Best of Business

I like the idea of letting another 4 million people into New Zealand in the next ten years, that doesn’t scare me.  I know that’s going to scare a lot of people, so let’s talk about it. This is the suggestion from an economist called Dr Kirdan Lees who works for Sense Partners. Kirdan reckons that if New Zealand removed restrictions on immigration and aimed to rebuild the country like Australia an...

The Government is preparing to respond to a Productivity Commission inquiry encouraging more rapid but more carefully planned immigration. The Reserve Bank reveals there are now two job vacancies for every unemployed person. Immigration would help address both unemployment and inflation. New Reserve Bank chief economist Paul Conway also says it's more a social question than an economic one, and as...

Further insights into the property market from economist Tony Alexander. His mortgage adviser survey showed first home buyers are coming back into the market. In fact, a net 8 percent of advisers surveyed are seeing an uptick in interest from first home buyers. In another report with Crockers on investors found those looking to increase rents is still dropping, interests in new builds continue to...

Farming technology company 26 Seasons will seek $5.5 million in a Series A funding round next week aimed at advancing its plans for its vertical farming operation at Foxton and to explore opportunities in Southeast Asia. The company, co-founded by current Delegat Group chief executive and former Landcorp chief executive Steve Carden, aims to grow and sell premium strawberries on a commercial scale...

Adjusting residential homes to climate change will probably take some time to implement. CoreLogic analysis has revealed that river flooding in homes is already costing around $100 million a year. Otago, Auckland, Wellington, Hawke's Bay, Manawatu-Wanganui and Marlborough have been identified as the regions most at risk. Head of Research Nick Goodall told Mike Hosking the National Adaptation Plan...

Heartland Group Holdings plans to raise $200 million in new capital off the back of a record financial result. The listed financial firm which owns Heartland Bank and a reverse mortgage business spanning both New Zealand and Australia posted a net profit of $95.1m for the year to June 30, 2021. That was up $8.1m on the prior financial year. On an underlying basis its net profit was $96.1m - up $8....

As workers return to offices after two years of lockdowns and restrictions, the trend of "quiet quitting" is sweeping through workplaces around the world. But what is it and why are workers doing it? Having gained significant traction on short-form video-sharing app TikTok, the idea of "quiet quitting" sees workers dialling back their efforts - typically extra or unpaid work - in a bid to get a be...

New Plymouth's mayor believes his region isn't getting a fair deal on infrastructure spending. More than half a billion dollars in fuel tax raised in the region has been spent in other parts of the country.   Neil Holdom told Heather du Plessis-Allan Taranaki's roads really need investment. “They’re falling to pieces, every day we are hearing from people who are having flat tires and damage to the...

Was I the only person in the country taken by complete surprise yesterday when Finance Minister Grant Robertson announced that the Government is going to spend $2.1 billion to buy Kiwibank? $2.1 billion. And even then people in the banking and finance sector are saying that it won’t mean much because, for Kiwibank to live up to its true potential, it needs a whole lot of investment if it’s going t...

The head of one of our biggest KiwiSaver providers fears Kiwibank will effectively become a zombie bank. The Government has spent $2.1 billion to buy the bank's parent company from independent crown entities ACC, NZ Post and NZ Superfund, meaning it now fully owns it. Simplicity CEO Sam Stubbs joined Mike Hosking. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Keeping Kiwibank New Zealand publicly owned has been dubbed a political move. The Government has announced its intent to purchase 100 percent of Kiwibank for $2.1 billion. Massey University banking expert David Tripe told Kate Hawkesby the purchase is a risk. He says many of the state owned banks around the world have been financial failures. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy in...

Groundswell is sticking to its claim that the Government's ready to pull the pin on He Eke Waka Noa. However, Climate Change Minister James Shaw has assured them there are no plans to do just that. Groundswell climate change spokesperson Steve Cranston joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government have bought Kiwibank from $2.1 million. It will acquire 100 percent of Kiwi Group Holdings - the parent company of Kiwibank and NZ Home Loans - provided the proposed transaction gets Reserve Bank approval. KGH is 53 per cent owned by NZ Post, 25 percent by the Super Fund, and 22 per cent by the ACC. NZME Business Commentator Fran O'Sullivan joined Heather du Plessis-Allan. LISTEN AB...

The Government has announced the purchase of Kiwibank. It was owned by ACC, the Super Fund and NZ Post, before being purchased for $2.1 billion. Meanwhile, the bigger talking point for the Government was Gaurav Sharma. Jacinda Ardern says the Government won’t be investigating the issue as she says no basis to his claims. And the Government will also allow some sectors to pay 12,000 migrant workers...

New figures from Xero show New Zealanders are working more than our international counterparts, with much less to show for it. In order to match the output of Ireland, the most productive country in the OECD, Kiwis would need to work an extra 10 hours a day. Xero New Zealand Country Manager Bridget Snelling joined Mike Hosking. LISTEN ABOVE   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The head of one of New Zealand’s top game studios says our gaming industry is in crisis. Dean Hall, CEO of RocketWerkz, says he would like to hire more staff in New Zealand but is now looking to set up in Australia because of our government's failure to match tax breaks. Dean Hall joins me now. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government's defending the time it's taken to lure more workers here. It will allow some sectors to pay skilled migrant workers less than the median wage, in a bid to address workplace shortages across the country. It will also temporarily increase access to the Working Holiday Scheme to address the shortage of casual workers more generally. Immigration Minister Michael Wood told Mike Hosking...

A big win for google this week. The Australian High Court has ruled the search engine is not a publisher and therefore not legally responsible for defamatory news articles.  The high court overturned an initial defamation finding by the Victorian Supreme Court, in relation to a 2004 article on The Age website.  To discuss the implications of this, lawyer Rick Shera who has an expertise in technolo...

In times like these it is tempting to take a conservative approach to growing wealth, however that usually means you aren't keeping up with inflation.  Enable Me founder Hannah McQueen joins Jack to talk about how to get comfortable taking risks, when you are naturally risk-averse. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kerre Woodham was moderating a panel yesterday about environmental issues. The panel was at The Packaging forum which is all of the people involved in packaging; the consumers, the marketers, the creators, the recyclers. It's a forum designed to reduce the amount of waste we have and be turned it into something good. Woodham says she was very impressed by Jerome Wenzlick and his company Future Pos...

An op-ed published by Dr. Bryce Wilkinson from the NZ Initiative has come out. It essentially is rebutting what many have been saying in that New Zealand’s inflation rate is a result of deliberate Reserve Bank decisions back in 2020 to save jobs and the economy at the expense of inflation. Dr Bryce argues against that and joined Mike Hosking. LISTEN ABOVE   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy...

Social media platforms have been widely used by conspiracy theorists and to spread misinformation, especially when it comes to elections. Now TikTok is trying to crack down. They want influencers and users to know that paid political content and ads will not be allowed. Technology correspondent Kevin Hurler joined Kate Hawkesby to discuss. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy infor...

Electricity Authority has come down hard on Tiwai point trying to cut cheap deals on their power. The EA will now require approval before any power company wants to make a 'big low price deal' Though, they have confirmed that the smelter's 2021 deal with Meridian and Contact, believed to be less than 4 cents a unit, won't be affected by the ban. Murray Ellis is an electricity consultant and joined...

The Electricity Authority has put a temporary block on bulk low-price power deals. It means power companies won't be to do cheap deals to supply more than 150 megawatts of power, without approval. The EA says it's a win for consumers. Consumer Advocacy Council chair Deborah Hart joined Kate Hawkesby. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A call from Kiwibank, for the Government to urgently bring forward its planned tweak to lending restrictions. The state-owned bank says the controversial tightening of credit law last December,  has driven a slowdown in lending in the first half of this year. Chief Executive Steve Jurkovich told Mike Hosking the tightening was never going to work. “When you went one size fits all, all lending type...