Humane and Humorous
Wellington-born character actor Gordon Gostelow has died aged 82. Raised in Sydney, Gostelow immigrated to the UK in 1950 to pursue acting professionally. The classic BBC serial became a staple of his career, and…
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
Potential World Heritage Sites in NZ
UNESCO is considering three NZ locations as potential World Heritage Sites at the request of PM Helen Clark, who is also NZ’s Minister of Culture and Heritage. The Waitangi Treaty Grounds, Kerikeri Basin and…
A Rebel Remembered
British political figure Anne Gilman, “a rebel from New Zealand”, has died aged 76. Gilman was born in NZ and attended Canterbury University, where she founded the student magazine, Canta. Gilman’s daughter, Catherine, describes…
Be a Tidy Kiwi
The iconic Bulford Kiwi in Wiltshire, England, has received a makeover courtesy of local military, scouts and civilian volunteers. The 128m high chalk figure was carved into Wiltshire’s Beacon Hill at the end…
Red Cross Honours NZ Nurse
Aucklander Marianne Whittington has been awarded the Red Cross’s highest nursing honour, the Florence Nightingale Medal. Whittington has undertaken 11 international aid missions for the organisation in the last 17 years, including dangerous assignments to…
First NZ Star of Silver Screen
NZ’s first movie star has died in a Rotorua hospital aged 101. Witarina Harris, of Ngati Whakaue descent, was chosen by Universal Pictures to star as Princess Miro in the 1928 silent…
Balibo Deaths Back in Spotlight
The 1975 deaths of two Australian, two British and a New Zealand journalist in Balibo, East Timor, are back in the political spotlight after a Sydney inquest found conclusive evidence of deliberate murder and…
Professional Outsider Remembered
World renowned mathematician and nuclear fusion sceptic Leslie Woods has died aged 84. Born in Reparoa, a tiny settlement between Rotorua and Taupo, Woods was the first student of Seddon Memorial Technical College to…
Incredible Journey
After decades of international debate, Auckland University researchers have found the first concrete evidence that Polynesian explorers reached South America before Europeans. The research team, led by archaeologist Elizabeth A. Matisoo-Smith, used genetic analysis…
Peace of Mind
NZ has been named the world’s second most peaceful country in the inaugural Global Peace Index, a study commissioned by Australian IT entrepreneur and philanthropist Steve Killelea and sponsored by peace advocates such as…
You Say Fish, I Say Fush
An Auckland University of Technology (AUT) study has found that the NZ accent has grown broader and less British over the past few decades. The change is most obvious in broadcasting, where newsreaders…
First in Flight
Nelson’s Ngati Koata has become the first Maori tribe to venture into the airline industry. The iwi aims to launch a Nelson-based passenger charter service in the next three to four months, and…
Te Kuiti Hero Immortalised in Bronze
A statue commemorating a NZ WW2 hero has been unveiled in the Scottish village of Cowie, where he died. Flight Lieutenant Carlisle Everiss of Te Kuiti lost control of his Spitfire over Cowie in…
Kate Webb: War Correspondent
A New York Times article reminisces about Kate Webb, the NZ-born war correspondent who died of cancer in May 2007. Webb narrowly escaped death back in 1971, as a 28-year-old bureau chief for United…
“Substantial Miscarriage” in Bain Case
Britain’s Privy Council has quashed the convictions of alleged mass-murderer David Bain, set down by the New Zealand Court of Appeal in 1995. The Council ruled that a “substantial miscarriage of justice”…
Speaking Out for Sudan
Oxfam activist Ingrid MacDonald is helping to raise awareness of her organisation’s work in war-torn Darfur, Sudan. The Waiuku-born aid worker is currently based in Chad, where camps have been set up to house…
A Life Lived Large
NZ-born war correspondent Kate Webb has died of cancer aged 64. Described as a “modern day Annie Oakley, packing pens instead of pistols”, Webb bore witness to some of the most important events in…
NZ Judge Finds PM Blair Guilty
Retired NZ Supreme Court judge Ted Thomas has published an article condemning outgoing British PM Tony Blair for his “immoral and illegal” invasion of Iraq. The essay, which is written as a judicial…
NZ Pathologist Testifies in Canada
NZ-based pathologist Dr James Ferris has given evidence in the most high-profile murder case in recent Canadian history. Ferris, a veteran of 40 years forensic investigation, has testified at the trial of Robert William…
NZ Preacher Battles US Atheists
Christchurch-born evangelist Ray Comfort fronted a controversial debate over the existence of God on US TV this month. Comfort (pictured left) and his preaching partner, child actor Kirk Cameron, squared off against two members…
Brad McGann Was Acclaimed Director
NZ filmmaker Brad McGann has died aged 43 (cancer). His adaptation of the Maurice Gee novel In My Father’s Den won ten awards at the 2006 NZ Screen Awards, and the International Critics Award…
High Price for Anzac Artwork
An iconic Anzac painting has sold for more than twice its estimated price at an auction of wartime artworks in Sydney. Simpson and his Donkey by NZ artist Horace Moore-Jones was purchased for $120,000…
Inside Perspective on Disarmament
New Zealander Bob Rigg has written an essay for Open Democracy protesting the US manipulation of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), and the ousting of its Brazilian director-general, José Bustani, in 22….
A Star Among Men
Frank Bateson, one of the world’s most respected astronomers, has died in Tauranga aged 97. Born in Wellington in 1909, Bateson was the internationally acknowledged expert on variable stars (those which intermittently vary in brightness)….
Icon and Storyteller Who Inspired All
Veteran actor and filmmaker Don Selwyn has died aged 71 after a long illness. Selwyn was a founding member of the New Zealand Maori Theatre Trust and He Taonga Films, and was…
Tributes Flow for Reading Expert
Educators the world over have mourned the loss of Dame Marie Clay, an internationally renowned reading expert who has died in Auckland aged 81. Clay was a leading figure in the International Reading Association…
Praise for Bright and Vital
Ferris South Australian Liberal Senator Jeannie Ferris has died after a two-year battle with ovarian cancer. Born in NZ, Ferris studied agribusiness and worked as a journalist and political adviser before entering Australian parliament…
Incredible Journey Revealed
Massey University ecologists are conducting a groundbreaking study of the bar-tailed godwit’s northern migration. While the 11,000 km southern migration of the godwit from Alaska to NZ is thought to be the longest non-stop flight by any…
Clark Visits Oval Office
Helen Clark made an official visit to Washington last month, in what was her second such meeting with President Bush and just the third between NZ and US leaders in the last 24 years. Bush described Clark…
Falklands History Discovered in NZ
An important piece of Falklands War history has been discovered by New Zealander Neil Shaw on the eve of the conflict’s 25th anniversary. A former member of the British Antarctic Survey, Shaw discovered the message…
Courage Under Fire Remembered
Maori WW2 hero Lance Sgt. Haane Manahi has been posthumously honoured by the Queen, 64 years after being denied the Commonwealth’s top gallantry award, the Victoria Cross. The Duke of York presented Manahi’s…
Economics World Loses Star Thinker
John McMillan, the man who “could make Economics jump right off the page,” has died from cancer complications aged 56. Born in Christchurch, McMillan taught economics at America’s Stanford Graduate School of Business since 1999. “John in…
Tribute to Peter Munz
Historian, author and Victoria University of Wellington emeritus professor Peter Munz has died aged 85. Born in Chemnitz, Germany, Munz was part of the wave of mostly Jewish intellectuals who fled fascist…
Paradise Home to Future Leaders
Paradise, NZ, could be home to the first United World College (UWC) in Australasia, and just the second in the southern hemisphere. Based on the philosophy of Kurt Hahn, who also founded the Outward…
Being Nice Makes Business Sense
Tourism NZ has launched a new campaign encouraging Australians to travel to NZ at different times of the year. At the same time, it urges New Zealanders to ease up on the traditional taunting…
Te Matatini: “It Really is That Good”
Australian journalist Bruce Elder spent two weeks in NZ writing a travel blog – TrampaboutNZ – for the Sydney Morning Herald. The highlight of his tour was the Te Matatini kapa haka festival, a…
Monster Haul
A NZ fishing crew has caught an adult colossal squid, one of the world’s most aggressive and mysterious predators. The 450kg monster, with eyes the size of dinner plates and razor-sharp hooks on its tentacles, is the…
Auckland Prof Named UN Science Laureate
Auckland University professor Margaret Brimble has been named one of the world’s top five woman scientists by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). As Laureate for the Asia-Pacific region, Brimble received the US$100,000 L’Oreal-UNESCO prize…
Ten Years of Te Reo
Te Kohanga Reo o Ranana in London is celebrating its tenth anniversary this year. The centre was established in 1997 by a group of parents who wanted their children to retain their NZ…
NZ Scientists Solve Pigeon Puzzle
Scientists at Auckland University have solved the enduring mystery of homing pigeons. “We are now confident that pigeons … use the intensity of the Earth’s magnetic field to determine position during homing,” said Dr Todd Dennis, who…
Political Force Remembered
Auckland-born Leo McCarthy, a prominent figure in Californian state politics, has died of a kidney ailment aged 76. A lifelong Democrat, McCarthy was the state assembly speaker from 1974-80 and went on to serve…
A Great Mind Remembered
NZ Nobel laureate, Alan Graham MacDiarmid, has died in Philadelphia aged 79. Professor MacDiarmid won the 2000 Nobel Prize in chemistry for his joint discovery that some plastics could be made to…
Silver Lining to Climate Change Cloud
NZ has the potential to adapt to climate change more effectively than its neighbours, according to the government and global warming experts. Despite being home to just 0.06 per cent of the world’s population, NZ produces 0.2…
Sacred Remains Returned
A Scottish museum has returned its collection of tattooed Maori heads to NZ after housing them for more than 180 years. The nine toi moko were acquired by the University of Aberdeen’s Marischal Museum…
NZ Escapes “Affluenza” Virus
NZ gets off relatively lightly in UK psychologist Oliver James’s treatise on rampant materialism, Affluenza: How to be Successful and Stay Sane. James defines affluenza as an unhealthy obsession with wealth which has led…
Testing Times
Durex has decided to test its new latex-free condom in NZ after its global survey showed that New Zealanders have sex more often and are more adventurous in the bedroom than their international contemporaries….
Connections Made with Past and Present
An American man’s exploration of his Maori roots is the subject of a documentary for US TV’s Travel Channel. Richard Wybrow, a CNN Radio editor, had always wanted to travel to his father’s birthplace…
More Scottish than Scotland
Otago University has launched a global search to fill its inaugural chair in Scottish studies. The newly created position is one of a small number of its kind in the world and is intended to position…
The Flynn Effect
James Flynn – Emeritus Professor of Political Studies at Otago University, intelligence researcher and “unassuming moral philosopher” – is profiled in the Guardian. Born in Washington DC, Flynn has lived and worked in NZ…
Let Them Wear Possum
The Independent reports on NZ’s thriving (and environmentally kosher) possum fur trade. “Elsewhere, designers who work with fur earn the wrath of animal rights activists. But in New Zealand, they are considered national heroes.” Imported from Australia…
Wellington’s Conservation Crusader
Pioneering research by Victoria University conservation biologist Wayne Linklater could save the endangered black rhino from extinction. Like many threatened species, the captive black rhino population suffers from a potentially disastrous gender imbalance. Linklater attributes the extreme male-biased…
A Life Behind the Lens
Filmmaker, writer and photographer John Patrick Feeney has died in Wellington aged 84. Born in Ngaruawahia and educated at Victoria University, Feeney served as a lieutenant in the Royal NZ Naval Reserve during World…
Images from the Outskirts of War
James Boswell: Unofficial War Artist: Drawings of Army Life in Iraq and UK 1939-1943 by William Feaver offers a fascinating insight into the “unpretentious, unheroic, unsmarmy” work of the NZ-born artist and political activist….
Defender of Oceans
A Guardian article on the uncertain future of wild fish stocks features long-time Rainbow Warrior photographer and marine biologist Dr Roger Grace. Grace as been documenting Greenpeace actions for over 30 years and is…
Remembrance Made Permanent
The long-awaited NZ war memorial in London’s Hyde Park was officially opened on Remembrance Day, in the presence of Queen Elizabeth, Prince Charles, Prince William, Tony Blair and Helen Clark. Described as “striking” by…
NZ WW1 Vets Pardoned
The British government has officially pardoned more than 300 Commonwealth soldiers executed for discipline breaches during WW1, including three NZers shot for cowardice or desertion. The legislation is the result of a 16-year campaign…
