Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria police turned down request for escort for Fifa president, which is normally reserved for foreign heads of state
Fifa asked Australian police in multiple jurisdictions to provide escorts for president Gianni Infantino during his travel for the Women’s World Cup, but was turned down.
Infantino asked Queensland, Victoria and New South Wales police to provide him with escorts, the Guardian has confirmed.
Continue reading...About 375 New Zealanders a day have applied since new rules came into effect on 1 July giving them a faster pathway to citizenship
More than 15,000 New Zealanders have applied for Australian citizenship since the government opened a new route to citizenship last month, a rate of about 375 a day.
Of this group, about 500 have already passed a citizenship test and will become Australian citizens at ceremonies around the country soon.
Continue reading...Inaugural report shows Labour languishing on 29% of the vote while National records 34.5% as cost of living concerns dominate
A new political poll has put New Zealand’s centre-right opposition solidly ahead of the ruling Labour party in the lead up to October’s election, with the National and ACT parties recording the majority support needed to form a coalition government.
Labour languished on 29% of the vote in the Guardian Essential poll New Zealand, which polled more than 1,100 eligible voters, with National recording 34.5%. ACT received 11.6% of the vote. Respondents unsure about how they would vote – 6.1% of those surveyed – were included in the final result.
This poll was conducted by Essential Research and has a sample size of 1,163, using quotas set to be representative of the target population by age, gender and location. Respondents not eligible or not intending to vote are excluded from voting intention questions. Weighting is applied to the data using factors of age, gender, location and enrolment status, from Statistics New Zealand and New Zealand Electoral Commission data. The poll was conducted through online panels between 2-6 August 2023, has a maximum margin of error of +/- 2.9%, a weighting efficiency of 97%, and 6.1% were unsure on the party vote question. Unsure voters remain in the final result, but were removed for the purpose of calculating seats in Parliament. The full results are available at the Essential Report New Zealand.
Continue reading...Second victim in a stable condition after shots were fired when fight broke out in city centre
One of two people who were shot in downtown Auckland on Thursday night has died in hospital, police have confirmed.
Police were called after receiving reports of a fight between a group of people at about 11.30pm on Thursday on lower Queen Street, in Auckland’s city centre.
Continue reading...Defence minister launches first security strategy warning New Zealand faces greatest geostrategic challenges in decades
New Zealand needs to spend more on its military and strengthen ties with countries in the Indo-Pacific to help meet the challenges of great power rivalry and climate change, the government said amid an ongoing defence review.
Launching the country’s first ever national security strategy, defence minister Andrew Little said New Zealand faced more geostrategic challenges than it had in decades.
Continue reading...New Zealand police say shooter had history of family violence, adding there is no reason World Cup opening match shouldn’t go ahead
Two people have been killed and six injured after a shooting in Auckland city centre on Thursday morning, hours before the Women’s World Cup kicked off there.
New Zealand prime minister Chris Hipkins said the gunman was also dead and that there was no national security risk or rise in the national threat level. Visiting the scene on Thursday afternoon, he confirmed that that the World Cup would proceed as planned and that people should feel safe to attend the matches. He described the shooting as a “standalone incident”, but fans would see an enhanced police presences in and around sports venues.
Continue reading...This blog is now closed. You can read our full story on the shooting in Auckland at the link below:
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has cancelled a trip to the city of Hamilton, about 120 kilometres (75 miles) south of Auckland, and is on his way back to the national capital Wellington, media reports said.
He is speaking now.
Continue reading...Chris Hipkins says Beijing exerting influence is ‘major driver’ of increasing competition in the Indo-Pacific
New Zealand prime minister Chris Hipkins has said that the Pacific region is becoming “more contested, less predictable, and less secure” as China becomes more assertive.
Hipkins said it was important that New Zealand continues to engage with China to listen and to build dialogue.
Continue reading...Statement comes after US, Australia and New Zealand expressed concerns about new agreement with Beijing
Solomon Islands has said that its policing pact with China poses no “threat” to the Pacific, rebuking western powers that raised fears the deal could inflame regional tensions.
Prime minister Manasseh Sogavare inked a raft of deals during a trip to China this week, including an agreement allowing Beijing to extend its police presence in the developing Pacific nation until 2025.
Continue reading...US couple gives evidence to New Zealand court in case against island’s owners and tourism operators
An American couple who were badly burned when Whakaari/White Island erupted in December 2019, killing 22 of the 47 people in its crater, told a New Zealand court that neither their guides nor anyone else involved in their trip to the crater told them that such an event was likely – or even possible. Information about the dangers they faced on the island volcano was minimal, they said, and safety protections lax.
Evidence from Matthew Urey, 40, and Lauren Urey, 36, opened the prosecution’s case in the Auckland district court on Wednesday, beginning a lengthy trial for the island’s owners and other tourism companies involved in the ill-fated trip.
Continue reading...Nature series Our Big Blue Backyard drew one complaint to media watchdog that it should not have given the program a G, or general, classification
New Zealand’s media watchdog has reprimanded public broadcaster TVNZ for not giving a higher classification to a documentary with “dramatised” scenes of dolphin mating.
The nature series Our Big Blue Backyard drew the ire of one viewer who successfully complained to the Broadcasting Standards Authority (BSA). In the offending scene, a female dolphin is targeted by a pack of male dolphins that mate with her.
Continue reading...Amid rising global tensions, Chinese leader tells PM, Chris Hipkins, his visit to Beijing is meaningful
Xi Jinping has praised the “great importance” of China’s relationship with its “friend and partner” New Zealand, as Chris Hipkins visits Beijing to promote trade amid growing geopolitical tensions.
Speaking after the two leaders met in the Chinese capital on Tuesday evening, Xi told reporters through an interpreter: “I myself [am] attaching great importance to our relations with New Zealand,” and “China always views New Zealand as a friend and a partner”.
Continue reading...Reserve aircraft flew to Manila amid reliability concerns after ex-leaders Ardern and Key suffered breakdowns
The New Zealand defence force plane ferrying the country’s prime minister to China this week has been judged so unreliable that a backup plane flew in reserve, prompting criticism of Chris Hipkins by the opposition.
The use of a backup plane follows previous mishaps involving aircraft carrying New Zealand leaders.
Continue reading...Jury finds Louis De Zoysa shot Matt Ratana in Croydon with revolver he probably hid under armpit
A man has been found guilty of murdering a police custody sergeant with a gun he had smuggled into a cell.
A jury at Northampton crown court convicted Louis De Zoysa, 25, of murdering Sgt Matt Ratana, 54, with a gunshot to the chest at a custody block in Croydon, south London, in September 2020.
Continue reading...Chris Hipkins, who is about to meet the Chinese president on a trip to Beijing for the first time, said China’s system of government is ‘a matter for them’
New Zealand prime minister Chris Hipkins has disagreed with US President Joe Biden’s remark that Xi Jinping is a “dictator”, as he prepares to meet the Chinese leader on an official trade trip to China.
“No, and the form of government that China has is a matter for the Chinese people,” Hipkins told reporters when asked about Biden’s description. Asked whether the Chinese people had a say in the form their government took, he said: “if they wanted to change their system of government, then that would be a matter for them.”
Continue reading...Survey comes as government rhetoric on immigrants gets increasingly toxic, adopting far-right slogans
Britons have among the most positive attitudes towards refugees in the world, a new global poll has found, despite increased hostility from the UK government to asylum seekers.
An international survey of almost 22,000 adults across 29 countries found British people had the third-most enthusiastic outlook towards refugees, just behind Spain and New Zealand.
Continue reading...Public notice issued to watch out for the flippered creatures as they start to leave their breeding colonies and venture out into New Zealand
Sunbathing on roads, breaking through catflaps, visiting film sets, invading homes and taking in the heat of backyard spa bath covers – New Zealand’s “seal silly season” has officially begun and the country is bracing for an influx of adolescent marine mammals exploring the country’s highways, patios and golf courses.
This week, the government issued a formal public notice that “seal season” had begun – and New Zealanders could expect to encounter higher numbers of the flippered young creatures out and about, exploring human-dominated spaces. From May until December, adult males and freshly weaned pups from New Zealand’s growing fur seal population will leave their breeding colonies and head out into the wider world – many for the first time. They’re young, inexperienced and prone to adolescent misbehaviour and mishaps, hitting the wider world en masse like a cohort of fresh-minted spring breakers.
Continue reading...Rosemary Penwarden said her letter telling oil executives a petroleum conference was off was satirical protest but was found guilty of forgery offences
A New Zealand climate activist who wrote to oil executives posing as a fossil fuel conference organiser and telling them their gathering was cancelled has been found guilty of forgery, and could face up to a decade in prison.
Rosemary Penwarden, 64, who sent the letter to an oil company’s delegates argued it was a form of “satirical protest”, and said she was astonished by the outcome.
Continue reading...At least four wire articles published by national broadcaster had been edited to add pro-Kremlin phrasing
New Zealand’s national radio broadcaster is conducting an internal investigation after evidence emerged that an employee had edited wire reporting on the Ukraine war to add Russia-friendly phrasing.
The state-funded RNZ, or Radio New Zealand, published at least four articles attributed to the Reuters wire service that had been edited to add pro-Kremlin phrasing.
Continue reading...Ardern, who said she felt conflicted about the honour, was recognised for her service to the country during the pandemic and Christchurch terror attacks
New Zealand has awarded Jacinda Ardern one of the country’s highest honours, making the former prime minister a dame for her service to the country during the Covid-19 pandemic and Christchurch terror attacks.
Ardern accepted the honour but said she had felt conflicted about doing so. “I was in two minds about accepting this acknowledgment. So many of the things we went through as a nation over the last five years were about all of us rather than one individual,” she said.
Continue reading...