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 …

China Investment Corp – is in talks with New Zealand dairy giant Fonterra Co-Operative Group about investing in its shareholder fund  – according to the Wall St Journal. The WSJ reported today that CIC, which manages a chunk of China’s massive foreign-exchange reserves, is considering investing in the Fonterra non-voting units later this month with its initial investment expected to …