Category: Radio New Zealand

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Fonterra’s first half expected to deliver despite impacts of war in Iran

Source: Radio New Zealand

The market consensus for the six months ended January was for revenue in the order of $11 billion. 123rf / Supplied images

Fonterra’s first half result is expected to deliver to expectations, but with a murky outlook as the war in Iran threatens global supply chains, along with rising energy and other costs.

Generate KiwiSaver investment specialist Greg Smith said strong demand for dairy products as well as the low value of the New Zealand dollar would help Fonterra through the ongoing volatility, though there could be some disruption to its cheese exports to places such as the United Arab Emirates, as an example.

“So there are some impacts there, and product that potentially will need to be re-routed,” Smith said.

The market consensus for the six months ended January was for revenue in the order of $11 billion, with an underlying profit of $976 million and a normalised net profit of $445m.

The first half dividend was expected to be about 21 cents per share, in addition to a special Mainland dividend in a range of 14-to-18 cps, following the completion of the sale of Fonterra’s Mainland Group of global consumer and associated business to Lactalis for $4.22b.

Where is the growth coming from?

The company was forecasting growth in its ingredients and food services business to fill any gap left by the sale of the consumer business by the year ending July 2028.

“Unlike other company results, I think the focus this time in particular (will be) less on the numbers… and I think that’s principally reflecting the strategic reset that’s underway,” Forsyth Barr senior equities analyst Matt Montgomerie said.

Two key focuses will be on where Fonterra’s debt levels, following the divestment and how the ingredients and food services businesses were planning to fill the earnings gap left by the sale of the consumer businesses.

Forecasts

  • FY26 forecast earnings guidance from continuing operations at between 45 and 65 cents per share.
  • Current season forecast Farmgate Milk Price midpoint $9.50 per kgMS – range of $9.20-$9.80 per kgMS.
  • Target to close Mainland underlying earnings gap of $300m – FY28 to match FY25.

“Delivery and execution and messaging around that target is the key for the next few years,” Montgomerie said.

Who will lead Fonterra?

Fonterra chief executive Miles Hurrell resigned this month following a 25-year career with Fonterra, including eight years as chief executive after the resignation of the late Theo Spierings in 2019, who failed to connect with farmer-shareholders and left the company in a poor financial position, with high debt levels to deal with.

Montgomerie said farmers will want to see someone who operates in a similar mode to Hurrell, who was able to relate to farmers on a day-to-day business and deliver on the turnaround strategy.

“The farmers are looking for consistency and continuity. Obviously, change can bring about new perspectives, but I would be surprised if there are any notable changes in strategic direction with the new CEO,” he said.

“It feels like there’s a strong desire to provide sort of an opportunity for someone internally to continue the strategic direction of the business. But I think the key thing is that reliability and trust from a farmer point of view, but then also Fonterra’s customers all around the world.”

Smith said the next chief executive will have “big gum boots to fill”.

“I’m sure there’ll be a swathe of high quality internal candidates put forward but also no doubt there’ll be a global benchmark process,” he said.

“I don’t really think there’ll be a significant change in strategy, given all the effort that has gone into refocusing and simplifying the business.”

The bigger picture?

Smith said the sale of the Mainland business will give the New Zealand economy a much needed boost.

“The Mainland sale is going to inject potentially around $3 billion, if not more into the Kiwi economy,” Smith said.

“So that’s a positive story for the second half of the year, economically.”

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I do a job where people love to hate me

Source: Radio New Zealand

For 17 years, Lori Davis has been sounding the alarm about the challenges facing SPCA animal welfare inspectors. But the hostility is only getting worse, she says.

“I myself have been threatened, you know, ‘get the F off my property or I will do this’. I’ve had a car driven at me in a driveway, like threatening to be run over, a couple of times. I’ve had a man open the door and holding a knife in his hand,” the Auckland regional manager says.

“I’ve had a man pick up a golf club and threaten to hit me with it. I’ve been cornered on a property in between two males.”

Three quarters of visits by an SPCA officer involve some form of abuse or threat.

RNZ / Angus Dreaver

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KiwiSaver members get human rights warning

Source: Radio New Zealand

Responsible investment platform Mindful Money said investments in companies with exposure to human rights abuses rose 43 percent in the past six months. RNZ / Quin Tauetau

Responsible investment platform Mindful Money warns that KiwiSaver investors are increasingly exposed to human rights abuses – but one KiwiSaver manager says the list of companies to avoid is becoming too long to be realistic.

Over the past six months, Mindful Money said investments in companies with exposure to human rights abuses rose 43 percent, reaching more than $3.5 billion. This has been fuelled by both an increase in the number of companies identified as violating human rights and increased investment in those companies.

It said public surveys consistently showed that avoiding human rights abuses was the No.1 concern for KiwiSaver members.

“These findings highlight a growing gap between what New Zealanders want from their investments in terms of human rights and where their money is actually going,” said Mindful Money founder Barry Coates.

In recent years, attention has increasingly focused on the activities of major technology companies, particularly around surveillance, social media harms and their use in conflict situations, he said. Companies identified as raising human rights concerns included Meta, Tesla, Thermo Fisher Scientific and Palantir Technologies.

“KiwiSaver providers need stronger policies to screen out companies linked to serious human rights harms,” Coates said. “New Zealanders deserve confidence that their retirement savings are not contributing to exploitation or conflict.”

Concerns have also grown over investments in companies linked to the conflict in Gaza, the West Bank and Ukraine. KiwiSaver investments in companies providing weapons, surveillance technology or other support linked to these conflicts increased 14 percent between March and September 2025, reaching $856 million.

Companies receiving increased investment during this period included IBM, Booking Holdings, Palantir Technologies, Motorola Solutions and Caterpillar, but Koura founder Rupert Carlyon said the bar was too high.

“We look at a company like Caterpillar, which is on their list of human rights issues, because they supply machinery into Israel.

“It’s also a company that does a huge amount of good in other parts of the world – it’s extremely hard to measure.”

He said clients were most concerned about returns and fees.

“My very strong view is actually, if you really want to make a difference, then you’re going to make much more of an impact, if you don’t support them as a customer than as an investor.

“Airbnb… you’re going to stop investing in Airbnb, because you think there are human rights issues? Does that mean that, you know what, we’re never going to use Airbnb ever again?”

Pathfinder Asset Management founder John Berry said his KiwiSaver funds avoided those companies.

“Based on the approach taken by Mindful Money, they are taking a values-based approach to human rights and other issues, and I think it’s entirely appropriate,” he said. “They disclose their methodology and the approach they’re taking, and they give the managers the opportunity to respond.

“I think that’s a really well-developed and well-thought-out approach.

“I think it’s good that there’s a range of options for, you know, some fund managers may focus primarily on just making money. Other fund managers, like Pathfinder, focus on putting a values-based lens, really strong values-based lens over our investing.”

He said individuals and fund managers should make their own decisions about what they were comfortable with.

“I think the starting point with thinking about human rights, and thinking about it from a fund-manager perspective and an investor perspective, is to think about what is your mission with investing.

“There are two sides to it. One is you can consider human rights from a values-based perspective, that you care for people, planet, animals and you want to sleep at night with your investments.

“The other side is you believe that companies that comply with human rights will deliver better long-term returns, because they will be trusted, they’re good corporate citizens and they will have stronger reputations, so they’ll be financially better.

“I actually believe both those things are true.”

Coates said avoiding problematic companies would likely be more effective than trying to change them.

“These are major global corporations and New Zealand investors have only a small share of their capital,” Coates said. “It is unlikely that fund managers sending letters or voting a few shares will change their practices.

“If companies are linked to human rights violations, fund providers should respect the wishes of their clients and avoid investing in them.”

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$50m plan to double the number of public EV chargers

Source: Radio New Zealand

Aotearoa currently has about 1800 public charge points currently, among the lowest charger-to-EV ratios in the OECD. File photo. ABC News / Brendan Esposito

The government is providing interest free loans of $52.7 million to two companies to boost the number of electric vehicle public chargers around the country.

The zero-interest loans will go to ChargeNet and Meridian Energy, who are investing $60m in capital, and would see 2574 new charge points, 1374 DC fast chargers and 1200 AC chargers.

The move will more than double the country’s chargers, to around 4550.

New Zealand has about 1800 public charge points currently, among the lowest charger-to-EV ratios in the OECD.

In 2023, the National Party promised electric vehicle chargers by 2030 if elected.

Transport Minister Chris Bishop said the loans kept the taxpayer’s contribution to a minimum.

“In this case, the average loan per charge point is $20,000, but once repayments are factored in, the net cost to the Crown is around $10,000 per charger, roughly a quarter of what a direct grant would cost.

Bishop said it was a chicken and egg situation, with some electric vehicle charger providers reluctant to roll out chargers until there were more EVs on the road, but concerns about the driving range of electric vehicles and a lack of public chargers was one of the main perceived disadvantages of EVs for potential buyers.

“Many New Zealanders have thought about getting an EV, even before the fuel challenges we’re currently facing. But research shows that the lack of public chargers is holding many back from making the switch to an EV,” Bishop said.

“The private sector is reluctant to invest in charging infrastructure until there’s sufficient demand, but demand won’t grow until the lack of public chargers stops putting buyers off. Just as the previous National-led Government did with the ultrafast broadband network rollout, we’re taking action to break that deadlock.”

He said the below-market interest rate loans were preferable to grants.

“It’s a more commercial model, a more sophisticated model, bringing forward that private sector investment.”

“In this case, the average loan per charge point is $20,000, but once repayments are factored in, the net cost to the Crown is around $10,000 per charger, roughly a quarter of what a direct grant would cost.”

Chris Bishop said work on the grants had been underway for some time, but the timing was “fortuitous” given the increased interest in EVs as fuel costs surged due to the conflict in the Middle East. RNZ/Marika Khabazi

Some requirements were placed on the loans, such requiring an urban-rural split, but exactly where they went was a commercial decision for the companies, Bishop said.

“About half the new chargers will be spread across Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga, the Wellington region, Christchurch, and Dunedin, with the other half throughout the regions, so drivers outside the main centres will benefit too,” he said.

“We’re also changing our planning rules to make the installation of public EV chargers a permitted activity under the RMA, meaning in most cases no consent is required – another factor that will help to speed up delivery.”

Work on the grants had been underway for some time, but that the timing was “fortuitous” given the increased interest in electric vehicles in the wake of surging fuel costs caused by the conflict in the Middle East, he said.

“People look at a petrol price of three bucks, three bucks twenty, and potentially going higher, and they say, jeepers creepers, now’s the time to go electric because the running costs are just so much lower,” Mr Bishop said.

The 10,000 chargers by 2030 target was ambitious, he said.

It was on its way to meeting it, but would require additional Crown investment which would be considered as part of the budget process, he said.

Chair of EV lobby group Drive Electric Kirsten Corston welcomed the news, but said much more needed to be done.

She said the government had promised more than $200m to go towards fast chargers several years ago, and this project only accounted for $52m.

“We’re interested to see what the other commitments are going to be.”

It seemed very unlikely the government would achieve its target of 10,000 chargers before 2030, she said.

New Zealand was falling behind other countries in [https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/thedetail/586362/the-ev-slowdown-how-government-decisions-changed-the-road-ahead

EV uptake] following a sharp decline in purchases following the government’s cancellation of the clean car subsidy.

EVs accounted for around 27 percent of new vehicle sales in 2023, or at least one in four cars sold. Only one in nine cars sold are electric now.

“And you look at Australia, one in five cars sold are electric. In China, one in two cars sold are electric. The global average is one in four cars sold are electric.”

There had been a three-fold increase of inquiries into second-hand and new EVs in recent weeks, she said.

“The challenge for us, though, is we’ve got a country that is still very dependent on importing fossil fuels and we’ve got a government that whilst this is fantastic to see this investment into charging infrastructure we also need investment into electric vehicles to drive uptake.”

Colston said reducing road user charges – which are the same for electric vehicles as for diesel vehicles – would be one way to do that.

Other levers included a Fringe Benefit Tax for light vehicles such as Australia has, or accelerated depreciation for commercial and heavy vehicles.

Drive EV wanted to see investment in making EVs more accessible to more people, she said.

“At the moment, when the average purchase of a car for a Kiwi is around $7000, yes, they can go and access a Nissan Leaf for $5000 – $10,000. But if they’ve got four kids and they need a 200 kilometre range to get around town for the day, that’s not going to meet their needs.

“So we have to create that second, third, fourth hand market for Kiwis to bring that price down – that’s a really critical piece to make EVs available for everyone in our community.”

Getting more people into electric vehicles promised a huge financial opportunity for New Zealanders, Colston said.

“The average household spends $3000 to $4000 a year paying for their petrol or diesel, and if they could electrify, it would be around $1000 a year.”

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School attendance improves in some areas after truancy overhaul

Source: Radio New Zealand

Children in a classroom learning. UnSplash/ Taylor Flowe

Early signs suggest the government’s overhaul of local truancy services is working – at least in some areas.

Most principals contacted by RNZ said it was too early to judge whether their local attendance service provider was doing a better job, but two said theirs were already returning more chronic truants to class.

Last year, the ministry signed 83 new contracts aimed at making providers more accountable and effective at tracking down the most serious truants.

In Whangarei, Hora Hora School principal Pat Newman said the service brought 10-15 children to his school this year who would otherwise be at home.

He said some had never been to school at all.

“What we’re finding is that we’re getting children who have not been attending school or [attending] poorly,” he said. “We’ve got some children who have not been at school, at [age] seven or so attending.”

He said the service approached the problem in the right way.

“What they’re trying to do is to look at what’s stopping a kid coming to school and then looking at where they can get help to take away the problem,” he said.

Other, more punitive options were considered only if the initial help didn’t work.

“I think it’s a damn good model,” Newman said. “It will continue or fail, depending on the resourcing put behind it.”

At Auckland’s Jean Batten Primary School, principal Nardi Leonard said her local attendance service was working better too.

“What we have noticed by the new service is they are more readily available to us,” she said.

“If you reflect back on the old system, a lot of the attendance officers were constantly soaked up into secondary schools and all the high schools, and at the primary level for us, we felt that the resource just didn’t get down to us,” she said.

“The new system, our person actually has less schools and they are primary schools, so we do feel there’s that support directly.”

She said her school had all but given up on the previous attendance service, but under the new system, it had already referred children and had positive results.

“In the short time of five weeks, we’ve made three referrals and we’ve been able to get two back,” she said. “One, we don’t know where that person’s gone, so that’s obviously a hard one, but we have got two children back in school.

“The next challenge is the sustainability of keeping them in school, but we celebrate the small steps and just work towards increasing it day-by-day.”

Leonard said, previously, the school got no response from the attendance service and had pretty much given up using it.

She said the school emphasised the importance of daily attendance and it was good to have the back-up provided by the attendance service.

Other principals told RNZ their local provider was still getting started and they were yet to see how they performed.

Berkley Normal Middle School in Hamilton was part of a group of schools that lost its attendance service contract in last year’s re-organisation.

Principal Nathan Leith said it was too early to tell if the new organisation was doing a better job, but he reckoned schools definitely were.

Leith said many had not realised how bad their attendance was, until they looked carefully at their data.

They now had to put a five-step attendance plan on their websites and have clear plans for what to do after a certain number of days’ absence.

“Those are the things that are perhaps making a bigger difference,” he said.

Leith said schools were dealing with the bulk of poor attenders and occasional truants, while the attendance services would tackle the toughest cases.

He said the service should have funding to tackle social issues, such as lack of money for food or school uniforms, that contributed to truancy and he hoped some of that funding would make it to schools.

Education Ministry figures showed daily attendance averaged a little more than 89 percent so far this year, about one percentage point more than at the same time last year.

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Fuel price strains send public transport numbers skyrocketing

Source: Radio New Zealand

File photo. RNZ / Mark Papalii

Public transport is experiencing a boom, with commuters flooding onboard while fuel costs soar, and passenger numbers set to tumble.

Last week 91 octane petrol had risen 55 cents a litre since the beginning of the Iran war, with diesel up 90 cents in the same time, hitting personal and commercial budgets amid an existing cost-of-living crunch. And a string of commuters in the main centres told RNZ they were turning to public transport to help cut costs.

  • $4 a litre 91 petrol is coming, but take care with data showing it’s here in main centres

    • Passengers numbers have grown for both buses and trains in Wellington, the Greater Wellington Regional council says.

    Prior to this year, there had been a six percent decrease in public transport use year-on-year. But now, both the price of fuel and ongoing major traffic disruption from construction on Lower Hutt’s RiverLink project had turned that around.

    It means the Wellington Region is expected to have its highest day ever for public transport use in the next couple of weeks.

  • Watch: Seven weeks worth of fuel stocks in NZ – finance minister says

    • The steep trajectory of fuel costs meant the cost of driving 15 kilometres in Auckland reached nearly double the cost of taking public transport last week, Auckland Transport said – without parking costs factored in.

    And the Auckland public transport uptick has already reached records, with Tuesday the busiest day since 2019, councillor Richard Hills said.

    Passenger numbers were seven percent higher than the previous Tuesday, and had 7000 more trips than the previous busiest day.

    “It’s great to see more people choosing public transport and trying it out,” Hills said.

    Wellington public transport challenges levelling as demand increases

    Wellington “has had a hard road for public transport patronage over the last couple of years”, said the regional council’s transport committee chairperson Ros Connolly.

    “We’ve had a number of headwinds, you know. We’ve had working from home, we’ve had quite high numbers of unemployment in the Wellington region, and the cost of living has all meant that our public transport numbers haven’t been as high as we would have liked them to be. So year-on-year we’ve had about a 6 percent year-on-year decrease.

    But in recent weeks, “that number has absolutely turned around,” she said.

    “We’ve definitely seen the impact of higher fuel prices on people’s transport decisions …So unlike Auckland, we haven’t quite topped our highest day since 2019, but we can say we are getting close, and we’re confident that in the next fortnight, if things continue to track the way they have, that we will see Wellington experience that record number.”

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Six dead in 24 hours after multiple crashes around NZ

Source: Radio New Zealand

In Auckland, northbound lanes were blocked on the South-Western Motorway, SH20, at Onehunga, on Sunday morning. Supplied/ NZTA traffic camera

Six people have died in 24 hours in crashes in Waikato, Taranaki, Auckland, Southland and Waiohau.

Southland

One person has died in Invercargill after fleeing police.

Shortly before 3am, police signalled for a vehicle to stop on Kelvin Street, Invercargill, but the driver fled the scene.

Police said it was not pursued, but found the vehicle crashed at the intersection of Leet and Kelvin Streets a short time later.

One person died at the scene.

The road was closed while the Serious Crash Unit examined the scene and the matter will also be referred to the IPCA

Any witnesses to the crash, or anybody who has CCTV in the vicinity of Wellesley Avenue, Avenal Street or Kelvin Street, have been asked to get in touch with police.

Another person died in a single-vehicle crash along Winding Creek Road in Southland overnight.

Emergency services were called to the rural road about 12.40am.

One other person suffered moderate injuries.

Waikato

Waikato police said on Sunday morning a person died following a single-vehicle crash on Howden Road, to the west of Hamilton city in Temple View. The crash happened about 8:30pm on Saturday.

Auckland

Meanwhile, blocked lanes on Auckland’s Southwestern Motorway at Onehunga were reopened by 9:30am Sunday, after a collision earlier in the morning. Two vehicles were involved in the crash on the State Highway 20 motorway, police said.

One person was killed and two others moderately injured.

Stratford

Early this evening, police said one person has died after a single vehicle crash on SH43 / Forgotten World Highway in Stratford this morning.

The crash was reported to police at 11.30am, and the road remains closed.

Waiohau

A sixth person died after a single-vehicle crash on Galatea Road, Waiohau, at about 5.15pm.

The sole occupant of the vehicle was found dead.

Police said the road was closed and diversions are in place.

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Four dead in 24 hours after multiple crashes around NZ

Source: Radio New Zealand

In Auckland, northbound lanes were blocked on the South-Western Motorway, SH20, at Onehunga, on Sunday morning. Supplied/ NZTA traffic camera

Four people have died and others have been injured in crashes in Waikato, Taranaki, Auckland, Stratford, Waiohau and Southland

Waikato police said on Sunday morning a person died following a single-vehicle crash on Howden Road, to the west of Hamilton city in Temple View. The crash happened about 8:30pm on Saturday.

Meanwhile, blocked lanes on Auckland’s Southwestern Motorway at Onehunga were reopened by 9:30am Sunday, after a collision earlier in the morning. Two vehicles were involved in the crash on the State Highway 20 motorway, police said.

One person was killed and two others moderately injured.

Early this evening, police said one person has died after a single vehicle crash on SH43 / Forgotten World Highway in Stratford this morning.

The crash was reported to police at 11.30am, and the road remains closed.

A fourth person died after a single-vehicle crash on Galatea Road, Waiohau, at about 5.15pm.

The sole occupant of the vehicle was found dead.

Police said the road was closed and diversions are in place.

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One seriously injured after explosion in steam engine train at Glenbrook Vintage Railway

Source: Radio New Zealand

The incident happened at the Glenbrook Vintage Railway. File photo. Supplied / Glenbrook Vintage Railway

One person has been seriously injured, after an explosion in the engine compartment of a steam train at Glenbrook Vintage Railway.

Fire and Emergency sent four trucks to the vintage railway station between Glenbrook and Waiuku in southern Auckland just before 4pm.

A spokesperson said, when firefighters arrived, the blaze was contained inside the engine compartment of the locomotive.

St John Ambulance took one person to Middlemore Hospital in a serious condition.

– more to come

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Winston Peters announces proposal to overhaul energy sector in State of the Nation speech

Source: Radio New Zealand

During his state of nation speech, New Zealand First leader Winston Peters addressed his party’s new proposal to split up energy gentailers, the state of the economy, Covid and his party’s aspirations at this year’s election.

He also spent time taking shots at his political rivals, with sections of his speech dedicated to Labour, the Green Party and Te Pāti Māori.

Peters also acknowledged the country was “navigating a chaotic environment” and that New Zealand’s economy “isn’t where it should be”.

Here are some the topics Peters touched on.

Energy sector overhaul

Peters anchored much of his speech on energy, announcing his party would campaign on splitting up the energy gentailers (generators and retailers).

He said the policy would ensure energy gentailers could “no longer control both the power and the price”.

“The big four power companies control almost 90 percent of the electricity generation and then sell it back to themselves,” Peters said.

New Zealand First’s Winston Peters during his state of the nation speech. RNZ/Dan Jones

“It will mean more power stations. More renewable energy. More competition. More resilience.

“It’s time to secure our electricity system for all New Zealanders.”

New Zealand First Minister Shane Jones had already promised the party would look to split up energy gentailers.

New candidate Alfred Ngaro

New Zealand First also announced Alfred Ngaro as a new candidate, who will run for the party at this year’s elections.

Ngaro – speaking before Peters – said NZ First stood for “what is right” and everything he believed.

Alfred Ngaro. RNZ /Dom Thomas

“Right now there is a quiet uncertainty in this country, people are working hard but wondering whether things will get better.

“The best days of New Zealand are not behind us they are ahead of us,” he said.

However several people in the crowd questioned who he was, with Ngaro not introducing himself at the start of his speech.

Fonterra and Air NZ

Peters went on to talk about Fonterra’s proposal to sell Mainland, Anchor and Kapiti.

Fonterra had gone from a “propped-up nationalist company, to a sell-out globalist company”, Peters said.

He also labelled calls for the government to sell its stake in Air New Zealand as “economic neoliberal lunacy”.

“Air New Zealand is our national carrier and a national asset.

“As the majority shareholder, the government should be backing its future rather than dragging it down and hocking it off.”

Covid and Labour failures

Peters said the latest Covid-19 inquiry highlighted failures by the Labour party.

“The report brings questions that need to be answered by Hipkins and Verrall and all those other former ministers,” he said.

“They cannot brush this off… Someone needs to be held accountable.”

Peters claimed Labour wasted billions of dollars and did not “properly advise” the public of the vaccine “risks”, a claim Labour strongly denies.

Speech protests

Protests outside Winston Peters’ State of the Nation speech in Tauranga. RNZ/Dan Jones

Peters hosted the event at the Atrium Conference Centre in the Tauranga suburb of Otūmoetai, where a group of protesters gathered holding Palestinian and Māori flags.

People protesting Shane Jone’s fishing reform were seen holding signs that read: “Shane Jones = Fishy deal” and “Big fishing wins Kiwis lose”.

The New Zealand Herald reported some of the protesters as being Destiny Church members.

Currently, NZ First is trending upward in the polls. In the latest RNZ Reid Research poll, the party sat at 9.8 percent in the party vote, which would result in 12 seats in parliament – four more than what it currently holds.

Peters was third in the preferred prime minister ranking, at 12.6 percent. Labour’s Chris Hipkins was at 21.1 percent, with Christopher Luxon on 19.4 percent.

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