Category: Business

Source: Radio New Zealand

About 40 workers in New Zealand have lost their jobs after the shock collapse of an Australian-owned mattress manufacturer A.H. Beard Limited on Tuesday.

The Australian parent company entered voluntary administration after 126 years in business yesterday with the New Zealand company placed into liquidation on the same day.

“These workers turned up to their jobs yesterday and were told it was over. There was no warning, no time to prepare. That kind of shock takes a real toll, and the financial uncertainty on top of it makes it worse,” said E tū Director Mat Danaher.

Danaher was critical of the company’s lack of communication.

“Normally, employers in this situation will sit down with workers several months in advance and explain to them what the issues are, what kind of measures they might be trying to take to deal with it,” he told Checkpoint.

“[Workers have] known for some time that the company wasn’t doing as well as it had done in the past, but it was a surprise and there’d been no indication there was any intention to close up the business,” he said.

He said the sudden nature of the closure had left workers in a deeply difficult position.

“Workers are now waiting to find out what they’ll receive in unpaid wages and holiday pay, and many of them can’t afford to wait long.”

“This is happening against a backdrop of high unemployment and a cost of living that is still grinding people down. Losing your job suddenly, in that environment, is genuinely frightening.”

Danaher wanted to see government intervention.

These workers deserve real support, and they deserve it quickly. Similar is happening up and down the country, and we need an active government plan to support workers and retain decent jobs in New Zealand.”

An E tū member said the closure had blindsided the workforce.

“When we heard the news, we felt shocked and heartbroken. We never thought anything like this would happen.”

“We will need help,” the member said. “There is so much uncertainty about the financial side of things, paying the bills, the power, the water, and just keeping the house going.”

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

The United Arab Emirates’ decision to quit the OPEC and OPEC+ groups of major oil-producing countries is a “radical move”, a New Zealand energy expert says.

The UAE surprised markets on Wednesday by announcing it was leaving the groups from the start of May.

It has been an OPEC member through the emirate of Abu Dhabi since 1967, four years before the former British protectorate became a country.

The last OPEC member to withdraw from the cartel was Angola in 2024, AFP reported.

Energy expert David Keat told RNZ’s Morning Report the move was likely driven by the UAE’s desire to ramp up production beyond levels permitted under the OPEC agreement.

“It’s certainly a radical move and obviously its triggered by the Straits of Hormuz” he said.

“Once things are back to normal they are going to want to pump flat out to make up their losses which would exceed the OPEC quota, so that’s what could be behind it,” Keat said.

Keat said OPEC itself could face similar pressures, with Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and even Iran wanting to raise production after the war.

The UAE government said the time had come to focus on what its own national interests dictated.

Brent Crude oil was trading at about US$111 a barrel on Wednesday.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

A deep-tech talent shortage is among the emerging risks to New Zealand’s productivity as AI-powered business systems reshape how skills develop on the job.

The Technology Users Association’s (TUANZ) 2026 Digital Priorities Report, developed in collaboration with One NZ, highlights how technological advances are at risk of being undermined by slowing adoption and widening global competition.

“AI is no longer a future concept. It’s operational today in many large businesses around Aotearoa,” TUANZ chief executive Craig Young said.

Young said interviews with about 30 senior tech and information officers identified a number of issues requiring urgent attention.

“They’re saying they’re not seeing enough action and leadership at the national level. They’re seeing a lot of talk and some high level documents come out, but they’re not seeing a real collaborative approach to where digital is going in our future, and they want it to start today, because if we don’t start today, we’re behind already,” Young said.

He said the following list were things that required urgent attention.

• Establishment of a national digital clearing house to vet global technology vendors
• Government-led workforce development programmes to build AI capability
• Accelerated progress on a secure national digital identity framework
• Recognition of data platforms as critical national infrastructure, such as for health and electricity data

“This is a moment for bold leadership, to stabilise businesses, invest in people, and build the governance frameworks needed for a high-productivity digital future,” Young said.

Specifically the report highlights concern about how AI-automated entry-level tasks, traditionally used to train junior staff, were disappearing.

Young said this was an immediate risk to the development of future talent.

“In our future we’re going to have to have people who have very good soft skills, who are technically savvy. It is something that we need our young people to work on, if they want good careers in the new in the digital future.”

The report also points to a slow down in the adoption of technology.

Young said some of the digital leaders believed they were falling behind global peers.

“(They’re) saying, three or four years ago, it felt like we were really getting towards the front end of this. We seem to have slipped so that’s quite a concern, actually,” Young said.

“The report finds New Zealand’s overall technology adoption has plateaued, with digital leaders rating progress at just six out of ten. This stagnation comes as other nations accelerate their digital transformation efforts, creating a widening innovation gap.”

AI systems should be treated as digital employees

The report says the use of unsanctioned AI tools within organisations known as “shadow AI” had contributed to recent data breaches and heightened security risks.

“The report warns that AI systems must now be treated as digital employees, governed by strict zero-trust security frameworks.”

Escalating software licensing and cloud costs were driving a shift from “cloud-first” to more strategic “cloud-smart” approaches, while fragmented and poor-quality data continued to hinder transformation efforts.

One NZ chief information officer Adrian Albuquerque said many organisations were grappling with the ongoing costs and risks associated with digital transformation.

“Our internal teams and customers are fighting what feels like a constant ‘whack a mole’ within our current cybersecurity reality,” Albuquerque said.

Call for centralised security oversight

“AI tools are both helpful and a hindrance with regards to scams and fraud, and it can feel like a never-ending battle to stay ahead of sophisticated bad actors.

“To better tackle this growing issue, organisations must adopt an identity-first, zero trust approach, and government must step up to meet this effort with consistent, mandatory cybersecurity and data protection standards.”

The report finds nearly half of large businesses reported experiencing a cyberattack in the past year, with AI-driven social engineering tactics, such as voice cloning, becoming increasingly sophisticated.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

ASB has joined the other main banks in pushing up interest rates.

It increased its fixed home loan rates across 12-month to four-year terms by between six and 16 basis points, and its five-year term by 20 basis points.

Its one-year rate lifts by six basis points from 4.59 percent tot 4.65 percent.

Its two-year rate increases from 5.09 percent to 5.25 percent.

ASB also lifted term deposit rates by between five and 20 basis points across 12-month to 4-year terms.

Executive general manager of personal banking Adam Boyd said global financial markets had been volatile.

“Ongoing geopolitical tensions have driven sustained increases in wholesale interest rates. These rates underpin lending and deposit pricing in New Zealand and reflect broader trends across international markets as economies navigate the current outlook.

“We encourage any homeowners feeling uncertain about their position to get in touch. There is real value in talking through your options and ensuring your lending structure is working for your circumstances.”

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Rising geopolitical uncertainty from the war in Iran does not appear to be putting off investment in new local start-ups, although it has had some impact.

The latest Catalist New Zealand Angel Market Report for the first quarter shows around $1.8 million was invested across 34 deals in 23 early-stage companies.

However, the Catalist report says the average individual angel investment fell to $9771, around 16 percent below the trailing 12-month average.

It said that reflected a broad recalibration of risk rather than a lack of support for early-stage businesses.

Angel Association New Zealand chief executive Bridget Unsworth said local investors were still actively engaged despite softer dollar volumes.

“We saw optimism come back last year and while it’s tapered slightly, I do not think we have seen a complete retrenchment or people sitting on piles of capital rather than deploying it at the moment,” she said.

Investment in innovation-led ventures dominated in the quarter, with the Catalist report showing it accounted for 65.6 percent of total investment value, well above long-term averages.

Software investment fell to 21.2 percent.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Power prices are rising, but how much – and how do you get a better deal?

The Electricity Authority Te Mana Hiko has contacted power companies asking for more information about higher power prices and whether more increases are expected ahead of winter.

Many power companies put their bills up on 1 April and the authority said the increases ranged from 1 percent to 11 percent.

The average was 8 percent.

“On average, if your monthly power bill was $200, this latest increase could add another $16 a month. That’s a big difference to most households when many people are already stretched,” said Andrew Millar, Electricity Authority general manager for retail and consumer.

“We know prices are going up and that some households are struggling to pay their bills and that is concerning for us. This request we’ve gone to with retailers will allow us to understand these price rises in more detail, what’s driving them and how they’re affecting different customers and different regions.”

He said how much a bill might rise depended on which company a household was with, the plan they were on and where in the country they were.

“With these latest rises, we are really seeing them driven by the increase in investment in transmission and distribution infrastructure.

“We estimate around of the 2026 increases, half to two-thirds are primarily from those investments in new and renewing infrastructure. There is a sort of wave coming through that consumers are facing as well, in addition to what’s happening in the electricity market.

“We’ll take a close look at that information and follow up if the data indicates anything unusual or unexpected. Once we’ve completed our review, we’ll share what we found,” Millar said.

He said people who wanted to save money could start with shopping around. He said, since the authority launched its new comparison site, Billy, people using it had found they were able to save about $60 a month, depending on their plan.

“You may find you’re on the best plan already which is great because then you can look at other options like whether a time-of-use plan is best for you, or a different way of changing your use. But if consumers are still struggling, then we really encourage them to talk to their retailers to identify how retailers can help them through payment options, through different kinds of supports or advice.”

Paul Fuge, general manager of Consumer’s comparison site, Powerswitch, said the 1 April increase was often because power companies wanted to align their own increase with the date at which regulated lines charges were updated.

“Some retailers move earlier or later, absorb some costs temporarily, or pass them on unevenly across different plans. Others make more than one change during the year as costs shift.”

He said his analysis showed increases of anything from 4 percent to 12 percent.

“The increases come on top of around 12 percent rises last year, which will be especially hard for many households. Over the past two years, residential electricity prices have risen by roughly 20 percent. In real terms, prices are about 65 percent higher than when the residential electricity market began 25 years ago. In nominal terms they’re more than three times higher. For households whose incomes haven’t kept pace, the impact is much sharper.”

He said there was more variation in price than many people realised. “Our surveying shows about a third of consumers believe all retailers charge roughly the same, but that’s simply not true. It’s common for two otherwise identical households, even next door to each other, to be paying very different amounts. Location matters too. Regions with the highest electricity prices tend to have lower than average household incomes, while larger cities with higher incomes generally have lower prices. MBIE’s latest data shows this pattern still holds.

“Kerikeri currently has amongst the highest average electricity prices in the country – around 20 percent above the national average and about 32 percent higher than Wellington. Even before the latest increases, that meant households paying hundreds of dollars more each year for the same amount of electricity.

“In the Far North we found annual cost increases in the range of $140 to $420. While in Wellington, the same household can expect an annual increase of $102 to $305.”

Balclutha also had significant increaes, of $143 to $426 a year. Whanganui, Westport and Gisborne were other areas with larger rises.

Millar said the authority was focused on ensuring the market settings across the electricity system were delivering for New Zealanders.

“We’re using the levers we have to promote competition, encourage investment in new generation and create efficiencies in the system. All of these things aim to strengthen the electricity system and bring prices down in the long run.”

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Wellington City Councillors are considering giving financial support to businesses drastically affected by the Moa Point treatment plant meltdown.

Businesses RNZ spoke to said the funding is badly needed, but that it is “gutwrenching” sewage is still being pumped into the ocean, with one saying it will be forced to shut its doors if the plant is not fixed before summer.

It had been nearly three months since the wastewater treatment plant catastrophically failed in February, and which had been spewing millions of litres of raw sewage into the sea ever since.

No date had been provided for when the plant would be fixed.

The council would decide this week whether to give businesses one-off grants, capped at $35,000 from a maximum $150,000 fund.

The Botanist cafe co-owner Maria Boyle said her business had lost between 30 and 50 percent revenue due to the failure.

Boyle said the cafe – set in the heart of Lyall Bay – was usually packed until the end of summer, but that the streets emptied out after 4 February, when raw sewage was spilling close to the shoreline – and forcing South Coast beaches to shut.

“We should normally have had at least a couple of months of decent trade to get us through, and it was just cut completely dead.

“We had to cut hours, and try and move staff to some of our other places so they wouldn’t suffer as well – but it’s been so bad.”

In order to be eligible, businesses would have to apply for the grants, be located within a “high-impact zone”, or directly reliant on ocean activities, be able to demonstrate a revenue loss of at least 50 percent, be Wellington-owned with fewer than 20 employees, and operating for at least a year.

Boyle said The Botanist lost about $35,000 in a couple of weeks in February, and that the support would be a “huge help” for businesses like hers.

But she said the cafe would not survive if the plant was not fixed by next summer.

“It will be beyond a disaster. It’s already a disaster, we will definitely be closing – we won’t make it through another summer.”

While South Coast beaches were open again on fine days, the plant was still spewing screened, untreated sewage through its long outfall pipe, about one kilometre off-shore.

When it rained heavily, the system could not cope, and the sewage spilled close to the shore at Tarakena Bay, from a secondary pipe used for overflow.

Dave Drane, owner of Dive Wellington, estimated he had lost between 20 and 25 percent of his revenue due to the disaster.

Months on, many were too scared to dive with the plant not working, he said.

That had dramatically reduced the numbers of people buying or hiring gear.

“People just aren’t walking in because they’re not diving on this coast, so we’re not getting the walk-in public. Retail, pretty much some days it’s dropped to zero – we can be a zero day income.”

Hugh Collins, who runs Ocean Hunter, a spear-fishing and diving business in Lyall Bay, agreed.

“I’d say the majority of our customers just don’t feel safe going out there, which sucks, you know, you look out at our pristine coastline and it’s quite gutwrenching to know that that’s happening.”

A $35,000 dollar grant would not completely cover his losses, he said, but it would help.

According to Wellington City Council documents, Destination KRL, a local business group, provided indicative figures that about 25 businesses lost a combined $120,000 per week during the month of February.

Wellington Mayor Andrew Little said councillors on Thursday would discuss offering the grants, and he would be supporting the idea.

“We are doing what we can, we’re not an insurance company, we’re not there to alleviate every risk, that every business faces.

“But we do feel a responsibility, these are businesses in our community – I know that some of the worst affected ones, it’s going to be next summer now, before they get the opportunity to recover properly.”

Little believed the plant would take months to fix.

Wellington Water said it would be presenting a timeline of repair works for the plant to the council in the next two weeks.

Chief operating officer Charles Barker would not provide the details to RNZ in a recent interview – saying the council needed to be briefed first.

“It wouldn’t be fair on our owners, we manage the asset, we don’t own the asset, so it’s only right that the councils get to see it, and understand first, before we share it with the public, but we are doing that as fast as possible.

“They are as impatient as the public are – to see it.”

He said a lot of new equipment for the plant’s UV project, and equipment for the control and management system, had been ordered.

Barker said he wa intending to present a “robust” timeline which would present when major elements of repair works would occur, in a way the community could track.

“We need to deliver a programme that is robust … that is realistic, and that can be held to account.”

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

You pay tax, the government spends it.

But what does it spend it on?

If you have ever wondered exactly where the tax money goes, here is a breakdown.

In the year to 30 June, 2025, total government spending was $183.5 billion.

Of that, social security and welfare took the largest amount, at $57.6b. This included NZ Super, which was just over $23b.

This total had increased from $53.99b the year before.

Next was health, with $29.8b.

Third was education, at $22.3b, up from $21.18b the year before.

Fourth was economic and industrial services, spending by the government to support and regulate business activities, at $16.2b.

Then was transport at communications, $15.83b.

It was followed by law and order, $7.3b, heritage, culture and recreation at $3.38b, housing and community development at $4.5b, defence at $3.23b, environmental protection at $2.3b and primary services $2.53b.

Core government services – made up of Crown departments, Offices of Parliament, the New Zealand Superannuation Fund and the Reserve Bank – took up $7.77b.

Finance costs were $10.39b – that was the interest bill for government borrowing.

The Government Superannuation Fund Authority’s expenses were $83 million.

Simplicity chief economist Shamubeel Eaqub said New Zealand offered a lot of transparency around government spending.

But he said many people thought about tax the wrong way.

“The question is actually the other way around. What public services and what quality of public services do you want, and how do you pay for it? And then you can decide how much tax to pay, because that’s the envelope, and who pays that tax.

“Because we tend to start a conversation on the wrong end, ‘I must never pay tax, but I want all the best services’, we end up in this standoff.”

He said it was a harder conversation to have because it was inconvenient.

“If you want nice things, you have to pay for it. You can’t just rely on other people to do it for you … And I think that sense of responsibility and having to do it yourself is quite problematic for people, because for a long time, I think post the Second World War, when the welfare state was built, the broad idea was trust central government, they’ll take care of all these things so you don’t have to.

“But that has broken down, and this is going to get worse, because when we made these promises, we used to have loads of young people, we could tax our workers, and we had a surplus, we had an abundance of income to buy things. But we don’t anymore.

“We kind of ran out of the runway about a decade ago, and it’s only going to get harder from here, because the demographic maths gets harder.

“Too many old people, not enough working age people. Nothing wrong with old people. And I think people think I vilify old people. It’s not that. You can’t just pay yourself lots of money without having a source of revenue.”

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

The Westland District Council will temporarily close the Hokitika swimming pool amid the rising cost to keep it heated.

The council posted on social media, announcing the pool will shut for roughly three to six months, due to the unsustainable cost of diesel heating for the water.

Mayor Helen Lash told RNZ costs had climbed from $3000 a week to $6000, and then to $8,500 to run using diesel.

“It’s not viable for us to keep it running at that sort of cost, because of course that floats back to the ratepayers,” she said.

Lash said they were monitoring the cost of diesel.

“If we knew there was some longevity in a lower price that potentially was more affordable than what it is now then we would look at cranking the pool up again,” she said.

The council was looking at the possibility of upgrading the pool to electric heating, though Lash said the cost of that was also not ideal.

“The cost of power’s not fabulous either,” she said.

“In saying that, with the Waitaha hydro-dam now, it’s got the green light to go ahead, that’s something that can actually offset the cost of power on the cost.”

They had considered solar options, however the roof would not sustain the weight of solar panels, Lash said.

“We’ve got to look at options, long term options for it, so it’s more viable, more financially viable, because it’s just so popular in who it serves, and the age brackets that it serves as well.”

She said if coal were an option, that would be preferred.

“We have some of the cleanest burning coal in the world, and yet when we import coal it’s some of the filthiest, so it does annoy me a wee bit that we could be far more efficient.”

Lash said the pool’s closure was a significant loss to the community, being used for a number of classes as well as recreation.

“It’s the connection point of it,” she said.

“It serves such a wide age group for us, and I know what it means to many, especially in the elderly sector.”

Lash said the closure was not an easy decision.

She was looking at how they could better use things like council vehicles amid the ongoing fuel crisis.

“My area here is 420 km long, so what we don’t want to see is somebody from planning going down to, say, Franz Josef one day and somebody from building going down the next,” Lash said.

“Coordinate the trips, travel together, we’re doing that sort of thing a lot.”

They were mindful of the number of trips being taken also, holding off on some when there were later trips planned.

“People don’t mind rescheduling if it means there’s a saving in that respect.”

Lash said it was a difficult time.

“If we could have it open tomorrow we would, but it’s going to come down to what the diesel price does and/or the converting to power, which ever one comes first,” she said.

“But we want it open as soon as it can be, that’s for sure.”

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Businesses say the government’s deal with Z Energy for an emergency diesel reserve is reassuring in case of supply disruption, but will not help with high prices.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon on Tuesday announced the deal which will see Z Energy procure, own and manage 90 million litres of diesel at Marsden Point refinery’s refurbished fuel tanks.

The government would then be able to release the fuel to service stations if normal supply shipments were disrupted.

Business New Zealand’s head of advocacy Catherine Beard told RNZ it was reassuring to businesses.

“All of the goods that move around New Zealand … for anything industrial and commercial it’s diesel is really the critical fuel, so I think this will be quite, quite encouraging for businesses to know that there’ll be extra stock on hand.

“It may not need to be used, but it will shore things up. I understand that supply chains are actually working quite normally, which is really good.”

However, it would do little to help with high diesel costs – which she said was the main problem faced by businesses.

“The issue really has been the price problem. This won’t resolve the price problem but it will give companies and business, I guess, more confidence that we’ve got enough.”

Price monitor app Gaspy showed a diesel price of about $3.32 a litre – down about 20 cents over the past month, but still nearly $1.50 higher than before the Iran conflict.

“It absolutely is a problem, obviously, and businesses would have been trying to where they can absorb it, but it will have to be passed on eventually,” Beard said.

“It’ll start to flow through supply chains and ultimately hit consumers in the pocket as it affects everything that’s moved around.”

She said the government’s moves towards cutting regulations on truck weights – announced by ACT leader David Seymour over the weekend – could take pressure off businesses struggling with those costs.

NZ First leader and Minister for Rail Winston Peters has taken a different tack, calling for a focus on rail instead – a stance Labour and the Greens have also been pushing.

Beard, however, pointed out trains had their limitations.

“Rail is there, but it doesn’t get the goods to the door of the customer. It can work well on main trunk line and taking things maybe from Auckland to Wellington for example, but you still need to distribute your goods to the end user so you can’t really get away from trucks.

“Maybe more could go on the train, but it also depends on timeliness – of how urgent it is to get things delivered and what customers expectations are – but I suppose when we’re in this situation of going into the slightly unknown that all of those things could change.”

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