The Government is removing tax roadblocks to investment, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says.
“Budget 2025 sets aside $75 million over the next four years to encourage foreign investment in New Zealand infrastructure and make it easier for startups to attract and retain high quality staff.
“These changes demonstrate the Government’s commitment to driving the economic growth needed to create jobs, lift incomes and fund public services New Zealanders rely on.
“Low capital intensity and low rates of foreign direct investment are key contributors to New Zealand’s relatively low rates of productivity.
“To generate growth, New Zealand needs more foreign investment and the international know-how it brings with it. It also needs rules that make it easier for enterprising new businesses to get established.
“Presently, New Zealand’s thin capitalisation rules limit the amount of tax-deductible debt that foreign investors can put into New Zealand investments. The purpose of these rules is to prevent income being shifted offshore and to protect New Zealand’s tax base.
“However, there is a risk that the rules may be deterring investment, particularly in capital-intensive infrastructure projects that are typically funded by large amounts of debt. We need to strike a balance.
“Therefore, the Budget sets aside $65 million for a change to the rules, pending the outcome of consultation on the details.
“The Budget sets aside another $10 million to defer tax liability of some employee share schemes to help startups and unlisted companies.
“Currently, problems arise if tax bills for share income arrive when employees are unable to realise the value of their shares. The changes we are making will allow tax to be deferred until a liquidity event, such as the sale of the shares, occurs.
“These changes come on top of work under way to modernise and reduce compliance costs associated with fringe benefit tax rules and further adjustments to the foreign investment fund residence and other rules to make New Zealand a more attractive destination for migrants and digital nomads.
“To shift onto a faster growth track, New Zealand needs to make it easier for businesses to access capital and talent.”
Source: Secondary teachers question rationale for changes to relationship education guidelines
Auckland Emergency Management’s ability to deliver urgent response operations has been further enhanced, with eight new vehicles and three catering trailers ready to hit the road.
Each highly specialised vehicle in the new emergency response fleet is purpose-built and equipped with tools and provisions that allow teams to go off-road and safely undertake a wide range of activities.
The upgraded fleet supplements existing equipment and resources and is a big step forward in strengthening AEM’s local coordination capabilities and ability to help Aucklanders in emergencies like flooding, particularly in remote and rural areas.
“The new fleet gives us the tools to get where we need to go, stay there as long as we’re needed, and support the communities who need us most,” says John Cranfield, Head of Operations, Auckland Emergency Management. “It’s about being ready for anything—today and into the future.”
One of the new class 2 trucks equipped with a wide range of specialist tools and gear to support response activities.
The new equipment also enhances AEM’s ability to support wider civil defence needs across the country. Whether delivering supplies, supporting civil defence centres, or managing field operations in remote areas, the enhanced fleet will help our responders deploy to impacted areas and remain self-sufficient whilst there, so as not to place further strain on local resources.
The fleet includes two new 4×4 class 2 trucks with a raised chassis, which enables operations in and around floodwaters when it’s safe to do so. These trucks are equipped with hydraulic ladder systems, winches, and specialised search-and-rescue lights. They will be used by response teams in the North and West to undertake response activities as needed, says John.
Three new 4×4 command vans will provide invaluable situational awareness to coordinate response efforts from out in the field. Each specialised van is equipped with computers, Low Earth Orbit satellite internet capability and radio repeaters, enabling the vans to function as a small mobile office. The vans are fully self-sufficient, with a generator and fridge, making them particularly useful in isolated areas.
Three Ford Ranger Wildtrak utes have also joined the AEM fleet, providing further capacity to navigate floodwaters and off-road terrain. With searchlights, winches, and specialised tools and equipment onboard, the utes will be used in rescue activities and everyday operations.
To help deliver hot meals and drinks to New Zealand response teams and community members in need, three new catering trailers have been acquired to boost AEM’s capability at Civil Defence Centres and in remote or isolated areas.
“We are ready to respond wherever these new vehicles are needed. The additional capability means we have more opportunity to assist when there are multiple events occurring across the region at the same time,” says John.
The new fleet has been blessed at a ceremony, led by local iwi Ngāti Tamaoho and attended by councillors, emergency services personnel, New Zealand response teams, and other key partners.
Funding for the vehicles came through Auckland Council’s storm recovery fund and AEM’s capital expenditure budget and is a critical part of the region’s ongoing commitment to build resilience to manage severe weather events.
Source: PISA results continue to show more to be done for equity in education
Agencies that respond to fire and smoke incidents
Several agencies work closely together during smoke or fire-related incidents, especially in a large-scale event. This ensures all available resources, expertise, and equipment are available for an effective response.
Leads messaging to the affected communities in a fire emergency, with support from Health New Zealand’s Public Health Service.
If a fire is dangerous or a threat to a person or property, call 111 and ask for the fire service.
Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora
Te Whatu Ora provides advice on potential health risks when there is a significant smoke event that may affect public health.
Christchurch City Council
Christchurch City Council plays a supporting role in fire response. Depending on the community’s needs, the Council also may have a role in post-emergency recovery, including some wildfire prevention measures and building community resilience.
The Green Party is urging the Prime Minister to get rid of the Regulatory Standards Bill after the Waitangi Tribunal found that the Bill breaches the Crown’s Tiriti o Waitangi obligations.
“The Regulatory Standards Bill is another thinly veiled attack on te Tiriti o Waitangi. The Prime Minister failed to show leadership on the Treaty Principles Bill, he can begin to make amends by abandoning this Bill,” says Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson.
“Te Tiriti o Waitangi is the promise of protection, for people and planet. We have seen hundreds of thousands of people show up in support of te Tiriti o Waitangi, we know our communities will not stand for this.
“The Bill is the same tired politics we have seen time and time again from the Government, attacking Te Tiriti o Waitangi to make it easier for wealthy companies to exploit our whānau and our taiao for profit.
“For a Bill that claims to attempt to embed ‘good law-making’, the Bill has already breached te Tiriti o Waitangi in its policy development and has completely ignored the significant opposition and feedback provided in over 22,000 submissions.
“The last time the Prime Minister showed up to Waitangi, he said that te Tiriti o Waitangi was our past, present, and future. As Prime Minister, it would be wrong for him to again ignore the findings of the Waitangi Tribunal and allow this Bill to proceed without real engagement with Māori on such constitutionally significant legislation.
“Governments come and go. Politicians come and go. Te Tiriti o Waitangi is foundational and enduring. Honouring te Tiriti o Waitangi is the constitutional obligation of every Prime Minister – something Christopher Luxon must take personal responsibility for by scrapping the Regulatory Standards Bill.
“Whatungarongaro te tangata, toitū te whenua. Whatungarongaro te Kāwanatanga, toitū te Tiriti o Waitangi. People disappear, while the land remains. Governments come and go, while te Tiriti o Waitangi is forever,” says Marama Davidson.
Traffic will be back using the Holland Road/Marshmeadow Road intersection on Wednesday 21 May, following final surfacing work for the safety upgrade of the State Highway 1B Telephone Road railway crossing.
While the road will reopen, the rail crossing on Telephone Road itself must remain closed for another couple of months until KiwiRail has completed their signalling work, says NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA).
“The signalling work is a vital part of the upgrade to safely allow vehicles to start using the Telephone Road rail crossing once again,” explains NZTA’s Regional Manager of Maintenance and Operations, Roger Brady.
“We appreciate this has been a disruptive period and ask the Puketaha community to bear with us for just a couple more months until the crossing can fully reopen.”
To prevent vehicles using the rail crossing, shipping containers will be installed across the road tomorrow and remain in place until KiwiRail have completed their work, which is expected to be in late July.
“Unfortunately pedestrian access across the rail crossing will also no longer be possible, including the Puketaha School students who have been able to walk across twice a day,” Mr Brady says.
Both Puketaha School and the Ministry of Education, who manage the school bus routes, have been notified.
Alongside lowering the risk of vehicles damaging the rail tracks, NZTA has also added escape lanes to ensure vehicles do not get stuck on the crossing at busy times.
“As we hit the home stretch for the roading component of this project, we’d like to once more thank the community for your patience while SH1B Telephone Road remains closed at the rail crossing.”
Temporary traffic management will be in place until July showing the SH1B detour around Holland Road, Waverley Road and Seddon Road. This is the same detour that was in place from when the crossing first closed in 2022 until the start of the upgrade project in February this year.
The Government is unlikely to fund pay equity for hospice and Plunket nurses, care and support workers and other workforces made up of mostly women.
On ThursdayBrooke Van Velden told Parliament that she understood that “the Government, under Minister Nicola Willis’ pay equity reset, suggested that the funded sector would not be funded by the Government for pay equity.”
The pay equity reset last year also disbanded the pay equity taskforce, but until now it had not been clear the Government was looking to wash its hands of funding pay equity claims for these sectors altogether.
On Wednesday the Prime Minister Christopher Luxon either didn’t know his government had made that decision or was deliberately hiding the truth about the funded sector.
“What this could mean is that women in this sector, whose claims have now been extinguished by the law passed two weeks ago, will no longer have a pathway to pay equity,” Labour workplace relations and safety spokesperson Jan Tinetti said.
“These are the care and support workers who look after our parents and grandparents when they can no longer look after themselves. Who provide dementia and disabled care. Plunket nurses who support new mums, and hospice nurses who provide end of life care.
“Brooke Van Velden appears to have confirmed on Nicola Willis’ behalf that there isn’t a pathway to raising women’s wages in these sectors, because the Government isn’t intending to contribute to raising their pay.
“If Nicola Willis never intended to fund pay equity in the funded sector, then she has been stringing women along for months before the law change two weeks ago. Without government support, pay equity in these sectors is unlikely to happen.
“This is beyond bad faith. It is betrayal,” Jan Tinetti said.
Attribute to Detective Inspector Christiaan Barnard
Police have restrained more than $650,000 in assets, following the arrest of a Wellington-based man on Friday as part of an FBI investigation.
The man appeared in the Auckland District Court on Friday for his alleged involvement in an organised criminal group that stole cryptocurrency from seven victims valued at US$265M (NZD$450M).
The Wellington High Court has now issued restraining orders under the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act 2009 for assets valued at $670,000 including cash held in bank accounts, cash held in a lawyer’s trust account for the purchase of a property, cryptocurrency, and high value goods.
We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners in the United States to recover assets alleged to have been stolen by the organised criminal group.
An interim name suppression order remains in place.
Northland Police are continuing an appeal for information in relation to the death of Whangārei man Geoffrey Ware.
A homicide investigation has been underway since the 55-year-old’s body was found at his Parakao home on May 9.
Detective Senior Sergeant Michelle Harris, of Whangārei CIB, says a portal has been set up for any photos or video that could assist the case.
“Police are still seeking information and sightings in the areas Mangakahia Road, Otaika Valley Road and State Highway 14 towards Whangārei, between 2pm and 8pm on Friday, May 9,” she says.
“We are also interested in sightings of a 1999 blue and silver Mitsubishi L200 ute, and a man reportedly seen walking along SH14 that afternoon and evening.”That portal link is https://cossar.nc3.govt.nz/
Detective Senior Sergeant Harris says the enquiry team is continuing to follow strong lines of enquiry.
“Police would like to thank members of the public who’ve provided information to the enquiry team to date.”
Anyone with additional information can also update Police online now or call 105 using the file number 250509/6749.
Information can also be provided anonymously via Crime Stoppers on 0800 555 111.
Source: Secondary teachers question rationale for changes to relationship education guidelines
Better connections around the Manukau Domain have been unlocked with a new walking track now open.
The paths consist of a new track, linking with the Opened Stone sculpture, and a second path connecting to the existing Manukau Domain track.
Chair Ella Kumar is excited the improved connections on the domain are completed.
“It’s great to see so many Puketāpapa projects in action, such as the Waikowhai boardwalk and coastal tracks, as well as now better connections on Manukau Domain.
“We live in a beautiful and coastal part of Tāmaki Makaurau, and the board is providing investment to unlock greenspace for the community to enjoy these picturesque spaces.”
The new 133-metre pathway is the result of early advocacy from Lynfield residents.
Opened Stone is one of five artworks created as part of the 1971 International Sculpture Symposium. The red granite sculpture by the late Japanese sculptor Hiroaki Ueda was inspired by traditional Shinto shrines.
The sculpture stood outside the Auckland Art Gallery for 35 years and was reinstalled in Manukau Domain in 2016.
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Source: Police investigating after shots fired at Hastings house
By Sarah Wilcox
Volunteers atop Big Sandhill looking south to the Ernest Islands and The Gutter | Riki Everest
In January 2025, I was part of a volunteer crew doing maintenance work on the Island Hill Homestead near Rakiura Stewart Island’s west coast.
As one of the oldest buildings on the island it holds a significant place in local history. It’s named after Island Hill, a granite mound you pass on the track between Mason Bay and Freshwater Huts.
The homestead, woolshed and grounds have been cared for by DOC since 1987. The buildings are used as a work base by staff, hut wardens, contractors and research students. It’s been especially useful for accommodating people working on the dune restoration and pukunui (southern dotterel) projects in the bay.
My husband Mark and I had passed the homestead on previous tramping trips. We spent a memorable evening there with the hut wardens eating fresh pikelets on the porch, reading from old logbooks and being investigated by several kiwi.
When we spotted the opportunity for a 10-day volunteer stint, we decided to apply. We loved the idea of spending time in remote and beautiful Mason Bay, living in the historic homestead and giving something back.
A short history of Island Hill Homestead
The homestead was built in 1880 and housed farmers and their families for nearly 90 years. Many were familiar local names: William Walker, Arthur and Mateen Traill, Stanford and Dolly Leask and Tim and Ngaire Te Aika.
The site oozes struggle, refuge and resourcefulness. It feels isolated today but would have been extraordinarily remote in the 19th century. Prevailing westerly winds sweep up the valley, with a macrocarpa wind break providing some shelter from the worst of the gales.
Some farmers profited from grazing sheep and cattle on the marginal land, but it was never easy. Hardly surprising. Half sand dune, half wetland, the land required a network of drainage ditches to get enough grass to grow. Access was also challenging. It was heavy work to maintain a road to Freshwater Landing across the ‘chocolate swamp’, but even that was better than loading a ship on the wild Mason Bay coast.
Besides its place in local history, this building is the world’s southernmost woolshed | Sarah WilcoxThe wool press was recently returned to this site from the Rakiura Museum | Sarah Wilcox
Most residents added on to or modified the homestead during their time, so it tells the story of their habitation. I read of an abundant vegetable garden next to the house in 1916.
The Te Aika family lived there from 1966 and Ngaire home-schooled their two daughters. Historian Olga Sansom describes finding them, “dressed for school…with shoes polished, hair well-groomed and with neat, pleated skirts and white blouses like any other college girls.”
In 1986, the Te Aika family relinquished the farm’s lease to the Crown because it had become uneconomic.
I enjoyed making bread in the homestead kitchen, following in a long line of farm cooks | Sarah Wilcox
Fast forward to 2025
We arrived after a 10-minute helicopter flight across the island. No ancient farmers were there to meet us – just a gorgeous warm summer’s day and hundreds of bumble bees. The bees are thought to descend for the kanuka flowering and are madly attracted to anything blue. We had been warned – and had studiously removed everything blue from our clothing and kit.
Also in our group were volunteers Janet Dunn and Dugald Wilson. Riki Everest from Rakiura Māori Lands Trust and Jaega Banga, ranger also came for a few days each. The trip was led by Andrew King, supervisor, Rakiura National Park.
From left Mark Wilcox, Dugald Wilson, Andrew King, the author and Janet Dunn pause for morning tea on the homestead porch | Sarah Wilcox
Andrew loves this place. “I’ve been coming out here for 20 years. I have a keen interest in all the historic work, because you have to keep the stories alive”.
The stories of previous inhabitants were told as he showed us around the area – homestead, woolshed, shower, implement shed and nearby trampers’ and hunters’ huts – and hinted at our work ahead.
Looking after a heritage building
There were a couple of big jobs for us – build and fit a new window to replace a rotten one, and build and install a new kitchen cupboard. There were also lots of small maintenance jobs to work through depending on the weather and how long things took.
“We’re careful to respect the building’s heritage values, and change as little as possible. So we don’t fill over screw heads or try and make things look new. I name and date all the new cabinetry we fit and document everything.
“Borer is a big issue. We’re slowly replacing anything that’s too bad to restore. If you can’t hold it then you replace it with like for like, as much as possible. I use wood collected from the beach, look out for second-hand timber and source macrocarpa for the interior so it fits in. It’s more effort but it’s worth it.”
Every morning after breakfast we talked about work for the day and people chose what they wanted to do. Andrew would patiently explain the tasks and how to do them. There was never any time pressure.
I’d often hear an encouraging “gettin’ there”, “there’s no hurry” or “looking good” as Andrew kept a weather eye on our progress.
I think this relaxed attentiveness really paid off with a happy crew, no injuries (just one bee sting for me) and only a few fixable mistakes.
A steady stream of trampers stopped to say hello on their way through. We enjoyed showing them around the site and talking about our work.
Dolly Leask excavated and planted this waterlily pond at her former home, just north of Martin’s Creek Hunters Hut | Sarah WilcoxMany unusual plants like Craspedia uniflora are flourishing as marram in the dunes is controlled | Sarah WilcoxLong evenings allowed for trips as a couple to explore the area, look for kiwi and have some time out. Here, stunning evening light seen from Big Sandpass | Sarah Wilcox
Jobs done – and done well
Janet, Dugald and Andrew (kneeling) working on the new window | Sarah Wilcox
What we did achieve over the time was significant:
• built and fitted a new window • applied wood preservative to fence and woolshed • scraped back and repainted window exteriors • cleaned gutters on homestead and Mason Bay Hut • set traps – 1 possum, 1 feral cat caught • built and fitted new kitchen cupboard, sanded and cleaned original doors to reuse • put in new fence posts • scraped rust off tractors and wool press and applied metal preservative • cleaned Mason Bay Hut and toilets • cut long grass beside the woolshed • sorted timber in woodshed • replaced borer-ridden skirting boards • cleaned homestead and swept woolshed • shared out the cooking and dishes
Mark and Riki at work scraping rust off the old Massey Ferguson tractor before metal preservative was applied | Sarah Wilcox
One job I particularly enjoyed was re-wallpapering a kitchen wall. This involved choosing from a stash of period rolls in the back cupboard, applying scrim (what a marvellous way to prep a rough wooden wall!), then sticking up the fresh wallpaper. It was hugely satisfying to put all the spreads, spices and sauces back into the new, clean cupboard that others had built, knowing it would be well-used in years to come.
With a wry smile and twinkle in his eye, Andrew clearly got huge satisfaction from enabling us to be stretched a bit while making sure the jobs were done to a high standard.
“The value of this project is introducing people to what DOC workers do. We teach them a lot of new stuff but it goes both ways – we learn off each other.”
He says the Stewart Island visitor and heritage team has always been very strong on using volunteers as hut wardens and on historic, hut cleaning and painting trips and track trimming trips.
“We do a lot of hours with volunteers every year.”
Māori history and archaeological sites
European history on the island is short compared with the centuries-old association that Māori have with Rakiura and its offshore islands – especially the tītī islands.
Riki Everest joined us for the first part of the trip. He’s a captivating storyteller and former pāua diver who now lives on the island.
“We grew up on the legends of Tim Te Aika and George, Stanford and Dolly Leask. When you come into this place and see the state of the buildings and how hard it would have been for them as pioneers, you pay homage to those who’ve been on the land before you. They don’t have to be Māori to be legends.”
On our second day in perfect weather, Andrew took us all on a walkabout in the dunes to check on the mapped iwi archaeological sites in the area. Unfortunately most had been covered by sand and weren’t visible. Others had been swamped by fast-growing weedy lupins.
Possibly a shell midden, one of many iwi archaeological sites in the bay | Sarah WilcoxRiki on his way to the beach to catch a fixed-wing flight back to Halfmoon Bay | Sarah Wilcox
Undeterred, Riki is keen to come back to look around on his own another time.
“It was a complete privilege to come over to Mason’s on behalf of the trust and spend time here. My cup is just a wee bit full.”
Riki says he’s really impressed that DOC wants to strengthen ties.
“We feel the same, it’s absolutely reciprocal. We’re all kaitiaki of Rakiura.
“I think DOC is an incredible resource. They have all the protocols in place to care for the iwi sites and the best people – experts with years of experience. We can learn a lot from them and they’re really willing to teach. I can’t thank them enough.”
About the Southland Volunteer Programme
The Southland volunteer programme has been running for 20 years.
Andrew explains that the organisers are not looking for specific skills but for a mixture of people.
“It can be couples or single people – anyone can do it. Everyone has different skills but everyone is keen to learn. Most volunteers haven’t done any building work or anything like this before. I’ve found the older ones easier to manage and more keen to get out than some of the younger ones!”
Good food made for happy volunteers. When faced with a large meal, we were urged to “put on our big boy pants” to reduce leftovers for the next day | Sarah Wilcox
So what makes a great volunteer experience? Here are Andrew’s top tips:
Food is very important, so everyone normally gets fed well. (Superb understatement by Andrew – the food was generous and hearty!)
If people don’t want to do something they’re usually pretty honest about it. It’s got to be that open conversation right from the start.
I like to give people the knowledge they need to do a job then let them get on with it. I encourage questions.
There’s no rush, if it doesn’t get done one day, there’s always another day.
10 days can be a long time for some, so the trick is to make sure everyone gets along and respects each other. If there are any niggles we get onto it pretty quickly.
