Anti-nuke Politician Remembered
New Zealand politician Fraser Colman, remembered for travelling to Mururoa Atoll in 1973 to draw attention to French nuclear testing in the Pacific has died, aged 83. Colman sailed on board the…
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
Just to Say Thank You
Forty years after the Wahine capsized near Steeple Rock in Wellington Harbour, Queenstown artist Kate Watson, née McGibbon, still searched for the man who rescued her, only to discover he died five years ago….
Sir Geoffrey’s TV Legacy
Celebrated New Zealand journalist and soldier Sir Geoffrey Cox has died in Britain, aged 97. As editor-in-chief of Britain’s ITN from 1956 to 1968, Sir Geoffrey built the foundations of 50 years of popular…
Beijing Pact Signed
New Zealand is the world’s first developed country to sign a free-trade deal with China. “It’s a bit like getting the first date with the best-looking girl on the block,” says Stuart Ferguson, chairman…
First Knight Memorialised
Sir Edmund Hillary was honoured by the Queen at a ceremony in St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle. To a full congregation, Sarah, his daughter, read Allen Curnow’s elegiac poem You Will Know When You…
NZ’s Hottest Beaches
New Zealand’s four most “sizzling” beaches feature in a Forbes Traveler’s ‘Sexy Beaches Downunder’ slide show. These are: Piha, Hot Water Beach, Onetangi Bay, and Abel Tasman National Park, which receives a “’10’ rating…
Hawaiian Hunt
New Zealand hunting specialist Prohunt has been hired by The Nature Conservancy of Hawaii to help stem the destruction of the island’s native forest by marauding wild pigs and goats. Prohunt is conducting research…
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…
Land This Good
Cape Kidnappers is not only home for thousands of gannets, Wall Street magnate Julian Robertson visits his properties on the scenic coastline every US winter. Robertson, who founded Tiger Management Corp, has recently purchased…
Ancestral Art in UK
George Tamihana Nuku, renowned Maori carver and sculptor, is staging his first solo exhibition at the Captain Cook Birthplace Museum in Middlesbrough, UK. Nuku’s exhibition ranges from large carved pieces to traditional Maori weapons, and…
Right-hander’s Ultimate Innings
Walter Mervyn Wallace, one of New Zealand’s greatest batsmen has died, aged 91. As a young man Merv Wallace appeared such a prodigy that the New Zealand press did not scruple to make allusions to Don…
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…
Antarctic Oddities
New Zealand scientists were part of a 50-day “voyage of discovery” through the Ross Sea recently, coming face-to-face with some truly odd creatures. The marine life encountered during the 2,000-mile voyage included, jellyfish with…
Tunnel Museum Opens
During the Great War beneath the unassuming French town of Arras and the German enemy, the New Zealand Tunnelling Company built two interconnected tunnels, almost 20km long and able to hide 25,000 troops. The…
Kiwi Hatched in US
Washington DC’s Smithsonian National Zoo has successfully hatched a rare North Island Brown kiwi, their third since 1975. The Smithsonian is one of only four zoos outside New Zealand to successfully breed the…
On Financial Restraint
New Zealander Robert Wade, Professor of Political Economy and Development at the London School of Economics and Political Science and author of Governing the Market, debates global finance with the UK’s leading economic commentator…
Christchurch Blackout
On 29 March from 8pm, Christchurch joins 23 cities worldwide in turning off their lights for climate change. Earth Hour was first held in Sydney last year and was organised by the World Wide…
Memory in Bronze
Air Chief Marshal Sir Keith Park, the New Zealander who led the Battle of Britain against Germany in 1940, deserves recognition from the city of London according to British politicians and senior…
Leap for Frogkind
Thirteen tiny, and extremely rare, Maud Island froglets have been spotted at Wellington’s Karori Wildlife Sanctuary hitching a ride on the back of a fully grown male. Researcher Kerri Lukis said the frogs have…
Godwits Fly
Every year, godwits fly from Alaska to New Zealand in an astonishing six days. A Seattle-based husband and wife team have been following the migratory patterns of the tiny bird and write about their…
Shadows at Pataka
Porirua’s Pataka Museum is building on ties with the American Haille Ford Museum in an exhibition of North American Indian prints called ‘Crow’s Shadows’, put on in conjunction with Wellington’s International Festival of…
Bridging the Gap
On New Zealand’s Chatham Islands researchers have discovered the country’s oldest known bird fossils. The find represents four new seabirds dating back some 65 million years when New Zealand separated from supercontinent, Gondwana. Excavation…
Ngati Filmmaker Remembered
Barry Barclay, New Zealand film director and the first Maori to direct a feature film has died, aged 63, in Rawene. Barclay’s Ngati won best film at Italy’s Taormina Film Festival in 1987 and…
Indian Love Affair
More Indian tourists than ever are coming to New Zealand for the expansive scenery, favourable weather conditions and a bit of romance. In 2006-20007, as many as 20,946 Indians spent an average of 13.8…
NZ Studies Awarded
Dr Ian Conrich, director of New Zealand Studies at the University of London, is the 2008 New Zealander of the Year in the UK. Conrich received the accolade at an awards ceremony…
Dialect Mystery Solved
New Zealanders speak an English dialect made up of quarter Scottish, one quarter Irish and 50 percent cockney, northern and west country English according to Scottish linguists. In a five-year study, mathematicians from New…
Still Steadfast
Anti-apartheid activist New Zealander John Minto has turned down a nomination for an award proffered by South African President Thabo Mbeki. Minto organised protests against the Springbok rugby tour of New Zealand in…
Reclaiming the Moko
Maori heritage claims the walls at the Massachusetts Peabody Essex Museum. Thirty large format images of moko by award-winning Dutch photographer Hans Neleman make up the exhibition. Kimiora Ereatara Hohua describes the story of…
Bilateral War Cries
For 11 years Wairouru has hosted the Singaporean Army who train at the North Island army base under an agreement with the New Zealand Defence Force. This year, 900 Singaporean troops — the largest…
Farewell to a Literary Legend
Hone Tuwhare, one of NZ’s most distinguished and best-loved writers, has died in Dunedin aged 86. Tuwhare was the first Maori poet to be published in English (No Ordinary Sun, 1964) and one…
The World Mourns Our Humble Colossus
Sir Edmund Hillary – adventurer, philanthropist and global icon – has died aged 88. The lanky beekeeper from Tuakau found international fame in 1953 as the first person to scale Mt Everest, together with…
Pacific Perspective on Disarmament
Christchurch anti-nuclear campaigner Kate Dewes is the first New Zealander to be appointed to the UN’s Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters. “It is exciting,” she said in a Christchurch Press interview. “It is…
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,…
Award Winning Airmanship
A Te Anau helicopter pilot has been awarded the Federation Aeronautique International (FAI) Outstanding Airman Award. Richard “Hannibal” Hayes received the honour for single-handedly putting out a bush fire in Queenstown in November…
Power in Numbers
The New York Times reports on a multi-organisation effort to save NZ’s national symbol from extinction. Founded in 1994, Operation Nest Egg is a combined effort by the Department of Conservation’s Kiwi Recovery Program, non-profit group Save…
Value for Money
NZ private schools are moving ahead of their British counterparts on the global league table for English-speaking education, according to new international research. NZ tops the table for maths and science in the Pisa…
The Great Escapee
The last living New Zealander involved in The Great Escape of World War II has died in Masterton aged 92. Mick Shand was an RAF fighter pilot who fought in the Battle…
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…
Police Laws Go Wiki
The NZ police force has used wiki-style online collaboration to update its 1958 Police Act. In September, they posted the Act online and invited contributors from all over the world to suggest their own…
Love Me, Love My Food
Canterbury University researcher Annie Potts coined the new buzzword “vegansexuality” in a paper published in May. Potts, a director of the New Zealand Centre for Human-Animal Studies, surveyed 157 vegans and vegetarians on all…
Dilemma for Cat Fanciers
NZ-based psychoanalyst Jeffrey Masson has weighed in on the cats versus birds debate in a New York Times magazine feature. The issue of cats killing native birds in the US came to national attention…
Rotorua Takes Root in Nanjing
Rotorua Town is the latest in a series of namesake housing compounds to be built for China’s booming upper class. Located in Nanjing, two hours from Shanghai, Rotorua Town is an upmarket gated…
Kohanga Reo Movement Continues to Inspire
NZ’s thriving kohanga reo movement was the subject of a lengthy Age feature last month. Kohanga reo, or Maori language and cultural immersion schools, have blossomed since the movement’s launch in 1980. There are…
Mighty Totara of NZ Rugby
All Black and NZ Maori legend Pat Walsh has died of cancer aged 71. Renowned for his versatility, Walsh played 13 Tests in four positions between 1955 and 1963. He served as…
Hottest Aussie from Balclutha
Balclutha-born Dean Tahana has been crowned Australia’s sexiest man. The 29-year-old won the 2007 Mister Manhunt Australia competition, Australia’s biggest competition for male models. “I entered the regionals up in Noosa, Queensland, when…
Tales from a Conflict Zone
NZ nurse Lisa French Blaker has written a book about working for the aid agency Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) in Sudan. In Heart of Darfur (Hodder & Stoughton), French Blaker, 36, recounts…
Humanitarian World Title
NZ charity SurfAid International has won the 27 Humanitarian Award at the World Association of Non-Governmental Organizations (WANGO) awards in Toronto. SurfAid International was founded by Wellingtonian Dr Dave Jenkins in 2, to improve…
Equal Opportunity on the Edge
NZ has been ranked fifth in the world for gender equality by the World Economic Forum. NZ is the only non-Nordic country to make the list’s top five, which is led by Sweden, Norway,…
Protest Heard Around the World
NZ-born pro surfer Dave “Rasta” Rastovich led an international protest over Japan’s commercial slaughter of dolphins in November, gaining significant media coverage for his cause. Rastovich, a free surfer for Billabong, is a co-founder of the charity…
Mugabe Expert Comes Full Circle
Stephen Chan, longtime analyst and authority on Zimbabwean leader Robert Mugabe, returned to NZ recently to deliver the 2007 Chapman Lectures at Auckland University, his alma mater. Born in New Zealand to refugee parents, Chan became a well…
Civil Union Milestone
Civil unions in NZ have reached the 1000 mark, according to government officials. The Civil Union Act, which came into effect in April 2005, gives both heterosexual and homosexual couples the same legal rights…
Tokelau Keeps NZ Ties
Tokelau has voted to remain a NZ colony in its second referendum on the issue in 15 months. The vote for self-governance, which required a two-thirds majority,fell short by 16 ballots. “There’ll be another…
Free to Speak
NZ has been ranked 15th in a survey of press freedom around the world by Reporters Without Borders. The annual survey of 169 countries measures factors such as freedom of speech, freedom of information…
Master Carver Shares Message
Maori master carver James Rickard held a workshop at the Victor Oteyza Community Art Space in Baguio City, the Philippines, this month. He spoke about the need for indigenous artists to protect their works…
Tributes Flow for China Expert
Leading Sinologist Professor Elisabeth “Lisa” Croll has died from cancer aged 63. Born in Reefton, on the South Island’s West Coast, Croll gained a BA and MA at Canterbury University before completing a second…
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…
