Category Archives: New Zealand

Cockney influences found in Scotland, Australia and New Zealand, says expert

Posted on by

Linguistics professor says London dialect is most likely to be spoken in Essex, but aspects have traversed the globe

The cockney dialect, as associated with the late EastEnders icon Dame Barbara Windsor, may not be as prevalent in today’s London, but it remains possibly the most influential English dialect across the world, according to academic research.

No longer the preserve of those born within earshot of the Bow Bells in the City of London, today cockney is more likely to be spoken in Essex.

Continue reading...

Waitangi Day: record crowds expected amid tensions over Māori policy in New Zealand

Posted on by

Event in February that commemorates signing of New Zealand’s founding document expected to draw tens of thousands but PM will not attend

Organisers of New Zealand’s national day commemorating the signing of the country’s founding treaty between Māori tribes and the British crown are expecting record attendance in 2025, following a year of rising tensions over the government’s policy direction for Māori.

In February, tens of thousands of people are expected to descend on Waitangi, in New Zealand’s Northland region, to commemorate the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, which was signed by Māori chiefs and the British Crown in 1840 and is instrumental in upholding Māori rights.

Continue reading...

US places sanctions on Australian man over alleged global narcotics trafficking role

Posted on by

David Jonathan Thackray, who was jailed in New Zealand in 2014, is one of three Australians now subject to such sanctions

An Australian man has been sanctioned by the US treasury department over his alleged involvement in the global narcotics trade.

Australian David Jonathan Thackray and New Zealand national Ho Kai Leung were among 12 individuals and eight entities sanctioned by the department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (Ofac) in an action it said was being taken against “global narcotics traffickers”.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Three climbers from the US and Canada missing on New Zealand’s highest mountain

Posted on by

Several climbing-related items which police believe belonged to the trio found, as bad weather will likely delay search efforts until Thursday

Rescue teams looking for three climbers who went missing on New Zealand’s highest mountain have expressed “grave concerns” over the party’s welfare in the rugged terrain, as bad weather hampers search efforts for the second day in a row.

US nationals Kurt Blair, 56, and Carlos Romero, 50, and a Canadian man flew by helicopter on Saturday to a camp on Aoraki Mount Cook with plans to summit the 3,724 metre (12,218 ft) mountain.

Continue reading...

Scientists dissect ‘world’s rarest whale’ for clues on little-known species

Posted on by

Only seven spade-tooth whales have ever been documented, now work is beginning on a specimen that washed ashore in New Zealand in July

A spade-tooth whale – thought to be the world’s rarest whale species – is undergoing dissection in New Zealand, in the first ever examination of a complete specimen.

Spade-toothed whales are a type of beaked whale named for their teeth resembling the spade-like flensing blade once used to strip whales of their blubber. Just seven have been documented since the 1800s, with all but one found in New Zealand.

Continue reading...

New Zealand navy ship sank off Samoa because autopilot was left on, inquiry finds

Posted on by

Interim report into the October disaster blames human error, saying HMNZS Manawanui’s ‘autopilot was not disengaged when it should have been’

A series of human errors caused a New Zealand navy ship to plough into a reef off the coast of Samoa, where it caught fire and sank, according to the preliminary findings of a military court of inquiry into the disaster.

The ship’s crew did not realise the autopilot was engaged, believed something else had gone wrong with the ship, and did not check that the HMNZS Manawanui was under manual control as it maintained course towards land, a summary of the inquiry’s first report published on Friday said. The full report has not been made public.

Continue reading...

New Zealand Covid inquiry finds vaccine mandates were ‘reasonable’

Posted on by

Commissioners also say the vaccine requirements eroded public trust and call for investment to plan for the next pandemic

A royal commission into New Zealand’s Covid response has largely accepted the need for vaccine mandates, while accepting they harmed a substantial minority of New Zealanders.

The first of two inquiry reports on the pandemic was released on Thursday and also called for broad investment to plan for the next pandemic.

Continue reading...

35,000 arrive at New Zealand parliament to protest against controversial Māori treaty bill – as it happened

Posted on by

This live coverage has ended now. You can read our stories at the links below:

The hīkoi has reached parliament, filling the grounds and swelling out into the surrounding roads and streets.

It is shoulder to shoulder, with people and flags stretching as far as the eye can see in every direction. The notorious Wellington wind is whipping the flags high, their flicks and pops adding to the cacophony.

Continue reading...

Tens of thousands march on NZ parliament in protest against Māori treaty bill

Posted on by

Police say about 42,000 people gathered at parliament in the last stage of the nine-day protest in opposition to the Treaty of Waitangi bill

A protest march estimated to be one of the largest in New Zealand history arrived at parliament on Tuesday, flooding the grounds with song in a display of unity against a controversial bill seeking to reinterpret the country’s founding treaty between Māori and the crown.

Police said around 42,000 people took part in the march, in what was likely New Zealand’s largest-ever protest in support of Māori rights.

Continue reading...

Insults and a haka in New Zealand parliament as MPs debate Māori rights bill

Posted on by

Voting temporarily suspended amid disruptions including a Māori party MP ripping up a copy of the bill

New Zealand’s parliament has erupted into fiery debate, personal attacks and a haka over a controversial bill that proposes to radically alter the way New Zealand’s treaty between Māori and the crown is interpreted.

The treaty principles bill was tabled by the libertarian Act party – a minor partner in New Zealand’s coalition government – and passed its first reading on Thursday, amid scathing speeches and disruptions.

Continue reading...

Pint-sized crustacean named after New Zealand brewery to boost interest in marine life

Posted on by

Tiny isopod is dubbed Pentaceration forkandbrewer in push to engage community with climate-threatened life in local waters

New Zealand scientists have named a tiny snowflake-like crustacean after a Wellington brewery, in an attempt to boost the public’s interest in local marine life.

The roughly 1.5mm marine isopod was found in the silty depths off New Zealand’s southern east coast. It helps decompose organic material that drifts to the seabed.

Continue reading...

New Zealand offers ‘unreserved’ apology to 200,000 survivors of ‘horrific’ abuse in care

Posted on by

Historic apology by PM Christopher Luxon comes after landmark report that exposed decades of abuse in state and faith-based care institutions

New Zealand’s prime minister Christopher Luxon has formally apologised to the more than 200,000 children and adults who suffered “horrific” and “heartbreaking” abuse and neglect while in state and faith-based institutions.

The historic apology follows a harrowing landmark report, released in July, which laid bare the scale of abuse that occurred across care institutions from the 1950s onwards. It was the most complex royal commission inquiry the country has held. The judge who chaired the inquiry, Coral Shaw, described the abuse as a “national disgrace and shame”.

Continue reading...

Controversial bill to reinterpret New Zealand’s founding document reaches parliament

Posted on by

The widely criticised bill aims to redefine Treaty of Waitangi principles that guide relations between Māori and ruling authorities

A controversial bill that seeks to radically change how New Zealand’s treaty between Māori and the Crown is interpreted in modern times will be introduced to parliament on Thursday, nearly two weeks ahead of its initial schedule.

The Treaty of Waitangi is considered New Zealand’s founding document and is instrumental in upholding Māori rights. The bill will be tabled in parliament by the libertarian Act party, a minor partner in New Zealand’s coalition government, which has regularly called for an end to “division by race”.

Continue reading...

‘It was carnage’: students describe suspected mass food poisoning at New Zealand university

Posted on by

Reports of vomit streaming down windows as more than 100 University of Canterbury students fall ill, with cause of stomach bug being investigated

A mass outbreak of suspected food poisoning has caused “carnage” across two university halls in New Zealand, with reports of early morning queues for toilets, vomit dripping down building windows and students abandoning exams to dash to the loo.

More than 100 students reported being struck down with vomiting and diarrhoea at two University of Canterbury student residences on Sunday night, the university confirmed on Tuesday.

Continue reading...

White Island volcano disaster: owners appeal against criminal conviction

Posted on by

Buttle brothers argue in Auckland court that tour operators to blame for deaths of 22 people, including 14 Australians

The owners of an island volcano in New Zealand that erupted in 2019 killing 22 people, including 14 Australians, have launched an appeal against their criminal conviction for violating safety laws.

They argue that tour operators – rather than their company – were responsible for the safety of visitors to Whakaari, also known as White Island.

Continue reading...

New Zealand airport causes stir with sign capping goodbye cuddles to 3 minutes

Posted on by

Dunedin airport boss says the move is designed to keep traffic flowing in drop-off zones and enable ‘others to have hugs’

Hugging your loved ones goodbye could land you in trouble at a New Zealand airport should your embrace linger too long.

The international airport in Dunedin, a city in the South Island, has introduced a three minute cap on cuddles, as part of a broader effort to improve safety and keep traffic flowing at its drop-off zone.

Continue reading...

UK says India’s cooperation with Canada’s legal process is ‘right next step’

Posted on by

Growing diplomatic row as police say they have evidence of Delhi’s links to murder of Sikh leader in Canada

Britain joined its Five Eyes intelligence partners on Wednesday in saying India’s cooperation with Canada’s legal process was “the right next step” in the deepening diplomatic row between the two countries, adding that it had full confidence in Canada’s judicial system.

Canadian police said on Monday they had credible evidence that Indian agents including India’s high commissioner to Canada were linked to the murder of the Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil in June 2023 and accused Delhi of a broader effort to target Indian dissidents in Canada.

Continue reading...

Fugitive father filmed with children in New Zealand wilderness three years after disappearing

Posted on by

Pig hunters captured video of Tom Phillips and his three children in camouflage walking in rugged terrain in the Waikato region

A fugitive father and his three children have been spotted together for the first time in nearly three years, along the west coast of New Zealand’s North Island.

Just before Christmas 2021, Tom Phillips fled into the Waikato wilderness with his children Ember, now 8, Maverick, now 9, and Jayda, now 11, following a dispute with their mother.

Continue reading...

New Zealand navy ship Manawanui sinks off Samoa

Posted on by

All crew safe after specialist dive and hydrographic vessel ran aground near the southern coast of Upolu as it was conducting a reef survey

A Royal New Zealand Navy vessel has run aground and sunk off Samoa – the first time the navy has lost a ship since the second world war, the New Zealand Defence Force said in a statement on Sunday.

Manawanui, the navy’s specialist dive and hydrographic vessel, ran aground near the southern coast of Upolu on Saturday night as it was conducting a reef survey, Commodore Shane Arndell, the maritime component commander of the New Zealand Defence Force, said in a statement. All 75 crew and passengers were safe.

Continue reading...

New Zealand reclaims world record for largest mass haka

Posted on by

More than 6,000 people perform Māori dance at Eden Park rugby stadium in Auckland, to break France’s record

New Zealand has reclaimed the world record for the largest mass haka after more than 6,000 people performed the Māori dance, dethroning France.

The record was broken in deafening fashion at Eden Park rugby stadium in Auckland, where thousands of men, women and children combined on the pitch to complete the traditional dance involving vigorous movements, stamping feet and rhythmic shouting.

Continue reading...