Category: Public Media

Source: Radio New Zealand

New Zealanders can expect to see a large impact on the economy over time thanks to the free-trade agreement with India, one economist says.

The government on Monday announced the deal which reduces tariffs on 95 percent of exports.

Almost 60 percent of New Zealand exports to India will be tariff-free when the deal takes effect, increasing to 82 percent over 10 years.

Brad Olsen, chief executive at Infometrics, said sheep meat would be one of the big beneficiaries. Its tariff will drop from 33 percent to zero immediately. “That fell quite considerably after the Australians got their free-trade agreement so for an industry like that there’s definitely upside and further price gains,” he said.

Forestry products would also benefit, as well as fruit, wine and manuka honey.

“Is a general member of the public going to notice it when they walk down the street? No, but no more than anyone notices the China FTA while walking down the street. It’s not necessarily directly apparent, but my goodness it does make a large impact on the economy over time.”

He said New Zealand’s trade with India was limited “in the scheme of things”.

“We sent 1.7 percent of New Zealand’s total good exports to India over the 12 months to September 2025.

“Our biggest earner is actually travel, Indian nationals who travel to New Zealand and spend money here. After that it’s the likes of fruit and nuts, aluminium, iron and steel, wood, wool and some of those high-value dairy products.”

He said there would be gains in those areas over time because the Indian economy has room to grow. “The Indian economy hasn’t got cranking to the degree that China has in terms of development over time. It’s one of those changes where you won’t necessarily see it directly in the economy in the short term but longer-term this is an important strategic opportunity.

“If you saw over time Indian GDP per capita increase like you’ve seen as China’s developed, the market opportunity there for New Zealand is huge. Particularly when we know that China is already seeing a population decline. Our potential market there is shrinking over time whereas India is still only growing and will be for a considerable period.”

The agreement includes a right to negotiate for an upgrade if better access is granted in the future to other countries and includes preferential market access for apples and mānuka honey for the first time in an Indian trade deal.

New Zealand will provide for 1667 temporary three-year non-renewable work visas per year for Indian nationals in “priority jobs where New Zealand has skills shortages, including doctors, nurses, teachers, ICT and engineering… with all immigration screening and qualification/experience requirements remaining unaltered”. An additional 1000 places each year under the Working Holiday Scheme will be allocated for Indian nationals.

Olsen said that would probably displace other migration that might otherwise have happened.

“At the moment, net migration is fairly low and the economy doesn’t need as much talent. It does in some areas.

“When migration starts to get going…and needs a lot more talent these numbers become a fairly small part of the overall migration picture. So again we don’t see it as materially changing things, but there are, you know, opportunities for people to come in temporarily to work in New Zealand to gain some skills and then to go back to India.”

He said it was a win-win overall.

“It’s easy to talk about gains from a free-trade agreement when free trade is all the range,” Olsen said.

“Back 15, 20 years ago everyone was doing free trade. To achieve a free trade agreement like this when everyone is directly retreating from free trade is quite impressive.”

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Well-worn shoes, some vintage soft drink cans and a date with a rhinoceros – or a Shortland Street star – these are some of the top purchases Kiwis were considering on Trade Me this year.

“We’ve seen everything from one-of-a-kind sporting memorabilia to opportunities like meeting a rhino calf,” Trade Me spokesperson Tiana Barns said.

The top-viewed marketplace listing of the year was – well, a pair of old shoes, but not just any old shoes.

They were the spikes worn by Tauranga 15-year-old Sam Ruthe when he became the youngest runner to break four minutes for the mile in March, with a 3m 58.35s performance at Auckland’s Mt Smart Stadium.

“One young owner,” declared the advertisement. “Can vouch for the faint whiff of achievement.”

The size 10.5 US spikes attracted 151 bids and 41,457 views, Trade Me said.

“This listing from the Bay of Plenty captured the attention of sports fans across the motu, celebrating the rising star in athletics,” Barns said.

The sale raised more than $11,000 for coach Craig Kirkwood and his Tauranga training group.

Second place went to a charity listing for a Queenstown escape, which raised money for St John, viewed 16,558 times, selling for $7550.05.

But for proof that almost anything can be flogged off for a little coin, the third-place auction was a couple of humble unopened 30-year-old Coca Cola cans. The limited edition ‘Salute to Customers’ Coca-Cola cans from 1992 and 1993 ended up selling for $230 with 108 bids and had 15,356 views.

“These are perfect for the ultimate Coke collector,” the seller advertised. However, there were a few catches – “When I lift the cans I hear no fizz sound, suggesting that the cans have gone flat during this time,” they added.

Just in case you were thinking about it, the seller noted, they do not recommend drinking them.

In other clearing out the pantry auction news, an enterprising seller also tried to unload a bag of the iconic Kiwi chocolate treat Jaffas, which were discontinued this year due to declining sales.

Despite putting down marketing copy like “this is your only chance to relive the great time in NZ history where you rolled them down the movie theatre when you got them in your 50c mix and when you ate to many and spewed in granddad’s caravan,” the auction sadly didn’t sell in its original listing, but it did rack up almost 15,000 views.

“We constantly see Kiwis trying to make a quick buck when their favourite food gets discontinued. While the seller was hoping to fetch $100 for the 150g bag, it unfortunately didn’t get any bites,” Barns said.

Sports memorabilia, besides Sam Ruthe’s shoes, were also in the mix – a Houston Rockets jersey worn by Kiwi superstar Steven Adams and cricket bats signed by the White Ferns and Black Caps also rated in the marketplace top 10.

Other charity auctions also ranked, with an opportunity to meet a rhino calf at Auckland Zoo selling for $1730, and an exclusive dinner with Shortland Street actors Ben Barrington & Will Hall raising $2510.

If you had a little more cash to spend, a car that might just take you back to the future also grabbed eyeballs – a 1981 Delorean DMC-12, like Marty McFly famously drove into the timestream, drew 104,371 views in the motoring listings, with a final bid of $100,000.

“The DeLorean, famous for its role in Back to the Future, brings a huge amount of movie magic to the table,” Head of Trade Me Motors Brendan Hall said.

“The massive viewing numbers prove that the dream of owning a piece of pop culture history is very much alive, and at a six-figure price, it’s a relatively accessible classic compared to the supercars on this list.”

Other big viewers in the motoring category were a Subaru Forester that once belonged to F1 driver Liam Lawson, and a couple fancy Lamborghinis.

“Whether it’s a piece of history, an act of charity, or something that just makes you laugh, these most-viewed listings are a great snapshot of what we have been talking about this year,” Barns said.

The complete list of top viewed Trade Me marketplace sales 2025:

1. Sam Ruthe’s used spikes less than four minutes use

41,457 views

Sold for $11,408.35

2. Queenstown Getaway for a Family of Four – St John

16,558 views

$7,550.05

3. Two Full Unopened 30+ year old Coca-Cola Cans – Limited Edition

15,356 views

$230.00

4. Jaffas The End Of a Kiwi icon

14,451 views

Unsold

5. Steven Adams Houston Rockets Jersey – Authentic Game-Worn & Signed

13,221 views

$6,160.00

6. Meet this rhino calf AND contribute to rhinoceros’ conservation in the wild!

12,113 views

$1,730.00

7. A Star-Studded Dinner with Ben Barrington & Will Hall

11,808 views

$2,510.00

8. Own a piece of New Zealand cricketing history

11,676 views

$4,210.00

9. Harley Davidson Kenworth Truck Bar Man Cave Extreme!

10,950 views

$5,571.00

10. Western Springs Speedway Safety Fence and Race Control Lights

10,915 views

Unsold

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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 Electricity Authority has lodged a formal complaint alleging Genesis did not adequately comply with a request to deliver power into the grid.

It says the company breached the Electricity Industry Participation Code over an incident in January last year and could be liable for a penalty of up to $2 million.

The authority said Genesis did not comply with dispatch instructions in respect of its Huntly power station, or immediately advise Transpower why it could not, on 26 January 2024.

The dispatch instructions are given by Transpower to generators to provide more electricity generation when required.

The authority said compliance with them was critical to maintain the stability, reliability and efficiency of the power system, to ensure sufficient electricity supply to meet demand at all time sand to ensure fair and transparent operations, avoiding the risk of price distortion.

“If generation is suddenly unavailable (for example, through an unexpected outage), this can have a flow on effect such as a localised cascade failure of the power system and regional loss of supply.

“The code requires generators to comply with dispatch instruction and to communicate with the System Operator if issues arise.”

The authority said the reported breach had a moderate level of severity overall but Genesis had a history of alleged non-compliance.

“There was a potential security impact from a shortage of generation provided due to non-compliance with a dispatch instruction because the shortage of generation may have had an impact on frequency keeping stations to the top end of their frequency keeping band, limiting their capacity to provide frequency keeping services and support in case of an under-frequency event.”

The complaint will be assessed by the rulings panel, which as the power to make remedial orders.

Remedial orders include pecuniary penalties, compliance orders, compensation orders, and private and public warnings or reprimands.

The liability limit applying to industry participants is a pecuniary penalty not exceeding $2 million and a further amount not exceeding $10,000 for every day or part of a day during which the breach continues.

In a statement, Genesis said it endeavoured to comply with the Electricity Industry Participation Code and had worked closely with the Electricity Authority regarding the alleged breach.

“While we are disappointed that a complaint has been escalated to the Rulings Panel, we will continue to work through the process to a resolution.”

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