新西兰英语 814 Cardboard Cathedral Open

The new cardboard cathedral in Christchurch is now open. The builders handed the cathedral over to the Anglican church on Friday and gave the bishop a cardboard key as a symbol. The bishop blessed the church so that it is now a religious building. Vo

新西兰英语 427 Royal Wedding Stamps

New Zealand Post has issued two stamps of Prince William and his fiance Catherine Middleton. One is a formal photo where they are standing side by side. He is wearing a jacket and tie. She has her hand on his sleeve. Her hand shows the engagement rin

新西兰英语 811 Enrol to vote

To vote in the .local body elections this year, you must enrol. If you are 18 years old or older, if you are a New Zealand citizen or a Permanent Resident, and if you have lived in New Zealand continuously for more than one year, you must enrol as a

新西兰英语 62 Money Matters

The financial problems in the US are a worry not just to the United States. Many countries throughout the world will be affected. How will New Zealand be affected? Both the Prime Minister, Helen Clark, and the leader of the National Party, John Key,

新西兰英语 181 Dairy Farmers

Dairy farmers are having a tough time during the recession because of the high Kiwi dollar. Last year, the dairy company Fonterra paid farmers more than $7 for a kilo of milk solids. This year they will probably get $5.20. They will know next month h

新西兰英语 112 A Meeting about Jobs

Today, 200 business and community leaders met in Auckland to talk about saving jobs. The Prime Minister, the Minister of Finance and the Governor of the Reserve Bank all spoke to the meeting. They are worried about unemployment and say that many peop

新西兰英语 815 New government for Australia

Australia voted for a new government and new Prime Minister on Saturday. The Labor Party, led by Kevin Rudd, was defeated. The new government will be the Coalition party, a coalition of Liberal and National parties. The Coalition party is conservativ

新西兰英语 01 Commonwealth Heads of Government meet

The Prime Minister, Helen Clark is attending the Commonwealth Heads of Government conference in Uganda. The Queen is Head of the Commonwealth and opened the 3-day conference. She talked about the importance of democracy and education. Prince Charles

新西兰英语 08 Waitangi Day

Today, New Zealanders celebrated Waitangi Day in many places but the main events were held at the Treaty grounds in Waitangi. This is in Northland, about 3 hours drive north of Auckland. The day before, on Tuesday 5th February, leaders held a meeting

新西兰英语 395 Government to sell state assets

John Key said this week that the government will sell some state assets after the next elections. He listed four energy companies: Solid Energy which is a coal company, and three electricity companies Meridian Energy, Genesis and Mighty River Power.

新西兰英语 426 Minimum Wage increase

Today, the minimum wage has increased by 25c from $12.75 to $13 an hour. For young people who are still being trained for the job, their pay has increased by 20c from $10.20 to $10.40. At $13 an hour, this comes to $520 for a 40-hour week. The median

新西兰英语 816 Conservation Week

Conservation Week starts tomorrow. During that week, DOC the Department of Conservation would like New Zealanders to celebrate our special places and our native wildlife. What are our special places? Our National Parks are some of our special places.

新西兰英语 809 International Languages Week

This week, from 18th to 24th, is International Languages Week. Listen to International Languages Week 2012 to hear about this. A recent report by the Royal Society of New Zealand said that more than 160 languages are spoken in New Zealand. We have a

新西兰英语 810 Scooter helmets

Do you think children should wear helmets when riding scooters? Many children these days ride scooters to school. Its quicker than walking and safer than biking because children ride their scooters on the footpath. However, there are sometimes accide

新西兰英语 822 John Key visits Australia

John Key visited Australia today to meet the new Prime Minister, Tony Abbott. Listen to Sept 13th 2013 to hear more about the new Australian Prime Minister. John Keys visit was just for one day but in that short time, the two men talked about matters

新西兰英语 91 Water Safety

Drowning is a big problem around the world and is the second most common cause of accidental death. New Zealand also has a very high rate of drowning with only road accidents and falls causing more deaths by accident. From 2003-2007 an average of 114

新西兰英语 818 School wins court case

Phillipstown primary school won a High Court case today to stay open. Earlier this year, the Minister of Education, Hekia Parata, decided to close a number of primary schools in Christchurch including Phillipstown school. The school was very unhappy

新西兰英语 819 Young New Zealand singer top in US

A 16-year old singer, Lorde, is number one on the US Billboard Top 100 with her song Royals. She is the youngest singer to get to number one since 1987. She is also the first New Zealand solo artist to reach number one. Her first album, Pure Heroine