Monthly Archives: January 2022

Prince Andrew has now been stripped of his New Zealand title. Photo / Supplied

Prince Andrew has been stripped of his New Zealand military title, the Prime Minister has announced.

Earlier today a statement from Buckingham Palace said the Queen has stripped Andrew of his royal titles, as he faces a lawsuit that he sexually assaulted an American woman when she was 17.

Jacinda Ardern said Andrew had also lost his titles in New Zealand as a result.

"In New Zealand, the Duke of York was formerly the Colonel-in-Chief of the Royal New Zealand Army Logistic Regiment (The Duke of York's Own)," read the statement.

"As a result of patronages returning to the Queen, his appointment has now ended.

"Any further changes to Royal patronages and appointments would be a matter for the Prime Minister to raise with the Queen of New Zealand in due course."

NZ Republic campaign chairman Lewis Holden said they had been calling for Andrew's title to be dropped since last year.

"Essentially the Government's position up until now was that they're not going to do anything but obviously with the Queen removing his titles now, things should really change.

"There are very serious allegations that Prince Andrew is now having to stand trial for in the US. Regardless of what anyone thinks about the monarchy, it obviously leads us to the point where he shouldn't have those titles in our armed forces.

"This also just highlights that it's really nonsensical to have, even these titular roles, in the hands of British royals, because we end up being in situations where we have to wait for them to make a decision about these titles which really just undermines our independence."

Link:

Prince Andrew stripped of New Zealand military title - New Zealand Herald

OPINION: Slavery is often perceived as an African/American issue, a past era when indigenous Africans were kidnapped and sold to work on American plantations.

But modern slavery as we know it actually goes back to the Arab Moors who wreaked havoc around the Mediterranean.

In the AD 1544 Sack of Lipari, one of the Aeolian Islands off northern Sicily, arch pirate Hayreddin Barbarossa attacked, enslaved, and sold off virtually the islands entire population of 7000 inhabitants.

The Pacific too has seen its share of slavery blackbirding it was called - whole villages rounded up and shipped off to work on colonial plantations in South America, Queensland, Fiji and Samoa essentially any place where the indigenous folk were not able to be coerced into working for the white man.

READ MORE:* Migrant exploitation complaints jump more than 250 per cent* Barbados bids farewell to British monarchy, becomes republic* Pompeii dig yields rare window on daily life of enslaved* A plywood box in a liquor store backroom, home for one of New Zealand's estimated 3000 modern day slaves

Established in Apia in 1857, German plantation owner DHBG (Deutsche Handels-und Plantagen Gesellschaft) grew to be a key player in the Samoan economy by the end of the 19th Century.

At first, they used indentured labour from Niue and Rarotonga, but this changed in 1867 when they switched to more compliant Melanesians, nearly all collected from the Solomons and Bismark Archipelago of Papua New Guinea.

In Samoa, these Melanesian labourers became known as the Tama Ulis, Black Boys, their skin being so much darker than the Polynesian.

New Zealand took ownership of the German plantations in Samoa, including their workforce, soon after New Zealand troops landed without resistance at Matautu near Apia in 1914. All the German plantations were formally confiscated and turned into the New Zealand Crown Estates (later New Zealand Reparation Estates).

It is well recorded in Samoa how under their German owners, the Melanesian plantation workers were strictly controlled, one could certainly suggest to the point of ill-treatment.

Cattle whips and sticks were often used on them by their overseers, and their movements were strictly controlled, largely forbidden to leave their individual plantation blocks to make social visits to other Tama Uli.

Alexander Turnbull Library

Part of New Zealand Expeditionary Force camp at Malifa, Western Samoa, taken in 1914.

Colonial correspondence reveals that the Germans preferred Melanesians because of their humble nature; they hardly ever complain, even when ill-treated, reported one German commissioner.

Robert Louis Stevenson arrived in Samoa in 1890 at the height of the German occupation, describing the German plantations as being prolific producers of cattle, coconut, coffee, rubber, pineapples and other crops.

His estimate of total area intensively worked by DHPG was around 10,000 acres, all so well-kept as to have the appearance of fairyland.

It was always going to be a difficult legacy to appropriate.

When New Zealand took over the German plantations, the treatment of the indentured labour did become more humane, all the punishments stopped for a start. But because of acute labour shortages no way would any successive Kiwi government make any moves to repatriate any of the approximately 125 original Melanesians back to their home islands which they all desperately wanted to return to.

This is complex territory, remembering the Melanesians were not taken at the point of a gun.

Oral histories clearly reveal most were tricked and bribed to come to Samoa in the first place, verbally promised that they would be returned to their home islands after three years with a wooden box of trade goods which at the time was highly regarded in their communities.

John Titchen/Getty Images

The grave of Scottish writer, poet and traveller Robert Louis Stevenson on Mount Vaea behind his home at Vailima, Western Samoa.

Another complication here came in 1957 when the New Zealand Reparation Estates, and all their employees, were handed over to the Western Samoa Trust Estate Corporation (WSTEC), ahead of independence in 1962.

Effectively we offloaded the Tama Uli on the Samoan Government, adding another layer of post-colonial complexity.

So what has happened to them all?

Today the Melanesian descendants of the original Tama Uli in Western Samoa number with their families around a 1000, most of them still residing around the old plantation district of Upolo, mostly within 30 miles of Apia.

It must be said that some Tama Uli descendants have successfully integrated to now live in Samoan villages, in several cases even bestowed matai (chief) status, while others have acquired small parcels of mostly leasehold land to live on with their families in semi-urban locations around the capital.

Both these sub-groups it could be said have done relatively well integrating into Samoan society.

But the big share of Tama Uli descendants still congregate in strong Melanesian communities, well represented tin the villages of Aele Fou, Sogi, the Samoa Trust Estate Corporation plantation villages (including their sub-communities of Afia, Olo and Sina), Tufulele, and Vaitele Uta.

I first became aware of the well-forgotten plight of Samoas Tama Uli while researching for Unescos Cultural Office in the Pacific the plight of the Banaban people, another displaced Pacific minority which New Zealand has benefited from.

After World War II, they were all tricked to relocate to Rabi Island in northern Fiji by the British Phosphate Company (BPC), simply so the BPC could entirely mine their home island of Banaba in the Central Pacific *now part of Kiribati).

All its guano phosphate was used to promote agricultural production in the British Empires farming countries of Australia and New Zealand. It was a straight steal, and we became prosperous through it, to their detriment today.

Like the Banabans on Rabi, who still wait patiently for redress, let alone any real apology for past wrongs, the displaced Melanesians in Samoa havent exactly been complainers.

According to Unescos 2000 report commissioned by its Pacific Cultural Office in Apia, the Melanesian communities in Western Samoa still have the lowest level of integration into Samoan culture, still suffering subtle discriminations on at a personal level.

Phil Walter/Getty Images

The Melanesian descendants of the original Tama Uli in Western Samoa number with their families around a 1000, most of them still residing around the old plantation district of Upolo, mostly within 30 miles of Apia.

Unable to escape their inferiority complex that binds them psychologically, this could be considered the starting point for the cycle of poverty that still inflicts them. Low self-esteem results in poor achievement in life, resulting in poor education and achievement in children, resulting in low-paying jobs, resulting in an inability to make any serious investment in education and so the cycle continues.

Governments in Samoa, Australia and Fiji have all moved in recent years to make apologies and some amends to their descendants of indentured labour.

Australia made their official public declaration back in 2000, testifying many of its indentured Melanesian labourers were treated like slaves, and noting that their descendants today remain little understood.

But no effort from New Zealand towards the Tama Uli has been forthcoming, almost certainly because of the sensitive nature of the subject in Samoa, with many government officials there denying the existence of an ethnic group which could prove divisive.

Many Melanesian descendants were interviewed for the UN report, but no real names could be used, so sensitive has the subject become in Samoa.

Exploitation is an old issue. Especially in this complicated world where history keeps getting revised, and compensation from countries perceived as profiteering and exploiting less developed countries can become little more than quagmires of blame-fuelled discussion.

The best result we could hope for in todays complex world may be to encourage rich donors and sponsors to take up the cause of the exploited, let the mantle of honour fall upon the givers, and encourage all of us to become better people in a brave new world.

See the original post:

New Zealand's forgotten slaves of the Pacific - Stuff.co.nz

Soccer Football - Premier League - Leeds United v Burnley - Elland Road, Leeds, Britain - January 2, 2022 Burnley's Chris Wood in action with Leeds United's Robin Koch Action Images via Reuters/Lee Smith /File Photo

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Jan 13 (Reuters) - Newcastle United have signed New Zealand striker Chris Wood from relegation rivals Burnley on a two-and-a-half-year deal, the two Premier League clubs announced on Thursday.

The clubs did not disclose financial details of the transfer but British media reported that Newcastle paid Burnley 25 million pounds ($34.3 million) for the 30-year-old.

"You've got to look at it and feel what your gut says. It was just one of them feelings you had like it's the right time in my career," Wood, who has scored 27 times for New Zealand, said in his first news conference as a Newcastle player.

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"I'm a firm believer that you have to step out of your comfort zone to achieve greatness or some sort of great footballing talent. There's no illusion that this is going to be a big challenge for me."

Wood had been a key player for Burnley, having scored 49 goals in 144 league matches during his four-and-a-half years at Turf Moor. He joined Burnley from Leeds United in 2017 for a then-club-record fee.

Wood added that there was no ill feeling towards his former club despite Newcastle and Burnley both being in a tussle to stay up.

"There was no bad blood at all. I really enjoyed my time at Burnley... the highs that we had playing in the Europa League, finishing 10th in the league..." he told reporters.

Wood is Burnley's all-time top scorer in the Premier League, with his 49 goals accounting for nearly a third of the Clarets' total in the competition since he made his debut in August 2017.

Newcastle were in need of attacking reinforcements after top striker Callum Wilson had been ruled out for eight weeks due to a calf injury.

"He is a very dangerous attacking threat, has a physicality and character that I really like, and he has vast experience in the Premier League. He will be a great fit for us," said manager Eddie Howe.

Wood becomes Newcastle's second signing since the club's takeover by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund in October and more are expected to follow in the January window.

Newcastle, who are second-bottom in the league on 11 points after 19 matches, signed England fullback Kieran Trippier from LaLiga champions Atletico Madrid last week.

They are due to host Watford in the league on Saturday.

($1 = 0.7282 pounds)

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Reporting by Anita Kobylinska in Gdansk and Manasi Pathak in Bengaluru, additional reporting by Dhruv Munjal; Editing by Toby Chopra and Toby Davis

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

See the article here:

Newcastle sign New Zealand striker Wood from relegation rivals Burnley - Reuters

Twitter is being flooded with coloured emojis following the rise in popularity of the word game Wordle. New Zealand is to blame and now, rightfully, we should apologise, argues Stewart Sowman-Lund.

Its obvious: New Zealand simply has to apologise to Twitter users around the globe after it was revealed we were responsible for the ability to share Wordle results directly to social media.

Once again, our small island nation has punched above its weight and made it onto the world stage. But unlike the time when Peter Jackson made Lord of the Rings, this is more like when he made The Hobbit and now its time to ask for forgiveness.

Since the end of 2021, the rise in Wordles popularity has seen Twitter ablaze with mysterious green, yellow and grey boxes, often followed by numbers and the name Wordle. Its now been revealed that New Zealand is to blame for the mildly irritating social media trend, prompting the need for an urgent apology to the world for clogging up everybodys feeds.

Wordle, for those uninitiated, is a pleasingly simple and addictive daily word game that originated in the United States. Players get six attempts to guess a five-letter word and each day theres a new word to guess. It was created late last year by Brooklyn-based software designer Josh Wardle (yes, he named Wordle after himself), who originally made the game for his partner. Initially played by fewer than 100 people, it has since boomed and, in under three months, has developed a devoted fanbase of more than two million users many of whom are in New Zealand.

Wardle this week described New Zealand as being really into Wordle and said its astounding how many of us play the game given the size of our population.

Along with being early adopters and very vocal advocates for the game, its been revealed that New Zealanders were also responsible for the decision to allow easy sharing of results on Twitter with the use of coloured emoji squares. The trend first started after New Zealand users of the game decided to manually enter their Wordle results onto Twitter using the coloured box emojis. Its both embarrassing and, I guess, slightly admirable that New Zealanders chose to manually input those little coloured boxes to their Twitter. But it was definitely a boon for the creators of the coloured box emoji because nobody had ever used those before Wordle came along.

The efforts of those early New Zealand players were all it took for the games creator to notice us down here and decide to make it easier for Twitter to become one long advert for Wordle, introducing the share function that automatically generates the emoji boxes in an at-first-subtly-pleasing-but-later-subtly-infuriating coloured grid.

The emoji grid just leaves the colours and its a way for you to share how you did without ruining the game for others, which has really led to this communal aspect specifically on Twitter, Wardle explained to RNZ.

Instead of expressing any regret over the decision to allow easy sharing to Twitter, Wardle appears to still be in support of the move. Others have become, if not infuriated, at least mildly agitated by the arrival of the coloured squares.

I shall probably never play Wordle because games that market themselves by encouraging users to spam Twitter annoy the piss out of me, said one person.

Another simply said: Nobody cares about your Wordle performance.

One anonymous source even admitted to The Spinoff that despite sharing their own Wordle result a handful of times, they now felt angered by the proliferation of the emojis on their Twitter feed. I wish there was a simple way I could hide the emojis, perhaps a mute function, they mused.

While an apology for the social media trend is unlikely to see Wordle score-sharing come to an end, it will be a step in the right direction, encouraging international Twitter to forgive New Zealand for the casual annoyance so they can return to aimlessly dreaming of one day being able to visit us instead.

Link:

Those coloured boxes on Twitter are New Zealand's fault - The Spinoff

"Unlike the most popular first names for babies which tend to retain popularity across the country, data for family names differs, painting a beautiful picture of the cultural history of each region of Aotearoa," Registrar-General Jeff Montgomery said on Friday.

"It's a joy each year to get a feel for how the communities in each region are growing and thriving through looking at something as simple as the most common baby family names."

For example, common Chinese surnames Wang and Li take fifth and sixth place respectively in Auckland/Tmaki Makaurau's top 10, but neither appear in the 10 most common surnames nationwide.

Similarly, Anderson and Thomas - which appear in sixth and eighth place for the South Island's top 10 - do not make the overall list for New Zealand.

Aotearoa's most popular names, from forenames to family names to pet names, are gathered each year from SmartStart data. The site is a useful tool for new parents, making IRD numbers, benefits and BestStart payments simple for mums and dads. Through SmartStart birth registrations, baby name data is tracked each year to help foster a sense of belonging and inclusivity in Aotearoa.

The Department of Internal Affairs also this week released the most popular baby names of 2021, as well as the list of 78 baby names declined by the Registrar-General.

View post:

New Zealand's most common surnames for babies born in 2021 revealed - Newshub

You really cant beat basalt columns. They are so stunningly tall, geometrical, neat and regular, yet are totally natural and result from natures most violent and least controlled event: a volcanic eruption.

Always attracting attention for their strikingly unusual appearance, they occur in a number of places around the world, including just outside Dunedin.

DunedinNZ

Contrasting with the surrounding bush, the Organ Pipes deserve a closer look.

Our Organ Pipes, officially called columnar jointing, were formed when molten basalt cooled at just the right speed to shrink and crack into perfect hexagonal columns, neatly fitted together like a bundle of pencils.

Rising high out of the surrounding bush, the pillars are surrounded by a scattering of broken pieces at their base. You can climb the track right to the top of them for wonderful views and posing opportunities: a very worthy reward for a decent amount of effort.

READ MORE:* New Zealand's most scenic walks * Dunedin: A secret side of the city you've never seen before* Dunedin: New Zealand's city of hidden gems* Dunedin: The place where you can travel the world without leaving New Zealand

DunedinNZ

At the top of the Organ Pipes you're breathless in both senses.

Because its a long way to the Giants Causeway in Northern Ireland, or Reynisfjara in Iceland, but only a short drive from Dunedins centre to Mount Cargill Road and the start of the Organ Pipes track.

Admittedly on a somewhat smaller scale than those international Instagram favourites, New Zealands version still towers impressively high and its well worth following the two-kilometre track that takes you from the car park to their summit.

En route youll pass through podocarp forest, and get a dizzying view up the Organ Pipes from near their base. Any breath you have left at the top will be taken by both the scenery, and being able to now look straight down onto the tops of the columns, fascinated by how precisely they fit together.

Though do-able for the reasonably active, the track is moderately challenging. It starts steeply, then involves some scrambling over fallen rocks, and finishes with an even steeper climb to the top, so come prepared, mentally, physically and wearing suitable shoes.

DunedinNZ

The climb to the top is challenging, but worth it.

For more long views of the harbour, Otago Peninsula and the city, you can continue along the main Mount Cargill Walk track to its summit, 676m above sea level. There are lots of native birds to hear and see along the way, overflowing from the nearby Orokonui Ecosanctuary, which is also well worth visiting.

Mount Cargill, which is also accessible by car along Cowan Road on the other side, is topped by a towering transmission tower; theres a good view of it from the Buttars Peak side-track.

DunedinNZ

Unnaturally geometrical, basalt columns are always impressive.

After all that exertion, youll need refuelling, so head back down into cute and historic Port Chalmers for a caf stop. Theres a lot to see here too. Besides arty galleries, its Maritime Museum is full of interesting, and unexpected, stories and exhibits like Ernest Shackletons typewriter and a fragment of a Japanese bomb dropped on Darwin in 1942.

Youll need just time, energy and an adventurous spirit.

DunedinNZ

The Organ Pipes are a gift to any photographer.

The extensive views are as much a reward as the rocks themselves, so save this one for a clear day. Avoid going soon after rain.

Staying safe: New Zealand is currently under Covid-19 restrictions. Face coverings are mandatory on all flights and public transport. Proof of vaccination and vaccine exemption may be required in some venues under the traffic light system. Follow the instructions at covid19.govt.nz.

See the article here:

World Famous in New Zealand: Dunedin's towering Organ Pipes are always impressive - Stuff.co.nz

Melbourne United have claimed a fifth consecutive victory in the NBL, downing the New Zealand Breakers 89-78 behind a milestone night from sharpshooter Chris Goulding.

Playing in an empty MyState Bank Arena in Hobart on Friday night, United (7-4) drowned out three quarters of noise by the Breakers (1-7) to pull away in the final 10 minutes behind Goulding, who finished with 25 points.

The Boomers star notched a milestone 5000 career points in the NBL before going to another gear in the fourth quarter to carry his side to victory.

Early on in the contest it was all Jo Lual-Acuil who's interior presence and energy on the glass got the better of Breakers big man Yannick Wetzell, with the United centre notching 22 points and 12 rebounds of his own - his first ever 20 and 10 NBL game.

Melbourne coach Dean Vickerman said the duo of Goulding (50 per cent from beyond the arc) and Lual-Acuil were outstanding on a night where the Breakers' defensive pressure kept the contest close.

"He's (Goulding) a dual championship winner, he's our captain, there's not many more accolades you can put on him," he said.

"He likes to see perfection and if he doesn't, he's willing to hold people accountable to the way that we go about things, me included.

"I thought Jo's attack on the rim, and seal inside the paint were so effective tonight and then again being an anchor for us at the defensive end and challenging things at the rim."

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United were given numerous second-chance opportunities throughout with their domination on the boards, doubling their opposition 50 to 25, with 14 of those on the offensive end.

Jeremiah Martin led the way for the Breakers off the bench with 20 points off 8/13 shooting as their strategy to force their opposition into the paint paid dividends for three quarters.

Returning point guard Peyton Siva said their grit was something to be proud of but they need to win these tight contests.

"Overall, I thought we came out played and hard at the beginning - the mistake that we made was giving up too many offensive rebounds," he told reporters.

"Each game we have to draw some positives: today we did a good job of sharing the ball, we kept the turnovers down but at the end we still lost.

"We've got the short turn around, Sydney coming up. So we have got to focus in on that."

See more here:

NBL Chris Goulding hits milestone in Melbourne United win over New Zealand Breakers - ESPN

New Zealand's imported carbon levels rose, accounting for the production processes of goods and services arriving from overseas,figures released by Statistics NZ late last month showed.

This time it wasn't the usual suspects, livestock or transport, boosting our carbon footprint.

"In the year ended December 2019, greenhouse gas emissions embodied in our imported goods and services increased 3.2 percent from the previous year, to 30,728 kilotonnes and accounted for 51 percent of our carbon footprint", the report noted.

New Zealand's total carbon footprint for the year was 60,527 kilotonnes, an increase of 1.8% on the previous year.

The level of imported carbon is calculated by measuring the emissions spent in the creation of goods and services in their country of origin, before they are imported to New Zealand.

Because the goods or services are consumed here, our carbon figures take the hit.

The graph below shows the type of emissions embodied in imported manufactured goods, the level of which rose overall -up 5.6% on 2018.

Consumption-based emission statistics present a broader picture of how international trade, producers, and consumers influence our carbon footprint.

"They illustrate how a nations consumption and lifestyle choices impact on emissions, said Stephen Oakley, environmental-economic accounts manager at Statistics NZ.

Our total carbon footprint was made up of household consumption on 71% (42,888 kilotonnes),followed bygross capital formation (capital investment and inventories), 20% and government (central and local) consumption, 8%.

Household demand accounted for the lion's share of imported emissions during 2019 and was up 1.6 percent on the previous year.

To break household emissions down further: transport use made up 37%, food and non-alcoholic beverages was 24% and housing and household utilities (electricity) contributed 13%.

Over the last five years household consumption-based emissions have hovered around 42,000 to 43,000 kilotonnes. Increases in population and expenditure per capita have offset decreases in the emissions intensity of household consumption, said Oakley.

On the export side, unsurprisingly, the majority of our emissions were from agricultural products, which have inherently high embodied methane and nitrous oxide.

In 2019, New Zealand exported 80% of the methane produced here.

New Zealand is a net exporter of embodied emissions as its consumption-based emissions are significantly less than its production-based emissions. This means that as a nation we export more emissions than we import, said Oakley.

Read more:

Imports account for half of New Zealand's carbon footprint - Interest.co.nz

Anyone who follows Behrouz Boochani on Twitter knows hes not fond of Australian politicians. Especially their habit of detaining asylum seekers in inhospitable places such as Manus Island, where the now 38-year-old spent six years incarcerated by the Australian government.

A former investigative journalist in his Iranian homeland, Boochani was persecuted for his support for Kurdish rights, fleeing for Australia in 2013 where he was detained at the Papua New Guinea detention facility, which was later found to be illegal.

He came to Christchurch in 2019 and was granted refugee status in 2020. Boochani continues to fight for asylum seekers, marginalised people and indigenous rights across the globe.

He sat down with Sharon Stephenson to talk about his work and appearing at the upcoming Womad Festival.

READ MORE:* Womad promises international vibe even without overseas acts* Celebrated author Behrouz Boochani named one of two writers in residence at University of Canterbury* Iranian writer Behrouz Boochani granted refugee status in NZ* Asylum seeker Behrouz Boochani interview: They cannot take the sky away

Where were you born? Im the second oldest of five children, born in Kurdistan in the west of Iran. My family were sheep and goat farmers.

What did you want to do with your life? My heart was set on becoming a footballer! I follow Barcelona and Ronaldinho was my favourite player I wanted to win a world cup.

Instead you became a journalist and political activist. I was kind of forced to do that because Kurds were being marginalised by the system and we were losing our culture. I was 18 when I started to resist. I was writing in secret because I feared for my safety.

Why did you leave Iran? In 2012 I was working for a cultural magazine when some of my colleagues were arrested. I flew to Indonesia in May 2013 and thought Id be processed by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. But it didnt happen and it wasnt safe for me to live in Indonesia so I got on a boat to sail to Australia.

Joseph Johnson/Stuff

A former investigative journalist in his Iranian homeland, Boochani was persecuted for his support for Kurdish rights.

Was it a perilous journey? The first boat broke down after 40 hours at sea. I was arrested in Indonesia but managed to escape from prison and got on another boat. There were 65 of us and it took a week to get to Australia. We were arrested as soon as we arrived and sent to Manus Island.

There followed six years of what you say was inhumane treatment. I saw friends being shot and stabbed by guards, while others died of medical neglect and suicide. The mental torture of being deprived of hope was also immense.

It prompted you to tell the world about it. I started writing articles for The Guardian Australia and the Sydney Morning Herald on a smuggled phone, sending texts that were translated. I wanted the world to know about how both the detainees and the indigenous people were being treated.

Id guess that didnt go down well with authorities? I had my phone confiscated twice and had to smuggle in other phones. But I knew I had to keep writing.

Was that writing eventually turned into a documentary? I secretly filmed footage of life in the detention centre on my phone for six months, sending it to an Iranian colleague in the Netherlands who turned it into Chauka, Please Tell Us the Time.

One critic called it an essential film for all Australians and it was screened at film festivals around the world, including London, Berlin and Gothenburg.

After that came your memoir No Friend But the Mountains: Writing from Manus Prison. I wrote around 100,000 words for it, tapped out in texts. It was a lot of text messages.

You were invited to speak about your work at Word Christchurch in 2019. How did that change your life? I sought asylum status when I arrived in New Zealand and was eventually granted refugee status in July 2020.

JOSEPH JOHNSON/STUFF

Kurdish Iranian refugee and journalist Behrouz Boochani has been awarded refugee status by the New Zealand government.

What have you done since arriving here? I spent a year at the Ngi Tahu Research Centre working on two projects. One of those is a play about the disproportionate number of indigenous Australians in custody and life inside Australias immigration detention centres. It's called Jurrungu Ngan-ga and is in collaboration with Australias leading indigenous intercultural dance company. Its having its world premiere at the Sydney Festival at the end of January.

Are you still writing? Another project Ive been involved with is guest editing an Australian journal called Southerly. The issue was devoted to the work of refugees and those whove been incarcerated in detention centres.

Im also working on a fiction book but Im so busy I never seem to have time to write it. I hope to have it finished at the end of 2022.

Youre also in demand as a global speaker, right? I speak all over the world via Zoom, especially to universities, about the issue of marginalisation of indigenous cultures and refugees. Last week I spoke to a university in Sweden.

What do you do when youre not working? People in Canterbury would have seen me cycling around the city. I like cycling through Hagley Park. I also play football sometimes.

Is New Zealand home now? Although most of my work is based in Australia, physically I am based in Christchurch. Im happy here and have made friends all over the country. I feel a real connection to New Zealand and am learning a lot about indigenous resistance and the process of decolonisation here.

What will you be speaking about at Womad? About the history of colonisation that still exists in Australia. Their government banishes people to islands and takes indigenous land to house these people. Were both treated badly, so if we can get together, we can resist the system.

Behrouz Boochani is one of the speakers at Womad, 18-20 March. Visit womad.co.nz for info.

Read the original here:

'I feel a real connection to New Zealand' Behrouz Boochani on life and work in Aotearoa - Stuff.co.nz

During a late-night tour of Montevideo, a Uruguay rugby player offered the services of a hitman to kill a leading Counties rugby player. Photo / AP

Former All Black physiotherapist Malcolm Hood shares some remarkable stories from his long career with Neil Reid

Form slumps hit all elite New Zealand rugby players but you would never expect that to result in an offer to provide a hitman to make the player permanently "go away".

But that's just what happened during Counties' second tour of South America in the mid-1980s, when a flippant comment from team physio Malcolm Hood resulted in a local rugby player with connections to the underworld saying Lindsay Raki could be shot and killed for just US$110.

The offer was made as Hood and team captain Alan Dawson one of the best New Zealand players never to play for the All Blacks were taken on a late-night drive through Uruguay's capital city of Montevideo by local two players who were in the team to face Counties the following day.

"I was in the back seat and partway around the player next to me lent over to me and whispered, 'Malcolm, who do you want killed?'," Hood who was the All Blacks' first physio told the Herald.

"I said, 'What?'. I thought there might be a translation issue but his English was quite good. He repeated himself and I said, 'Well who can I have killed?'. He said, 'Anyone in Uruguay, anyone'."

Hood responded with what he thought was a joke, nominating Raki; a New Zealand Sevens star who played more than 100 games for Counties.

"I said, 'Oh well, our first-five hasn't been training as well as I would want, kill him'," he said.

But it was no joke for the Uruguay player, who told Hood the hit would cost US$110 ($163); including US$73 for the actual act and a charge of US$60 to source the murder weapon.

"That was when I realised he was serious and I told him 'No, no, I don't want Lindsay Raki killed, I will just get him to do some more sit-ups'," Hood said.

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15 Oct, 2021 04:00 PMQuick Read

"But he said, 'No it is all right, I will have him killed'."

The Counties and Uruguay side had met on the eve of their match in Montevideo. Defying normal rugby conventions, the local selection was so excited to be hosting its first New Zealand provincial team that they held the "after match" function the night before they clashed on the field.

Fear over what might happen to Raki saw Hood stick close to him for the duration of the team's stay in Uruguay.

"And I was glad when we all got out safely," he laughed.

Hood kept the shocking offer a secret until just "the last couple of years", finally revealing it to a shocked Raki.

"He was in a group with his mates, a lot of ex-Counties players, and when I told him the story he said, 'What, Hoodie!!'. The other guys said, 'Hoodie, that's the only mistake you have ever made in your life . . . you should have let the guy have his way'."

Forty years on, Hood can now laugh about the comment that could have seen him responsible for the ordering of Raki's death.

The physio also turned life-saver during one of Counties' tours of South America.

The side was flying between destinations in Argentina when a "panicking voice" talking Spanish made an announcement over the plane's intercom system.

Hood was battling a stomach bug and said despite a clear "kerfuffle up the front" of the plane his priority was to keep his face "buried" in a paper bag.

A minute later and the message was repeated in English, asking for anyone with a medical background onboard to head to the front of the plane due to an "emergency".

"Thought a big plane this size, there will be somebody medical onboard, and that I wasn't much used to anyone being this unwell," Hood said. "But shortly after one of the female cabin crew tapped me on the shoulder and asked me to please come urgently to the front of the plane."

Hood was then told that the captain of the plane the head of the aircrew had collapsed. After examining the gravely ill pilot, Hood realised how serious the situation was.

"I didn't know whether he was having some sort of stroke or brain issue, but I knew it was life-threatening," he said.

"I said, 'We need to get him oxygen, we need to elevate his feet and how low can we fly the plane?'. They told me that flying low was no problem, the plane came down and it appeared out the portholes at just above pampas grass level . . . we were flying low."

Emergency services were waiting on a nearby tarmac for the plane when it landed.

On his next flight, Aerolineas Argentinas crew told him that the pilot was recovering, and then let Hood sit in the cockpit as a sign of appreciation.

It was not the only flight drama Hood and the Counties team experienced during their two tours of South America in the 1980s.

The side were on the first flight set to land at the nearest airport to one of Argentina's tourism hotspots - Iguacu Falls since the runway had been lengthened to handle international flights.

Seats on the historic flight were booked as a "treat" for the Counties team. But Hood recalled it was anything but a smooth landing.

"When we came to land, we took up all the runway and kept on going. The plane didn't stop at the end of the runway and kept going and we ran through the run-off at the end of the runway. When we finally stopped, the nose of the plane was over the fence into the neighbouring farm.

"While it was now classed an international airport, maybe it wasn't best suited to the size of the plane that we were in," Hood joked.

Rugby boss: 'I was a cannibal out of necessity'

Hood enjoyed plenty of post-match banter with the opposition during his time in top-flight rugby.

But one occasion in particular, in Chile, stands out when a suited and "beautifully spoken" senior rugby official told him that he "was a cannibal".

Counties travelled to Chile to play a local selection during their second South American tour in the mid-1980s.

Hood spent a lot of time speaking to the local rugby side's president during the after-match function.

"He and I got on really well, he was a really nice fellow," Hood said. "He had a depth of character about him that I really liked.

"We talked for ages and he brought up the fact that he was a cannibal. And then the story evolved that he was a cannibal out of necessity."

The rugby official then revealed to Hood that he was one of just 16 of the 45 passengers and crew onboard Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 also known as "Miracle Flight 571" - which crashed in the Andes in October 1972.

Nineteen of the passengers were members of Uruguay's Old Christians rugby club.

The official search for the crash site and any survivors was called off eight days after the plane went down. Two months later 16 people were eventually rescued, after two members of the rugby team hiked for 10 days into Chile to find help.

Once the small food supply salvaged from the plane wreck had been used up, survivors turned to eating the flesh of those who died in the crash.

"If they hadn't eaten their companions they wouldn't have survived," Hood said.

"It is bad enough to think you are a cannibal for most of us, but with a deeply Catholic religion, they had to go against all their faith because you just don't do that sort of thing.

"Several years later the Catholic church absolved them. But they had to live with that conscience for some time.

"I knew the story, but it was quite something to meet someone who had been there. I just marvelled in the survival story. He was such a humble, decent person."

The staggering story of survival has been chronicled in several books, as well as the Hollywood blockbuster movie Alive.

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'Who do you want killed?': $161 offer to have former New Zealand Sevens star shot - New Zealand Herald