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The U.S. Labor Department reports a sharper increase in job creation than economists had been expecting.

Substantial delays in getting drugs to market in New Zealand compared with Australia is ‘not acceptable’ says Kevin Sheehy – General Manager of Medicines New Zealand. The delays, which “are not liked to the regulator”, were evidence of the deficiencies1Z1-868 within Pharmac. In its current state, a lack of transparency and the absence of a consistent decision making process was hurting Pharmac,” …

The Kyoto Protocol died in Copenhagen in December 2009. Why, then, are climate change officials, including our own, meeting a third time since then and, instead of finalising burial arrangements, still talking about extending Kyoto to tackle climate change? The answer is simple: the international community of climate change officials is going through the five stages of grief: denial, anger, …

New Zealand shares rose, with the NZX 50 Index nearing its 5-year high, as investors took heart in progress with Christchurch’s rebuild and a hot Auckland property market in driving Fletcher Building to the highest in 16 months. The NZX 50 rose 18.16 points, or 0.5 percent, to 4041.52. Within the index, 21 stocks rose, 21 fell and eight were …

The New Zealand dollar is headed for a 1.4 percent gain this week after Reserve Bank governor Graeme Wheeler quashed expectations for a rate cut, singling out the country’s inflationary pressures as his number one bugbear. The kiwi traded at 83.18 US cents at 5pm in Wellington from 83.12 cents at 8am and 82.87 cents yesterday. The trade-weighted index climbed …

Following in the footsteps of US President Barack Obama, Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce took to Twitter with his latest comments on policy. Joyce took aim at ex-Endace CEO Selwyn Pellett after he took the government to task on R&D grants, the same  program from which Endace received $11.1 million in funding. “I remain unhappy about taxpayers’ previous R&D investment …

State Councillor Liu Yandong will visit New Zealand next week as a guest of the Government – the first visit by a senior Communist Party figure since China’s November leadership transition. State Councillor Liu is a senior leader in China’s 2012-2017 hierarchy. Her portfolios include education, science, screen and television, and culture. Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce says he will …

New Zealand’s largest electricity producer, Meridian Energy, has resumed talks with Rio Tinto Alcan, the majority owner of the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter, over Rio’s request for changes to 18-year contracts for power supply that kick in on Jan. 1. Meridian chief executive Mark Binns told the company’s annual public meeting in Wellington that Rio had recently come back to …

The Teamsters Union’s Mike Nolan has lashed out at Fonterra saying the NZ dairy giant’s “virtual monopoly” must be diminished if the TPP is to go ahead. Nolan – who touched base with the US Dairy Council in Washington DC before coming down to Auckland for the 15th round of TPP negotiations – claimed that there would be $US20 billion …

Don Christie – founder of Catalyst IT and a leading New Zealand expert on open source software – said he was disappointed with the proposed effects for the technology industry under TPP at today’s stakeholder meeting in Auckland. “TPP is a big missed opportunity” said Christie citing an independent report out of the UK (available for download below) which called …