Best of Business

A new report suggests New Zealand is missing out on billions of dollars as a result of delayed decision-making over infrastructure. The report commissioned by Infrastructure New Zealand suggests it currently takes on average 15 years to deliver major transport links across the country. Meanwhile traffic congestion is costing Aucklanders up to $1.3 billion annually, more than $1,000 a year per adul...

A property development company is taking Kāinga Ora to court, over its refusal to fast track a $4 billion housing development in Papakura. Winton Land is accusing the state housing agency of engaging in anti-competitive behaviour,  by refusing private developers fair access to fast-track powers and paying well above market rate for land. Chief Executive Chris Meehan won't say how much money is bei...

Reassurance for the travel industry as the final pandemic travel requirement will be scrapped. The New Zealand Traveller Declaration will no longer be needed to enter the country after the Government announced its winding down most of its Covid-19 powers - including rolling out lockdowns, MIQ and vaccine mandates. Tourism Holdings Chief Executive Grant Webster told Mike Hosking dropping the decele...

Grant Robertson has no regrets about his economic decisions during the Covid pandemic. The inflation rate has dropped only slightly in the September quarter, from the 32-year high recorded in the year to June. The Reserve Bank may now have to hike the Official Cash Rate by 75 basis points next month. The Finance Minister told Mike Hosking while hindsight is a wonderful thing, the Government has ma...

Simon Upton is the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, and he wants the Government to now clearly monitor the money it is spending on the environment and what that actually achieves. He even stated the money they're throwing at the environment is 'short termism', and is lacking in transparency. Dave Frame is a professor of Climate Change with Victoria University of Wellington and he jo...

Latest figures show the housing market continues to decline, with decade-low sales numbers and dropping house values. CoreLogic's latest Market and Economic Update shows the total value of residential real estate has fallen from a peak of $1.73 trillion early this year to $1.62 trillion at the end of September. Property values fell 6.3 percent over six months, with the average home price now under...

The Dairy and Business Owners Group is meeting with Chris Hipkins today, as ram raids and thefts continue to plague businesses. Several more Auckland businesses were struck on Monday night, with youths smashing their way into eateries and leaving a trail of damage behind. Group Chair Sunny Kaushal says with the Government’s inaction and failure to stop the crimes, he believes the meeting with the...

Hopes our new knowledge of vaccines will help to cure cancer - within the next decade. The founders of BioNTech, who collaborated with Pfizer to create New Zealand's most effective Covid vaccine, are working on an injection to target different types of cancer. It should be available before 2030. The jab uses the same mRNA technology as found in the Covid jab, to assist the immune system to fight o...

A large development including more than 700 new homes near Queenstown will be fast tracked for consenting. The Te Putahi project at Lake Hayes has been approved under the Government's Covid-19 recovery act, one of three projects to be allowed to skip some of the usual RMA hoops you have to jump through. 748 houses will be built along with a park-and-ride public transport area and potentially a sch...

Cost of living pressures are expected to ease, but will remain at a much higher level than usual. Statistics New Zealand’s poised to unveil the latest inflation figures later this morning.  The highly anticipated Consumer Price Index is tipped to drop from the recent record high of 7.3 percent, to closer to 6.5.  That’s according to ASB, whose Senior Economist Mark Smith says New Zealand’s probabl...

More than 30 Rotorua bars and restaurants have closed their doors today to protest a lack of Government support. Hospitality NZ Bay of Plenty spokesperson, Reg Hennessy, says many are turning away  business because they can't get the staff they need. But Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says working holiday visas are a big source of hospitality and seasonal workers. She says we've had tens of thousan...

New inflation figures due out this morning won't show the full picture of rising consumer prices. Stats NZ will release its latest quarterly CPI data shortly before 11am. It's expected to show inflation has eased off slightly, from its once-in-a-generation high of 7.3-percent in the year to June. ANZ Chief Economist Sharon Zollner told Mike Hosking that's mostly due to a fall in petrol prices, rat...

A Dunedin tech company has come up with a high tech proof-of-origin mark that can distinguish New Zealand made wines. It's a little more advanced than a standard 'made in New Zealand' label on a bottle, as it uses advance science to determine whether or not the wine was actually made in New Zealand. Tech company Oritain partnered with Pyramid Valley wines to bring forth this latest form of CSI for...

Grant Robertson, deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister is on a business delegation in New York. This trip was done to reinforce our nation's "New Zealand is open for business" theme, in a way that directly addresses offshore investors. He was able to meet with the IMF and US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell within this first week. He wasn't travelling alone, as a dozen CEOs, and some journ...

Going by the warnings out today from the trucking and transport sector, it may not be long before we get our local councils telling us that rubbish collections can’t happen as often as they do now and getting stuff transported around the country will be more difficult than it is already. Chris Carr, who runs the Carr and Haslem trucking company , has been flying drivers to the South Island every w...

It’s no secret food prices are through the roof right now. Latest data from Stats NZ show overall prices rose 8.3 percent in the year to September. Fruit and vegetables were up a massive 16 percent. Foodstuffs NZ Managing Director Chris Quin joined Mike Hosking to discuss. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Land-based salmon farming continues to sink its hook into the fish market. Mount Cook Alpine Salmon has revealed plans to launch New Zealand's first land-based salmon farm. The $16.7 million  project will either be in the Mackenzie or Waitaki Districts. Chief executive, David Coles, says the consulting firm EY, which monitors the global industry, predicts land-based salmon farming could be an indu...

Predictions the country needs to go through two-years of stunted growth, to try to re-balance the economy. Infometrics' latest forecast shows inflation may cause problems through until the end of 2024. It's picking economic growth will slip below two percent in the second half of next year. Infometrics Principal Economist, Brad Olsen told Kate Hawkesby interest rates are expected to go even higher...

There is belief we have a big price to pay to get inflation under control, with two years of stunted growth needed to re-balance the economy. Infometrics' latest forecasts have the Official Cash Rate being increased to 4.5 percent early next year - a full percentage point more than what was expected three months ago. It also picks economic growth will slip below two-percent in the second half of 2...

Heavy vehicle driver shortages are so dire that one trucking company is having to fly drivers down to the South Island every week to cover important routes. "We're just scraping through as a nation," said trucking boss Chris Carr, who was out driving goods himself because his company, Carr and Haslam, was so understaffed. His comments follow a letter being sent to Immigration Minister Michael Wood...

In general, the Government seem to have got the memo on immigration. Another loosening was announced by Michael Wood yesterday. But I say in general because as we have discovered, this lot are a mixture of incompetent and Machiavellian. So, we have the skilled visa category reopening, about time. The parents visa being adjusted is not as big a deal. And we have "consultation“. Watch that, because...

The Reserve Bank’s dual mandate has received a frosty reception, after it completed the first stage of public consultation on its monetary policy remit. Most submitters believed inflation should have a bigger focus over the maximum sustainable employment, or the objective should be removed altogether. Business NZ was one of the submitters and CEO Kirk Hope joined Mike Hosking. LISTEN ABOVE See omn...

A positive sign has come from one of our largest tourism companies.  Tourism Holdings has significantly raised its full year profit guidance on the back of a stronger than expected tourism rebound. CEO Grant Webster joined Mike Hosking. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Commerce Commission is looking into how consumers can get a better deal on mobile and broadband. It's seeking feedback on proposals focused on making offers, costs, contracts and coverage more readily comparable between competing mobile companies. The consultation is part of the commission’s wider drive to improve retail service quality of the telecommunications sector. Telecommunications Foru...

Some encouraging tourism numbers are starting to come to light. 130,000 tourists arrived in August - Queenstown in particular is now at 80 percent of pre-pandemic levels. Infometrics Principal Economist, Brad Olsen, explained to us that these numbers are encouraging and that this growth gives the economy a necessary 'shot in the arm'. "This is a good early sign, it shows that people are willing to...