Corporate Drain
“Forget the brain drain – the Kiwis who leave usually come back; the real problem we face is the corporation drain, the breaking up or moving offshore of our top corporations,” says Mike Pratt, dean of…
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
All the Money in the World
New Zealander Graeme Wheeler has been appointed Treasurer of the World Bank and in the process takes responsibility for a portfolio worth hundreds of millions.
NZ ‘No Subsidies’ Model for Europe?
“New Zealand is one of a handful of countries which have embarked on free trade for agriculture and some say it should be used as a model for changes in Europe.”
Wading In
Robert Wade, Professor at the London School of Economics, gave NZ a “developing” status at the Knowledge Wave Conference. “The comparative position of New Zealand today is more serious than many think,” Dr Wade said, adding that…
The Pacific Petri Dish
The Australian takes an editorial swipe at the Triple Bottom Line approach advocated at New Zealand’s Knowledge Wave Conference. Paul Kelly believes “New Zealand today raises loud alarm bells for an Australian.”
CNN on PM
With a focus on Clark’s style of governance and personal history, CNN attempt to get behind the professional life of the New Zealand Prime Minister.
GE Free?
Against anxiety that it will affect our clean, green image, New Zealand’s Royal Commission on Genetic Engineering suggests cautious introduction of GM. In reaction, Kiwi artists raising their voice include Dave Dobbyn and Bic Runga wearing their…
Kiwi Temps
New Zealanders on the big OE are staffing London’s offices: “They usually have stable work histories and excellent IT skills, great interpersonal skills, confidence, and a good work ethic”.
Land Purchase
1841: 1,214 acres of land around Waitemata Harbour purchased from Maori – the future site of Auckland city.
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…
Put Another Bird on the Bar
Collector and Te Anau bar owner Neil McDowall offers a free jug to anyone who presents him with a dead magpie, a bird notorious for its aggression towards smaller native species.
WTO Tangle
“It’s a little puzzling that the major trade remedy for an organization that promotes liberalized trade is to restrict trade,” says Mike Moore, referring to the problems in enforcing WTO rulings. Will the next round of…
Once More Around the Track
Driving-man New Zealander Scott Dixon turns twenty-one, old enough to have a drink to celebrate being the youngest-ever winner in major open-wheel racing.
Click Go the Sheilas
Kiwi shearer Kylie Hamilton, “not really a very hefty bird,” but “with a good chassis under her” matches the men in her gang sheep for sheep – one of the first women in enter this very…
Driving On
Eric Bailey-Balfour, 99, of Timaru passes his “very easy” driving test and gets a cake from the AA.
Schuster, Stoppard, Sauvignon
The 1999 Montana Reserve Sauvignon Blanc (“my homage to Michael Schuster”) is a current favorite of British women’s-health guru Dr Miriam Stoppard. This New Zealand example is ‘fresh and rich and slightly oaky with a really lovely…
Get Up Stand Up – Kiwi Cultural Laboratory
New Zealand doesn’t get the attention it deserves as a “kind of cultural laboratory for issues such as the rights of indigenous inhabitants or the equality of women”.
Origin Controversy
Is every living thing on earth descended from a heat loving bacteria – or are we, as Dr Anthony Poole of Massey University suggests, all really aliens on our own planet?
Advice to Note
Icon of NZ music remembered. Composer Douglas Lilburn, 85, found a “distinctive voice from his native New Zealand.” The Guardian praises the “strong emotional appeal” of his music, noting that Lilburn took to heart…
Dealing to the Queen
It’s only a matter of time before New Zealand becomes a republic says PM Helen Clark, stressing that it’s still not a high priority.
Easy-over or Sunnyside Up?
Which ever way you flip it, global warming will affect every part of New Zealand – but perhaps we’re among the lucky ones?
Historian Remembered
Professor Neville Phillips – erudite, open-minded “sometimes spiky”. One of New Zealand’s leading historians, remembered for the day he stood up to Rob Muldoon in defence of the university and intellectual freedom. Neville Phillips: Died July 2001
ANZAC Bond
On April 25, 1935, Ataturk, the great general who masterminded the historic Turkish defensive victory at Gallipoli said, “Wipe away your tears. Your sons are now resting in our bosom and are at peace.” Words symbolic…
Miracle Reading
Reading Recovery, developed by New Zealand’s Dame Marie Clay, means results at a Toronto Public School where staff “watched miracles unfold” after the programme was introduced.
Financial Future Rosy
Finance Minister Michael Cullen optimistic about New Zealand’s economic future despite the global slowdown.
Trickster Wasp
Newly discovered New Zealand parasitic wasp creates a whole new insect family – Maamingidae, named after the Maori word for trickster, because it has taken so long to come to light.
Writing With a Cause
Working for international NGOs appeals to journalists as “an honorable route forward”, including former New Zealand reporter Brendan Parry, now working for Amnesty International, where there is “a huge amount of recognition if you do good work”….
Maori Leader Born
July 3 is the anniversary of the birth of Maori leader and MP Sir Apirana Ngata in Kawakawa, 1874.
Hogg Headed
New Zealand-born and educated scholar and teacher James F. Hogg appointed to head Western State University College of Law.
Clean as a Whistle
New Zealand comes up smelling of roses, second equal behind Finland in the world anti-corruption rankings.
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.
Sandwich Wars
How do Americans explain the antipodean phenomenon of Vegemite? “It looks like a mixture of kangaroo poop and old motor grease, but it doesn’t taste as good as either.”
On the Up
A low dollar, good tourism revenues and buoyant international prices for our primary commodities are leading New Zealand towards an unexpectedly strong export-lead recovery, including a $95million current account surplus. Also, “It was a boomer,” says UBS Warburg…
Nearly There
“In principle, we are just about there. I want it and everyone wants it,” says former NZ-PM, WTO head Mike Moore, confirming his work on bringing China into the WTO has nearly reached its conclusion. …
Penguins Pegging Out
Global warming, along with over-fishing and oil-spills, threatens penguin populations around the world says University of Otago penguin biologist Lloyd Davies.
Carbon Up
New Zealand’s carbon emissions rose 22% in the 1990’s, almost certainly putting Kyoto targets out of reach.
On the Defensive
The debate continues over scrapping the Air Force. Is it an example to the world or peacenik idealism?
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.
Rat Attack
New Zealand rat predatation expert Mike Bell called in to save the puffins of Lundy Island in the Bristol Channel.
Private Worries
New Zealand’s privacy laws touted as an example for Australia to follow in protecting the rights of its citizens and mesh better with EU legislation.
Fe-mail, He-mail
Gender can’t be hidden, even in faceless e-communication according to research by Tamar Murachver of Otago University.
Rollerskating Don
Oxford’s “Rollerskating media don”, Kiwi Ngaire Woods is a classroom pioneer using team game and corporate learning strategies in her International Relations MPhil classes.
Lucky Pig
New Zealand Kune Kune pig Grunty, former star of British programme Pig at the Ritz, currently resident at a farm in Wellington, southwest England, saved from slaughter after being declared free of foot and mouth.
Gone Fishing
Maori fishing rights seen as inspiration for other indigenous groups negotiating for sea rights.
Nests Bearing Fruit
Over half the world’s languages are under threat. Maori initiatives such as Kohanga reo (language nests), where elders teach children whose parents don’t speak the language, are seen as a model for other struggling cultures to…
Camera Obscura
When is a pin-hole camera a pen-hole camera? When the person issuing the instructs has a strong New Zealand accent…
Seeds of Learning
New Zealand plant expert Doctor Warwick Harris lectures in Seattle on the Christchurch Botanical gardens.
Sister Joyce
James Joyce was the pre-eminent modernist prose stylist; his sister was a devout Catholic nun who spent her life praying for his soul and “witnessing at the ends of the earth” – New Zealand.
He Makes Me Lie Down in Green Pastures
“This New Zealand guy who came into my shop gave me the seeds. He was like the Jesus Christ of cannabis: long-haired, blue-eyed, a big healer. Fortunately, he told me the potential of the seeds. They…
Compensation Won
International interest raised by Waitangi Tribunal ruling on compensation for Moriori descendents of survivors of the 1835 Chathams massacre.
Golden Shooter’s Last Shot
Malcolm Cooper started his small-bore rifle career in New Zealander and went on to shoot double Olympic gold for Britain, but lost the battle with cancer. Malcolm Cooper: 20 December 1947 – 9 June 2001
