News of New Zealanders via Global Media

Stellar Creator Mark Toia an Advertising Legend

Stellar Creator Mark Toia an Advertising Legend

New Zealand-born visionary filmmaker and director Mark Toia has died, at the age of 51, in Brisbane, the Daily Mail reports. Toia’s career took him from filming eye-catching ads for Jeep and Mercedes to investing…

Americans Look to New Zealand for Second Homes

Americans Look to New Zealand for Second Homes

When Jim Rohrstaff moved to New Zealand in 2014 to help Ric Kayne manage and start his private golf club, Tara Iti, he didn’t know what the future held, Michael Croley reports for The…

Why Australia Trails Us on Indigenous Journey

Why Australia Trails Us on Indigenous Journey

An exhibition of Australia’s First Peoples art at Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki has stirred discussion of the two nations’ different Indigenous histories, Frances Mao reports for the BBC. Like Australia, New Zealand is…

Climate Change Already Hurting Māori Communities

Climate Change Already Hurting Māori Communities

Eight months have passed since the powerful Cyclone Gabrielle struck northern New Zealand, killing 11 people and displacing more than 10,000. The storm’s path across the Hawke’s Bay region was indiscriminate: it pummelled low-rent…

Why the Left Stumbled in New Zealand

Why the Left Stumbled in New Zealand

“It was a coincidence that the New Zealand election fell on the same night as Australia’s ‘Voice’ referendum to recognise its indigenous population. But it is no accident that New Zealand’s Labour party and…

Understanding the Many Meanings of the Fantail

Understanding the Many Meanings of the Fantail

The pīwakawaka is sometimes considered an omen of death, but in Māori tradition, that’s just one part of its story, Roxanne Hoorn writes for travel site, Atlas Obscura. The bird is a much more complex…

Cal Wilson a Comic Powerhouse

Cal Wilson a Comic Powerhouse

Cal Wilson, the New Zealand stand-up comedian, writer and actor who became a mainstay on Australian television over a 20-year career, has died at the age of 53, Michael Sun reports for The Guardian. Wilson…

Endangered, flightless bird returns to NZ mainland

Endangered, flightless bird returns to NZ mainland

The iconic and famously cheeky Kākāpō, a flightless bird indigenous to New Zealand, is returning to the nation’s largest main island thanks to conservation efforts by conservation groups, indigenous tribes, and central government. Kākāpō are…

New Zealand Swings to the Centre Right in Post-Ardern Era

New Zealand Swings to the Centre Right in Post-Ardern Era

New Zealand’s Labour party has suffered a humbling defeat after early election results suggested a halving of its parliamentary seats compared with Jacinda Ardern’s triumph in 2020, Nic Fildes writes from Sydney for the…

Mourning the Passing Of Lumberjack Icon Jason Wynyard

Mourning the Passing Of Lumberjack Icon Jason Wynyard

The STIHL TIMBERSPORTS Series mourns the untimely passing of Jason Wynyard, nine-time Individual World Champion and Series “titan. Jason was much more than a world champion, he was a true legend, an inspiring and…

Collaboration Saves the Kākāpō from Extinction

Collaboration Saves the Kākāpō from Extinction

“Kākāpō once lived throughout Aotearoa. Found nowhere else in the world, they have become a national icon, with their muppet-like faces and frequent silliness,” Pete McKenzie writes for National Geographic. But the birds, sometimes…

Adventurous Sailing Couple Stops in Wisconsin

Adventurous Sailing Couple Stops in Wisconsin

A little piece of New Zealand passed through Kenosha recently with globetrotting couple Gavin and Lica Morris docking their 46-foot-long catamaran, the Sol Maria, in Kenosha Harbor, Wisconsin, Joe States reports for Kenosha News. Their…

Australia Will Decide The New Zealand Election

Australia Will Decide The New Zealand Election

New overseas voting drive invites New Zealanders living in Australia to decide the outcome of the 2023 election. New Zealand was the first country in the world to give women the vote in 1893,…

Coping with Train Misery by James Nokise

Coping with Train Misery by James Nokise

There are many ways to cope with a rail journey from hell, Helen Pidd writes for The Guardian. When the New Zealand-born comedian James Nokise found himself on an 11-hour odyssey between London and…

Ecologist Elizabeth Bell Kills to Be Kind

Ecologist Elizabeth Bell Kills to Be Kind

Elizabeth “Biz” Bell is one of the primary architects of a series of ambitious conservation projects from the Caribbean to the Channel Islands. Honed in New Zealand and now exported to the world, they…

Pristine Places Models for New Zealand’s Future

Pristine Places Models for New Zealand’s Future

“ Peters was sailing with Heritage Expeditions as part of a line-up of conservationists on board to explain and interpret New Zealand’s singular ecosystem for guests,” Jamie Lafferty writes for the…

Advocate Brent Pope Recalls a Tough Job

Advocate Brent Pope Recalls a Tough Job

Brent Pope is a former rugby international, a rugby pundit, and the owner of the Pope fashion brand. The New Zealander is also a mental health advocate and is a co-founder of the

New Zealand Scraps Last of Covid Restrictions

New Zealand Scraps Last of Covid Restrictions

New Zealand has ended the last of its Covid restrictions, bringing the final curtain down on one of the world’s strictest pandemic policies as the Government said the country suffered a far lower mortality…

ACT Leader David Seymour Pledges a Shift

ACT Leader David Seymour Pledges a Shift

New Zealand is ready for “real change”, David Seymour the leader of the country’s Libertarian ACT party has said after polling suggested it could be a possible kingmaker in October’s elections. The Telegraph’s Roger…

World’s Oldest Pro Wrestler Abe Jacobs a Class Act

World’s Oldest Pro Wrestler Abe Jacobs a Class Act

Chatham Islands-born Abe Jacobs, the oldest known living professional wrestler in the world, has died in Charlotte, North Carolina in the United States, at the age of 95. Mike Mooneyham looks back on his…

Rate of Americans Moving to NZ Climbing

Rate of Americans Moving to NZ Climbing

Four Americans who moved to New Zealand speak to Business Insider about their reasons for departing the United States. One of them, Heather Gadonniex, left the San Francisco Bay Area and went on what was…

Islanders Adam and Cathra Kelliher Seek Visionary

Islanders Adam and Cathra Kelliher Seek Visionary

The owners of Taransay in Scotland’s Western Isles, New Zealand-born former war correspondent Adam Kelliher and his Scottish wife Cathra, are looking for a partner to carry forward a nature restoration project, while also…

Inside the Billionaire Doomsday Business Plan

Inside the Billionaire Doomsday Business Plan

“Saying you’re ‘buying a house in New Zealand’ is kind of a wink, wink, say no more,” LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman explained to The New Yorker in 2017. “Once you’ve done the Masonic…

Extinct Dolphin Had Tusks Fish Wise to Avoid

Extinct Dolphin Had Tusks Fish Wise to Avoid

The waters off New Zealand 25 million years ago were home to early baleen whales, megatooth sharks and human-size penguins. Now researchers are adding a bizarre dolphin to the mix that may have used…

Ian Witten: Waikato University Digital Pioneer (1947-2023)

Ian Witten: Waikato University Digital Pioneer (1947-2023)

Influential computer scientist and University of Waikato Emeritus Professor Ian Witten has died in Hamilton aged 76. An expert in computer software and digital technology, he helped establish the University’s international reputation in machine learning,…

How To Work Out Like a New Zealander

How To Work Out Like a New Zealander

“Are there people across the world who are equally as consumed with working out and tapping into mental and physical health ?” health and wellness media company Well+Good asks….

Māori and Moriori Ancestral Remains Return Home

Māori and Moriori Ancestral Remains Return Home

Hana-Maraea Solomon vowed years ago to help bring home the remains of her Moriori ancestors that were scattered in museums across Europe, Dubravka Voloder reports for ABC News. In the 19th and 20th century, German…

Zoo Miami Gets Reprimanded for Kiwi Petting

Zoo Miami Gets Reprimanded for Kiwi Petting

A video of the national bird being handled by Zoo Miami visitors has caused an outcry in New Zealand, with even the prime minister weighing in, Natasha Frost reports for The New York Times. Shy and…

Why New Zealand Is Obsessed with Its Native Birds

Why New Zealand Is Obsessed with Its Native Birds

New Zealand has an internationally unusual focus and dedication to its winged creatures, Tess McClure writes in a story published by The Guardian. That love has shaped its national identity and conservation agenda and…

Seventy Years Celebrated with Sir Ed Quotes

Seventy Years Celebrated with Sir Ed Quotes

“Everest was first climbed 70 years ago in May, cementing New Zealander Edmund Hillary’s and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay’s place in world history. Hillary has left behind a treasure trove of bon mots about mountaineering…

Fewer New Zealanders Cancelled from Australia

Fewer New Zealanders Cancelled from Australia

The number of New Zealanders living in Australia who have had their visas cancelled on character grounds – including criminal behaviour – has halved under the Albanese government, Emma Elsworthy reports for independent Australian…

Jacinda Ardern Heads Back to Harvard

Jacinda Ardern Heads Back to Harvard

Jacinda Ardern, who earned international acclaim for her leadership as New Zealand’s prime minister, has been appointed to dual fellowships at Harvard Kennedy School – as 2023 Angelopoulos Global Public Leaders Fellow and as…

The Two Colossi of Ahuriri, Pat Magill and John Harre

The Two Colossi of Ahuriri, Pat Magill and John Harre

Closing a Community Chapter. The Two Colossi of Ahuriri, Pat Magill and John Harre   On Monday 24 April Pat Magill, my kaumatua Pākehā, tangata Tiriti, called a few of us together for a coffee at…

Flying Officer Arthur Joplin Helped Sink Tirpitz

Flying Officer Arthur Joplin Helped Sink Tirpitz

Auckland-born Flying Officer Arthur Joplin, who has died in New Zealand aged 99, was the pilot of a Lancaster on the raid that finally sank the German battleship, the Tirpitz. His obituary is published…

Anne Perry a Crime Writer with Her Own Dark Tale

Anne Perry a Crime Writer with Her Own Dark Tale

“Anne Perry, the prolific London-born author of historical and socially conscious crime fiction who in her teens served five years in prison for murder, a sordid past that came to wide attention with the…

Bushwhacker Butch One Tough Son of a Gun

Bushwhacker Butch One Tough Son of a Gun

New Zealander Bushwhacker Butch, a member of one of pro wrestling’s most beloved tag teams, has died in Los Angeles after arriving for public appearances around WrestleMania 39. He was 78, Joseph Staszewski reports…

Politics Post Ardern, Marin and Sturgeon

Politics Post Ardern, Marin and Sturgeon

In January, Jacinda Ardern resigned as prime minister of New Zealand saying she “no longer had enough in the tank” to do the job. Currently, just 12 UN member states have female leaders, down…

Our Fabled Shellfish That Nearly Vanished

Our Fabled Shellfish That Nearly Vanished

Mainly found on the North Island, the large clam treasured by Māori coastal communities that nearly became extinct due to exploitation. But now, the toheroa might be on the way back, Norman Miller writes…

Aves Appreciation Rubs off on Sydney Writer

Aves Appreciation Rubs off on Sydney Writer

It seems like “every single” New Zealander has some kind of “bird madness”, and Sydney writer Rebecca Shaw has now determined that she too is “infected”, “and loving it”. Shaw reports on her new-found…

Ans Westra’s Photos Captured a Changing Nation

Ans Westra’s Photos Captured a Changing Nation

Ans Westra, a Dutch-born photographer who created the most comprehensive record of New Zealand’s social history, comprising more than 300,000 powerful images, died on 26 February at her home outside Wellington. She was 86….

Trailblazing Georgina Beyer Dedicated to Community

Trailblazing Georgina Beyer Dedicated to Community

Georgina Beyer, a former actor, drag performer, sex worker and radio host who pulled off a surprise victory as a Labour MP and later played a pivotal role in decriminalising prostitution, has died in…

Should New Zealand Cats Be Kept Indoors?

Should New Zealand Cats Be Kept Indoors?

New Zealand’s remarkable birdlife evolved on a land without apex predators. Introduced cats have decimated their numbers. New Zealanders may have to change the way they keep cats, Stephen Dowling reports for the BBC. New…

Former All Black Campbell Johnstone Speaks Out

Former All Black Campbell Johnstone Speaks Out

In January, former All Black Campbell Johnstone, 43, made headlines around the world by speaking publicly about his sexuality for the first time. It was a watershed moment for the game and a deeply…

Stuart Twemlow’s Ground-Breaking Contributions to Psychiatry

Stuart Twemlow’s Ground-Breaking Contributions to Psychiatry

Whanganui-born psychiatrist Dr Stuart Twemlow (Ngāti Patupo, Ngāti Te Wehi) wrote over 200 publications on a wide variety of fields including school violence, workplace harassment, terrorism and cult dynamics. Twemlow lectured internationally on the…

Without Frank Worsley the Endurance Story Would Likely Have Been Very Different

Without Frank Worsley the Endurance Story Would Likely Have Been Very Different

Ernest Shackleton gets credit for rescuing his doomed Antarctica voyage – but it’s his navigator New Zealander Frank Worsley’s leadership that saved their lives, Daniella McCahey and The Conversation editors write in an article…

Time to Rethink the Ideal of the Indigenous

Time to Rethink the Ideal of the Indigenous

“Many groups who identify as Indigenous don’t claim to be first peoples; many who did come first don’t claim to be Indigenous. Can the concept escape its colonial past?” Manvir Singh asks in an…

How Quake Survivors Must Deal with Lasting Trauma

How Quake Survivors Must Deal with Lasting Trauma

Research has confirmed that natural hazards such as the magnitude 7.8 temblor in Turkey-Syria lead to acute trauma and an increased risk for chronic conditions such as anxiety and depression in survivors. Psychiatrist and…

Tihei mauri ora! Tihei Aotearoa

Tihei mauri ora! Tihei Aotearoa

( Waiohiki Flood Recovery-Givealittle ) I began this kōrero at Waipatu, Heretaunga, in Hastings, in the early morning hours of Saturday, February 18, 2023. The sun had not yet risen, but it will….

Water Carved Our Landscape Now it Risks Lives

Water Carved Our Landscape Now it Risks Lives

New Zealand’s Hawke’s Bay is known for its fine wine, but many of the region’s vineyards are now under water, along with homes and roads in the aftermath of Cyclone Gabrielle, Hilary Whiteman reports…

Fashion Journalist Hilary Alexander Ever the Pro

Fashion Journalist Hilary Alexander Ever the Pro

Napier-born Hilary Alexander, one of the original Fleet Street fashion journalists and former fashion director of The Daily Telegraph, who has died age 77, was a prolific reporter and writer who epitomised the fashion-loving,…

US TV Presenter Visits Our Shrinking Glaciers

US TV Presenter Visits Our Shrinking Glaciers

New Zealand is full of stunning, natural beauty and home to nearly 3000 glaciers, which are huge tourist destinations. But the glaciers are quickly vanishing due to rising temperatures, ABC News reports. Good Morning…

Glen Johnson on Jacinda Ardern’s Resignation: Le Monde Diplomatique

Glen Johnson on Jacinda Ardern’s Resignation: Le Monde Diplomatique

New Zealand journalist Glen Johnson, who is currently in Ukraine, writes on the resignation of Jacinda Ardern, the international acclaim she received for her handling of Covid, and the years of threats, vitriol and…

Two Prehistoric Penguins Added to Our Aviary

Two Prehistoric Penguins Added to Our Aviary

New Zealand has been a haven for earthbound birds for aeons. The absence of terrestrial predators allowed flightless parrots, kiwis and moas to thrive. Now researchers are adding two prehistoric penguins to this grounded…

Botanical Artist Bryan Poole World-Renowned

Botanical Artist Bryan Poole World-Renowned

“ Bryan Poole, who has died aged 69, was one of the most talented botanical artists working in Britain; he helped to raise the status of a branch of art which has too…

RIP Pioneering Neuroscientist Matthew During

RIP Pioneering Neuroscientist Matthew During

New Zealand-born Matthew During was a pioneering neuroscientist who devoted his life to developing gene therapy for human applications. During, who died in Darien, Connecticut on January 26th, 2023, aged 66. He made…

Dissecting the Rhetoric of Jacinda Ardern

Dissecting the Rhetoric of Jacinda Ardern

“There used to be a website devoted to pointing out examples of world maps that didn’t bother to include New Zealand. If we did make it, we were tucked into the lower right corner,…