Why the Maori are protesting against equal rights in New Zealand
Around 35,000 thousand demonstrators descended on the capital of New Zealand this week, many of them adorned in traditional native…
Why is this New Zealand airport clamping down on hugs?
‘Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world,’ Hugh Grant famously offered in the heartwarming opening scene of Love,…
How New Zealand managed to sink a tenth of its naval fleet
New Zealand just lost one tenth of its naval defence fleet. The HMNZS Manawanui – the jewel in the nation’s small military…
How does New Zealand solve a problem like China?
New Zealand’s most important trading partner is also the nation’s biggest security headache, according to a new risk-assessment report produced…
Why are so many young people abandoning New Zealand?
Heading to the UK is a longstanding rite of cultural passage for many Kiwis. People like my youngest son, who…
Labour should learn from Jacinda Ardern’s calamitous oil and gas ban
In the UK, the Labour party has pledged to halt any new oil and gas drilling in the North Sea,…
Why New Zealand is cracking down on immigration
The government of New Zealand this week tightened the country’s working visa rules in order to stem historically high numbers…
Why is New Zealand’s deputy PM rowing with Chumbawamba?
In their musical heyday, the English anarchist punk band Chumbawamba enjoyed a reputation for having an irreverent attitude towards those…
Kiwi life
Ah, summer. The sap is rising, and so are anxiety levels on either side of the Tasman as editors cast…
The shoplifting scandal engulfing New Zealand’s Green MP
New Zealand has just lost one of its most stylish politicians after shoplifting allegations were made against her by two…
New Zealand’s Yoni-come-latelies
On the unusual and enduring relationship between Maoris and Jews
Is New Zealand about to return to the world stage?
After six years of Labour party rule in New Zealand, the country’s foreign policy brings to mind the line about…
Are rock music critics extinct?
We used to be able to tell you what was worth listening to
Has New Zealand found the key to the UK’s housing crisis?
It may be difficult to imagine a housing crisis more dismal than the one Britain is experiencing right now, but…
New Zealand has much to learn from the treatment of Posie Parker
A promotional clip for New Zealand uploaded to social media the other day looked like the usual decorous fare churned…
Kiwi life
To be an award-winning commentator, the late Alexander Cockburn held, you really need to have a bit of a thing…
Rock of ages
Rock dinosaurs wake up to woke with a religious zeal
New Zealand’s PM is a welcome change from Jacinda Ardern
Chris Hipkins can afford to feel pleased with his first days in office as Prime Minister of New Zealand. In…
Jacinda Ardern’s tattered legacy
Wellington, New Zealand Jacinda Ardern has announced she will be stepping down as the prime minister of New Zealand, saying…
Do the coloured girls still go ‘Doo, doo-doo’?
Remembering the moment rock was transformed
Why does this university want to bin Queen Victoria?
Spare a thought for New Zealand’s Victoria university. For years now, this Kiwi institution of higher learning has been pulling…
Aussie Life
‘Give it up for the band!’ cried Van Morrison from the stage at King John’s castle in Limerick the other…
New Zealand's Maori language obsession is baffling Kiwis
New Zealand’s borders have finally reopened after a two-year Covid shutdown. But those who travel down under are in for…
Hope I die – but not before I get really, really old
Rock dinosaurs still not knockin’ on heaven’s door
How New Zealand's zero Covid strategy fell apart
The biggest thing in the political rock world returns to the international stage this spring with a one-off appearance at…
