新西兰英语 26 Price Rises

We all know about price rises in the last few months. Petrol continues to increase, mostly because of the price of a barrel of oil on the international market. Mortgage interest rates have been increasing for some time although last week there was a

新西兰英语 25 Government Buys Back Railways

Last Monday, the government announced that it will buy back the railways for $665 million. That sale includes the inter-island ferries that sail between Picton and Wellington. We have to say buy back because the government used to own the railways bu

新西兰英语 24 Waihopai Protesters

On Wednesday, 3 protesters entered the Waihopai spy base and caused damage to a large globe covering a satellite dish. The director says that the damage could be as much as $1 million. Waihopai is near Blenheim in the north of the South Island. It ha

新西兰英语 23 ANZAC Day (April 25th)

This is ANZAC day, a day that New Zealanders and Australians remember all those soldiers who died in wars in the last century. ANZAC means Australia New Zealand Army Corps and it was the name the Australian and New Zealand soldiers gave to their grou

新西兰英语 22 Junior Doctors Began a Two-day Strike

Today, the junior doctors began a two-day strike in hospitals. They want more money but hospital boards say they cant pay more because the government does not give them enough money. The doctors say they will strike again in two weeks if there is no

新西兰英语 21 Mangatepopo River Accident – 7 Die

The death of 6 teenagers and a teacher on Tuesday afternoon while they were on a school camp came as a terrible shock to all New Zealanders. They were coming down a steep river gorge or canyon on the Mangatepopo River in the centre of the North Islan

新西兰英语 19 Wahine Ferry Sank 40 Years Ago

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

新西兰英语 18 New Zealand Signed a Free-trade Agreement

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

新西兰英语 17 Thanksgiving Service

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

新西兰英语 16 Senior Doctors

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

新西兰英语 15 Building Codes

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

新西兰英语 14 Concerto Competition

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

新西兰英语 430 Driving laws

Parliament voted today to increase the driving age from 15 to 16 from August 1st. The vote was unanimous which means all MPs voted for it. The new law also makes it illegal for drivers under 20 to have any alcohol in their blood. Also, anyone who has

新西兰英语 60 Biosecurity

Anyone who arrives in New Zealand by plane knows about Biosecurity NZ. Bio means living and security means safe. Biosecurity NZ is a government department. Their job is to make our country safe from unwanted living pests. These pests are plants, anim

新西兰英语 64 Small Political Parties

It is not just the American Presidential elections in early November. Four days after the Americans have chosen their new President, we will vote but we cannot choose our leader. We can only vote for one person in our local area, our electorate, and

新西兰英语 43 Money Matters

This week, a major finance company, Hanover Finance, announced it is in trouble. They have decided to freeze all investor funds. This means that people who have invested money in their company cannot take it out again at the moment. The company hopes

新西兰英语 239 Farmers buy shares in Fonterra

Fonterra is the biggest company in New Zealand and also the biggest export dairy company in the world. It is a co-operative which means that farmers own it. In fact, 10, 500 dairy farmers in New Zealand own Fonterra. Each farmer has one share for eac

新西兰英语 183 No public shares for Fonterra

Dairy farmers have voted not to allow Fonterra to list shares on the sharemarket. Fonterra is owned by dairy farmers in a co-operative. The company controls 92% of all the milk produced in New Zealand. The Fonterra Board needs more money to expand th

新西兰英语 179 Seven New Cycle Tracks

The government said that work on the first seven cycle tracks which were promised earlier this year will start in the summer. This will cost $9 million. Another $41 million will be spent later. Together these cycle tracks will be called The Great Rid

新西兰英语 114 New Zealanders help with Australian

It is now nearly four weeks since the start of the terrible bush fires in the state of Victoria, Australia, which killed more than 200 people. 53 New Zealand fire fighters came to Victoria to help fight the fires. Today, they returned home and 57 new