Who owns New Zealand railways, telephone services, electricity, city buses, airports, shipping ports and Air New Zealand? Some of these were owned by the government or local councils. Some were sold to private companies in the 1980s during the time o...
Forty years ago today was our worst tragedy at sea in living memory. The inter-island ferry, the Wahine, with 734 passengers, struck rocks in the Wellington harbour and sank. 51 people died. This was the Easter holiday and many people were travelling...
Today New Zealand signed a free-trade agreement with China. This is the first free-trade agreement that China has ever signed with a western, capitalist, democratic country but in the future China hopes to sign more trade deals with other western cou...
When Sir Edmund Hillary died in January, some New Zealanders were upset because the Royal family did not attend the funeral in Auckland. However, the Queen promised to celebrate Sir Edmunds life with a special service in England. That service was hel...
A month ago, senior doctors in New Zealand hospitals said they would go on strike at the end of March to get more pay. It now looks as though they will not go on strike after all. The Minister of Health, David Cunliffe, has worked hard in the last mo...
The government announced today some changes to building which might help to make houses cheaper. House prices have risen sharply in recent years, making it hard for young people to buy their own house. Mortgage rates have gone up too. It has been a l...
Saturday night was the final of the National Concerto Competition in the Christchurch Town Hall. This is an event where New Zealands young migrants often succeed. In the final, three of the best young musicians play a concerto with the Christchurch S...
The new Race Relations Report 2007 shows that New Zealand is becoming more multi-cultural and we are also feeling more comfortable about immigrants from different ethnic backgrounds. Maoris represent about 15% of the population, Asians nearly 7% and...
The hunt for the murder suspect, Nai Yin Xue, has come to an end when he was found in a small town in Georgia in the south of the United States. Two New Zealand police officers will probably bring him back to this country to stand trial for the murde...
District Hospital Boards (DHBs) have been in the news lately. New Zealand has 21 DHBs. The job of the Board is to meet the health needs of the community. The Board is responsible for governing hospitals and health services in their own areas but they...
