North & South

North & South is New Zealand’s premier monthly current affairs and lifestyle magazine, specialising in long-form investigative journalism, delivered by award-winning writers and photographers. North & South also showcases New Zealand ingenuity and creativity, explores the country and profiles its people. It is a touchstone of New Zealand life.

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Behind this issue

North & South

AROUND NGĀ MOTU

On the Wahine • Peter Jerram’s student cricket team survived the Wahine disaster. He has spent three years digging through documents and interviewing witnesses to get to the bottom of what went wrong that cursed April morning.

The stuff of legend

GURDWARA WARS • How a dispute over a Sikh homeland in India led to religious fanaticism and a bloody attempted assassination in New Zealand.

GREAT EXPECTATIONS • New Zealand’s future workforce is going to increasingly be brown. But is our education system stuck in a past of low expectations for Māori students that threatens the country’s future prosperity? Aaron Smale reports, in part one of a three part series.

MR UNPREDICTABLE • Politics columnist Henry Cooke examines how a second Trump presidency could add uncertainty to New Zealand’s recent pivot towards the United States.

Gone phishing • The “Hi Mum” scam targets parents through the most vulnerable channel, their duty to their children. Liv Lewis-Long from Simplicity draws from personal experience to offer tips on how to protect yourself against this and other online scams.

Sustainable Aotearoa • A year on from the devastating floods that wrecked a large part of the Hawke’s Bay, “sustainability” has never felt more urgent. Despite it being one of the most overused words in the climate change lexicon, we make no apologies for its use here. From building practices to online storage, these pages contain stories that enquire into the different ways this word can be applied (or not, as the case may be).

Power hungry • Silicon Valley believes more computation is essential for progress. But it ignores the resource burden and doesn’t care if the benefits materialise.

THE LOCAL IMPACT

Less is more • In just over three decades, New Zealand’s lamb export industry has undergone a remarkable transformation. In 1990, nearly half of all lamb exports were in carcass form, with the remainder being cuts. In 2024, 95 per cent of lamb exports are now cuts. This shift has revolutionised the industry, with sheep and beef production achieving a 30 per cent decrease in absolute greenhouse gas emissions. Beef + Lamb New Zealand explains how the industry maximises from less.

Cargo without CARBON • The electric bike market is on the move and two New Zealand brands are riding the trend.

BUILDING’S dirty secrets • Brand new homes are sold as warm, dry, energy efficient and sustainable, as well as environmentally friendly. Diana Clement takes a hard look at the claims and discovers some worrying facts.

One protein at a time • Emerging technologies that improve the quality of New Zealand’s meat through innovative processing methods might revolutionise the meat industry as we know it.

SIPPING SUSTAINABILITY: Dilmah tea brews a green legacy • The social and environmental initiatives from Dilmah reveal that your cup of tea involves a lot more decision-making than just a splash of milk or a dash of sugar.

My first ever…computer • Melanie Newfield scrolls through her memory bank to recall the early days of personal data storage.

On top of the WORLD • Rachel House’s first feature film as a director is a family movie about te ao Māori, friendship and the natural world.

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