Category Archives: New Zealand

Tertius Pickard/AP

England's Stuart Broad is worried about the quality of the Dukes balls ahead of the test series against New Zealand.

New balls, please.

Thats the plea from Englands test cricket bowlers and not tennis players at Roland Garros ahead of the three-test series against New Zealand starting next week.

Veteran England pace bowler Stuart Broad said the current crop of Dukes ball used in the County Championship so far this season have been like bowling with a rolled up piece of Plasticine.

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Needless to say, there's plenty of excitement - and questions - about the former Black Caps captain's new role.

The manufacturers of the brand of balls used for tests in England admitted they will be hand-picking and testing a new batch before the series starts at Lords on June 2, The Times reported.

County bowlers have complained that the balls have been going soft and needing premature replacement, with batters dominating matches, before a new batch were issued for the most recent round of the championship.

They have not swung and because they are going soft very quickly, neither is there any bounce, Broad wrote in his Mail on Sunday column. Things have been so bad that we have had to change the ball two or three times every innings.

It has felt like bowling with a rolled-up piece of Plasticine and the balls are that soft you feel like you can squeeze them even before you have bowled a ball with them. In the first innings against Derbyshire this week, the ball went out of shape after 3.3 overs and was changed after eight.

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Dukes balls criticised ahead of New Zealand's three-test series versus England - Stuff

Joe Roots reign as England Test captain is over, and the responsibility has been passed to Ben Stokes ahead of the upcoming Test series against New Zealand.

Arguably Englands best player now has the weight of captaincy and being their regular match-winner for a busy summer of cricket ahead.

AFP

As soon as Root announced he was stepping down, there was only ever one candidate to replace him and that was Stokes as no one elses place in the side is safe

So a new era begins, and it will be fascinating to see how Stokes does, given that he lost his only previous Test as captain against the West Indies in 2020.

And New Zealand are a tough opponent to start off against.

Kane Williamsons team won the inaugural ICC World Test Championship last year and are more than capable of ensuring the Durham all-rounder gets off to the worst possible start.

Things cant get much worse after the series in the West Indies, but they may do against a well-drilled, efficient outfit in the Kiwis.

However, Brendon McCullum is Englands new head coach and knows New Zealand inside out.

Getty

The first Test between England and New Zealand will start on Thursday, June 2 and it is due to run until Monday, June 6.

The action at Lords will start at 11am.

The first Test will be broadcast on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Cricket each day.

The match will also be available on NowTV through a day pass or a monthly subscription.

Updates will also be live on talkSPORT throughout the day.

To tune in to talkSPORT or talkSPORT 2 through the website, click HERE for the live stream. You can also listen via the talkSPORT app, on DAB digital radio, through your smart sparker and on 1089 or 1053 AM.

The big news for England is that James Anderson and Stuart Broad are back in the Test squad.

Both were dropped for the tour to the Windies, where the visitors toiled in the field.

Anderson might turn 40 in July, but he knows just how to bowl in English conditions and has taken 640 Test wickets in a glittering career.

Broad is also approaching the end, but he still offers England a lot.

There is no place for Jos Buttler, despite his incredible form in the IPL, so Ben Foakes will continue with the gloves.

Matthew Fisher, Dan Lawrence, Ollie Robinson and Matthew Parkinson miss out after being part of the West Indies tour side.

Mark Wood, Saqib Mahmood and Chris Woakes are all injured.

There is a first call-up for Durham bowler Matthew Potts, who has taken 35 wickets in the first six matches of the season, including four five-wicket hauls.

Yorkshires Harry Brook has been in sensational form with the bat in the County Championship, scoring 758 runs at an average of over 150.

England: Ben Stokes (c), Alex Lees, Zak Crawley, Harry Brook, Joe Root, Ollie Pope, Jonathan Bairstow, Ben Foakes, Craig Overton, Matthew Potts, Stuart Broard, James Anderson, Jack Leach

New Zealand: Kane Williamson (c), Devon Conway, Hamish Rutherford, Tom Latham, Henry Nicholls, Will Young, Michael Bracewell, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Blundell, Cameron Fletcher, Colin de Grandhomme, Rachin Ravindra, Jacob Duffy, Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, Ajaz Patel, Blair Tickner, Neil Wagner, Tim Southee, Trent Boult

First Test

Second Test

Third Test

Getty

Rob Key, managing Director for England, said: This is the start of a new era for our Test team under the stewardship of Ben and Brendon.

With a blend of youth and experience, we have selected an exciting squad that can compete with New Zealand in next months Test series.

We have rewarded players in Harry Brook and Matty Potts who have had outstanding starts to the County season, and they deserve the opportunity to stake a claim at this level.

It promises to be a mouthwatering series, and I cant wait for the team to start against a very good New Zealand side. It is a fascinating prospect for everyone connected with the sport in this country.

On being picked to be Test captain, Stokes told talkSPORT: I dont think thats a job that is an easy thing that is ever easy to turn down for anybody.

Obviously youve got to put some thought into it, not just a yeah alright Ill have a go because theres a lot of things to consider, but there was no hesitation.

On the new era, Anderson told talkSPORT: Im no stranger to bringing about change within a team environment and I cant wait to get started.

Youd probably say that Rob and Brendon are slightly left field picks for those roles considering the sort of people that had those roles in the past, but I think its an exciting time.

Certainly with Brendon as Test coach, having played against him a lot and seeing him as New Zealand captain, seeing how forward thinking he was, how attacking he was, its just an exciting time.

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England v New Zealand live stream and team news: Ben Stokes to start role as captain against Kane... - talkSPORT

Joseph Day was a much-loved team member at TVNZ, where he worked as a cameraman. Photo / NZME

An investigation will begin this week into the death of New Zealander Joseph Day, whose body was recovered from Avon Gorge in the United Kingdom earlier this month.

The 31-year-old had been living in Bristol with fiance Kelsey Mulcahy when he disappeared on April 30.

Mulcahy had travelled to London that day and had been texting with Day until around 9.30pm when he suddenly stopped replying.

When she returned to their flat the next morning to find him gone, she raised the alarm.

Tragically, Day's body was found three days later in Avon Gorge.

An investigation by the Avon Coroner into Day's death will begin on May 26, Avon and Somerset police confirmed to the Herald.

"A hearing is held to 'open' the inquest often within a couple of weeks of the death and it is then adjourned to allow full reports to be submitted.

"Once they have been received, a more detailed hearing, where the coroner will make a conclusion about how a person's death came about, will then be held in due course."

Avon and Somerset police said they were carrying out inquiries on behalf of the coroner who at the inquest would determine how Day's death occurred.

Earlier this month, Day's family said they believed his death was the result of a "terrible accident".

Day formerly worked as a cameraman at TVNZ, where he was a much-loved team member.

TVNZ released a statement on May 15 on behalf of Day's family.

"From the evidence that has been presented to us by the police, as a family we believe that Joseph has had a terrible accident," it said.

In the days following Day's death, Mulcahy shared a heartbreaking tribute to her late partner on social media, saying she would always be "Mrs Day" in her heart.

"Empathetic, creative, funny, generous, humble, kind, clever, protective, gentle. The most handsome guy in every room by a mile," Mulcahy said.

Cricketer Josh Tasman-Jones had known Day since he was 5 and Day had recently been a groomsman in his wedding.

He said Day was "genuine and loyal" - a kind, softly spoken man who lived by his morals - the sort of person you could trust to be there for you.

Just over $108,000 was fundraised through Givealittle to help support Day's family and cover costs related to bringing his body home.

A celebration of Day's life for family and friends will be held at the Auckland Town Hall on Thursday, May 26 at 11am.

See the original post here:

Coroner to open investigation into death of New Zealander Joseph Day this week - New Zealand Herald

Ambulances come and go from Middlemore Hospital emergency department. Photo / Sylvie Whinray

With winter fast approaching and New Zealand's borders about to open to all tourists in July, Herald reporter Emma Russell looks at how our country is tracking with non-Covid illnesses.

An outbreak of influenza among university students has sparked a sharp rise in New Zealand's overall rate of flu-like illnesses.

However, one expert says, despite the new cluster, overall cases of winter bugs were still tracking at a lower rate than the five years before our country was hit with the Covid-19 pandemic.

ESR virologist Sue Huang said we are still months way from a seeing a spike of flu-like illnesses and warned New Zealanders to ensure they and their kids were up to date with their vaccinations.

In the week ending May 8, the number of new influenza cases recorded by Environmental Science and Research (ESR) was 50. In comparison, the average number of cases seen that week during the five years before the pandemic struck our shores was 16.

Before May, only eight cases of influenza had been recorded this year.

Huang said this was "remarkable" and "strange" so she investigated further and found of the 50 cases reported, 44 were from Dunedin.

"This is likely because there are a lot of students living in Dunedin. They're living in poor conditions and they are generally more active than the rest of the general public. Viruses are floating a lot in that area," Huang said.

"It's a cluster from a uni student outbreak," Huang said.

She said uni students were far more mobile so likely to have been travelling to Australia and their immune system could be down due to two years of lockdowns and New Zealand's borders being shut.

However, overall rates of flu-like illnesses were still significantly lower than pre-pandemic times.

In the five years between 2015 and 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic hit New Zealand, the average number of influenza cases we would usually see by this time of year was about 265. This year, ESR has so far recorded 58.

"Usually it's around July and August that we see the flu start to peak," Huang said.

She said we would likely see some influx from our borders opening to all tourists in July but given that many travellers would be coming from the northern hemisphere, which would be in summer, it may not be too severe.

ESR gathered data from six major hospital labs in New Zealand - in Wellington, Waikato, Christchurch, Dunedin and two in Auckland. The cases came from people presenting to hospital and general practices who tested positive for influenza.

New Zealand Principals' Federation (NZPF) president Cherie Taylor-Patel said schools were struggling to find relief staff to cover teachers away with Covid and they were also starting to see kids away with other sicknesses.

"The last two years have been anything but normal. We have spent a lot of time in lockdowns so we haven't really had a normal winter in the last couple of years."

Taylor-Patel, who is also the principal of Flanshaw Road School in Te Atat South, Auckland, said there was general unwellness which was a backlash from Covid.

"People have been living in quite anxious states for quite a long time and there was a bit of fatigue and stress catching up with people."

She said schools now had a strict "stay home, if sick" policy which helped prevent the spread of colds and other illnesses.

"In classrooms, people are still working hard to social distance and use sanitiser, making sure ventilation is attended to so that all these protection factors were in place as much as they could be."

The Ministry of Health's Flutracking site showed rates of "influenza-like illness" was trending higher than the last two years but still below 2019.

Last year, New Zealand was hit with an RSV outbreak, which is a contagious respiratory virus prevalent in babies and young children.

By July, more than 4000 people had become infected with RSV that year and by August, nine New Zealanders had died after becoming infected with RSV.

ESR public health physician Dr Sarah Jefferies said, at the time, the high prevalence of RSV was likely the result of lower population immunity because of New Zealand's Covid-19 isolation last year, and the increase in movement since then.

There have only been four cases of RSV recorded so far this year.

Meanwhile, ESR records show so far this year 1469 people have had rhinovirus, also known as the common cold.

Vaccinologist and associate professor Helen Petousis-Harris said our vaccination coverage was "way too low" and on some level people hadn't prioritised getting their "other" immunisations because Covid has been an unwelcomed distraction.

But, she said, that was only part of the issue. Government funding to raise awareness about the importance of getting vaccinated had dropped significantly and it had been replaced with the spread of misinformation, Petousis-Harris said.

"If you're not aware, it flies off people's radar. [Raising awareness] isn't just something you can do from time to time, you've got to do it all the time because every year we have a new cohort come along."

Vulnerable communities, such as Mori, are often targeted by groups spreading misinformation and access to immunisation services had also eroded, "you reap what you sow, so as soon as that happens, coverage drops," she said.

Herd immunity depends on the disease, so for highly infectious diseases, like measles or whooping cough, the threshold is closer to 95 per cent vaccine coverage, whereas it's much lower for influenza, about 50 per cent, Petousis-Harris said.

For meningococcal vaccines, which was only available privately, herd immunity was much lower, like 30 per cent, because it doesn't spread as rapidly, Petousis-Harris said.

Only 68.3 per cent of 18-month-olds have been fully immunised, which is the age toddlers should have two measles vaccine doses.

That's out of 15,000 18-month-olds, which means 4755 who are that age haven't been fully vaccinated.

"That is way too low and the problem is it's not just that cohort because you have the kids who turned 5 this year and then the kids that turned five last year or the year before or the year before that, so you know have a lot of individuals without those vaccines," Petousis-Harris said.

Immunisation coverage for toddlers who were aged 54 months (4.5 years) sat at 67 per cent. That's out of 15,768 kids who were that age, which means at least 5203 54-month-olds weren't fully vaccinated.

"We will see these viruses again, influenza is here and we will see measles come in again and we will see reassurance of viruses that have been here all along but because of our behaviour it's been suppressed."

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Sickness season: How is New Zealand tracking with non-Covid illnesses? - New Zealand Herald

The drop goal needs to become part of the Kiwi rugby DNA, writes Gregor Paul. Photo / Getty

OPINION:

It's time for New Zealand to embrace the drop goal. To unashamedly fall in love with it, not as an occasional means to rescue a game, but as a genuine part of the attacking armoury.

For too long New Zealand has sneered at the North and their open love affair with the drop goal. For too long the drop goal has carried a stigma in New Zealand as if anyone prepared to try one at any other time than the last minute of a game under a penalty advantage is the sort of person who would regularly buy white bread, cheat at golf and sneakily borrow your password to Netflix.

In the Six Nations they bang them over whenever they feel like it and down here, that's been viewed as a weakness: a symptom of having no other, better, attacking options.

The drop goal in the North, and most certainly in South Africa, too, is a legitimate and regular part of the game.

It's executed without judgement being cast, or any sense of operating outside the spirit of the game and the lack of emotional baggage attached to it hands the North such a massive advantage when test matches become tense and tight with little room to breathe.

Up there and in the Republic they know what New Zealanders don't seem to get, that the drop goal is not just an escapist ploy a last hurrah of the desperate to salvage something when all other avenues have been blocked off.

A drop goal can be an effective means to control a game through scoreboard pressure.

It's a relatively low-risk way to add three points here there to impress upon an opponent that they are chasing the game and may need to take risks to come back.

But it seems the drop goal is destined to forever be ostracised in New Zealand only ever granted the occasional cameo role in minute 79 as was the case in Canberra last weekend when Beauden Barrett nailed one to snatch a dramatic victory for the Blues after the hooter.

Game saved, championship bid back on track and the drop goal goes back in the box never to be thought of again until the next time a Kiwi team finds themselves two points behind and a minute left on the clock.

And this is all because the endemic thinking in New Zealand is that by retaining possession, the probability of that leading to success is weighted in favour of the attacking team.

The longer the attacking team holds the ball, the greater the likelihood they will be rewarded for it by either winning a penalty or scoring a try.

Keep rolling forward with the ball, phase after phase and inevitably the indiscretion will happen or the defence will break and hence New Zealand sides have it in their DNA to always go for the killer strike.

Without fail, they will go all out for the seven points to sink an opponent quickly.

But too often Kiwi teams overplay their hand inside opposition territory. They forget that holding the ball through multiple phases also opens the prospect of the defensive team snatching a turnover or winning a penalty.

And perhaps there has not yet been a universal realisation that the new goal-line drop out rule has skewed the odds against the attacking team holding the ball.

There's a higher risk now to pounding through the phases deep in opposition territory as being held up over the tryline doesn't bring the reward of an attacking scrum, but instead a chance for the defending side to boot the ball halfway down the field.

And because of this change, there is now unprecedented value in teams having a drop goal mindset, a clear plan on how to take just one or two phases to set up an easy chance to secure three points.

Dropping a goal under the current rules should not be considered a lack of ambition but an indication of good risk assessment: a sign that teams have done their statistical appraisal and realised that a derided tactic has been legitimised by the current rules.

Part of the challenge is getting the balance right knowing when to snap a drop goal against taking the risk of pushing on for the try.

But that process of weighing up risk and reward can't begin until there is an acceptance that the drop goal isn't evil or wrong.

It's a legitimate ploy and sometimes a better, lower risk means to build scoreboard pressure.

The drop goal needs to become part of the Kiwi rugby DNA and no longer branded as some weirdly, unsavoury act.

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Gregor Paul: How New Zealand's drop goal stigma is handing an advantage to the North - New Zealand Herald

There have been another 7800 new community cases of Covid-19 and another 17 deaths with the virus reported by the Ministry of Health today.

Photo: 123rf.com

In today's statement, the Health Ministry said the seven-day rolling average of community case numbers had now risen to 8032, compared to 7548 last Friday.

There are 401 people with Covid-19 in hospital, with 14 in ICU.

One of the people whose deaths were reported today was in their 50s, one in their 60s, four in their 70s, five in their 80s and six over 90. Thirteen were women and four were men.

Three were from the Auckland region, three were from the Wellington region, two were from Northland, two were from Canterbury, two were from the Southern region, and one each from Waikato, Tairwhiti, Mid Central, Hawke's Bay, and Nelson Marlborough.

Today's community cases were reported in the Northland (211), Auckland (2755), Waikato (531), Bay of Plenty (270), Lakes (123), Hawke's Bay (270), MidCentral (237), Whanganui (76), Taranaki (231), Tairwhiti (58), Wairarapa (61), Capital and Coast (530), Hutt Valley (224), Nelson Marlborough (264), Canterbury (1165), South Canterbury (116), Southern (591) and West Coast (84) DHBs.

There were also 99 cases detected at the border today.

The Ministry of Health yesterday reported 9091 new community cases of Covid-19 and a further five deaths.

There have now been 1,082,993 cases of Covid-19 reported in New Zealand.

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Covid-19 update: 17 further deaths, 7800 cases reported in New Zealand - RNZ

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Head of Qualitative Practice be the heartbeat of Qual, Auckland, New Zealand - B&T

Josh Martin is a London-based Kiwi journalist.

OPINION: Does altitude affect your perspective? It certainly limits my ability to check my privilege.

Spread out on a Virgin Atlantic lie-flat bed, 36,000 feet above the Sierra Nevada, with a glass of Champagne in hand, I had little to toast: Sad, guilty, and gripped by a deep sense of longing mostly for my wayward phone. I had boarded the flight from Auckland, it probably sat lifeless in a Bay of Plenty taxi company lost property box.

Yes, although travellers are supposed to collect souvenirs, I decided to unknowingly gift one scratched Samsung to the city of Tauranga. Enjoy.

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Its not about the physical device that you lose when the victim of theft or your own stupidity, but about losing all the processes, contacts and memories it takes care of for you.

For more than two years, this expat had gone without new family photos, weekend-plan WhatsApp chats, Google Maps mispronouncing Mori place names and even the delightfully Kiwi call-waiting music beloved by government departments. I had made up for lost time.

Many photos were taken, many plans were made, many toes tapped along to Dave Dobbyns Loyal (still!) while waiting for a call centre operator.

But as I soared above the cloud, wondering why I didnt make better use of the cloud I realised it was fairly ironic that this lost phone was really just another severed connection to home, and that, after three weeks as a returning expat in New Zealand, there were numerous examples of a disconnect that had nothing to do with a big night out and wandering electronics.

If the Covid pandemic has taught me anything about the New Zealand psyche, its that tall poppy syndrome is alive and well. Heck, theres an entire army of Kiwis with weed-whackers waiting to mow us down just look at the lack of love for Grounded Kiwis.

And even though New Zealand has fallen from the ranks of star pupil in the Covid league table, microaggressions of anti-expat sentiment littered my three weeks at home, many structured around the idea that no matter what your passport says, proper legitimate Kiwis were those who were in the country at the time of the first lockdown and any others who came back since (or couldnt get through the MIQ lottery) were entitled bludgers out to take your home or jobs.

I wondered if the households who felt most strongly on this point were the same who have overseen the seemingly rapid rise in front lawn flag-raisers? Im sure when I departed Aotearoa in 2014 there wasnt this trend of New Zealand flags flying in front of homes across the nation. Theyre everywhere: Is it the only tangible outcome of those two referendums I missed? I wouldnt have thought living in the land of the $1.5m drafty ex-state house was worth celebrating, but again that might show my cultural dissonance.

A more welcome sign of patriotism has taken over our supermarket aisles: everything is proudly local, to be imported is to be frowned upon, which Im sure as a foreign tourist is unnerving to have fewer international brands, but as an expat is refreshing, even novel.

Every trip to Pak'nSave was a tour of the country. Given the number of tourists who drive around New Zealand, I wonder if theyll notice the sheer number of public service campaign ads that permeate radio, TV and newspapers.

Im no down with Big Government campaigner yelling Freeeeedom! but was still baffled by friendly guides telling me how to drive slower, exercise more, stop drinking, start jabbing, stop injuring yourself and please, please line the recycling bin up correctly on the kerb!

Given the glut of public service advertising money being sloshed about, it was a shame to come back to news bulletins filled to the brim with inconsequential infotainment and puff pieces at a time of huge geopolitical drama and domestic challenges.

As a tourist, your news appetite is usually low and these Meanwhile in New Zealand stories are just funny tidbits, but expats are acutely aware of New Zealands perceived isolation at the end of the Earth. We try to swim against it its disheartening that since the Covid pandemic, some pockets of NZ relish that isolationism and that gap looks to have grown into a chasm.

The worst difference is saved for last: The farewell.

While foreign tourists will float out of Auckland International Airport on a high of a once-in-a-lifetime holiday realised, the Kiwi expat chasing money, dreams or love skulks back on to the plane, heavy with emotion, constantly comparing their old life with their new, guilty for not staying longer or not staying behind for good.

Confused, because what was always home feels a little less like home each time.

And sad for the good times with family and friends ahead youll certainly miss out on, and the good times you were there for, but are captured and lonely on a Samsung Galaxy S11 stuck under a taxi drivers seat in the Bay of Plenty.

See more here:

Tall poppy syndrome and 'proudly local': The things Kiwi expats notice about New Zealand that tourists don't - Stuff

Stephen Barker/Stuff

Ian Pools greatest scholarly contribution was to New Zealand population studies.

David Ian Pool 22 November 1936 - 28 April 2022

The University of Waikato made an inspired choice when it appointed Ian Pool to a chair in sociology in 1978. Strictly, he was not a sociologist. His masters degree had been in geography at the Auckland University College; his 1964 PhD in Demography was at the Australian National University under its Professor of Demography, New Zealander Mick Borrie. (While in Auckland he had worked with Bob Chapman, providing the quantitative input into the project on the evolving political-social structure of New Zealand.)

The decision meant that Waikato University is New Zealands premier academic centre for population studies. The Population Studies Centre which Ian founded evolved into the National Institute of Demographic and Economic Analysis (NIDEA), now called Te Ngira: Institute for Population Research.

Last year the university celebrated its forty years as a centre of demographic teaching and research with Ian rightly at the centre of a conference attended by a galaxy of his students, many of whom are now senior members of the demography profession throughout the world.

After Canberra, Ian went to work in at universities in Ghana, Canada and the United States, and also for a number of international agencies, with whom he continued to work throughout his professional life. He became an expert on population and demography especially in Africa he was fluent in French. In his later years he extended such studies to other developing countries and was an invited lecturer at universities in Asia, Australia, Britain, Europe, Asia and North America.

However, his greatest scholarly contribution was to New Zealand population studies. It began with his doctorate which was the first significant analysis of Mori population changes using contemporary demographic techniques. The thesis was subsequently published, and then revised and updated as Te Iwi Mori: A New Zealand Population Past, Present and Future in 1991. This analysis of the Mori population was extended in Colonisation and Development in New Zealand between 1769 and 1900: the Seeds of Rangiatea.

His research on all aspects of New Zealand population was informed by his overseas experience but was astutely adapted to local circumstances. After all, the population experiences of Mori and non-Mori (in all their diversities) are quite different while sharing universal elements. His work placed New Zealand in a broader international context, for there was always an international dimension in his work. In the mid-1990s, Ian led a team of colleagues and students in New Zealand's first major survey of fertility and reproductive behaviour, which was a part of an international series of surveys in European countries. The result was The New Zealand Family from 1840: A Demographic History, written with his colleague Arunachalam Dharmalingam and with his wife Janet Sceats, also a demographer. They have two children, Felicity and Jonathan, and four mokupana.

Mark Taylor/Stuff

Janet Sceats and Ian Pool in 2008.

Demography is a foundational part of the social sciences interacting with its other disciplines. It is no surprise that Ian did too, notably with the health sector, often in joint work with Janet. There is a lot of sociology in The New Zealand Family from 1840. Population has an important influence on the economy; Ian and his research played a crucial role in this writers economic history, Not in Narrow Seas. His legacy includes a manuscript completed just before his death which tells the story of the peopling and development of Aotearoa New Zealand from 1769 to 2020. It is being prepared for publication by his wife and former colleagues.

Over the years he accumulated numerous awards and accolades, including being elected as a Fellow of the New Zealand Royal Society in 1994, receiving a James Cook Fellowship from the RSNZ in 2004 and its Te Rangi Hiroa medal in 2009. He was made a Life Member of the Population Association of New Zealand in 2007 and a 2011 special issue of the New Zealand Population Review was a festschrift to him. After formally retiring as Professor of Demography in 2009, he was made an Emeritus Professor of the University of Waikato; he continued to work after retirement as long as his health would let him. In 2013 he was made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (CNZM) for services to demography. Ian participated vigorously in public life, especially on population-related subjects.

Mori, with whom he worked, liken the death of a great person to the falling of a totara. The bush below, which the tree has nurtured, grateful and inspired by the rangatira, is left uncovered. That well summarises the contribution of Ian Pool, the Father of Aotearoa New Zealand Demography.

Dick Bedford, Elizabeth Caffin, Len Cook, Geoff Hayes, Natalie Jackson, Tahu Kukutai and Janet Sceats assisted with the preparation of this obituary.

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Obituary - David Ian Pool: The Father of Aotearoa New Zealand Demography - Stuff

The New Zealand town of Levin has been lashed by a tornado, destroying powerlines and crops, and unearthing trees.

A low pressure system passing to New Zealands south has brought a number of fronts packed with severe gale-force winds, thunderstorms and hail on Friday.

In Cambridge, east of Hamilton, Newshub reports a woman needed rescuing after she was trapped and seriously injured by a falling tree.

In Levin, around 100km north of Wellington, residents were left shaken and tallying the damage bill when a thunderstorm produced chaos around 6:30am NZST.

Footage on social media shows fences knocked down and buildings and roofs damaged.

Levin resident Tyson Sager told NZ Herald he jumped out of bed and looked out the window and I saw my mates car flying backwards down the road.

It was a red station wagon and it was just flying down the road and the wind was blowing it like nothing.

Deputy Mayor Jo Mason told Newshub the central town had suffered significant damage.

There have been minor injures with glass flying.

I didnt know it was a tornado ... its unbelievable, she added.

Some of the towns main streets are flooded, while huge trees and power-lines lay strewn on others.

Police have confirmed the formation of a tornado.

With a heavy smell of gas in the air, police closed State Highway 1 to investigate and clear damage.

We will have staff in Levin today providing community reassurance and assisting with any clean-up, a police spokesman said.

Tornados are semi-common in New Zealand, with meteorological agency NIWA reporting 7-10 occur each year.

In June 2021, an Auckland port worker was killed on the job when a tornado passed through the citys southern suburbs.

Heavy hail landed in nearby Ohau, where farmer Jay Clarke said the damage looked like someone got a machine gun out and shot a machine gun at every single cabbage, silverbeet or lettuce in the paddock.

Were looking at the worst hail damage in 44 years of growing in the district. Catastrophic would be the only word to describe it, he told Radio NZ.

Theres nothing left of the crop.

Further north on Friday, Aucklands Harbour Bridge has been closed due to heavy crosswinds topping 95km an hour.

On South Island, fronts associated with the low pressure system have brought the first major snow of the season.

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New Zealand battered by machine gun tornado - PerthNow