There is a quiet revolution taking place in rural New Zealand. Over the past decade, migrant labour has become essential to the country’s dairy farms, vineyards and kiwifruit orchards, and as a result, the culture of regional communities is changing. Yet many new-migrant families lead insecure lives, at the whim of immigration law, their future in this country uncertain.

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Meet the migrants running New Zealand's primary industries

The New Zealander who discovered bird flu

For virologist Robert Webster, it all started with diseased birds.

Now, you be the judge

There are 52 finalists in Photographer of the Year 2018, but there can be only one People's Choice winner—the award we're counting on you to judge. See all the finalists and vote for your favourites here.

Photo: Alastair Jamieson, Aerial category finalist

A brand-new seabird

Whenua Hou, a tiny island off Stewart Island, is most famous for its population of kākāpō, but it also has a one-kilometre strip of beach where diving petrels breed.

The first colour x-rays

What if it was possible to take colour pictures of the inside of the human body—where bone and muscle were easily distinguishable from cancer tissue or kidney stones?

The plant that went rogue

First introduced in the 1870s for hedges, African boxthorn soon went wild. Up to six metres tall, it crowds out other plants with its thorns, which can pierce gumboots and puncture tyres.

How spiders use electricity to fly

Small spiders have been found up to four kilometres high in the atmosphere and more than 1500 kilometres out to sea.


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OCTOPUSES ON ECSTASY BECOME MORE SOCIAL
Octopuses given the drug ecstasy become more social and try to hug each other, a study has found.

THE MALAYSIAN PLASTICS DUMPING GROUND
Thousands of tonnes of plastic that New Zealand used to send to China for recycling is now going to Malaysia, where illegal factories are burning and dumping waste they can’t process.

1080 DROP BEGINS IN HUNUA RANGES
The Auckland Council has started its 1080 drop in the Hunua Ranges after an interim injunction imposed by the Environment Court lapsed.