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Ben McKay

@benmackey.bsky.social
414 followers 74 following 53 posts

AAP Pacific Editor. prev NZ Corro. I take the job seriously & social media less so. 📧 bmckay@aap.com.au

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Ben McKay @benmackey.bsky.social · 11/07/2025
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Ben McKay @benmackey.bsky.social · 07/07/2025
a piece on the recent PNG/Bougainville drought and the challenge to get relief to some of the world's most remote islands and atolls. with contributions and photos from CARE Australia t.co/CZhTtnPlUH
t.co
https://aapnews.aap.com.au/glance/news/inside-the-race-to-relieve-drought-stricken-png-islands
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Ben McKay @benmackey.bsky.social · 26/03/2025
so sad
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Ben McKay @benmackey.bsky.social · 26/03/2025
Interview with Rob Sherman, the ex-Australia & NZ technical director and now Fiji coach on the challenges minnow nations face nit.com.au/13-03-2025/1...
nit.com.au
Minnows Fiji prepare for date with World Cup destiny
By their own admission they're a long shot, but the Bula Boys are giving it everything this month as they attempt one of the biggest shocks in FIFA World Cup history.For the first time, FIFA has affor...
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Ben McKay @benmackey.bsky.social · 26/03/2025
Sydney FC striker Jaushua Sotirio's late-career defection from Australia to New Caledonia www.canberratimes.com.au/story/892118...
canberratimes.com.au
Stalwart's shot at World Cup history with New Caledonia
Either Tahiti or New Caledonia will have a shot at the biggest boilover in FIFA World Cup history...
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Ben McKay @benmackey.bsky.social · 26/03/2025
A feature on Fiji's path through qualification and their attempts to lure more eligible players to represent the Bula Boys www.1news.co.nz/2025/03/20/f...
1news.co.nz
Fiji Bula Boys hold 'life-changing' World Cup dream
For the first time, FIFA has granted the Oceania confederation a confirmed place at the tournament.
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Ben McKay @benmackey.bsky.social · 26/03/2025
New Zealand 3-0 New Caledonia match report (not sure why the big G credits Reuters here...) www.theguardian.com/football/202...
theguardian.com
New Zealand deny New Caledonia to reach 2026 World Cup
Michael Boxall scored his first goal for New Zealand when his country needed it the most, helping sending the All Whites to the 2026 World Cup
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Ben McKay @benmackey.bsky.social · 26/03/2025
Did New Zealand enjoy the easiest World Cup qualification of all-time? (Not quite, but for decades) sportnation.nz/article/the-...
sportnation.nz
The true impact of New Zealand's fast lane to FIFA World Cup
New Zealand have booked their spot in next year's World Cup, benefiting from a major change to qualification that has knock-on effects throughout Oceania.
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Ben McKay @benmackey.bsky.social · 26/03/2025
NZ Football want to re-ignite Soccer Ashes clash with Australia after qualifying for 2026 World Cup aapnews.aap.com.au/glance/news/...
aapnews.aap.com.au
NZ call for fresh Soccer Ashes clash with Australia
The Soccer Ashes - the re-ignited rivalry between the Socceroos and All Whites - would be the perfect way to tune up for a World Cup, New Zealand Football say.
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Ben McKay @benmackey.bsky.social · 26/03/2025
reporting thread on Oceania FIFA World Cup qualification over the past fortnight... 🇳🇿 🇫🇯 ⚽ 🇵🇫 🇳🇨
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Ben McKay @benmackey.bsky.social · 19/03/2025
A piece today on Winston Peters' diplomatic tour of New York and DC. The foreign minister has let on very little, and that's deliberate. www.canberratimes.com.au/story/892057...
canberratimes.com.au
In US talks, a cautious NZ is keeping its head down
New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters has capped a week of talks in New York and Washington...
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Ben McKay @benmackey.bsky.social · 18/03/2025
Of course we knew USAID cuts would kill many, many innocent and poor people, despite what Trump & Musk say. This piece suggests more than one million this year alone due to cuts in HIV treatment. The gut punch is that medicines cost 12 cents a day. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
nytimes.com
Opinion | Musk Said No One Has Died Since Aid Was Cut. That Isn’t True. (Gift Article)
A journey through the front lines of global poverty shows that when the world’s richest men slash aid for the world’s poorest children, the result is sickness, starvation and death.
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Reposted by Ben McKay
Aliya D @alinasu33.bsky.social · 15/03/2025
Adding this to top of my thread. I agree this is so important, it is helpful and it's healing. Coming off today's beautiful Unity Hui
newsroom.co.nz
Why marking March 15 is helpful and healing
Overseas trauma experts weigh in on the best ways to respond to a terror attack
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Reposted by Ben McKay
Dave Itzkoff @ditzkoff.bsky.social · 22/02/2025
Guy who doesn’t even respond to the mothers of his children: reply to my email or you’re fired
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Ben McKay @benmackey.bsky.social · 22/02/2025
pretty direct messaging from the new Vanuatu PM
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Ben McKay @benmackey.bsky.social · 21/02/2025
Collins told AAP she wanted to head to US to meet Hegseth in coming months, that would likely be after Peters travels to meet Rubio. (No reprise of their double-act, sadly) Our write-up of China's naval adventure: www.northweststar.com.au/story/889846...
northweststar.com.au
Chinese navy off Australia's coast a 'wake-up call'
Australia and New Zealand are working together to monitor a Chinese naval task group which has been labelled...
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Ben McKay @benmackey.bsky.social · 21/02/2025
Collins also gave an interview to Al Jazeera, she blamed Labour for defence attrition: "It was to do with the way that the previous government had used defense to run COVID lockdowns and managed isolation facilities. So we lost a lot of people through that." www.aljazeera.net/politics/202...
aljazeera.net
وزيرة دفاع نيوزيلندا للجزيرة نت: المحيط الهادي قد يكون منطقة صراع
تحدثت وزيرة دفاع نيوزيلندا جوديث كولينز -في مقابلة مع الجزيرة نت- عن الإنفاق الدفاعي والوضع الأمني في منطقة المحيطين الهندي والهادي، فضلا عن حلف شمال الأطلسي وعلاقة بلادها مع واشنطن وبكين.
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Ben McKay @benmackey.bsky.social · 21/02/2025
On the JD Vance speech she saw in Munich, Collins said she "agreed with a quite a lot of what he said about democracy and freedom of speech". Her main takeaway from Munich was the need to up defence spending. (This will obviously be happening through the Defence Capability Review and May budget.)
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Ben McKay @benmackey.bsky.social · 21/02/2025
"(NZ) were the pretty much the only people that I'm aware of that got told. Certainly a lot of the Pacific nations, that ICBM (missile), which could be nuclear-capable, what they got told was nothing until after it was happened." Collins on ZB
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Ben McKay @benmackey.bsky.social · 21/02/2025
Also said China's intercontinental missile test last October did Beijing reputational damage in the Pacific. "The consequence that I saw was that a lot of Pacific nations that had only seen the really great side of China, which is economic growth ... suddenly felt very disrespected." cont...
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Ben McKay @benmackey.bsky.social · 21/02/2025
On Russia aggression: "I think they got away with (the 2014 annexation of) Crimea, and they saw a moment of what they seemed as weakness in the West, and they thought they'd do it again and take over Ukraine in 10 days. Will they get away with the ground invasion? "We certainly hope not."
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Ben McKay @benmackey.bsky.social · 21/02/2025
On Monday, PM Chris Luxon said he was "open" to New Zealand sending a peacekeeping force to Ukraine. Yesterday, Collins told AAP this: "NZ and Australia have spent a lot of time, and particularly men's lives, defending democracy in Europe, and we don't want to have to do it again."
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Ben McKay @benmackey.bsky.social · 21/02/2025
Fascinating media round from NZ Defence Minister Judith Collins in last 24 hours. Beginning with Trump's deranged comments on Zelenskyy, NZ's approach to proposed Russia-Ukraine peace talks: www.canberratimes.com.au/story/889836...
canberratimes.com.au
New Zealand distances itself from Trump on Ukraine
Defence Minister Judith Collins says Ukraine President is not a dictator, nor did he start the war with...
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Ben McKay @benmackey.bsky.social · 29/01/2025
seven days to put it in writing
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Ben McKay @benmackey.bsky.social · 29/01/2025
and now we only have a week to submit on this. what gives!
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Ben McKay @benmackey.bsky.social · 28/01/2025
wonderful turn of phrase from Samoa opposition leader Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi that should enter the global political lexicon (from the Samoa Observer 📰)
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Ben McKay @benmackey.bsky.social · 17/01/2025
a final story from Port Vila: a longer piece on the long recovery to come from the earthquake. ni-Vanuatu are used to dealing with cyclones but this disaster is something else entirely www.canberratimes.com.au/story/886968...
canberratimes.com.au
Earthquake-struck Vanuatu needs aid, tourism help
Vanuatu is used to dealing with ferocious cyclones but the 7.3-magnitude earthquake which rumbled Efate island and Port...
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Ben McKay @benmackey.bsky.social · 17/01/2025
update to this story: a fresh coalition looms with voters again spreading preferences widely. Gloria Julia King may lose her seat according to unofficial results in circulation. However, another woman may win: Marie Louise Milne in Port Vila. www.canberratimes.com.au/story/886869...
canberratimes.com.au
Coalition govt likely in Vanuatu, where women struggle
Vanuatu has just one female MP and seven women candidates among the 217 running for office in this...
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Ben McKay @benmackey.bsky.social · 16/01/2025
Vanuatu elects fewer female MPs than basically anywhere on the planet: just six in 45 years. I spoke with the only woman MP of the last parliament, Gloria Julia King, on the struggles women face getting selected and elected. www.thesenior.com.au/story/886869...
thesenior.com.au
Women face uphill battle in Vanuatu politics
Vanuatu has just one female MP and seven women candidates among the 217 running for office in this...
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Ben McKay @benmackey.bsky.social · 16/01/2025
An election day report - now the wait begins for results. Polling day has passed without reports of major incidents (so far) - a few grumbles about voting tweaks like needing ID & long lines. Which would be a triumph given the recent earthquake. www.northweststar.com.au/story/886768...
northweststar.com.au
Earthquake doesn't derail Vanuatu's snap election
Vanuatu is set for its fifth prime minister in just over two years, as voting gets underway in...
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Ben McKay @benmackey.bsky.social · 15/01/2025
One month on from Vanuatu's massive earthquake, the CBD is still closed, swelling tensions among business owners. The govt is asking Australia for help with structural assessments. www.canberratimes.com.au/story/886769...
canberratimes.com.au
Vanuatu in Australian aid request in earthquake rebuild
Port Vila's CBD and city waterfront remains off-limits a month after a deadly earthquake, prompting frustration and anger...
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Ben McKay @benmackey.bsky.social · 15/01/2025
g'day from election day in Vanuatu 🇻🇺
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Ben McKay @benmackey.bsky.social · 15/01/2025
Ralph Regenvanu, Vanuatu's world-renowned climate advocate and Port Vila MP, hopes to be a contender for the prime ministership after tomorrow's election nit.com.au/15-01-2025/1...
nit.com.au
Reformer Regenvanu setting sights on Vanuatu's top job
Ralph Regenvanu, Vanuatu's trailblazing climate advocate and mould-breaking Port Vila MP, has declared his ambitions to be prime minister following the country's snap election.The Pacific nation goes ...
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Ben McKay @benmackey.bsky.social · 14/01/2025
how Australia's regional security ambitions is tied into - and helped cause - the early election: www.canberratimes.com.au/story/886605...
canberratimes.com.au
Australia security aims tangled in Vanuatu election
Vanuatu's varied parties and political leaders have different views on foreign policy and whether to ratify a stalled...
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Ben McKay @benmackey.bsky.social · 14/01/2025
reporting thread! i’m in Vanuatu this week for the snap election. some great scenes as the formal campaign period came to an end last night
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Ben McKay @benmackey.bsky.social · 02/12/2024
Earlier in The Hague, Vanuatu climate envoy Ralph Regenvanu called the hearings possibly “the most consequential case in the history of humanity”. "We find ourselves on the front lines of a crisis we did not create, a crisis that threatens our very existence." nit.com.au/02-12-2024/1...
nit.com.au
Top UN court hears landmark Vanuatu-led climate case
Vanuatu has opened proceedings in a landmark climate case brought before the UN's top court, arguing international law and the warming of the atmosphere demands broader action.The Pacific state is lea...
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Ben McKay @benmackey.bsky.social · 02/12/2024
Australia has failed another test of its climate bona fides overnight. It has congratulated Vanuatu on bringing a landmark ICJ case arguing for broader legal responsibilities outside the Paris Agreement - but then opposed their argument at the UN's top court. www.aap.com.au/news/big-pol...
aap.com.au
Big polluters’ legal obligations are in treaty: Aust
Australia has told the International Court of Justice it is
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Reposted by Ben McKay
Marc Daalder @marcdaalder.bsky.social · 20/11/2024
New: The Government’s backtracking on climate policy has been noticed globally, with New Zealand dropping to 41st out of 63 nations in the Climate Change Performance Index. #COP29 newsroom.co.nz/2024/11/21/n...
newsroom.co.nz
NZ downgraded in global climate rankings
The Government's backtracking on climate policy has been noticed globally, with NZ now ranking 41st out of 63 nations on climate policy performance.
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Ben McKay @benmackey.bsky.social · 19/11/2024
NZ Police now estimate more than 35,000 (!!!!!) people in Wellington for Hīkoi mō te Tiriti. Incredible turnout
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Ben McKay @benmackey.bsky.social · 18/11/2024
if it gets more likes here than it did on the bird site then i'm moving
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Ben McKay @benmackey.bsky.social · 17/04/2024
Former Aust foreign minister Bob Carr is in Wellington to ward New Zealand off joining AUKUS. “New Zealand has showed more independence and realism in its foreign policy and been less gullible about American blandishments than Australia - why you'd surrender that, I don't know." t.co/JxcMZdaIP9
t.co
Bob Carr tells New Zealand: steer clear of AUKUS
A symposium in Wellington on Thursday will discuss controversial military pact AUKUS, with New Zealand urged to keep...
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Ben McKay @benmackey.bsky.social · 16/04/2024
On Stuff replacing Newshub as provider of Three’s 6pm bulletin. Might be an “exciting day” for Stuff, but today was also the day that locked in more than 200 media job losses. www.canberratimes.com.au/story/859303...
canberratimes.com.au
Axe falls on Newshub as Stuff enters NZ broadcast mix
From July, Media company Stuff will produce a nightly bulletin for New Zealand's only commercial broadcasters Three, replacing...
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Ben McKay @benmackey.bsky.social · 10/04/2024
and a reply from Winston Peters who says he’s not even sure AUKUS will be discussed in DC this week. also some chat of the coalition’s invoking of the ANZUS Treaty www.canberratimes.com.au/story/858635...
canberratimes.com.au
Peters attacks Clark over NZ foreign policy shift
New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters is in the United States taking meetings with officials but insists an...
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Ben McKay @benmackey.bsky.social · 10/04/2024
Wrote a couple of geopolitics pieces this week with Helen Clark’s criticism of the coalition’s pro-US path t.co/vCE18izAi4
t.co
Helen Clark warns New Zealand is returning to ANZUS
The former New Zealand prime minister says a
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Ben McKay @benmackey.bsky.social · 27/02/2024
Australian Test cricketer Usman Khawaja has revealed the unlivable state of the official residence of the New Zealand prime minister. PM Luxon denies his version of their conversation. www.theage.com.au/world/oceani...
theage.com.au
Khawaja reveals official New Zealand PM’s residence uninhabitable
NZ Prime Minister Chris Luxon “couldn’t live in his place”, Australian cricketer Usman Khawaja said at an event on the lawn of Premier House.
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Ben McKay @benmackey.bsky.social · 18/02/2024
New Zealand is fragile, Chris Luxon says, as he prepares for a welfare crackdown au.news.yahoo.com/luxon-calls-...
au.news.yahoo.com
Luxon calls New Zealand 'fragile', pledges welfare hit
New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Luxon has described his country as "fragile" in a campaign-style state of the national address in Auckland.
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Ben McKay @benmackey.bsky.social · 17/02/2024
is he not worth quoting because he happens to be the brother of a former PM?
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Ben McKay @benmackey.bsky.social · 17/02/2024
A feature out today on Chris Luxon's corporate approach to leading New Zealand: the language, the plans, the KPIs and more t.co/58ncZV9dud
t.co
Prime Manager Luxon shows corporate style in NZ top job
Prime Minister Chris Luxon's managerial persona - including plans, KPIs and corporate-babble - is setting the tone for...
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Ben McKay @benmackey.bsky.social · 15/02/2024
NZDF chief says Australia's military is "singularly focused" on a single threat (aka China) and had set out "very frank" expectations for New Zealand on Australia's eastern flank. www.newcastleherald.com.au/story/852291...
newcastleherald.com.au
Australia 'singularly focused' on China: NZDF chief
New Zealand's outgoing defence force chief says Australia has been "very open and frank" about its expectations of...
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Ben McKay @benmackey.bsky.social · 13/02/2024
Wrote about how zero govt MPs showed up to a Palestine protest but dozens went to a National Lamb Day barbecue at the same time au.news.yahoo.com/nz-govt-mps-...
au.news.yahoo.com
NZ govt MPs pick Lamb Day BBQ over Palestine protest
New Zealand government MPs have attended a free National Lamb Day barbecue rather than a Freedom For Palestine protest at parliament held at the same time.
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