Endangered Kākāpō Gets Big Population Boost
The population of New Zealand’s endangered flightless kākāpō has increased by 25 per cent in the past year, bringing it up to 252 birds, the highest number since the 1970s, the ABC News reports. “There…
Tag Archives: ABC News
Charlotte Rampling at Centre of Likeable Juniper
“Juniper is a drama with black comic edges about a fragmented family, and the unexpectedly life-affirming influence of its particularly tetchy matriarch. In the lead role is Charlotte Rampling, an actor blessed with an…
Retracing the Last Sailing of Kerry Hamill
Kerry Hamill was a great letter-writer, so his family knew something was wrong when his carefully penned correspondence stopped in 1978. The young New Zealander accidentally sailed into Cambodian waters and was then captured,…
Shihad Endures Through Struggles and Triumphs
In a story for ABC News, Dan Condon looks back at some of the key musical and personal moments in New Zealand band Shihad’s career. In 1991, just three years after first getting together, this…
Fashion Store Owner Jan Patu Promotes the Plunge
The owner of a fashion boutique in Australia’s biggest outback city, Kalgoorlie, New Zealander Jan Patu has urged people dreaming of starting their own business to take the plunge, saying it is worth the…
New Zealand Signs Space Agreement with NASA
New Zealand has announced it is the latest country to sign a space agreement with NASA, just as the country’s nascent space industry begins to take off, Associated Press correspondent Nick Perry reports. New Zealand became…
Aotearoa Women’s Surfing Breaking Stereotypes
Though movements to boost women’s participation in surfing are taking off in the Pacific region, New Zealand mother-of-two Kelly Murphy remembers the challenges she faced as a teenager trying to make a career out…
Victorian Government Appoints Sir David Carruthers
Former chair of the New Zealand Independent Police Conduct Authority and judge of New Zealand family and youth courts, Sir David Carruthers, has been appointed by the Victorian government to oversee the implementation of…
New Zealand Tops Lowy List with Covid Response
New analysis undertaken by Australian think tank the Lowy Institute has found that New Zealand has handled the coronavirus pandemic more effectively than any other country in the world, Stephen Dziedzic reports for ABC…
Hamish Bennett’s Bellbird Antidote to Winter Gloom
“Warming the cockles of audience hearts at last year’s Sydney Film Festival, New Zealander Hamish Bennett’s comedy Bellbird is a defiantly optimistic tribute to the Northland region where the primary school teacher-cum-filmmaker grew up,”…
Marlon Williams Album One of 2018’s Best
Marlon Williams album Make Way For Love has been ranked among the 50 best albums (#34) of 2018 in an article by ABC News. “What’s Chasing You drew me into Make…
Regulator Grant Barnes Minding a Precious Resource
Grant Barnes is a New Zealander who says he has a bit of mongrel in him, and says he would not hesitate in taking on any New South Wales irrigator who is found to…
New Zealand to Rebuild Christchurch Cathedral
More than six years after being destroyed in the deadly earthquake that struck Christchurch, the city’s iconic cathedral will be rebuilt by the Anglican Church. For many locals, the wreck has become a visual reminder…
Satirist John Clarke aka Fred Dagg (68)
New Zealand born “celebrated satirist and comedian John Clarke has died suddenly, aged 68,” reports ABC News. Clarke, who made “his name as a comedian and political satirist in Australia after arriving in…
What to Do in New Zealand’s South Island
“If New Zealand is on your bucket list, then 2017 may be the year your travel dreams come true,” according to Travelzoo senior editor Gabe Saglie. “The South Island, in particular, is teeming with…
Tall Ship Celebrates Tenacious Sailors
New Zealander Paul Shaw was a keen sailor until an accident 28 years ago left him in a wheelchair. Then he heard about the Tenacious, a tall ship run by a UK charity, so…
NZ’s Anti-Nuke Win Approaches 30th Anniversary
When the Royal New Zealand Navy celebrates its 75th birthday in November, US warships will be there. It will be the first time any American military ship has entered a New Zealand port since…
New Zealand Photographer Documents Children Growing Up Without Modern Electronics
New Zealand mother Niki Boon, who raises her children without modern electronics, is capturing their stripped down childhood in an ongoing photo series ‘Childhood in the Raw’. “We haven’t had TV since the…
All Blacks Named Laureus World Sports Team of 2015
The All Blacks have been named team of the year of 2015 at the Laureus World Sports awards on Tuesday in Berlin. Dan Carter, who suffered what could have been a career-ending injury in…
Moa’s Range of Ecological Roles Irreplaceable
Filling the ecological gap left by the extinction of the moa with imported Australian emus and cassowaries would not work, according to insights into the giant flightless birds’ feeding behaviours. The findings, reported in the…
Under-15 Cricket Team Breaks with Tradition
Wakatipu High School Uunder-15 cricket team impressed locals at January’s Western New South Wales Cricket Carnival, wowing locals in the small rural township of Molong with their haka. Molong’s picturesque pitch, with its white picket…
Pataka Taonga Returned to New Plymouth
Five intricately carved storehouse carvings have been returned to New Zealand after 150 years buried in a swamp and 40 years exile in Europe. They are the Motunui epa and once were almost sold off…
New Zealand Fur Seal Still Squatting on Opera House Stairs
A young New Zealand fur seal has made the steps of Sydney’s Opera House his permanent home. The New Zealand seal was first spotted on the stairs in October 2014. “The Opera House may not have…
New Zealand All Blacks Beat Argentina to Begin Title Defence
The New Zealand All Blacks have begun their title defence with a 26-16 victory against Argentina in front of 89,019 – the biggest ever crowd at a Rugby World Cup match. “New Zealand dominated possession…
Golf Champion Michael Campbell Calls It Quits
Former US Open Champion New Zealander Michael Campbell, 46, is retiring from golf to concentrate on running his golf academy in Malaga, Spain. Campbell, who won the Open at Pinehurst in 2005, told New Zealand’s…
The Legend of the Anzac Biscuit
The first published record of the Anzac biscuit, whose origin is “shrouded in myth” was in a New Zealand St Andrew’s Cookery Book published around 1922. The legend of the biscuit is commonly associated with…
Rare Glimpse of Cloudless New Zealand from Space
A rare image of New Zealand without a ceiling of cloud has been captured from the International Space Station as it orbits 418km above the South Pacific Ocean. According to NASA, New Zealand is seldom…
Mt Isa Potter Hopes for Renewed Interest in the Art
New Zealand-born potter Anne Dank, who has been a member of Queensland’s Mount Isa Potters Group for over forty years, is hoping to reinvigorate the club with new branding, bringing back the glory days…
Farmers Uprooting to Tasmanian Dairy Paddocks
A wave of New Zealand farmers are being wooed to Tasmania’s dairy scene, where milk production is rising helped by a record price from processor Fonterra of $6.64 a kilogram for milk solids this…
Lydia Ko Rises to Fourth in the World Ranking
After her first win as a professional, kiwi teenager Lydia Ko has moved up two places to number four in the world rankings. Over the weekend she won the Swinging Skirts World Ladies Masters US$800,000…
Rare Crossing for New Zealand Motorcyclists
Five New Zealand motorcyclists have successfully crossed the world’s most militarised border as part of a ride for peace across the Korean Peninsula. The rare crossing saw the New Zealanders pass through the demilitarised zone…
Volcano off the Bay of Plenty Coast Erupts
White Island, a volcano off the coast of Bay of Plenty, erupted yesterday morning, sending a plume of steam two kilometres into the air. The eruption happened about 10:23am, lasted only a few minutes…
Local Test Flight Gets the Go-Ahead
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has granted a permit to the Martin Aircraft company, allowing it to test jetpacks with a pilot at the helm in two uninhabited areas of New Zealand. The company…
Aaradhna Signs with Winehouse Label Republic Records
It has been a monumental year for Porirua-raised R&B singer Aaradhna Jayantilal Patel – better known by her stage name Aaradhna. The recording artist has secured an American record deal and won…
Extraordinary Talent Sorely Missed
Oscar-winning sound editor New Zealander Mike Hopkins, 53, who worked on the Lord of the Rings trilogy and other blockbusters, has died in a rafting accident on the Waiohine River in the Tararua Range….
Big Ears Of The Insect World
The iconic New Zealand weta has ears similar to those of a whale, researchers at the University of Auckland have found. The ears of this 8cm-long Auckland tree weta are the white disks that…
Shakier Isles Than First Thought
A study has found earthquake-prone New Zealand is even more unstable than previously thought, after Victoria University scientists discovered deep tremors lasting up to 30 minutes along the country’s biggest fault line, the Alpine…
Reviewing Safety in a Major Export
“Adventure tourism is one of New Zealand’s biggest drawcards, but sometimes tourists can get far more adventure than they bargained for,” begins a report by Dominque Schwartz for ABC. “This week, the industry made…
Hypnosis as Anaesthetic
Auckland Regional Pain Service pain specialist Dr Bob Large says he expects hypnosis will be used more widely in the future as a form of analgesia and anaesthesia. Large, who was a guest speaker…
Diversity Under the Gold Coast Sun
Controversial New Zealand reality television show The GC, about young Maori living on Australia’s Gold Coast, has prompted comparisons to America’s Jersey Shore, and heated debate about whether the show was seen as a…
Tasmanian timber investment
New Zealand-born businessman Richard Chandler will inject $194 million into Tasmanian-based timber company Gunns. The investment is likely to wipe out a significant portion of the company’s debt, positioning it to build the $2.3…
Reporting From New Zealand
“For a small place, New Zealand generates a lot of news,” ABC New Zealand correspondent Dominque Schwartz tells Elizabeth Jackson. “Its population is less than that of Sydney, but this year alone there’ve been…
Wowing the Wallabies
All Black legend Jonah Lomu surprised Australia’s players by dropping in on a training session ahead of their World Cup third place victory match against Wales. Auckland-born Lomu, 36, who was recently discharged from…
Lucerne Greens Up the Dry
Farmer of the Year Marlborough lamb and beef producer Doug Avery was a guest at the Queensland Agforce conference in September giving Australians tips on drought proofing their properties. The ABC’s Landline executive producer…
Exploring Emperor Intrigues
For only the second time in recorded history, an Emperor Penguin has swum 3km from Antarctica to New Zealand, making landfall at Peka Peka beach on the Kapiti Coast. Program manager for biodiversity at…
Retaining Our Competitive Edge
Executive director of the Lowy Institute in Sydney Dr Michael Wesley was in Auckland in early April addressing the Australia/New Zealand Leadership Forum. The latest in a string of bilateral gatherings which aim 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 Zealand history to address New…
Behold the Pink Terraces
Scientists exploring Lake Rotomahana say they have found part of the famed Pink Terraces which were feared destroyed when Mount Tarawera erupted 135 years ago. The Pink and White Terraces, once described as the…
1981 Every February
Thirty years on New Zealand batsman Brian McKechnie remembers the infamous underarm bowl delivered by Australian Trevor Chappell at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. It’s an image permanently ingrained in the minds of almost every…
Back on the Wards
Auckland-born actor Martin Henderson is profiled by Canadian television station site Global Lethbridge. Henderson, who currently lives in Los Angeles, will soon appear on the American small screen as “legendary Dr Ben Keeton” in…
Cool but not too cool
The Flight of the Conchords appeared as camp counsellors in the premiere episode of season 22 of The Simpsons which went to air in the US in September. In the episode, titled…
Scented feathers
Canterbury University associate professor Jim Briskie is hoping to develop a deodorant for New Zealand’s native birds to stop them falling prey to introduced predators. Briskie says it appears New Zealand birds suffer from…
More Than Tiger’s Caddy
Golf caddy Steve Williams always wanted to carry someone else’s golf clubs, and he ended up carrying them for Tiger Woods. Williams could always see that the golfers he caddied for did well. “I…
We Must Talk About It
New Zealand’s chief coroner Judge Neil MacLean has made “an impassioned plea for people to speak more openly about suicide calling for a re-think of laws and self imposed restrictions on what Coroners can…
Fortune Offshore
With local favourite Outrageous Fortune beginning its sixth and final season of 18 episodes this month, its popularity has spread offshore, with the show sold to networks in England, Ireland, Italy, Canada, Australia, Slovenia…
Working class knight
Wellington-born Peter Leitch, known to his fans as the “Mad Butcher”, has received a knighthood in this year’s Queen’s Birthday Honours. Leitch, a butcher, former gravedigger and avid rugby league fan, says…
