story Every year, there are almost one million calls to New Zealand’s emergencyservice number, 111. When you call 111, there will be a recorded messagetelling you that you have called 111. Then an operator will answer the call andask you whether you want the fire service, an ambulance, or the police. After youanswer this question, they will put ...…

Story In 2017, the Ministry for Children was changed by thegovernment. It was called CYFS, Child,Youth and Family Services. It became an organisation called Oranga Tamariki,which means Child Wellbeing in Maori. Until now, Oranga Tamariki has not been in the news verymuch. Most stories have been about many children needing help, and OrangaTamari ...…

Story Since the government’s budget was released two weeks ago, the news has been full of stories about how New Zealand is affected by these changes. While the main focus has been on promoting mental health,the government has also allocated a large amount of money to defence and transport.Twenty billion dollars has been allocated to defence ove ...…

New Zealand is increasing the number of refugees that it can take in eachyear. Last year the number of refugees increased from 750 per year to 1000. In2020 it will increase to 1500 each year. When you have a ratio expressing a limitsuch as 750 per year, this is called a quota.You will see headlines in the news about the “refugee quota.” This me ...…

The government’s annual budget will be announced on the 30thof May. Information about what will happen is being announced early so thatpeople have a chance to think about it. This will be the first budget that has a focus on quality oflife for all people. Previous budgets focused mainly on GDP, which measured howmuch money the country was makin ...…

Primary and secondary teachers across New Zealand have voted to go on striketogether. The teachers’ unions for primary and secondary teachers have united inannouncing a “mega-strike” on 29 May. This will be the largest strike ever held in New Zealand, involving almost50,000 teachers and principals. Teachers have turned down an offer of a 3 perc ...…

Over the years, there have been several bus driver strikes,especially in Auckland where there are 13,000 bus services operating. Driverswere striking because they needed to have scheduled breaks, but were notgetting them. Because the bus industry is so competitive, it has been difficultfor bus drivers to negotiate fair working conditions. Today ...…

Thousands of junior doctors are goingon strike this week. Junior doctorsworking in the hospitals will stop work from Monday to early Saturday. The strike will not happen inChristchurch because of patients needing care after the recent terror attacks. Throughout the country, manyoperations, appointments and clinics will be postponed because of t ...…

In 2016 nine Indian students were deported from New Zealandbecause their study abroad agents in India had made fake documents in their visaapplications. The students had been very upset at the time, and severalprotests were held in 2017. They insisted that they did not know about thefalsified documents. Now, two years later, four of the nine st ...…

One large part of the Waiho bridge was swept away by flood waters. A new 180m part has been finished and the whole bridge opened to traffic again. The Waiho bridge is important because it joins the West Coast (South Island) highway to Haast Pass, Wanaka and Queenstown. There is only one main road along the West Coast and if it is closed, people ...…

As you may know, New Zealand is a country without mammals. Except, thatis, for seals and bats. There are two tiny species of bats in New Zealand, andthey are not very good at flying. They are easily caught by cats and otherpredators. So, it is very unusual to see a bat here, and usually, they can onlybe found deep in the bush. But recently, bat ...…

If you are traveling in the South Island at the end ofApril, you should certainly visit Arrowtown. Arrowtown is a small town close toQueenstown. It is famous for its autumn colours. This means that the trees inArrowtown change colour to red and orange, making for some of the mostbeautiful views in New Zealand. The Arrowtown Autumn Festival runs ...…

Bad weather brought extensive flooding in Westland last week,affecting towns along the west coast of the South Island. In 48 hours over Tuesdayand Wednesday, this region experienced more than a meter of rainfall. Hokitikahas been flooded and some homes have been evacuated and the contents of an oldrubbish dump have been washed down onto the bea ...…

New gun laws will be in place by April the eleventh. Semi-automatic guns will be reclassified and restricted. A new law has created a category called Military Style Semi-Automatics (MSSA); these are guns that can hold a lot of ammunition, and they are the ones that will be much more difficult to buy. In the future, people who have an MSSA will ...…

Special note: Since this article was written, media have been asked not to share the name of the shooter so that he does not get the attention that he wants. For this reason, I’ve replaced the shooter’s name with “Sad Boy”. New Zealand was shocked on Friday when 50 people in Christchurch were killed by 28-year-old “Sad Boy” . At 1.40pm Sad Boy ...…

Story Thousands of New Zealand school students will skip school on March 15 to protest about climate change as part of a worldwide day of action. There have already been a number of student strikes in other countries, mostly in Europe. The purpose of the movement is to demand that governments and societies take action against climate change. Th ...…

New Zealand’s international arts festival, WOMAD will be held this weekend in New Plymouth. The festival is being staged in Pukekura Park, which is one of New Zealand’s most wonderful parks. WOMAD starts on Friday night, and concert-goers are encouraged to wear fancy dress for this first, opening night. The festival will run through to Sunday n ...…

story vocabulary In the last two weeks, The Westpac Trust Stadium in Wellington has been hosting the Matatini Kapa Haka festival. Kapa Haka is the art of Māori cultural performance. For Te Matatini, adult Kapa Haka groups competed all around the country and finally, the best 1600 performers met in Wellington for the championships in waiata (cho ...…

While firefighters continue to work on hot spots around the Nelson region, fourteen residents of Pigeon Valley have been allowed to return to their homes under caution. The remaining evacuees, about eighty houses, are allowed to go home between 8am and 2pm each day, but that depends on the wind. If the wind is strong, and blowing towards their ...…

Story Answers: Since our last news report the fire south of Nelson has grown to the point where about 2500 residents of Wakefield had to evacuate as it looked like the fire was coming towards them. Wakefield is a town 30km south of Nelson. It is a very old town, and has several historic buildings, so it was a great relief when it didn’t come an ...…

Vocabulary: hectare: 10,000 square metres rural: in the countryside broke out: when a fire starts by accident, we say it “broke out” under control: if something is under control, it means that it is no longer dangerous at this stage: now. Using this phrase means that the information may change in the future. Answers: A large bush fire broke out ...…

In New Zealand, 80% of new cancers reported every year are melanoma, or skin cancer. Two thousand, five hundred new melanoma cases are diagnosed in New Zealand every year. New Zealand has the highest rate of skin cancer in the world, and Australia is very similar. However, the death rate for melanoma is lower than for some other countries becau ...…

The hottest place to be this week was Blenheim, in the top of the South Island, which recorded temperatures of 35 degrees celcius. In general, the eastern parts of NZ are being subjected to a significant heatwave that is seeing temperatures in the thirties in places like Christchurch, Kaikoura, Gisborne and Hastings. New Zealanders are being ur ...…

Chinese New Year is coming up and New Zealand cities are making plans to celebrate. While for most small towns in New Zealand, Chinese New Year will go unnoticed, there will be events to celebrate it in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Hamilton and Dunedin. The Whau Chinese New Year Festival will be held in Auckland on Sunday the 10th of Feb ...…

The Swedish homeware retailer, Ikea, has announced that it will open a branch in New Zealand. It plans to offer online and in-store trading throughout New Zealand, but will start in Auckland. Ikea has been discussing moving to New Zealand for some time, but the problem has been finding suitable land. The New Zealand Herald reported that Ikea’s ...…

Vocabulary: Commuter: someone who travels to work Carriage: a car pulled by a train. It has no engine. Interchange: a place where you may have to change trains. Trial: when someone tries a new business project for a short time, this is a trial. Once: here, “once” means “when” Run: here, “run” means to operate a business. Initiative: a new busin ...…

The new Family Violence Amendments Act will be legislated in July next year, but three parts of the act come into force today. The first thing that changes today is that there are three new actions that are now regarded as crimes. Trying to stop someone from breathing by strangling or suffocation is now a crime carrying a 7-year prison sentence ...…

Vocabulary: Franchise: a business system where a shop owner pays money to a larger company for the right to offer their services. A well-known example of a franchise is MacDonald’s restaurants. Enterprise: an enterprise is a business. Provide: to provide is to give something that someone needs. For example, parents should provide their children ...…

Vocabulary: initiative: a project, usually for the benefit of the community ducting: plastic tubes to protect electrical wires exporter: a business which sells things overseas rubbish: trash Grammar: What is an appositive? An appositive is a little noun phrase that defines the previous noun phrase in the middle of a sentence. “Another company, ...…

Vocabulary: Declaration: a declaration is a document saying that something is true, or that someone will try to do something. Once the document is written, people sign it if they agree with it. Biodiversity: biodiversity refers to the variety of plants and animals that we have living in our environment. If there are many different plants and an ...…

Vocabulary: Superannuation, pension: money from the government for old people Bill: a proposed (suggested) new law Count toward: use some data to qualify for something. For example: The doctor says I have to drink five cups of water every day, and coffee doesn’t count. Answers: A new bill has been introduced to parliament proposing that people ...…