The tree's production in New Zealand has increased from about 30,000 per year five years ago to over 200,000 trees this year.

New Zealand's parliament passed a law on Wednesday to ban many non-resident foreigners from buying existing homes, completing the Labour-led government's election campaign pledge.

New Zealand uses "hundreds of millions" of single-use plastic bags each year, many of which end up harming marine life, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said.

An Australian climber has been rescued after being trapped for four nights on snow-covered Mount Aspiring in New Zealand's South Island.

The New Zealand flag was adopted in 1902, while Australia adopted its current flag design in 1954 - more than 50 years later.

Jacinda Ardern and her partner Clarke Gayford have been swamped with congratulatory messages from around the globe.

Jacinda Ardern, 37, became New Zealand's youngest prime minister when she took office through a coalition deal last year after an inconclusive election.

Tourism numbers in the country of 4.5 million have surged by nearly a third in the past three years to 3.8 million in the year to April.

Up to 150,000 New Zealand cattle will be culled as the government attempts to eradicate the disease Mycoplasma bovis.

Clarke Gayford, the partner of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, said the dolphin was content to watch the underwater drama unfold from a distance.

All 38 pilot whales of a pod that became stranded on a remote beach on New Zealand's West Coast are dead after the surviving 12 had to be euthanised on Thursday.

New Zealand said Tuesday it would like to expel Russian spies in retaliation for allegedly poisoning an ex-agent in Britain -- only it can't find any Moscow operatives in the remote South Pacific nation.