Category Archives: New Zealand

New Zealand National party reinstates MP after inquiry clears him of bullying

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Sam Uffindell had been stood down after allegations he had bullied a female housemate while at university

A New Zealand MP who has apologised for attacking a fellow student at high school has been reinstated to the opposition National party after an inquiry cleared him of bullying a female flatmate while at university.

Sam Uffindell had been suspended so the party could carry out an investigation into allegations of violence and intimidating behaviour at university, but on Monday he was reinstated to his former position, after the investigation found no evidence of bullying after high school.

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Woman arrested in South Korea over alleged murder of two children found in suitcases in New Zealand

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Police in Auckland request extradition of 42-year-old woman from Seoul to face two charges of murder

A 42-year-old woman has been arrested in Seoul for the alleged murder of two children whose bodies were discovered in suitcases bought at an auction in New Zealand.

South Korean authorities arrested the woman today on a Korean arrest warrant for two charges of murder.

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New Zealand MPs pay tribute to Queen mixed with sharp rebukes of colonial past

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While all lawmakers offered condolences to the royal family, several also discussed the monarchy’s fraught and complex history

As New Zealand’s parliament gathered to pay tribute to the Queen, honours and admiration were mixed with sharp criticism of a monarchy built on “stolen land, stolen resources, and stolen treasure”.

On Tuesday, parliament held a special debate to allow politicians of all parties to acknowledge the monarch’s death. While all offered condolences to the royal family for their loss, a number of MPs also discussed the monarchy’s fraught and complex history.

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New Zealand drops mask and vaccine mandates in sweeping Covid changes

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Jacinda Ardern says it is time to ‘turn the page’ on the pandemic as she scraps all but a handful of restrictions

Jacinda Ardern has declared it “time to safely turn the page” on New Zealand’s Covid-19 restrictions, scrapping all but a handful of remaining rules.

New Zealand, which once eliminated the virus through the toughest pandemic rules in the world, has made relaxations similar to Australian or European conditions.

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Jacinda Ardern expects New Zealand’s royal ties to ‘deepen’ under King Charles III

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New Zealand and Australia hold ceremonies to recognise new head of state and pay tribute to Queen Elizabeth II

Australia and New Zealand have held proclamation ceremonies for the new head of state King Charles III, with New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern saying she expected her country’s relationship with the royal family to “deepen”, and Australia declaring a one-off public holiday as a national day of mourning for Queen Elizabeth II.

New Zealand held its formal ceremony on parliament’s grounds, with the proceedings led by governer general Cindy Kiro and Ardern, beginning with the national anthem and a prayer in te reo Māori – the Indigenous language.

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King Charles’s ascension ignites debate over royals across Commonwealth

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Head of state role in doubt in realms from Jamaica to New Zealand after death of Queen Elizabeth II

King Charles’s ascension to the throne has reignited a debate over whether the royal family deserves a global role in the 21st century, no more so than in the 14 Commonwealth realms where the British monarch remains the head of state.

A legacy of empire and slavery that was entwined with British royalty for centuries has raised tough questions about the place of a foreign king, and republican movements from the Pacific to North America to the Caribbean will be assessing whether they should seize the moment.

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Condolences and condemnation: Indigenous people and people of colour react to the death of Queen Elizabeth II

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While some have offered unflinching takes on the damage of British colonisation, others say the monarch held ‘a special place’ in their hearts

The reaction to the death of the Queen among Indigenous people and people of colour, including those from Commonwealth nations, has been swift and, at times, unflinching.

For many the Queen was the personification of British colonisation and the damage it has wreaked in their countries – and they were not afraid to say so. Yet others expressed their condolences for the monarch who has long held “a special place” in their hearts.

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‘Constant and reassuring’: global media pay tribute after death of the Queen

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New York Times says Elizabeth II ‘projected stability’; Japan’s Asahi Shimbun says she ‘cared about post-war reconciliation’

Newspapers in the Commonwealth and beyond have led with the death of Queen Elizabeth II, with many paying tribute to her accomplishments during seven decades on the throne. Some speculated on how the monarchy might change under King Charles III.

The Washington Post’s Twitter account followed the sober format preferred by newspapers in the UK, its front page showing a black-and-white portrait of a smiling Queen against a black background.

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Snapchat removes Māori face tattoo filters after outcry in New Zealand

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The filters, which also appear on Instagram, had prompted questions over the treatment of sacred cultural artefacts on tech platforms

The social media company that owns Snapchat has removed filters that applied images of sacred Māori tattoos to users’ faces, after the discovery of the culturally offensive filters on social media apps provoked an outcry in New Zealand.

An investigation by Radio New Zealand revealed filters featuring tā moko tattoos have proliferated on social media apps such as Instagram and Snapchat.

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Rescue mission under way for two Australians stranded on damaged yacht in Tasman Sea

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The men, in their 70s, were travelling from New Zealand when severe weather caused the vessel to take on water near Lord Howe Island

Marine safety authorities have launched a rescue mission for two Australian men who have been stranded on a yacht in the Tasman Sea for almost 36 hours after severe weather caused the vessel to take on a large amount of water.

The pair, aged in their 70s, were travelling from New Zealand to Australia when they were hit by severe weather including 10m seas and high winds, near Lord Howe Island.

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New Zealand starts spring with surprise snow after warmest ever winter

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Antarctic blast closed highways and brought snow to Christchurch, Dunedin and even Wellington

New Zealand has begun spring with snow at sea level, with flurries falling in Christchurch, Dunedin and even Wellington.

The surprise dump comes after the country’s warmest and wettest winter on record, with snowfall closing state highways on both North and South Islands on Tuesday.

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New Zealand’s shadow foreign affairs spokesperson faces criticism for response to UN report on Uyghurs

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Gerry Brownlee says report on human rights violations in Xinjiang recognises China is ‘dealing with a terrorist problem’

New Zealand’s shadow foreign affairs spokesperson said a UN report on the human rights abuses of Uyghurs includes recognition that China is “dealing with a terrorist problem essentially”, in remarks criticised by China analysts.

“It’s good that it acknowledges that there has been a terrorism problem in the particular part of China that the report is on,” Gerry Brownlee, a lawmaker for the centre-right National party, told Radio New Zealand (RNZ) on Thursday in an interview about the UN findings.

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New Zealand minister wrapped up in Māori language chocolate bar row

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Anti-racism video by Marama Davidson featured chocolate labelled in te reo Māori, breaching rules against product promotion

A New Zealand minister has had to revise her anti-racism social media posts featuring a popular brand of chocolate, after the prime minister requested their removal because it breached cabinet rules about product promotion.

Green party MP Marama Davidson posted a video of herself to Instagram on Monday holding five blocks of Whittakers creamy milk chocolate, which have recently been rebranded with the Māori translation Miraka Kirīmi in honour of the upcoming Māori language week – te wiki o te reo Māori. She also posted photographs on Twitter and Facebook.

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New Zealand soldier who joined Ukraine foreign legion confirmed killed

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Tributes paid to Dominic Abelen, the first New Zealander to die in the conflict, who was on leave without pay from the defence force

A New Zealand soldier who was on leave without pay from his country’s army when he was killed in Ukraine has become the latest foreign fighter and first New Zealander to die in the war.

Friends of Cpl Dominic Abelen, 30, told the Guardian he had enlisted with Ukraine’s international legion, joining thousands of soldiers who have travelled to the conflict from around the world in the months since Ukraine’s government called for volunteers.

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New Zealand Labour expels MP Gaurav Sharma from caucus

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PM Jacinda Ardern said caucus voted to expel Sharma over ‘repeated and calculated’ breaches of its rules

Jacinda Ardern and her Labour colleagues have expelled MP Gaurav Sharma from caucus, the first time in more than a decade that the party has taken such action.

The expulsion of Sharma, who was elected as the member for Hamilton West in 2020, came after nearly two weeks of the MP making public allegations of bullying and misconduct against his own party.

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New Zealand’s flood-prone areas not ready to cope with climate crisis, Ardern says

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Touring flood-hit region of Nelson, prime minister says country must do ‘all we can’ to deal with damaging events triggered by a warming climate

New Zealand’s flood- and slip-prone regions do not have the mechanisms in place to cope with rapid environmental changes brought about by the climate crisis, Jacinda Ardern has said after visiting the aftermath of a monster storm.

The prime minister was touring the site of devastating flooding and landslips around Nelson, at the top of the South Island, when she was asked if she was satisfied that New Zealand had the framework and investment to cope with weather events that are becoming more frequent.

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New Zealand floods could take years to clean up, with 1,200 people displaced

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A fourth straight day of rain brought by an ‘atmospheric river’ has damaged roads and homes and forced more than 400 households to evacuate

Torrential downpours that have battered New Zealand for four days straight have caused floods that could take years to clean up and displaced at least 1,200 people from their homes in the top of the South Island.

Friday’s rain comes on top of weeks of wet weather and is worsening conditions in New Zealand’s already sodden landscape. Experts have attributed the unseasonably wet weather to a narrow stream of water vapour, or “atmospheric river”, sitting above the country.

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Billionaire Peter Thiel refused consent for sprawling lodge in New Zealand

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Local council decides proposed bunker-like home would negatively impact surrounding landscape

The billionaire Peter Thiel’s plans for an elaborate bunker-like lodge in a remote part of New Zealand’s South Island have been thwarted, after the local council decided the home would have too great a negative impact on the surrounding landscape.

Second Star, a New Zealand company owned by the PayPal co-founder, had applied to build the sprawling lakeside complex in Wanaka, an alpine South Island region known for its natural beauty and isolation. The plans were fiercely opposed by conservationists, who claimed in submissions that the lodge would “destroy our beautiful lake environment”.

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New Zealand firefighters to hold first ever strike over staffing and equipment ‘crisis’

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Professional firefighters will walk off the job for an hour in culmination of 13-month dispute over pay and conditions

Nearly 2,000 professional firefighters will walk off the job for the first time in New Zealand’s history, citing a “crisis” within the sector and ongoing problems with poor pay, understaffing and unreliable fire equipment.

Members of the New Zealand Professional Firefighters Union have voted to strike for an hour on Friday morning in a complete work stoppage, after talks with employer Fire and Emergency (Fenz) broke down last week.

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New Zealand Labour MP suspended for breaching ‘sense of trust’, says Ardern

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Suspension of Gaurav Sharma for party rule breaches comes after he made allegations of bullying within the party

New Zealand’s Labour party has suspended MP Gaurav Sharma over what the prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, said were “repeated breaches” of caucus rules in the past week.

Ardern had called an emergency caucus meeting on Tuesday afternoon, where it was unanimously agreed to suspend Sharma, who has recently made widespread allegations that he and others had experienced bullying within the party.

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