The government has launched the cornerstone of its policy to encourage new, high value, high-tech products and services across science, engineering, design and technology disciplines. To be known as Callaghan Innovation, the institution brings together the former crown research institute Industrial Research Ltd, the business investments team at the Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment, the Auckland Foodbowl initiative, and …

– New Zealand shares continued their strong run-up since the New Year, with Fletcher Building hitting a new five year high of $9.52, although Fonterra Shareholders Fund units dropped back below $7 for the first time this year as fallout from the DCD issue continued. The NZX 50 Index rose 5.101 points, or 0.12 percent to 4,252.647, its highest since …

The New Zealand dollar pared gains from a more optimistic Reserve Bank review today after rating agency Standard & Poor’s joined the dots between a slowing Australian economy and the possible peak of the nation’s mining boom. The kiwi dollar rose to 83.47 US cents at 5pm in Wellington from 83.11 cents just before the RBNZ announcement, but was down …

Godfrey Hirst, the biggest carpet maker in Australia and New Zealand, has bought Oamaru’s unprofitable yarn-spinning plant from Japan’s Sumitomo Corp, effectively putting 192 staff on notice as it looks at ways to turn the operation around. The company, which bought the Feltex business out of receivership, was granted Overseas Investment Office approval to buy the assets last month. It …

An unnamed Swedish institution has been cleared to buy eight Waikato dairy farms from local billionaire Graeme Hart’s Carter Holt Harvey by the Overseas Investment Office. Southern Pastures Limited Partnership was given a green light to buy 3,205 hectares of land in December for an undisclosed sum, according to a decision summary published today. The farms have been for sale …

Chief Justice Sian Elias has floated the prospect of the Supreme Court restraining the government to selling no more than 25 percent of state-owned power companies while it sorts out a long term solution to Maori claims to freshwater rights under the Treaty of Waitangi. Her comments came at the end of the first morning of two days’ scheduled hearings …

The government is reactivating its relationship with Datacom, the New Zealand firm that managed teacher payrolls before they were switched to the glitch-plagued Novopay system last year. The senior Minister made responsible for handling the Novopay debacle, Steven Joyce, announced a series of steps today, including “investigating a revised contingency plan led by the acting Secretary of Education, who has …

Australian supermarket chain Woolworths, which accounts for about 40 percent of New Zealand’s supermarket sales, increased first-half revenue 2.3 percent on this side of the Tasman, even as trading conditions remain tough and consumer price growth non-existent. The group’s New Zealand supermarkets increased sales to $2.94 billion in the 27 weeks ended Dec. 30 from $2.88 billion a year earlier, …

Four in 10 people plan to raise their credit limit during the next three months as they feel more comfortable about their financial situation and contemplate major purchases. The figure in Dun & Bradstreet’s consumer credit expectations survey for the March 2103 quarter is up from one in four during the December quarter and has risen 35 percent in the …

New Zealand’s highest court has begun hearing the final stage in a challenge by Maori to require settlement of Treaty of Waitangi claims to freshwater before any partial privatisation of state-owned power companies goes ahead. buy online essays Colin Carruthers QC opened submissions for the New Zealand Maori Council before a full five judge bench of the Supreme Court, in …