Category Archives: New Zealand

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

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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.

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

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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.

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

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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.

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

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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.”

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New Zealand mental health crisis as Covid stretches a struggling system

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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.

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

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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.

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

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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.

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

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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.

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

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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.

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

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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.

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

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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.

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

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‘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.

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

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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.

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

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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

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

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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.

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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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