Up to 60 overseas shearers will be allowed to enter the country between January and March to help fill a gap in the local workforce. The New Zealand Shearing Contractors Association (NZSCA) told the government in July that keeping shearers out because of Covid-19 travel restrictions could harm farmers’ incomes and cause animal welfare issues […]

Ōpōtiki may be a small town, but it has scored more from the Provincial Growth Fund than several large regions. Up to July 2020, Ōpōtiki was awarded $117.37 million from the government fund, more than Waikato, Southland, Otago, and Canterbury. Ōpōtiki Mayor Lyn Riesterer said the money was badly needed in the town. “Maybe we […]

Norske Skog is the latest industrial player to signal a review of its New Zealand operations, following similar moves by others in the manufacturing sector. The Tasman newsprint mill in Kawerau employs about 160 people and is a major contributor to the wider area’s economy. Norske Skog said the review did not equate with closure and […]

The adoption of digital technology has accelerated in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, with a 40 percent increase in the number of businesses giving priority to innovation. An Asia Pacific survey by Microsoft has found about a quarter of 420 New Zealand organisations were leaders in promoting innovation, which was significantly more than the […]

The Film Commission says border exemptions for Hollywood actors and crew have kickstarted what could be a record year for the New Zealand screen industry. More than 200 overseas cast and film workers were allowed into New Zealand in the three months to July. Avatar, Lord of the Rings, Cowboy Bebop and Sweet Tooth are in production, another […]

The Minister of Immigration is adamant the government will not let oveseas workers cut corners through border controls to fix a horticulture labour shortage. Growers around the country are facing a crisis like they’ve never seen before. Usually, about 14,000 workers come in to the country to work the apple season, taking part in the […]

More than 6000 complaints about employers have been lodged with the government since the start of March. That’s more than 10 times as many as during the same seven-month period last year. The data, released by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) to RNZ, records people wanting government help to resolve a workplace […]

The Reserve Bank says any further easy money policy measures will have the simple aim of lowering the cost of borrowing and ensuring banks have enough cheap liquidity to back investment by businesses and spending by households. In a briefing on its two favoured mechanisms – funding for lending (FLP), and negative interest rates – […]

The Hawkes Bay A and P Wine Awards have kicked off and have judges very impressed. Marking the 20th year of the awards, despite the Covid-19 crises, the longest-running regional awards have attracted 310 entries, the biggest since 2017. It took the judges two days to sniff and taste their way through the entries and […]

The Rangiuru Business Park project is being built on 226 hectares of land near Te Puke and will receive $18m support from the PGF. The funding will allow construction of an interchange connecting the industrial park with the nearby Tauranga Eastern Link road, which in turn connects with the Port of Tauranga. The Rangiuru Business […]