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 90 New Year

Tomorrow is New Years Eve. At midnight, many people celebrate the New Year with friends. Many towns and cities have a free outdoor concert. At one minute to midnight there is a count down from 60 seconds to 1 second then everyone shouts Happy New Yea

新西兰英语 61 Parliament Ends

Last week was the final session for Parliament before the elections on November 8th. During the session last week, MPs who were retiring gave their farewell speeches. One well-known National MP, Katherine Rich, decided to retire from Parliament as sh

新西兰英语 267 Volcano in Iceland affects New Zealand to

While the Iceland volcano has brought flights to and from parts of Europe to a stop, even New Zealand is affected. First, AirNZ has cancelled all flights to Los Angeles, Shanghai and Vancouver because these flights continue to the UK. AirNZ flies to

新西兰英语 244 Waitangi Day

Today is Waitangi Day. It is 170 years since the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. This was a treaty between Queen Victoria of England and Maori chiefs in New Zealand. The Queen promised to give Maori all the rights of British citizens and to protec

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 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 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 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 34 Cell Phones

Do you think talking on a cell phone while driving is dangerous? What about texting or reading text messages while driving? It is amazing that some people do that but its true. Last year, a driver who was texting killed two teenage sisters and this y

新西兰英语 28 The Budget

Today, the Minister of Finance, Dr Michael Cullen, announced his budget. Every year, at about the same time of year, the Minister of Finance announces a budget which tells us how the Government plans to spend our tax money in the next year and in the

新西兰英语 36 IVF Sex Selection

A report to the government suggested that New Zealand could allow parents to choose the sex of their children who are born using IVF (in-vitro fertilisation). This is a process where the egg from the woman is fertilised by sperm from the man outside

新西兰英语 50 Olympic Successes for NZ

Saturday was a golden day for New Zealand at the Beijing Olympics. New Zealanders won two gold medals, a silver and two bronze medals. The first medal was won by the rowing twins, Caroline and Georgina Evers-Swindell. This is their second Olympics go

新西兰英语 55 Emissions Trading Scheme

The Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) could become law later this week or early next week. This scheme is a plan to cut greenhouse gases by making businesses pay for their carbon dioxide emissions, that is the CO2 which they put into the air. There will

新西兰英语 46 National Party Conference

The National Party held their annual conference this weekend in Wellington. This was an important conference because it was their last one before the elections in November. The National Party had not said very much about their policies before this we

新西兰英语 265 Selling apples to Australia

Ever since 1921, Australia has refused to buy apples from New Zealand because some New Zealand apples had a disease called fire blight. This disease is common in North America and Europe but Australia and Japan do not have it and do not want it. The

新西兰英语 313 Maori Language week

This is Maori language week, a time to think about the survival of the Maori language and to encourage more people to use it. Listen to more about the purpose of Maori language week: July 29 2009 About 18,000 people are fluent in Maori but the number

新西兰英语 210 Fiji expels New Zealand diplomat

On Tuesday, the Prime Minister of Fiji expelled the top diplomats of Australia and New Zealand and told them to leave in 24 hours. Then New Zealand told the Fijian diplomat in Wellington that he had to leave and go home. Fiji has expelled four New Ze

新西兰英语 419 Christchurch Memorial Service

Today, Christchurch held a memorial service to remember those who died following the earthquake on February 22nd. It was a public holiday for Canterbury so that many people could attend. The service was held outdoors in Hagley Park at midday and thou

新西兰英语 416 Memorial Service

Today, a memorial service was held for students and teachers from an English Language school who died following the earthquake on Feb 22nd. Their school was on the fifth floor of the CTV building which collapsed, killing 71 students and 9 teachers. 2