Auckland Gets More People on Its Buses
“Cities across the world are struggling to tempt people out of their cars and onto transit, but Auckland has reversed the trend by creating a really, really good bus network for very little money.” Fast…
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
Saving the Strangest Parrot on Earth
It’s as plump as a goose, has the face of an owl and waddles like a duck. It sleeps in the day and is active at night. And it can climb just about anything…
New Zealand Continues Plans to Save Natives
New Zealand is three years into what many consider to be the world’s largest animal protection programme. The Predator Free 2050 government programme has a goal of removing all non-native pests by the year…
Even in Brogues Peter Messervy-Gross Completes Race
It would be hard enough completing a 160km ultra marathon across a frozen Mongolian lake with the proper equipment. New Zealander Peter Messervy-Gross, 47, performed the feat wearing his everyday fashion brogues. Messervy-Gross had spent…
New Zealand’s Engaged Diaspora an Asset
The number of New Zealanders scattered around the globe is massive. Back in 1999 Brian Sweeney, founder of nzedge.com which originated the idea of a Kiwi Diaspora, put the number at one million of…
What the Haka Means and How It’s Performed
It’s what representing their country is all about – walking out in New Zealand’s All Blacks jersey, facing their opposition, and delivering a spine-tingling, hair-raising haka before the whistle blows for kick-off. George Ramsay…
Salam Alaikum. Patience Required
Salaam Alaikum. Peace be upon us all. Aotearoa is experiencing an extended tangi. Like any such event emotions ebb and flow, sneak up on you, get you when you are not looking. A frightening…
The Roots of Jacinda Ardern’s Extraordinary Leadership
“In October of 2017, when Jacinda Ardern became the Prime Minister of New Zealand—a country with a population of fewer than five million—she assumed leadership of a place not accustomed to making global headlines,” writes…
Christchurch Choir Perform Emotional New York Concert
Christchurch’s Vocal Collective – on tour to perform at Carnegie Hall as part of a global choir – tonight sang an emotional and inspirational concert at St John’s Church in…
Whale Shark Expert Simon Pierce Hopes Tourism Helps
New Plymouth-born head of the Marine Megafauna Foundation and leading authority on whale sharks Simon Pierce has been overseeing a project on Nosy Be, an island off the northwestern coast of Madagascar, where there…
Kahurangi National Park Gets Bigger
Kahurangi National Park, situated in the north-west corner of the South Island, the second-largest national park in the country, has expanded by 14 per cent, roughly half the size of Auckland. More than 64,000ha of…
New Zealand Mourns
“We’re a long way from anyplace, and that’s the point of New Zealand: We like it like that. We’re lucky here. We’re out of the picture. We’re too distant and obscure for terror cells…
Ambassador Clare Fearnley Interviewed on China
The changes that have taken place in China in the past 70 years are very significant, New Zealand’s Ambassador to China Clare Fearnley has said in a recent interview with Xinhuanet. The ambassador also…
Barbie Releases First-Ever Māori Doll
Barbie has released its first-ever Māori doll, modelled after New Zealand sports journalist and former rugby player Melodie Robinson. The doll, which has “curly hair and beautiful brown skin”, holds a microphone as part of…
Extinct Penguins Wiped out by Hungry Humans
The discovery of two extinct penguin subspecies in New Zealand is a cautionary tale of the threats faced by the waddling birds in the wild. Veronique Greenwood reports for The New York Times. For thousands…
Antarctic Tour Guide Tarn Pilkington Job Addictive
There is no doubt that Ernest Shackleton’s endeavours in 1916 – when he sailed a lifeboat 1287km across the southern Atlantic Ocean, crossed the remote frozen outcrop of South Georgia and returned to the…
Sale of Portable Cabins Booms in NZ Amid Housing Crisis
“The sale of portable cabins is booming in New Zealand, where a housing crisis means hundreds of thousands of Kiwis can no longer afford a home or even a rental.” Eleanor Ainge Roy reports…
Helen Clark Fighting Erosion of Women’s Rights
More than 30 female world leaders including current and former heads of state have called for a fightback against the erosion of women’s rights, with one former minister singling out countries led by “a…
Origins of Extinct Adzebill Traced to Africa
Scientists at the University of Adelaide have revealed the African origins of New Zealand’s most mysterious giant flightless bird – the now extinct adzebill – showing that some of its closest living relatives are…
Has the Overseas Investment Amendment Act Worked?
After watching home prices rise by 60 per cent in a decade, New Zealand decided to ban foreigners from buying property. Will it work? The New York Times reports. When it was reported in 2017 that…
Chris Liddell Helms Rural America Broadband Era
Chris Liddell, Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy Coordination at The White House, is leading a newly announced initiative to address a significant gap in broadband access in rural America. Writing in Agri-Pulse, Liddell…
NZ-Dubai Roll Out Electronic Trade Processes
New Zealand and Dubai have initiated an electronic exchange of export certificate process that will provide a simpler, more time effective and sustainable method to facilitate two-way trade currently estimated at around $2 billion,…
NZ Marks Eighth Anniversary of Christchurch Quake
The city of Christchurch has marked the eighth anniversary of an earthquake that killed 185 people and caused extensive damage from which the city is still recovering. Of the victims, 115 people were killed when…
New Zealand’s Sacred Mermaid Pools Closed Indefinitely
“Picturesque Mermaid Pools in Matapouri in New Zealand have been closed indefinitely after human waste and litter were repeatedly found at the sacred Māori site, Joanna Whitehead reports for The Independent. “The failure to…
Mike King Named 2019 New Zealander of the Year
“Mental health advocate Mike King has been named Kiwibank 2019 New Zealander of the Year.” Charlotte Carter reports for Stuff.co.nz. “His determination to shine a light on the effects and impacts of mental…
Teacher Emily-Rose Reid On Board Peace Boat
Sailing on the Peace Boat, an 11-floor, luxury cruise ship from Capetown to Namibia, Emily-Rose Reid is on the trip of a lifetime but not as a guest. Reid is aboard the vessel run…
The Treaty of Waitangi and Its Influence On Identity Politics
“Globally, there has been a crisis of confidence in the promises of liberal democracy in recent years,” writes James H. Liu, Professor of Psychology at Massey University. Against trends like the US president wanting…
Audette Exel’s Adara Group Celebrates a Milestone
Established in Bermuda in 1998, The Adara Group is the brainchild of former Bermuda Commercial Bank managing director, New Zealander Audette Exel, whose business acumen and passion for social justice has raised millions of…
Harness Power of Pessimism says André Spicer
“Early on New Year’s Day, I began scrolling through the messages people had left on social media,” New Zealand author and educator André Spicer writes in an opinion piece for the Guardian. “Usually you…
NZ Brings First Fake Mānuka Honey Prosecution
In the first case of its kind, a mānuka honey company is being prosecuted by New Zealand’s food safety agency over claims it added artificial chemicals to its product, including one commonly used in…
From Practising Law in Dublin to Yoga in Auckland
Each week, Irish Times Abroad meets an Irish person working in an interesting job overseas. Lawyer and yoga teacher Paul Gillick shares his experience of moving to Auckland with his New Zealand-born wife where…
Helen Clark On Jacinda Ardern’s Kindness Quotient
“Jacinda Ardern’s sudden, spectacular rise to the position of New Zealand’s prime minister in 2017 propelled her into headlines around the world. Deservedly so,” Helen Clark writes in a piece for Foreign Policy magazine. “In…
Candyman’s Quiet Quest to Collect Banana Varieties
In Alega, American Samoa some delicious banana varieties are getting harder to find. A New Zealander, known only as Candyman, collects the fruit. Acquiring a new one can be as simple as trading with…
Hopes World Will Follow Our Wellness-Based Policies
In an article featured in the Financial Times, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern urges the world’s governments to focus on “living standards and human, social and natural capital when we set targets and track progress”. “There’s…
No Worries for Swiss Family in New Zealand
Even though she’d never been here before, Eva Hefti took the chance and moved with her family to New Zealand. Her husband had found a job in Northland which, due to the shorter working…
What Is the Sea Telling Us about Whale Strandings?
Whale whisperer Hori Parata was just seven years old when he attended his first mass stranding, a beaching of porpoises in Northland, their cries screeching through the air on the deserted stretch of sand. Seven…
Hopes Webcam Can save Endangered Albatross
Millions of amateur naturalists around the world have been tuning in to the secret lives of albatrosses as Department of Conversation (DOC) rangers on the Otago Peninsula employ YouTube in a bid to save…
Endangered Penguins Kitted Out in Onesies
Ahead of Penguin Awareness Day on 20 January, a story has been doing the rounds about The Wildlife Hospital in Dunedin. They are using baby onesies to aid in the recuperation of endangered yellow-eyed…
Annette-Campbell White Speaks in Cape Town
The University of Cape Town’s (UCT) 2018 graduation season wrapped up in mid December with a clear call to graduates from alumnus, philanthropist and trailblazing venture capitalist on male-dominated Wall Street, New Zealand-born Annette-Campbell…
Distance Runner Bill Baillie Finishes the Race
Nelson-born athlete William “Bill” Baillie, who once held world records in the now obscure 20,000m and one-hour running events, has died in Auckland. He was 84. At the time Baillie broke the records they had…
Unusual Coalition Survives in a Febrile World
In a piece for online policy forum, East Asia Forum, Professor of Strategic Studies at Victoria University, Robert Ayson reviews New Zealand’s “unlikely coalition”. “As 2018 began New Zealand did not have an answer to…
Musician Aurian White Earns Global Honour
At just 12 years old Sistema Whangārei student Aurian White will be sharing the Northland city with the world. White, a Tikipunga High School student, is one of 10 students selected from Sistema programmes around…
Where to Spot Wildlife in New Zealand
“Located at the bottom of the planet, New Zealand has a diverse range of landscapes in a country with a population that is tiny by world standards” and “it’s no surprise that New Zealand…
Father and Doctor Matt Widdowson on Parenting
The overwhelming concern of most new parents after they get home from the maternity hospital is will they be able to keep their tiny infant alive, The Irish Times reports. It’s no wonder that…
Jilly James Earns Spot at Renowned LA Acting School
Aspiring Timaru actress Jilly James, 17, is the first New Zealander to win a globally contested acting scholarship in Hollywood. In February, James will travel to Los Angeles where, along with 15 self-funded students from…
What Can New Zealand Teach the UK about Brexit?
“Brexit is, to put it mildly, an unusual event,” BBC World Service economics correspondent Andrew Walker writes. “But there are precedents for some aspects of it. New Zealand provides one example.” “The country faced a…
NZ Winemaker Begins Solo Atlantic Crossing
26-year-old New Zealand winemaker Isaac Giesen, has just embarked on a roughly 3,000-mile journey, from the Canary Islands to Antigua. The “solo crossing is a feat accomplished by fewer people than have climbed Mount…
New Research Explores How Olympic Games Have Shaped NZ Identity
As part of his doctoral thesis, Victoria University of Wellington graduate Micheal Warren explored “the contribution New Zealand’s participation in the Olympic Games has made to national identity.” Phys.org reports. “Micheal…
NZ Study Confirms Environmental Benefits of Building Cycleways
“A new study by researchers from the University of Otago, Wellington and Victoria University has confirmed that building cycleways benefits the planet because swapping four wheels for two leads to a reduction in carbon…
NZ Researchers Argue James Bond Has Drinking Problem
Researchers from New Zealand’s University of Otago and the UK’s University of Oxford “have published a study in the Medical Journal of Australia’s Christmas issue which they say proves that Ian Fleming’s fictional character…
Military Braces for Climate Change Battle
The New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) has identified climate change as one of its biggest security challenges, warning that responding to global warming will increasingly stretch its resources. The NZDF said the impact of climate…
Daring Douglas Wright
(1956-2018)
Revered New Zealand dancer and choreographer Douglas Wright died in Auckland on November 14, 2018, aged 62. He was “undoubtedly one of New Zealand’s most magnificent and important artists of…
NZ Leader Grieves For Murdered Tourist
New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has offered apologies to the family of 22-year-old Grace Millane, after “the young woman’s sudden disappearance morphed into a murder investigation that has gripped this island nation of…
Why Are Whales Stranding in New Zealand?
While whale strandings are not uncommon, they usually involve just a single animal rather than a whole group. The recent flurry of mass strandings on New Zealand beaches has brought…
Filmmaking Pioneer Geoff Murphy Shaped NZ’s National Identity
New Zealand filmmaker Geoff Murphy has died aged 80. He was largely credited with helping to shape the country’s national identity with films like Goodbye Pork Pie, Utu and The Quiet Earth. “Geoff Murphy will…
Jacinda Ardern Launches New “Green Fund”
“New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced a new NZ$100 million green investment fund on Wednesday, aimed at boosting private-sector participation in a campaign to achieve zero net carbon emissions by 2050,” writes Charlotte…
