Category: Radio New Zealand

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How can foreign butter (and veges) be cheaper than New Zealand-made?

Source: Radio New Zealand

Customers are questioning why US butter is cheaper than New Zealand butter in some instances. Sorin Gheorghita for Unsplash

How can food products that travel into New Zealand from other countries end up being cheaper than those produced locally?

It’s a question some shoppers have been asking because US butter Burtfield’s & Co is being sold at Pak’n Save supermarkets for $6.99 a block, compared to $8.39 for the Pam’s product.

But it’s not the only imported product that is available more cheaply than locally produced options.

The cheapest frozen spinach this week, for example, was packed in Belgium from local and imported spinach. Frozen baby carrots were also imported.

Simplicity chief economist Shamubeel Eaqub said imported butter had been cheaper than export prices for the past two years.

“The main thing is the US has a record dairy herd. They’ve had some problems in terms of exporting to China because of the trade wars, they have a bit of a glut locally. It’s not normal for us to have import prices that are less than export prices.”

But he said the amount of butter being imported was “tiny”.

“Four percent of our consumption in the last 12 months, so a really small amount. It comes with all the issues of logistics, of transporting a bulk commodity around the world.”

‘… some things we don’t have a competitive advantage in’

Westpac chief economist Kelly Eckhold said people often thought of transport as being the main factor in the cost of a food product but it was not always. Things like the cost of energy could affect the price of products that were energy-intensive to make, like fruit juice, he said.

The cheapest one-litre bottle of fruit juice at Woolworths on Tuesday was a Keri juice product made from imported ingredients.

He said about a third of fruit and vegetables were imported. “That reflects the fact that fruit and vegetable supply is seasonal.”

ANZ agricultural economist Matt Dilly said there had been an increase in frozen vegetable imports that was creating competition for the local growers.

“New Zealand doesn’t really have the cost-of-labour advantage or the cost-of-energy advantage. There’s also a lot of tropical fruits and whatnot that we don’t do a very good job of growing ourselves.

“That’s the counterpoint to all the great agricultural exports we have – some things we don’t have a competitive advantage in and we do import them.”

Dilly said the US butter being cheaper would be a short-lived phenomenon.

“It’s pretty unusual right now, where butter prices in the US are at a significant discount to butter prices in New Zealand and Europe. All those things do have a tendency to even out over time.

“While it seems unusual on its face, it is something that can be good for consumers to give them that choice of a lower-priced product, especially when there’s cost of living concerns for a lot of New Zealanders at this point in time.”

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Price of agricultural land a factor

Otago University senior lecturer Robert Hamlin said food had become progressively more expensive over the past 30 or 40 years.

“And the primary driver of that has been the building up within this country of the value of agricultural land. Now, the trouble with that is if you end up paying 10 times as much for your land as you used to 30 years ago, it puts the land under pressure. It obviously puts the farm operation under pressure because that’s not actually doing anything to help you produce the product. It’s simply making it more expensive.”

He said while New Zealanders were often told that the price they had to pay was influenced by global price of food, in most places the majority of food was produced and consumed within the region.

“So although we describe Fonterra as a titan of the international dairy trade, which it is, the fact is that the international dairy trade is a very small pond and Fonterra is a big fish in that pond, but it is a very small fish in global terms.

“And this means that you’ve got the majority of food being bought and sold in individual jurisdictions, you’ve got a small percentage of food swilling around internationally.

“New Zealand is really rather unusual in that it has such a very large proportion of its agricultural production is going into this international market for food, which is highly volatile because you’ve got people coming into the market to sell food that they’ve got too much of and then coming into the market to buy food because they haven’t got enough and that food, that means the international price gyrates around more or less continuously.

“But what it boils down to is that we are a high cost producer and we are a higher cost producer than an awful lot of the major producers around the world and therefore you will find out from time to time that food that is produced in this country can be accessed for a considerably lower price overseas than it can be accessed here. And that’s pretty much what’s happened here.”

He said it potentially made New Zealanders vulnerable to the moves of other countries.

“The supply and demand for food across the world is very tight. The amount produced is very close to the amount demanded and this means that it would only take a fairly minor problem within other people’s domestic food market for them to generate a demand in the international market that would make the food in that international market unaffordable for a country that was paying that for all of their food.

“So if we take for example the People’s Republic of China and let’s say that they have a problem with their agricultural production, they could then decide, well we’re going to pay $60 a kilo for milk solids to acquire that small amount of our domestic demand that we need from overseas.

“That will increase the price overall of milk products in China by a relatively small amount, but it would put the price in New Zealand up to $60. So you would essentially be paying $80 a kilo, probably nearly $100 for tasty cheddar and pretty much $100 for butter.

“It’s certainly quite possible given that this country and its exporters believe that they should be allowed to export to global markets for the highest price can achieve and to hell with the consequences for the local population, I’m a little bit concerned about a situation like that could arise very, very quickly.”

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Earthquake trio hits north of Bay of Plenty

Source: Radio New Zealand

1,958 people reported feeling the first quake across Auckland, Waikato, Coromandel and Bay of Plenty. GeoNet/Screenshot

The eastern North Island has been jostled by a trio of earthquakes north of Bay of Plenty on Tuesday evening.

GeoNet recorded the first quake at magnitude 5.6 at about 5km deep at 8pm, 135km north of Te Kaha.

It was followed by another magnitude 4.2 quake at 8:05pm, much deeper at 33km and 110km north-west of Te Kaka.

At 8:28pm, the third earthquake was shallow again at 5km deep, but only registered magnitude 2.7.

By Tuesday evening, 1958 people had reported feeling the first quake across Auckland, Waikato, Coromandel and Bay of Plenty, most rating the shaking as ‘weak’ or ‘light.’

The second quake was felt by another 1,083 people and was similarly weak, while the third was only felt by 86 people.

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Police officer killed by car worried about traffic management that night, court told

Source: Radio New Zealand

Hayden Tasker has pleaded not guilty to murdering Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming in Nelson early on 1 January and intentionally causing grievous bodily harm to Senior Sergeant Adam Ramsay. The Press / Iain McGregor

The police officer critically injured by the car that hit and killed his colleague Lyn Fleming, says she told him she was worried not enough had been done to manage traffic in central Nelson that New Year’s Eve.

Senior Sergeants Adam Ramsay and Lyn Fleming were on foot patrol together in Buxton Square, overseeing the policing operation for New Year’s Eve, when they were hit by a car driven by Hayden Tasker.

“I heard the engine noise, I remember thinking, that’s really loud,” Ramsay said in his police interview, which was played to the Christchurch High Court on Tuesday.

“I just looked in the direction of the sound and just saw a set of headlights and had enough time to sort of formulate the thought, you know, this this could be bad.”

Tasker, 33, is on trial for murdering Fleming and seriously injuring Ramsay in the early hours of New Year’s Day.

He has admitted three charges of dangerous driving, but has denied that he intended to kill or hurt the pair.

Tasker’s defence counsel have said he was drunk and depressed at the time and the tragedy was a result of him trying to take his own life without thinking about his actions, while the Crown has argued Tasker had murderous intent as he later said he was aiming for police and he was angry at them for how they had handled an earlier assault.

Defence lawyer Marcus Zintl. The Press / Iain McGregor

Ramsay was on foot patrol with Fleming on Bridge Street in Nelson before the crash, the pair were in charge of the New Year’s Eve policing operation in Nelson.

He said he had been kneeling down, talking to another officer in a patrol car in Buxton Square around 2am, when he heard the engine and saw headlights.

The next thing he remembered was coming to, laying on his side in the carpark. He was groggy and had blood on his face. He thought he must have been hit by a car and did a scan of his body to check for injuries.

“I was cognisant of what was going on around me. I could hear voices, I could hear people rushing around doing stuff and I thought, well, I think I’m actually in a pretty good place. Like, my mental faculty seems to be intact. Physically, I seem to be okay.”

He was taken to hospital where he was found to have a dislocated and fractured shoulder, two gashes on either side of his head that left his skull visible, and numerous cuts and abrasions, some that went through several layers of skin.

Justice Cameron Mander watches footage of the incident played on the court TV screens. The Press / Iain McGregor

The fatal crash that left three others injured

Ramsay said it was when he got to the Nelson Hospital emergency department that he became aware of the scale of what had happened and that other police officers, including Fleming, had been injured.

“As I lay there, I became increasingly confident that a lot of what I had was what I described as sort of paint and panel damage. It was a lot of relatively superficial injuries, the dislocated shoulder, cuts to my head. I’d lost a reasonable amount of skin off this arm.

“I had a huge amount of nicks, cuts and divots on my hands and arms, my knees, but no other significant injuries, which was a miracle in the circumstances.”

Ramsay said it wasn’t until he was visited by Tasman District Commander superintendent Tracey Thompson a couple of hours later, that he learnt of the extent of Fleming’s injuries.

“The assessment was that she had suffered unsurvivable injuries and that she was unlikely to make it but they were waiting on family to come from Wellington so they could make that decision.

“That really sort of brought home the reality of how this could have gone for me as well because at that stage it was just, the injuries I had were relatively superficial in the grand scheme of things.”

Crown lawyer Mark O’Donoghue. The Press / Iain McGregor

A police officer in the car that was rammed by Tasker after he hit Fleming and Ramsay, suffered a concussion, while a member of the public who had gone to Ramsay’s aid was also injured when the patrol car was shunted towards her.

Ramsay said he knew it would have been tough for the police staff working that night who witnessed the crash, had to care for two injured officers, manage the scene and deal with Tasker.

“I felt really sorry for them because Lyn and I were there specifically to take charge in a critical incident and we were both incapacitated so it sort of fell back to the staff and the sergeants that were there and the CIB that attended very promptly to gain control over that situation and deal with it.

“There was a number of people there who had the worst night that you can have as a police officer confronted by something like that.”

The jury heard from police geospatial manager Justin Harris. The Press / Iain McGregor

An experienced police officer, Lyn Fleming was unhappy with traffic management that night

Ramsay said police had a crowded places strategy which detailed a vehicle intrusion attack in a crowded area was a significant risk to the public.

He said Fleming, a police officer of almost 40 years, had planned previous New Year’s Eve policing operations with manned cordons, that stopped traffic flow into the city.

“She was disappointed to find that they’d resorted to cones and so with her we went round to make sure that it was clear that traffic shouldn’t be entering [the CBD].”

Ramsay said Fleming indicated to him that she wasn’t satisfied with the measures taken to manage traffic, she spoke to traffic management staff on Selwyn Place that night and she would be raising it later.

“She made it very clear to me that this wasn’t consistent with what she had been told or was expecting and that she would make sure that this was remedied for the next year.”

The jury spent hours being taken through pictures and video of the crash taken by witness, Detective James Loh. The Press / Iain McGregor

The jury spent hours on Tuesday being taken through photographs, then video footage of the crash by Detective James Loh.

The chaos and confusion was clear in the footage taken from a community patrol car, nearby security cameras and from people’s phones who happened to be in the carpark at the time.

The jury also heard from police geospatial manager Justin Harris, who used CCTV, cellphone footage, crash reports and aerial drone imagery to map the path of Tasker’s vehicle and two police patrol cars, through Buxton Square during the early hours of that morning.

The trial continues, with more than 40 witnesses to be heard over three weeks.

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Clean-up of polluted Horowhenua lake will make it ‘perfect spot for a wetland’

Source: Radio New Zealand

A digger removes peat from the wetland area. RNZ / Jimmy Ellingham

One of New Zealand’s most polluted waterways could be on the way to losing that title thanks to a milestone reached in a years-long clean-up.

The first phase of a new wetland to help turnaround Punahau Lake Horowhenua’s water quality is just weeks away from completion.

For years Levin’s sewage was pumped into the lake. That stopped decades ago, but the effects from that are still felt, as are the effects of excess nitrogen flowing into the lake, degrading its water.

Shovels hit the ground

Work at the Arawhata Constructed Wetland Complex near Lake Horowhenua began in mid March, but it’s been a long wait.

It took more than five years for construction to begin once central government funding of $11.2 million for the initial phase of the work was assigned as part of the Jobs for Nature Covid response.

Ratepayers are contributing $1.3m.

For years Levin’s sewage was pumped into Punahau Lake Horowhenua which has degraded its water quality, despite the fact it has not now happened for decades. Wikimedia Commons

Getting there hasn’t been smooth sailing. There was a High Court challenge to the resource consents granted to Horizons Regional Council for the work, but that was dropped last year.

Council fresh water and projects manager Logan Brown said the initial phase had to finish by the end of June, when the Jobs for Nature money ran out.

“The main reasons behind the wetland are to help improve Lake Horowhenua – the water quality and aquatic health,” Brown said.

“For a constructed wetland, there’s heaps of different drivers. Some main ones are some reductions in the amount of sediment that makes its way through to the lake. There’s some big sediment wetlands and sediment traps.

“The other one is a reduction in nitrogen that’s making its way down to the lake.”

Logan Brown, from Horizons Regional Council, says the constructed wetland will help improve water quality at Lake Horowhenua. RNZ / Jimmy Ellingham

This comes from underground waterways that flow towards the lake, including through the Arawhata Stream, and surrounding farmland.

Horizons bought a farm at the lake’s southern end for the constructed wetland – about 70 hectares of which will eventually be developed to act as a filter for the lake in phases 1 and 2 of the development.

“It’s the perfect spot for a wetland. It used to be a wetland until it was drained to put into production.

“We’re putting it back into a wetland, although slightly different to what it was,” Brown said.

The original wetland was drained about 60 years ago.

One of the sediment reduction ponds is under construction. RNZ / Jimmy Ellingham

Plants to get regular haircuts

When RNZ visited the site on Tuesday there was plenty of heavy machinery being operated by the project contractor.

It was moving tonnes of earth for the ponds that catch that sediment, and creating an area for nitrogen-sucking plants.

“There’s multiple phases within the project. Phases 1 and 2 are fully consented through the fast track legislation process we followed for that.

“This phase 1.1 – we’ve broken it into multiple ones, which are all funding dependent – the major focus is reduction on sediment flowing into the lake and setting up some of the wetlands for the future phases, so they can start growing,” Brown said.

In coming years the sediment-reducing ponds will require regular maintenance to clear them. The plants will need a trim too.

“It sounds a little weird, but some of the wetland plants will need a haircut every now and then to keep them functional and doing that nitrogen removal.

“It is very much a constructed wetland so there’s elements of it that will need to be cleaned out occasionally.”

Wetland under way

Project manager Aydin Maxfield said on Tuesday top soil was getting stripped from one of the restoration wetlands.

“They’re pulling up peat and they’re lowering the contours. That will eventually receive the treated water that’s had most of its sediment removed, but to get water to travel through there at a slow enough pace it needs to be quite long and a lot of material needs to come out of it.”

Project manager Aydin Maxfield is hoping the weather holds over the next few weeks during construction. RNZ / Jimmy Ellingham

There are plants ready to go at a nursery, but when they’ll be in the ground depends on how much rain falls in the coming weeks. Planting them into water wouldn’t work.

Logan Brown said all this work helped the long process of restoring Lake Horowhenua back to health.

“It’s a part of the jigsaw, part of the puzzle. We’ll monitor… to see those sediment reductions that these interventions make, but we’re not building all of phases 1 and 2.

“We’re constrained by budget and we’ve done the interventions that will have the greatest benefit for the least cost.”

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Fuel costs, household expenses on the rise as economy heads into ‘choppy waters’

Source: Radio New Zealand

ANZ spending data showed a large drop in grocery spending and a spike in fuel spending. RNZ / Quin Tauetau

The fuel crisis has brought with it a spike to many household expenses and one economist says we could be headed into “choppy waters”.

Prime Minister Christoper Luxon recently said even if a resolution were to happen today regarding the Strait of Hormuz, there would be at least six months of “bumpiness” ahead.

“Just in terms of the lag effect of the supply chain and how it all hangs together,” Luxon said speaking from Singapore.

ANZ Spending data out on Tuesday showed an unusually large drop of 1.4 percent in grocery spending for the month of April, with spending at the petrol pump up 22 percent since February.

Economist Cameron Bagrie told Checkpoint it’s reasonable to think there is at least six months of bumpiness awaiting kiwis.

“We’re obviously heading into choppy waters, and it’s very obvious inflation is heading up.

“The economy is likely to have gone backwards in the June quarter. We kind of hope this is a temporary diversion for the economy.”

With prices up for fuel, he said it’s no question that people will be substituting in other areas.

Bagrie said households were not simply being hit with a fuel or energy shock.

“General inflation across New Zealand was heading up prior to getting whacked with high fuel prices.”

“Electricity bills up 12 percent on a year ago. Your rates, well they’re hitting up at sort of double-digit numbers. Your medical insurance is 20 percent plus.”

He said the country was experiencing an “underlying inflationary undercurrent” which had been eating into people’s “disposable spending power”.

This existing issue now had the added layer of a fuel shock.

He said even prior to the current crisis the Ipsos monitor had indicated the biggest concern for households was inflation and the cost of living.

“Headline inflation was already 3.1 percent, the core inflation was two and a half to three.

The average individual in the street doesn’t certainly believe that inflation is around 3.1 percent, they will likely to say it’s around 4 to 5.”

He said now with the crisis people’s perception of inflation will likely change and it would be interesting to see the composition of people’s spending, particularly in grocery stores.

“Unfortunately, a lot of stuff we substitute away is from things such as fruit and vegetables, which are pretty essential to everybody’s diet.”

He noted that there had been a big surge in fertiliser prices around the world which would inevitably have an impact on food production system internationally.

Bagrie said international food prices were up 2.4 percent in the month of March and with the April number coming soon another increase is likely to be reflected.

On a more positive note, he said equities had been “pretty cheerful” over the last few weeks.

“Now, whether that’s more hope than substance, maybe people are thinking that the boost from AI is going to outweigh the negativity from what we’re seeing within the Middle East.”

Employment numbers were also more positive in February and March, but Bagrie said this was an indication that the economy was picking up before the current crisis.

With new numbers coming out soon, they may reveal something different.

“That story is now dated. It’s gone. We need to deal with a completely different economic scenario.”

Bagrie said while hopes were that this crisis comes to an end by this year, there was no certain timeline.

“And as the Prime Minister points out, it might be a six-month diversion. But the truth is that nobody really knows.”

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‘Big concern’: Tongan journalist threatened at gunpoint after gang-related report

Source: Radio New Zealand

Tonga Police is investigating the incident on 23 April. Facebook / Tonga Police

A female journalist in Tonga has been threatened at gunpoint following the broadcast of a news story about an Australian criminal deportee serving a life sentence in Tonga for methamphetamine importation.

The incident, in which an unknown individual threatened the journalist at the Kele’a Publications office in Nuku’alofa 12 days ago (23 April), is under investigation by police.

Kele’a Publications manager Teisa Cokanasiga told RNZ Pacific that the man featured in the ABC’s Foreign Correspondent documentary had plans to set up a chapter of the Comanchero, an Australian outlaw motorcycle gang in Tonga.

Cokanasiga said the incident, which appears to be an attempt to silence the press, has shaken her small team.

“It is a big concern, and it is very worrying to me that this happened to us, to a journalist in our small organisation,” she said.

Cokanasiga said Kele’a Publications lacks resources, such as security cameras, that could assist with the police work and investigations into the incident.

She is calling on Tongans to help them if they have any information about the man.

Cokanasiga said gang-related activity is a big concern in Tonga, as it is in many other Pacific Island nations.

“People in the country are worried about drug trafficking and [the] growing influence of gang-related crimes, and it’s a huge concern.”

However, she said journalists should be allowed to do their job, as it is the media’s role to inform the public about public interest stories.

RNZ Pacific has contacted police for comment.

Media Association shocked

Meanwhile, the Media Association of Tonga (MAT) has expressed its “profound shock and deep concern”.

“The presence of a firearm in what is understood to be an act of intimidation represents a dangerous and unacceptable escalation against press freedom in the kingdom,” MAT said in a statement on Tuesday.

“MAT views this incident as a direct assault not only on the safety of an individual journalist but on the constitutional right of every Tongan to receive information without fear or favour.”

MAT president Katalina Uili Tohi said targeting of media personnel undermines democratic principles and silences the voices that hold power to account.

“The Media Association of Tonga is appalled by this brazen act of intimidation. Journalists must be able to carry out their work without the threat of violence or death.”

The association is calling on the Minister of Police and the police chief to launch an urgent, thorough, and transparent investigation to apprehend the perpetrator.

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Southland councils call for united response to govt’s amalgamation plans

Source: Radio New Zealand

Environment Southland chair Jeremy McPhail said the region had a limited window to determine its future. ODT/Supplied

Southland’s regional council is calling for a united response after the government announced councils have three months to come up with plans to amalgamate or it will be done for them.

The news comes as the Local Government Commission continues to investigate a proposal by Southland’s mayor to merge the region’s four existing councils into two unitary authorities.

The entire process from assessing the request to a final decision and transition was expected to take three to five years, but now the clock was ticking down with the government’s new deadline.

Environment Southland chair Jeremy McPhail said the region had a limited window to determine its future.

“For Southland, the key question is whether we shape that change ourselves, or have it shaped for us,” he said.

“It’s up to us, as Southland councils, to work closely together to develop a proposal that reflects our region’s unique communities, geography, and economy.”

He was waiting for more government advice on how the Commission’s investigation would align with the Tuesday ultimatum – come up with amalgamation plans within three months or the government would do it for you.

“The Commission’s work has been building an evidence base for exploring options for the future of local government in our region. The challenge now is to use that foundation constructively and at pace,” McPhail said.

The Commission agreed to investigate possible merging in July last year, saying the investigation was expected to take at least 12 months.

At the time, there was a mixed response to the prospect of the investigation with Gore District Council emphasising there needed to be demonstrable financial benefits for its ratepayers and concerns its local voice could be lost, while Invercargill City Council and Environment Southland flagged that a single unitary authority could be a beneficial option.

Phase One of the Commission’s work was expected to wrap up last month which focused on scoping the issues and the opportunities of reorganising local government in Southland.

Jeremy McPhail was disappointed that regional councils had been excluded from putting forward any change proposals but said they would continue to advocate for the region.

“We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to rethink how local government works in Southland and Environment Southland remains committed to working constructively with our council partners, iwi and communities to help shape a system that is fit for the future.”

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Abbey Caves inquest: Trip leader entered water without discussion, instructor says

Source: Radio New Zealand

15-year-old Karnin Petera died during a Whangārei Boys’ High School trip to Abbey Caves in May 2023. SUPPLIED

An instructor on a fatal Whangārei Boys’ High caving trip has described how the group faced a stark, life-or-death choice as a flash flood swept through the cave – stay put on top of a rockfall, or try to swim to the exit.

The man, whose name is suppressed, told a Coroner’s inquest in Whangārei on Tuesday there was no discussion of which option to take.

As the “tail-end Charlie” at the rear of the group, he had no choice but to follow the trip leader and the boys, who had already entered the water and were being swept rapidly downstream.

Under cross examination, however, the man said he agreed with the decision.

That was because there was no way of knowing how high the flood would rise, and whether even the highest point would stay above water.

The man, who was highly experienced in outdoor education but not qualified in caving, told the court he had helped guide another school group through the same cave the previous day.

On that day the water at the entrance to the cave was marginally deeper and murkier than usual.

The following day the water was slightly deeper still, but not enough to make him concerned.

He had asked the organisers whether the trip was still going ahead, given the orange heavy rain warning in place for Northland.

They told him they had shortened the trip and limited it to one cave, which they believed at that time did not flood, instead of the usual three.

The man checked the rain radar for himself and saw a heavy rain band over Kaitāia that was moving only slowly south.

He had seen a similar rain band the week before that had brought no rain to Whangārei.

The man said the group explored the cave’s upper chamber and observed glow-worms before noticing more water than usual in one of the passages.

Coroner Alexander Ho is hearing the inquest. RNZ / Peter de Graaf

One of the men – he could not remember who – said “we’d better get out of here”.

When they returned to the rockfall, where the upper and lower passages met, he was surprised to see how much the water had risen.

The water level had gone up so much he was struggling to recognise where they were.

At that point their only options were to enter the water and swim to the exit, or stay on top of the rockfall and wait for the water to recede.

However, the trip leader had already entered the water and was being swept downstream towards the exit, followed by the boys, so he followed.

He was asked by one of the lawyers why he believed that was the right decision, even though there was no discussion – not at the time, and not beforehand via an emergency plan.

“I thought there was too much uncertainty regarding whether the remainder of the cave, even the high points, would actually remain safe and dry,” he said.

Once he entered the water, he found it was deeper and faster than he expected.

It was mostly over head-height and turbulent in places, pulling the boys under and leaving them scrambling for space and air.

As he came around the final corner before the exit he heard boys shouting frantically and saw what he recognised as a sieve, where the water was being forced through small gaps in the rocks.

The force of the water pouring through the sieve was sucking boys under and pulling them towards the right-hand side of the cave mouth, where it was impossible to get out.

By chimneying, or placing his hands and feet against the cave walls, he was able to make his way towards the exit, where the trip leader had braced himself against the flow and was lifting boys out of the water.

He said the trip leader had saved several lives that day.

Brother Jordan and parents Alicia Toki and Andre Petera with a photo of Karnin “Tino” Petera outside the Whangārei courthouse. RNZ / Peter de Graaf

The man said until that day he did not know Karnin Petera, the 15-year-old who died, but had since felt a deep connection with him.

Addressing Karnin and his whānau, he said: “He often reminds me to appreciate this life and do important things … I hold all my kids tighter now, and I thank you Karnin for that.”

He urged the young men who were in the cave to talk about the tragedy, often, with those they trusted.

He said he had never received an apology from Whangārei Boys’ High School, or been asked for his views about the changes needed in outdoor education.

The inquest, before Coroner Alexander Ho, is expected to continue for at least two more days.

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Unemployment set to stay at near-decade high, economists say

Source: Radio New Zealand

Major bank economists expect the unemployment rate to stay unchanged at 5.4 percent or nudge slightly higher for the three months ended March. 123rf

  • Unemployment expected to remain steady at 5.4 pct – data due 6 May, 10.45am
  • Middle East conflict likely to dampen previous tentative recovery signs
  • Labour market recovery now likely a 2027 story
  • Wage growth to remain subdued at 2 percent, lagging inflation
  • Stagflation risks grow – high inflation, low growth, rising unemployment
  • Data not likely to change RBNZ rates on hold policy – for now

Unemployment looks set to linger around a near-decade high as the Middle East conflict dampens tentative signs of a recovery this year.

Major bank economists expect the unemployment rate to stay unchanged at 5.4 percent or nudge slightly higher for the three months ended March.

ASB economist Wesley Tanuvasa said the data would largely show the state of the market before the conflict broke out, but he expected a bigger workforce and greater demand for work to push unemployment higher.

“[The] labour market data is expected to reflect a firming employment trend and strong labour supply response, but headline numbers will likely remain weak. This is expected to push the unemployment rate up to 5.5 percent. Labour cost growth should remain modest.”

Labour market numbers can be a statistical lottery, with the unemployment rate moved by the size of the workforce, how many are participating, are doing training, have stopped looking for work, irrespective of how many jobs may have been created.

BNZ economist Matt Brunt said business surveys, such as the Institute of Economic Research’s quarterly survey (QSBO), have shown a slide in confidence, which would most likely show a more pronounced hit to employment intentions.

“The latest QSBO showed some softening in hiring intentions. However, the responses deteriorated as the month progressed … when employment intentions were much weaker and consistent with net labour shedding.”

The BNZ now expected unemployment to hit 5.8 percent later in the year.

Toxic stagflation

ASB’s Tanuvasa said labour market recovery was now likely a story for next year because of the Middle East conflict.

“We do not envisage a labour market recovery unfolding until 2027 and cite heightened stagflationary risks over 2026 given higher near-term unemployment and higher near-term inflation.”

Stagflation is a toxic mix of slow economic growth, high unemployment, and high inflation.

The Reserve Bank no longer has a specific instruction to help the labour market and maximise employment, but nonetheless always casts an eye over labour market health.

Tanuvasa said the RBNZ was faced with how soon before it moved to dampen inflation caused by the conflict and the negative effects on the economy higher interest rates might have.

“[This] makes the trade-offs of monetary policy significantly more complex and painful for the economy. There are few, if any, winners in a situation like this.”

The RBNZ next meets in three weeks, with financial markets pricing in a 40 percent chance of a 25 basis point rise in the official cash rate to 2.5 percent. However, the majority view remains a series of rapid fire rises from September to 3 percent by the end of the year.

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

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Consumers tipped to see price increases due to fuel surcharges in about a month

Source: Radio New Zealand

Interislander is hiking its fuel surcharge to 54 percent on commercial vehicles and trucks crossing the Cook Strait. Wikimedia Commons

Crossing the Cook Strait is about to get a whole lot more expensive for commercial operators and likely consumers.

The Interislander is hiking its fuel surcharge to 54 percent on commercial vehicles and trucks crossing the Cook Strait due to soaring energy prices.

International shipping company Maersk announced its own 27 percent fuel surcharge, and Bluebridge adjusted its prices last month.

Retail New Zealand chief executive Carolyn Young told RNZ that any increase in transporting costs will flow through to the till.

“It’s realistic to expect that the consumers will see increased prices, and obviously any increase in price is inflationary. We know the inflation factors are expected to be significantly higher than where we sit right now by the end of the year,” she said.

The near doubling of the fuel surcharge for commercial vehicles will apply to all sorts of companies – from livestock trucks, to groceries, furniture and goods.

Marcus Pickens from Wine Marlborough said it was creating more uncertainty with pricing.

“There’s a lot of pricing work going on week to week now, it’s not set in advance and everyone is reviewing things continuously.

“It makes it hard to price up those products and work out where the margin sits for everyone, it’s adding complexity for sure,” Pickens said.

While some people are holding off on shipments, that’s not possible for everyone.

“If a product is not super urgent they can, but there’s a lot of product that needs to be continuously supplied to keep shelf space full on shelves and in shopping trolleys around the world,’ he said.

The New Zealand Shipping Federation told RNZ the Cook Strait ferries are spending about $600,000 a week more on diesel than before the Middle East conflict.

Transporting New Zealand chief executive Dom Kalasih agrees consumers will see price increases – and said it would take about a month to come through the system.

“We’d have to be naive to think costs won’t be passed on. A good demonstration of this is we are seeing this in other areas too, I’ve recently seen some information from the building sector where fuel is used in a lot of cases.”

KiwiRail and the Minister of Rail Winston Peters declined to be interviewed – but in a statement Peters said Interislander should not be expected to absorb fuel price increases.

Matthew Lane, who is chief executive of the retailer Night ‘n Day, said suppliers were passing some of the fuel increase onto them.

“The majority are doing more a temporary increase which is encouraging because they’ve quantified it. So as petrol prices go down the prices go down accordingly, which means we all, in theory, end up at the historical retail prices and cost prices that were previously in play,” Lane said.

It’s exactly what Retail NZ wants to see from all businesses – ensuring if, or hopefully when, fuel prices drop – so too do the charges being passed onto consumers.

“We need to note when this charge is put in place and how we get back to normal, so that when prices come back we don’t only come partly back. We need to be really clear and transparent around that,” Young said.

KiwiRail said it was monitoring the situation and making every effort to absorb cost increases across a monthly period to provide certainty for customers.

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