Miracle Flightless
Since 1984, New Zealand has undergone “the most comprehensive economic reform programme undertaken by any OECD country in recent decades”. Not all the results have been bright: “Looking back over the past 15 years, you would have…
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
That’s Not a Camera Flash
PM Clark ventured on a guided tour of the Sydney Harbour Bridge super-structure. Was that an admirer taking a picture? Was it an apparition of Roger Kerr? No, the sudden illumination was lightening striking the bridge, narrowly…
NZ Economy Surged
New Zealand’s economy surged two percent for the June quarter, Statistics New Zealand has revealed.
Murderball 2
Cage fights? Question time in the New Zealand Parliament is being broadcast live on the net.
McKinnon Calls for Debt Relief
Commonwealth Sec-Gen Don McKinnon has called on G-7 countries, the World Bank and the IMF to “just do it” on the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative which would write off debts owed by some of the…
Entrepreneurial Drive
The Waikato Management School has launched an innovative scheme to counter the supposed Brain Drain.
Dollar for Dollar
Ian MacFarlane, Governor of the Australia Reserve bank, has been positive about the idea of currency union with New Zealand, but has left the initiative firmly on the Kiwi side of the ditch. Earlier this month…
Better, But Not Good Enough
Helen Clark addressed a UN meeting of world leaders, stating: “We recently announced that our next governor-general will be a woman, our prime minister is a woman, the leader of the opposition is a woman, the cabinet…
Keep Our Yurts Nuke Free!
Mongolia, inspired by New Zealand, is asking to be declared a Nuclear-Free Zone. No more American warships for them!
Malaysia and New Zealand: Becoming Closer Neighbours All the Time
Trade between New Zealand and Malaysia totalled over NZ$1 billion for the year ended June. As well, there are major cultural and social links between the two countries. “Over the years, tens of thousands of Malaysians…
Kiwi on Panel to Improve UN’S Peace-keeping Ability
Dame Ann Hercus represented New Zealand on a special panel formed to examine the UN’s peace-keeping resources. “While stopping short of calling for a permanent U.N. army, the panel appealed to United Nations members to prepare…
New Zealand Urges Japan to Halt Whaling
Representatives of 15 countries have urged Japan, the world’s largest consumer of whale meat, to halt its research whaling. New Zealand and Australia, along with anti-whaling groups and conservationists have been at the forefront of efforts to…
Secret History
An Italian monk’s stinging criticism of British mistreatment of Maori has been published in New Zealand for the first time – more than 100 years after it was written. Written by Benedictine monk Dom Felice Vaggioli,…
The Gould Standard
Vice-Chancellor of the University of Waikato and former British Labour spokesman Bryan Gould offers his perspective on one of the most heated debates in British politics – the integration of European currency and urges Blair’s government to…
All Black Diplomacy
Kiwi Secretary-General of the Commonwealth Don McKinnon, is “a New Zealander in the traditional mould … he’s a refreshing antidote to the blandness of his three predecessors, who knew that if they stopped being boring they were…
A Leftist Free-trader: Oxymoore-onic?
Kiwi WTO chief Mike Moore, speaking to an audience of young socialists in Sweden responds to criticism of the World Trade Organisation “It is odd that some on the left have sometimes opposed free trade. If…
Satellite Spies: Big Brother is Watching.
‘Echelon’, a mysterious spy network between the United States, Britain, Canada, New Zealand and Australia, has come under fire from the European Union, as well as defenders of civil liberty. The station at Wahopai, in the South…
Sheep Joke
Alliance MP Grant Gillon faces being baa-ed from parliament after making a wise-crack (more commonly used by Australians) about the relationship between sheep and opposition politicians. The remark was made during a debate on the experimental use…
New Zealand Seeks New Relationship with Korea
New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Phil Goff said his country will seek to support the process for peace on the Korean peninsula “through a developing dialogue and new relationship” with the Democratic People’s Republic…
The Edge Beckons
The Financial Times ponders years of reform, New Zealand’s loss of confidence in its ability to survive in an era of globalisation and evaluates the context: what is the role of a small western economy on the…
War and Peace: Kiwi UN Official Warns of Half-job Solutions
As the United Nations administration in Kosovo prepares to shut down, its job of emergency relief deemed to be over, Kiwi UN special envoy Dennis McNamara has some advice for the next great international mission to rebuild…
Piecing Together the WTO After Seattle
Kiwi World Trade Organisation head Mike Moore urges resolve and ponders the failure to launch a new round of trade talks in protest-ridden Seattle. “The WTO is at the heart of a passionate debate about the defining…
Bryan Gould: Best Belletrist on the Left
The New Statesman’s literary editor uses his position to weigh up the relative literary merits of the Tory MPs compared to their Labour counterparts, and finds that the Tories are up at halftime, “with the exception…
Helen Clark: Good Bloke
“Good bloke” politics is playing well in “reform-fatigued” Australian electorates. The new model is not gender-specific. Prime Minister Helen Clark in New Zealand may like to imply that it is, but she has profited from the same…
ANZACS Cautious in South Pacific
New Zealand and Australia in recent years have turned their attention away from the South Pacific, and increasingly cast it towards Asia. Two coups in as many weeks, in Fiji and the Solomon Islands, have re-focused attention,…
Mike Moore Wants to Give Globalisation a Human Face
The cherubic WTO head Moore, readily likened to a panda in caricutures, admitted that the free-traders were losing the PR battle after the “Seattle Debacle” and failed consensus, but vowed to do what it takes to convince…
Oui Fumer
A political party in New zealand is to hand out free cigarettes in protest at the countires recent increase in tobacco taxes. The Libertarianz Party will hand out free cigarette’s in the city of Roturua, a geothermal…
McKinnon and the End of the World
“No sooner had former New Zealand foreign minister Don McKinnon stepped across the threshold of London’s Marlborough House to take over as Secretary-General than all hell broke loose across the Commonwealth. It was a coincidence, of course…
Kiwi Commonwealth Leader Gets Pacific About the Pacific
The Commonwealth Secretary General, New Zealander Don McKinnon, working towards peace in Fiji, admitted yesterday that it would be hard to find an effective way of pressing Fiji to abandon its newly re-imposed race-based constitution.
Helen Clark on the Edge of World Power Summit
Kiwi PM attends Conference on Modern Governance in the 21st Century in Berlin. The Conference, chaired by Gerhard Schroeder and attended by Bill Clinton, was a meeting of the world’s “third way” governments. Clark was the only female amongst the…
Kiwi ‘Ghost of 68’ Asks if Secret Service Intelligence is an Oxymoron
Victoria University’s “frightenly radical” David Robinson gets accused of being ‘a red under the bed’ in a British Secret Service intelligence report, but questions whether a secret intelligence report means that the report is secret or that…
WTO Promises Moore Action
Ex-New Zealand Prime Minister Mike Moore needs to enlist all his skills of diplomacy in taking steps towards launching a round of global trade talks this year if he is to get the World Trade Organisation…
The Cold War is Over, but Rogue Kiwi Spy Wants to Sell Secrets to the Russians
Richard Tomlinson, whose ‘licence to spy’ was revoked by MI6 in 1995 is negotiating with a Russian publisher to disclose details of his experiences as an agent. He claims he was unfairly dismissed. MI6 said he was regarded…
Apology Not Black and White for Aussie PM
The Kiwi way puts pressure on John Howard to formally apologise to the aboriginal people. Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said: “This is a global issue … he pointed to leaders in the United States, Canada, New Zealand and…
Nuclear Free New Zealand Adds Weight to New Agenda Coalition
United Nations, New York: After pressure from the New Agenda Coalition, weeks of intense negotiation and decades of international pressure, the five original nuclear powers have agreed for the first time to the “unequivocal” elimination of nuclear…
GST Fringe Not so Taxing
“New Zealand’s goods and services tax is relatively foolproof because it makes few exceptions, but it hasn’t stopped those with a touch of entrepreneurial flair making the odd killing, especially on the land.”
‘Red Ken’ Appoints Blue-chip Kiwi as His Business Advisor
51-year-old New Zealander Judith Mayhew has joined London Mayor Ken Livingstone’s cabinet as his business advisor. Announcing the appointment on Thursday, Mr Livingstone said he was “delighted.” The appointment of Tory Mayhew gives new meaning to socialist Ken’s…
Tomlinson, Richard Tomlinson, MI6
Richard Tomlinson, New Zealand born Cambridge educated British spy, faces prosecution under the Official Secrets Act for revelations about his past work for M16. Tomlinson, claiming wrongful dismissal and already sentenced to prison for…
New Zealand Under the World’s Microscope
South Africa: while New Zealanders have mixed feelings about the manner in which their economy was overhauled, few in business have argued with the results and each year hundreds of public and private sector players visit…
Not the Third Way, But the Kiwi Way: Clark Impresses in the Uk
John Monks, general secretary of the Trades Union Congress, marvels at NZ Prime Minister Helen Clark’s golden ride in government, “That’s a government that knows what it’s doing, that is business-friendly, but insists on some rules too”. …
New Zealand Spreads No-nukes Message
In a letter to the editor of the Financial Times spokesperson for the New Agenda Coalition, Mexican Ambassador Antonio de Icaza, expressed concern at current developments “whereby nuclear weapons are being re-rationalised for the foreseeable future; indeed…
Kiwi Kosovo Peacekeeper Threatens UN Withdrawal as Violence Escalates
Dennis McNamara, the UN High Comissioner for Refugees top official in Kosovo, threatened to suspend UN activities in the Kosovo city of Mitovica, if attacks on its staff and vehicles did not cease.
Singapore looks to New Zealand Model in Fair Trading Laws Debate
Edmund Baker, Executive Director of the Consumers Association of Singapore is pushing the Kiwi and Australian Fair Trading Acts as model examples in debates over fair trade legislation in Singapore.
Davids and Goliaths: Coalition Says Nuclear States Fall Short of Goals
United Nations: the “New Agenda Coalition”, of which New Zealand is a key member, criticised the ‘big guns’ (US, Russia, France, Britain and China) for making an empty pledge to eliminate nuclear weapons but falling short…
The Future is Kiwi
“Helen Clark met Tony Blair in Downing Street last month. Apparently he asked her lots of questions about her flying start in government: let’s hope he was taking notes”. New Zealand’s Labour government looked upon as role-model…
Aotearoa Casts Big Shadow Over Australia
Australia’s population is five times bigger, its economy six times bigger and its defence capability similarly robust. Yet in recent years New Zealand has been the far more influential of the two neighbours in world affairs….
Big Spin-off in Positive Trade Ties, Says Kiwi PM
A successful economic tie-up between Singapore and New Zealand could kick start multi-lateral talks on trade-liberalisation, says New Zealand PM Helen Clark.
New Zealand and Sweden Take Stance on Zimbabwe Crisis
Harare – Sweden and New Zealand have openly called for President Mugabe’s resignation as international anxiety continues to rise following the collapse in law and order, indiscriminate farm killings and strained race relations.
Celebrities Endorse NZ-led Anti-nuke Campaign
“Call To Action” is the dramatic headline in an advertisement put forth in the mainstream broadsheets by an eclectic group of spiritual leaders, Nobel laureates, Hollywood superstars, sports legends, authors and scholars coincide with the opening of…
New Zealand Leads the Have-nots Against the Haves at UN Battle
Impatient at the slow progress in arms control, governments from Brazil to New Zealand plan to tell the United States and other nuclear powers on Monday they have to do more to make the world safer.
McKinnon Asserts Himself in New Role
The new Commonwealth Secretary General Don McKinnon, has asked Pakistan’s military government to release deposed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif from prison and set a definite timeframe for national elections.
Commonwealth to Help Develop Vulnerable States
So stated Don McKinnon on his first visit to Bangladesh since being elected Secretary-General of the 54-country assembly last November.
“Put Another Kiwi on the Barbie Mate” New Zealand Scoffs at Statehood Idea
Prime Minister Helen Clark has dismissed a suggestion that NZ should become a part of Australia. Former Australian Liberal Party Leader John Hewson, said it was time to consider incorporating New Zealand into a new independent…
New Zealand at Forefront of ‘World Citizenship’ Project
The World Citizenship Curriculum is to develop and implement in Bangladesh a pilot plan, led by Dr. Muhammad Nur Nabi, to educate people to become true citizens of the world and also to promote social justice….
Diplomatic Ingratiation: US Ambassador Consigned to Paradise
Mosely-Braun, who came from her New Zealand post just to attend the Feminist Expo 2000 … called New Zealand and Samoa, where she is now the U.S. Embassy official, “about as close to paradise as I…
Democracy Challenge for Commonwealth Chief
New Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, Don McKinnon, takes up his post formally on Monday, his main task being to make the 54-nation organisation “more relevant and useful” to its 1.6 billion citizens.
