Marae embody deep connections to the land and are a statement of indigeneity – but Māori aren’t indigenous in Australia
When most New Zealanders hear the term “marae” they think of the typical Māori meeting house.
The angular facade, decorated in red and white carvings, and the open space for the “encounter” where guests arrive in the warmth of welcome, in the grief of a tangi (funeral), or in the uncertainty of a disagreement.
Continue reading...A new documentary explores a common experience of many immigrant children – working at the family’s takeway shop
“The customers teach me about life. Working teaches me about life. Basically, everything here at the restaurant is life,” says Rama Bani Khalid, a charismatic, curly-haired 12-year-old. Rama is a takeout kid: one of many New Zealand children who work in the country’s innumerable takeaway and fast food joints. There, she mans the phones and till, hustles for tips and tops up the water bottles.
“I’m a waiter and I help out a lot,” says Rama, who spends much of her days in her family’s Jordanian restaurant, Petra Shawarma, in Auckland. “I think I know pretty much everyone on the street.”
Continue reading...Disagreement is a sign of healthy democratic debate not of dysfunction – and hard-core conspiracists remain marginal
The occupation of New Zealand’s parliament was fractured from the outset: fascists vied for control with controversial pastors, conspiracy theorists and more moderate anti-mandate protesters. And even as the occupation violently collapsed with rioters lobbing cobblestones at police, the divisions remained. Some shouted “burn it down”, while others tried to restrain them.
As New Zealand reacts to some of its darkest days in recent memory, these internal rivalries are, obscurely, a hopeful sign – a reminder there was far more division inside the protest than between the protesters and the wider nation.
Continue reading...Were the protesters motivated by valid concerns, radicalisation or was this simply the fist-shaking of a fringe minority?
The protest outside parliament in Wellington has prompted fears of a mass radicalisation of militant actors prepared to use violence to achieve their aims. Although people may dismiss the idea that it could cause real damage to society in New Zealand, where support for the government’s pandemic response is still high, anger has spilt over into explicit hate messaging and actions, both online and in real-life.
Now that the protesters have been dispersed, we need to examine what was behind their loose coalition of grievances: was it the transitory fist-shaking of a fringe minority, a valid concern, or actual radicalisation? If so, what can we do about it? The answer is complex and incomplete, but there are some clues about what caused this impasse and what can be done.
Continue reading...Some reunions were also tempered by grief, as for many New Zealanders the reopening came too late
Tears, hugs, laughter and the shouts of children echoed through the arrivals halls of New Zealand, as the country opened its borders and lifted isolation requirements.
“I’ve been waiting six months for this moment,” says Steve, 72, who was waiting for his fiancee, Karin, to arrive from Australia. “I’m over the moon,” he said. “I feel a bit shaky.”
Continue reading...Fires burned during violent clashes between protesters and police at an anti-vaccine mandate demonstration in the grounds of New Zealand’s parliament, in extraordinary and chaotic scenes rarely seen in the country
Continue reading...Clashes erupt between police in riot-gear and protesters as Māori leaders denounce violence at demonstrations that have run for weeks
Fires burned across parliament grounds, and violent clashes broke out between protesters and police at an anti-vaccine mandate demonstration on New Zealand’s parliament grounds, in extraordinary and chaotic scenes rarely seen in the country.
After nearly four weeks of impasse between the protesters and police at parliament, hundreds of officers in riot gear stormed the occupation on Wednesday morning, and by the afternoon had gained significant ground, tearing down tents, towing vehicles and making 38 arrests. The police said protesters used fire extinguishers, paint-filled projectiles, homemade plywood shields and pitchforks as weapons and a cord was set up as a trip wire.
Continue reading...Government claims it will boost bilateral trade by 60% but critics call its benefits ‘economically marginal’
Britain and New Zealand have signed a free trade deal, which the UK government said would boost bilateral trade by 60% by eliminating tariffs, cutting red tape and enabling freer movement of professional workers.
Most business leaders welcomed the deal, which was agreed in principle in October and follows on the heels of a similar agreement with Australia, but the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) said it would lead to unfair competition in their sector.
Continue reading...Change comes as NZ, virus-free for much of pandemic, records some of world’s highest transmission rates amid Omicron surge
New Zealand has ended its self-isolation requirements for vaccinated travellers arriving from Australia, as the country’s Covid transmission rates soar to among the highest in the world.
From Wednesday, vaccinated travellers will no longer need to self-isolate but will still be required to undergo a Covid-19 test on arrival and on day five or six, prime minister Jacinda Ardern announced on Monday.
Continue reading...Researchers say country’s successful Covid pandemic response and high-trust society is no inoculation against misinformation
New Zealand’s anti-vaccine convoy is hoping to be there for the long haul. Once a ragtag collective of tents, it has become a fully fledged encampment: it has free clothing tents, admin checkpoints, yellow-vested security guards, portable toilets, tents for charging phones, and a “blues lounge” where the band plays a light, jazzy reimagining of Pink Floyd’s Brick in the Wall. “We don’t need no vaccination, we don’t need no thought control,” a woman croons, tapping the bongos.
On the surface, the occupation of parliamentary grounds evokes a poorly planned but amiable music festival, but an undercurrent of violence – or its threat – throbs below. As well as chalked messages of peace and love, some protesters came bearing nooses, promises of a “war crimes trial” for politicians, journalists, and scientists, or outright demands to “hang them high”.
Continue reading...It’s appropriate to question restrictions, but those who want to lift them all immediately won’t be responsible for the consequences
If the protesters in front of New Zealand’s parliament have anything in common, it is a self-professed opposition to “Covid vaccination mandates”. These, they say, are an unacceptable burden on the individual rights of those who choose not to be vaccinated and so must be abolished immediately.
These protesters are correct about one thing. Although the various mandates, which mean around 40% of New Zealand’s workforce face losing their jobs if not vaccinated, are not strictly compulsory in the sense of making it an offence to not be jabbed, they do limit individual rights. Specifically, the right to refuse to undergo any medical treatment, as guaranteed by section 11 of the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990.
Continue reading...Incident comes a month after prime minister’s vehicle was chased and forced on to a curb by demonstrators
A group of shouting protesters have chased the New Zealand prime minister’s van down a driveway as she visited a Christchurch primary school, amid tensions over increasingly volatile anti-vaccine mandate protests.
Jacinda Ardern, who was visiting a primary school in Christchurch, was met by a crowd of people shouting “shame on you” and “traitor”. Some held signs saying that the prime minister would be “put on trial” and “held responsible”, and one man brandished a fabricated arrest warrant – references to conspiracy theories that a cohort of world leaders and powerful people are secretly using vaccines to commit a genocide, and would soon be put on trial and hanged for treason.
Continue reading...The inconvenient truth of the scarcity of ICU beds has been partially addressed by altering their definition
There is a meme from 2016 of a dog sitting in a room engulfed in fire proclaiming “THIS IS FINE”. It feels increasingly relevant to healthcare. As the flames of Covid rose around the world, the response from New Zealand continued to invoke international admiration. We could smell the smoke, but there was no fire. Within the healthcare sector, business – mostly – continued as usual.
We knew it would not always be this way. Overseas we witnessed patients and colleagues disappearing under successive waves of case numbers, hospitalisations, intensive care admissions and deaths. Many of us applauded our national response which stood in stark opposition to strategies chosen elsewhere.
Continue reading...Prime minister says now is not the time to ‘remove our armour just as the battle begins’ despite pressure from protesters
New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern has said Covid-19 restrictions, including mandates and vaccine passes, will begin to lift once the country gets “well beyond” the Omicron outbreak’s peak.
At a post-cabinet press conference on Monday, Ardern said case numbers were likely to peak in mid-to-late March, or three to six weeks away. Case numbers were expected to double every three to four days.
Continue reading...Ottawa police have abandoned their policy of de-escalation against anti-Covid mandate demonstrators
Today’s action to cordon off the occupation of parliament’s grounds and prevent it growing might go some way to restoring public confidence in the police, which has appeared to be eroding since the protests began a fortnight ago.
So far, police have pursued a de-escalation strategy, but there have been calls for firmer action. The whole event has raised important questions about the relationship between the police and government, and about police independence and accountability.
The police are an instrument of the crown […] but in the two principal roles of detecting and preventing crime and keeping the Queen’s peace they act independently of the crown and serve only the law.
Continue reading...Life can be tough for everyone and we never know what another person may be experiencing – take a breath to consider before you speak
We like predictability. We function best when we know what is going to happen. The irony here is that after all this uncertainty, predictability in this phase of the pandemic in New Zealand is increasing. As the Omicron wave gathers strength, we can most likely expect a version of what happened in other countries: a steep increase in case numbers, exerting pressure on the health and social care system.
New Zealand’s successful management of the primary health impacts of the pandemic may have contributed to a sense of “kiwi exceptionalism”. This may be responsible for the jolt we may feel when we realise that what has happened elsewhere might actually happen in New Zealand, when, for most of this pandemic, our experience has been very different.
Continue reading...From Castlepoint to the Mātakitaki river, New Zealanders are in awe of the natural world around them. As part of the my wild place series, Guardian readers pay tribute to a special place in nature
I’m not sure where Ōtepoti Dunedin’s Middle Beach ends and St Kilda begins but we park close to the muralled surf club, on the road that was closed for a month in 2021 so a mother sea lion and her pup could have safe passage from the golf course to the beach. We head right, away from the glitz, the groynes, the sand sausages, the coffee shop chic and the actual good surfers at St Clair beach.
Continue reading...At the start of the pandemic, New Zealand made headlines for appearing to eliminate homelessness, but the story is more complicated
Franki began living on Auckland’s streets at age 15, shortly after his father died in 2018. He hunted for secret spots to sleep – the backs of buildings and cemeteries. There were times when he was frightened; times when the older street community took him under their wings.
He slept rough through New Zealand’s first pandemic lockdown, wandering the quiet roads, struggling to find food. There were few housing options for a teenager – rentals would not accept him, nor many motels. In mid-2020, worried for his health, he walked through the doors of Lifewise, an organisation that supports people into accommodation.
Continue reading...Sound system on parliament grounds plays vaccine messages, Macarena and the crooner’s 1970s hits
New Zealand authorities have deployed Barry Manilow against protesters at its parliament, playing his greatest hits at hundreds camped out over coronavirus restrictions.
The protest began when a convoy of trucks and cars drove to parliament from across the country, inspired by protests in Canada. At first there were more than 1,000 protesters but that number dwindled as the week wore on before growing again on Saturday.
Continue reading...The blockade of Ottawa has sparked copycat action around the globe, and such disparate demonstrations of grievance may prove hard to shut down
It only took six dozen trucks, and a few hundred protesters to bring Canada’s capital to a standstill and close a critical border crossing with the US, throttling the car industry that straddles the line between both countries and relies on a constant flow of trade.
On Saturday, Canadian authorities finally began taking action to clear the Ambassador Bridge into the US, the busiest land crossing in North America, which had been blockaded by just over a dozen trucks and smaller vehicles, and a crowd a few hundred strong.
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