God Defend NZ
Of all the nations in the Anglosphere, New Zealand had the proudest and toughest military culture of the 20th Century according to Australian lawyer and author, Hal G. P. Colebatch. In an article in…
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
Facing New Partnerships
New Zealand’s population makeup may one day number more Asians than Maori according to a new study called, ‘Asians in New Zealand: Implications of a Changing Demography’, launched in Auckland this month. Authored…
Maori Treasure in Ireland
The extensive Maori art collection – part of a larger ethnological collection of exotic Pacific art – at Dublin’s National Museum includes, the Meyler collection, pieces Captain James Cook acquired on his voyages and…
Between Continents
At low tide in June on the Firth of Thames in Auckland, American traveller Eric Wagner looks for the bar-tailed godwit amongst thousands of waterbirds flocking to feed on uncovered shellfish. Wagner describes the…
Father of Oceania
Soccer administrator Charles Dempsey, life member of both New Zealand football and world football body FIFA, has died, aged 86. Dempsey was instrumental in both the founding of the Oceania Football Confederation in 1964…
Pirate Captain
Thames-born actor Bruce Purchase, a founding member of Sir Laurence Olivier’s National Theatre, has died in Putney, aged 69. Purchase decided to become an actor at the age of five and upon…
Williamstown Whakaeke
Nga Manu Waiata are in dress rehearsal for the Australian national kapa haka competition – the group representative of 110,000 Maori who have made Australia their home. Thomas Rangihuna steps forward and welcomes everyone….
City of Sails’ Top Spot
Auckland is number five in the 2008 Mercer’s WorldWide Quality of Living Survey, making it the most liveable city in the Asia Pacific region. Tourism Auckland’s chief executive Graeme Osborne said he is not…
Wellington Reunion in KL
In the 1970s, Malaysian students at Victoria University’s Weir House relished the informality of calling each other by their first names, they cooked one another Malay and Chinese dishes, and the Malaysian VUW band…
Futures in the Heavens
Bethany Edmonds, 26, is a Maori artist about to leave on a scholarship for New York University to study the conservation of traditional textiles; Kipa Rangiheuea works at the Auckland Museum. Both are proud…
Flight to Learn
Remuera Primary School has classrooms full of South Korean children – “wild geese” – who live separately from their families in order to study in an English-speaking, and less stressful, educational system. South Koreans…
Solomon Islands Position
New Zealander Peter Marshall has been sworn in as the Acting Police Commissioner for the Solomon Islands. Marshall has over 35 years experience across all areas of policing and since 27 has held the…
History Lessons in Mood
Professor Sydney Shep, senior lecturer in print and book culture at Victoria University, has uncovered the emoticon’s “pre-history” stumbling upon emoticons in an 1882 typographic journal at St. Bride’s Printing Library in London. There, on the page,…
Europe Follows Lead
New Zealand is the first English-speaking country in the world to have banned smacking and Europe wants to follow suit. The New Zealand police were reassured when they won the right to apply the…
Search Engine Commemoration
The anniversary of Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay’s ascent of Mount Everest in 1955 has been honoured by search engine giant Google. Google periodically changes its logo to celebrate special events and…
Home Amidst History
Four hours from Auckland, New Zealand developer Peter Cooper’s 400 ha Mountain Landing property boasts white sand beaches, native bush and historical value. “When I first saw the property, I knew that it was…
For the Love of Letters
Thirteen-year-old Hamilton spelling champion Thomas North will compete at the 81st Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington D.C., travelling further than any of the record 288 competitors. North competes a year after Christchurch entrant Kate Weir’s memorable…
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…
Peaceful Isles
New Zealand comes in at number four on the second annual Global Peace Index released by Britain’s Economist Intelligence Unit. A survey on the harmoniousness of the world’s nations, the Index evaluates…
Touting the Youth
New Zealand ‘the youngest country’, is the new focus of Tourism New Zealand’s international branding. Tourism chiefs have called in London PR agency Henry’s House as they revive the country’s popularity post-Lord of the…
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”…
Safety in Cyber-space
New Zealand-designed educational software Hector’s World, which teaches children about the dangers of online aedophiles with cartoons, has been launched at St Vincent de Paul RC Primary School, in Westminster, Central London. Hector’s World…
For the Whales
Actress Keisha Castle-Hughes, 19, has joined the Save the Whales Campaign and is urging the New Zealand government to reject Japan’s proposal to resume commercial whaling in its waters before a June 22 International…
The Highest of Achievers
Colin Murdoch, inventor, pharmacist and self-taught engineer, a man who designed something the world could not do without, has died in Timaru, aged 79. Murdoch led an extraordinary life; creator of the disposable syringe,…
Berkett Settles In
Neil Berkett is eight weeks into his role as chief executive at Virgin Media and already has battle scars. Actually, he explains in an interview with Sunday Times reporter Andrew Davidson, he just banged…
Breathing Clean Air
New Zealand is a haven for environmental refugees and in this BBC World Service programme, one of six in the Global Perspective documentary series, four immigrants discuss their new home. In Escape to New…
Exploring the Lab
New Zealand is where the revolution will happen and a “perfect place for an ideas summit,” writes journalist Craig Sherborne in an essay entitled ‘Not all Black and White: Inside…
Investigating a Colossus
Te Papa’s colossal squid, the largest ever caught, has created a worldwide media furore making headlines from South Africa and Germany, to Iran and Uruguay. Very little is known about colossal squid; only…
From One Village to Another
New Zealand journalist Thomas Butson began his career in copy at New Zealand’s Truth, followed by positions at The Toronto Star and from 1968 at The New York Times. In 1992 Butson and his…
Trade Relationship Anniversary
In 1983, New Zealand and Australia signed the Closer Economic Relations trade pact, and this year, on the 25th anniversary of the agreement, chief economist of the Australian Trade Commission Tim Harcourt reflects on…
Global Positioning Sleuths
Rotorua has always been famous for its geothermal activity, now another ‘geo-‘ is making its mark around the city, less the sulphur. It’s the sport of geocaching, a kind of outdoor treasure-hunt practised worldwide….
Maori Role Models
New Zealand is a model for Canada in improving its relations with indigenous populations. By adopting lessons from the Maori experience, a report by the Winnipeg-based Frontier Centre for Public Policy is urging a…
Surfing Rhapsody
Raglan may be home to “one of the world’s best left-hand surf breaks”, but the town is also garnering international interest for its relaxed isolation and its arts scene. “Bohemian” Raglan writes the Lonely…
Together at Arms
A new sculpture of a New Zealand digger will be unveiled on the Anzac Bridge in Sydney. The digger will stand guard on the other side of the road, opposite its Australian equivalent, thus…
Masterpieces in Ink
Ta moko is more than aesthetics, it is writes the Los Angeles Times, a solemn declaration of Maori identity and dignity. With a little ink, some stinging pain and a helping hand from the…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
