Middle Line Management
NZ Reserve Bank governor Don Brash, has stepped down after 14 years in the top job as central banker to make a new career for himself as a politician. Widely regarded as the architect of New…
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
Lest We Forget
CNN reports on revivified NZ and Australian interest in the memorial of ANZAC Day and it’s importance to trans-Tasman relations: “Tens of thousands of Australian and New Zealanders arose before dawn on Thursday to pay their respects…
Under the Radar
A governmental mission to Australia led by PM Helen Clark aims to repair the damage done to already slack perception of NZ business (“yokels”) across the ditch by events such as the Ansett collapse and the…
The Price of a Degree
New Zealand rates as the cheapest study destination, in terms of living costs and tuition fees, from an IDP Education Australia survey of 168 universities in the “Big 5” major education destinations: the US, Canada, UK, Australia,…
Bryan Drake Remembered
New Zealand-born baritone Bryan Drake has died in London aged 76. A “fine musician with an equable temperament and warm personality”, Drake will be particularly remembered for his long association with Benjamin Britten and his…
BBC1 Haka Use Stirs Reaction
BBC1 uses the haka amongst a series of segments featuring multicultural imagery used to re-brand the British TV Channel, attracting reaction in NZ. Maui Solomon: “The Western culture, having all their own stories, are starting to mine…
Kiwis: Our Sheep Don’t Stink
The No.8 gene gets Wired for the 21st Century: “With about 45 million sheep and only 5 million people, New Zealanders hear their fair share of sheep jokes. When it comes to biotechnology and sheep, however,…
Z-files: Conspiracy Theory
“Pretty unlikely”, is the way Helen Clark responds to allegations that her predecessor David Lange received death threats (“liquidate him”) from former US vice-pres Dan Quayle over his government’s anti-nuclear stance.
Deep Sea Wonder
NZ scientists catch the biggest octopus ever found, a four-meter 75 kg giant hauled from 3,000 feet deep waters near the Chatham Islands. “It’s extremely deep, it’s extremely large, it’s the first recorded in the South Pacific,…
Tuatara: Taking it Easy?
BBC News features research undertaken by Victoria University Tuatara Research Group (Professor Charles Daugherty and student Nicola Nelson) into the habitat of New Zealand’s “living fossil”, the tuatara. “They’ve been around since the time of the dinosaurs, so…
Kiwi “Who Was Who” Goes Online
A fantastic resource for exploring over 3000 NZer’s who have ‘made their mark’ on our history. The Dictionary of New Zealand Biography puts the entire contents of the previous print Dictionary of New Zealand Biography…
Kakapo’s Getting It On
The world’s “rarest, heaviest, and only nocturnal and flightless” parrot, NZ’s native kakapo, enjoys a record breeding season with 22 chicks hatching on Whenua Hou, a small island off Stewart Island. Thanks to the bumper brood, kakapo…
Oxford, Sorbonne, Harvard … Multiversity?
A radical new education model is questioning the relevance of Western/colonial education system and the university model of higher learning. The project is called “Multiversity” and will focus on those supposedly excluded from First World education, Asia,…
NZ Founding Father of British Anthropology
Sir Raymond Firth, one of the world’s most prominent anthropologists, emeritus professor at London University, Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, and recipient of first Leverhulme medal (given to scholars of exceptional…
“Come Together”
Wearing a traditional Maori cloak of native bird feathers, the Queen calls on New Zealanders to work together to resolve lingering differences between indigenous Maori and the Government. Elizabeth II was on her 10th tour of…
Progressive Governance
Prime Minister Helen Clark joins leaders of “third way” governments from five continents at a Progressive Governance Conference in Stockholm. “The post-September 11 environment requires not just a military response but much broader international cooperation”, says Helen Clark. “If…
University Challenge
Roger Barnard, chairman of linguistics at University of Waikato, argues in The Guardian that sharp increases in enrollments of Chinese students at NZ universities and polytechnics requires an urgent response by staff and administrators to meet the…
Kevin Smith Farewelled
One of New Zealand’s best loved screen stars, Kevin Smith, dies aged 38, in a Beijing Hospital. Best known for playing Ares in the hit series Xena:Warrior Princess, Smith suffered head injuries in a…
En-Rot
New Yorkers jaded by the Enron scandal voice their concern on the street and yearn for the paradise in the Southern Seas – writer Alex Bauman: “If I had money, I’d be in New…
Giant Icebergs Leave Penguins Stranded
NZ scientists involved in penguin dynamics research in Antarctica report on the deaths of hundreds of thousands of baby penguins this summer, caused by the blocking of food routes by giant icebergs.
Intellectually Challenged NZ
Record numbers of NZ scholars, researchers, and graduates continue to leave antipodean pastures in search of work overseas notwithstanding another dose of local official hoopla, this time heard at the Innovate Conference in Christchurch. “New Zealand has…
The B-list of Baaad Has an Axis to Grind
International relations satire: bitter after being snubbed for membership in the “Axis of Evil”, peer-conscious nations rush to gain triumvirate status in what becomes a game of geopolitical chairs: “Spain, Scotland and New Zealand established the…
Royal Chill
Saatchi & Saatchi CEO Worldwide Kevin Roberts, accompanies Britain’s Princess Anne to Antarctica to celebrate the centenary of Scott and Shackleton’s discovery expeditions, and to launch the New Zealand Antarctic Heritage Trust’s 10 year project to conserve…
“Names Will Never Hurt Me?”
Deputy PM Jim Anderton tells the Australian Government to stop its “insults”, after Aussie Defence Minister Robert Hill dubs New Zealand “Tasmania”. “For God’s sake”, Anderton says,”we’re the closest neighbours to each other, so we need to…
Wading into a Globalisation Debate
Prospect (“Britain’s intelligent conversation”) hosts a debate between prominent LSE economist NZer Robert Wade and Martin Wolf over whether global inequality and poverty are actually getting worse. Wade: “At the heart of our disagreement, I think, is…
Heckler Good-humoured
500 e-mails, several severed subscriptions, and a visitation by one J.Lomu later, Graham offers an open apology. Planting tongue firmly in cheek, he concedes amongst other things that Split Enz are indeed better than Midnight…
Lessons From the Kiwi Experience
The Scotsman praises “small, proud” New Zealand – “the more the government intervenes in industry the less enterprise and boldness there is. By rolling back the frontiers of the state New Zealand has discovered enormous energy and…
Asian Free Trade Zone
Japan is keen to envelop New Zealand and Australia into its vision for an Asian free-trade zone in both trade and investment, and beyond into technology, education and tourism.
World First
Associate finance minister Trevor Mallard is the first person to conduct a euro cash transaction, exchanging NZ dollars for new euro notes at Wellington’s airport.
#1 Trans-Tasman Lampoon
Australian correspondent Martin Graham, in the ‘Heckler’ section of Sydney Morning Herald mocks Kiwi hobbit hubris over Lord of the Rings raving. While accusing NZers of fawning over “the fulm” like they’d split…
Awards of Merit
Controversial clergyman and academic Lloyd Geering carried off the highest honour in the New Years’ list, Principal Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit. Colin “Pinetree” Meads, All Black 1957-71 and all-time greatest…
Double Happy
“Deputy chief content producer Peter is celebrating twice. He’s not greedy, he just comes from New Zealand. The Kiwi has already raised a glass as the clock struck midnight in his homeland – 14…
The Queen and Us
Analysis of the Queen’s Message reveals her accent is going downhill. Meanwhile, New Zealanders and Australians speak increasingly different English.
Feel Like Jonah/Never Meaning No Harm?
Phil Robinson, helicopter pilot and Greenpeace activist, films rare Southern Ocean footage of a Japanese vessel harpooning a whale after a 40 minute chase. “Scientists” responded by targeting Greenpeace inflatables with water cannons.
Left-handed Crows
New Zealand scientist Gavin Hunt describes a new theory of “how human beings came to be right-handed” by investigating the “right beakedness” tendencies of crows when “ripping pieces from leaves.” The discovery makes it more likely that…
Hemorrhaging Talent
A disturbing survey of New Zealand’s graduating medical students reveals four out of five plan to depart overseas within two years. The survey makes clear the importance of addressing issues like student loans and remuneration to…
Shining White Antarctic
The environmental state of Antarctica’s Ross Sea region is in pristine condition – “exceptionally so by global standards” – according to a new report from the New Zealand Antarctic Institute. However the reports also points out “significant…
An Iron Wool
John Milner, a New Zealander noted for successfully opening the Eastern Bloc to the international wool trade, dies aged 84. During the cold war, a period when bureaucracy and suspicion were rife, Milner’s “exceptional charm and approachability”…
Lego Abandons Maori Names
Danish toymaker Lego is to stop making a multi-million-dollar range of toys after protests from New Zealand Maori groups, claiming the company had appropriated their language and images for the toy range. “Future launches of Bionicle sets…
Adopted Lambs for Japan
School children in Amagase, Japan have adopted lambs resident in Dunedin, Amagase’s sister city in New Zealand. The lambs have their own websites for the children to access and catch up on what’s happening with their…
“Gale From the Sea” Laid to Rest
More than 6ft tall, handsome and with the build of a rugby lock forward (which he was), John Platts-Mills blew into the English House of Commons as Labour MP in 1945 “like a gale…
Green Party Turns Red
The Green Party briefly turns red after the party swallows a report posing as part of a campaign to ban the substance Dihydrogen Monoxide (DHMO). Convinced it was genuine the party responds enthusiastically requesting more information to…
Greener Than You Think
University of Canterbury’s Professor Denis Dutton (Arts and Letters Daily) reviews Bjorn Lomborg’s controversial new book, The Skeptical Environmentalist, in the Washington Post: Dutton concludes that the “richly informative, lucid book” containing “bad news for Green…
NZ Among Ten Most Competitive
New Zealand ranks amongst the ten most competitive countries in the world, according to a survey conducted by the World Economic Forum (WEF). New Zealand perches at #10 on the index, which the WEF argues is…
Maori 3G Deal Secured
Pan-African cell phone operator, Econet Wireless, signs a deal with Maori to operate their license for running third generation mobile phones. The license was set aside last year by the New Zealand government for…
Adding Inspiration to Education
Kevin Roberts, worldwide CEO of Saatchi&Saatchi, is appointed “CEO in Residence” at Cambridge University’s Judge Institute of Management Studies. “My role is to encourage and inspire young people to dream, to believe and to achieve – to…
New Inventions Limits Environmental Damage
New Zealand, long recognised for its environmental innovation, makes another advance. Researches at Massey University have found a unique technique for the quick and safe treatment and removal of hazardous chemical spills. The portable unit draws effluent…
A Wired Army
The NZ Army is the first in the world to recruit online, and expects to cut the process from 4 to 6 weeks to just 14 days. “If we can offer a way that is faster,…
“For You to See Our World the Right Way Round”
Allen Curnow, one of New Zealand’s great 20th-century writers and poets, has died in Auckland. Daily Telegraph: “regarded by many as New Zealand’s greatest poet” Curnow helped define a separate NZ identity in verse,…
The Person is Political
Voters across the political spectrum have convinced Georgina Beyers not to quit politics after she said she was stepping down. “The fact that a transsexual, a former sex worker and a Labour candidate could win the historically…
Johnson and the Whale
Mark Johnson is literally leading the way with research into whale behaviour – part of his work involves attaching digital recorders to 60-foot sperm whales out in the Gulf of Mexico. Scientists like Johnson are trying…
Kiwi Bashing is No Joke
Air New Zealand’s role in the financial difficulties of Ansett Australia has created heated comment in the Australian media. “In recent days it has not been difficult to come by jokes and derisive comments about New Zealanders….
Famous NZ Plants
The Times explores the unlikely problem of growing tea trees like they do down in New Zealand.
September 11
New Zealanders and Australians unite in New York City to share their grief at the loss of antipodean lives on September 11th. Kiwi Alan Beaven, a leading environmental lawyer based in California, was on the hijacked plane that…
ANZUS Shmanzus
“The Chinese are not coming, the Russians are not coming, the Indonesians are not even coming. Time has moved on.” Helen Clark doesn’t miss ANZUS – and doesn’t think she will any time soon.
Native Art Expert
Noted Maori and Polynesian art expert Terence Tui A Tane Barrow, 78, died Aug. 31 at his Honolulu home. “He was very famous — anyone who wanted to authenticate Polynesian art would call… from…
