Advice to Note
Icon of NZ music remembered. Composer Douglas Lilburn, 85, found a “distinctive voice from his native New Zealand.” The Guardian praises the “strong emotional appeal” of his music, noting that Lilburn took to heart…
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
Origin Controversy
Is every living thing on earth descended from a heat loving bacteria – or are we, as Dr Anthony Poole of Massey University suggests, all really aliens on our own planet?
Easy-over or Sunnyside Up?
Which ever way you flip it, global warming will affect every part of New Zealand – but perhaps we’re among the lucky ones?
Historian Remembered
Professor Neville Phillips – erudite, open-minded “sometimes spiky”. One of New Zealand’s leading historians, remembered for the day he stood up to Rob Muldoon in defence of the university and intellectual freedom. Neville Phillips: Died July 2001
Dealing to the Queen
It’s only a matter of time before New Zealand becomes a republic says PM Helen Clark, stressing that it’s still not a high priority.
Miracle Reading
Reading Recovery, developed by New Zealand’s Dame Marie Clay, means results at a Toronto Public School where staff “watched miracles unfold” after the programme was introduced.
ANZAC Bond
On April 25, 1935, Ataturk, the great general who masterminded the historic Turkish defensive victory at Gallipoli said, “Wipe away your tears. Your sons are now resting in our bosom and are at peace.” Words symbolic…
Financial Future Rosy
Finance Minister Michael Cullen optimistic about New Zealand’s economic future despite the global slowdown.
Trickster Wasp
Newly discovered New Zealand parasitic wasp creates a whole new insect family – Maamingidae, named after the Maori word for trickster, because it has taken so long to come to light.
Writing With a Cause
Working for international NGOs appeals to journalists as “an honorable route forward”, including former New Zealand reporter Brendan Parry, now working for Amnesty International, where there is “a huge amount of recognition if you do good work”….
Maori Leader Born
July 3 is the anniversary of the birth of Maori leader and MP Sir Apirana Ngata in Kawakawa, 1874.
Hogg Headed
New Zealand-born and educated scholar and teacher James F. Hogg appointed to head Western State University College of Law.
Clean as a Whistle
New Zealand comes up smelling of roses, second equal behind Finland in the world anti-corruption rankings.
Out of the Roo’s Pouch
New Zealand’s continued “innate patriotism and pride” make a political merger with Australia unlikely, but economic convergence is welcome says foreign minister Phil Goff.
Sandwich Wars
How do Americans explain the antipodean phenomenon of Vegemite? “It looks like a mixture of kangaroo poop and old motor grease, but it doesn’t taste as good as either.”
Nearly There
“In principle, we are just about there. I want it and everyone wants it,” says former NZ-PM, WTO head Mike Moore, confirming his work on bringing China into the WTO has nearly reached its conclusion. …
Penguins Pegging Out
Global warming, along with over-fishing and oil-spills, threatens penguin populations around the world says University of Otago penguin biologist Lloyd Davies.
On the Up
A low dollar, good tourism revenues and buoyant international prices for our primary commodities are leading New Zealand towards an unexpectedly strong export-lead recovery, including a $95million current account surplus. Also, “It was a boomer,” says UBS Warburg…
AIDS Action
New Zealand’s health minister Dr Annette King calls on the world not to neglect the small island nations of the Pacific in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
Carbon Up
New Zealand’s carbon emissions rose 22% in the 1990’s, almost certainly putting Kyoto targets out of reach.
On the Defensive
The debate continues over scrapping the Air Force. Is it an example to the world or peacenik idealism?
Private Worries
New Zealand’s privacy laws touted as an example for Australia to follow in protecting the rights of its citizens and mesh better with EU legislation.
Rat Attack
New Zealand rat predatation expert Mike Bell called in to save the puffins of Lundy Island in the Bristol Channel.
Rollerskating Don
Oxford’s “Rollerskating media don”, Kiwi Ngaire Woods is a classroom pioneer using team game and corporate learning strategies in her International Relations MPhil classes.
Fe-mail, He-mail
Gender can’t be hidden, even in faceless e-communication according to research by Tamar Murachver of Otago University.
Lucky Pig
New Zealand Kune Kune pig Grunty, former star of British programme Pig at the Ritz, currently resident at a farm in Wellington, southwest England, saved from slaughter after being declared free of foot and mouth.
Gone Fishing
Maori fishing rights seen as inspiration for other indigenous groups negotiating for sea rights.
Nests Bearing Fruit
Over half the world’s languages are under threat. Maori initiatives such as Kohanga reo (language nests), where elders teach children whose parents don’t speak the language, are seen as a model for other struggling cultures to…
Seeds of Learning
New Zealand plant expert Doctor Warwick Harris lectures in Seattle on the Christchurch Botanical gardens.
Camera Obscura
When is a pin-hole camera a pen-hole camera? When the person issuing the instructs has a strong New Zealand accent…
Sister Joyce
James Joyce was the pre-eminent modernist prose stylist; his sister was a devout Catholic nun who spent her life praying for his soul and “witnessing at the ends of the earth” – New Zealand.
He Makes Me Lie Down in Green Pastures
“This New Zealand guy who came into my shop gave me the seeds. He was like the Jesus Christ of cannabis: long-haired, blue-eyed, a big healer. Fortunately, he told me the potential of the seeds. They…
Compensation Won
International interest raised by Waitangi Tribunal ruling on compensation for Moriori descendents of survivors of the 1835 Chathams massacre.
Golden Shooter’s Last Shot
Malcolm Cooper started his small-bore rifle career in New Zealander and went on to shoot double Olympic gold for Britain, but lost the battle with cancer. Malcolm Cooper: 20 December 1947 – 9 June 2001
Hairy Summer
On the track of the elusive ape-drape, found among “isolated sporting tribes such as New Zealand rugby league players, Czech speedway riders and the pantomime grizzlies of the Worldwide Wrestling Foundation”.
The Mouse Who Roared
New biography on New Zealand-born WWII hero Nancy Wake (the White Mouse), who “although the most feminine of women, fought like five men”.
Edge Composer
Douglas Lilburn “gave the music of New Zealand its own distinctive voice”. His fine work brought him international recognition as a significant composer. Douglas Lilburn: 2 November 1915 – 6 June 2001
Lost at Sea
June 8 is the anniversary of the death by drowning of Richard Seddon, Prime Minister of New Zealand 1893-1906.
If You Can’t Beat ’em, Eat ’em
“We need to take millions of possums out of circulation, not just nibble at it,” said Tauranga farmer Bryan Bassett-Smith promoting Possyum, the possum meat dog food he hopes will solve New Zealand’s marsupial woes.
Dawn Ceremony
Maori dancers performed a traditional dawn ceremony opened by a conch shell in St Mark’s Square, Venice, to celebrate New Zealand’s participation in the Art Biennale.
Boyish Blair
Ex-Labourite, New Zealander Bryan Gould comments on the man who runs Britain: “When I see him on television now, he still seems very young to me – just as he was in 1983, refreshingly boyish, wet…
Don’t Bank on British Security
NZ is light years ahead of Britain for banking security. “I don’t want to sound like a homesick Antipodean”, writes Charlotte Denny, “but ever since I arrived here 10 years ago, the true awfulness of the British…
Lego-ality of Language Hi-jack?
Intellectual property Lawyer and “defender of Maori culture” Maui Solomon challenges the right of Danish toy-maker Lego to use Polynesian words in its new game Bionicle.
Britain’s Brain-drain
Young educated people are leaving Britain for the good life down under: “There’s both a pull of countries like Australia and New Zealand and a push from this country, where there are too many…
Top Talk
Up there with the big events in Washington: Ken Gutschick presents a talk on New Zealand at the Long Branch Senior Centre.
Right Ball’s Up
New Zealand funny-man and sideways thinker Burton Silver presents the oval golf ball, for those times when round is just too tricky.
Fishing for a Decision
The urban Maori/traditional iwi dispute over fisheries reaches the Privy Council in London, New Zealand’s highest appellate court.
Lego Language Insult
New Lego trading cards feature words like “toa”, “kanohi” and “whenua” – sound suspiciously familiar?
Five Dollar Bird
Hoiho (yellow-eyed penguins, literally noise-shouters) catch the attention of an international money man.
Sailing to Meet the Past
“You get your guy sailing with us and it kind of changes things. It makes them want to come back,” says master waka builder Robert Busby, with his father Hekenukumai at Hawaii’s fourth annual In Celebration…
Bravery Remembered
Sixty years ago New Zealanders fought and died on Crete. Veterans and locals commemorate the battle. Also, Helen Clark pays tribute to the 671 New Zealand soldiers killed at Galatas.
The Ghost of Rob
“A late but not widely lamented New Zealand prime minister once introduced strict currency controls. When asked if the fixed rate was not out of line with market reality, he responded that the value of the…
Top Dollars Man
The Australian Treasury head-hunted Ken Henry from Canterbury University in 1984: now he’s the head of the outfit.
