Category Archives: New Zealand

New Zealand’s astounding wealth gap challenges our ‘fair go’ identity | Max Rashbrooke

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New data shows the richest 1% are worth 68 times more than a typical New Zealander

The extent of wealth inequality in supposedly egalitarian New Zealand has been laid bare by figures showing the wealthiest individuals have over NZ$140bn (US$93bn) stashed away in trusts – and overall have nearly 70 times more assets than the typical Kiwi.

The new data, drawn from the 2017-18 Household Economic Survey, are likely to underestimate true inequality, as the ultra-wealthy are generally reluctant to take part in such surveys.

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New Zealand coronavirus: two new cases as Auckland lockdown due to lift

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Masks will be compulsory on public transport and strongly encouraged elsewhere, says prime minister, as restrictions wind back on Monday

New Zealand’s prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, has thanked Aucklanders who come out of lockdown after Sunday night for their commitment to suppressing the latest coronavirus flare-up.

Two new cases of Covid-19 have been reported on Sunday, both in the community and linked to the latest Auckland cluster. Ardern thanked the residents of New Zealand’s largest city for their adherence to the stringent lockdown requirements.

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‘You have no one to talk to’: Māori pensioners face hardships during lockdown

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Wardens in south Auckland say pensioners living alone are among the most vulnerable to Covid-19, fearful even of leaving their home

Wai Allan was leaning on crutches in front of her government flat when the Māori wardens pulled up in a van loaded with food, hand sanitiser and face masks.

“Oh, fruit and veg! That’s good for you,” the pensioner exclaimed, as two big boxes were unloaded and carried inside.

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New Zealand stock exchange disrupted by fourth ‘offshore’ cyber attack

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Intelligence cyber crime agencies called in to help after chaotic week of distributed denial of service attacks

The New Zealand government has activated national security systems after the nation’s stock exchange was disrupted by cyber attacks for a fourth day.

There was no clarity on who was behind the “offshore” attacks, but the failure to stop them has raised questions about New Zealand’s security systems, experts said.

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The Christchurch shooter’s sentence will consign him to nothingness | Steve Braunias

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Justice has been seen to be done and the stories of his victims and those left behind will live on

They called him a mouse. A sheep. A coward. A loser. A peasant. A terrorist. A nothing. The latter two accusations made against Brenton Tarrant in the high court of Christchurch this week were the most factual; convicted of 51 counts of murder and an act of terrorism, his sentence of life without parole has consigned him to the void. He will cease to exist.

Good. He was bad rubbish, sentenced with all the beautiful and solemn efficiency of English law as practised in New Zealand, but the thing everyone will remember about the past few days is the testimony from those who survived the attack and the families of the victims.

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‘Your design was to divide … you failed’: Christchurch gunman jailed for life – video

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The Australian man who killed 51 Muslim worshippers in two mosques in Christchurch has received a life sentence without parole sentence. It is the first time under current New Zealand law that a sentence of life without the possibility of parole has been imposed.

Outside the court Muslims and non-Muslims gathered together to mark the end of three days of emotional victim impact statements during which more than 90 of those bereaved or wounded in the attacks addressed the court. Many asked Mander to bar the gunman from ever walking free from jail.

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New Zealand media put Christchurch gunman in his place with focus on victims

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New Zealanders and media embody Jacinda Ardern’s approach to deny gunman publicity, muting coverage until life sentence delivered

On the first day of sentencing, New Zealand’s public broadcaster TVNZ put out its nightly news bulletin. The legal process unfolding in Christchurch made it to fourth spot, behind three domestic Covid-19 stories.

Radio New Zealand (RNZ) focused its attention on the victim impact statements. The gunman himself barely warrants a mention, beyond the briefest physical descriptions from journalists in the room.

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Christchurch shooting: mosque gunman sentenced to life without parole

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Australian terrorist did not oppose the unprecedented sentence, which comes after three days of emotional victim impact statements

The terrorist who killed 51 Muslim worshippers at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, will spend the rest of his life in jail, a judge has ruled. It is the first time under current New Zealand law that a sentence of life without the possibility of parole has been imposed.

Dozens more were wounded in the attacks in March last year in the country’s worst peacetime massacre. It prompted an outpouring of grief and unity in New Zealand and around the world, and generated debate about how to deal with white supremacist terrorism.

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Christchurch gunman says he will not speak at sentencing hearing

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Terrorist does not intend to speak at Thursday’s hearing but will have a lawyer make a brief statement on his behalf

Over a period of three days, 91 of his victims read statements to him in court. But the terrorist who attacked two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand – killing dozens of Muslim worshippers at prayer – told a judge on Wednesday that he would not address the court himself.

There had been fears the Australian man would use the sentencing hearing as a platform to spread his anti-Islamic and extremist views. Brenton Tarrant, 29, a self-professed white supremacist, broadcast his massacre at the two mosques live on Facebook and published an extremist manifesto.

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‘From hero to martyr’: widow of 51st Christchurch shooting victim addresses gunman in court – video

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Hamimah Tuyan, the widow of the 51st and final victim of 2019's Christchurch shooting, addresses the gunman, Brenton Tarrant, in court, telling him his death elevated him from hero to martyr. Zekeriya Tuyan battled for 48 days after 18 surgeries before succumbing to his injuries. Tuyan's statements come after three days of family members of victims addressing Tarrant and the court

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Anger, grief and dark humour fill Christchurch high court as victims face gunman

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Victims and the bereaved describe how their lives have been changed since the Australian terrorist’s massacre

“Good afternoon to everyone except you,” Wasseim Alsati Daragmih told the terrorist. There was a ripple of laughter in the courtroom and a smile from the Australian man who had shot him.

It was the afternoon of the second day of sentencing for the man who stormed two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand in March 2019, killing 51 people and wounding dozens more – including Darragmih.

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Dear Christchurch, Breivik’s trial showed us extremist ideas struggle in the light | Åsne Seierstad

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A 10-week trial of Anders Breivik afforded him publicity, and underground infamy, but the openness benefited the victims too

Terror wouldn’t work if no one wrote about it. Terrorists crave our attention, our anger and our tears. Norway and New Zealand have both been struck by attacks from violent extremists inspired by ideas from the same root – white supremacy and Islamophobia – but the two countries have chosen different paths in how to deal with it. Norway chose openness and full exposure, while the case around the Christchurch shooter seems dimly lit.

In 2011, the then Norwegian prime minister, Jens Stoltenberg, sat in his home office to work on a speech he was going to give the following day at the summer camp of the Labour party youth when a loud bang sounded. Anders Breivik had dressed as a police officer and detonated the bomb outside the prime minister’s office in downtown Oslo, killing eight. He then travelled to the island of Utøya where the camp would be held and shot and killed 69 people, mostly teenagers.

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‘I have only one choice’: mother of Christchurch victim forgives killer – video

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Janna Ezat, whose son Hussein Al-Umari was one of 51 people killed in 2019's  Christchurch shooting, came face-to-face with the gunman in court, telling 29-year-old Australian Brenton Tarrant, she forgave him. "I have decided to forgive you, Mr Tarrant, because I don’t have hate, I don’t have revenge," she said during victim statements. "The damage is done. Hussein will never be here. I have only one choice: to forgive you."


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Jacinda Ardern says 2020 has been ‘frankly terrible’ as Auckland lockdown extended

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Masks made mandatory on public transport across New Zealand as coronavirus cases continue to rise

New Zealand’s biggest city will remain in lockdown until midnight on Sunday, the extra four days necessitated by the rising number of Covid-19 cases, the prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, has said.

A total of 101 people have been infected by the outbreak in south Auckland, making it the largest cluster in New Zealand.

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Christchurch gunman planned to burn mosques down, New Zealand police say

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Court hears that Australian planned to attack a third mosque before he was arrested

A court in New Zealand has heard for the first time an official account of how a terrorist who murdered 51 people at two mosques in Christchurch planned and executed the attacks – and his intentions to burn down both places of worship and attack a third mosque.

The details of the attack were read as a high-security hearing began to decide whether the Australian man will ever leave prison.

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OK Chlöe: millennial MP challenges the New Zealand establishment – video

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In a momentous year, Aotearoa’s youngest MP vows to radically change the political status quo from within. But behind the ‘OK Boomer’ politician is a committed advocate. Chlöe Swarbrick must weigh up the pressures placed on her versus her innate desire to make a difference.  

OK Chlöe is part of the Loading Docs 2020 collection. The films can be viewed online via www.loadingdocs.net

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Celebrity cat called Mittens in the running to be New Zealander of the year

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Also making the cut are PM Jacinda Ardern and the director-general of health Dr Ashley Bloomfield

A celebrity cat, a hardworking civil servant and the prime minister have all been nominated for this year’s New Zealander of the year award.

“In this extraordinary year, we know that everyone has a hero,” Miriama Kamo, the patron of the awards, said.

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‘Devastating impact’: south Auckland’s Pasifika bear brunt of new Covid-19 outbreak

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Pacific communities have been hit by New Zealand’s coronavirus resurgence – and the stigma of being at its centre

Most weekdays south Auckland’s Ōtara shopping centre is alive with the blur of brightly coloured lavalava and the cacophony of clashing music thumping out from car loudspeakers.

But this week, in the midst of New Zealand’s second lockdown, the atmosphere is subdued and strained.

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Coronavirus live news: Jacinda Ardern says Trump’s ‘patently wrong’ on New Zealand’s Covid cases

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Trump described NZ’s ‘terrible’ surge, despite 90 active cases in country; Ibiza to ban pool parties, as Spain infections surge. Follow the latest

These look like scenes of yesteryear but thousands of people packed out a water park in Wuhan, China, over the weekend as much of the rest of the world remained under lockdown restrictions.

VIDEO: Crowds packed out a water park over the weekend in the central Chinese city of #Wuhan, where the #coronavirus first emerged late last year, keen to party as the city edges back to normal life pic.twitter.com/SJFBmx5sU8

The Philippines’ health ministry confirmed 4,836 novel coronavirus infections, the seventh consecutive day of reporting more than 3,000 daily cases, Reuters reports.

In a bulletin, the ministry said total confirmed cases had increased to 169,213, while there were seven additional deaths – bringing the total toll to 2,687.

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