New Zealanders forking out more for fuel are obscuring a significant drop in other types of spending, Retail NZ says.
Worldline data for March showed card spending overall rose 0.5 percent but Retail NZ chief executive Carolyn Young said it hid a 33 percent surge at petrol stations.
“The 0.5 percent headline growth is a mirage,” she said.
“Our analysis has found that behind that figure, fuel is doing the heavy lifting. If you account for that rise in fuel spend, we estimate core retail spending actually dropped by 1.2 percent year-on-year. That tells us consumers have aggressively cut back on their spending elsewhere during March.”
“Every extra dollar spent on transport is a dollar lost to a local retailer. After several years of tough trading for retailers, many don’t have the financial reserves to weather another sustained setback.
“When the official Stats NZ figures are released later this week, we expect them to confirm that while the overall number is in the black, the ‘real’ retail economy is seeing a significant downturn in volume.”
She said, if people made an effort to shop in New Zealand, it would make a significant difference to the economy.
“Keeping that money in New Zealand will be much more important to keep jobs, keep businesses open … this fuel crisis is going to have a major impact.
“I think people haven’t really considered what the impact is beyond the pump.”
She said the price of virtually everything could be affected.
“Any item that you buy is either brought into New Zealand from overseas or alternatively transported by road in New Zealand. Ninety-three percent of freight in New Zealand is on road.”
She said while Stats NZ data showed a drop in retail businesses in recent years, that could be set to happen again.
“Just at a time when we thought we were coming out the other side.”
A parcel courier company has been ordered to pay three former employees a total of $50,000 for unjustified dismissal, unjustified disadvantage and humiliation.
The Employment Relations Authority (ERA) delivered the ruling against Fast Horse Limited (trading as Fast Horse Express), based in the central Auckland suburb of Avondale, on Monday.
Ziyu Xiao worked full time for the business as a delivery driver for about six months from late 2023 before her employment ended following a verbal altercation with her manager, the ERA said in its ruling.
Drivers were expected to collect their parcels from the company’s warehouse on Rosebank Road, which is a busy road, according to the ruling.
Xiao was told to park her car on the other side of the road, but the driver’s manager took exception to her crossing a busy road while moving a cage of parcels to the vehicle, losing his temper and verbally abused her, it said.
Xiao was unhappy about her manager’s behaviour and filed a complaint with the company.
The very next day, Xiao found herself blocked from the company’s smartphone app that was used to assign work to drivers.
Xiao’s husband, Youtian Yang, who was also a delivery driver for the company, also found his access to the app blocked.
Yang was never given a reason by his employer about why he was denied access and believed this to be a retaliatory action by the company following Xiao’s complaint.
SUPPLIED
Another worker, Limei Liu, also worked as a delivery driver for the company from late 2023 to early 2024, working briefly as a warehouse role immediately afterwards.
Liu said her manager threatened to suspend her when she made suggestions to improve operational efficiency.
Liu also said she challenged the company’s practice of using work visa holders as drivers who were then paid in cash.
The practice took work away from resident visa holders such as herself who needed the work to support their own families, she said.
When she challenged this practice, she was also removed from the company’s WhatsApp group chat and offered no further work.
ERA member Peter Fuiava said the company had not engaged with the investigation since notifying the authority in May 2025 it would act for itself instead of being represented by counsel it had used earlier.
The company also failed to provide any written statements in reply as directed and did not attend an investigation meeting, he said.
“There being no evidence in reply from FHE (Fast Horse Express) to what the applicants have individually and collectively put before the authority, I have no difficulty finding that Ms Xiao and her husband were unjustifiably dismissed from their employment,” Fuiava said in his ruling.
“As for Ms Liu, by threatening her with suspension and ‘retraining’, FHE did not act as a fair and reasonable employer.
“The company had also dismissed Ms Liu unjustifiably when she challenged her employer about its workplace practices with respect to the use of accredited work visa holders who appear to have been paid in cash.”
Fuiava also took into consideration the length of time the employees took to find alternative work, as well as the detriment to Xiao and Yang’s marriage.
He ordered the company to pay $17,500 to Xiao comprising lost remuneration of $4200 and compensation for humiliation, loss of dignity and injury to feelings of $13,300.
The company was also ordered to pay Yang $15,000, comprising $5,651 for lost remuneration and $9,349 for compensation.
It also needed to pay Liu $17,500, comprising $2,724 for lost remuneration and compensation of $14,776 for unjustified disadvantage and dismissal.
The payments needed to be made no later than 11 May, Fuiava said.
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
Staff work at the PreSort at Auckland’s Material Recovery Facility in Onehunga, where things that shouldn’t be in recycling are pulled out by hand. It’s on two conveyor belts and moving fast.Supplied / Auckland Council
Explainer – Too much of Auckland’s recycling is just going to waste – the landfill, that is, and officials say that needs to change.
Auckland is one of New Zealand’s least efficient cities for recycling collection, and an awful lot of that is because the wrong rubbish is being put in the bins.
The research by the Waste and Recycling Industry Association was based on audits done at Auckland’s Material Recovery Facility, the largest recycling facility in the country.
“A lot of this is people trying to do the right thing, but not really knowing how,” the waste association’s executive director Barney Irvine said in a statement.
“Confusion about recycling rules is still widespread.”
So what’s happening with recycling in Auckland?
Recycling product at Auckland Material Recovery Facility baled up to be sold and made into new products.Supplied / Auckland Council
What are we doing wrong?
The recycling bin isn’t the rubbish bin, and there are pretty clear rules about what can and can’t be put in there.
Still, some people are just throwing anything they like in there.
“Waste is a growing issue in Auckland because we’re producing more waste and landfills are filling up,” said Warwick Jaine, Auckland Council’s acting general manager of waste solutions.
“Recycling still works, but contamination has been increasing.”
“The concerning aspect of it is that a lot of it is stuff that should just have never arrived in the first place,” Irvine told RNZ’s Nine to Noon.
“Everything from general household rubbish to stones to wood to things like nappies – an inordinate number of nappies – and textiles and old bikes. So that’s really a case of people treating the recycling bin like a second rubbish bin.”
Other people may not be clear on the specific rules, and are doing what’s sometimes called “wishcycling” – putting things in their bin that they hope will be recycled.
It doesn’t really work that way, though, and ultimately gums up the works at recycling facilities.
“If in doubt, leave it out,” Jaine said.
Can’t they just sort all this rubbish out at the tip?
Auckland’s Material Recovery Facility in Onehunga operated by Re.Group handles recycling from 265,000 households – about 770,000 people or 20 percent of New Zealand’s population.
Much of the facility is automated, Irvine explained and one of the big problems is actually people putting recycling in plastic bags before they put them into their bins.
“People mistakenly assume that there will be people at the recycling centre to sort through those bags and deal with them. The reality is a big recycling facility like the Auckland one is almost fully automated and there just isn’t the time or opportunity for that sort of manual handling.
“There’s this massive volume of waste coming in from this depot area where it all gets dumped and it comes in a conveyor built into this room called the pre-sort. Now that’s the only point in the whole process where you have people manually sorting through.
“They pull off the stuff that is obviously not recyclable and bags of rubbish are included in that.”
It is not possible to manually go through bagged material put in the recycling bin as staff have no idea what’s inside them, he said.
“It’s also really dangerous – these bags can be full of syringes or glass or metal or you name it, right?”
Putting the wrong things in recycling bins ultimately ends up costing the taxpayer more, Irvine said.
“It comes at an environmental cost,” he said. “In terms of a whole lot more avoidable waste to landfill but also in terms of disruption to the wider recycling system.”
At the Auckland Material Recovery Facility in Onehunga, the automated machinery sorts the recycling by material type.Supplied / Auckland Council
OK, let’s get specific – what needs to be done differently?
Here’s some top tips that waste experts offered:
Don’t put your recycling into plastic bags when you put them in the bin. They’ll just get chucked out entirely into the landfill.
Soft plastics – packaging, wrapping, bags, et cetera – aren’t allowed – as they get tangled in the machinery. You can instead drop off soft plastic packaging to recycle at multiple supermarkets.
Plastic lids from bottles are a problem – anything under a certain size can cause problems in sorting machinery. Discard lids in the rubbish bin and put the clean containers in recycling instead.
Avoid anything that’s dangerous – gas bottles, batteries, rechargeable items. Empty aerosol cans should be put in your rubbish bin instead.
Recycling that’s overly contaminated with other waste – for instance a pizza box with a bit of grease on it is fine, but a pizza box that’s got huge chunks of yesterday’s pepperoni special on it is not.
People sometimes think it’s become too complicated to sort recycling, but Jaine said it’s actually pretty easy.
“A simple rule of thumb is to place only household packaging and containers from your kitchen, bathroom and laundry in your recycling bin: Glass bottles and jars; paper and cardboard; plastic bottles, trays, and containers (numbers 1, 2 and 5 only); tin, steel and aluminium cans.”
Supplied / Auckland Council
Supplied / Auckland Council
Is there any real enforcement to keep people from dumping the wrong things in bins?
Auckland Council has targeted areas where recycling compliance is particularly bad, such as a trial in New Lynn, Glen Eden and Henderson in 2024 which resulted in a significant decrease in contaminations.
The council will do bin inspections in problematic areas, and education is the primary tool to improve recycling.
However, recycling bins can actually be confiscated from households that are repeat offenders.
“We’re using a smarter, targeted approach that includes confiscating recycling bins if necessary,” Jaine said.
“This includes education, engagement, inspections, and new technology – including data from object recognition technology – to identify hotspots where contamination is high.
“We focus effort where it makes the biggest difference, combining clear messages with follow‑up, and we’ve seen contamination drop and stay down in those areas.”
Is it bad everywhere or just Auckland?
National recycling standards were introduced in 2024 to standardise collections, and food scrap bins were also brought in.
Auckland has other factors that stand out, Irvine said – larger households with multiple family members, the city’s size and it being further to drive to landfills.
Things began to deteriorate around the time the pandemic started, Irvine said.
“Something seems to have changed during the Covid period. That’s the widespread sentiment in the sector.”
“There is still behavioural differences that … have been visible for the last five or six years and getting worse and that’s the really concerning bit.
“The concern that we’ve got is that if this continues to deteriorate over time people are going to start to say ‘well, why bother recycling if most of it is going to end up in the landfill anyway?'”
Somewhat ironically, the high-tech Material Recovery Facility also is a factor in the amount of discarded recycling.
“One of those is that the facility has a higher level of technology, so it does a better job of sorting than the other facilities in other parts of the country.
“On the one hand that makes for better quality recycled material at the end of the process, but it also means that there’s more waste, there’s more that gets stripped out.”
Irvine has said that the first step to improve Auckland’s efforts of what goes into the bins should be a large-scale public education programme on recycling, funded by central government.
“This was promised, but never delivered. It now needs to be made a priority.”
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The conflict in the Middle East has prompted increased interest in multi-million-dollar New Zealand properties, the head of a luxury real estate company says.
Changes to the so-called Golden Visa came into effect a year ago, and Immigration Minister Erica Stanford recently updated the investment that had been made so far.
Changes to the Overseas Investment Act came into effect on 6 March.
Sotheby’s International Realty managing director Mark Harris told Nine to Noon there had been increased interest from foreign buyers since the rule changes were announced, even before they came into force.
“We’ve also had more recently a pick up out of Asia again, out of Hong Kong.
“It’s interesting looking at our web traffic, has really picked up in the last month from the UAE so you’ve got to think that the AIP is encouraging these guys but we’ve obviously got a geopolitical situation that’s unfolding in the Middle East and that’s generating a lot of web traffic and interest as well I think in New Zealand.”
He said there was now interest from across all the United States, where previously those looking to buy here were predominately from the West Coast.
“Noticeable pick up particularly from the US, and countries like Germany and Switzerland lately.”
While the immigration changes allowed foreigners to buy home worth more than $5 million , there was more interest in the $10-20m category, Harris said.
“The ones that we’ve got are generating quite a bit of interest in that sort of ultra high end so I’m sure there’ll be contracts coming forward.”
The southern lakes region – Queenstown and Wānaka – were the most popular areas, though there was still interest in Auckland’s harbourside suburbs, he said.
And he thinks the interest in New Zealand is sustainable.
“I think the interest in New Zealand is not going to go away.”
* Mark Harris will be live on RNZ National around 9.30am. You can listen live in the player at the top of this web page, your RNZ app or your local frequency.
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New Zealand’s niche alcoholic spirits are seeing rapid growth in key export markets, with plenty of potential for more of the same.
Trade and Enterprise estimated the annual value of New Zealand’s exports of premium spirits at $61 million, which barely scratched the surface of a growing global market valued at more than $100 billion (US$60b).
NZTE general manager of international Clare Wilson said there was demand for New Zealand’s premium spirits, as consumers increasingly prioritised quality rather than quantity when it came to alcohol consumption.
“Certainly the brand New Zealand story is incredibly strong. And in those markets, we’ve done very well with wine in the past,” she said.
“So, you know, it’s kind of a natural next step. The products look great. I think the packaging, the storytelling around it is impressive.
“And also people are looking for more than just the taste. They’re actually looking for authenticity and social alignment.”
Wilson said the botanicals being locally sourced was attractive, and the global market was made for a product like Strange Nature gin.
Strange Nature a by-product of no-alcohol wine
Strange Nature, which was a sauvignon-blanc-based gin, was born from a recent boom in the production of no-alcohol wine and other premium beverages.
Strange Nature partnered with its Marlborough neighbour and award-winning winemaker Giesen Wines in October 2021, which supplied Strange Nature with its key ingredient – a by-product of its popular range of no-alcohol wine.
Strange Nature founder and general manager Rhys Julian said Giesen’s grape-alcohol was the hero of the gin’s unique taste, which was helped along by ageing the gin in Giesen’s used wine barrels.
“Marlborough sauvignon blanc has been an absolute rock star. So it sort of made sense to market to those consumers … if you like New Zealand wine … our gin could be a really good option as well.”
He said the company was currently producing 75,000 bottles for export to 12 countries, but was weighing up whether to make a big step-change to produce half a million bottles, rather than stick with a three-year goal to produce 150,000 bottles.
“We’re growing really nicely year on year, but imagine if we really fired this thing up. You know, we’ve got really good momentum,” he said.
Julian said Strange Nature’s key markets of Australia, United States and Japan were big enough to absorb an increase in the product, but expansion would require investment, as well as the long-term certainty of supply.
“We really believe in the brand and we’re confident that we could raise the money that we need to give the brand an injection, but (we are) just sussing it out and working out the best way to do that,” he said.
“We’ve never needed to rely on investment. So it’s new territory for us.”
Wilson said NZTE was working with 18 spirit exporters, but sees the number continuing to grow.
“What’s great to see is that we now have 170 distilleries in New Zealand, up from 27 in 2019,” she said.
“So as companies get to a certain scale, then they look to export.
“So I think we can safely say we’re going to see more New Zealand distilleries start to export in the next couple of years.”
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RNZ’s investigation found black market tobacco was sometimes being sold for less than half the price of the regulated product.123RF
Retail NZ wants an urgent government taskforce created to crack down on illicit tobacco before the problem reaches crisis levels like in Australia.
An RNZ investigation last month found black market cigarettes were being openly being sold in Auckland shops with huge discounts.
In a report released today, Retail NZ, which represents shop owners, called on a “immediate and rigourous crackdown on illicit tobacco.”
Chief executive Carolyn Young said in Australia the horse has bolted, with organised crime groups terrorising shop owners who did not cooperate.
“In Victoria there has been something like 200 fire bombs in the last year. What happens is that if you say you are not going to sell the illicit tobacco, they’ll firebomb your business, they’ll make threats to your family,” she said.
New Zealand needed to act before the black market trade took off here, she said.
There should be a multi-agency taskforce created, including the police, Customs and health, she said
Currently, the police, Customs and the Ministry of Health worked separately to combat the problem and there were low-level penalties, she said.
“We are urging the Government to immediately establish a multi-agency Illicit Tobacco Task Force, increase penalties and have an independent roundtable consider a range of other measures, to ensure the illicit tobacco market is stamped out before it’s too late,” she said.
The illegal cigarettes were also able to skirt many of the measure aimed at decreasing tobacco use in New Zealand, such has packets with warning labels.
There was no way of knowing how much nicotine was in them, she said.
The illicit market was growing very quickly in New Zealand and that was why action was needed now, Ms Young said.
RNZ’s investigation found black market tobacco was sometimes being sold for less than half the price of the regulated product.
One retailer called it an “open secret.”
People caught selling illicit cigarettes, could face a six-month prison sentence, a $20,000 fine or both.
Importing cigarettes without paying the excise duty was illegal under Customs law.
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Investors aren’t giving up on the property market yet – despite reports of large numbers planning to sell.
Cotality’s latest data shows that investors with mortgages were responsible for 24 percent of sales in the first quarter of the year, returning to a level that was in line with their long-term average.
In Auckland they were 26 percent, Hamilton 28 percent and Christchurch 25 percent.
Cotality said it was smaller players driving the increase, such as those who owned their own home plus one investment property.
Chief property economist Kelvin Davidson said lower house prices and mortgage rates helped, as did the return of full interest deductibility.
“Our calculations suggest a ‘typical’ new investor may have had to find an extra $400 to $450 per week when house prices were higher and mortgage rates were 7 percent or more – and interest deductions were being phased out.
“Now that’s perhaps $150 to $200 instead – even though buildings insurance and council rates have risen steadily. It remains a sizeable chunk of cash, but still a lot more feasible for more people.”
A recent survey by independent economist Tony Alexander said a record number of mum and dad landlords were planning to sell their properties.
But Davidson said buying still seemed a popular option, although the approach was not as frenzied as it might have been at points in the past.
“People are definitely looking at property investment right now… it’s probably a measured return. It hasn’t been the big surge in investment purchasing like we saw just after Covid.
“There are some supports for investors but I think people are starting to question it a bit.”
Concerns about the potential for a capital gains tax or for investors’ ability to offset interest costs against their income, to again be reduced if Labour were to return to government might be keeping some people on the sidelines, he said.
“When I talk to people at the moment there is more of an undertone of ‘it has delivered strong capital gains in the past but I’m not so sure about the future’.
“That’s easy to say when house prices are flat and everyone sees prices are flat and they go ‘oh well they’ll always be flat’. But I’m conscious if and when house prices start rising again, everyone changes their tune… I’m always conscious of saying this time is different.”
But he said there were factors that meant gains were likely to be lower in future.
Interest rates had trended lower over the long term, most households were now double-income and the government was pushing forward with plans to increase land supply.
Davidson said some level of investment activity would always be needed to provide rental properties.
“We still need investors but… you have to either accept a lower return because capital gains are lower or you get the same return but you do it a bit differently and get some income or yield off it. You can’t just rely on the capital gain. It has to turn cash flow positive a bit sooner.”
Squirrel chief executive David Cunningham said some investors might decide they did not want to continue topping up their investment properties if there was no chance of capital gains in the short term.
“There was a 20 or 30 year period where you could buy anything and it would go up. I think the savvy investors are sort of the more long-term ones that are habitual investors rather than jumping on the bandwagon because everyone’s been on the bandwagon and it’s been successful.
“I think selective property investment still is really wise and lets you leverage, but it’s all about buying well and not having to top up with cash… which has been the norm.”
Part of the market cycle
Property investment coach Steve Goodey said investor activity dropping and then returning was part of the market cycle.
“All the conversation at the moment that property investment is over and you should sell your apartment in Auckland, you should get rid of this and get rid of that… it’s coming from vested interests… I don’t think investors are actually having these conversations.”
He said banks were willing to lend but some people might be waiting to see what happened with the election.
The data also shows first-home buyers’ share of the market held up at more than 27 percent, well above the long-term average.
In Auckland, their share was higher at about 30 percent, while Hamilton was 33 percent and Wellington 37 percent.
“There remain multiple supports for first-home buyers,” Davidson said.
“Obviously, lower house prices and reduced mortgage rates help, as does access to KiwiSaver for at least part of their deposit. But not even needing to save a 20 percent deposit in the first place is proving beneficial too, as part of the LVR rules, the latest Reserve Bank figures show that more than half of FHB loans over January and February were done at less than 20 percent equity.”
Diesel was selling for an average $3.89 a litre on Monday, according to Gaspy, while 91 was $3.48.RNZ / Quin Tauetau
Anyone planning to boycott their road user charges (RUCs) as the cost of diesel rises may find their protest backfires.
A number of online groups have raised the prospect of refusing to pay for RUCs as the cost of diesel surpasses that of other fuel types. One group, Stand Up to RUCs, has 1400 members.
Its admin said the government could suspend or reduce RUCs temporarily to take the pressure of food and freight sectors.
Diesel was selling for an average $3.89 a litre on Monday, according to Gaspy, while 91 was $3.48.
While petrol vehicles pay excise tax within their pump price, diesel vehicles pay RUCs on top of what it costs them to fill up. That is because a number of diesel-powered vehicles, such as farm machinery, are not used on roads.
RUCs are charged on distance travelled and according to vehicle weight. Most passenger vehicles will pay $76 per 1000km.
People who do not pay them face a $200 police fine plus a 10 percent penalty on fees not paid within two months. Another 10 percent is added if not paid after three months.
AA fuel spokesperson Terry Collins said even though the price of diesel was high, the idea that it was unfair to pay RUCs on top was unfounded.
“You’re paying a levy to update the roads you’re using. Hybrid vehicles have to do it, diesel have to do it, and ultimately in the future, petrol will have to do it when they move to move all the vehicle fleet over to road user charges.
“Is it unfair? No it’s very fair. Has it come at a time when the diesel prices are high and it’s putting cost pressures on? Yes, but it doesn’t take away from what the road user charges are in place for and what they do.
“The problem is the price of diesel, not the road user charges. They weren’t complaining about the road user charges before this diesel went up, when the diesel was cheap, that was fine to pay.”
David Birkett, Federated Farmers arable chair, said frustration over the price of diesel, as well as other fuels, was understandable,
“There is genuine concern that delivery of diesel to some smaller rural areas is behind schedule. Diesel demand on farm is relatively inelastic and so unavoidable – the crops still have to be brought in, feed taken out to animals, and produce taken to processors.
“However, suspending road user charge payments as some form of protest doesn’t make a lot of sense. Most diesel used by farmers is on the farm, not on public roads, and so does not incur RUC. The financial relief for farmers is therefore minimal.
“Any immediate relief of cost savings from suspending RUCs means there is less money for the Government to spend on road and bridge maintenance and renewal longer term. Many rural roads and bridges are already in dire need of investment.
“Federated Farmers believes the best course is for farmers – and other diesel users – to do what they can to reduce /be more efficient with their use of the fuel. The fix for this situation is a clear return to normalcy in the supply and price of fuels upon which farming and so many other businesses depend.”
The government has expanded the distance-based RUC system to also include light electric vehicles.
EVs had been exempt from the scheme since 2009, but multiple governments had proposed bringing in the charges for EVs once they accounted for 2 percent of vehicles on the roads.
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RNZ’s investigation found black market tobacco was sometimes being sold for less than half the price of the regulated product.123RF
Retail NZ wants an urgent government taskforce created to crack down on illicit tobacco before the problem reaches crisis levels like in Australia.
An RNZ investigation last month found black market cigarettes were being openly being sold in Auckland shops with huge discounts.
In a report released today, Retail NZ, which represents shop owners, called on a “immediate and rigourous crackdown on illicit tobacco.”
Chief executive Carolyn Young said in Australia the horse has bolted, with organised crime groups terrorising shop owners who did not cooperate.
“In Victoria there has been something like 200 fire bombs in the last year. What happens is that if you say you are not going to sell the illicit tobacco, they’ll firebomb your business, they’ll make threats to your family,” she said.
New Zealand needed to act before the black market trade took off here, she said.
There should be a multi-agency taskforce created, including the police, Customs and health, she said
Currently, the police, Customs and the Ministry of health worked separately to combat the problem and there were low-level penalties, she said.
“We are urging the Government to immediately establish a multi-agency Illicit Tobacco Task Force, increase penalties and have an independent roundtable consider a range of other measures, to ensure the illicit tobacco market is stamped out before it’s too late,” she said.
The illegal cigarettes were also able to skirt many of the measure aimed at decreasing tobacco use in New Zealand, such has packets with warning labels.
There was no way of knowing how much nicotine was in them, she said.
The illicit market was growing very quickly in New Zealand and that was why action was needed now, Ms Young said.
RNZ’s investigation found black market tobacco was sometimes being sold for less than half the price of the regulated product.
One retailer called it an “open secret.”
People caught selling illicit cigarettes, could face a six-month prison sentence, a $20,000 fine or both.
Importing cigarettes without paying the excise duty was illegal under Customs law.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
The boss of Christchurch’s new stadium is calling for greater transparency over how the Government is divvying up its $40 million events attraction package.
Venues Ōtautahi chief executive Caroline Harvie-Teare told Checkpoint the fund’s intent was fantastic but she questioned the process behind deciding who gets money.
The events attraction package was invitation only while the original fund – the events boost fund – was more open, Harvie-Teare said.
“So it is a little bit more closed door than open, which obviously causes some risk … about how objective and fair it is, but at this stage we haven’t been across any that have been declined,” she said.
The fund was attracting events to New Zealand that the country might not otherwise get, she said.
But she was also concerned about its long-term impact.
“This could end up being an unhelpful shot in the arm for major events because it creates a precedent that is not sustainable,” Harvie-Teare said.
“If it’s not a sustainable level it means promoters or sporting entities … have an expectation that the funding will be available and at a level that cities and venues may not be able to sustain without central government support.”
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