New Zealand
How Rory Stewart led me astray
I have just returned from a tour of Australia and New Zealand, on whose citizens I inflicted An Evening With…
Whoever imagined that geology was a lifeless subject?
The shifting rocks of Earth’s crust are part of the planet’s ecology just as much as plants and animals, says Marcia Bjornerud – applying to geology the principle of universal connectivity
What Labour could learn from Australia and New Zealand
I’m just coming to the end of a four-week speaking tour Down Under and have spotted some worrying signs of…
New Zealand’s culture wars backlash
I’m in New Zealand on a speaking tour organised by the Kiwi Free Speech Union, and in some ways it’s…
Alone and defenceless: the tragic death of Captain Cook
Striding ashore unarmed showed courage that bordered on recklessness. But it was a kind of theatre Cook relished on his travels - and, famously, it didn’t always work
New Zealand sees the light on Aukus
Thanks to Winston Peters
Has Bazball rescued — or ruined — cricket?
Thanks to Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum, English Test cricket has been revolutionised – at the expense of the gentle, contemplative game
How the National party toppled Labour in New Zealand
Just three years on from Jacinda Ardern’s phenomenal outright victory, New Zealand’s Labour government has collapsed, slumping to half its…
Diary
When someone asks ‘How are you?’ you have to assume your interlocutor is only being polite. Anyone who returns a…
Jacinda Ardern was the queen of coercive kindness
Jacinda Ardern has resigned as Prime Minister of New Zealand. After a period of reflection over the summer break, she…
Must we now despise colonial architecture too?
Here’s a thing. A disturbing book about disturbing cities. And it’s full of loaded questions. Like Hezbollah, the publisher uses…
Jacinda Adern’s tricky China policy
New Zealand’s Prime Minister, Jacinda Adern, has had a busy week on the international circuit. On Friday she appeared in…
Jacinda Ardern is New Zealand’s Gorbachev
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is currently leading a trade mission to the United States, with a meeting between…
The danger of learning too much from Covid
When Ray Bradbury was asked if his dystopian vision in Fahrenheit 451 would become a reality, he replied: ‘I don’t…
In Fortress New Zealand, faith in Saint Jacinda is starting to fade
Faith in ‘Saint Jacinda’ is starting to fade
New Zealand’s zero Covid strategy is becoming unsustainable
New Zealand has done remarkably well over the past 18 months at protecting its citizens from the worst of the…
Putting the commie in committee
Last month an epidemiologist called Professor Michael Baker described the UK government’s decision to free its people from Covid restrictions…
New Zealand’s worrying battle over transgender rights
Last year, the equalities minister Liz Truss set aside laws which would have allowed people to self-identity as the legal…
A new take on New Zealand wine
‘The doors clap to, the pane is bright with showers.’ With ‘summer’ determined to do its worst, there is one…
Laurel Hubbard is the beginning of the end of women’s sports
When women’s professional soccer was deemed good enough for our TV screens a couple of years ago, I was watching…
A novel approach to New Zealand’s wine
The last Saturday of lockdown — inshallah — and we were discussing literature. Specifically, when does a detective story become…
The Australian trade deal is about more than just trade
What happens with an Australia trade deal won’t just reveal how serious this country is about free trade but also…
The strangeness of Britain’s BLM mania
The conviction of Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd makes last summer’s Black Lives Matter mania in British…
Has the shine come off Saint Jacinda?
For a short time it seemed as if Jacinda Ardern, the popular premier of New Zealand, could do no wrong…
Why is New Zealand afraid of criticising China?
It is becoming harder and harder to ignore China’s aggressive behaviour. As I say in the magazine this week, China…
