Category Archives: New Zealand

Parents who refused ‘vaccinated blood’ transfusion speak out after court places Baby W in care

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New Zealand parents say they will focus on supporting their son, now in the guardianship of his doctors, through life-saving operation

The family of a baby who has been placed in his doctors’ care because his parents refused to consent to a transfusion of “vaccinated blood” in a life-saving operation have said they will prioritise time with their son before the surgery.

The parents’ lawyer, Sue Grey, said in a Facebook post on Thursday morning that the family would be prioritising “a peaceful time with their baby until the operation, and to support him through the operation”.

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Health officials gain guardianship of baby whose parents refused ‘vaccinated blood’ transfusion

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New Zealand high court case has become a focus of protests from anti-vaxxers

A New Zealand high court judge has ruled in favour of health authorities who sought guardianship of a baby boy after his parents refused to consent to a transfusion of “vaccinated blood” in a life-saving operation.

The landmark decision, delivered on Thursday, is expected to have wide-ranging ramifications and has become a focus of protests for anti-vaxxers who held demonstrations outside the courtroom.

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Parents refuse use of vaccinated blood in life-saving surgery on baby

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New Zealand’s health services go to court over guardianship of four-month-old boy whose parents have not let heart operation go ahead

New Zealand’s health service has made a court application over the guardianship of a four-month-old baby whose parents are refusing to allow his life-saving heart surgery to go ahead unless non-vaccinated blood is used.

The parents of the baby discussed their son’s health situation and their medical preferences in an interview with an anti-vaccination campaigner.

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Jacinda Ardern and Sanna Marin dismiss suggestion their age and gender was reason for meeting

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Finland’s PM says she met Ardern in New Zealand because they are both ‘prime ministers’ after journalist asks whether it was due to similar age and gender

The prime ministers of Finland and New Zealand have taken a swipe at suggestions their first face-to-face meeting in New Zealand happened because they are both young female leaders.

“We’re meeting because we are prime ministers,” Finland’s Sanna Marin said at a joint press conference at Auckland’s Government House on Wednesday morning, after a journalist suggested some people may have thought they were meeting because they share a similar demographic.

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New Zealand ‘suitcase’ murders: South Korea hands over 42-year-old suspect

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Seoul says unidentified woman was transferred to New Zealand authorities on Monday evening

South Korea has extradited a 42-year-old murder suspect to New Zealand, two months after she was arrested over her possible connection to the discovery of the bodies of two long-dead children in abandoned suitcases in August.

South Korea’s justice ministry said on Tuesday the unidentified woman was handed over to New Zealand authorities on Monday evening at Incheon international airport near Seoul. The ministry said it also has provided New Zealand with unspecified “important evidence” on the case.

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The littlest rat catchers: New Zealand schoolchildren trap and kill 600 pests in 100 days

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As part of an attempt to rid Stewart Island of the rodents, children as young as five have taken part in a rat catching competition, with remarkable results

In a tiny school on the southern-most tip of New Zealand, the children are lining up their kill.

Big brown rats with long tails, their stomachs caked in blood. Smaller rats, stiff from the refrigerator, tails in a tangle.

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First refugees from Nauru to be resettled in New Zealand arrive nine years after deal offered

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Six men who had been held in Australia’s offshore processing facilities for more than eight years arrive in Auckland

The first six refugees to be resettled in New Zealand from Australia’s offshore processing regime on Nauru have landed in Auckland.

The flight follows a resettlement deal first offered by New Zealand nine years – and three prime ministers – ago when it proposed taking 150 refugees from Australia’s offshore centres every year.

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Jacinda Ardern raises Taiwan with Xi Jinping at Apec meeting

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New Zealand government statement says PM also asked president of China to help address North Korea tensions and Ukraine crisis

Jacinda Ardern has spoken with Xi Jinping about cooperation between New Zealand and China, while also raising areas of tension and warning that international norms that had benefited the two countries were “being tested”.

The New Zealand prime minister and the Chinese president met for about 50 minutes – running over the scheduled half hour – on the sidelines of the Apec summit in Bangkok. It was their first in-person meeting since 2019.

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Ardern says she must be able to raise concerns in Xi Jinping meeting without ‘retaliatory acts’

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Ahead of first meeting with China’s president in three years, New Zealand PM calls for environment where differences can be discussed

Jacinda Ardern has said she must be able to raise concerns with Beijing without prompting “retaliatory acts”, on the eve of her planned meeting with the Chinese president, Xi Jinping.

The pair’s first in-person bilateral meeting since 2019 is due to take place on Friday evening on the sidelines of the Apec forum. It comes during a strained time in New Zealand-China relations, where ideological differences – and New Zealand’s economic reliance on China as an export market – have continued to grow.

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New Zealand smoking rates fall to lowest on record, but vaping on the rise

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Overall smoking rate falls to 8% as country pursues goal of becoming smoke-free by 2025, but many may be switching to vaping instead

The number of people smoking in New Zealand has fallen to a historic low, as the country pushes forward with ambitious plans to wipe out smoking in a generation.

Data released on Thursday showed the number of people smoking daily had fallen to 8%, the lowest rates since records began, and down from 9.4% last year.

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New Zealand ‘suitcase’ murders: suspect to be extradited from South Korea within 30 days

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Justice minister approves extradition of woman arrested on suspicion of the murder of two children whose bodies were found in suitcases in Auckland

A woman arrested in connection with the death of two children who were found dead in suitcases in Auckland will be extradited from South Korea within 30 days.

South Korean justice minister Han Dong-hoon issued the order on Monday for the extradition of the woman to New Zealand, the ministry said in a statement.

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Serious concerns raised in NZ about environmental impact of major productions including Amazon’s Rings of Power

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In response to workers’ claims of high emissions and waste, Amazon says it complied with all laws and ‘either met or exceeded industry standards’

Picture three scenes: in a sheltered clearing, a stand of trees stretches skyward, trunks pale against the dark soil, leaves dappling the ground like golden dollar coins. In another, a maelstrom of white flakes is carried in eddies by the wind. In a third, sheer cliffs are slick with snow, icicles hanging like shards of glass.

Scenes like these have formed the visual signature for onscreen adaptations of the Lord of the Rings, including Amazon’s latest, monster-budget offering, The Rings of Power. That association has helped form the bedrock of a decade of New Zealand tourism campaigns, showcasing the country’s pristine environments to the world.

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Jacinda Ardern rallies party faithful as Labour faces difficult re-election path

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New Zealand PM tells party conference ‘we are not done yet’ as poll shows Labour’s support at 5-year low ahead of elections in 2023

In the darkened amphitheatre of a south Auckland conference centre, a youth choir swayed, as crowds waited for the prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, to take the stage. “Give me one more chance,” they sang, in a medley featuring the Jackson 5’s I Want You Back. “Won’t you please let me back in your heart.”

It was an apt-enough score for the annual Labour conference, with the party facing a steep uphill road to persuade New Zealanders to return them to office for another three years. “We are not done yet,” Ardern told the party faithful, as delegates sought to map a pathway to election victory in an increasingly sour economic and political landscape. Three days of speeches and discussions built a picture of a party girding itself for a bitterly fought campaign: speeches were laced with jabs at centre-right opposition leader Christopher Luxon, warnings of the prospect of gains rolled back under a National government, and encouragement to stay the course under fire.

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New Zealand authorities apologise for encouraging parents to ‘tax’ Halloween sweets

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Inland Revenue Department faced criticism online after tweeting a tax on ‘treat hauls’ could teach kids responsibility

New Zealand’s tax department has apologised for encouraging parents to hit their children’s Halloween candy stash with a “lolly tax” of up to 33%.

The Inland Revenue Department [IRD] came under fire on Sunday after tweeting from its official account that “parenting trends like a lolly tax teach kids responsibility by taking some of their lollies and taxing their trick or treat haul.”

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New Zealand influencers detained in Iran ‘extremely relieved’ to be home

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NZ government facing accusations that its response to Iran protests has been muted in order to secure release of pair

Two New Zealand influencers who were detained for nearly four months in Iran have said they are “extremely relieved” to be out of the country and back with family.

Christopher “Topher” Richwhite and Bridget Thackwray were on a trip they called Expedition Earth; driving a Jeep through 70 countries to “promote environmental issues” and documenting their travels on Instagram. They disappeared in early July, shortly after they were questioned by authorities upon entering Iran. The pair are understood to have been kept in the country by security forces.

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New Zealand couple detained in Iran for months leave the country

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Influencers Christopher Richwhite and Bridget Thackwray had disappeared after entering Iran in July and had been prevented from leaving

Two New Zealand social media influencers who were detained in Iran for almost four months have been released and have now left the country.

Social media influencers Christopher “Topher” Richwhite and Bridget Thackwray were undertaking a trip called Expedition Earth in which they aimed to travel across 90 countries in a Jeep. The two recorded their travels with near-daily vlogs and Instagram posts, and documented their border crossing into Iran from Turkey in early July.

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New Zealand Uber drivers win landmark case declaring them employees

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Uber said it would appeal against the decision, which judge said ‘may well’ affect other drivers’ status and entitle them to workers’ rights and protections

A group of New Zealand Uber drivers have won a landmark case against the global ridesharing company, forcing it to treat them as employees, not contractors, and entitling them to a suite of worker rights and protections.

New Zealand’s employment court ruled on Tuesday that the drivers were employees, not independent contractors. While the ruling applies specifically to the case of four drivers, the court noted that it may have wider implications for drivers across the country.

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Big opportunity, little interest: New Zealand struggles to fill dream job protecting wildlife

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The Department of Conservation is looking for a biodiversity supervisor on the wild, remote coast of the South Island, a Unesco world heritage site

A NZ$90,000 salary, a helicopter commute, and a Unesco world heritage site as your playground. It sounds like a dream job. But despite the considerable perks, New Zealand’s Department of Conservation has been struggling to attract candidates to be their new biodiversity supervisor in Haast on the wild, remote coast of the South Island. Now, the search is going global.

The job is based in Te Wāhipounamu – an area encompassing 26,000 square kilometres of mountain ranges, isolated beaches and native forests, classed as a Unesco World Heritage Area in 1990. Its mountain ranges formed the backdrop for the White Mountains/Ered Nimrais in Peter Jackson’s adaption of the Lord of the Rings.

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Conviction overturned for man who sent death threats to Jacinda Ardern

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Michael Cruickshank argued he was so drunk he could not remember sending the threats to New Zealand’s prime minister

A man sent to prison for sending death threats to New Zealand’s prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, has had his conviction overturned.

Michael Cruickshank was sentenced to 12 months in prison in March, for a series of emails in which he made violent threats against Ardern. He argued that he was so drunk he could not remember sending the threats, had no intention of seeing them through, and didn’t intend the recipients to take them seriously. On Wednesday, the court of appeal judged that there had been a miscarriage of justice in the case.

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New Zealand MP says Rocket Lab launches could betray country’s anti-nuclear stance

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The commercial space company rejects criticism of satellite launches for the US military

A New Zealand commercial space company, Rocket Lab, has faced new opposition to its activities on behalf of foreign militaries, with one New Zealand Green MP saying its actions could fly in the face of the country’s anti-nuclear stance.

The American-New Zealand company, founded by Peter Beck in 2006, provides rockets to deliver payloads into orbit from its launch site on the Māhia Peninsula, in New Zealand’s north. A third of Rocket Lab’s activities have been on behalf of defence and national security agencies. These include launching US and Australian spy satellites, the controversial “Gunsmoke J” satellite, and most recently Nasa’s capstone spacecraft.

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