New Zealand

For the first time NZ Defence Force health personnel are joining their counterparts from the People’s Liberation Army China and the Australian Defence Force to build linkages around humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations. Seven Defence Force personnel are participating in Exercise Cooperation Spirit 2012, which is being hosted by the Australian Defence Force (ADF) from 29 October to 2 …

The Fonterra Shareholders’ Fund will raise as much as $525 million selling shares in an indicative price range of $4.60 to $5.50 apiece, giving outside investors exposure to up to 7 percent of the dairy cooperative’s equity, offer documents show. The final price will be set by a bookbuild among institutions and NZX firms on about Nov. 27. Fonterra unveiled …

Reserve Bank governor Graeme Wheeler kept the official cash rate at 2.5 percent in his debut review, and is keeping close tabs on the level of inflation after it dropped below the bank’s target band in the September quarter. Wheeler reintroduced the caveat that the record-low setting for the benchmark rate remains appropriate “for now” and brought inflation back in …

Finance Minister Bill English has welcomed strong investor demand today for the Government’s first issue of September 2025 inflation-indexed bonds. In the first issue of inflation-indexed bonds by the New Zealand Government since 1999, the Debt Management Office today issued $2.5 billion of the 2 per cent coupon bonds. The deal was heavily oversubscribed, with bids in excess of $4 …

State Services Minister Dr Jonathan Coleman and Women’s Affairs Minister Jo Goodhew welcomed the release of a new survey showing positive progress for women in the public sector. The State Services Commission has today released its 2012 Human Resources Capability Survey which has recorded in increase in the number of women appointed to senior leadership roles. At just over 42 …

Zespri Chairman John Loughlin will stand down as chairman and a director early next year. Loughlin joined the Zespri Board as one of three independent directors in 2002 (the other five directors are grower-directors) assuming the chairmanship in August 2008. |The  Zespri Board will now undertake a search for an independent director with the necessary commercial and financial skills and …

ANZ Banking Group, New Zealand’s biggest bank, increased gross loans and advances by more than any of its main banking rivals in the three months to June 30, ahead of the announcement of the demise of its National Bank of New Zealand brand. The 1.26 percent growth in its gross loans and advances was bettered only by minnow The Cooperative …

Eleven candidates are seeking election to the Fonterra board as shareholder directors: They are Blue Read, Donna Smit, Eric Ray, Grant Cochrane, Grant Rowan, Jacqueline Rowarth, Jan Marten Kingma, Lachie Cameron, Michael Spaans and the two incumbent directors John Wilson and Nicola Shadbolt. Candidates for the Fonterra Directors’ election were announced following the completion of the Candidate Assessment Panel (CAP) …

The 2012/13 season is expected to be more subdued for pastoral farm businesses as product prices come off recent highs, the Ministry for Primary Industries says. MPI has released the 2012 pastoral farm analyses as part of its annual Farm Monitoring Report series. The reports provide models and overviews of the financial performance of typical dairy, sheep and beef, and …

Heritage Foundation experts have submitted five questions they consider vital to the foreign policy debate: Given that the Taliban movement still poses a threat to the futures of both Afghanistan and Pakistan, how do you plan to ensure stability in the region and prevent either country from serving as a base for international terrorists intent on attacking theU.S.? Over the last …