新西兰英语 202 ACC

Last week, the ACC Chairman said that ACC needs to increase levies that we pay. ACC means Accident Compensation Corporation. It provides insurance to pay for health care if we have an accident. This is a No Fault insurance because we cannot sue a per

新西兰英语 271 ANZAC Day Tragedy

Three air force men were killed and one was seriously injured when their helicopter crashed early yesterday morning near Wellington. They were on their way to the ANZAC service in Wellington. The plan was for three air force Iroquois helicopters to f

新西兰英语 463 TVNZ no longer has a charter

In 2003, the Labour government voted for a charter for TVNZ. In return for $15m a year, TVNZ had to provide programmes which showed New Zealand culture and way of life. The charter gave a list of things that TVNZ had to do. It had to show Maori cultu

新西兰英语 162 False Visas

A Maori, Gerrard Otimi, has been arrested by the police for selling false visas to Pacific Island people. He offered to adopt them into his hapu, or tribe. They paid him $500 for this and he put a stamp in their passport which he said gave them a vis

新西兰英语 277 Air NZ and Virgin Blue

Air NZ and Virgin Blue airlines may become partners to fly across the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand. First, however, the Transport Ministers in both countries have to agree. In 2002, Air NZ and Qantas had talks about becoming partners.

新西兰英语 232 Whaling protest in Antarctica

A protest boat, with a crew of six people, was damaged by a Japanese whaling ship in Antarctic waters yesterday. The boat, the Ady Gil, is registered in New Zealand but is part of a protest group the Sea Shepherd which has an Australian captain. The

新西兰英语 80 Official Election Results

The official results for the election were announced on Saturday. 270,000 special votes were counted and all other votes were re-counted. Special votes were votes by people who were not in their own electorate on Election Day. Some of these people we

新西兰英语 87 New Government

Note that there is no script for this recording. However, these are some of the words and phrases you will hear: swore an oath of allegiance to the Queen, alphabetically, Governor-General, speech from the throne, representative of the Queen, on behal

新西兰英语 86 Taxi Driver Killed

Late on Saturday night, a taxi driver was stabbed to death in Christchurch. The driver was originally from Afghanistan and arrived in New Zealand as a refugee. In August 2001, he was on a boat from Malaysia, along with other Afghani people, hoping to

新西兰英语 85 Google Street View

Google launched the New Zealand edition of its Street View software this week. Street View is found on Google maps and is free to use. By typing in an address or dragging a small man on the screen, anyone with an Internet connection has a 360-degree,

新西兰英语 84 Japanese Climber Rescued

Early this morning, one Japanese climber, Hideaki Nara, was rescued from Aoraki Mt Cook and the body of his climbing mate, Kiyoshi Ikenouchi, was taken down the mountain by helicopter. The two men were both experienced climbers and Mr Ikenouchi was a

新西兰英语 83 Official Cash Rate Cut

Once more the governor of the Reserve Bank, Alan Bollard, has cut the official cash rate, but this time by a large amount: 1.5%. This brings the official cash rate now to 5%, the lowest in a long time. This is the rate that banks pay to borrow overni

新西兰英语 82 Air NZ plane crash

Five Kiwis and two German pilots were killed in a plane crash off the coast of France. The plane, an Airbus A320, was on a test flight after maintenance in France. The plane was only three years old. It had flown 2800 flights and a total of around 70

新西兰英语 81 Universities want more money

The Vice-Chancellors Committee which represents the heads of the eight New Zealand universities, is asking the government for more money. They say that funding has not kept up with inflation and they need at least another $230 million on top of the $

新西兰英语 79 New Geothermal Power Station

Today a new geo-thermal power station was opened in Kawerau, in the eastern Bay of Plenty. Geo means earth and therm means heat. The power station uses hot steam from the earth. Like the geo-thermal power station at Wairakei, which opened in the 1950

新西兰英语 78 Shadow Cabinet

Now that the National government has chosen the Cabinet ministers, Phil Goff, Leader of the Opposition, has chosen his Shadow Cabinet. These are the people who shadow or mark the government Cabinet ministers. For each department, there is a minister

新西兰英语 77 John Key’s New Cabinet

John Key announced five new Cabinet Ministers yesterday from the minor parties. Today, he announced another 23 from the National Party. This makes 28 Ministers. Bill English will be Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Finance and Minister of Infrastru

新西兰英语 76 Tourism in New Zealand

The slowing global economy has affected tourism in New Zealand with tourist numbers falling this year. There were 11,100 fewer international visitors to New Zealand in September 2008 compared with September 2007. Visitor numbers are down across most

新西兰英语 75 Maori Party Holds Hui

After talks with John Key, the co-leaders of the Maori Party, Tariana Turia and Pita Sharples, have agreed to hold many hui (meetings) throughout New Zealand. It is likely that John Key has offered the Maori Party a chance for one or two of their mem

新西兰英语 74 National Party Wins

It was not a surprise last night to learn that the National Party won the election. The telephone polls had been telling us for a long time that National would get around 45% of the vote and Labour about 34% and that was exactly right. National has 5