NZ Engine

Source: Radio New Zealand

Changes to bank capital requirements may mean home loan interest rates are lower than they could otherwise have been, but the impact is likely to be small, economists say.

The Reserve Bank announced on Wednesday it would go ahead with its plans to reduce the amount of capital banks are required to hold against their loans by about $5 billion overall.

The rate has been increasing in stages since 2019, to shore up the ability of banks to withstand a shock.

But there have been concerns that the rules make it hard for smaller banks to compete, and could be making borrowing more expensive.

The changes also introduce more granular risk weights, simplification of capital instruments, and greater alignment of instruments for the big four banks with Australian settings. The final package further refines risk weights consulted on in August.

Reserve Bank Governor Anna Breman said it expected there to be a positive impact on borrowers.

“These new settings will reduce the overall cost of deposit takers’ funding, which we expect to see passed on as benefits to New Zealanders through increased lending and reduced rates, which we will monitor closely.”

Infometrics chief forecaster Gareth Kiernan said the change could mean a small impact on interest rates, of possibly 40 to 60 basis points.

“Business and farm lending was a bit more impacted [by the increased requirements in 2019] than residential stuff from what I remember. If you’re unwinding that then we might be talking 10 or 15 basis points. It’s a little but maybe it just helps things run a bit smoother in terms of the economy and reducing some of those costs. But it’s not even an entire OCR move.”

David Cunningham, chief executive of Squirrel, said because the peak capital requirement had not yet been reached the change could just mean that rates did not increase further.

“I think it’s at the margins because the banks have all increased their capital quite significantly anyway.”

Simplicity chief economist Shamubeel Eaqub agreed the impact would be small.

He said Breman’s effort this week to push back against wholesale markets pricing in OCR increases in future, which have led to higher retail rates, was not likely to be successful.

“You can’t publish a set of forecasts that’s clearly showing rising interest rates and then say the markets are wrong. It’s one or the other. I think they’ve got a real problem in terms of they seem to keep on snatching defeat from the jaws of victory… the reason that swap rates are up is that the markets think there will be a recovery.”

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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 ban on new prescriptions of puberty blockers to treat gender dysphoria in young people – which was due to come into effect this week – has been delayed, pending a judicial review.

In a decision just released, the High Court in Wellington has ruled in favour of the Professional Association for Transgender Healthcare Aotearoa (PATHA), which filed an application for an urgent injunction to prevent the ban coming into effect on 19 December.

The government announced last month it was banning new prescriptions of the drugs (gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogues), which are used to halt the unwanted physical changes that come with puberty, until the outcome of a major clinical trial in Britain, expected in 2031.

PATHA is seeking a judicial review of what it calls the “illegal and unethical decision”, saying the use of puberty blockers should remain a decision made by doctors in consultation with affected families.

President Jennifer Shields told the court the organisation was not consulted or even given prior warning of the Cabinet decision.

“PATHA was only made aware that there had been a decision made about puberty blockers from an X post on the morning of 19 November 2025.”

A community researcher on transgender health, Julia de Bres, said parents were deeply shocked by the government announcement and there was “widespread panic and distress”.

In an affidavit for PATHA, a doctor said restricting access to this medication was likely to pose ethical challenges to health professionals who could no longer deliver what was “accepted to be best-practice care”.

Judicial review should happen ‘urgently’ – judge

Justice Michele Wilkinson-Smith said it was not possible to make an order directing the Health Minister to ask the Governor General to amend or appeal the regulations, as PATHA had sought.

“Such an order would potentially pit the Court against the Executive Council and that is constitutionally inappropriate,” she wrote.

“However, in this judgement I make a declaration that the Crown should take no steps to enforce the regulations pending the judicial review being determined.”

There was a reasonable argument that the regulations were “unlawful in a judicial review sense”.

“There is also no evidence of a particular need to act urgently to prevent new prescriptions because of some immediate risk to physical health if young people commence treatment.”

The potential for a negative effect on mental health from banning them was “a far more immediate concern”, she said.

Furthermore, the timing of the regulations, coupled with the lack of notice that a ban was contemplated “had the effect of taking PATHA and the whole transgender community by surprise”.

“Standing back and looking at the overall justice of the situation, I am persuaded that a delay in enforcement of the regulations is the best option now available.

“The judicial review should be heard with all possible urgency.”

Cautious approach required – Health Minister

Health Minister Simeon Brown declined to comment in detail while the matter remained before the courts, but said the government was seeking legal advice.

In his affidavit, Brown said he recommended to Cabinet that it agree to progress policy options to “respond to the issue of poor evidence either for or against any long-term benefits or risks from puberty blocker treatment”.

While puberty blockers had been approved for many years to temporarily delay precocious puberty in very young children, their “off label” use to treat gender dysphoria increased markedly between 2010 and 2020, followed by a fall-off towards 2024, he noted.

The Health Ministry’s evidence review in 2022 found “a scarcity of quality evidence” on the impacts of puberty blockers in terms of clinical and mental health and well-being outcomes.

“The evidence reviewed was found to be of low quality with studies presenting a high risk of bias and significant limitations.”

Brown said the lack of evidence meant there was a risk of unintended consequences for gender dysphoric children and adolescents.

“After balancing the risk of restricting the medicine against the uncertainty and risk of potential harm for those patients, the Minister says he was satisfied that a cautious approach was required.”

Consultation with PATHA and other groups and individuals on whether restrictions were necessary was carried out by the Health Ministry between November 2024 and January 2025.

A ‘sensible’ decision – Labour

Labour leader Chris Hipkins said the court’s decision was “sensible,” and called the original decision by the government “politically motivated.”

Hipkins said Labour’s position was that it was a matter for the young person concerned, their family, and their physician.

“I don’t to buy into the identity politics argument, or culture war, frankly, that the current government are trying to provoke with these sorts of decisions. Because I actually don’t think that’s a good place for our very diverse rainbow community to find themselves.”

Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson said the courts had come down on the side of people having access to gender-affirming healthcare.

“Well done to the communities, organisations out there who showed up for each other. Wish this government would listen,” she said.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Disgraced former deputy police commissioner Jevon McSkimming has avoided jail time, instead sentenced to nine months’ home detention, at the Wellington District Court this afternoon.

He pleaded guilty in November to three representative charges of possessing objectionable publications, namely child sexual exploitation and bestiality material, knowing or having reasonable cause to believe that the publication is objectionable.

His lawyer Letizea Ord told the court he is very remorseful, and has described himself as deeply ashamed.

Judge Tim Black also ruled he did not need to register on the child sex offending registry, as his risk to the community is low.

He was suspended on full pay from the role in December, amid a separate investigation into sexual misconduct.

In March, he was notified of a second criminal investigation relating to his use of his work devices.

RNZ reported his Google searches included AI material, including references to nude toddlers and a nude nazi girl, and other words typed included ‘slave’, ‘abuse’ and ‘extreme’.

On 12 May, Police Minister Mark Mitchell announced McSkimming had resigned, saying he had effectively jumped before he could be pushed, marking the end of a 29-year career.

More to come…

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Primary school teachers belonging to the NZEI union have rejected the government’s latest pay offer.

The decision followed last week’s vote by primary school principals – belonging to the same union – to reject a potential settlement.

It stands in contrast to secondary schools, where teachers and principals have accepted similar deals.

The primary school teacher offer included a pay rise of 2.5 percent on 28 January and 2.1 percent a year later.

It also dropped a government claim for more “call-back days”, requiring teachers to work outside of term time.

NZEI Te Riu Roa primary teacher negotiation team lead Liam Rutherford said teacher aides, administrative staff, librarians, kaiārahi i te reo, therapists, science technicians and other school staff had also rejected their respective government offers.

“The outcome reflects deep dissatisfaction among our teachers, who are demanding an offer that genuinely addresses cost-of-living pressures and upholds their professional claims,” Rutherford said.

“The rejected offer is barely different from the unacceptable offer primary teachers also thumbed down in September,” he said.

“It entirely omits any reference to upholding Te Tiriti in education – which is one of our core claims. The absence of this commitment, coupled with the substandard pay offer, tells teachers they are neither financially valued nor supported in their cultural obligations to learners. The sector is standing together for a fair settlement.”

Rutherford said the government’s offer was made on 11 December, when some schools had already closed for the year.

Rutherford told RNZ the union’s members overwhelmingly rejected the offer.

He said the union would inform the Education Ministry today and would seek further negotiations in January if possible.

“We’re really keen to get this settled. We want to see minimal disruption as we’re heading into the new year,” he said.

Rutherford said members’ feedback showed they were worried about attracting and retaining people to primary school teaching.

He said some teachers were thinking about moving to Australia and many wanted more help with pupils who needed learning support.

“People have been talking about pay increases that don’t take them backward and having adequate resourcing in the learning support space. Some people have been talking about that as a teacher aide in every class,” he said.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Old wounds from the time the Tauranga was run by government commissioners have reopened during a discussion on future funding for the city’s civic precinct.

The Tauranga city council met on Tuesday to decide how the Te Manawataki o Te Papa civic precinct project would continue to be funded.

The $306 million precinct in the city centre Te Manawataki o Te Papa – the ‘heartbeat of Te Papa’ – will take up a city block and include a new library, community hub, civic whare and museum, all facing a green space.

The project was started when the city was run by government commissioners.

Its future funding has been a continued issue for the council – after it was elected it moved away from funding the project through the commissioners’ proposed Infrastructure Funding and Financing levy.

Along with borrowing, options discussed for continued funding included using money raised from potential asset sales, redirecting existing funding streams – such as parking revenue or airport surpluses – and looking for philanthropic funding.

The council discussion began with a suggestion that the council could redirect existing funds.

Mayor Mahé Drysdale seemed to quickly tire of that direction and said it lacked transparency.

“This is how I see it – we’ve continually talked about keeping it simple, by saying ‘oh we are making money over here and we’re going to shift it over here and pay off debt over here’ but the ultimate result is someone ends up paying,” he said.

Several councillors also wondered if this would create perverse results, such as raising parking fees just to pay for the civic precinct, or binding up a future council which might want to make parking free.

In a split vote, the council decided that the most transparent way to proceed was to prioritise use of any profit from potential asset sales to offset new debt and rates-funded interest associated with Te Manawataki o Te Papa, and to seek more philanthropic support for the project.

Councillor Glen Crowther said the decision signalled to local philanthropists that they need to step up.

“The wealthy people in this city were the people calling for this project more than anyone,” he said.

Crowther said ratepayers should contribute as little as possible to the project and council should go to those wealthy people who said they would back it.

“Some of those people were saying, publicly, that the ratepayers would only have to foot half the bill, so if that’s the case they need to stump up with some money and put their money were their mouths were for year after year after year and support us to get money through their connections,” he said.

Past decision making around Te Manawataki o Te Papa was one of several decisions, made while the city was being governed by commissioners, which the Office of the Auditor-General was asked to look into.

The office decline to investigate it, a decision which still obviously upset some around the table.

Councillor Steve Morris said he felt the commissioners tried to bind future council decisions by the way they went about projects.

“I’ve learnt two things about transparency and accountability in New Zealand through observing the commission’s decisions at the end of their term, [one] is that you can give a narrative that is untethered from the truth to Audit New Zealand, and two – Audit New Zealand doesn’t care,” said Morris.

The council’s decision fed into the development of its draft 2026/27 Annual Plan, which will be consulted on in the new 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

A plan to charge motorcyclists for parking in Wellington City has been scrapped by councillors.

In May the Wellington City Council voted to put in fees of $1 per hour for motorbikes to park in car parks, with a daily cap of $6.

Deputy Mayor Ben McNulty put a notice of revocation forward at a meeting on Wednesday to get the charges removed which was supported.

McNulty said it was common sense to axe the payments.

“The economics of charging for motorcycle parking were simply not convincing for me, the Mayor and the majority of councillors now, and was out of step with public sentiment.”

He said Wellington was set to be the only city in New Zealand that charged for motorcycle parking.

“That’s not a good look for a city that wants to encourage different and more climate-friendly transport options into the city.”

In June motorcyclists staged a sit in on The Terrace in Wellington after concern about the planned charges.

Protester Lucy Morris told Morning Report the charges would affect other road users.

“It reduces congestion on the roads, it improves traffic flow, and having to pay for this is going to drive more people into less efficient modes of transport like single-use car rides.”

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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 supermarket where a photo of former MP Golriz Ghahraman was leaked has been formally named and shamed by the Privacy Commissioner.

The store, in Royal Oak in Auckland, is one of two Pak’nSave stores singled out for breaching customer privacy.

Commissioner Michael Webster said it was significant to name Hutchinson Bros Limited, trading as Pak’nSave Royal Oak and C Park Traders Limited, formerly trading as Pak’nSave Clendon, which no longer owns it.

Both supermarkets failed to have adequate oversight of third-party security providers, he said.

Security guards shared images of customers along with allegations of theft or criminal activity.

Webster said it meant two individuals whose images were shared faced a heightened risk of harassment and harm to their reputations.

“Both stores lacked important safeguards that retailers should have in place when allowing third party providers access to sensitive information such as surveillance information,” he said.

“Agencies engaging third-party agents who access or operate surveillance or loss-prevention technologies such as CCTV should ensure that privacy obligations are explicit, enforceable, and routinely monitored to prevent harm. That keeps information safe and maintains public confidence in how personal information is handled.”

Webster said while it was rare for him to name entities, it was a reminder to businesses that outsourcing does not outsource accountability.

The Pak’nSave stores are individually accountable for privacy compliance, the commissioner said.

However, the office has also been working with Foodstuffs North Island for remedial action.

Webster said this included training with store workers including security contractors, and requiring stores to have written agreements.

What happened?

At the Pak’nSave Royal Oak store, a security guard took a photo of someone in October 2024 for surveillance.

It was captured on a personal mobile phone, following store protocol, because of the poor quality of the security camera footage.

Last January it was published online accusing the individual of shoplifting leading to them facing harassment and threats.

FoodStuffs North Island issued a direct apology on behalf of the store.

Former Green MP Golriz Ghahraman was reported to police for shoplifting on 12 October 2024 but there were no charges.

“Any police investigation considers the solicitor-general’s Guidelines for Prosecution, including factors such as evidential sufficiency and a public interest test,” police said after investigating.

“In this case, police have considered the public interest test was not met as well as taking other factors into account.”

Separately, Ghahraman was convicted on four counts of shoplifting in June last year and later failed to have the convictions wiped.

At Pak’nSave Clendon, a store employee instructed a security contractor in January to record CCTV footage of an alleged theft on their personal phone.

The guard then send the footage to the store worker, who put it on social media alongside allegations of theft.

The store became aware of the unauthorised disclosure after it circulated online.

A public figure, the Privacy Commissioner said it resulted in international media attention and reputational and emotional harm.

In this instance the store and Foodstuffs North Island issued an apology to the individual, the Privacy Commissioner said.

Privacy Commissioner’s findings

Pak’nSave in Royal Oak had no written contact with its security provider, the commissioner said.

The lack of enforceable terms meant the store had no way to make the provider comply with privacy obligations.

The commissioner said there was also no clarity around escalating procedures, and no way to compel cooperation in privacy investigations.

At the Clendon supermarket, the commissioner said there was a written contract but it had only a generic confidentiality clause and no enforceable privacy obligations.

He said neither store gave training to security workers to include surveillance information.

Foodstuffs North Island had a policy in place, but neither store clarified and enforced responsibilities for workers handling security footage until after the incidents.

‘Conduct well short of what we expect’ – Foodstuffs

Foodstuffs North Island told RNZ it took its responsibilities under the Privacy Act seriously, and acknowledged the findings.

“The two incidents involved separate and isolated actions taken by third-party security guards,” it said.

“Their behaviour did not meet the standards we set for anyone working in our stores, including contractors.

“The individuals concerned did not follow appropriate processes, and their conduct fell well short of what we expect.”

Foodstuffs told RNZ each supermarket had done additional training for all security team members and contractors who handled personal information.

“We regret there were shortcomings in how our contractors handled the situations.

“Protecting customer privacy is essential, and we are committed to ensuring our systems and oversight remain strong, so this does not occur again,” it said.

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