Tour That Divided the Nation
It was twenty years ago that New Zealand heaved into violence as 150,000 New Zealanders took to the streets to stop the Springbok tour. A time when “New Zealander turned against New Zealander” in…
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
Driving On
Eric Bailey-Balfour, 99, of Timaru passes his “very easy” driving test and gets a cake from the AA.
Out of the Roo’s Pouch
New Zealand’s continued “innate patriotism and pride” make a political merger with Australia unlikely, but economic convergence is welcome says foreign minister Phil Goff.
AIDS Action
New Zealand’s health minister Dr Annette King calls on the world not to neglect the small island nations of the Pacific in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
Fe-mail, He-mail
Gender can’t be hidden, even in faceless e-communication according to research by Tamar Murachver of Otago University.
Camera Obscura
When is a pin-hole camera a pen-hole camera? When the person issuing the instructs has a strong New Zealand accent…
Britain’s Brain-drain
Young educated people are leaving Britain for the good life down under: “There’s both a pull of countries like Australia and New Zealand and a push from this country, where there are too many…
Top Talk
Up there with the big events in Washington: Ken Gutschick presents a talk on New Zealand at the Long Branch Senior Centre.
Jack Off?
Should New Zealand drop the Union Jack and opt for the Silver Fern as a more unique and marketable symbol?
Too Smug?
New Zealand is making an official effort to cultivate Asia-literacy, but are individuals are unjustifiably smug in their attitudes to Asia?
Tests of Nationhood
“If you asked a random person how one can tell China and France are different nations, almost every test they would probably offer-language, culture, race, religion, cuisine, origins – would fail to distinguish the…
In Bed with Matilda
Waltzing won’t cut it says Professor Bob Catley – New Zealand is screwed unless we go all the way with our neighbor. A recipe for bare-foot and pregnant?
Sent to Safety
Shirley Rose and her brother Isaac Beder were sent from Poland to New Zealand in 1937. The difficult separation from their father almost certainly saved their lives.
On Top of the World
Sir Edmund Hillary had a brush with altitude sickness, but has made a full recovery, returning to the Nepalese hospital two days after he was discharged to inaugurate a new children’s ward.
U Sux
Hi-tech bullying via txt msg has lead to the banning of cell-phones in two New Zealand schools.
Good Background for Conciliation
South African immigrant Gregory Fortuin, New Zealand’s new race relations conciliator, has his experience of “ugly and oppressive racism” under apartheid to motivate him in his new job.
Strenuous Endeavour
“How a poor Yorkshire farm boy became a saltwater giant is an incredible tale. Formally speaking, 4-year-old Cook wasn’t even a captain when, over considerable objection, he was appointed master of a naval ship…
Wahine Remembered
March 10 was the thirty-third anniversary of the day the ferry Wahine ran aground on Barrett’s reef.
Antipodean Greatness
Aussie journalist ponders greatness, noting New Zealand’s “two truly international figures,” Sir Edmund Hillary and Ernest Rutherford.
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”.
Argument Success
The New Zealand Schools’ Debating Team carried their point, finishing sixth at the World Schools’ Debating Championships in Johannesburg.
Refresher Course
“New Zealand celebrates its National Day today. Situated in the South Pacific Ocean southeast of Australia, it is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. It has an area of 27,534 square kilometers. Its…
Fit to Judge?
New Zealand research shows juries have “fairly fundamental” misunderstandings of the law in over 7% of cases.
Fly Away Nanny
Free trips home to New Zealand are among the perks offered to nannies in London’s tight market.
Top Two
Two New Zealanders – Fred Hollows and Whakatane-born Lindy Chamberlain – make it into the list of top 100 influential Australians.
In Search of Lost Crime
How can a society heal itself? Some places, like New Zealand, opt for compensation for victims, a strategy that can be divisive. Europe prefers legal redress and Africa, Latin America and Asia favour commissions of inquiry….
Death Deluxe
John Bougan’s Auckland Memorial Park will provide anything “within reason, and within moral and legal bounds and the Building Act”. One customer has already requested a $150,000 building to house himself and his Rolls Royce.
Girl Power
Women leaders are where it’s at says the The Alliance of Girls’ Schools Australasian leadership conference.
Diversionary Tactics
Victoria’s government is using New Zealand’s successful diversion scheme to “break the cycle of crime” for young offenders.
Midsumma Dream
New Zealander Nigel Higgins is the man in charge with making Midsumma, Melbourne’s gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender festival, the queen of events.
Get out of the Water…
8 people, 21 of them in serious trouble, were rescued or ordered out of the water on a single day after unusual currents hit the Bay of Plenty.
Facelift, Mate?
Face peels and face-lifts are hot in rural New Zealand – sun-burned, nuggetty farmers are twice as likely as city-dwellers to put themselves under the plastic surgeon’s knife.
Christmas in Auckland
“Then Christmas dinner – Polynesian style – got under way, accompanied by the sound of guitars and the laughter of girls, flowers in their hair, dancing the hula, the siva and the tamoure.”
Brain Gain
“We’ve made the decision to go home, and I urge other New Zealanders to do the same. Let’s stop helping the economy of a country where we’re not welcome,” says Phillipa Hawkes, packing to come home following…
Go Babies
Two babies per woman is the minimum for population stability – New Zealand, Iceland and the US are the only wealthy nations reproducing at or above replacement rate.
Lost Boys
Les Blanchard found his long-lost brother in New Zealand – now he searches for the lost families of others.
Tom the Pole
Stationed in New Zealand in 191, Irish Navy-man Tom Crean managed to get a place in Scott’s Antarctic expedition.
Deported to the Colonies
London’s had enough of Generals Sir Charles Napier and Sir Henry Havelock, but their New Zealand namesakes would be proud to have them.
Habitat for Humanity
Global Village volunteers spend holidays helping some of New Zealand’s least-fortunate citizens.
Vowels of Allegiance
The Kiwi vowel slur might be a solidarity mechanism, adopted to make late-arriving, open-vowel enunciating Poms feel uncomfortable. Give us fush or give us duth.
Circus Ribbons
Wellington performers staged a twelve hour festival in support of international White Ribbon Day, organised to raise awareness of violence against women.
Grief Vultures
“At a conference in Auckland, New Zealand, Dr. Simon Wessely called for an end to grief counselling, which he denounced as ineffective and even voyeuristic, tossing counsellors with otherwise-humdrum lives into the same dreaded category as ambulance…
Orphans of Poland
Schoolteacher Krystyna Skwarko survived the death camps of Stalinist Poland, fleeing to Persia and eventually resettling in New Zealand with her two children and 700 Polish orphans.
Wave of Light
National Children’s Memorial Day is dedicated to families mourning a child. The event is marked by twenty-four hours of candle light, starting in New Zealand.
Geeks Downunder
“Geeks have a great chance Down Under” states the Economic Times. This, and other such headlines, are drawing high-skill immigrants to New Zealand where “living conditions are definitely better than elsewhere”.
Versatile Machine
Pakistani engineers have developed a “bed shaper cum seed drill”, and are exporting the all-purpose agri-tool to Uzbekistan thanks to New Zealand sponsorship.
Balibo Five
Investigations are being renewed into the killing of five journalists (including New Zealander Gary Cunningham) during Indonesian’s invasion of East Timor twenty-five years ago.
New Zealand Pride
Not as bursting with hubris as the Algerians, don’t think we’re as great as the Greeks, not as frank in our appreciation as the French, but we’re in the top twenty countries that inspire pride in their…
Late News
The New Zealand-based Afghani terrorist plot to blow up the nuclear reactor during the Sydney Games may not have been so threatening after all…
HRH Touchdown
The Queen will visit her farthest-flung domain in October, 2001. Her visit will provide “an opportunity for New Zealand to mark the impending Golden Jubilee of the Queen’s Reign”.
Kudos for Kiwis
Messages of thanks and congratulations poured in from all over the world in response to New Zealand’s decision to take the Afgan refugees. “By accommodating our homeless and stranded children and mothers, New Zealand…
Licensed to Squirt
A unique initiative has seen New Zealand kindergartens offering “licences” for toy guns in a bid to instil the “use guns responsibly” message in youngsters. Police have tacitly endorsed the scheme, but will not…
