Category: Business

Source: Radio New Zealand

By Gianina Schwanecke

New Zealand Winegrowers wants wine lovers to raise their glasses this month, as it launches the ‘The Great White Wine Toast’ – a global campaign calling for the creation of an official white wine emoji alongside the existing red wine emoji.

Despite the global popularity of white wine, there is currently no dedicated white wine emoji across digital platforms. The campaign aims to change that.

Charlotte Read, general brand manager, said wine culture had “evolved” but emojis had not.

“Red wine has an emoji. Champagne has an emoji. Cocktails have several. But one of the world’s trending wine styles – refreshing, vibrant white wine – doesn’t.”

She said 95 percent of New Zealand’s $2.1 billion wine export industry were of the white variety – with the country best known for its sauvignon blanc, along with pinot gris, chardonnay and a few newer varieties, too.

“I think historically red wine has had greater share of mind. It has been the most planted variety in the world.”

But Read said white wine was growing across the world.

“We’re seeing a huge uptake in the love of white wine particularly in our emerging markets, such as China and South Korea.

“But it’s long established in the UK, the US and Australia, our major export markets, where $1 in $2 spent on sauvingnon blanc is from New Zealand, so we do very well.”

New Zealand Winegrowers will be launching a petition on 1 May – to coincide with world sauvignon blanc day – to be submitted as part of its application to the US-based Unicode consortium which creates emojis.

Read said their emoji design met the requirements to be “distinctively different”.

“They need more than just a colour change it needs to have distinctions,” she explained.

“Our campaign is that to enjoy the gorgeous refreshing aromatics of white wine you need a glass that narrows at the top to funnel those gorgeous aromas.

“So our image that we are trying to get across the line is distinctly different from a more open top glass that you would have for a red wine.”

The application will be submitted on 17 July.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

2025 was not a good year for active fund managers in New Zealand, new data suggests.

S&P Dow Jones Indices has released its latest SPIVA scorecard, measuring the performance of actively managed funds against benchmarks over various time horizons.

It follows concerns that some active managers have struggled in recent years, although others argued that a longer-term comparison was more appropriate.

The new data found 74 percent of actively managed global equity funds in New Zealand underperformed the S&P World Index in 2025. Over 10- and 15-year periods, all funds underperformed.

Head of index investment strategy Sue Lee said it was another challenging year for active funds, “with a firm majority of funds underperforming relevant benchmarks across global and domestic equities, as well as domestic bonds”.

“Notably, 79 percent of New Zealand bond funds underperformed, marking a significant departure from their majority outperformance over the past four calendar years.”

She said there were relatively resilient results in the first half of the year, but funds lost ground in the second half.

As well, 65 percent of actively managed New Zealand equity funds underperformed the NZX50. Over 15 years, 85 percent underperformed.

Bond funds also faced challenges, with 79 percent of funds underperforming. Over 15 years, that dropped to 76 percent.

University of Auckland senior finance lecturer Gertjan Verdickt said some people might expect active managers to do better in current market conditions, where there are a number of geopolitical and other pressures having an effect.

“Markets feel chaotic, so surely the people paid to navigate them should be earning their fees right now. But the evidence is surprisingly stubborn on this.

“A large international study by Fink, Raatz, and Weigert covering 16 countries found that equity funds underperform during recessions by about 0.4 percent per month on average, with the effect observed in 15 of 16 countries.

“Their best guess at why: managers try harder when conditions get rough, trade more actively, and the elevated trading and liquidity costs in stressed markets end up exceeding the active calls’ earnings. Tracking error goes up; net performance goes down.

“That said, there’s a more hopeful counterpoint. There is literature showing that skilled managers do exist and adapt – that is, picking stocks in good times and timing the market in bad times) – and that subset genuinely outperforms.

“The catch is that the average fund still underperforms, because for every manager who reads the regime correctly, there are several who don’t. SPIVA’s 74 percent figure for global equity in NZ fits that pattern pretty cleanly.”

Rajat Vats, founder of financial advice software firm Nuvano, said it was better for investors to look over a full market cycle.

“In the last 10 years, [active managers] have been the top eight in absolute returns … only two are passive.

“The more risky funds are active managed funds… they clearly state in their product disclosure statement that the timeframe we are suggesting [to look at] is seven years. People should be looking at that perspective instead of one year the fund goes down.”

He said benchmarks would have a head start because they did not include taxes and fees.

The report noted that the number of active funds continued to grow, driven by the launch of global equity funds.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Parents whose children played with asbestos contaminated sand are taking Kmart to the Disputes Tribunal and encouraging others to do the same.

In November 2025, Kmart issued a recall notice for some coloured play sand products.

Families, early childhood centres and schools responded by throwing away toys, ripping up carpet and testing homes and classrooms.

Christchurch parents Elle Chrisp and David Dingwall are now taking Kmart to the Disputes Tribunal in an effort to reclaim costs they incurred having their sand tested, and the subsequent checks and decontamination inside and outside their home that had to be undertaken by asbestos experts.

They have also formally laid complaints with the regulators involved – Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment, Worksafe, Customs and the Commerce Commission, outlining a number of potential breaches of law that have occurred, changes that could be made, and urging them to take action.

In particular to do with claims, Kmart played down the health risks to consumers in its product recall notice, and has misled people over their rights under the Consumer Guarantees Act.

The pair say Kmart played down the health risks posed to consumers by saying in the product recall notice that respirable asbestos had not been detected in any of the tested samples, and that the release of respirable asbestos fibres was unlikely to occur in its current state, unless the sand was processed by mechanical means such as crushing or pulverising.

“The risk that any asbestos found, that is likely to be airborne or fine enough for inhalation, is low.”

However, this was contradicted by advice provided by WorkSafe, where it said tremolite asbestos was easily crumbled, or “friable”.

Chrisp and Dingwall also say Kmart’s refusal to compensate customers for the costs of cleaning their homes that were contaminated breaches the Consumer Guarantees Act, and is similar to Jetstar’s recent prosecution for misleading customers over their entitlements.

Statements in response

In a statement provided to Nine to Noon, a Kmart spokesperson said that several experts have made public comments regarding the low risk, and that as this matter is now subject to legal proceedings, it would not be appropriate to comment further.

“Since late 2025, we and other brands have conducted voluntary product recalls in response to an industry-wide issue impacting sand-based toy products, following the detection of tremolite asbestos in products across the industry.

“Several experts have made public comments regarding the low risk. It is important to note that Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora published advice that urgent medical attention is not required and provided practical advice for household cleaning and disposal of recalled products.”

Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment product safety spokesperson Ian Caplin confirmed it had received the complaint from Dingwall and Chrisp on 23 April 2026.

“As part of the recall process, businesses must notify MBIE of any recalls within two days of the business undertaking one, which is to be then published on the Product Safety website. Throughout the sand recalls, this has occurred.

“However, we appreciate that there may have been some confusion on these notices and we are evaluating how we can better clarify that the information in these notices are from the business and not direct advice from MBIE.”

MBIE will consider all the findings in the complaint and will continue working with the other agencies involved to address the issues raised, he said.

Commerce Commission head of fair trading and product safety investigations Simon Pope said it would asses the conduct raised but could not investigate every concern.

“We consider our Enforcement Priorities and Enforcement Criteria when discussing whether to start an investigation.”

WorkSafe also acknowledged the complaint and said it was being assessed.

” All businesses involved, including Kmart, have been advised that these

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Source: Radio New Zealand

How much are house sellers willing to move on their asking prices?

About $30,000, if new data from Realestate.co.nz is anything to go by.

The real estate listings site said sellers who reduced their asking price in the first quarter of this year did so by an average $33,212.

Regionally, Coromandel recorded the largest average drop, with sellers trimming $72,049 from their original asking prices.

Wellington followed at $51,841, while Northland, Central Otago/Lakes District, and Auckland rounded out the top five with average reductions of $39,353, $38,774, and $37,975, respectively.

In total, the combined asking price of properties was reduced by $54.7 million in the quarter.

But that is a smaller drop than has been seen in the past, which spokesperson Vanessa Williams said could indicate that sellers’ expectations were closer to buyers’ from the outset.

In the first quarter of last year, the average drop per listing was $37,393. The year before, it was $42,864.

‘I think that it’s promising to see that that is dropping over time. We started pulling this data about two years ago and at that time we were having well over $100 million drop in a quarter of the asking prices, so it certainly has come down in terms of the total number, and it’s also come down at a per property basis as well.”

She said there was a lot of uncertainty in the market, given the potential for interest rates to rise, geopolitical tensions and the election later this year.

Williams said when the number of listings increased, you could expect to see more vendors dropping their price in response to increased competition, but that had not been the case in the first quarter of 2026.

“More listings would normally mean more discounting, but that’s not the case this quarter. The data tells us that sellers are reading the room and pricing their properties closer to what buyers are willing to pay.”

She said the national average asking price had been flat for about three-and-a-half years, which could indicate prices were as low as they would go.

“The reality of it is, there is just a bottom to every market, despite what laws of supply and demand happen, it feels like about $850,000 nationwide is sort of what people expect or will pay for a property here in New Zealand. I mean, three-and-a-half years is a long time to have that stable national asking price.”

Nationally, 4.9 percent of all listings were reduced in the first quarter.

Manawatu/Whanganui had the highest proportion, at 12 percent, followed by Northland at 11 percent.

At the other end of the scale, Auckland and Canterbury recorded the lowest levels, with just 2 percent of listings reducing their price.

“What this shows is that conditions can vary significantly across the country,” Williams said.

“In some regions, sellers are still needing to adjust more often, while in others, pricing is more stable. Ultimately, it reinforces that getting the price right from the start is key.”

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Local government leaders in areas affected by the closure of State Highway 3 are calling for an urgent meeting with the Transport Agency boss over “ongoing and unacceptable disruptions” to the northern corridor between New Plymouth and Te Kuiti .

A massive slip in the Awakino Gorge closed State Highway 3 on 18 April and it is not expected to reopen until 2 May at the earliest.

The gorge been closed seven times by weather-related incidents over the last 12 months.

In an email – which copied in leaders in Taranaki, Waitomo, Ruapehu, Ōtorohanga and Waipa – New Plymouth mayor Max Brough urged NZTA chief executive Brett Gliddon to front up in Taranaki inside 10 days, and to visit affected areas and discuss options.

“Given the scale of the impact and the level of concern across the region, the Mayors and Chairs collectively consider it critical that this discussion takes place as a matter of priority,” Brough said.

“Our strong preference is to convene the meeting in New Plymouth, followed by a site visit to the affected areas, and then conclude with a targeted discussion on options and next steps. We are requesting a meeting within 10 working days.”

Brough said repeated closures following weather events continued to have a significant and compounding impact on communities, businesses and regional connectivity.

“These issues are not new and the ongoing disruptions reinforce the need for urgent collective action.”

In a statement, NZTA said Gliddon was happy to meet regional leaders.

Waitomo mayor John Robertson said the consequences of regular road closures were significant.

“The impact’s huge. The impact for New Plymouth businesses, there’s a lot of trucks that go, if you like, Auckland, Hamilton, New Plymouth. So for New Plymouth it kind of isolates them in a way.

“If the bypass routes were good, then that wouldn’t have such an impact, but the first bypass route is down the Forgotten Highway (State Highway 43). That was closed as well by the severe weather event. And so it is a road (SH3) that needs serious expenditure on it so that it is more sustainable for us.”

Robertson said the leaders wanted a road that could withstand weather events.

“We really asking for NZTA to invest in working through that to find out how we can get a road that is sustainable through these events. It is difficult, we know, and it would be very costly.

“We’ve got the work being done on Mount Messenger which is another part of that state highway. That’s probably an $800 million investment by the Crown. This one? Well there is certainly 10s of millions of dollars that’s needed to get this part of the road right.”

Roberston wasn’t sure if an Awakino Gorge bypass was the answer.

“Look, there is talk, or always has been, as to whether that route, when it was put through a century ago, was put through in the right place. Some say that there was talk about going out to the west, so along the coast, but that would be massively expensive.

“And, so again, there needs to be some options put on the table and NZTA is the organisation of government that needs to put some thinking into this.”

Waka Kotahi responds

In its statement, Waka Kotahi said it was acutely aware of the impact the closure of the Awakino Gorge had on communities who relied on access and businesses surrounding this stretch of State Highway 3.

“Our crews are making good progress as they work towards being able to open this stretch of road to traffic later next week.”

It said crews had been excavating a bench on the hillside, which is about 50 metres long.

It will be sloped on an angle back into the hill to capture falling debris.

The Transport Agency Waka Kotahi said it had met with the Taranaki regional mayors regarding the closure and was keeping them updated on progress towards reopening.

“We’re aware of the letter sent by regional mayors in both regions and our CEO Brett Gliddon has confirmed he is keen to meet with the mayors. A date for a visit in May is being finalised.”

NZTA said in the meantime its focus and priority was on getting SH3 safely opened and access restored. Crew have to clear 12-16,000 cubic metres of material that came down in the biggest slip.

Its work crews were simultaneously clearing culverts, drains and other smaller slip sites near the big slip.

“Once the work has been carried out and the road safely reopened, the meeting and focus can turn to longer-term resilience.”

Ghost town

Last week, businesses in the small South Waikato settlement of Mōkau on the west coast of the North Island described it as a “ghost town” and “dead as a doornail” due to the closure of the Awakino Gorge.

Local butcher Bryan Lester told Morning Report he only served three customers on Wednesday between 7am and 3.30pm.

Fellow local and owner of Nic’s Latte and Grill, Nic Phillips, echoed Lester’s sentiments.

“There’s nobody on the road”, Phillips told Morning Report.

“It’s a terrible situation that we’re in.”

With no traffic and no customers, Phillips decided to close her caravan on Thursday.

“Unfortunately for us, the Awakino Gorge is the choke point for this. You know, when those rocks come down, that’s it, we’re done, and there’s no way north for any traffic, you know.

“We are fighting Mother Nature. So what do you do, you know?”

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

[s ] Auckland Council inspected 38 illegal lodges last year and all but nine opted to change their rental agreements.

There are concerns a legal loophole is allowing landlords to continue running underground boarding houses.

Auckland Council inspected 38 illegal lodges last year and all but nine opted to revert to whole household rental agreements or have a single tenancy agreement with one of the occupants.

Among them, a 24-bedroom complex on Auckland’s North Shore – four homes each with six bedrooms with their own bathrooms and a rumpus room that was used as a sleeping area.

Each bedroom was numbered, the kitchen and lounge were shared, and until recently the landlord sublet the rooms.

Milton Cassidy lived nearby and notified the council last year.

“My only concern as a person living in this area … is the safety of the residents. It appears that if it’s not classified as a boarding house they don’t need to have these fire emergency evacuation proceedures, sprinklers and things like that.”

Council documents showed only domestic fire detectors were installed but boarding houses were required to have more fire safety measures.

“The council, they said to me that it’s definitely a boarding house. Now all of a sudden it’s not a boarding house, something’s not right.”

Council’s compliance manager, Adrian Wilson, confirmed the houses were supposed to be five bedroom family homes, but the landlord was using them as boarding houses.

“The addresses in question were all consented as five-bedroom family homes, however the owner was using them as boarding houses in that each room was rented on an individual tenancy agreement,” he said.

There were four homes within the two addresses.

“Each address had 12 sleeping spaces and up to eight tenants. The occupants were unrelated and living at the premises for various lengths of time,” Wilson said.

“Under the Building Act, there are specific requirements predominantly related to fire safety that must be met once a boarding house exceeds five people.”

The council issued the owner with options to comply – if the owner continued operating a boarding house, it could have required a resouce consent.

Instead, the landlord reverted to a single tenancy agreement and reduced the number of people living there.

Wilson said if the number of boarders did not exceed the five permitted per household then that was lawful and no longer classed as transient accommodation.

“Where individual rooms are rented separately in a boarding house situation, there is no link between the occupants which increases the risk in an emergency,” he said.

“This is why systems are required such as fire separation between rooms and smoke/fire alarms depending on the layout of the property.”

A property under one tenancy was expected to have a link between the residents, either a family or group of friends flatting.

“In an emergency such as a fire, they are more likely to ensure everyone is alerted and gets out of the building.”

Property lawyer Joanna Pidgeon said it may be a legal loophole of sorts for landlords.

“It does seem that the landlord has used a back-door way of providing accomodation by constructing a head tenant in a flatting situation which doesn’t accurately reflect the nature of the tenancy.”

One-tenancy agreements were designed for households of family members or friends flatting, where the people know each other.

“It doesn’t change the nature of the fact that the property does not meet what would usually be required in a building housing these sorts of tenants.”

Pidgeon said tenants in more transient accommodation would be better served by individual tenancy agreements.

“It means that these vulnerable people are open to exploitation in terms of being flatmates with no rights rather than having direct rights under the legislation from the landlord.”

The landlord of the North Shore properties declined to comment, except to say the matter had been resolved.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Transporting New Zealand says the government needs to loosen restrictions for heavy vehicles without delay.

Four changes are being worked on in case of a move up to Phase 2 of the national fuel plan.

This included allowing more weight on some trucks to facilitate fewer trips, allowing normal licences for heavy electric utes, relaxing time and access restrictions for over-dimension vehicles and removing some restrictions on the routes that over-dimension vehicles could travel.

Transporting New Zealand chief executive Dom Kalasih said loosening the weight restrictions would unlock extra productivity in the applicable and save several million litres of diesel.

“You could actually avoid around 10 million kilometres of heavy travel.”

He also welcomed proposed changes to rules around over dimension vehicles but said heavy haulage was a speciality area and would affect fewer vehicles.

He urged government ministers not to wait until Phase 2 to take action.

“It can be picked up straight away. The vehicles we’re looking at, they’ve got spare capacity.

“We shouldn’t be waiting for things to get bad before we actually do things that make sense.”

On Monday Regulation Minister David Seymour and Transport Minister Chris Bishop said submissions were being developed so they could be quickly implemented if the government moved to Phase 2 of its response.

“We are still in Phase 1 of the National Fuel Response Plan, but we don’t want a repeat of the Covid-19 lockdowns. Doing the work to boost fuel efficiency now helps ensure we can stay in Phase 1 for as long as possible, causing the least disruption to Kiwis,” said Seymour.

Bishop said concerns over weight restrictions were widespread in the freight sector.

“In the short term, even small increases in permitted loads could reduce the number of trips needed, saving time, lowering costs, and reducing fuel use,” Bishop said.

“We need to balance that with safety and network impacts, but there are sensible changes we can make that will lift productivity without compromising standards.”

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Transporting New Zealand says the government needs to loosen restrictions for heavy vehicles without delay.

Four changes are being worked on in case of a move up to Phase 2 of the national fuel plan.

This included allowing more weight on some trucks to facilitate fewer trips, allowing normal licences for heavy electric utes, relaxing time and access restrictions for over-dimension vehicles and removing some restrictions on the routes that over-dimension vehicles could travel.

Transporting New Zealand chief executive Dom Kalasih said loosening the weight restrictions would unlock extra productivity in the applicable and save several million litres of diesel.

“You could actually avoid around 10 million kilometres of heavy travel.”

He also welcomed proposed changes to rules around over dimension vehicles but said heavy haulage was a speciality area and would affect fewer vehicles.

He urged government ministers not to wait until Phase 2 to take action.

“It can be picked up straight away. The vehicles we’re looking at, they’ve got spare capacity.

“We shouldn’t be waiting for things to get bad before we actually do things that make sense.”

On Monday Regulation Minister David Seymour and Transport Minister Chris Bishop said submissions were being developed so they could be quickly implemented if the government moved to Phase 2 of its response.

“We are still in Phase 1 of the National Fuel Response Plan, but we don’t want a repeat of the Covid-19 lockdowns. Doing the work to boost fuel efficiency now helps ensure we can stay in Phase 1 for as long as possible, causing the least disruption to Kiwis,” said Seymour.

Bishop said concerns over weight restrictions were widespread in the freight sector.

“In the short term, even small increases in permitted loads could reduce the number of trips needed, saving time, lowering costs, and reducing fuel use,” Bishop said.

“We need to balance that with safety and network impacts, but there are sensible changes we can make that will lift productivity without compromising standards.”

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Recent property data indicates a shortage of suitably-zoned commercial and industrial land in Auckland is pushing prices to record-high levels, with would-be buyers competing for development-ready sites.

Data from realestate.co.nz showed Auckland’s industrial and commercial land values reached an average of $1190 per square metre (sqm) in the 12 months to March, which was the highest level in at least a decade.

The shortage of development sites was driving up land prices, while the average asking price for industrial buildings in Auckland rose to more than $3.5 million for the first time.

The average size of industrial properties available for sale also shrank to a record low of 1864 sqm, from 5212 sqm a decade ago.

The demand was mostly driven by domestic investors, while international activity eased over the past year.

“What we’re seeing is a structural shortage of commercial and industrial land, particularly in Auckland,” realestate.co.nz chief executive Sarah Wood said.

“There simply isn’t enough development-ready land coming to market to meet demand, and that is now being reflected clearly in pricing.

Development shifts south

“This is shifting development patterns, with access to suitable sites increasingly dictating how and where projects can occur, particularly for larger-scale industrial users.

“Over time, that affects where businesses locate, how supply chains are structured, and the cost of operating across the wider economy, including the competitiveness of New Zealand’s exports.”

Drury South Crossing chief executive Stephen Hughes said the same constraints were playing out on the ground, with limited availability of large, serviced industrial sites across the wider Auckland region.

He said developments, such as Drury South Crossing, were becoming increasingly rare, with only a small number of large, industrial-zoned sites still available for purchase.

“We have sold more than 100 hectares of land at Drury South over the past five years, and with just 30 hectares remaining, we won’t be able to accommodate every requirement. Early movers can still secure a site, but the supply of greenfield industrial land at this scale across the region is becoming increasingly limited.”

Hughes said rising electricity demand was also reshaping site requirements, with many existing industrial locations unable to support modern business needs.

“It’s not just data centres, it’s everyday businesses needing more power for automation, machinery and electric vehicle fleets, and many older sites simply can’t support that without significant upgrades.”

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Source: Radio New Zealand

New Zealanders will be able to see the full details of the India free trade agreement for the first time on Tuesday, after a formal signing ceremony in New Delhi overnight.

Trade Minister Todd McClay signed the deal alongside India’s Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal in New Delhi on Monday night, which means the deal can go through Parliament – setting up a race against the EU for Favoured Nation access.

Just ahead of the ceremony, he told RNZ the deal was very important to New Zealand’s economic future.

“It’s a great day and very exciting for New Zealand. We are taking the next step to have unprecedented access to 1.4 billion consumers,” he said.

“The very first negotiation ever between India and New Zealand was 16 years ago this month, there’s been many stops and starts … this is quite significant.

“We’re seeing India doing trade deals with Australia … the EU; the UK. This not only levels the playing field so New Zealand exporters can be treated fairly in this market, in some areas it gives us advantage.”

That would be particularly true if New Zealand’s FTA came into force faster than the EU’s, because that would mean securing access to a Most Favoured Nation clause for wine and services exports.

McClay said that would be worth tens of millions of dollars in additional exports, and last week said he had not had formal advice on when the EU agreement was set to take effect.

“Generally it takes them quite a long time on their side although they have a new procedure where they can implement it early … but we do still have time between now and when Parliament rises to get it in place.

“This is a very straightforward agreement.”

McClay also signalled to RNZ that businesses were expecting to make announcements imminently.

“You’re likely to hear in the next couple of days about some businesses up here that will be announcing their own investment in India, setting up offices here – because they can see real opportunity on the ground as a result of the FTA.”

With the signing complete, the deal would be tabled in Parliament on Tuesday – giving the public a chance to read the full detail of the agreement – alongside an analysis of whether it met a national interest test.

That provided for public submissions before the text returned to Parliament, after which enacting legislation would also be passed – with the usual process for submissions – to lower tariff rates and set up quota systems.

McClay acknowledged, however, there would be little opportunity for change to the agreement itself.

“If there are views about the way that the quotas should be administered that actually make more sense, the committee has the opportunity to report to Parliament of any changes there,” he said.

“The process we go through is the same for every other trade agreement New Zealand has entered into force … it’s very high quality agreement, it upholds the reputation that New Zealand has. I think people are going to be quite surprised by just how detailed and how much opportunity there is.”

Labour and New Zealand First had raised concerns the deal was signing New Zealand up to a clause committing to $US20 billion in private investment within 15 years, but McClay said he and the business sector were unconcerned.

He said the text only required the government to promote that investment.

“It is to promote only. The text is very clear, as are legal advice and I think the Labour Party has had a chance to go through all of that and you will have heard them last week also confirm or recognise it is a commitment to promote.

“New Zealand takes its obligations under trade agreements very, very seriously – probably one of the best in the world for the way that we honor those commitments. I and the business community have told me they have no concerns about what’s in the agreement.”

He said that if at the end of the 15 years India believed New Zealand had not honoured the commitment, it could begin “a very long process over the number of years … where we enter into dialog and discussion, including at ministerial level”.

“Should they still believe that, then they have the ability … to put in place some temporary and proportionate measures around access.

“I think that actually, you know, the relationship is going to start growing significantly.”

Documents from India’s government said it was one of the fastest deals the country had secured.

It was New Zealand’s second-fastest, behind the UAE deal McClay secured in just three months.

Despite that, McClay was confident it had not been rushed.

“We have taken what would normally be a three or four year negotiation and compressed it into nine months. This is my eighth visit to India. My negotiators were here 21 times.

“We have worked around the clock to deliver for New Zealand exporters. It hasn’t been rushed. We’ve just rolled our sleeves up and worked as hard and fast as we can.”

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