Category Archives: New Zealand

As an MP in self-isolation, I’ve seen New Zealand’s collective power to respond to a crisis | Chlöe Swarbrick

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Everything that was once an urgent priority has evaporated. What matters right now is people’s health, and their family’s futures

It’s day three of my self-isolation. I returned to Aotearoa New Zealand on Monday night from a long-planned family wedding in Australia, itself book-ended by apocalyptic circumstance. Fires and floods rolled out the red carpet, while rapid global escalation of Covid-19 brought it to a finale.

I had booked flights back directly into Wellington, our capital city, because I’d intended to return immediately to work on Tuesday morning with the sitting of Parliament. Those intentions had been wiped clear on the weekend, with calls between caucus members and staffers confirming all arrivals back into the country would be required to quarantine themselves for a fortnight. To limit further travel, it transpired I’d be locking myself into a Wellington apartment, the opposite end of the North Island from my home of Auckland.

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Ardern has shone in the coronavirus crisis but a recession could still doom her re-election chances

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Her blend of steel and kindness is praiseworthy but come voting time in September the state of the economy will be the deciding factor

In her short tenure as prime minister, Jacinda Ardern has shown herself to be extremely good in a crisis.

After taking on the leadership of the Labour party just seven weeks before the 2017 general election, Ardern has put together a disparate coalition government, had a baby while in office, dealt with the Christchurch terrorist attacks, guided the nation through a deadly volcano eruption, and now this.

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New Zealand passes landmark law to decriminalise abortion

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Campaigners hail move that will reclassify abortion as a health issue rather than a crime

New Zealand has passed a landmark bill to decriminalise abortion after decades of campaigning.

Andrew Little, the justice minister, said it was long overdue that the procedure would become classified as a health matter and not a criminal one.

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Grace Millane: man convicted of British backpacker’s murder to appeal

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Man, whose identity is suppressed in New Zealand, will appeal against both his conviction and his life sentence

The man found guilty of the murder of British backpacker Grace Millane will appeal his conviction and life sentence, lawyers said on Wednesday.

In November a jury of seven women and five men took just five hours to unanimously agree that the accused, whose name is suppressed, murdered Millane in his hotel room after the pair met on a date in Auckland’s CBD.

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New Zealand’s coronavirus stimulus leaves the working poor most exposed | Brad Olsen

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Though significant, Jacinda Ardern’s measures will not avert a downturn, and lower-income workers will be hardest hit

The New Zealand government’s announcement of a NZ$12.1bn spending package is massive – that’s undeniable. But the economic downturn that New Zealand faces will be even larger. The downturn is going to cause economic chaos, and it will see job losses. The key to limiting the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the economy is supporting employment and businesses, and although the package assists these aims, it doesn’t go far enough.

The stimulus package mirrors similar measures around the world, with wage support and paid self-isolation leave. It boldly focuses on businesses, with support for employment as we enter a downturn – and that’s exactly the right area to be targeting. In New Zealand, increased payments to those already out of work have been announced, as have measures to free up business cashflow. It also includes a suite of additional measures. However, there is a glaring gap, with little support for lower-income workers themselves.

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Samoan chief found guilty of enslaving villagers in New Zealand over 25 years

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Joseph Auga Matamata, who brought people to Hastings where they were forced to work without pay and subjected to abuse, also convicted of slavery

A New Zealand-based Samoan chief has been found guilty of human trafficking and using 13 of his countrymen as slaves over a 25 year period.

Joseph Auga Matamata, 65, also known as Villiamu Samu, was found guilty on 10 counts of trafficking and 13 counts of slavery following a five-week trial at the High Court in Napier.

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Coronavirus: cruise passengers stranded as countries turn them away

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Thousands in limbo around the world as vessels seek a port at which to dock

As countries scramble to close their borders in response to the global Covid-19 pandemic, thousands of cruise ship passengers are stranded on the high seas while their vessels seek a port at which to dock.

The Norwegian Jewel, sailing under the flag of the Bahamas, has been refused permission to dock in French Polynesia, Fiji, New Zealand and Australia, and is piloting to American Samoa to refuel.

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West Saharan group takes New Zealand superannuation fund to court over ‘blood phosphate’

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Independence movement lodges documents in high court arguing $45bn fund invests in illegally mined fertiliser

The Western Sahara liberation movement has taken New Zealand’s superannuation fund to the country’s highest court over its investments in farms that use phosphate illegally mined in the occupied territory.

New Zealand is one of the few remaining countries – and last western nation – that accepts imports from the contested territory in West Africa, forcibly occupied by Morocco since 1975. Morocco’s claims to the territory are largely unrecognised internationally.

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’15 March is about keeping people safe’: New Zealand cancels Christchurch attacks memorial – video

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New Zealand has called off a national remembrance service to mark a year since the attacks on two Christchurch mosques because of concerns about the coronavirus outbreak. The event, which was to be held in the city on Sunday, was expected to attract a large crowd of people from across the country and overseas

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Far-right extremists still threaten New Zealand, a year on from the Christchurch attacks

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I worry we don’t have enough resources and skills locally to adequately monitor threats in our community

In the hours after the Christchurch mosque attacks on March 15 last year, I wrote that I hoped New Zealand would finally stop believing it was immune to far-right extremist violence. A year on, I’m not sure enough has changed.

I’ve researched far-right extremism for decades – and I would argue it remains a high-level threat in New Zealand, not just overseas.

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One year after the Christchurch attack, we are determined to be happy | Maysoon Salama

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Maysoon Salama, whose son was killed in the massacre, says survivors miss their loved ones, but are working hard to bring the community together

At the childcare centre my husband and I run in Christchurch, most of the children would have had somebody in their family who was injured during the attack or knew somebody who was injured.

Five of the children lost parents; lost their fathers. One of them was my granddaughter, Aya. And we had several whose parents were traumatised or injured. Some of the children were hearing a lot of things at home.

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In New Zealand, we are starting to value women’s work fairly. It’s time for the world to follow

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On International Women’s Day, let’s commit to properly compensating women for the unpaid and underpaid work they have always done

The world would stop running were it not for the unpaid and underpaid work undertaken by women. It is past time for our contribution to be recognised, and remunerated fairly. Here in Aotearoa New Zealand, we are creating a new process to appropriately value the caring work traditionally undertaken by women.

It started in 2013, when a care and support worker named Kristine Bartlett, supported by her union (E Tū), filed a pay equity claim under the Equal Pay Act 1972. She made the case that the caring work she did was undervalued because it was mainly performed by women. This was compared to work that was male-dominated but required a similar level of skill, effort and responsibilities.

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Brutalised but defiant: Christchurch massacre survivors one year on

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As the first anniversary of the atrocity that shocked New Zealand looms, victims struggle with enduring trauma – but also carry a sense of hope

At first, Hisham al Zarzour couldn’t remember what had happened. Later, he tried to forget. Lying beneath the bodies of other worshippers at Al Noor mosque in Christchurch last March as a gunman fired again and again, he prayed that Allah would send him back to Syria to die.

There, war had been a way of life. Chaos became normal. But the violence in peaceful New Zealand came just seven months after the sleepy, leafy city had become his home. That something so barbaric could happen in his place of refuge was unbearable.

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Good thing for small packages: tiny homes movement wins big in New Zealand

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Owner of a home that measures just 8m by 3m wins high profile three-year legal battle with government over rates and regulations

Yachts and caravans have all served as home for Alan Dall but it is his tiny house in Canterbury that has finally claimed his heart and where he’s firmly put down roots after 25 years of transient living.

Measuring just eight metres long and three metres wide, Dall’s tiny home has become something of an inspiration for the movement, with his fight to retain its status potentially having lasting ramifications around the country.

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Taika Waititi to make two Charlie and the Chocolate Factory series for Netflix

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New Zealand Oscar winner to develop animated show based on the beloved Roald Dahl book

The Academy Award-winning director Taika Waititi has signed a deal with Netflix to write, direct and produce two animated series based on the works of the children’s author, Roald Dahl.

The entertainment giant said Waititi’s collaboration with Netflix would be “based on the world and characters of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”, while the second series would be a “wholly original take” on the Oompa-Loompas, the diminutive and mysterious workers who dispense chocolate, and sometimes cautionary advice, at Willy Wonka’s factory.

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After the Christchurch shooting politicians promised tolerance. It didn’t last | Morgan Godfery

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Ahead of the first anniversary, New Zealand First’s Shane Jones goes into election mode and stokes racial tensions

Isn’t it astonishing that, not even two weeks out from the Christchurch shooting’s first anniversary, the senior cabinet minister Shane Jones – an MP for New Zealand First, a party you could arguably describe as our local Ukip branch – is basing his re-election campaign on stoking anti-immigrant racism.

In a television sit-down last weekend the “retail politician” – Jones’s words – went after the Indian community, blaming its students for “ruining” New Zealand universities and arguing the country was opening the doors too widely to immigrants from “New Delhi”. He guaranteed that only New Zealand First would cut immigration. Labour, in Jones’s telling, is too “PC” to make the necessary cuts, and National are apparently in the pocket of Johnny foreigner taking big-money donations from overseas contributors. They won’t follow through either.

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‘The best thing about Wellington’: Mittens the cat has paws all over New Zealand capital

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Turkish Angora roams tattoo parlours, office towers and churches, posing for social media snapshots along the way

A feline that roams New Zealand’s capital city and is welcomed into tattoo parlours, hairdressers and office towers has become a social media star, with 30,000 followers who track his every movement online.

Mittens first came to attention in 2018 after repeatedly wandering inner-city dwellings, including the university, the post office, and a Catholic church. Mittens was also reportedly taken to the police station by concerned locals.

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New Zealand records second coronavirus case in woman arriving from Italy

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The partner of the woman, who flew to Auckland via Singapore and is now in isolation, is also showing symptoms and is being tested

A second case of coronavirus has been confirmed in New Zealand, with the infected woman having recently arrived in the country from Italy.

The latest infection is a New Zealand citizen, a woman in her early 30s who recently returned from a trip to northern Italy and rapidly became ill.

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Jacinda Ardern brushes off criticism from Peter Dutton on deportation stance

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Australia’s home affairs minister had linked New Zealand prime minister’s comments to her upcoming re-election bid

New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern has brushed off criticism from Australia’s home affairs minister Peter Dutton, saying his policy decisions are “regrettable”.

At her weekly news conference in Wellington on Monday, Ardern was scathing about Dutton’s criticism of her recent meeting with Scott Morrison, saying it was not her plain-talking that was to blame for increasing tensions between the neighbours – but Australia’s policy decisions on immigration matters which were hurting Kiwis.

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Jacinda Ardern blasts Scott Morrison over Australia’s deportation policy – video

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The New Zealand prime minister said the Australian government's policy of deporting NZ citizens, no matter how long they had spent in Australia, was “testing” the friendship between the two nations, at a joint press conference in Sydney on Friday.

Jacinda Ardern lashes Scott Morrison for 'testing' friendship over deportations to New Zealand


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