Being Nice Makes Business Sense
Tourism NZ has launched a new campaign encouraging Australians to travel to NZ at different times of the year. At the same time, it urges New Zealanders to ease up on the traditional taunting…
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
Te Matatini: “It Really is That Good”
Australian journalist Bruce Elder spent two weeks in NZ writing a travel blog – TrampaboutNZ – for the Sydney Morning Herald. The highlight of his tour was the Te Matatini kapa haka festival, a…
Monster Haul
A NZ fishing crew has caught an adult colossal squid, one of the world’s most aggressive and mysterious predators. The 450kg monster, with eyes the size of dinner plates and razor-sharp hooks on its tentacles, is the…
Auckland Prof Named UN Science Laureate
Auckland University professor Margaret Brimble has been named one of the world’s top five woman scientists by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). As Laureate for the Asia-Pacific region, Brimble received the US$100,000 L’Oreal-UNESCO prize…
Ten Years of Te Reo
Te Kohanga Reo o Ranana in London is celebrating its tenth anniversary this year. The centre was established in 1997 by a group of parents who wanted their children to retain their NZ…
NZ Scientists Solve Pigeon Puzzle
Scientists at Auckland University have solved the enduring mystery of homing pigeons. “We are now confident that pigeons … use the intensity of the Earth’s magnetic field to determine position during homing,” said Dr Todd Dennis, who…
Political Force Remembered
Auckland-born Leo McCarthy, a prominent figure in Californian state politics, has died of a kidney ailment aged 76. A lifelong Democrat, McCarthy was the state assembly speaker from 1974-80 and went on to serve…
A Great Mind Remembered
NZ Nobel laureate, Alan Graham MacDiarmid, has died in Philadelphia aged 79. Professor MacDiarmid won the 2000 Nobel Prize in chemistry for his joint discovery that some plastics could be made to…
Silver Lining to Climate Change Cloud
NZ has the potential to adapt to climate change more effectively than its neighbours, according to the government and global warming experts. Despite being home to just 0.06 per cent of the world’s population, NZ produces 0.2…
Sacred Remains Returned
A Scottish museum has returned its collection of tattooed Maori heads to NZ after housing them for more than 180 years. The nine toi moko were acquired by the University of Aberdeen’s Marischal Museum…
NZ Escapes “Affluenza” Virus
NZ gets off relatively lightly in UK psychologist Oliver James’s treatise on rampant materialism, Affluenza: How to be Successful and Stay Sane. James defines affluenza as an unhealthy obsession with wealth which has led…
Testing Times
Durex has decided to test its new latex-free condom in NZ after its global survey showed that New Zealanders have sex more often and are more adventurous in the bedroom than their international contemporaries….
Connections Made with Past and Present
An American man’s exploration of his Maori roots is the subject of a documentary for US TV’s Travel Channel. Richard Wybrow, a CNN Radio editor, had always wanted to travel to his father’s birthplace…
More Scottish than Scotland
Otago University has launched a global search to fill its inaugural chair in Scottish studies. The newly created position is one of a small number of its kind in the world and is intended to position…
The Flynn Effect
James Flynn – Emeritus Professor of Political Studies at Otago University, intelligence researcher and “unassuming moral philosopher” – is profiled in the Guardian. Born in Washington DC, Flynn has lived and worked in NZ…
Wellington’s Conservation Crusader
Pioneering research by Victoria University conservation biologist Wayne Linklater could save the endangered black rhino from extinction. Like many threatened species, the captive black rhino population suffers from a potentially disastrous gender imbalance. Linklater attributes the extreme male-biased…
Let Them Wear Possum
The Independent reports on NZ’s thriving (and environmentally kosher) possum fur trade. “Elsewhere, designers who work with fur earn the wrath of animal rights activists. But in New Zealand, they are considered national heroes.” Imported from Australia…
A Life Behind the Lens
Filmmaker, writer and photographer John Patrick Feeney has died in Wellington aged 84. Born in Ngaruawahia and educated at Victoria University, Feeney served as a lieutenant in the Royal NZ Naval Reserve during World…
Images from the Outskirts of War
James Boswell: Unofficial War Artist: Drawings of Army Life in Iraq and UK 1939-1943 by William Feaver offers a fascinating insight into the “unpretentious, unheroic, unsmarmy” work of the NZ-born artist and political activist….
Defender of Oceans
A Guardian article on the uncertain future of wild fish stocks features long-time Rainbow Warrior photographer and marine biologist Dr Roger Grace. Grace as been documenting Greenpeace actions for over 30 years and is…
Remembrance Made Permanent
The long-awaited NZ war memorial in London’s Hyde Park was officially opened on Remembrance Day, in the presence of Queen Elizabeth, Prince Charles, Prince William, Tony Blair and Helen Clark. Described as “striking” by…
NZ WW1 Vets Pardoned
The British government has officially pardoned more than 300 Commonwealth soldiers executed for discipline breaches during WW1, including three NZers shot for cowardice or desertion. The legislation is the result of a 16-year campaign…
Living the Good Life
Auckland and Wellington came fifth and twelfth respectively in the 2006 World’s Most Liveable Cities list, published by Mercer Human Resource Consulting. The top four spots went to Zurich, Geneva, Vancouver and…
Former AB and Famous Father
Former All Black Brian Fitzpatrick has died aged 75. A sturdily built five eigths, Fitzpatrick was a strong runner and tackler. He made two tours with All Black sides in the early…
NZ Cricket Patriarch Remembered
Walter Hadlee, involved in NZ test cricket from the start has died in Christchurch aged 91. A productive and aggressive batsman, Hadlee played 11 Tests for NZ, eight of those as captain, and later served as national…
Lord Cooke of Thorndon: A Legal Great
Robin Brunskill Cooke, NZ’s most renowned jurist, has died aged 80. Educated at Wellington’s Victoria University and Caius College at Cambridge, Robin Cooke made his reputation early on with a high profile libel case…
First-class Brain Up to the Challenge
The Guardian interviews Julie Maxton, the first female registrar of Oxford University since the role was created 550 years ago. Maxton previously worked with the Oxford vice-chancellor, fellow New Zealander John Hood, at Auckland…
Kiwi Science Up to Speed
September 1 saw the launch of the Kiwi Advanced Research and Education Network (KAREN) — a super high speed Internet service linking national universities and research institutions with their international counterparts. KAREN transmits data at a top…
Queen Mourned, King Crowned
The Maori Queen, Dame Te Atairangikaahu died on Tuesday 15 August aged 75 after a 40-year reign. Dame Te Atairangikaahu was the sixth monarch of the North Island tribes who formed the King movement…
Rev Cardy on breaking the language barrier
The Rev Glynn Cardy of Auckland’s progressive Anglican church, St Matthew-in-the-City, recommends an overhaul of traditional liturgy in an opinion piece for the Guardian. Cardy believes that the gendered language and sometimes archaic metaphors…
Moko Takes to US Streets
The sale of Maori themed Halloween costumes by an American store has angered Maori leaders. Halloween Town in Los Angeles is advertising the Maori Facial Tattoo Kit for $US10. Rotorua academic Ngahihi o te ra…
Three Strikes, You’re Out
Rainbow Warrior bombers Dominique Prieur and Alain Mafart have lost a third court appeal to prevent TVNZ from screening footage from their 1985 trial. Three NZ appeal court judges unanimously granted the channel permission to air…
Game Over
A group of NZ bars has developed a novel method of curbing excess drinking. Unruly patrons can be yellow or red carded depending on their degree of intoxication – yellow cards preventing drinkers from…
Half-way Happy
NZ ranks 94th out of 178 countries in the inaugural Happy Planet Index, produced by independent British “think-and-do tank” the New Economics Foundation. The Happy Planet Index (HPI) measures human well-being in relation to…
Oh Happy Day
New Zealand is the 18th happiest nation in the world, according to the first ever “world map of happiness.” Produced by Adrian White of Leicester University’s School of Psychology, the map uses data from the CIA,…
World Heritage Watchdog
Ngati Tuwharetoa chief Tumu te Heuheu has been named chairman of the UN World Heritage committee, the global supervisory body for cultural and natural heritage sites. PM Helen Clark described the appointment as a “momentous achievement,” and…
Imitation, Inspiration or Appropriation?
2006 has seen a rash of advertising and design taking inspiration – with varying degrees of offensiveness – from Maori art and culture. An Italian ad for the Fiat Idea showing a group of…
Indigenous Art in the Spotlight
The Musée du Quai Branly, French President Jacques Chirac’s long-awaited €235.2 million shrine to indigenous art, was officially inaugurated on June 21 in Paris. The Quai Branly boasts a collection of 300,000 works from Africa, Asia, Oceania…
Wonder of the Natural World Reborn
Rotorua’s famed Pink and White Terraces – destroyed in the 1886 Mt Tarawera eruption – are being replicated 8km away at Wairakei by businessman Jim Hall. The original staircase-like tiers of pink and…
History Maker Remembered
International archery associations and Olympic committees have paid tribute to Neroli Fairhall, who has died aged 61. Fairhall won a gold medal in archery for NZ at the 1982 Commonwealth Games in…
Poi Reaches New Audience
The traditional Maori poi has surfaced in Penticton, British Columbia. 22-year-old Penticton native, Donalee Davidson, teaches poi classes in her home city and tours the world performing her own interpretation of the art. “You…
Career Pinnacle for Inglis
NZ mountaineer Mark Inglis has made history by being the first double amputee to reach the summit of Mt Everest. Inglis lost both legs to frostbite in 1982 while trapped in blizzard…
Prime Coverage at Chelsea
The 100% NZ Garden won a silver medal at the gardening world’s most prestigious annual event – the Chelsea Garden Show. The garden was inspired by the West Coast of Auckland, and features a black sand beach…
Highest Honour for Top Brass
Retired Air Marshal Bruce Reid Ferguson, NZ’s former Chief of Defence Force, has been awarded Singapore’s highest military honour. The Darjah Utama Bakti Cemerlang Tentera, or Distinguished Service Order, Military, was awarded to Air…
Maritime Mystery Nearly Solved
American archaeologists have discovered four 18th century ships off the coast of Rhode Island, New York, one of which could be Captain Cook’s Endeavour. Cook commanded the Endeavour on his famous 1768-1771 voyage to…
Spotlight on ’85
The Rainbow Warrior incident is back in the news, with convicted French agents Dominique Prieur and Alain Mafart seeking to legally bar TVNZ from screening previously unseen footage of their Auckland District Court appearance….
Best Western
Leading US travel site, Frommer’s, featured a lengthy write-up on the South Island’s spectacular west coast – “where there’s more to see and do than there are residents.” The writer’s comprehensive holiday includes a…
All the Right Numbers
Hawera-born Wayne Gould, the New Zealander behind the international Sudoku craze, features in Time magazine’s Time 100 for 2006. The list of “men and women whose power, talent or moral example is transforming our…
Dining With Giants
Canterbury University Professor of Philosophy and Arts & Letters Daily founder, Denis Dutton, was invited to the White House Press Correspondents’ Annual Dinner, as a guest of The Washington Post. The black tie event – a celebrity…
Double Honour
Former Wellington Evening Post photographer Melanie Burford is the first NZer to be awarded a Pulitzer Prize. Burford was part of the Dallas Morning News team that won the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for…
Badge of Gold for Nancy Wake
Wellington-born Nancy Wake, 94, now living in a London rest home, has been awarded the NZ Returned Services Association’s highest honour, the RSA Badge in Gold, as well as life membership for her work…
Potential for History Making
Dame Silvia Cartwright has been confirmed as a judge on the upcoming Cambodian war crimes tribunal. NZ’s Governor General headed a list of seven judges submitted by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, from which Cambodian…
Up the Nile in 80 Days
Two New Zealanders and a Briton have redrawn the map of Africa by following the Nile River to its true source – something no explorer in history has managed before. Lake Victoria was generally believed to…
Brian Barratt-Boyes
Internationally acclaimed New Zealand pioneering heart surgeon Brian Barratt-Boyes has died aged 82. Educated at Wellington College and Otago University Medical School, Barratt-Boyes battled against bureaucracy for more funding and staff to do what…
Little Snail vs. Big Business
NZ environmental groups are at war with Solid Energy over the power company’s intention to mine the only known habitat of the endangered brown snail, Powelliphanta Augustus. The entire snail population, believed to total just 800-1000, is…
Online Authority
New Zealand raised, former TVNZ reporter Robert Freeman has been appointed Head of Multimedia at Press Association, UK. “I am heading up this team at a critical time when the publishing industry is looking…
