New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern has formally apologised to Pacific Island people who were targeted for deportation in aggressive home raids in the mid-1970s. Ardern attended a ceremony at the Auckland town hall during which she made the apology on behalf of the nation for the racially charged 'dawn raids', which targeted Pasifika people for deportation. ‘The government expresses its sorrow, remorse, and regret that the dawn raids and random police checks occurred and that these actions were ever considered appropriate,’ Ardern said.
Continue reading...Category Archives: New Zealand
Jacinda Ardern apologises for New Zealand ‘dawn raids’ on Pasifika people in 1970s
The raids on Pasifika migrants and their subsequent deportations separated families and devastated communities
New Zealand’s prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, has issued a formal apology for historic racist policing of Pacific people and offered scholarships to Pacific students.
Hundreds of people packed Auckland town hall on Sunday to hear the apology for the “dawn raids” of the 1970s during which authorities hunted for visa overstayers.
Continue reading...‘No place in modern New Zealand’: government signals conversion practices ban
Proposed legislation would make it an offence to perform conversion practices on anyone aged under 18
New Zealand has introduced legislation to ban conversion practices, saying the practice is harmful and has “no place in modern New Zealand”.
Conversion therapy refers to the practice, often by religious groups, of trying to “cure” people of their sexuality, gender expression, or LGBTQI identity.
Continue reading...New Zealand rated best place to survive global societal collapse
Study citing ‘perilous state’ of industrial civilisation ranks temperate islands top for resilience
New Zealand, Iceland, the UK, Tasmania and Ireland are the places best suited to survive a global collapse of society, according to a study.
The researchers said human civilisation was “in a perilous state” due to the highly interconnected and energy-intensive society that had developed and the environmental damage this had caused.
Continue reading...Greenpeace criticises New Zealand Rugby deal with petrochemical company Ineos
Ineos has been accused of using sports to ‘greenwash’ its reputation
New Zealand Rugby’s decision to sign a six-year deal with global petrochemical company Ineos has been criticised by Greenpeace, who said it fundamentally goes against the country’s “clean, green” values.
NZ Rugby announced the company will become the official performance partner for its seven teams from 2022. Ineos is a UK oil, gas and petrochemical conglomerate – the third largest company of its kind in the world. Its main shareholder is billionaire Jim Ratcliffe, and the company has lobbied to weaken green taxes and reduce restrictions on fracking.
Continue reading...New Zealand pandemic policies pushed 18,000 children into poverty, study shows
Report says 10% increase in child poverty hit Māori and Pasifika children hardest
An additional 18,000 New Zealand children were pushed into poverty in the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to new research, despite child welfare being one of prime minister Jacinda Ardern’s main concerns.
The Child Poverty Action Group – a group focused on eliminating poverty – put much of the increased poverty, inequity, homelessness and food insecurity down to government neglect as it created its policies during the pandemic.
Continue reading...New Zealand agrees to repatriate suspected Isis member who grew up in Australia
Jacinda Ardern said it was the ‘right step’ to allow return of woman and her children from Turkey
New Zealand has agreed that a suspected member of Islamic State who grew up in Australia can be repatriated from Turkey along with her two young children, a decision prime minister Jacinda Ardern said was “not taken lightly”.
The woman was a dual Australian-New Zealand citizen until Australia revoked her citizenship and refused to reverse the decision, prompting a furious response earlier this year from Ardern, who accused Australia of shirking its responsibilities.
Continue reading...Jacinda Ardern announces Australian travel bubble suspension as Covid outbreak worsens – video
New Zealand will suspend its quarantine-free travel bubble with Australia for two months, as the country grapples with a number of serious outbreaks of Covid-19. Travel with the states of New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia had already been paused but will now expand to the entire country. At a press briefing on Friday, the prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, said because of the Delta variant there was 'greater risk now … than when we opened the travel bubble'. While Ardern said she remained committed to the travel bubble, Ardern added 'Covid has changed and so must we'
- New Zealand shuts Australia travel bubble as Sydney’s Covid outbreak worsens
- Australia Covid live news update: NSW calls outbreak ‘national emergency’ after 136 new cases; 14 coronavirus cases in Victoria; NZ shuts travel bubble
Even as Ardern signals alignment with US, New Zealand still seeks to maintain distance | Pete McKenzie
As the prime minister treads the delicate path between China and the US we shouldn’t overstate the significance of her latest moves
New Zealand has long prided itself on having an “independent” foreign policy that charts a middle path between great powers. It’s an approach for which the prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, and her new foreign minister, Nanaia Mahuta, have voiced strong support. Over the past week, however, Ardern has moved towards a much closer alignment with America.
It’s the latest sign that for small countries caught amid great power competition, independence is increasingly difficult. It also raises the question: is this the end of New Zealand’s “independent” foreign policy, and if so, what comes next?
Continue reading...New Zealand farmers’ demands are unrealistic – but they are suffering and deserve support | Philip McKibbin
Our society is changing and farmers are dealing with the most difficult aspects of it
On Friday, tractors crawled through cities and towns across New Zealand, in a planned demonstration against environmental regulations. The “Howl of a Protest”, organised by the rural grassroots organisation Groundswell, involved thousands of people.
I live in central Auckland – the most urban of urban centres – and I sympathise with farmers. They are clearly in pain, and understandably so. The changes they are being forced to make will affect not only their businesses, but also their lifestyles and traditions.
Continue reading...No ‘return to normal’ expected in post-pandemic New Zealand – and locals say that’s fine
Polls show New Zealanders accept that life will be different in future and they still feel their country is headed in the right direction
As countries look for a post-pandemic pathway back to “normal”, New Zealand is making no promises – and its population seems startlingly happy with that.
Around the world, some governments are hitting full throttle with rhetoric about a “return to normal” and the freedoms of a pre-pandemic world. New Zealand’s approach has been cautious by contrast. The government has made no assurances of a return to normal anytime soon, announced no multi-step “pathway out”, and put forward no timeline for re-opening borders even to vaccinated travellers.
Continue reading...New Zealand farmers stage huge protest over environmental rules
Fears of growing urban/rural divide as workers take to tractors to protest against measures they say are unfair
Thousands of farmers have descended on dozens of towns and cities across New Zealand in their tractors in a nationwide protest against a swathe of new environmental regulations.
The Howl of a Protest event was tipped to be the largest of its kind for the rural sector, with motorcades expected in 51 towns and cities.
Continue reading...Ardern says ‘different countries are taking different choices’ on accepting Covid deaths – video
New Zealand has dismissed suggestions it should follow in Britain’s footsteps to “live with” Covid-19. Prime minister Jacinda Ardern responded the question of whether the country would accept deaths from Covid, saying: "Different countries are taking different choices." The response comes as the UK leader Boris Johnson announced plans to scrap regulations including on face masks and social distancing by 19 July, saying that Britain must "learn to live with” the virus".
Continue reading...Victims allegedly tortured by New Zealand psychiatrist fear time is running out for justice
Warning: graphic content Around 200 people told a royal commission they were abused by Dr Selwyn Leeks and others at Lake Alice psychiatric hospital in the 1970s, allegations Leeks has denied
A New Zealand royal commission set up to investigate abuse in care says the country’s health ministry is still receiving complaints about a psychiatrist and others who allegedly tortured and abused patients at a hospital in the 1970s.
Around 200 people have alleged they were abused as children by Dr Selywn Leeks in the adolescent wing of Lake Alice psychiatric hospital but police and medical authorities failed to curb his career or investigate sufficiently.
Continue reading...New Zealand experiences hottest June on record despite polar blast
Average temperatures for the month were 2C higher than normal, with 24 separate locations hitting their own records
New Zealand has experienced its hottest June since records began more than 110 years ago, according to official climate data.
Despite a polar blast that swept up the country last week, figures from the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research’s (NIWA) show the average temperature for June was 2C warmer than usual, with twenty-four locations around the country hitting their own record highs.
Continue reading...‘A real slog’: How one New Zealand media company is trying to make trust pay
Over the past year, one of New Zealand’s news giants ditched Facebook, pivoted to ‘trust’ and gave shares to employees. Can it survive?
The question of trust has dogged journalists for decades. “A kind of confidence man,” Janet Malcolm labels the journalist, in The Journalist and the Murderer, “preying on people’s vanity, ignorance, or loneliness, gaining their trust and betraying them”. That view seems to resonate with the public. Asked to rank their trusted professions, people rank journalism in the murky depths – beaten to the bottom only by politicians.
For reporters who prefer to see themselves as truth-tellers, holding power to account, or at least providing a useful public service, that rankles. For others, trust becomes a point of fascination – the missing piece in the puzzle of how to make digital news pay for itself.
Continue reading...‘Last one standing’: Delta variant poses threat to New Zealand’s Covid-free bubble
Can New Zealand escape the resurgences that have hit other ‘elimination success story’ countries?
Last week was a sharp reminder for Dr Siouxsie Wiles, one of New Zealand’s most prominent pandemic communicators, of how close the country’s recent brush with Covid was. A Sydney tourist, infected with the Delta variant of Covid-19 had visited more than a dozen busy Wellington cafes, museums and eateries over the course of a weekend. As contact tracers went to work, Wiles’s own phone pinged: she was a potential contact, having stayed, like the tourist, at the Rydges Hotel.
In Wiles’s case, it emerged she had checked in hours after the man had checked out. The rest of the city has also emerged unscathed so far: despite 2,600 contacts identified, no infections have been reported. But the experience brought home once again, Wiles says, what a careful tightrope New Zealand is walking.
Continue reading...New Zealand lawyers sue climate change body over alleged failure to meet targets
Lawyers say commission’s emissions budgets are inconsistent with aim of limiting global warming to 1.5C
Hundreds of top New Zealand lawyers are suing the Climate Change Commission for what they say are substantial errors in its advice to the government over reducing carbon emissions.
Lawyers for Climate Action is a group of more than 300 solicitors, barristers and academics seeking to ensure Aotearoa New Zealand meets its international climate obligations.
Continue reading...New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern implies opposition leader is a ‘Karen’ in parliament debate – video
New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern has told opposition leader Judith Collins changes to the country's hate speech laws won't prevent her from being called a Karen. The opposition leader referenced a tweet she was sent asking if calling "a middle-aged white woman a 'Karen’ now be a crime under Jacinda Ardern’s law?" Ardern responded, telling parliament: "That is absolutely incorrect and I apologise that means these laws will not protect the member from such a claim."
Continue reading...Jacinda Ardern suggests opposition leader Judith Collins is a ‘Karen’
Comments by New Zealand PM came during a parliamentary debate on the country’s new hate speech laws
New Zealand’s prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, has suggested her opposition party counterpart could be called a “Karen” during a fierce debate in parliament over laws governing hate speech.
Judith Collins, the leader of the opposition, has argued strongly against changes to the country’s hate speech laws, saying the new rules could mean “people feeling insulted being able to criminalise people who make them feel insulted.” After the 15 March mosque attacks by a white supremacist, the New Zealand government has proposed introducing much harsher penalties for those who incite or “normalise” discrimination or hatred.
Continue reading...