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 killer earthquakes and tornados, a royal visit, an oil spill, the Rugby World Cup, a general election and, who could forget, a visit from the emperor penguin, Happy Feet. There was a time, in the immediate weeks after 22 February that I did not enjoy returning to Christchurch. People’s pain was so palpable. No one was sleeping, the aftershocks made sure of that. Now, I look forward to my trips down south to Christchurch, and to the west coast communities around Greymouth which were devastated by the Pike River Mine disaster a year ago. New Zealanders have risen above personal and collective disaster, [these are] the people who really make this job a privilege.”