New Zealand

SERF helping from Hari Hari to Haast and beyond

Thursday, July 2nd, 2020
serf

Evangelization has many faces say, Father Mike Mahoney, the parish priest of South Westland. Franz Josef is part of the parish, and there are over 200 people there who have lost their jobs because there are no longer any foreign tourists. Many of these migrant workers cannot go home because there are no flights. In Read more

Māori astronomer wins top science award

Thursday, July 2nd, 2020

A Tūhoe astronomer is the first Māori to win one of the country’s top science awards for his efforts to revitalise traditional Māori knowledge of the stars. Professor Rangi Matamua was awarded the top communication prize at the Prime Minister’s Science Awards on Tuesday. Read more

Support for Christchurch Muslims falling

Thursday, July 2nd, 2020

Following the massacre on 15 March 2019, case managers were assigned to the bereaved and injured to help them navigate their way around government agencies including the Ministry of Social Development (MSD), Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) and Immigration New Zealand (INZ). Muslim Association of Canterbury general secretary Feroze Ditta, who still carried fragments of the Read more

Christ Church Cathedral: First a two-year stabilisation programme

Monday, June 29th, 2020
stablisation

It will take a year to complete the stabilisation of the Christ Church Cathedral in Christchurch to a point where people could safely enter the earthquake-damaged building. Large steel frames will be installed on the west wall, the transepts, the back of the cathedral and the southern side of the building near where the tower Read more

Decriminalisation of cannabis may be a better option than legalisation

Monday, June 29th, 2020
decriminalisation

The Nathaniel Centre has posted a report by Dr Lynne Bowyer and Dr Deborah Stevens co-directors of The New Zealand Centre for Science and Citizenship Trust. They conclude there is no evidence to suggest that legalising cannabis will provide a solution to the drug-related issues that disproportionately affect marginalised/minority groups. “These issues include negative impacts Read more

The Final Choice: The facts and the emotions

Monday, June 29th, 2020
the final choice

Kiwi journalist Caralise Trayes was interviewed on RNZ Sunday about a book that she has just completed called The Final Choice. She said she was motivated to write The Final Choice after she realised she would soon have to vote in the referendum, but she did not know much about the issue. The New Zealand Read more

Staff-monitoring software rests in a ‘grey area’

Monday, June 29th, 2020

Sales of staff-monitoring software have skyrocketed thanks to businesses wanting to keep track of what workers are up to while working from home as a result of Covid-19 restrictions. Ian Howard, CEO of brand and ethics consultancy Bright Street Studio, says even the names – like Time Doctor or Staff Cop – can feel “slightly Read more

Miramar Peninsula Hosts Mid-winter Christmas

Monday, June 29th, 2020

The mid-winter Christmas in Miramar began with carols. The plan had been to sing in the civic area outside the Roxy Cinema. Weather forced the event indoors, but spirits were not dampened as David Midland and Salvation Army Brass Band led the rousing mid-winter carols in the drier surrounds of the beautiful St. Aidan’s Church. Read more

Actress says the Church was her first theatre

Thursday, June 25th, 2020
healey

Actress Theresa Healey told Stuff that lots of Catholics become actors: “I think it’s because we’re introduced to the concept of spirituality from an early age. Mass is a performance, it’s all rituals, mystery and symbolism. The transubstantiation, wine becomes blood, bread the body. The church was my first theatre, then the theatre became my Read more

Hate speech legislation on hold till after election

Thursday, June 25th, 2020
hate speech

A proposal that could make hate speech a criminal offence has been stalled and is unlikely to pass before the election. The Government fast-tracked a review of hate speech legislation in the wake of the March 15 Christchurch terror attack last year. Justice Minister Andrew Little declared existing legislation on the issue “woefully inadequate.” Following Read more