New Zealand

The Land and Water Forum (LWF) today published its third and final report on how freshwater management in New Zealand can be improved. The forum proposes a collaborative approach at both national and catchment levels to set and implement objectives for waterways, prescribe limits for takes and discharges where these are required, and to find fair, efficient and accountable ways …

Defence Minister Dr Jonathan Coleman is departing for Perth today to hold talks with the Australian Defence Minister, Stephen Smith on the outskirts of the Ausmin conference. It will be their first formal talks since they signed the Australia-New Zealand Defence Relationship Review at Melbourne in January this year. “We have an excellent defence relationship with Australia and this meeting …

The Government is supporting a $26 million initiative that seeks to boost aquaculture by domesticating the New Zealand Greenshell Mussel. SPATnz is a venture led by Sanford which has received a commitment of up to $13 million from the Government’s Primary Growth Partnership Fund for a seven-year project. Formal contracts have just been signed, following development of a business plan. The …

IBM has announced Christchurch has won an IBM Smarter Cities Challenge grant – one of 31 cities globally for 2013. The grant provides Christchurch with access to some of IBM’s top experts to analyse and provide recommendations to drive economic development and sustained growth for the city. Launched in 2011, the IBM Smarter Cities Challenge is a three-year, 100-city, US$50-million competitive grant program …

Straight from the Whitehouse – Obama faces the press on fiscal cliff, Petraeus and more

The name of the new institute set up by the NZ Government to help firms in the high-tech manufacturing and services sectors will be Callaghan Innovation. Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce said naming the new Advanced Technology Institute after the late Sir Paul Callaghan was recognition of his passion for commercialising scientific research. “Sir Paul was one of New …

Solid Energy has completed the sale of the agribusiness division of Biodiesel New Zealand. The purchaser, Pure Oil New Zealand Ltd, is owned by Southern Packers, Midlands Seed, and a manager and agronomist who previously worked for Biodiesel New Zealand. Solid Energy said in August that as part of its response to the impact on its business of the extremely …

Trade Minister Tim Groser will meet with his Australian counterpart at the annual Closer Economic Relations (CER) Forum tomorrow in Canberra. “On both sides of the Tasman there is a high level of political commitment to strengthening and deepening our relationship, and this meeting will be important in helping us progress the single economic market agenda.” Groser says ministers will …

UNDP’s Helen Clark says it is not difficult to draw up an inventory of global institutions and mechanisms which are struggling to reach decisions: The veto power in the UN Security Council can be a block to decisive action. The annual meetings of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change have often struggled …

 Glidepath founder Sir Ken Stevens has been named this year’s Flying Kiwi, in recognition of a lifetime of achievement in export, business and engineering. Flying Kiwis Dennis Chapman, Neville Jordan, Rod Drury, Selwyn Pellett and Paul Hargreaves and guests from the high-tech industry saw Sir Ken inducted into the Tait Communications Hi-Tech Hall of Fame at a lunch at Te …