End of an Era
NZ lost its last WW1 veteran with the death of Victor “Bob” Rudd aged 104. Born in London in 1901, Rudd served with the British Army’s 9th Lancers regiment in the final…
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
In Memoriam
18 NZ veterans attended the unveiling of a memorial commemorating NZ soldiers who served in the 1950-53 Korean War at the UN Memorial Cemetery in Busan. PM Helen Clark was also present. “I came…
Homeward Bound
The Glasgow City Council has officially returned the preserved heads of three unidentified Maori warriors to delegates from Te Papa Tongarewa. The moko mokai had variously been gifted to the Scottish city by collectors of antiquities…
Battle of Britain Hero
Group Captain Edward Preston “Hawkeye” Wells, one of the RAF’s most outstanding WWII pilots has died at the age of 89. Born in Cambridge (NZ) on 26 July 1916 and educated at Cambridge High School, Wells was called…
Lord of the Dance
Wellington born Kristian Fredrikson, one of the most celebrated theater and dance designers in New Zealand and Australia has died in a Sydney Hospital of complications from pneumonia at the age of 65. His career began in Wellington…
A Life’s Work
NZ born education pioneer and author Dion “Darcy” Dale has died. Dale devoted his life to the teaching and studying of deaf and partially hearing children. He was particularly prominent in promoting the use of lip…
“Pragmatic Idealist, Friend of the Earth and a Good Man”
NZ has lost an inspiring political figure with the death of Green Party co-leader Rod Donald. Donald died of a rare virus affecting the heart aged just 48. He will be remembered for his…
Jail Over War
New Zealand doctor Malcolm Kendall-Smith may go to jail for refusing to obey the orders of the British Royal Air force and return to duty in Iraq. After already serving two tours in Iraq and one in…
Challenge to a War
Brisbane born, Dunedin raised and educated Malcolm Kendall-Smith, the man who refused to return to fight in a war that was “manifestly unlawful”, stood by his decision at a court martial hearing on 27 October at…
End of Ancestral Visa
A new points-based immigration system could end the door-opening power of the ancestral visa. Many New Zealanders and other Commonwealth citizens have relied on having British grandparents to allow them to settle in the EU. Under…
Government Formed
Just over a month after election night, Helen Clark has formed a government and been sworn in as Prime Minister, making her the first Labour Party leader to form a government in three successive terms. Following…
Building Bridges on canvas
One of NZ’s most respected Maori artists and pioneer of indigenous art in schools, John Bevan Ford, has died aged 75 from cancer. While tremendously skilled in traditional Maori wood carving, Ford is best perhaps known…
Keeping Up With the Kiwis 1
New Zealanders may have long been the butt of “fush and chups,” but according to Paola Totaro there are more than a few reasons New Zealand has got one over on Australia. Totaro gives several including…
Continental Drift
Former PM Mike Moore spoke up about NZ’s increasing politico-cultural distance from Australia in the Melbourne Age. “After 100 years of convergence, there is the beginning of divergence. Australia is becoming more like the US and…
Who is the Typical Kiwi?
An international study on cultural stereotypes, led by the US National Institutes of Health, has concluded that there is no relation between supposed cultural characteristics and the actual traits identified in real people. “People…
World’s Rarest Given Kiwi Name
A grove of one of the world’s rarest trees has been named after NZ plant conservation scientist David Given. The Wollemi Pine, believed to be extinct until re-discovered in Australia’s Blue Mountains in 1994, is a…
Helping Hand for Neighbouring Namesake
A Kiwi couple have instigated a sister school relationship between Fiji’s Saint Thomas Aquinas Primary School and the Aquinas College where they teach in NZ. According to the Fiji Times, Brendan and Jane Schollum…
Keeping Up With the Kiwis 2
Meanwhile on a different page …”What do Australians think about New Zealand? Not very much and not very often. ‘We think about New Zealand like we think about Tasmania,’ one Australian tells me with…
Prussia of the Pacific?
A Guardian columnist points out an eerie similarity between the recent elections in NZ and Germany. Both were held on the same weekend and both delivered a spectacularly close finish between the two dominant centre-right and centre-left…
Forecast Fine With a Top of 9.6
The Ministry of Tourism predicts that foreign tourist spending in NZ will increase by as much as 52% in the next 7 years. Spending is forecast to rise to NZ$9.6 billion by 2011 from NZ$6.3 billion in…
Drawn to the Edge
Michele Law is currently working the most challenging assignment of her already distinguished legal career. As a lawyer for the UN Office of Constitutional Support, Law is helping to draft Iraq’s first constitution. The Canterbury University graduate…
School of Rock
A music teaching program designed by four Christchurch friends has taken off online, selling more than 10,000 copies – mostly in the US – in just two years. Jamorama is a step by step guide to…
David Lange 1942-2005
Former Prime Minister David Lange died on Saturday 13 August aged 63 after a long battle with ill health. He was regarded as “the best loved New Zealand political figure of the last 20 years” (Guardian Unlimited). Elected…
Visionary Remembered
NZ’s scientific and business community has lost one of its brightest stars with the death of Pulse Data founder Dr Russell Smith. Smith and his wife, early childhood specialist Marian D’Eve, were both killed when their Cessna…
Kiwi-fight
The LA Times explores the history of Gridley, Kiwifruit Capital of the USA and sister city to Te Puke – Kiwifruit Capital of the World, thank you very much. Of note is the trade war between…
Kyoto Protocol a “Feelgood Gimmick”
Meanwhile, SMH columnist Miranda Devine says “Our Kiwi neighbours, once smug about ecological superiority, face a cost blow-out from the treaty exceeding $NZ1 billion ($900 million). The farcical result is that even though the country produces only…
Top 10 for 100%
New Zealand has ranked 10th in an index of the strongest brands in the world compiled by marketing research firms Anholt-GMI. New Zealand had positive brand values and managed, like Ireland which came 13th,…
Rainbow Resonates 20 Years On
July 10 marked the 20th anniversary of the Rainbow Warrior bombing in Auckland Harbour. The Greenpeace flagship was targeted by French agents under the orders of then President Francois Mitterand, in retaliation for Greenpeace protests against French nuclear…
Brits on the Move
The Times article explores the current trend of Britons emigrating to NZ, focusing on a young family from Bath who settled in Wanganui a year and a half ago. According to Paul and Estelle Collins, positives…
New Zealand Women Make Nobel Peace List
Four New Zealand women are among a historic collective nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize. Each of the 1,000 women, nominated from across the world, have worked for justice and peace in their respective…
Employment Looking Up
According to new figures released by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), NZ has the second highest employment growth rate in the developed world. The report shows that NZ’s labour force grew 3.4% last year,…
In Defense of Whales
NZ led the anti-whaling nations at the International Whaling Commission meeting in Ulsan. Headed by Conservation Minister Chris Carter, the delegation included officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and DoC, as well as Whaling Commissioner Sir…
You Can’t Buy Happiness
NZ born lecturer of economics at Stanford University, John McMillan, believes that the obsession NZ politicians have with raising the country’s per capita income to equal that of Australia is a waste of time. “Any cross-country comparison…
Task-master Cook
As Registrar General for England and Wales, New Zealander Len Cook is heading the massive task of digitising the countries’ birth, death, and marriage certificates. “The aim throughout our plans to reform civil registration has been to…
Mrs Peace Leaves Her Mark
Political activist, peace campaigner and renowned author, Sonja Davies, has died aged 81, leaving an inspiring legacy in her wake. According to her Guardian obituary, Davies – known to many as ‘Mrs Peace’ – ranks…
Land of the Free-thinking
New Zealand: Leading a Small Nation Across a Tightrope, offers an in-depth analysis of the abilities and international standing of PM Helen Clark, and outlines the numerous difficulties inherent in “governing a country of free-thinking Kiwis.” The…
Kaitaia Fire
Two groups of Far North students excelled at the Community Problem Solving Championships in Lexington, Kentucky. Kaitaia Primary School won the junior (9-11) section of the competition with their solution to the regular low-level flooding of their…
4-way FTA
PM Helen Clark has signed negotiations for a free trade agreement spanning four continents. The Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement brings together NZ, Brunei, Singapore and Chile, and will come into effect in January 2006.
Opposing Views
Free Liberal weblog comments on a Washington Times article detailing NZ’s anti-nuclear stance, military capabilities, and reliance on its more powerful neighbor. “An interesting story about how NZ’s rather modest defense budget and decision to stay out…
Kiwi Culture in Korea
The Patea Maori Club was guest of honour at the official opening of the NZ Centre for Culture and Education in Yeoksam-dong, South Korea. The centre is a non-profit organization founded by two Korean-NewZealanders,…
Rugby Stalwart Farewelled
Former All Black captain, agricultural economist, and leading NZRU administrator – Bob Stuart, OBE – died in May aged 84. Although Stuart’s best playing years were taken up by military service during WW2, he successfully lead NZ…
Owen Wilkes: Global Peace Activist
Owen Wilkes, the New Zealand peace activist and global peace researcher, has died in Hamilton aged 65. In a tribute written from Beijing by Peter Hayes, he said “Owen Wilkes was a profoundly wedded…
Closing the Gap
NZ ranks sixth overall in a new study measuring the gap between genders by the Geneva-based World Economic Forum. The top five positions went to Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Norway and Iceland. The WEF appraisal of 58 countries…
Kiwi Culture in Bloom
The UC Santa Cruz Arboretum held a ‘New Zealand Day’ in May, to “celebrate the mix of culture and botanical diversity of NZ through music, against the backdrop of its various plant collections.” Events…
Academia and Industry United
Cambridge-MIT Institute director, NZer Michael J Kelly, speaks about the importance of combining entrepreneurial and business skills with academic learning in the Guardian.”Governments around the world realise that it shouldn’t be left to chance as to whether…
Putting Our Money Where Our Mouth Is
In a show of commitment to the Kyoto Protocol, NZ became the first country in the world to levy a public carbon tax. NZers will now pay an extra $2.90 per week for electricity, petrol and…
Kiwis Climb Ranks at Oxford
Julie Maxton will join former Auckland University colleague John Hood at Oxford University next year, as the institution’s first ever female registrar. The 550 year old post is similar to that of a company secretary, with…
War at Gallipoli Re-activated
Peter Jackson and Wellington special effects edge-busters Weta Digital have used their expertise to restore the only film taken of the Anzacs at Gallipoli. The Lord of the Rings director has restored the film to the original…
New Law Embraced
Planet Out feature looks at the newly instated Civil Union Bill in NZ. More than 600 couples registered for a civil union in the first week after the law came into effect. The article quotes GayNZ.com…
Birthplace of a Nation
A record-breaking crowd of more than 20,000 attended this year’s dawn service at Anzac Cove. Also in attendance were Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Helen Clark, John Howard and Prince Charles, each of whom paid moving…
Sir Joh Bows Out
Dannevirke-born and controversial seven-times Premier of Queensland Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen has died aged 94. The maverick politician was one of the most colourful but also divisive leaders in Australian political history. He was religiously, socially and politically…
Mutual Milestone
76 Tampa refugees were made NZ citizens on April 8, including the youngest on board Azizullah Mussa (now 17). “I’ve been waiting three years for this day to come. I can call myself a Kiwi now,”…
Future Partnership Likely
Helen Clark has fast-tracked a bilateral free trade agreement with Malaysia, which could come into effect as soon as this time next year. Malaysia’s NST: “For the trade experts, is neither too big (which would make…
Gallipoli: All Guts, No Glory
Chief of the New Zealand Defence Force, Air Marshal Bruce Ferguson, in his address at Anzac Cove marking the 90th anniversary of the landing there of New Zealand and Australian soldiers, said that there was no glory in…
Black Mountain Poet
Robert Creeley, who helped transform postwar American poetry by making it more conversational and emotionally direct, has in Odessa, Texas. He was 78. Robert Creeley’s association with New Zealand dates from 1976 when he visited at…
No More 5 Cent Lollies
NZ’s 5 cent coin is soon to be no longer, thanks to a major overhaul of the national currency by the central bank. 1 and 2 dollar coins will remain unchanged but 10, 20…
