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, …