2016 To Be New Zealand’s Hottest Year On Record
“New Zealand is emitting more than seven times our fair share of greenhouse gases per person,” says Green Party co-leader James Shaw in response to a First Post report that 2016 will…
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
New Zealand’s Universities Turn Towards Asia
“As it looks to the future, New Zealand is wrestling with its colonial past. Should it be defined in the 21st century by its historic links with the Western world, or by its location…
Bill English Is NZ’s New Prime Minister
“New Zealand’s ruling National Party appointed Bill English as the country’s new prime minister on Monday following last week’s shock resignation of his predecessor John Key,” as reported in an article in
David Shearer to Lead UN Mission in S Sudan
New Zealand lawmaker David Shearer, 59, who has led UN aid efforts worldwide has been named UN mission chief in South Sudan, one of the world’s toughest peacekeeping jobs. Shearer, who will end a seven-year…
New Zealand, the Kardashians, and the Battle to Control Manuka Honey
“Kourtney Kardashian hawks its health benefits. Counterfeiters and chemists labor to unlock its molecular secrets. And now it’s at the center of an international branding war,” writes Ellen Airhart in an article for
NZ-Tehran Trade May Reach $1bn Turnover
New Zealand has made its first trade mission to Tehran in 12 years after sanctions were lifted following the historic nuclear deal signed in 2015. During the meeting in Tehran, Trade Minister Todd McClay…
New Zealand’s Secret Santa Matches Social Media Strangers
“A New Zealand-wide secret Santa in which complete strangers send each other gifts in the post has had a bumper season, processing more than 2,000 presents in its Auckland hub, writes Eleanor Ainge Roy…
John Key “Played Hand Of Fate Exceptionally Well”
“Imagine a Tory Prime Minister stepping down after nearly ten years at the top on his own terms. The budget was back in surplus, troublesome referendum results had been quickly forgotten, and the PM…
John Key Praised For Lifting New Zealand’s Economy
“New Zealand’s business leaders have praised retiring Prime Minister John Key for restoring pride in his people and for standing for a decade at the forefront of world leaders for his economic and social…
Air NZ Gives Winter Wonderland A Summer Makeover
Ronan Keating and New Zealand child actor Julian Dennison, known from Hunt for the Wilderpeople, “have joined forces with Air New Zealand to give a classic Christmas carol a fresh, sunny twist”, writes Hannah…
Creative Activities Can Boost Well-Being
“Everyday creative activities like writing poetry or making new recipes can boost well-being as well as creativity in young adults” according to a study conducted by New Zealand’s University of Otago, reports…
Trump Undermines America’s Tattered Authority – Rigg
“Hillary Clinton and the Democrats deserved to lose the presidential election,” writes Bob Rigg, Wellington-based researcher and writer specialising in nuclear issues, the Middle East, Central Asia, and US foreign policy, in an opinion…
Rescue Under Way For Thousands Stranded By New Zealand Earthquake
Following Monday’s 7.5 earthquake near Hanmer Springs on New Zealand’s South Island, which saw two people dead and several injured, “military helicopters and a navy ship dispatched to coastal town of Kaikoura with buildings…
Oamaru’s Underpass for March of the Penguins
A group of Little Blue Penguins have had their own underpass built between their nests and the sea at Oamaru Harbour to protect them from traffic and give them privacy from tourists keen to…
Is it Time for Disgruntled Americans to Move?
“The prospect of a Trump presidency led to some prominent Americans – including Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg – joking, or perhaps half-joking, that they would move to New Zealand,” Washington Post Tokyo…
Ritz-Carlton Coming to Auckland
The Ritz Carlton will open an Auckland Hotel come 2019, reports Chris Chamberlin in an article in the Australian Business Traveller. “We have long desired to bring The Ritz-Carlton to New Zealand and…
New Zealand Is The New Refuge For the Mega Rich
New Zealand’s isolation has long been considered the country’s Achilles heel. “That remoteness is turning into an advantage, however, with hedge-fund pioneer Julian Robertson to Russian steel titan Alexander Abramov and Hollywood director James…
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…
New Zealand The World’s Most Prosperous Country
New Zealand has topped the Legatum Institute’s 10th annual global Prosperity Index, “a huge survey that ranks the most prosperous countries in the world,” writes Will Martin in an article for Business…
Downside to NZ’s Booming Manuka Honey Industry
The global craze for manuka, highly valued for its medicinal properties, has created a gold rush in rural New Zealand that some believe is rapidly spiralling out of control, Eleanor Ainge Roy reports in…
Economy Milks Clamour for Middle Earth
Peter Jackson’s Lord Of The Rings and Hobbit series have proved to be as precious to New Zealand’s economy as any magical ring with millions flocking to the country for a glimpse of Middle…
Fulbright Scholar Matthew Stott in Yellowstone
New Zealand Fulbright scholar microbiologist Matthew Stott, 41, is spending four months studying microbes that live under extreme conditions in Yellowstone National Park’s geothermal hot springs. Stott’s fieldwork takes him to places where the water…
How to Dad Jordan Watson Recommends Chilling
On the How to Dad YouTube channel, shaggy-haired, bearded and bare foot 28-year-old Aucklander Jordan Watson offers “instructional” videos on how to be a parent – with the help of his two young daughters,…
Sir James Carroll the Voice of the People
The little known story of the charismatic Irish-Maori politician and New Zealand Wars volunteer, Sir James Carroll’s visit to the Somme in 1916 is retold in the New Zealand Listener. Carroll, born to a Maori…
Everything to Do with Jean Batten Is Gendered
New Zealander Jean Batten was the most celebrated aviatrix of the 1930s. Nicknamed the “Garbo of the Skies” for her movie-star glamour, she appeared on newspaper front pages the world over, and drew adoring…
What A Nation Chooses To Remember And Forget
“Early in 2014 a group of school students from a small town in rural New Zealand took a trip to some nearby historical sites. Guided by local Māori elders, the students from Otorohanga College…
Masking Tape Saves Endangered Kiwi
“Using nothing but tape, a fragment of shell and MacGyver-like ingenuity, nature park worker Claire Travers patched up a badly damaged egg sufficiently for the baby kiwi to survive,” as reported in an article…
Tribal Huks Force Out Ngaruawahia Meth Dealers
The ominous deadline set by the Tribal Huks gang for methamphetamine dealers to leave Ngaruawahia has expired and it showed with the streets left empty last week. Tattooed members of the notorious gang wearing…
Should We Stay Or Should We Go
For much of the past 50 years, Australia was the big, brash neighbour with so much to offer – and New Zealanders came in droves. But now it seems the tide is turning, author…
Hundreds of Jellyfish Landings at New Zealand Coastline
“In the last month mass jellyfish landings have been reported on beaches from Nelson in the South Island to Whangarei in the top of the North Island,” writes Eleanor Ainge Roy for
Laying His Mark on George Town Heritage Protection
Co-founder of the George Town Heritage Action Group New Zealander Mark Lay is so dedicated to heritage conservation in the Malaysian city that he walks everywhere with a camera in hand, taking pictures of…
Waikato University to Offer Degrees in China Next Year
“New Zealand’s Waikato University announced that it is the country’s first university approved to teach and award degrees in China,” as reported in Shanghai Daily. In September next year, the university will establish…
Tui Wordley Still Making Waves at 80
Tutanekai “Tui” Wordley should be an inspiration to every surfer. Not because of the size of the waves he rides or the latest overseas trip he’s made, but because, at 80, he’s still out…
This is the Antrim Coast Road that Andrea Drove
For New Zealander Andrea Bald a recent journey along the Antrim Coast Road in Northern Ireland really was a momentous and breathtaking one as for the first time she got to see the road…
Don’t Mess with Mary Quin
After narrowly surviving being held hostage, former-Xerox executive, New Zealander Mary Quin tells 60 Minutes how she brought a radical British cleric to justice for his role in the kidnapping. A dual citizen of New…
New Zealand’s Plan to Save The Kiwi
“Some 100,000 wild kiwi could be roaming New Zealand in less than 15 years, according to a new government plan,” reports the BBC. “The Kiwi Recovery Plan 2017-2027 by the Department…
New Zealand’s Summer Cruise Season
New Zealand’s 2016-17 summer cruise season “will welcome a record number of ships, including many first-time visitors, most notably the biggest vessel ever to sail in local waters, the 4,180-passenger Ovation of the Seas,…
New Zealand – 13th Most Competitive Country
New Zealand has been identified as the 13th most competitive country in the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report. “Countries were ranked according to the “12 pillars of competitiveness,” which includes macro-economic environment, infrastructure, health…
Elderly New Zealanders Building Their Own Caskets
Quilting, lawn bowls and bridge it is not. Elderly people in New Zealand are enthusiastically embracing a new pastime: coffin construction, providing retirees with new friends and, ultimately, cheaper funerals, Eleanor Ainge Roy reports…
Stephen Moore Completes Singapore Bike Quest
A New Zealander who set out two years ago to pedal his bike on every Singapore road – save those where cycling is not allowed – has finally completed his quest. Stephen Moore, 49,…
BMW to Help Build NZ’s Electric Vehicle “Highway”
German automaker BMW has partnered with national charging network Charge Net NZ to help “build an electric highway of fast-charging stations to help overcome one of the main obstacles to electric vehicle uptake”, as…
Bali Dog Orphanage Volunteer loves Results
Ten years ago, New Zealander Alanah Dalton was holidaying in Ubud when a poster outside a shop front that said “I Love Bali Dogs” caught her eye. “I love animals, so I stopped in…
Actor Terence Bayler Was Brian and so Was His Wife
Whanganui-born film, stage and television actor Terence Bayler, known notably for his collaborations with the Monty Python team, has died aged 86. Bayler played Gregory (and other roles) in the controversial Life of Brian –…
Peter Jackson Eyes NZ Island For Tourism Project
“Peter Jackson, the man you know as the spirited angel who bestowed cinematic genius upon the world in the form of the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, is set to inspire more tourism interest…
The World’s Only Alpine Parrot Faces Extinction
The New Zealand kea, the world’s only alpine parrot “is at threat of extinction in New Zealand as numbers plummet in the face of threats from non-native predators and human development,” writes Eleanor Ainge…
The Rise Of Film-Friendly New Zealand
The screen industry in New Zealand is “big business: four of the all-time 20 most profitable films were made here, and revenue in 2015 was $3.22 billion compared to just $2.6 billion in 2005,”…
New Generation of Maori Women Wearing Moko
For Maori women, the moko kauae, or traditional female chin tattoo, is considered a physical manifestation of their true identity. It is believed every Maori woman wears a moko on the inside, close to…
Helen Clark Rallies Caribbean in UN Bid
Former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark, the administrator for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) recently lobbied Caribbean Community (Caricom) countries as she seeks to replace Ban Ki-moon as the next…
Homesick Kiwis Can Now Call a Hotline
With Travel Insurance Direct homesick New Zealanders can now call a hotline (+64-9930-3377), where they are greeted with a joyful New Zealand accent and can hear the familiar sounds of their homeland, writes Jordi…
NZ to Fund Child Sport Development in Pacific
New Zealand will fund a five-year initiative aimed at getting more children in Pacific island countries to play sport according to Prime Minister John Key, reports the Daily Mail. The multi-million dollar programme…
NZ & Canada Sign Co-Production Treaty
New Zealand and Canada have “signed a co-production treaty that will allow enhanced film and TV industry cooperation between the two English-speaking territories,” writes Patrick Frater for Variety. “The treaty was signed…
Speaking Irish in New Zealand to My Maori-Irish Son
“There’s a special connection between Irish people, Irish speakers and Maori. It’s another reason why Aotearoa feels like home,” educator Gillian Cotter writes in an Irish Times lifestyle piece about raising her Maori-Irish son,…
Cruise Industry Growing in New Zealand
New Zealand’s cruise industry is experiencing an increase in cruise passengers. More than 254,000 passengers and 92,000 crew members visited the country during the August 2015 to June 2016 cruise season, as reported in…
How Oamaru Became Steampunk Capital of the World
Oamaru “used to be known for its population of blue penguins and having the best-preserved collection of Victorian architecture in the country”, writes Eleanor Ainge Roy for The Guardian. In 2010 the…
NZ Tops IMF’s Housing Unaffordability List
New Zealand has topped the International Monetary Fund’s list for housing unaffordability and has outpaced 31 other countries in the house prices to income ratio category. It hit nearly 130 points on…
Tonic for Brits Seeking to Cure Brexit Blues
It boasts spectacular scenery, a temperate climate and a labour shortage in key areas, but New Zealand’s most appealing attribute, according to the New Zealand Herald, may be that it is “18,000km from Boris…
