% of GDP in 1993 to 31% in 1999.
(15 February 2001)
              

Big Breach
Kiwi ex-MI6 operative Richard Tomlinson's memoirs, The Big Breach hits Russian bookshops and are  serialised in the Sunday Times, to the dismay of the secret service establishment in Britain.
(28 January 2001)

Different age
Queen Victoria reigned over an age of adventure and conquest, innovation and development. She was Empress of the Empire on which the sun never set, including New Zealand, her furthest-flung domain.
(27 January 2001)
 

Royal kiss-off?
47% of New Zealanders, including 63% of Maori, believe the monarchy should go.
(26 December 2000)
 

Security or spying?
Activist Nicky Hager sees proposed anti-hacking laws as spying - Minister Paul Swain defends them as essential cyber-security.
(16 November 2000)
        

Green-edged Canada
"The Green Party is part of an international movement of environment-centred parties that began in New Zealand in 1972." - Values Party perhaps?  
(19 November 2000)
               

Democracy deal
PM Helen Clark was at the forefront of the push to make the Pacific Island Leaders Forum a defender of democracy in the region.
(30 October 2000)
          

Malaysia and New Zealand: becoming closer neighbours all the time
Trade between New Zealand and Malaysia totalled over NZ$1 billion for the year ended June. As well, there are major cultural and social links between the two countries. "Over the years, tens of thousands of Malaysians have been educated in New Zealand, enriching the cultural lives of our campuses,'' said Minister of New Zealand Trade Negotiations and Agriculture Jim Sutton, speaking at a lunch in Kuala Lumpur. He then went on to call for lower trade barriers.
(5 September 2000)
             

All Black diplomacy
Kiwi Secretary-General of the Commonwealth Don McKinnon, is "a New Zealander in the traditional mould ... he's a refreshing antidote to the blandness of his three predecessors, who knew that if they stopped being boring they were likely to offend." His 'All Black style robustness' has been severely tested in his first four months in office, first by the civil war in Zimbabwe, and then the coup in Fiji.
(5 August 2000)
               

Piecing together the WTO after Seattle
Kiwi World Trade Organisation head Mike Moore urges resolve and ponders the failure to launch a new round of trade talks in protest-ridden Seattle. "The WTO is at the heart of a passionate debate about the defining issue of our time: globalisation."
(July 2000) 
                

New Zealand seeks new relationship with Korea
New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Phil Goff said his country will seek to support the process for peace on the Korean peninsula "through a developing dialogue and new relationship" with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).
(5 July 2000)