Category Archives: New Zealand

First TV debate between Ardern and Collins avoids being a horror show

Posted on by

Spooky opening gives way to a leaders’ showdown with little drama and lacking in spark

There was high drama at the first televised debate last night between New Zealand’s prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, and the leader of the oppositionNational party, Judith Collins, when host John Campbell crept out of the darkness and onto the studio floor in the spooky opening seconds. His eyes were bulging. He clutched some kind of weapon in his hands. Campbell has always had an excitable, untamed spirit, and his menacing entrance made him look like Michael Myers from Halloween except in a grey check suit.

And that was it for the high drama. After the curious stage direction, Campbell gave a warm welcome to Ardern and Collins, and revealed that he was holding nothing more sinister than a brand new clipboard. The next 90 minutes were all downhill.

Continue reading...

‘Bring it on’: New Zealand tourist hotspots bank on holidays to ease Covid pressures

Posted on by

Regional mayors hope the easing of restrictions means boom time for domestic tourism

Covid-19 restrictions have been dropped and school’s almost out for a fortnight – to the delight of mayors in New Zealand’s tourism hotspots, where there are hopes the holidays will boost coffers in the struggling tourism sector.

“Bring it on, bring it on,” said David Trewavas, the mayor of Taupō district – an area in the central North Island that is home to some of the country’s most famed skiing and hiking. “You can even have a mass gathering down here.”

Continue reading...

Global preparation: how different countries planned for the second wave of Covid-19

Posted on by

Lockdowns brought temporary relief to some but, everywhere, test and trace is key

The first wave of coronavirus swept through a world unprepared. Authorities struggled to test for the disease, and didn’t know how to slow the spread of Covid-19.

Lockdowns brought the virus under temporary control in some places, including the UK, buying a window for the revival of education and the economy, and time to prepare for future waves that epidemiologists said were almost inevitable.

Continue reading...

New Zealanders want small parties at the political table, but the system is stacked against them | Claire Robinson

Posted on by

In an election that sorely needs alternative voices, small parties face an impossibly steep climb to be seen or heard

If you are a follower of New Zealand politics, you’d be forgiven for thinking that the 2020 general election is fundamentally a contest between New Zealand’s two major parties, Labour and National. This is the 28th election they have been in the main ring together, and every government formed since 1935 has been led by one of them.

Outside these two, there are 16 other political parties registered with the New Zealand Electoral Commission. Most, though not all, will be standing candidates and/or a list in this year’s MMP (Mixed Member Proportional) election. The three “minor” parties will also context the vote – the Greens, New Zealand First and ACT – and those which have been in parliament before, like the Māori Party. But even in New Zealand, most voters would be hard pressed to name many, if any, of those remaining.

Continue reading...

Southern hemisphere has record low flu cases amid Covid lockdowns

Posted on by

Data offers hope as winter looms in north and raises viability of eliminating future flu pandemics

Health systems across the southern hemisphere were bracing a few months ago for their annual surge in influenza cases, which alongside Covid-19 could have overwhelmed hospitals. They never came.

Many countries in the southern half of the globe have instead experienced either record low levels of flu or none at all, public health specialists in Australia, New Zealand and South America have said, sparing potentially tens of thousands of lives and offering a glimmer of hope as winter approaches in the northern hemisphere.

Continue reading...

Covid sees classroom experience slashed for 1,000 New Zealand student teachers

Posted on by

Teaching council says student teachers are not able to complete the requisite number of practical hours because of this year’s lockdowns

More than a thousand student teachers in New Zealand will graduate this year without having completed their classroom practice requirements amid the disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

The Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand said Covid-19 had forced it to think creatively, because many student teachers had been unable to complete the required number of practical hours due to seven weeks of lockdown; and more in Auckland.

Continue reading...

I have lost much of my childhood fluency in te reo Māori – we must fight for its survival | Leigh-Marama McLachlan

Posted on by

New Zealand’s national language week will have little or no impact on most Kiwis, but we must protect te reo as a national treasure

I can already feel my heart begin to race when I know I am expected to speak te reo Māori, the Indigenous tongue of Aotearoa, New Zealand. Where I am from, people know me as this confident, fluent speaker of the Māori language. But here I am today, sweaty-palmed at the mere thought of saying a simple greeting and introduction in my mother tongue.

It is a far cry from the old me, who would win back-to-back Māori language speech competitions at a school where we learned everything in total immersion te reo Māori.

Continue reading...

It feels like no one can be bothered with the New Zealand election any more | Claire Robinson

Posted on by

Even Labour’s tax policy cant’t spark fury. The only numbers people are concerned about are coronavirus-related

Parents will be only too familiar with this scenario. It’s family holiday time. The car is packed with everything but the kitchen sink. Each child is strapped in with their own screen and headphones. You slip the car into gear and drive off. Finally you can let out a sigh of relief; the holiday has begun! Then a small voice from the back says: “I need to go the toilet.” You divert to the nearest petrol station, and sit back and wait for the journey to restart.

That, folks, is the New Zealand general election campaign of 2020.

Continue reading...

New Zealand must cast off its worries about government debt in its Covid recovery | Max Harris

Posted on by

The economic response to the pandemic risks being blinkered by old orthodoxies at a time when investment is sorely needed

New Zealand’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic has been rightly praised. Nobel prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz said New Zealand was “working … to build the kind of economy that should mark the post-pandemic world”.

The finance minister, Grant Robertson, acknowledged the opportunity to showcase a new approach in a bold speech in May in which he said: “There are few times in life when the clock is reset. Now is the time we should address … long-term issues. It’s not one we should squander.”

Continue reading...

New Zealand mental health crisis as Covid stretches a struggling system

Posted on by

Health workers and older people among those bearing brunt of added pressure brought by coronavirus

New Zealanders are experiencing more depression and anxiety since the coronavirus lockdown, doctors say, despite the country leading the world in its battle against the pandemic.

New Zealand has been lauded for its effective management of the virus, with most Kiwis returning to their normal routines following a strict seven-week lockdown in April and May. A recent outbreak in Auckland has now largely been contained.

Continue reading...

Jacinda Ardern begins New Zealand election tour at parents’ house so they can babysit

Posted on by

New Zealand prime minister starts campaign with a sleepover at the ‘folks’ in the small rural town of Morrinsville

New Zealand’s prime minister has launched her election tour of the country from her parents’ home in rural Waikato – so her “folks” can babysit.

The rescheduled general election, now taking place on 17 October, is unlike any the country has seen before, with party leaders hitting the campaign trail in face masks and practising social distancing.

Continue reading...

#NZhellhole: how Kiwis are hitting back at Trump’s Covid taunts

Posted on by

In August the US president said New Zealand was seeing a ‘big surge’ in cases, but it only reminded people of how well they had done

Following comments by Donald Trump that New Zealand was dealing with a “big surge” of new Covid-19 cases, Kiwis have snapped back with some light social media trolling under the hashtag #NZhellhole, which has trended at number two on New Zealand Twitter.

Continue reading...

Ardern’s promise to make Māori new year a public holiday is well overdue | Leigh-Marama McLachlan

Posted on by

Recognising Matariki signals official recognition and respect for Māori customs, and a wider buy-in from New Zealanders

When the small Matariki cluster of stars becomes visible over New Zealand’s early Winter morning skies, the country’s indigenous Māori people mark the beginning of their New Year.

The prospect of making Matariki a public holiday sends a well overdue sign of respect to Māori traditions and knowledge and paves the way for greater understanding of our nation’s unique, shared identity.

Continue reading...

Want to build high-rise homes for 74,000 more people in Wellington? Build consensus first | Max Rashbrooke

Posted on by

Wellington’s plan to boost urban density has set off a predictable cycle of conflict and outrage – but there is a way out

It’s like a slow-moving nightmare, in which the same battle is fought over and over again, without resolution.

The city council in Wellington, New Zealand’s capital, has announced plans to house an extra 74,000 people – plans that would require some low-rise inner-city villas to be replaced by dense modern apartments.

Continue reading...

Japan coastguard says second person found from capsized cattle ship has died

Posted on by

Rescuers search for more than 40 crew from ship carrying 6,000 cattle that went down en route from New Zealand to China

A second survivor from a cargo ship carrying 6,000 cattle that capsized off southwest Japan has died after being pulled from the water unconscious on Friday.

The Japanese coast guard said the man had been unresponsive when he was found about 120 km (75 miles) north-northwest of Amami Oshima island and transferred to a hospital.

Continue reading...

James Shaw’s mea culpa on school funding exposed his lack of political nous | Claire Robinson

Posted on by

Green party leader came under fire from many quarters over the project, including supporters who asked how he could make such a mistake

When Green party leader, James Shaw, apologised for backing the use of public funds for a private school last week, he ventured down a well-trodden path of the political mea culpa to save his own skin before October’s election. While he’s not the first person to row back a policy in New Zealand politics, or during this Covid pandemic, whether he survives may have as much to do with how he manages the public’s perception of him as a leader, as it does with the nature of his mistake.

Continue reading...

New Zealand given ‘F for failure’ on child obesity and youth suicide in Unicef report

Posted on by

‘Woeful’ result puts country in bottom 15% for overall child wellbeing which Ardern says reflects previous government’s underinvestment

Unicef says New Zealand is failing children after a new report revealed the country’s poor childhood obesity and suicide statistics have pushed it to near the very bottom on child wellbeing.

The latest Unicef Innocenti report card shows that, out of 41 developed countries in the OECD and European Union, New Zealand ranks 35th.

Continue reading...

Typhoon Maysak: ship with 43 crew and nearly 6,000 cattle missing off Japan

Posted on by

Lifeboat spotted but strong winds and rain hamper rescue of crew from Philippines, New Zealand and Australia

The Japanese coastguard is looking for a cargo ship carrying livestock and dozens of crew members that went missing after issuing a distress signal during typhoon Maysak.

The Panamanian-registered vessel, called Gulf Livestock 1, sent the distress call from the East China Sea, to the west of Amami Oshima Island in south-western Japan, Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported.

Continue reading...

The Christchurch testimonies: survivors and the bereaved give their accounts of New Zealand’s worst terror attack

Posted on by

More than 90 people – the wounded, the mourning, the defiant – spoke at the sentencing hearing for the gunman responsible for New Zealand’s most deadly terrorist attack, explaining how the massacre changed their lives forever. Here we document their evidence

Continue reading...

Indoor plant with four leaves sells for $8,000 in New Zealand

Posted on by

A buyer was willing to part with huge sum to secure the variegated minima amid a houseplant boom fuelled by the pandemic

An indoor plant with just four leaves has sold for more than NZ$8,000 (£4,000) in New Zealand, as the public’s passion for horticulture surges during the pandemic.

Houseplants have become especially popular among millennials, experts say, many of whom are unable to nurture babies or pets due to financial and property constraints.

Continue reading...