Best of Business

Hopes a major international retailer moving to Lambton Quay will give a post-pandemic boost to Wellington's CBD. Clothing brand Calvin Klein has confirmed it will set up shop in part of the building that once housed Kirkcaldie and Stains, and more recently David Jones. It shut down in June. First Retail Group Managing Director Chris Wilkinson says it's great news for the capital. He says having th...

According to new data from KPMG, New Zealand is underperfoming in sustainability reporting. The KPMG report ranked New Zealand 38th out of 58 eligible countries in our environmental, social, and governance reporting, which puts us below the pack in terms of trading partners. KPMG NZ partner Ian Proudfoot says getting our reporting standards up is important, as talented workers want to attach thems...

The Government plans to repeal the ailing RMA for new legislation by the next election. It will eventually slash and merge the 100-plus plans produced under the RMA, to just 15. The transition is expected to take roughly 10 years and is expected to cut costs to users by almost $150 million a year, as well as shorten the time to get a building consent. But will the new system stack up? Mt Hobson Gr...

Hopes changes to New Zealand's resource management system will cut red tape for building homes. The Government will today unveil what it describes as simplified, modernised legislation to replace the 1991 Resource Management Act. A construction management expert wants to see the process for issuing consents, standardised. Auckland University of Technology's John Tookey says it would allow for pref...

A sociologist says migration loss is a concern. Stats NZ data shows in September there was an estimated migration gain of 2,176 people. But for the year ending September, there's still a provisional net migration loss of 8,400. Sociologist Paul Spoonley says there's been an uptick in immigrants, but it's a long way to reach pre-Covid levels. He says we've tended to operate a brain exchange where t...

Some are suggesting our great brain drain may slowing down. The net number of Kiwis that left the country for the year to September was more than 8,000. But for the month, people arriving outstripped the number leaving. Kiwibank senior economist Jeremy Couchman joined Kate Hawkesby. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A general view that the devil will be in the detail around RMA reforms. Three new laws will take its place, with two being announced so far. The Government says the changes aim to lower costs and will speed up the time it takes for new homes and infrastructure projects to be approved. Environmental lawyer Kate Storer told Kate Hawkesby until now, there's been questions as to what should be priorit...

Up to a quarter of homes could soon be selling for a loss, if mortgages rates keep on rising. New figures from Core Logic show almost three-percent of homes sold at a loss in the three months to September. That's up from less than one percent in the three months of December. Chief Property Economist Kelvin Davidson told Mike Hosking we could reach the point where up to 25 percent of home sales are...

Supply chain issues should start to ease as we head into 2023. Freedom Furniture and Farmers have told customers they may have to wait up to five months for their purchases to be delivered due to production backlogs, staff shortages and shipping challenges. Cargo Owners Council executive member Simon Beale says some companies are bringing more containers into New Zealand,  ready for the peak expor...

There's no easy way down for New Zealand's economy, as high inflation poses a persistent problem. Westpac's latest economic overview predicts the Official Cash Rate will rise further and peak at five percent next year. Its acting chief economist says despite hikes this year, monetary policy takes time to have a full effect on the economy. Michael Gordon says many borrowers will be rolling on to hi...

The resource management and consenting system is in for a shake-up. The Government will today unveil what it says will be simplified, modernised legislation to replace the Resource Management Act. Acting Prime Minister Grant Robertson says the changes will deliver a faster, cheaper, better framework. But Civil Contractors New Zealand Chief Executive Allan Pollard told Mike Hosking the cost reducti...

The Health Star system is being changed to better reflect added sugar and salt in nutritional ratings. Nutritionists are welcoming changes to the programme, which rates nutritional content of packaged food up to five stars. Today's upgrade gives lower star ratings to foods with high levels of added sugar and salt. Deputy Director-General of New Zealand Food Safety Vincent Arbuckle told Kate Hawkes...

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has just wrapped up meetings at the East Asia Summit. The East Asia Summit consisted of 10 South East Asian countries which form the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, as well as others with interests in the region, including New Zealand. Jacinda Ardern has stated that New Zealand's purpose in attending was to diversify New Zealand's trade footprint. This has bee...

Today on The Sunday Panel: commentator and editor, Jo Mccarroll and host of The Front Page podcast Damien Venuto joined us to talk about the following topics from this week-  Black Ferns – is this a turning point for women’s rugby in New Zealand and can they keep on this momentum? Is this now on New Zealand Rugby to put the support behind the women’s game and make sure it progresses? The team have...

The US midterms have thrown the market into some uncertainty. The Republicans appear to be heading towards taking control of the House of Representatives. But things are less certain in the Senate. The state of Georgia is going to a runoff vote, which is only adding to the uncertainty. But CNN's Richard Quest told Mike Hosking that the gridlock is actually a good thing. He says markets like the id...

Retailers are less than keen on the idea of extending gift card expiry dates. The minimum expiry date could be extended to three years under Melissa Lee's Fair Trading Amendment Bill. The National MP says the legislation gives the recipient a more reasonable period to redeem the card’s full value. But Retail NZ chief executive Greg Harford says it could have negative impacts on business owners. He...

A rise in the number of couples opting for friends to officiate their wedding, is leaving professional independent celebrants out in the cold. Numbers have spiked, with more than 4,500 independent marriage and civil union celebrants in New Zealand. Prior to 2013, there were only around 2,000, but there's been a steady influx since the registration process was relaxed in 2013. The Celebrant School...

The Government's tourism innovation fund is now open for bids. There's $54 million up for grabs, but a few hoops to jump through. CEO of Real New Zealand, Stephen England-Hall, joined Tim Dower. LISTEN ABOVE   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Job fairs are popping up all over the place these days, with some suggesting this is a sign of how desperate things are for some employers. There's one at Mt Smart stadium in Auckland today, hosted jointly by Work and Income and the Warriors Community Foundation. MSD's Mark Goldsmith joined Tim Dower. LISTEN ABOVE   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Reserve Bank's self-review pokes a few holes in its response to Covid-19. But it also says the Covid response was consistent with data available at the time - and worst case economic scenarios were avoided. The regular five year review found tightening monetary policy earlier could have lessened inflation at the margins. Infometrics principal economist, Brad Olsen, told Mike Hosking it means t...

The Government is confident an innovation programme will go a long way towards helping the tourism industry. People can now apply for the $54 million programme, which aims to support low-carbon projects, or those that have a positive environmental impact. Tourism Minister Stuart Nash told Mike Hosking it's important they help the sector. He says they're protectors of our national brand and turn to...

Fonterra has issued a warning to farmers that they may have to meet sustainability expectations unless they want to face trade barriers and potentially lose customers. Fonterra Chair Peter McBride and chief executive Miles Hurrell announced at the annual meeting in Rotorua that they would need to set (and stay within) targets for Scope 3 carbon emissions. The Country's Jamie Mackay explained that...

One of New Zealand’s busiest townhouse developers says some of their staff have nothing to do. Williams Corporation is offering redundancy for up to 30 percent of staff, between here and in Australia and Asia. It says sales are down and it need to cut numbers. Staff who take the offer will get two months' pay. Co-founder Matthew Horncastle says the business remains profitable, but there's simply n...

There are concerns exporters could be run out of business in this country. The 2022 Export NZ DHL Barometer shows exporters are worried about a number of barriers in the sector. There are the obvious ones like the cost and availability of transport but the high cost of doing business in NZ is also seen as a hurdle. There is some good news, with two thirds of exporters expecting international order...

Tech company Pushpay is currently under offer, and new data from today suggests that the company will miss some long term targets. As such, people have raised concerns about the company's price, as they feel it doesn't match the current stock price on offer. Milford Asset Management Portfolio Manager Sam Trethewey explained why Pushpay is undergoing a downswing and why investors are concerned.  LI...