Lord Gazza
Gisborne builder Gary Lewis became the first Maori member of the British Royal Family with his marriage to Lady Davina Windsor at Kensington Palace. Lewis is the son of a former champion sheep-shearer and nephew to writer…
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
Blood Brothers
Cabinet minister John Tamihere has spoken out in the defense of heterosexual “red-blooded blokes” and been heard around the world. Excerpts of his speech at Epsom’s St Peter’s College appeared in the Washington Times, as well as…
A Smelly Solution
Skunk Shot, an odorous gel developed by Victoria University scientists, has become police issue in several US cities, including LA and Richland County, Colombia. Originally designed as a cat and dog repellent, Skunk Shot is being used…
The Sheep That Roared
An Australian feature by Claire Harvey likened the Israeli passport scandal to the infamous Rainbow Warrior incident of 1985. PM Helen Clark has cut diplomatic ties with Israel until an official apology and explanation is offered stating,…
Captain Conjuror
Veteran Auckland performer and Grand Master of Magic, Tony Wilson, was recently inaugurated as President of the International Brotherhood of Magicians. The Brotherhood was founded in the early 1920s and comprises nearly 15,000 magicians globally.
Custodian of the English Language
Eminent lexicographer Robert W Burchfield has died aged 81. The Wanganui-born scholar rose to fame as editor of the 4-volume Supplement to the Oxford English Dictionary. The massive undertaking took nearly 30 years to complete -…
Pioneer Storyteller
The death of ground-breaking NZ filmmaker Mike Walker was noted in the Scotsman, Miami Herald, and LA Times. Walker worked asa director, co-producer and co-writer on the films Kingi’s Story, Kingpin and…
Moko Mokai Return Home
Three preserved heads (moko mokai) of Maori warriors have been returned to NZ by the Kelingrove Art Gallery in Glasgow. The action comes after a worldwide search for Maori remains by Te Papa Tongarewa. Maori specialists…
He Maimai Aroha
Haere atu koutou hei whetu te rangi, tiaho mai mo ake tonu atu. He tohu aroha ki tenei morehu kuia. Rahera Windsor, spiritual leader of Britain’s Maori community, died May 3rd 2004 Born in Pupuke, 1925, she married…
Google and Froogle
Waikato University graduate Craig Nevill-Manning is Director, New York & Senior Staff Research Scientist for the world’s leading search engine company, Google. Nevill-Manning completed a PhD in computer science at Waikato before taking up a post-doctoral fellowship…
Charlie Champions NZ
British celebrity gardener, Charlie Dimmock, named NZ as her preferred home-away-from-home in an interview with The Independent. “If I had to to New Zealand. They have an’outdoors’ lifestyle,’ and people are more active.”
World’s Best Head 42-Below
The first ever Cocktail World Cup was held in Queenstown over the Winter Festival, which began June 25. The 5-day event is the brainchild of NZ’s 42- Below vodka, which recently won gold at the World Spirits…
Epic Moments Remembered
The world commemorated the 60th anniversary of D-Day on June 6, with war veterans and international leaders (including PM Helen Clark) gathering in France to pay their respects. NZ lost more soldiers proportionately than any other country…
Professor Roy Crawford
The Guardian attributes Professor Roy Crawford leaving Queen’s University Belfast to take up the post of Vice Chancellor at Waikato University to NZ’s current It status: “Oh, Australia must be annoyed. For centuries it’s been top dog…
Review of the Market Years
Illinois’ Hillsdale College, published an overview of New Zealand Government reforms in the 80s and 90s, penned by former NZ MP Maurice McTigue. The article argued that high living standards result from significant ingenuity operating in a…
Flexible, Shock-proof, and Room for Growth
The NZ economy received a big tick in the annual IMF report. According to the Washington-based lender, a combination of sensible policies and reforms over the last 20 years had “contributed to NZ’s robust economic growth, made…
Grant Works His Magic
Malcolm Grant – former Pro-Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge University, now Provost of University College London – profiled in the Guardian. UCL’s retiring professor of English, John Sutherland, noted his ‘impeccable academic pedigree’ (Grant is a lawyer and…
Lest We Forget
Russell Crowe provided the narration for a “ground-breaking” documentary series on Anzac soldiers, recently aired on NZ television and screening in Australia later this year. The series celebrates the bond between NZ and Australian soldiers, from WW1 to…
“For Many NZ is the New Utopia”
20 April 2004 – The flood of US immigrants seeking a better life in NZ continues – with good reason, according to a lengthy San Francisco Gate article. “It’s like California, it’s like San…
Flax Attack
After a brief 1960s hey-day, NZ flax (phormium) has returned as “the drama queen of trendy garden designs” in LA. According to TV horticulturist Maureen Gilmer, “Phormiums are the most exciting new plants to enter the American…
“the Most Influential American Criminologist of His Time”
Pioneering criminologist and novelist, Norval Morris, has died in Chicago aged 80. Born in Auckland, Morris studied in Australia, France, and England before embarking on his 30-year academic career at the University of Chicago…
Around the World in 58 Days
NZers Mike Beasley and Fraser Brown were part of the 12-strong crew in billionaire adventurer Steve Fossett’s record breaking round-the-world sailing victory. Fossett and co. circumnavigated the globe in 58 days, 9 hours, 32 minutes, and 45…
A Sporting Life
NZ-born BBC sports producer and director, Malcolm Kemp, has died aged 57 of cancer. Kemp’s illustrious career saw him executive produce seven Grand Nationals, the 1994 football World Cup and 1996 European Cup, and…
Giant Kauri Tragically Felled
NZ mourns the loss of its preeminent cultural historian, Michael King. The author of 34 books – including the groundbreaking autobiographical work Being Pakeha and acclaimed biographies of Dame Whina Cooper, Hone Tuwhare, and…
World Gender Role
Amanda Ellis – formerly head of women’s banking for Westpac Australia – now has a global role leading the World Bank’s work on gender in Private Sector Development. Ms Ellis also serves on the OECD’s international…
Te Reo On Air
BBC notes the launch of NZ’s first nationwide Maori language TV station. The inaugural broadcast comes 13 years after the Supreme Court ruled that the government was legally bound (by the Treaty of Waitangi) to protect its…
Comic Genius
20 March 2004 – Martin Emond, internationally renowned comic-book artist, illustrator, and tattooist, died in LA on March 19 aged 34. Emond created the popular character Switchblade (star of NZ clothing brand Illicit) and…
“The New Zealand Native Who Helped Open the Door to the Stars”
17 March 2004 – William Pickering, one of the leading figures in US space exploration, died of pneumonia in California aged 92. A graduate of Canterbury University and the California Institute of Technology, Wellington-born…
A Voice to Remember
A Stanford University obituary paid tribute to Susan Okin, the Auckland-born author, lecturer, and activist described by a Stanford University colleague as “perhaps the best feminist political philosopher in the world.” The author of three acclaimed books – Women…
Belated Honour for White Mouse
3 March 2004 – Nancy Wake, the most decorated female veteran of WW2, was made a Companion of the Order of Australia on March 3. Born in NZ and raised in Australia, Wake was a leading…
The Good Life
Auckland was ranked 5th and Wellington 15th out of 215 cities in the annual quality of life survey by Mercer Human Resource Consulting. Said Mercer director, Rob Knox, “Despite NZ’s geographic location and distance…
DOC Plays Tag
NZ’s Department of Conservation plans to use state-of-the-art satellite tagging in its fight to save the Maui’s Dolphin, whose numbers have plummeted to less than 150. The tags will help researchers better understand the dolphins’ territorial range…
Smells Like Green Spirit
A Californian company claims to have captured the essence of Aotearoa in a bottle. The Demeter Fragrance Library produces scented candles and room sprays ranging in weirdness from Chocolate Chip Cookie to Fuzzy Navel. The recently released…
Edge Eco-system
19 February 2004 – The unique bird-life native to NZ and its surrounding islands is the subject of major articles in The Japan Times and The New York Times. The first, by a Japan-based natural historian,…
Mother of Invention
Age feature charts former Thompson Twin Alannah Currie’s career trajectory from 80s popstar to the face of MadGE (Mothers Against Genetic Engineering) – NZ’s most visible opponent of genetically modified crops. Currie is credited with making the…
Innovators R Us
NZ has been named one of the world’s most entrepreneurial countries for the third year running by the annual Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM). The 41-country UK/US-based survey identified NZ – alongside Chile, Korea, Venezuela, and Uganda -…
Easy Money
NZ has the world’s third freest economy, to an annual survey by the Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal. Hong Kong took the top spot for the tenth consecutive year, followed by Singapore.
Recognition for Political Torchbearer
Mayor of Dunedin, Sukhi Turner, has been conferred the Indian government’s highest honour for non-resident civilians, the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award for the Indian Diaspora. She is the first New Zealander to receive the award, and one of…
100 Years of Class
Worldwide centenary celebrations for Rolls Royce were launched in NZ January 25, with a commemorative dinner for fans and owners held in Auckland. 50 of the company’s luxury cars – including a 1912 Silver Ghost and a…
New Frontier
The NZ government’s multimillion dollar media campaign in the US aiming to lure wealthy Americans to “the new California” is the subject of a December Voice of America feature. Major selling points are the clean/green…
Kiwi Buddha
SunSpot profiled the Venerable Pong Re Sung Rap Tulku Rinpoche – AKA “Kiwi Buddha” – on his return to his native NZ. Three years ago, the ten-year-old was identified as the reincarnation of a…
Judith Mayhew Jonas: Alpha female
14 December 2003 – Dame Judith Mayhew Jonas – former financial advisor to the Mayor of London, current Provost of Kings College, Cambridge, and chairman of the Royal Opera House – was one of nine “alpha females”…
Edge Envoy to Iraq
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan named New Zealander Ross Mountain as his interim envoy to Iraq. Veteran Mountain has had a long career with the UN and has worked as a relief co-ordinator in war zones in Africa,…
Knowledge Economist
Finance Minister and Deputy PM, Dr. Michael Cullen, articulates the edge phenomenon in a lengthy interview with the Economist. ” a very significant solid eclectic range of niche manufacturing and service industries which have developed in…
Closer Thais
A move towards closer economic relations between NZ and Thailand was kick-started by Foreign Minister Phil Goff’s talks with his Thai counterpart, Surakiart Sathirathai, in late November. The NZ government has offered Thais aged 18-30 6 month…
Nukes Not the Issue
State Department spokesman, Phillip Reeker, dismissed claims that NZ’s anti-nuclear policy was a barrier to a free-trade agreement with the US on his recent trip to Wellington. “If you want to re-examine that policy, that would be…
Edge of the World (Cup) Musing
The Rugby World Cup saw columnists muse on NZ’s evolving relationship with its (big) brotherly neighbour. SMH: “For those who’ve not noticed, New Zealand – a small nation off the east coast of…
Land of Milk and Honey
The NZ economy is currently on a high, with the lowest unemployment rates since 1987, 26,000 new jobs created in the last 3 months, and a $1.2 billion surplus in the first 3 months of the…
Canterbrian Chinatown
An amateur English historian claims that NZ was discovered and settled by Chinese explorers well before the arrival of Maori. According to Cedric Bell, a Chinese city of 4,000 people was situated where the Botanical Gardens in…
Beware the Shaky Isles
The grim travel warning issued for NZ by Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has caused derision on both sides of the Tasman. According to the DFAT, NZ is a terrorist target located on a hot-bed…
End of a Long Innings
Gordon Lindsay Weir, the world’s oldest surviving Test cricketer, died in Auckland on October 31 aged 95 years and 151 days. Known in cricketing circles as ‘Dad,’ the right-hand batsman and medium-pace bowler played 11 Tests for…
A World in Pictures
British photojournalist, Joan Wakelin, died on September 23 aged 75. Wakelin is best known for her images of Sri Lankan boat-people, Australian Aboriginal and NZ Maori communities; the latter with which she had a special connection. She…
President Hu Jintao Goes Oriental to the Edge
26 October 2003 – A 3-day diplomatic visit to NZ by Chinese President Hu Jintao has further strengthened economic ties between the two countries. Hu met with PM Helen Clark to discuss the possibility of a free…
Pacific Watchdog
Ngati Tuwharetoa leader, Tumu Te Heuheu, has been elected to represent all Pacific nations on the UN’s World Heritage Committee. NZ beat more than 20 other countries to win one of 8 seats on offer. The…
Clean Dealings
An annual survey by global anti-corruption campaigners, Transparency International, ranks NZ as the world’s third cleanest business environment (equal with Denmark) on 9.5 points. Finland topped the list with 9.7 points, followed by Iceland on 9.6. The…
Shining Happy People
NZ was ranked 15th happiest nation overall in a World Values Survey of over 65 countries – ahead of the US (16th), Australia (20th) and the UK (24th). The study is a global examination of sociological…
