'NZ you're obsessed': What overseas media are saying about our reaction to 'unruly family'

Friday, 18 January 2019

The 'unruly' group of tourists attracted attention around New Zealand in 2019 (video first published January 2019).

New Zealand's public outrage over the 'unruly' tourist family here has been hilariously commented on by international media.

Local media have covered the family's movements extensively across the country. And Kiwi social media users were quick to jump on the bandwagon, creating pages, groups and sharing memes on the topic.

But how did the world see the events unfold? We break down what overseas media are saying about the biggest thing to happen in New Zealand since baby Neve.

**READ MORE:

The family are facing deportation, following weeks of bad behaviour on their holiday.

* Irish Community being 'unfairly blamed'

* Six weeks of strife: How a family angered a nation

* CCTV shows unruly travelling family taking Christmas tree

* Garlic naan and an abandoned pram: The curious case of the unruly travelling family**

A video of a large, messy family leaving rubbish near Takapuna Beach has caused an uproar on Facebook.

WHY IS ALL OF NZ OBSESSED?

The headline on the story on Slate.com says it all really - 'Why is all of New Zealand obsessed with this drunken, littering, rowdy tourist family?'.

Members of the unruly travelling family leave the Hamilton District Court.

The piece, which is humorously written by Kiwi Tess Nichol, says that the summer holiday slump in New Zealand makes for slow news, which has added to the public becoming 'obsessed with this horrible family's misdeeds'.

'Since Monday, every major news website in the country has been covering every minor exploit of this crafty family on its homepage, and Kiwi Twitter has been revelling in each absurd detail. On Day Two, Tuesday, the country's paper of record, the New Zealand Herald, created a timeline detailing the bad family's every infraction—a news device usually reserved for covering quickly unfolding national emergencies like earthquakes or tropical storms.

At one point, news alerts were pinging phones hourly: The bad family has been sighted in a Bunnings hardware store and hassled by a member of the public! The bad family tried to turn staff against each other in an Auckland café before running away without paying! The bad family 'rudely demanded' to use a random man's scooter! The bad family was spotted throwing their toast on the floor!'

But the troublesome group's reign of terror continued to unfold, with one of the family members known as Tina Maria Cash, pleading guilty to two theft charges in Hamilton District Court.

Outside the courthouse, one of the children was then pictured pulling the fingers to journalists and photographers.

Nichols humorously sums up the scene saying: 'There he was, the naughty, confident child - inexplicably shirtless once again, despite being at court - FLIPPING THE BIRD at media and assorted local rubberneckers'.

Krista Curnow took videos of a large group of people at Takapuna Beach who left the place strewn with rubbish on January 13.

She goes on to say on Slate.com the people of Hamilton weren't taking that lying down, with bystanders heard in video footage laying into the 'nation's tormentors'.

'How's your holiday?' one person asked.

'Are you going to pick up your rubbish?' inquired another.

'When are you going home?' a third person wanted to know.

The 'bad family' are described on Slate.com as a perfect storm.

A member of the unruly travelling family makes her way into the Hamilton District Court before the appearance of another member of the group on theft charges.

'Yes, littering is bad, and so is weaseling out of paying your bills. But it's the total lack of remorse this menacing foreign family appears to feel about their actions which has united the public against them.'

Do you have any information on this family? Email newstips@stuff.co.nz

ENTIRE NATION UNITES

A story published on The Cut's website breaks down a tourist timeline which led to the family attracting the attention of our entire country.

'While on vacation in New Zealand, a family with 'approximately 12' but maybe as many as 15 members spent nearly a month terrorising the nation before the government gave them an official deportation notice.

'Before the notorious, large family was forced to leave, the entire country became a bit obsessed with them,' it stated.

Police were called to Burger King in Te Rapa on Tuesday after reporter that a tourist family were causing trouble.

Vice even compared New Zealand's wall-to-wall reporting of the family who 'came to see the hobbits' as to basically creating a 'demonic holiday scrapbook' of their trip.

Apparently when the family leave, the public's newsfeeds will return to normal and the service industry will finally be able to relax.

SORRY IRELAND

The first report of the family causing a ruckus at Auckland's Takapuna Beach led New Zealand media to believe the family were Irish. It later turned out they were British. (Sorry all Irish friends).

The Irish Times in particular made an effort to point this out with their headline reading: 'Family to be deported from New Zealand is British, not Irish'.

Locally, members of New Zealand's Irish community also expressed they felt unfairly blamed for the chaotic actions of the family.

Honorary Consul-General for Ireland in New Zealand Niamh McMahon called it 'Irish bashing'.

The Irish Independent also made it clear the family were Brits, with their headline 'We're not gypsies, we're not Irish'.

The Sun put up an EXCLUSIVE story on where some of the family were believed to have lived in Britain - which is apparently on a traveller site near Lutterworth, Leicestershire.

WHAT SOCIAL MEDIA IS SAYING

A lot of what social media is saying about this family can't be published right now. But here's a select few which made the cut:

A drunken, littering, rowdy tourist family is wreaking absolute havoc in New Zealand, and the public is CAPTIVATED https://t.co/cro2qx38OL

— Laura McQuillan (@mcquillanator) January 17, 2019

Here’s a rundown of all the destruction they (allegedly) wrought https://t.co/zFUNX7ncNA

— New York Magazine (@NYMag) January 17, 2019

This nightmare tourist family in New Zealand is the funniest thing I have read about all week and also oh my god. https://t.co/y2YXmtxYz6

— Jill Filipovic (@JillFilipovic) January 17, 2019

I am OBSESSED with this story of the English family of tourists who terrorised New Zealand so much that they got deported https://t.co/1PKDN7QcZs

— Zing Tsjeng (@misszing) January 17, 2019

Oh I am LIVING for this New Zealand tourist horror story https://t.co/hcc65qvofW

— Ashley Weatherford (@sincerelyash) January 17, 2019

Very excited for the Netflix series on this. https://t.co/f6ZaeLYwtR

— Adam Smith (@asmith83) January 17, 2019

Thank you to @tnichss for helping Slate cover the most important news story of our time, the Bad Family in New Zealand https://t.co/Qk1YAhThwZ

— Dan Kois (@dankois) January 16, 2019

So when will the 'unruly' Brits leave? We're not sure yet, but we're certain both NZ and overseas media will keep you updated.