Topics

Finance Minister Steven Joyce has defended criticism that his maiden budget this week was stepping on territory traditionally held by the Labour party, saying family tax credits had been a part of New Zealand for decades. Jessica Mutch: I want to start off by asking you – in 2008, you talked about a brighter future. Is this the kind of …

Finance Minister Steven Joyce says his budget treats everyone fairly, but says it’s aimed at families with children and low to middle incomes. Joyce says 6,000 families will be worse off after the budget by up to $3 a week. Another 200 families will be worse off by more than $3 a week, and there’s a $2million fund set aside …

Prime Minister Bill English told Q+A’s Corin Dann that New Zealanders shouldn’t be too concerned about what’s happening politically in the United States. Bill English: Well, we just, I think, need to understand there’s a lot of domestic politics in the US that’s pretty robust – certainly at the moment – a different way of the president operating. But hour …

By Paul McBeth Oct. 22 (BusinessDesk) – New Zealand Refining, operator of the country’s only oil refinery, added an extra US cent to its margins from recent upgrades, and anticipates further gains from a bigger project to be completed next month. The Whangarei-based company has lifted margins 13 US cents per barrel from a series of initiatives aimed at lifting …

By Paul McBeth Oct. 22 (BusinessDesk) – Crown Fibre Holdings, the government entity tasked with overseeing the taxpayer-sponsored fibre network build, will have its mandate extended to cover rural connectivity, which Communications Minister Amy Adams wants delivered at faster speeds over the next decade. The agency will continue to be responsible for the ultrafast broadband programme, which is currently in …

By Paul McBeth Oct. 23 (BusinessDesk) – New Zealand’s reputation as a responsible member of the world’s financial community is undermined by holes in the financial services provider register, which is still open to abuse by unscrupulous foreign firms, industry groups say. The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment is revisiting the register in a legislative review of the 2008 …

By Jonathan Underhill Oct. 23 (BusinessDesk) – The Reserve Bank may keep the official cash rate unchanged next week to avoid inflaming Auckland’s housing market and to keep some capacity up its sleeve should global growth stumble, even though the kiwi dollar has gained when the bank had expected a decline. Governor Graeme Wheeler will keep the OCR at 2.75 …

By Paul McBeth Oct. 23 (BusinessDesk) – Vital Healthcare Property Trust, the listed hospital owner and developer, has bought two parcels of land which it plans to develop to expand Lingard Private Hospital and Toronto Private Hospital, both in New South Wales, Australia. The property investor spent A$7.8 million for a 2,700 square metre property next to its Lingard site …

By Jonathan Underhill Oct. 22 (BusinessDesk) – The Australian government’s response to the financial system inquiry could drive up interest rates at New Zealand’s biggest lenders as their Australian parent banks seek higher returns because of the requirement that they hold more capital. The Australian Federal Government has largely accepted the recommendations of the inquiry set up in late 2013 …

By Pattrick Smellie Oct. 23 (BusinessDesk) – The tax department is using big data analysis to “reliably predict customers who are highly unlikely to file GST returns on time” and try to help, while its investigators will be singling out “high-income individuals, in particular high-income new immigrants” for special attention in the year ahead. The Inland Revenue Department annual report …