NZ exporters relieved after US - China reach temporary trade agreement
New Zealand exporters are breathing a small sigh of relief, after the US and China agreed to a temporary halt on the tariffs they had put on imports from each other's country. Mainfreight's Managing Director Don Braid spoke to Charlotte Cook.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RNZ News
37 minutes ago
- RNZ News
Marsden Fund says it was given only a day's notice of further funding cuts
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Dr Shane Reti said public good science was still being supported, and the government would have more options to reinvest in the future. (File photo) Photo: RNZ / Marika Khabazi A decades-old fund dedicated to blue-skies research says it was given a day's notice of further funding cuts and told to keep quiet about it until the government made it public. The Marsden Fund, which backs fundamental research - science for the sake of knowledge - is among three contestable funds to lose millions to help set up the new Institute for Advanced Technology . Scientists said slashing funding for such research could have significant unintended consequences for innovation and warned the Prime Minister as such in a letter earlier this month. The cuts come amid a long-awaited review into the sector - final recommendations were delivered to the Science Minister three months ago, but are yet to be made public - and after the government announced the biggest overhaul of the science system in decades , to "ensure a system that generates maximum value for the economy". The reforms so far have seen the dissolution of science commercialisation arm, Callaghan Innovation, and merger of the six Crown Research Institutes into three mega science entities or Public Research Organisations (PROs) plus a fourth dedicated to advanced technology. Callaghan Innovation was dissolved in the government's overhaul of the science sector. (File photo) Photo: RNZ / Rebekah Parsons-King The Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment (MBIE) said of the $231 million earmarked for the Institute for Advanced Technology over the next four years, more than half - $150.4m - was to be reallocated from within the science, innovation, and technology portfolio. MBIE's general manager of technology and innovation Dean Ford said it represented a shift in priorities towards emerging technologies that could be commercialised. "The majority of this funding will continue to go into science - but into new areas of research that have significant potential, where New Zealand is developing greater capability." Science Minister Shane Reti said organisations affected by the reallocated funding for the Institute for Advanced Technology, were advised ahead of the public announcement on 18 July. From July 2028, the Endeavour Fund, which provided funding for university researchers, will have its funding cut by $13.5m, and the Health and Research Council will lose $11.5m. While the Marsden Fund will have its funding slashed by a one-off $15m. Just over $24m has been found in the disestablishment of Callaghan Innovation's operations across 2027-29, $18m from the New to R&D Grant for three years from 2025, and $3m is being reprioritised from 'contract management' over the next three years from July 2026. MBIE said $37.5m has also been found from within the Strategic Science Investment Fund from contracts which are coming to an end over the next three years, and $21.6m has been reprioritised from unallocated National Science Challenge funding. The remaining $80m will support the parts of Callaghan Innovation that are being retained. The changes are in addition to the $212m repurposed from research and innovation funds in Budget 2025 to support the overhaul of the science system. In a statement the Royal Society, which administered the Marsden Fund, said it learned of the $15m funding cut the day before the Institute for Advanced Technology was announced. "The Royal Society Te Apārangi received a letter from the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment (MBIE) on the afternoon of Friday 18 July 2025, confirming a phonecall the previous evening. "The letter advised that the Marsden Fund will be reduced by a further $15 million in the 2028/29 year, in addition to the reductions already announced in the Government's 2025 Budget in May. "Separately, MBIE requested that this information be treated in strict confidence until the government publicly released it." A briefing to the Science Minister regarding the funding for the Institute was made public on MBIE's website on 6 August . The society said the $15m reallocation "effectively doubles the reductions already announced in this year's budget, amounting to a cut of about 29 percent over the 3 years from 2026/27 to 2028/29". President of the Fund professor Jane Harding said the cuts to fundamental research were likely to have "significant unintended consequences" and "will undermine the long-term potential of the new Institute". "The Society is very concerned that cuts to funding for the fundamental research supported by the Marsden Fund will undermine the long-term potential of the new Institute and other parts of the sector that apply early stage research, by significantly reducing the pipeline of knowledge at the new-discovery end of the process. "This may have important unintended consequences for New Zealand in the long term." The cuts follow a government directive last year, that saw the Marsden Fund abandon support for social science and humanities research and direct at least half of its investments to research with economic potential. A spokesperson for the Health and Research Council said it's too early to know how the loss of $11.5m per year from July 2028 - a 10 percent reduction to its investment fund - and the almost $600,000 cut to its operational budget from next July, will impact the council's work. The Association of Scientists said it's "extremely concerned" by the reprioritisation of funds and says the cuts on top of Budget 2025 mean "our major research funds are in extremely bad shape". Co-president Lucy Stewart said the reduced contract management funding likely meant there would be jobs lost at funders such as the Royal Society and MBIE. Reti said "the government has made it clear on several occasions that we want publicly funded research to focus on solving real world problems that can be commercialised". He said public good science was continuing to be supported, and the government would have more options to reinvest in the future, "with the economic gains that can be made through commercialising research and advanced technologies". Meanwhile, the final report of Sir Peter Gluckman's review of the science system is yet to be made public following its delivery to the Science Minister at the end of April. The long-awaited report was the second part of the Science System Advisory Group's review of the sector, and would include recommendations on the system's funding. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
2 hours ago
- RNZ News
Councils, builders pleased with liability changes, but insurers warn of challenges
Building and construction minister Chris Penk (R) and prime minister Christopher Luxon. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone Councils, builders, and the opposition are largely in favour of Building Act changes that would signal a move towards proportionate liability. But insurers say there could be "challenges" in the approach, and want further discussions with the government as the policy is developed. Under the status-quo, the building framework operates under a 'joint and several' liability, meaning liability is shared between all parties, regardless of the cost or responsibility. It has meant councils, and therefore ratepayers, have been left with an often disproportionate level of risk for any defects or repairs, as they are seen as the party with the deepest pockets. The government plans to replace the model with a proportionate system, with each party only liable for the share of work they carry out. It is something Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) has long called for. "Councils have ultimately been holding the bag at the end of the process when things go wrong. If you were to have work done on your home or a house built, that hasn't really come top of mind for people because they know they can go to council," said LGNZ's vice president Campbell Barry. He said with lower risk exposure, councils could be more confident in their consenting processes. "It'll encourage not as much of the overly-cautious behaviour that maybe has developed over time, due to that liability falling on councils." LGNZ vice president and Lower Hutt mayor Campbell Barry. Photo: RNZ / Reece Baker Announcing the changes, building and construction minister Chris Penk said the "risk-averse" behaviour from councils had led to "frustrating" delays, and extra costs for builders and homeowners. "Once you reduce that delay, then you get better productivity, and costs will reduce." Penk said councils had paid out $330 million over 10 years for defects for which they were not responsible. Registered Master Builders said the "unfair" liability system was one of the biggest challenges the industry faced, and was pleased it was being addressed. "I think you always want a fair system," said chief executive Ankit Sharma. "You don't want a system where one party ends up taking an unfair burden of risk. If they do, then they put protections in place which then creates red tape, and slows everything down. It takes longer, and costs us more, to build houses." Legislation to change the liability settings will not be introduced to Parliament until early 2026, with a view of passing it by the middle of that year. Between now and then, the government would explore "supporting mechanisms" for proportionate liability, to protect homeowners under the new system. Professional indemnity insurance and home warranties were both mooted, but Penk wanted more time to work it through. He indicated the government would talk to councils, insurers, and consumers about what consumer protection measures would work best, and whether they would be compulsory or voluntary. "We don't want the problem of the empty chair, where there is a gap in terms of what the homeowner might be left with," he said. "But we also know that if we have a proportionate liability system, where all the key players in the system are either required to have the protections in place themselves, and are also motivated not to make the errors in the first place, then we'll have a more productive and efficient and better system overall." Labour was "broadly supportive" of the changes but wanted to see more detail around the consumer protections to ensure there was no repeat of the 'leaky homes' saga. "We want to see the detail around the extra support, or the extra, I guess, reassurance that's going to be available to first-home buyers, that they're not going to be left with a liability with no-one else willing to pay if something goes wrong," said Labour leader Chris Hipkins. "But we broadly think that the changes are heading in the right direction." Hipkins said there had been several reviews of the Building Act, and all had found that consumer protection was the key issue. Labour leader Chris Hipkins. Photo: RNZ / Marika Khabazi Master Builders, which was singled out by Penk as already offering a 10-year guarantee cover policy, was in favour of mandating warranties and insurance. Sharma also called for other consumer protection measures, such as tougher entry requirements for builders, a stronger licensing system with real enforcement, and a register of liquidations and penalties so homeowners could make informed decisions when choosing a builder. "The combination of all of that with the right insurance scheme, I think lifts the standard enough for consumer protection so that we can move to a proportional system." The Insurance Council of New Zealand said it had held discussions with the government about the "preliminary thinking" on the move to proportionate liability. "These included some of the challenges for insurers around this approach," a spokesperson said, adding ICNZ looked forward to further discussions with the government as the policy developed. Penk said there had been some appetite from the insurance sector, but acknowledged it was a "chicken and egg" situation, as everyone needed the comfort and certainty before they were willing to step up. Streamlining the Building Consent Authority (BCA) model has been long-signalled by the government, with Penk first announcing he was taking a look nearly a year ago. He said 66 different interpretations of the same Building Code had led to frustration in the sector, and added cost and delays. Sharma was in favour of the consolidation, saying over half of Registered Master Builder members had experienced delays and "consenting inefficiencies" due to working with multiple BCAs. "It's common, when you have different BCAs, they have different systems. So that creates, from a business owner perspective, inconsistency in the way different systems are operating. And also, in some cases, how different inspectors can interpret rules differently." Registered Master Builders chief executive Ankit Sharma. Photo: Supplied The government had looked at other options like a single point of contact or establishing large regional BCAs to replace the existing ones. Ultimately, it has landed on a voluntary model, allowing councils to pool resources like their accreditation processes or staff if they chose to. Barry, who is also Lower Hutt mayor, said councils in the Wellington region had already discussed creating consenting efficiencies across the region. He said the voluntary approach was preferable, as councils were already grappling with reforms like Local Water Done Well and other pressures. "I would say the proof will be in the pudding over the next 12 to 18 months, and how many councils actually take that up, and what it looks like," he said. "I suspect it's something that will be revisited later in the future, but at the same time I think a voluntary approach and encouraging councils and providing the right settings for them to work together is a good thing." Penk would not put a number on how many BCAs he would like to see. "Any number smaller than 66 would be a win. But I suspect at a regional level, we'll see perhaps as many as half a dozen moves made quite promptly," Penk said. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
3 hours ago
- RNZ News
Is Auckland really the 'City of Fails', or does it just have a cashflow problem?
Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown at the launch of the State of the City report. Photo: RNZ / Marika Khabazi Auckland has been labelled the City of Fails after its annual State of the City report, which highlighted glaring issues with the city's economy, productivity, innovation, education and more. Its flagging GDP, city sprawl, reliance on cars, a lack of walkability... the condemnation goes on. But it was not just this one report. Other issues have been regularly highlighted this year - the sudden increase in homelessness; endless road works and construction from the City Rail Link development; gaping holes where CBD developments have just stopped, the cranes in cold storage. All this while the South Island and rural communities are showing sparks of coming out of recession in a post-Covid era - it is a tale of two different economic recoveries. The Detail looks at what is wrong with Auckland, what is right and what needs to be done to make it better. Auckland Business Chamber chief executive Simon Bridges has been pushing the government to come to the aid of the city, where he is seeing the results of weak economic growth, a lack of investment and flagging retail trade. He says he has tried to put politics aside but, yes, it is possible his former job as leader of the National Party has helped his advocacy. "I think central government is listening," he says. "I think what we need to see now is just a bit of urgent action. If you think about Auckland, we've had several years of difficulty and you might say well, what's several more months? But the reality is even if things do get a bit better next year, there's a lot of pain out there. "I've put forward some ideas of things that could be done, but I don't have a monopoly on the answers. Ultimately what we want to see happen is stuff that is going to improve the sentiment and get some spending happening, because if Auckland was a business it would be a business with a cashflow issue." So far the government has not raced in to help with any short-term stimulus. Prime Minister Chris Luxon told RNZ he would "keep looking at what we can do", but an "Auckland-specific stimulus thing is quite difficult to do ... I don't know how you'd go about doing that". Bridges has given him a bunch of ideas, including relaxing visa requirements for Asian tourists to make it easier for them to come here, encouraging international students and letting Mayor Wayne Brown have his bed levy as a way of increasing council income and bidding for more big events to come to the city. "We're not rich enough that we don't need that money swilling around at a time when, in Auckland at least, hotel rates - occupancy and so on - is very bad. Worse than last year actually." There are some bright lights on the horizon, including the scheduled opening next year of the long-awaited City Rail Link, and the International Convention Centre. However, the infrastructure pipeline behind that is looking bleak, especially with government moves to cap rates rises, block councils from using other methods to raise money, and now the introduction of some hasty rules telling councils what they should focus on and how they should behave. The Local Government (Systems Improvement) Amendment Bill - which councils have just four weeks to submit on - tells them to stick to core services like roads, rubbish and water, and get rid of spending on cultural, community and environmental things - the nice-to-haves. The things the city is measured on internationally. North Shore resident Hayden Donnell is a senior writer for The Spinoff. He thinks the city is improving, and can list a raft of places in the CBD where it is lively, pedestrian-friendly and full of great cafes and restaurants. Donnell talks to The Detail about the good and the bad, including beaches, buses and bad planning rules. "I think we probably are a little bit negative about Auckland," he says. "Maybe we do undersell the fact that we have this beautiful natural environment, there's a lot of places that are going really well. "At the same time I think it's true ... there are lots of areas where we could improve, where the rest of the world has caught up with this thing called 'walkable areas' and 'pedestrian malls' ... that kind of vibrant shopping that you can go to Europe and experience doesn't really happen here to the same extent. "But we shouldn't lose sight of the fact that we're very fortunate." Something Aucklanders do have is Auckland FC, which has lit the city up with its nearly-all conquering ways this year, breaking A-League crowd records in its debut season. Auckland Football director Terry McFlynn grew up in a little village in south Derry, Northern Ireland. He has lived in Perth, Sydney and London. Now he lives in Auckland. "There's a lot of people that take a lot of pride in Auckland as a city and want to see it progress, and want to see a vibrant city, which I believe it is. "I think the restaurants and bars and that lifestyle that Auckland can give around the viaduct and down by the harbour ... you know it's second to none in the whole world in my opinion." Check out how to listen to and follow The Detail here . You can also stay up-to-date by liking us on Facebook or following us on Twitter .
