By Pattrick Smellie New Zealand’s plantation forestry estate represents a major opportunity for New Zealand to become more self-sufficient in transport fuels, says the latest report from the Pure Advantage business lobby group seeking support for a “green growth” push in New Zealand. However, a “crisis of faith” in the forestry industry could stymie the newly emerging potential of forestry – …

A quiet clean-out of the Solid Energy board has begun, with two resignations by directors filed with the Companies Office this week and the appointment of an experienced Australian mining expert, Neville Sneddon, to the board. Deputy chairman John Fletcher, who has served on the Solid Energy board since May 2007, has resigned with six months still to run on …

Livestock Improvement Corp has granted an extension to Agria on the Chinese company’s $10 million loan it used to help it take control of PGG Wrightson. “To give Agria time to source additional funds to enable repayment, the payment date for these amounts has been extended,” LIC said in a statement. “The effect of that extension is that an amount …

The National Party-led government has gained support from an unlikely quarter, with one of US president Barack Obama’s former top economic advisers, Peter Orszag, saying New Zealand is “the only country” implementing a balanced mix of stimulus and austerity policies. “For most countries it’s better to combine deficit reduction that you put in place now but that takes effect over …

Jonathan Underhill The Maori Council is expecting a tough fight through the courts with the government after Prime Minister John Key ended talks with Maori over how the Mighty River Power sale could help address Maori claims to rights in freshwater resources. Felix Geiringer, a barrister representing the Maori Council, says the issue is “very likely to go to court” …

The government will sell Mighty River Power shares in the first half of 2013 though its inability to pin down Maori over water rights has left financial markets warning of a discount if investors can’t quantify Treaty of Waitangi risks. Prime Minister John Key said his cabinet today shelved the contentious ‘shares-plus’ proposal that would settle claims to waterways of …