Category: Business

Source: Radio New Zealand

Is organising your money life on your New Year’s resolution list in 2026? In this five-part series, money correspondent Susan Edmunds guides you through the basics.

Is your debt weighing you down? If the past 12 months have been tough, you might have been relying on credit cards and other loans more than you normally would have.

If you’ve decided that’s going to change this year, there are a few things you can do to help shake it off.

Set a manageable target

It’s a good idea to start with a realistic idea of how much debt you might be able to clear within what timeframe.

The most recent Reserve Bank data shows that households have debt that is 168 percent of household disposable income – so for lots of us it won’t be reasonable to try to clear it all in 12 months.

Think about how much money you might have available to put towards debt repayment, and set some targets from there.

Pay off highest-interest debt first

Financial coach Liz Koh said people should start by working out what they owed. Even if it’s uncomfortable reading, it’s a good idea to make a list of all your debts and how much interest is being charged on them.

” If you have many small debts you might be surprised at what they add up to,” she said. “Rank your debts in order of priority for payment.

“Set up an automatic payment to make additional voluntary payments on the first debt on your list. Leave your other debt payments at their minimum level. When the first debt is paid off, start on the next one on the list and keep working through until all debts are repaid.”

It often makes sense to try to clear the highest-interest debt first because this is costing you the most money. Check that you don’t incur any extra fees or penalties, though – if you do, you might need to shift your focus elsewhere.

Or smallest debt

Another option is to focus on your smallest debt first. That means you’re likely to clear it relatively quickly and can move on to the next debt. That series of small wins can be quite motivating.

Student loan debt

Because it’s interest-free when you’re in New Zealand, a lot of people put student loan debt last on the list.

This makes sense, but the repayments do take a chunk of your income – 12 percent of your income over about $24,000 a year.

If you’ll be applying for a home loan in future, you might think about paying it off more quickly to improve your income, but you’ll need to balance that against the need to have a solid home loan deposit. A broker can advise you on the best strategy.

Generally, if you’re near a threshold such as a 10 percent, 15 percent or 20 percent deposit for a house, it’s better to focus on reaching that but otherwise paying off your student loan could be helpful, depending on your circumstances.

Student loans are part of the calculation when banks look at your debt-to-income ratio.

Consolidation

If you have a number of loans and you’re finding it hard to manage them all, consolidation could be an option. This is where you take out one big loan to pay off all the smaller ones.

It usually means you only have to worry about one payment a month instead of several – which can be helpful from a life admin perspective.

It’s worth checking the terms of your consolidation loan, though. A higher interest rate or longer term can mean you end up paying more overall for your debt overall.

If you’re struggling to pay the debt, longer term and smaller repayments can still be sensible, even if it’s more expensive – as long as you don’t feel that having consolidated the debt gives you a free pass to go and take out more.

Take action if you’re in trouble

If you’re seriously struggling with any of your debt, your first call should be to the lender. They can talk to you about what your options might be.

You have a right to ask a lender to change your loan terms if you’ve suffered a hardship that you couldn’t have seen coming, and you can’t meet your repayments as a result.

That might mean that the lender extends the term of the contract and reduces the payments, puts off debt repayments for a period of time or a combination of both.

A financial mentor might also be able to help, or services such as Christians Against Poverty. If your employer offers an employee assistance programme (EAP) you may be able to access help this way, too.

It’s really important not to just ignore debt that has become a problem. This never makes it go away.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

• Infratil’s CDC Data Centres stake rises from A$174 million (≈NZ$201.8m) to A$6.95 billion (≈NZ$8.06b)
• Infratil to invest A$250 in FY2026
• Infratil shares rise

Listed infrastructure investor Infratil has received a late Christmas present in the form of an increased valuation of its stake in Australian data centre operator CDC Data Centres.

The 31 December independent valuation of CDC showed an increase of A$349m since 30 September 2025, to A$14.0b, reflecting the mid-point of the assessed valuation range of A$13.1b to A$15.0b.

The increase was driven by greater cash flows as CDC expanded data centre capacity over the last quarter.

CDC operates data centres across Australia and New Zealand with an installed capacity of 568 MW, planning to hit 1820 MW by 2034.

Infratil increased its stake in CDC to 49.72 percent in February last year.

In New Zealand dollar terms, Infratil’s stake had increased by approximately $201.8m, valued at $8.06b.

Separately, Infratil said it intended to invest another A$250m in CDC before the end of its 2026 financial year.

Markets liked what they heard, with Infratil’s shares (IFT.NZ) rising by 0.70 percent to $11.51 on the NZX.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

EB Games is proposing to shut down its New Zealand business and close all its stores, according to a letter sent to employees.

In a note to employees seen by RNZ, managing director Shane Stockwell said: “This proposal is not final, and no decision will be made until we have completed a full consultation process in good faith with affected team members.

“This proposal includes the closure of all remaining EB Games New Zealand stores and the New Zealand Distribution Centre.

“If the proposal were to proceed, it would mean that all roles within EB Games New Zealand would be disestablished.”

EB Games is an Australian-based video game and pop culture merchandise retailer, owned by GameStop since 2005.

There are now 38 stores in New Zealand, according to GameStop’s latest annual report, and 336 in Australia.

It’s uncertain how many jobs would be lost if the proposal goes through and EB Games closes all its New Zealand stores.

The chain has been facing stress for some time, including closures of stores in both Australia and New Zealand.

At the beginning of last year, the company proposed to eliminate all its New Zealand administrative staff, The Post reported.

Stockwell described the New Zealand business as no longer commercially viable, with a “multi-million dollar loss during the 2024 fiscal year”.

He said the retail market continues to be sluggish and the company was not confident its performance would improve.

“We are saddened to be in this position having already made significant and repeated efforts to turn the business around,” Stockwell wrote.

The company said that there may be opportunities for New Zealand employees to relocate and take up work in the Australian EB Games operations.

Employees have been asked to submit feedback on the closure proposal by 12 January.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Fisheries NZ is investigating a complaint after a number of fish were found dead in the water near Great Barrier Island.

A video posted to social media shows some upset fisherman making the discovering.

One of the fisherman calls the sight “just bloody terrible”.

Fisheries NZ regional manager Andre Espinoza said they had identified a fishing vessel operating in the area and were investigating.

“Fisheries New Zealand has received a complaint, and we are looking into it to establish whether any fisheries offence has occurred,” he said.

“Illegal discarding of fish from commercial vessels is relatively rare because of the prevalence of on-board cameras on many vessels and because we are able to track the movements of vessels in near real time. However, we do receive complaints from time to time and follow up on each on.”

Espinoza said they would review the vessel’s onboard camera footage, catch reporting and GPS vessel tracking.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Is organising your money life on your New Year’s resolution list in 2026? In this five-part series, money correspondent Susan Edmunds guides you through the basics. Catch up on Day One: Set a Budget. Next up: Saving money.

Saving money is probably near the top of people’s New Year’s resolution lists.

We’ve just got through Christmas, when children’s present wishlists tend to stretch even the most lenient of budgets, and there’s the extra costs associated with Christmas parties and maybe catering for friends and family on the day.

Whether you’re cringing when you look at your bank statements or just want to put aside a bit more next year, there are a few ways you could do it.

Channel your inner Marie Kondo

Sorted’s personal finance spokesperson Tom Hartmann says people should think about the home organisation guru Marie Kondo if they’re looking for ways to save.

Kondo talks about only holding on to things that “spark joy”.

“We can do the same thing with the things we spend money on,” Hartmann said. “For example with your subscriptions – there’s no way you get the same level of happiness from all the things you subscribe to. For me Spotify is up the top, I’d rate that a five out of five but Netflix is lower down.”

He recommends rating the things you spend your money on between one and five out of five and cutting or reducing the things that are a two or a one.

“It makes it easier to cut things back and you don’t end up feeling deprived because you keep the things that really give you joy – ice creams for the kids, for me that’s way up high.

“Often it’s the cheap and cheerful things that end up staying in the budget.”

Match your spending with saving

This requires a bit more money, but can be really effective.

The idea is that if you spot something you want to buy, you only make the purchase if you can put the same amount of money into investments or savings.

If you want some jeans for $200, you have to also put $200 into Sharesies, for example.

This slows your spending a lot but also means you have some saving happening at the same time.

Pay yourself first

Don’t decide you’ll wait until the end of your pay cycle and save whatever is left over. Put the money into savings as soon as it arrives in your account.

“Set up an automatic transfer to take money out of your account each payday and put it in an account that is not shown on your internet banking. Send it to an account in a different bank to keep it even more out of sight. You will be surprised at how even a small amount saved each week will quickly grow,” said financial coach Liz Koh.

It’s that aspect of paying yourself first that makes KiwiSaver so successful. If you can channel that same “out of sight, out of mind” approach into other savings, you might be surprised at how fast the balance can grow.

Emma Heaps, financial wellbeing programme manager at Westpac, said people should not be afraid to start small.

“If you’ve found it a challenge to put savings away regularly, start small instead of trying try to start big. Even if it’s just a dollar a day for a week or a month, if you keep that up you’re creating a habit that will most likely stick, and over time you can increase the amount and frequency you’re putting money into saving.

“Do that for about 90 days and that habit will stick around for long time.”

BNZ general manager of everyday banking Louisa Powell said people should consider a term deposit if they would not need their money immediately.

“While you’ll have limited access to these funds, you could earn more interest than in a regular savings account – it’s about making your money work as hard as you do. Another great tip is to choose compounding interest on your term deposit so you can earn interest on you interest.

“Consider your savings across different accounts based on your goals. Having separate accounts for different timeframes – like short-term expenses versus longer-term savings – means you can choose accounts with features that match each purpose.”

Round up

Your bank might offer you the ability to round up your transactions and put the difference into savings.

You can often choose how much you want to round up, whether that’s to the nearest $1, $2 or more. That might mean if you buy a coffee for $5.50, for example, the transaction is rounded to $6 and the difference saved. Even small amounts add up this way.

There are other apps, such as Feijoa, which automate “rounding up” by sending the difference to your KiwiSaver account.

No spend

If you’re feeling really motivated you might choose to have a “no spend” month, week or even day of the week. This means that for that period of time, you resolve to not spend anything. This could take some planning – but it’s not effective if it just means you shift your spending to other times.

There are Facebook groups that provide support and tips for people working on these challenges. That could be a good place to start if you need more motivation.

Don’t forget to track your success and celebrate milestones along the way – it can help you stay motivated.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Property values continued to dip last year, but lower mortgage interest rates and signs of an economic recovery point to a possible change of direction for 2026.

Despite gains early in 2025, house values fell in seven of the past nine months, falling 1 percent nationwide according to property data firm Cotality NZ’s latest Home Value Index (HVI).

The median house price is now $808,430 – only a slight change from a year ago, but a drop of -17.6 percent from the 2022 peak, HVI figures showed.

Kelvin Davidson, Cotality chief property economist, said it had been a “year of conflicting forces”, with multiple factors pulling in different directions to leave values broadly flat.

Increased property listings and the weak economy offset lower mortgage rates, while increased housing stock further moderated values, he said.

Some areas reached new peaks, especially in provincial markets – Southland hit record median values in December, and places like New Plymouth and Queenstown saw increases, reflecting wider economic factors including strong farming returns, he said.

“Property in provincial towns and cities … has been more resilient. I wouldn’t say it’s booming, but it definitely hasn’t fallen as far as other parts of the country and it perhaps showed a bit of renewed growth.”

Auckland and Wellington ‘subdued’

Auckland and Wellington’s markets remained weak, with the decline from the heady highs of 2022 exceeding 20 percent.

“What goes up must come down. There were big booms in Auckland and Wellington – and elsewhere too, of course, but housing affordability did get pretty stretched in those markets.”

Prices fell by 0.2 percent nationally last month. Auckland remained sluggish (down 0.6 percent), as part of an overall drop of 2.6 percent for the year. Hamilton was down 0.7 percent (a 1.2 percent annual change), Wellington fell by 0.4 percent in December, a 2 percent annual drop.

Meanwhile, Christchurch recorded a modest 0.2 percent rise in December and an annual increase of 2.6 percent, while Tauranga, New Plymouth and Dunedin all increased by 0.5 percent in December (1 percent, 0 percent and -0.3 percent annual change respectively).

The supply of townhouses had dampened prices to an extent in Auckland, while the impact of large scale job losses in the public service resonated in Wellington, with the underlying economy “subdued” in both cities, he said.

“Wellington’s still got that public sector malaise going on. You walk around central Wellington and the mood’s perhaps a bit downbeat – reflecting public sector cutbacks, tight budgets – the central city is battling along.”

The median house price in Auckland was $1,047,044, followed closely by Tauranga on $935,174, Wellington’s median was $785,790, Hamilton’s $717,495, the median value in Christchurch was $683,360 and Dunedin’s $612,171.

Auckland remained “a key weak spot”, with each of its sub-markets underperforming the national average.

North Shore, where values had dropped 18.4 percent since 2022, was the only part of Tāmaki Makaurau where median values had fallen less than 20 percent since the peak.

Wellington’s sub-markets, such as Hutt Valley, Porirua and Kāpiti Coast, also took steep hits, dropping 23 percent or more from the 2022 peak.

Election year uncertainty around regulation – including loan-to-value and debt-to-income ratios – and talk of a capital gains tax could see prices remain muted, Davidson said.

Provincial prices prove punchier

Prices in the provinces and the southern reaches of the country were more resilient.

The Southland region’s three districts had seen median values peak in December – Southland was up by 0.5 percent to an average median house price of $597,000, Gore was up 0.6 percent to $448,432, and Invercargill increased 0.5 percent to $520,464.

Parts of Canterbury also edged to new records.

Davidson said there was not a dramatic split between property value performance in main centres versus the provinces, but “there’s no doubt that the general vibe is still stronger in say Invercargill or New Plymouth versus Auckland or Wellington”.

The proposed overhaul of the Resource Management Act could reinforce a shift in supply, with the townhouse construction pipeline ramping up in some areas, he said.

While there could be pockets of oversupply, mostly increased supply was reducing pre-existing shortfalls.

“It’s not caused us to go into oversupply, it’s really just reducing under-supply … we need more dwellings of all different types to cater for changing societal needs, smaller households and those sort of things.”

Further, intensification and increased supply in Auckland and Christchurch were helping to keep a lid on prices, he said.

Cautious optimism as cost of living stifles confidence

Davidson said the outlook for this year was cautiously optimistic – the report forecast a potential 5 percent rise in property values, as people refixed mortgages and the economy showed signs of recovery.

“You’re looking at 40 to 50 percent of mortgages going to see a rate change pretty shortly and it should be downwards – that cash will start to come through.

“On the other side, you have to acknowledge inflation. The rate of change of prices might have slowed down, but that doesn’t mean prices are falling or things are suddenly cheaper – it still costs a lot to live.

“It takes a little bit longer to feed through into growth in the overall economy, because people are battling to keep up with day-to-day necessities.”

Davidson was confident the economic recovery would eventuate, with the September quarter showing 1.1 percent GDP growth.

The “largest macro headwind” was the sluggish labour market.

A drop in unemployment would do the most to give people more confidence, as even those unaffected by redundancies were likely to be cautious about spending if those around them were losing their jobs.

“All in all, 2026 may well be a stronger year for the housing market than 2025 – despite the headwinds. It’s the year of rebuilding confidence,” Davidson said.

In 2024, prices dropped by 3.9 percent on the previous year.

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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 Stuff-owned website Neighbourly – at the centre of a major cyber breach – has headed to court to try to stop the stolen information spreading.

The High Court at Auckland has confirmed it has received and accepted an application for an injunction.

The site was taken down for a time on New Year’s Day after the breach was found.

Information including names, email addresses, posts and messages has purportedly surfaced for sale on the dark web.

Cyber security experts say it is particularly concerning that GPS data from Neighbourly has also been taken. One said it could put lives at risk.

A court date has not yet been set.

It comes at the same time that the ManageMyHealth website was struck by a hacker attack that includes patient information.

The hackers, calling themselves “Kazu”, posted on Sunday morning that unless the company paid a ransom within 48 hours, they would leak more than 400,000 files in their possession.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Plans to open a Dunedin bottle store earlier in the day have been quashed after being told it would have been inappropriate in the student quarter.

Bottle O Cumberland applied to increase its off-licence hours to 9am until 10pm at night each day.

Currently, it opens at 10am and the closing times vary.

But the applicant, Brendan McCarthy, amended the application to close by 9pm at a district licensing committee hearing in November after being opposed by the University of Otago Proctor, police, a Ministry of Health delegate, the Chief Licensing Inspector, and a member of the public.

The committee decided to renew the licence, but retain the original opening time.

“The committee has considered the matters presented and does not consider it appropriate to extend the opening hours, given the location of the premises is in an area of high alcohol-related harm,” the committee said.

“The committee is satisfied that the premises is run safely and responsibly.”

The licence is due for renewal in 2028.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

If 2026 is the year you get your money life sorted, you may be wondering where to begin. In this five-part series, money correspondent Susan Edmunds guides you through the basics. First up: Setting a budget and putting goals in place.

Is getting your finances in order top of your New Year’s resolutions?

It’s been a tough few years for lots of households, with cost of living pressures piling on and employment uncertainty.

If you’re aiming to get on track again this year, setting a budget and goals is a great place to start. They can work together to get you where you want to be.

Here are some things to ponder.

What are your goals?

It is often helpful to start thinking about what you want to achieve and breaking your goals down to things that can be done in the short term, and those that might take a bit longer.

Short-term goals might be things like a holiday in a couple of months, while longer-term might be saving a house deposit or for your retirement.

Make sure your goals are clear and achievable, that you can tick off progress towards.

They need to be measurable so you know when you’ve achieved them or are closer to them. Save $50 a week, for example, rather than “save more”. Celebrate your wins along the way to keep you motivated.

It helps to know why you’ve chosen the goals, too.

Doing something just because you think you should is a lot less motivating than doing it because it’s going to improve your life or make you happier.

Liz Koh, financial coach at Enrich Retirement, says setting goals first and then thinking about making them happen is a useful “top down” approach that is more likely to result in behavioural change.

That’s important because, for lots of us, it’s the behavioural change that needs to happen to help us stick to a budget.

Koh recommends focusing on goals that are small steps.

“One of the biggest mistakes people make is trying to get ahead too quickly. Money is an important part of life that serves a multitude of purposes. It is not something you can do without.

“For the same reason that you can’t reach your goal weight on an overnight diet or suddenly become as fit as an Olympic athlete, you can’t go from being broke to being seriously wealthy in a short space of time.

“The first lesson in changing your relationship with money is to set attainable goals that reflect the reality of your current financial situation. It is better to take small steps and be successful than to set unrealistic goals and fail. Achieving small steps may give you the confidence to gradually take bigger steps. If you have never been able to save, trying saving just a small amount each week and increase the amount over time.”

Budget

Your budget can be a tool to help you get to the goals, because it’ll give you a clear picture of what’s going on.

This is where you will be able to work out whether you can free up money to put towards your goals.

Tom Hartmann, personal finance spokesperson at Sorted, says people either do a budget to make what they are already doing work, or to try to do something different.

Either way, it often helps to draw up a budget showing your current situation: How much is coming in, what’s going on, what you’re spending money on. Then you can see what can be adjusted.

You can usually get a good idea of what’s been happening by looking at previous bank statements. Some banks have apps that track your spending to do this for you.

“We’re creatures of routine, we keep going back to the same places, spending the same amounts, especially over a given year,” Hartmann said.

“If you download your statements over a year, where you’re spending money is the usual suspects.”

If you want to save money, or find a surplus to start investing, you should be able to use your budget to identify areas that can be trimmed. You could also look at how your budget would work with different levels of KiwiSaver contribution.

Sorted has a budget planner that might help, and there are also apps that can guide you.

“If you find you’re spending less than you earn, which is a really good thing, you can use that budget to work out how much you can save each time you’re paid and flow it to what you want, that idea of paying yourself first.,” Hartmann said.

“If it’s the opposite and you’re spending more than you earn, living on debt or credit cards, you can use the budget to see where any extra money you might have is going and find a way to spend less or earn more.”

If your budget shows money is really tight and there is no surplus to speak of, you might be able to use it to identify the pressure points and areas where change could be most effective.

Don’t rewrite your budget to be overly harsh, though. If you restrict yourself too much, it can be hard to stick to.

Koh recommends people keep aside some funds for the important things – even if that’s only what’s most important to you.

“You will have a much more enjoyable life if your money is spent on things that really matter to you. Look at what you can cut back on without depriving yourself. Redirect spending from trivial or unimportant items to a savings account for spending on the stuff that matters. Only you can decide what is important about money to you. There is no right and wrong when it comes to choosing what you spend money on so long as you understand the consequences of your choices,” Koh said.

Hartmann says a budget is a valuable tool but only part of the planning picture. “What are you going to use the tool to do? Your budget is a spending plan.”

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Source: Radio New Zealand

The past year was a tough grind for many households and businesses but forecasters say there is economic improvement on the horizon.

Kelly Eckhold, chief economist at Westpac, said he was expecting the economy to be much stronger in 2026, with growth in GDP of about 3 percent over the year compared to a flat 2025.

“That’s supported by lower interest rates in the coming year. Whereas in 2025 we saw relatively strong performance by the primary sector and tourism to some extent but not so much the services sector and the bits of the economy that really drive the major urban areas, we think we probably have much more balanced growth in 2026.”

Households might not see much wage growth initially, he said, because that was one of the last things to move, but inflation should be weaker. “The cost of living crisis should ease off a bit.”

Gareth Kiernan, chief forecaster at Infometrics, agreed things should improve.

“It can’t be worse, right? You’ve had good export prices, you’ve got interest rates which are headed lower than we had been thinking… there’s a bit of caution coming on some of those exports… but I think between the effects of the strong prices over the last 18 months and the low interest rates and the government doing more in the infrastructure space – if not anywhere else, you put all those together and there are enough signs that growth should be better.”

He said the international environment would be something to keep an eye on. “Trump and the tariffs had derailed things somewhat through the early part of this year and that sort of has hung over the economy for the rest of 2025. But who really knows in that space, I guess.”

He said there were some small signs that the labour market was already improving and that should continue to build. “There does seem to be a bit more of an air of optimism and maybe a bit more genuine growth starting to come through as opposed to the high business confidence we had a year ago which didn’t really translate into anything much this year.”

Economists from BMI, a Fitch Solutions company, said they expected 2 percent growth in 2026.

“The Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s rate cuts will continue to ease monetary policy conditions – even if most of the easing cycle is likely behind us – supporting household spending and business investment. We anticipate a 25 basis points cut to 2 percent by the end of 2026. Government infrastructure projects – including Auckland’s City Rail Link, major highway upgrades such as the Waikato Expressway, and water resilience programmes – will add momentum. Externally, strong demand for dairy and meat, alongside a tourism rebound, should underpin growth.

“However, downside risks persist. An escalation in global trade tensions or new tariffs could weaken export performance, while a slower-than-expected recovery in Mainland China – New Zealand’s largest trading partner – would dampen agricultural demand.

“Domestically, persistent labor shortages and wage pressures could restrain productivity, and delays to infrastructure projects would reduce fiscal support. Additionally, if inflation proves sticky, the Reserve Bank may pause or reverse rate cuts, curbing the anticipated lift to consumption and investment.”

Simplicity chief economist Shamubeel Eaqub said he was much more optimistic about 2026. “Mainly because we’re starting to see a bottom in a lot of things a the moment. Some of the distress is fading.”

But he said the recovery would not be felt evenly.

“I think there has been a real expansion of poverty in New Zealand, there’s a chunk of New Zealanders that are continuing to do it really tough.

“They’re stuck in that position where they work in industries that are not going to recover strongly. They work in industries that have relative low-wage, they work and live in places where the cost of living has gone up a lot with rents… so these things are not going to turn around quickly.

“A rising economy Is not enough to lift them up.. But for the median and for the people in the top end I think things will look a lot better.”

Sources of growth will change, he said, as some of the momentum shifted out of the primary sector.

“But by the second half of the year, all the weight of the rate cuts, the cumulative benefits of all the rate cuts would have come through. And we should start to see banks lending again because, you know, they’re fair weather friends.

“And then once they start lending money, that’s when you really juice up the cycle because it’s really about investments.

“When people start to make investments and businesses make investments, that’s really when the economy recovers. Also, I’m getting more optimistic on the government’s capex plans.

“For the last couple of years, they’ve been reducing spending, reducing spending, reducing spending. That’s really the only place austerity has worked so far in not investing in infrastructure. But if you look at all the announcements that have taken place in the second half of this year, it’s all about central government and local government doing more next year. And so all the pipeline stuff, it looks like we are going to see quite a lot of activity starting in the beginning of next year. So with the government coming back and hopefully the private sector coming back through the middle of next year, you’ve kind of got more of a platform for growth.”

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