Category: Business

Source: Radio New Zealand

Only half of New Zealand workers reported getting a pay rise last year, but some people are more likely to get them than others, new Seek data shows.

The recruitment site said the industries that were most likely to get a pay rise in the past 12 months were industrial, where 57 percent of people received a pay rise, professional services, at 53 percent, and technology, at 52 percent.

Seek country manager Rob Clark said pay rises in the professional sector were often driven by performance and benchmarking metrics.

“You’ve often got supply and demand challenges and they are quite highly skilled roles so you typically get movement in regard to salary when those factors are in play.

“Then you’ve also got industrial and that’s probably because we’ve seen a bit of a surge in terms of demand for some roles in that space.”

The most common way for people to have received a pay rise in the past 12 months was staying with the same company and experiencing a company-wide pay increase.

Just under a quarter of those who received a pay increase with the same company had some sort of performance-based rise.

While half of all respondents said they had a pay rise, 73 percent received 5 percent or less. Fewer than half of people were happy with their current salary but two-thirds were not confident asking for a pay rise.

Company-wide pay rises were most common in the public sector, and retail, hospitality and sports.

They were less common in construction and technology. Seek said performance-based pay increases were more common in these industries, with 46 percent of workers in both sectors receiving performance-based rises.

Only 5 percent of people who had a pay rise had received one because they moved to a new company but they were more likely to have a bigger pay increase. People moving to a new employer were three times more likely to have an increase of more than 10 percent than those who stayed put.

Clark said it was likely to remain a tricky time for those navigating pay conversations.

“If you’d asked a month or two ago you’d probably be a little more confident because we were sort of on an up, and consumer and business confidence was improving. I think that’s come to a head in the last month or so.

“I think a cautionary approach is the likely way forward for a lot of organisations. Having said that, taking a longer-term view is often useful if you can.

“We know that pay increases have a big influence on staff engagement, performance, retention, et cetera. It’s a tricky balance because I guess the big question everyone’s asking is just how long will this last, and how quickly can we sort of get back on our recovery?”

In order, the generations most likely to have received a pay rise in the past 12 months were millennials, at 54 percent, Gen Z at 48 percent and Gen X at 45 percent.

Millennials were most likely to have requested a pay rise but both they and Gen Z were much less comfortable about doing so than Gen X.

Clark said it was probably a reflection of them being earlier in their careers.

“[Millennials] are asking. We think that’s probably a function of being possibly the most financially constrained… first mortgage, kids… that cohort is definitely trying to get on the front foot an have the conversation.

“A lot of what we uncover in this piece of research is it’s really important to have the conversation, even if the outcome isn’t necessarily what you’re looking for. It benefits both the employee and the employer if they’re just having a conversation about salary, because it could provide great context for the employee as to why they’re making those decisions…employees obviously want to be heard and have their say.

“On the other hand… the moment employees most need relief is often at the same time as employers can least afford it. And, you know, you might argue we’re heading into something akin to that at the moment.”

He said people could make use of benchmarking tools to see how their pay compared to others.

That could give them confidence to ask for more money. They could also consider what non-financial benefits they would value.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

A Dunedin bar could lose its liquor licence after a drunk patron was locked in at the end of the night and later taken to hospital.

Dropkicks was granted a temporary authority to sell alcohol in February, but the chief licensing inspector has since raised concerns about the way the venue was being managed including concerns of overcrowding and a lack of systems, training and staff.

The district licensing committee will consider whether to revoke the temporary on-licence authority held by Femme Enterprises Limited at a hearing on Tuesday.

A report said the patron, who was in a toilet stall, was locked in after staff failed to properly check the venue before leaving last month.

It was only when the person realised they were stuck and contacted friends who then called the police that they were found “extremely intoxicated” and transported to hospital.

Report author Kevin Mechen said the chief licensing inspector asked the committee to reconsider if the company should be allowed to sell alcohol.

“This is an unusual situation where the suitability of the holder of a temporary authority is questioned before the application for a substantive licence has been received,” he said.

No concerns were raised when the temporary authority was granted – covering from February 11 to May 11 – ahead of the University of Otago’s Orientation Week.

But that changed after the venue started operating with concerns including overcrowding, the lack of CCTV at the premises, poor communication between Femme Enterprises Limited and various council departments, and an association with an external event provider who advertised bar tab giveaways.

But Mechen said those concerns were overshadowed by the April 3 lock in.

He confirmed that the parties involved would have an opportunity to present their positions to the committee at Tuesday’s hearing.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

New Zealand has passed the “tipping point” where most people buying solar panels will save more money than they spend on them, researchers say, but more could be done to unlock households’ ability to make use of solar power.

Josh Ellison, research lead for Rewiring Aotearoa, said the country was one of the first where the electrification of homes and vehicles could deliver cost-of-living savings and reductions in emissions at the same time.

He said the tipping point was probably passed about three years ago but has now been crossed for battery storage systems, too.

It was helped by solar installation costs reducing and power prices increasing.

“It does depend on how much electricity the household consumers.

“A household consuming a lot of electricity, and especially a lot of electricity during the daytime – a household working from home for example, will be likely to save more…

“There will likely still be some households in more shady areas that are rarely using any electricity during the day where it might be harder to stack up. Although with today’s solar prices I would say that probably even those households might stack up.”

He said even houses that were not facing north now found solar paid off.

“Not every home will be in the sunshine but most New Zealand homes will. And for the average sunlight in New Zealand on a household, buying a solar system, including making the repayments for the system at the moment will save about $1000 per year net or create about $1000 of profit per year. And so, we’re now at that point where if households were able to finance solar in the same way that energy companies are allowed to build their assets and put it onto consumer bills, then most homes in New Zealand could have $1000 a year lower bills today.”

He said energy companies installing poles and wires could finance them over 50 years.

“They get to amortise that asset cost and then apply it to your bill and increase your bill based on the cost of the asset. If you were allowed to do the same thing with solar today, it would create about $1000 a year in net savings.”

He said it was cheaper to put solar on houses than build solar farms but only about 20 percent of households had access to green loans from banks to do so, because they often require sufficient equity in a house and for the homeowner to have an active mortgage.

Just under 84,000 customers now have solar power, up from 20,000 in 2018.

The largest number by zone are in the upper North Island, followed by the central North Island and then the upper South Island.

Ellison said even areas like Dunedin and Stewart Island were past the tipping point.

“They are a lot lower than the average in New Zealand, central Otago has some of the highest generation…. but the difference is actually not that large. We see similar savings across the country.”

Tim Sparks, Electricity Authority general manager of networks and systems change said there were a number of changes in progress that could boost household returns from solar power.

“We’re interested in enabling new technologies and we’re updating a bunch of industry rules so we can make better use of rooftop solar generation that’s being generated in communities.”

From next week, lines companies will be required to have a default export limit for people putting power back into the network of 10 kilowatts.

“That means people can basically put more solar power into the network than they could before.

“A lot of lines companies in the past have had much lower limits down at five kilowatts. And so, in some cases people were pushing up against that limit.”

He said the authority was also requiring distributors to pay rebates when power was supplied by household and small business customers in peak times.

That took effect on April 1, although electricity retailers reported different plans for how that would be handled.

Sparks said retailers would have different strategies but it was expected that they would use the rebates to compete.

He said the authority was also looking at ways to make the application process easier for people investing in solar panels. It is also reviewing rules around plug-in solar.

In some other countries “balcony solar”, where panels are plugged in and sit on an apartment balcony, for example, can be a popular solution.

“It’s big in Germany and it’s especially useful for people who rent or have an apartment. So, we’re looking at what rules might need to be changed or updated to enable plug-in solar here.”

Powerswitch general manager Paul Fuge said the economics of solar would usually stack up well if a house got good sun.

He said a recent survey showed 48 percent of households said they had considered installing solar. That was up from 42 percent in 2022.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Are you on track for a tax refund this year?

Inland Revenue now sends automatic tax assessments to people whose only income is salary, wages or investment income that is already taxed.

The department will start issuing income tax assessments from the last weekend in May and will continue into June and July.

People who spot information that is incorrect can ask for the details to be changed.

Who gets a bill?

Even if you’ve been earning income in a straightforward way, you could end up with a bill or a refund.

That can happen when your income has changed during the year, such as if you went to a new job or had some time off work between jobs.

Sometimes it can happen if income is not taxed correctly, or if you received credits that your income should not have meant you were entitled to, such as the independent earner tax credit.

IRD will write off tax to pay if it’s less than $50.

If you get a bill you will have until February 7 next year to pay it.

What if you’re due a refund?

If you have paid too much tax, Inland Revenue will pay your refund into the bank account it has on file for you.

This happens as the assessments are processed so it does not necessarily occur at the same time for everyone.

If you already have debt to Inland Revenue, you could find that the refund is used to pay that down.

How many people discover they’ve paid the wrong amount of tax?

Inland Revenue said in 2025, 3.63 million customers received end-of-year tax assessments automatically. Of those, 2.37 million received refunds and 342,00 had tax to pay.

Deloitte tax partner Robyn Walker said the assessment process was quite straightforward now.

But she said it would be important for people to consider whether they had other income that they should have included in their returns.

Inland Revenue has been warning that people who have made money on cryptocurrencies may have tax to pay on that.

“If someone is in an auto-calc process, they do still need to stop and think about whether that is the correct process and whether they actually have income from sources which don’t have tax withheld at source. That would also capture people like landlords or self-employed people and anyone who has started a side hustle in the last year.”

If you think you need to go through a more detailed process, you may need to request a tax return.

Watch out for scammers

Scammers sometimes take advantage of this time of year, pretending to be the tax department.

Inland Revenue says it will only ask people to log in to their myIR account from ird.govt.nz

It will also not put the dollar amount of a refund in an email or text message and will not as for your credit card or debit card details to pay.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Auckland Central MP Chloe Swarbrick says she has been frustrated for some time at Heart of the City’s chief executive Viv Beck’s negative framing of the central city, but she is unable to comment on any processes the agency or the mayor’s office have been engaged with to resolve those issues.

Heart of the City (HOTC) represents more than 15,000 businesses and receives Business Improvement District (BID) funding through a targeted rate paid by businesses.

The organisation said its chief executive Viv Beck is still employed there, after recent reports she had been stood down.

Swarbrick said she’s had a lot of engagement with Auckland mayor Wayne Brown and with Beck in the past few years about the approach taken by Beck as chief executive of HOTC, particularly in public statements.

“At the end of the day all of us who have the privilege of a media platform only get so much bandwidth and we can choose to use that bandwidth to complain about things, or to elevate these stories of those who are doing amazing things and to showcase solutions.

“And time and again I have been really clear with Viv about the fact that I felt that very limited oxygen has been spent recirculating issues, and not really talking about the incredible things that are happening in the city centre which obviously is the very role of heart of the city,” she said.

Swarbrick said the mayor shared her frustrations.

“As to the process that Heart of the City and/or the mayor’s office has been engaged with in order to try and resolve those…it’s not really my place to comment,” she said.

She said survey results released by HOTC in October last year, which showed that 91 percent of 100 businesses in and around Queen Street felt impacted by rough sleeping and begging, had a questionable methodology, and had a “deeply irresponsible framing” of the central city.

Asked what kind of a leader she thinks an organisation like HOTC needs, on the cusp of the City Rail Link opening, Swarbrick said people who are willing to collaborate, be innovative, and go with the grain of the abundant opportunities in the city centre.

“It’s a hugely hugely exciting time, and what that means is that everyone that holds themselves out as a leader in our central city, whether it be for Auckland or for the country as a whole, needs to be doing everything that they can to champion the amazing people who have held on by their finger nails through all of that disruption,” she said.

RNZ has approached Viv Beck for comment.

RNZ asked the mayor’s office if the mayor had written to HOTC this year to raise concerns about its governance.

A spokesperson from Wayne Brown’s office said in a statement: “The situation at Heart of the City is a matter for Heart of the City to comment on. The Mayor’s office has nothing further to add”.

“As Mayor, he will always maintain an appropriate interest in the management of ratepayer funds, including BIDs,” his office added in a subsequent statement.

A spokesperson for HOTC’s executive committee said in a statement that at the start of this year, the committee has been committed to the improvement of governance process and practices.

The statement said a major priority is for HOTC to ensure it has council’s confidence in its ability to deliver its BID contract.

“This has meant the Committee’s focus has included relationship management, governance review, providing transparency on specific decisions that have been made and accountability for future plans”.

The spokesperson said they’ve set up an audit and finance committee for more detailed financial oversight, and is urgently updating its board and governance processes.

The statement said the agency has engaged “external special counsel” and has agreed to undertake an independent governance review.

RNZ has asked for a timeline of the actions, and whether the governance review was prompted by the committee’s own concerns, or by any concerns from the Auckland mayor.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Financial Markets Authority chair Craig Stobo has resigned after an independent review found his public commentary failed to meet the standards of political neutrality expected of the head of an independent regulator.

Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs Cameron Brewer accepted Stobo’s resignation following the completion of a review into his conduct, led by Wendy Aldred KC.

His public submission and remarks on the Treaty Principles Bill were found to be “laudatory” of the government, critical of the opposition and in breach of public service requirements to be impartial.

The review cleared Stobo of allegations of an inappropriate relationship with a former staff member and of misuse of FMA travel, but found shortcomings in how he managed conflicts of interest and, critically, in his public political commentary.

Three Board members of the FMA had met Minister Brewer over their concerns. Stobo stood aside temporarily last December after the review was announced.

Steven Bardy will continue as acting chair while a process is undertaken to appoint a permanent replacement.

The review findings

The independent review by Wendy Aldred examined several matters raised by members of the FMA Board.

The review found:

• No evidence of an inappropriate relationship between Stobo and a former staff member;
• Stobo acted reasonably in disclosing a governance-related interest and later in agreeing to resign from it, but he should not have delayed his resignation as long as he did;
• Stobo’s applications for FMA travel were not inappropriate;
• However, aspects of Stobo’s public commentary “did not meet the standards of political neutrality expected of the Chair of an independent Crown entity and financial markets regulator”.

The focus of the finding was around comments and a public submission Stobo made to Parliament on the Treaty Principles Bill. The review described it as “laudatory” of the coalition government and critical of the opposition, so it breached the Public Service Commission code of political impartiality.

The review said the final finding alone, was sufficient on its own to justify his resignation.

His remarks came after FMA senior managers had raised the need to be cautious about public comments.

Financial industry veteran

Stobo is a 35-year veteran of the finance sector, with a wide range of roles in investment banking and taxation, and directorships of listed companies.

He has been on taxation advisory groups to Labour and National-led governments, which led to the current approach to the tax system for KiwiSaver funds and was extended to overseas investors.

His LinkedIn profile also says he is founding director of the Auckland Future Fund, building an investment portfolio after the sale of council shares in Auckland International Airport.

He also lists his certificates as including being a Chevalier of the Confrerie des Chevaliers du Tastevin, a group promoting Burgundy wines and gastronomy.

But the review – and Stobo’s resignation – may not be the end of the story for the FMA

After the findings were released, a statement was released by former FMA senior advisor Kyla Bottriell, who said she welcomed the release of the review as it confirmed she had an “entirely professional relationship’ with Stobo.

The report’s findings mattered because false and damaging rumours about her were allowed to circulate within the FMA and to media, she said, causing her both personal and professional harm.

“The report corrects the public record, but it does not repair the harm, or answer wider questions about how a conduct regulator allowed misinformation to escalate causing lasting damage to my reputation.”

She said she had raised legitimate concerns through proper channels about the FMA’s internal culture, rumour‑spreading, lack of accountability and leaking of internal matters, and that those issues remain unaddressed.

“I expect the FMA to acknowledge the harm caused to me and to support a credible independent review of the conduct and culture issues that allowed this to occur.”

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Workers at Tiwai Point aluminium smelter say they are sick of waiting after more than two years of unsuccessful bargaining.

E tū union members at the Rio Tinto-owned smelter in Southland have been in bargaining for a new collective employment agreement since 2024.

Rio Tinto said it provided a competitive package and would continue to engage with the union and staff in good faith.

Workers started striking outside the smelter on Monday morning, with more industrial action expected later this week.

Operator and firefighter Dee Meikle said negotiations had taken far too long.

“Two years too long… There’s nothing. There’s no coming to the party with anything, just moving out the goalposts and then actually removing the goalposts from us, and it’s become an absolute joke,” she said.

She wanted the company to listen and ensure there was a good agreement in place for mokopuna starting out at the smelter from the community.

E tū Director Mat Danaher said the strike was not about pay or conditions, but about sending a message to the company.

The workers had made concession after concession to get something over the line to no avail and felt like the company needed to put in more effort, he said.

More workers had signed up with the union on Monday so they could participate in the industrial action, he said.

“It’s about the right of New Zealand workers to come together collectively and negotiate with their employer for better terms and conditions over time. It’s about their fundamental human rights to unionise and be collective,” he said.

“We feel that the attitude Rio Tinto’s displayed during bargaining is potentially a breach of that.”

Rio Tinto had asked for mediation later this month and he hoped the company was prepared to reach a deal when they next sat around the bargaining table.

In an earlier statement, Rio Tinto said New Zealand’s Aluminium Smelter believed that the terms and conditions it offered were competitive and positioned the company well both in the region and the wider market.

“We will continue to engage with the union, and all our staff, in good faith and have confirmed we will recommence mediation on 20 May,” a spokesperson said.

“In a tough economic environment for many businesses, we’re proud to continue to offer our team members and those looking to join our team market leading benefits and we will continue to do so as part of Tiwai continuing to be a great place to work.”

Rio Tinto has been contacted for additional comment.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

A one-off adjustment related to how it accounts for software spending has seen BNZ post a 38 percent drop in profit for the half year to March, to $494m.

Underlying earnings, however, excluding the one-off adjustment, were down just $48m to $747m.

The company said revenue for the half year was broadly flat, up 0.7 percent to $1.76 billion, while operating expenses excluding the one-off adjustment rose 4.3 percent to $701m.

Key numbers for the six months ended March 2026 compared with a year ago:

• Net profit $494m vs $795m
• Underlying earnings down $48m to $747m
• Revenue $1.76m vs $1.75m
• Credit impairment provisions hardly charged at $995m
• Net Interest margin 2.36% vs 2.40%
• Total lending up 4.7% to $113.6b (from $108.5b)

BNZ chief executive Dan Huggins said the result largely reflected the New Zealand economy prior to the Middle East conflict.

“The first half of the year saw many New Zealand businesses anticipating a steady return to economic growth. We saw both housing and business lending increase as household and business confidence improved,” Huggins said.

The bank reported home lending was up 6.6 percent and business lending up 2.2 percent on the prior period, while total lending rose $5.1 billion, or 4.7 percent, to $113.6b.

However, Huggins said “while it was pleasing to see a return to confidence in the New Zealand economy, the Middle East conflict has eroded that positive sentiment and customers have once again had to adjust quickly.”

BNZ’s net interest margin fell 4 basis points, with the bank citing strong competition for customers.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Global transport company AP Moller – Maersk has raised some of its freight charges by 27 percent to cover a surge in global energy prices associated with the conflict in the Middle East.

“With approximately 20 percent of global fuel passing through the Strait of Hormuz, current developments have created an unprecedented cost environment affecting Landside (Inland) and Intermodal operations,” it said in a statement.

Intermodel transport involves the efficient movement of a container between two or more modes, such as rail, sea and road.

“To ensure service continuity, safeguard cargo integrity, and secure sufficient vendor capacity across our network, AP Moller – Maersk will implement temporary, cost reflective energy/fuel price adjustments on Landside transportation.

“Given the volatility of the current energy market, further adjustments may be required as conditions evolve.”

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Amazon’s New Zealand data centre arm has taken a roughly $45 million hit after shelving a planned West Auckland development, newly filed accounts show.

Financial statements for Amazon Data Services New Zealand Ltd for the year to December 31, 2025, reveal the company booked a $44.9 million impairment in 2025 after deciding “not to continue with the planned development of the site.”

The write-down related to land holdings, which were reduced to a recoverable value of about $62.7 million.

While the filing does not explicitly name the location, Amazon’s only publicly disclosed greenfield development in New Zealand had been a proposed hyperscale data centre in Westgate, Auckland.

The scale of the write-down and the reference to undeveloped land implies the impaired site relates to that project.

The impairment drove the subsidiary to a pre-tax loss of $36 million in 2025, reversing a profit a year earlier. It was recorded within operating expenses and accounted for the bulk of the decline.

Despite the write-down, Amazon appeared to be continuing to invest heavily in its New Zealand footprint, with total assets above $650 million.

Those investments appear to be being redirected into new servers, networking gear and leasing capacity in other data centres, rather than new builds.

Between December 2024 and December 2025, the value of equipment on its books surged to more than $250 million from about $5 million, while lease assets climbed to about $285 million from roughly $244 million, with a further $162 million in future lease commitments yet to begin.

At the same time, assets under construction have dropped to zero.

Rather than building its own sites, it looks like Amazon in New Zealand is shifting to a “lease-and-equip” model – buying capacity and filling it, rather than building from scratch.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand