Best of Business

The national median rent is now a record-breaking $575 a week. This is from TradeMe's Rental Price Index, which also says new highs have been hit in the Bay of Plenty, Northland and Taranaki. In a recent survey of property investors by economist Tony Alexander, 78 per cent said they’re planning to raise rents within six months. New Zealand Property Investors' Federation Executive Officer Sharon Cu...

With most vaccine mandates being scrapped for workers soon, the Government have given some guidance for how private businesses should navigate the changes.  It says businesses should undertake their own risk assessment as to whether they should keep mandates.  But just because you lost your job due to being unvaxxed, doesn't mean you should expect an offer for your old job back.  CEO of Beyond Rec...

Air New Zealand's  $2.2 billion recapitalisation package is being seen as the only way forward.  It plans to use it to repay the Crown loan.   The Government will participate in the raise to retain its majority 51 per cent shareholding.  Aviation commentator Irene King told Kate Hawkesby Air New Zealand really doesn't have any option.  She says the fallback is for the Government to inject more mon...

The Government says it won't be left carrying the can when it comes to Air New Zealand.  Our national airline is doing a capital raise of $2.2 billion.  It's asking existing shareholders to buy $1.2 billion worth of extra shares, including the Government, which has a majority stake.  Finance Minister, Grant Robertson, told Mike Hosking he's confident people will see Air New Zealand as a good inves...

Air New Zealand has announced a major plan to recapitalise - after two years of economic turbulence.   The $2.2 billion package will enable the airline to repay its existing Crown loan and position the company for recovery post-pandemic.   The vast majority is made up of a $1.2 billion Rights Offer of new ordinary shares.  Chair Dame Therese Walsh says there will also be a $600 million issue of re...

The Government has taken another step towards fulfilling its pre-election promise to lift incomes and improve working conditions of everyday Kiwis.  The Fair Pay Agreements Bill was introduced to Parliament yesterday and is expected to pass into law later this year.  Under the bill, employees will be able to force their employers to negotiate working conditions and pay if at least 10% of their wor...

Tax cuts, a big fuel excise cut and cash payments are leading the headlines when it comes to the Australian budget.   Frydenberg announced the tax offsets amount to billions of dollars, potentially saved by the $7.7 billion less in jobseeker payments because of the low unemployment rate.  It still leaves a budget hole of $78 billion for this current financial year, which they hope contracts to $43...

Mixed reaction to the Government's decision to push ahead with Fair Pay Agreements.  The bill was submitted to Parliament yesterday - in a bid by the Government to lift incomes and improve working conditions.   It would allow employees to force negotiations with employers, if 10 percent of the workforce, or a thousand workers, agree.  Primary teacher union NZEI president Liam Rutherford told Kate...

Northland are crying out for some tourism help that they say should be extended by the Government beyond the South Island.   Earlier this month, the mayor, Northland Inc. and tourism industry leader Riki Kinnaird met with Stuart Nash and Kelvin Davis, asking for the $49 million kick start fund to include all regions throughout the country.   Currently, it's only available for five South Island reg...

The war in Ukraine has been raging for one month now, but it wasn't until this week that Fonterra let go of some of their Russian employees. They had 35 employees in St Petersburg and Moscow, and they kept on employing them and paying their wages until this week. Meanwhile, there has been a very extensive self-sanctioning among businesses overseas. The number of companies tied up in sanctions is s...

NZME has stunned its rivals by announcing it’s close to signing a deal with Google to pay for its content. New Zealand media have been working together to get permission from the Commerce Commission to bargain with Google and Facebook owner Meta about providing them with content and getting some remuneration from it. Today, NZME announced they’re no longer interested in a group deal and are close...

Hopes border reopenings will ease staff pressures in the automotive industry. Muster Recruit says the combination of stronger demand for vehicles and border closures are key factors behind the shortages. Managing Director Matt Twiselton told Andrew Dickens a lack of staffing has led to a near $100 million loss in the industry and will be a long-term effort to fix. “A mechanic isn't just a mechanic...

Have a look at the new bridge in Turkey that opened this week. It's the world's longest suspension bridge and it's spectacular.  They claim it will generate twice what it cost in economic returns. It produced 118,000 jobs.  What stands out about it for me is not just the fact it's spectacular, but the fact that Turkey did it. They're not really one of the planet's great economic powerhouses.  And...

A call for caution in pay transparency legislation.   The Government is looking at a policy which would make it mandatory for companies to report their gender pay disparity.   Genesis Energy has been doing just that for, voluntarily, for two years.   CEO Marc England says the right measurement needs to be made, and simply comparing all salaries as one gives an inaccurate picture.   He told Mike Ho...

The MP for Auckland Central has won the backing of the Auckland Council in her bid to have alcohol advertisements pulled from elite sport.  The council has unanimously passed a motion calling on all MPs to support a Member's Bill put forward by Chlöe Swarbrick.  It seeks to end alcohol sponsorship of broadcast sport and remove the appeals process from Local Alcohol Policies.  Alcohol Healthwatch E...

There are hopes pay transparency legislation will show New Zealand cares about equality.  The Government's looking at a law that would make companies reveal their gender pay gaps publicly.  It's also considering requiring companies to post starter salaries in job ads.   Equal Employment Opportunities Commissioner Karanina Sumeo told Kate Hawkesby if we want to close the gap reporting needs to be m...

The pressure's on New Zealand households.  Finance Minister Grant Robertson is signalling another 2.5 percent rise in inflation if Russia's invasion of Ukraine lasts a year.  Inflation is already at a three-decade high and ASB says households are forking out an extra $150 a week.  Infometrics Principal Economist Brad Olsen says that figure rings true.  He told Mike Hosking households are watching...

Air New Zealand has announced it is starting it's non-stop flights from Auckland and New York in September.  It will be one of the longest flights in the world, taking 16-18 hours.  But government and Air New Zealand say American tourists are the key to our tourism recovery.  Aviation commentator Irene King joined Kate Hawkesby.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Inflation is just one problem businesses are dealing with at the moment.  Finance Minister Grant Robertson is signalling another 2.5 percent rise in inflation if Russia's invasion of Ukraine lasts a year.  Inflation is already at a three-decade high.  Auckland Business Chamber chief executive Michael Barnett says it's on top of an increase in the minimum wage from the end of next week.  He told Ka...

Singapore Airlines is hiring new staff and looking to increase its services to New Zealand.  It operates ten weekly return flights to this country and is hoping to expand.  Public Affairs regional manager Karl Schubert says the airline has been committed to New Zealand for 46 years, including during the pandemic.  He told Mike Hosking there was never any doubt the airline would ramp up its operati...

Treasury is warning the country's current infrastructure gap is set to widen if nothing changes.  It's also stating the Government frequently doesn't get value for money with investments and has one of the worst records at delivering infrastructure.   Infrastructure Commission Chief Executive Ross Copland told Mike Hosking the gap is large and New Zealand has underinvested compared to its OECD pee...

There is new research out this morning from Amazon Web Services on our digital skills in this country signaling there is work to be done.  Around one million workers, which accounts for 35% of the workforce, require digital upskilling and training for their jobs within the next year.  The report also states productivity, competitiveness and innovation are taking a massive hit as a result of poor t...

The story of Larry Miller is simply remarkable.   He's well known now as one of the most successful black businessmen in America - he led Nike's Michael Jordan sneaker brand and made it a $4 billion company.   Miller is now chairman of the brand.   But it wasn't a simple journey - he grew up in the ganglands of Philadelphia  - got into plenty of trouble and ended up in prison more than once.   Now...

A couple of students from Massey University have developed technology to help farmers monitor their cow's health.  Their start-up Protag has developed small device clips that go onto a cow's ear, from there it transmits important data to farmers about the cow's health.  They've raised $1m from investors to fast-track the development of the ear tag sensors.  Co-founder of Protag Tyrel Glass joined...

Here comes the normal, but what does the new normal look like? This is the big question as the country prepares to open the borders and welcome back overseas tourists, starting with Australia next month. Questions like how many tourists will come here in the short term and what will happen to the ideas of building a different kind of tourism have come up as well. Business commentator Rod Oram join...