NZ Congratulated for Plain Packaged Cigarettes

New Zealand will follow Australia’s lead in forcing cigarette makers to sell their products in plain packs, writes Dan Harrison, Health reporter for The Age. ‘Associate Health Minister Tariana…

Samoa Backs Tom Groser

Samoa supports New Zealand’s Minister of Trade, Tim Groser as the next World Trade Organisation (WTO) Director General. Deputy Prime Minister Fonotoe Pierre Lauofo gave Samoa’s support at a…

Clark Discusses Mali’s Future

According to former Prime Minister Helen Clark, head of the United Nations Development Program since 2009, Mali needs a very clear timetable for national dialogue, constitutional reform and improved…

On Foreign Affairs

Prime Minister John Key spoke with The Diplomat’s Zachary Keck concerning nuclear security, Afghanistan, relations with the United States and China as well as the Trans Pacific Partnership. “New…

NZ to Aid UAE

New Zealand will help improve food security for the Gulf Cooperation Countries (GCC) and particularly the UAE, Murray McCully, New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs said in a special…

Futures in the Public Sector

New Zealand’s State Services Commissioner Iain Rennie has called on civil servants across the world to remember to think ahead in addition to addressing short-term challenges. Rennie, speaking as…

New Zealand Extends Hand to Mindanao

Since the 1960s, some 150,000 people have died and more than three million have been displaced on Mindanao Island (Philippines); the result of a bloody conflict between Muslim rebels…

Clark Pleads Complexity

Administrator of the United Nations’ Development program Helen Clark is in a philosophical and operational stoush with her governing board over approaches to global poverty reduction. The UNDP board…

Outdoing the Big Guns

“Even when New Zealand isn’t top of the list, they’re outranking and outperforming the United States on just about any index you want to consider,” contributor Nonny Mouse writes…

Super Plan Most Innovative

The New Zealand Superannuation Fund has been named the world’s most innovative sovereign fund, winning the prestigious Sovereign Wealth Fund category in the 2012 aiCIO Industry Innovation Awards…

Very Clean At The Helm

New Zealand is the least corrupt country on earth, says Germany-based Transparency International. Overall, the top spots are occupied mostly by European countries, with the exception of New…

Balance In The Workplace

“YWCA Auckland and DDB New Zealand lay out the ridiculousness of the gender pay gap reality with a straightforward TV spot that shows you how absurd it is for…

Russia Loses A True Champion

“The world of finance offers bigger stages, but none of its actors has so captivated an audience as Jennings did in Russia,” Bernie Sucher of investment bank ATON,…

New Zealand Has a Choice

Greenpeace New Zealand’s chief political analyst and strategist Nathan Argent argues that New Zealand’s “clean, green values” and its “history of progressive reform” are being undermined by the current…

Benefits of Security

The first Pentagon chief to visit New Zealand in three decades, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, announced that the Obama administration had modified United States policy so that, in the…

In Favour of Marriage

New Zealand lawmakers have overwhelmingly cast a first vote in favour of a gay marriage bill that was given impetus by President Barack Obama’s public support of the issue….

Uncorking Auckland’s Potential

Mayor of the new Auckland Council Len Brown is profiled in a Monocle report called, “Ten Smart Govenors”, “a selection of inspiring local legislators.” “In just 18 months [since…

Taxing the Habit

Over the next four years, smokers in New Zealand will have to pay 40 per cent more for a packet of cigarettes after the government announced tobacco tax hikes…

Committed to Social Cohesion

Helen Clark, formerly New Zealand prime minister, has just announced that she will be seeking a second term as the first female head of the UN Development Programme. While…

Border Control Arguments

New Zealand may be one of the most geographically isolated nations on Earth, but its leaders say the country is not immune to the risks of refugees arriving by…

We’ve Heard of Her

Former prime minister Helen Clark, who is now administrator for the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), has topped a list of 25 women in a Foreign Policy magazine article…

Currency Sharing Insanity

Perhaps the most “absurd” thing to cross Forbes’ contributor Tim Worstall’s desk on this particular morning was a report on how New Zealand and Australia might merge their currencies to…

First For Parliament

New Zealand features as part of the Oceania briefing of Monocle this month in which the publication highlights issues surrounding foreign land purchases and the election of…

Fair Shake For All

“There is a place in the world where moderate Republicans still exist – unfortunately, you have to take a 13-hour flight from Los Angeles to get there,” New York Times’ columnist…

Nationwide Smoking Ban

New Zealand is aiming to eradicate smoking across the country by 2025. In an article published in the international Tobacco Control journal, health researchers at the University of Otago have said…

Challenging Reputations

Despite the prevalence of foreign-chartered vessels (FCVs), which in 2010 earned $274.6 million in export revenue and hauled in 62.3 per cent of New Zealand’s deepwater fisheries catch, some…

Paradigm For The Future

Bronwen Evans, former Radio New Zealand economics correspondent and co-owner of Faasai Resort and Spa, an award winning eco-resort in Thailand, will be one of the international speakers…

Lifestyle Comes At A Price

Auckland and Wellington have risen in their rankings of the most expensive cities to live in, with Auckland jumping nine places to rank 15 and Wellington rising 16 places…

Land Sale Stopped In Court

High Court Judge Forrest Miller has halted the first ever sale of dairy farms to Chinese investors, Shanghai Pengxin, the latest twist in a saga that’s dividing a country…

Debating Foreign Investment

New Zealand Federated Farmers chief executive Conor English speaks from Wellington with Rishaad Salamat on Bloomberg Television’s “On the Move Asia” about Shanghai Pengxin Group Co.’s plan to buy…

Low On Brands, High On Beauty

For the first time, New Zealand is included in Monocle’s index of the top 30 soft power nations, coming in at number 17 and introduced as: “Low on brands, high on…

Observing Oceanic Responsibilities

New Zealand and Australia have signed a marine observation agreement, which is expected to result in improved knowledge of regional climate systems. New Zealand’s high commissioner Major-General Martyn Dunne…

New Zealand Least Corrupt

New Zealand is perceived as having the least corrupt government and public institutions in the world, topping the Corruption Perceptions Index 2011 survey. 178 countries were included in this year’s…

Home Is Where The Boom Is

New Zealanders and Australians once flocked to the UK for the opportunity to gain experience and return home with some valuable pounds, but the booming Australian economy and a…

Communicating with China

United Nations Development Program (UNDP) administrator Helen Clark has said that China can play a rebalancing role in the current global financial crisis to combat future global poverty and…

Synthetic Highs Banned

A 12-month ban of 43 synthetic cannabis products has come into effect in New Zealand. Some retailers believe that other legal highs will continue to flood a very popular,…

Norwegian Inspiration

Helen Clark, the first woman to be elected prime minister of New Zealand and now an administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), is included in an Intelligent…

Sir Jerry Takes the Oath

Lieutenant General Sir Jerry Mateparae has been sworn in as the 2th Governor General of New Zealand. The 56-year-old was sworn-in to a five-year term in a formal ceremony…

Pioneering MP

Whetu Trikatene-Sullivan, New Zealand’s longest serving female MP has died in Wellington, aged 79. Trikatene-Sullivan, of Ngai Tahu, was Labour MP for Southern Maori for 29 years, from 1967…

Newspaper Man Takes Over

Since joining the Murdoch empire in 1991, native New Zealander Tom Mockridge — former economics editor of The Sydney Morning Herald and now Rebekah Brooks’s replacement as CEO at…

HardTalk With John Key

BBC’s Stephen Sackur tackles PM John Key in London in a 25 minute interview for HardTalk (Part 1, Part 2). Positioning New Zealand as “very…

New Governor-General Named

Former Defence Force head Jeremiah (Jerry) Mateparae has been named as New Zealand‘s next Governor-General, succeeding Sir Anand Satyanand on August 31. Mateparae joined the New Zealand Army in…

Strategic Partners

New Zealand will open an embassy in the UAE within two months, announced Minister for Economic Development and Energy and Resources Gerry Brownlee. Brownlee said the country is looking…

Stronger ‘Mateship’

Julia Gillard is now coming to the end of her first official visit to New Zealand. In speeches to New Zealand business leaders and Parliament yesterday, Gillard sought to…

Gillard Makes History

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard is poised to make history on her first official visit to New Zealand this week. Gillard will be the first foreign leader in New…

On the Back of the Game

A general election has been called for November 26, after the Rugby World Cup 2011. Campaigning is expected to begin in the week of the final, which is to…

New Zealand’s X-Files

New Zealand’s military has released hundreds of files, dating from 1954 to 29, detailing claims of sightings of unidentified flying objects (UFOs), including New Zealand’s most famous UFO sighting…

General Ovations for Liddell

General Motors CEO Dan Ackerson and Vice-Chairman and CFO Chris Liddell (center, at the New York Stock Exchange listing) received standing ovations from the trading floors of JP Morgan…

Paradigm shift

“New Zealand is very much within the US ‘Sphere of Influence” and Clinton just confirmed it by signing the high-profile Wellington Declaration,” Balaji Chandramohan writes for the Diplomatic…

Welcome to Grimsby

Former Prime Minister Helen Clark, the first female administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the third-highest UN position, will make an appearance at Grimsby Central Hall on…

In the Top Three

New Zealand has made the top-three list of the best place to live in the world, following a United Nations human development annual survey. Norway took first place, followed…

Formalised Relationship

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited New Zealand in November “formalising its progressively warm relationship with New Zealand,” writes Wall Street Journal blogger Lucy Craymer from Wellington. “With…

Transparency reigns

New Zealand has tied with Denmark and Singapore for first place as the world’s least corrupt governments and public sectors, according to watchdog group Transparency International (TI). Finland, Sweden,…

Political management

Policy analyst Luke Malpass, who is based in Sydney where he works for the Centre for Independent Studies, claims that New Zealand is in the midst of a “great…

Market reforms pay off

Korea should follow the example of New Zealand farmers Special Agricultural Trade Envoy Alistair Polson tells the Korea JoongAng Daily on a recent visit to Seoul to meet Korean…

Unanimous decision

“New Zealand’s parliament voted unanimously in September to pass the Canterbury Earthquake Response and Recovery Act (CERRA), which gives government ministers the power to override almost any law in…