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Business Insider – The Bush family is, without a doubt, both polarizing and prominent. With the exception of the Kennedys, the Bushes have the distinction of being America’s foremost political dynasty. Bushes have served in both the executive and legislative branches of our federal government — the family provided a pair of Presidents – the 41st and 43rd, and have held …

New Zealand shares edged up to a new five-year high as Sky Network Television surprised investors with a special dividend and Tower said it would return capital to shareholders after the sale of its medical insurance business. The NZX 50 Index rose 4.61 points, or 0.1 percent, to 4016.77, the highest since the start of January 2008. Within the index, …

Fonterra Cooperative Group’s Australia New Zealand managing director John Doumani will leave the dairy exporter after the company rejigged its regional boundaries. The cooperative, fresh from raising $525 million through its shareholders’ fund to reduce shareholder redemption risk, has reorganised its consumer businesses to combine Australia and New Zealand with the ASEAN/Middle East/North Africa unit, it said in a statement. …

Methven, the tapware maker whose board agreed to link directors’ fee increases to earnings growth, reported a worse-than-expected 27 percent drop in first-half profit on its unprofitable British operation. Net profit fell to $2.3 million, or 3.5 cents per share, in the six months ended Sept. 30, from $3.2 million, or 4.8 cents, a year earlier, the Auckland-based company said …

Tower, the insurer that’s 34 percent owned by Guinness Peat Group, posted a 67 percent jump in full-year profit and said it will return $120 million to shareholders after the sale of medical insurance business. The shares climbed 4.2 percent as the market opened. Profit rose to $55.8 million in the 12 months ended Sept. 30, from $33.4 million a …

New Zealand business confidence rose this month as firms became more upbeat about the outlook for profits, hiring and investment. Canterbury was the most upbeat region. A net 26 percent of respondents in the ANZ Bank Business Outlook expect general business conditions to improve in the year ahead, up from 17.2 percent in the previous month’s survey. Those expecting a …

The New Zealand dollar gained after comments from US House of Representatives Speaker and senior Republican John Boehner stoked optimism policymakers will set aside their differences and bypass the fiscal cliff of US$607 billion in automatic tax hikes and spending cuts, stoking investor confidence and pushing stocks higher. The kiwi dollar rose to 82.34 US cents at 8.30am in Wellington …

Wellington, New Zealand (CNN) — You’d have to have been hiding down a, er, Hobbit hole, to miss the hubbub. You can fly to New Zealand, where the Hobbit premieres on Wednesday, on a Hobbit-branded plane — complete with a Hobbit-inspired safety video with Peter Jackson, telling you how to keep safe, if the flight approaches its own Mount Doom. When …

In her report on fracking, the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, Jan Wright, suggested tougher rules for oil and gas workers may improve protection for the public and the environment.  Listen here

By Brierley Penn Potential was the common theme underlying the speech of the Prime Minister, and in fact, the conference as a whole, at the Indonesia Forum. New Zealand’s relationship with Indonesia is one of strength, however, it is imperative to build upon this further to capitalize on the opportunities offered by the region’s growth. Key cited Indonesia’s high growth …