新西兰英语 166 NZ Economy

There was some good news for the New Zealand economy in the latest figures from Statistics New Zealand ( www.stats.govt.nz ). For the first time for many years, we earned more money from our exports and paid less for imports. The surplus money was $8

新西兰英语 399 No holiday for Waitangi Day

Workers did not have a holiday for Waitangi Day this year because February 6th was a Sunday. However, some foreign embassies in Wellington the Australian, British and Canadian embassies were closed on Monday. In some countries, if a public holiday is

新西兰英语 467 The weather

Snow finally came to the mountains and ski fields in both the North Island and the South Island. Queenstown had their winter festival two weeks ago without snow. The ski field was not open. Now the snow is on the mountain and in the town. On the othe

新西兰英语 398 Strange weather

Yesterday, some parts of New Zealand east coast had very hot temperatures. This was caused by cyclone Yasi which hit Queensland a few days earlier. It brought very hot weather for the east coast in New Zealand. The east coast of the North and South I

新西兰英语 234 Weather for 2009

We now have a summary of our weather for last year. NIWA (the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research) put this summary on their website. NIWA is a company which is owned by the government. Scientists at NIWA do research on climate, the

新西兰英语 345 New Zealand a Popular Choice for Migrants

A recent study by Statistics New Zealand showed that most people who migrated to New Zealand hoped to eventually become New Zealand citizens. Over 90% of South African and Pacific Island migrants were the keenest to apply, with 86.5% of South Asian m

新西兰英语 177 Wealthy migrants wanted in New Zealand

At the end of July, the Department of Immigration said they will now allow wealthy migrants to live in New Zealand. There is no English requirement. There is no maximum age. Now retired people who cannot speak English can move to New Zealand if they

新西兰英语 329 Police chases

On Thursday night, in Christchurch, two people were killed by a car which was being chased by a police car. Around 8pm, the police saw a car travelling at about 90kmh in a 50kmh zone. They followed the car. Thirty seconds later, the driver drove thro

新西兰英语 147 Money for maternity services

The government is giving more money for maternity services. One reason for this is that more women are having babies at the moment and hospitals need more beds and more staff. Statistics New Zealand said the number of babies born in March this year i

新西兰英语 321 Mt Hutt closed overnight

Last night Mt Hutt skifield was closed and about 1300 skiers had to spend the night on the floor of the lodge on the mountain. There is no sleeping accommodation on the mountain. Yesterday morning, the ski field opened as usual to skiers but by aroun

新西兰英语 128 More Job Losses

Sometimes we hear that the economic problems in New Zealand are not so bad. On the other hand, we heard of more job losses this week. The Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) will cut 70 jobs. The TEC is a government business which gives funding and c

新西兰英语 296 E-books

E-books have been available overseas for a number of years but they are now available in New Zealand too. The introduction of e-books, electronic books, means New Zealanders will are able to download and read a book on their computer, an e-reader or

新西兰英语 217 Emissions Trading Scheme becomes law

Tonight Parliament voted on New Zealands Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). The National Party, with the support of the Maori Party, had 63 votes while the Opposition Labour, the Greens and ACT had only 58 votes. Earlier this week, the government gave f

新西兰英语 302 PM visits South Korea

The Prime Minister, John Key, set off today for a 10-day trip to South Korea, China and Vietnam. He said that New Zealand needs to have strong relationships with Asian countries as we are near neighbours. It is the 60th anniversary of the Korean War.

新西兰英语 403 Julia Gillard visits New Zealand

The Prime Minister of Australia, Julia Gillard, visited New Zealand for two days, yesterday and today. The reason for her visit was to meet our Prime Minister, John Key, and talk about a closer partnership. In 1983, New Zealand and Australia signed a

新西兰英语 168 Commuting to Work

The Statistics Department has just given us the figures for how people commute to work. They gave percentages of people who drive, walk, cycle or take public transport to work. These figures come from the census in 2006. Every five years, we have a c

新西兰英语 341 Godwits return to New Zealand

Every year, in mid-September, about 100,000 bar-tailed godwits return to New Zealand from Alaska. This godwit is a sea bird about 40cm in height. It wades on long legs in the mudflats at low tides on some beaches and eats insects, crabs and small pla

新西兰英语 273 Flooding in Queenstown

It has been raining for the last five or six days in Central Otago. The rivers are high. The rivers flow into four big lakes in that area: Lake Hawea, Lake Te Anau, Lake Manapouri and Lake Wakatipu. Queenstown is on the shores of Lake Wakatipu. Roads

新西兰英语 149 Future for Cycling

After the jobs conference (see February 27th 2009) the Prime Minister, John Key, was very interested in the idea of cycle tracks from the north of the North Island to the south of the South Island, about 2,000km. As well as being Prime Minister, John

新西兰英语 140 New Zealand Sign Language Week

This week, starting today, is New Zealand Sign Language Week, celebrating the language that is used by the Deaf community. Just three years ago, NZ Sign Language (NZSL) became the third official language in New Zealand, after English and Maori. This