Tag Archives: Sydney Morning Herald (The)

Dial M for Mambo

Dial M for Mambo

Crossing aesthetic borders NZ-born designer Marcelle Lunam leads “a new breed of artists cum designers redefining Australian streetwear”. Lunam is designer for Mambo’s “reverse diffusion” range ‘M’ – merging street and pop culture and…

Georgie Girl

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,…

Canterbury Crusaders Find Rugby Holy-land

Canterbury Crusaders Find Rugby Holy-land

“New Zealand’s Crusaders put up a persuasive case as world rugby’s champion provincial team with their unbeaten sweep through the Super 12 series” … sealing the tournament with a dominant 31-13 win over the ACT Brumbies. Earlier the…

WorldEdge: Sydney Fashion Week

WorldEdge: Sydney Fashion Week

The Australian Review headline: “Kiwis upstage hosts at fashion week”. WORLD’s youthful postmodern colour blast made the cover of the all the major papers. And Zambesi’s bomber jackets coupled with their trademark structuralist dresses…

Finn Family Fun

Finn Family Fun

A laid back Tim Finn ponders his career, fatherhood, his NZ-homecoming, getting picked up by Iggy Pop, and more on the eve of an Aussie tour and muses on the power of song:…

Writer’s block

Writer’s block

“The literary traffic across the Tasman isn’t as brisk as it should be. Much good writing has to come from Auckland or Wellington to Australia by way of publication in London; and New Zealand…

The Empire Strikes Back

The Empire Strikes Back

The SMH finds Tem Morrison carrying the antipodean banner in the new Star Wars blockbuster, Episode II: Attack of the Clones – the latest installment of George Lucas’s epic fantasy: “The best…

Z-files: Conspiracy Theory

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.  

Kevin Smith Farewelled

Kevin Smith Farewelled

One of New Zealand’s best loved screen stars, Kevin Smith, dies aged 38, in a Beijing Hospital. Best known for playing Ares in the hit series Xena:Warrior Princess, Smith suffered head injuries in a…

Wheel World Road Trip

Wheel World Road Trip

SMH’s Kendall Hill goes Campervanning in NZ. She jokes that she was looking forward to a “wucked trip” but, “the pursuit of puns and funny thungs gave way to the pure enjoyment of exploring this remarkable…

Man with the Hook

Man with the Hook

NZ-born Sam Chisholm, the man who spent more time in the boxing ring than class room at King’s College, who then went on to become deal maker and right hand man for both Kerry Packer and Rupert…

I See Red

I See Red

A New Zealand company, Knights of NZ, wins the contract to make the Australian Olympic team’s opening ceremony coats for the upcoming Winter Olympics. Worth more than $3000 each, the coats are made from 100 per…

Heckler Good-humoured

Heckler Good-humoured

500 e-mails, several severed subscriptions, and a visitation by one J.Lomu later, Graham offers an open apology. Planting tongue firmly in cheek, he concedes amongst other things that Split Enz are indeed better than Midnight…

#1 Trans-Tasman Lampoon

#1 Trans-Tasman Lampoon

Australian correspondent Martin Graham, in the ‘Heckler’ section of Sydney Morning Herald mocks Kiwi hobbit hubris over Lord of the Rings raving. While accusing NZers of fawning over “the fulm” like they’d split…

Awards of Merit

Awards of Merit

Controversial clergyman and academic Lloyd Geering carried off the highest honour in the New Years’ list, Principal Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit. Colin “Pinetree” Meads, All Black 1957-71 and all-time greatest…

Apocraphylactic Realism

Apocraphylactic Realism

Another Aussie icon from Godzone: NZ-born Reg Mombassa is best known for the distinctive designs he creates for the Mambo surf-wear brand: bright, surreal visions of suburban life and beach culture. He is frequently…

“For You to See Our World the Right Way Round”

“For You to See Our World the Right Way Round”

Allen Curnow, one of New Zealand’s great 20th-century writers and poets, has died in Auckland. Daily Telegraph: “regarded by many as New Zealand’s greatest poet” Curnow helped define a separate NZ identity in verse,…

This Glorious Tradition

This Glorious Tradition

Respect: The Sydney Morning Herald offers solace to the demanding expectations of AB fans and puts a recently balanced ledger in the context of the history and aura of the All Black tradition: “Now you know…

Click Go the Sheilas

Click Go the Sheilas

Kiwi shearer Kylie Hamilton, “not really a very hefty bird,” but “with a good chassis under her” matches the men in her gang sheep for sheep – one of the first women in enter this very…

Whiff of Health

Whiff of Health

Edge-designed disease-detecting super-nose could lead to a revolution in doctoral diagnosis, as well as having commercial applications in the oil and gas industry.

Origin Controversy

Origin Controversy

Is every living thing on earth descended from a heat loving bacteria – or are we, as Dr Anthony Poole of Massey University suggests, all really aliens on our own planet?

Free Farming

Free Farming

New Zealand leads the world with a fully deregulated agricultural sector – but big players like the US still protect and subsidise farmers, talking the free-trade talk but not walking the walk.

Founder Found

Founder Found

The lost grave of Denis Hoben, founder of the New Zealand Rugby Football Union, uncovered in Sydney.  

Music to His Ears

Music to His Ears

Jonah is a big man – and he’s got a car stereo to match.

Doctor Nurse

Doctor Nurse

“There is not many people I take my hat off to, but I take my hat off to Olly. She is one of the best sisters we have ever had,” says Wanaaring local Jimmy Skinner…

Rings Actors Awestruck

Rings Actors Awestruck

“It seems that those involved are only starting to realise just how big a movie project with which they have been involved. The actors were awe-struck by look of the movie and the spectacular…

Top Dollars Man

Top Dollars Man

The Australian Treasury head-hunted Ken Henry from Canterbury University in 1984: now he’s the head of the outfit.  

Captain Cayless

Captain Cayless

Sydney laments 22-year old Nathan Cayless’s decision to follow his Maori heritage home and captain the New Zealand league side.  

Drawing Blood

Drawing Blood

David Low: outsider, radical, New Zealander. Last century’s greatest political cartoonist.

Auckland Attractions

Auckland Attractions

“I fell madly in love with  Sydney and I thought, ‘I don’t have to live in America!’ My wife was already in love with Melbourne. Then we visited Auckland and it became our compromise. It’s the…

Calling Australia

Calling Australia

Telecom New Zealand’s major stake in Australia’s 3G mobile network is just the beginning according to Telcom CEO Theresa Gattung.  

Crowe’s Anzac

Crowe’s Anzac

Stan Wemyss, Russell Crowe’s Grandfather, was a soldier and cinematographer – a key influence on the star.

Anzac Spirit

Anzac Spirit

“In late April 1915, John Davis, a young New Zealander uncertain even of his own age, stepped off a small boat on the shores of Gallipoli. Moments later he slumped, apparently lifelessly, into the sea.” Two…

Returning the Gaze

Returning the Gaze

Early European explorers of the Pacific created a cult of the South Seas – Sir Joseph Banks, for example, had his portrait painted wearing a Maori cloak over his European dress. Now the Pacific refocuses the…

Anzac Memorial

Anzac Memorial

The New Zealand war memorial in Canberra was officially opened on 24 April by Australian Anzac veteran, 100-year old Charlie Mance.

Oz Needs Women on Top

Oz Needs Women on Top

Australia needs to heed New Zealand’s example on female politicians, roping more talented women into mainstream parties. New Zealand’s current female dominated political scene is “light years away from Australia’s old-fashioned old boys’ game.”  

And to Finn-ish With

And to Finn-ish With

“The most prolific writer of quality songs around at the moment” says Radiohead’s Ed O’Brien. How about Finn as New Zealand’s Paul McCartney? Or Eddie Vedder singing backing at “a small club…

Never a Softie

Never a Softie

Colin Meads played 55 games for New Zealand, with “not a soft match in his entire 14 years at the pit face. No wonder the legend lives on”.  

Knox them out

Knox them out

The Vintner’s Luck takes the Tasmanian Pacific Region Prize, Australasia’s richest literary prize. “There’s all this stuff in Vintner about anxiety and authenticity that’s very New Zealand,” says author Elizabeth Knox, noting that, like…

Angst in Oz

Angst in Oz

Australian business needs a hurry-up: “…even the New Zealanders are giving us a spanking in certain areas. Even the New Zealanders! Well I never…”  

Jumping Jackie Flash

Jumping Jackie Flash

Australia’s Sports Minister and Howard political protégé, New Zealand-born Jackie Kelly ducks the limelight after “a huge year”.

Bye-bye Brierley

Bye-bye Brierley

New Zealand business legend Sir Ron Brierley steps down as director of the eponymous Brierley Investments.

…you take Finn with you

…you take Finn with you

One Nil  is the result of a musician “looking for collaborative work, where someone else is bringing something to the table”, but it’s still vintage Finn: still “rooted in the form and structure of…

Sexy Collette

Sexy Collette

Wellington-trained Aus-based designer Collette Dinnigan’s international reputation makes her Australasia’s most prolific fashion designer, conjuring for all shapes and sizes “unashamedly feminine, decorative and sexy creations that hug your body and delight your spirit”…

Properly Done

Properly Done

New Zealand designers Ashley and Wende Fogel know how to get it right for this season’s “lean and proper” look.

Awesome Dame

Awesome Dame

New Zealand thoroughbred superpower Sunline receives “spine-tingling” farewell from Sydney. “She is the best horse I will ever train,” states trainer Trevor McKee.

Cyberreads

Cyberreads

Denis Dutton’s “admirable venture,” Cybereditions, allows publications to be constantly updated,  exploiting the interactivity and flexibility of the net to deliver superior content.

Judgement in Paradise

Judgement in Paradise

Retired New Zealand  Appeal Court judges Sir Maurice Casey and Sir Ian Barker lead the judicial charge for democracy in Fiji.  

Great Spinner

Great Spinner

New Zealand-born Clarrie Grimmet’s 216 wickets from 37 tests earned him a place in Australia’s pantheon, despite a rift with the big man of Australian cricket.

Kiwis in Oz

Kiwis in Oz

Taking the edge to the world, Russell Crowe and former Australian Channel 9 boss, now Telstra board member Sam Chisholm are examples of Kiwi excellence that “will always float to the top”.

Intimacy and success

Intimacy and success

New Zealander Kerry Fox wins Silver Bear (best actress) at the Berlin Film Festival for her “searing and explicit” performance in Intimacy, winner of the Golden Bear for best film. Fox was unable to…

Sydders Running

Sydders Running

The Sydney Half-Marathon turns ten. Back in 1996, New Zealand woman Nyla Carroll won the women’s section so fast the official nearly missed her dash over the finish line.  

Foot Gloves

Foot Gloves

More than 50% of mass-market shoes just aren’t made to go on feet, but a small New Zealand company is an oasis of comfort among the pinching, making shoes that “fit like a glove”.

Dread Drought

Dread Drought

New Zealand artist Horace Moore-Jones painted “one of the few pictorial responses to Australia’s Long Drought” (1895 and 1903), a series which included “Dead Drought as ‘a ghastly emaciated figure of doubtful sex, wearing…

World Without Oz

World Without Oz

If Australia didn’t exist, “Kiri Te Kanawa would be known as La Stupenda,” “New Zealanders would outnumber sheep” and “the pavlova would be indisputably a New Zealand Creation.”

Top Two

Top Two

Two New Zealanders – Fred Hollows and Whakatane-born Lindy Chamberlain – make it into the list of top 100 influential Australians.