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RNZ News
32 minutes ago
- RNZ News
Shotover Jet marks 60th birthday
One of the country's most well-known tourism ventures is marking a major milestone today. Ngai Tahu Tourism say the Shotover Jet's 60th birthday is more than a commercial success story, it's the celebration of a major turning point for the iwi - a story of mana whenua taking the wheel. Otago Southland Reporter Katie Todd explains. Tags: To embed this content on your own webpage, cut and paste the following: See terms of use.
RNZ News
32 minutes ago
- RNZ News
Queenstown Shotover Jet turns 60: From river ferry to iwi-led tourism icon
A Shotover Jet glides through the Arthurs Point Gorge Photo: Supplied / Shotover Jet One of New Zealand's best-known adventure rides is celebrating 60 years in business after evolving from a simple five-person riverboat into an iconic thrill-seekers' attraction. Ngāi Tahu Tourism said the milestone was about much more than commercial success; it was a moment of pride for mana whenua who have taken the wheel. Shotover Jet business manager Donald Boyer said Shotover Jet rose from humble origins. Herm Palmer (right), who was an early owner and operator of Shotover Jet, 1966. Photo: Supplied / Shotover Jet "It pretty much did start with a couple of blokes and a really small wooden boat that seated about four to five passengers. "It was a transport service that came from Queenstown across the lake and up the Shotover to Arthurs Point purely for transport. The boat did about 30 km per hour, so quite sedate. "Through the 70s and 80s, it morphed into the thrill-based experience that it is." More than 4.6 million people have since taken a ride on the Shotover Jet, which has garnered national attention, won tourism awards and hosted prime ministers and royals. Ngāi Tahu Tourism general manager Jolanda Cave said a handshake deal with Ngāi Tahu in 1999 laid the foundations for the iwi's entire tourism arm, which now includes eight other ventures around Te Waipounamu. Ngāi Tahu Tourism General Manager Jolanda Cave, Shotover Jet Business Manager Donald Boyer and Kāi Tahu ki Tuawhenua Kāhui representative Paulette Tamati-Elliffe. Photo: Katie Todd / RNZ "The Shotover Jet is ultimately the jewel in the crown for Ngāi Tahu Tourism. It was the first tourism venture that we purchased, and it is ultimately what started the growth of what Ngāi Tahu Tourism is today," she said. Cave was among those who gathered on the riverbank on Friday morning to mark six decades of the Shotover Jet. The company planned to give free rides on Saturday and was releasing a documentary about its history. The money iwi used to buy into Shotover Jet came from a Treaty settlement involving $170m in Crown redress in the 1990s. Cave said Ngāi Tahu Tourism secured full ownership by 2004 and became one of the country's biggest tourism operators. Ross Melhop, one of the two brothers who founded Shotover Jet Services in 1965. Photo: Supplied / Shotover Jet "It's really enabled us to use the international manuhiri, the domestic manuhiri and use our voice so we're able to tell our stories. We're able to look after the whenua that we operate in and we're able to lead how we feel tourism should be in the future," she said. The Shotover River or Kimiākau Awa has been part of Ngāi Tahu's whakapapa for generations. Paulette Tamati-Elliffe, a member of Kāi Tahu ki Tuawhenua Kāhui, which represented the seven Papatipu Rūnanga of the area, said the waters were used to transport supplies and gather food, plants and pounamu. "This place was very important to us. It was a huge part of our tribal, our traditional tribal economy," she said. To maintain that connection and to be able to provide those benefits, tangible and intangible, for not only this generation but future generations to come, is just so important." Shotover Jet plans to give away free rides on Saturday, and it will be releasing a documentary about its story. Photo: Katie Todd / RNZ Kimiākau meant to search for the shoreline or sea, Tamati-Elliffe said. "The sandy, golden beaches that we enjoy on the coast of Dunedin come from these rocks and from this river, so that connection that our people have maintained for generations, from the mountains to the sea. "It just makes sense, that name, Kimiakau." Tamati-Elliffe said iwi hoped to see more whanau engaged in the business in future. "We want to strengthen and enhance what's already a great experience for manuhiri, and we believe we're on that trajectory." Boyer said sustainability was a big focus for the Shotover Jet as the company embarked on the next decade. "Over the last few years, we've started transitioning to engines that burn about 30 percent less fuel than the previous ones," he said. That's all part of our journey towards being at a point where we burn no fossil fuels, whether that's electric or hydrogen. "It's just an incredible achievement for a business in New Zealand to get to 60 years, and I'm just super proud to be leading the business and into this next decade." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
32 minutes ago
- RNZ News
What officials said about pay equity changes
Photo: RNZ The minister who ushered through the pay equity changes said any limitations on workers' rights were justified in order to reduce the risks to employers. A document dump from the Treasury and the Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment (MBIE) showed the processes the government went through to change the pay equity framework, and then return contingency funding to the Budget allowances. Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden, who introduced the legislation, acknowledged the changes would likely be contentious, but were necessary to meet the government's policy objectives of keeping a pay equity system, while changing the framework for assessing whether there is sex-based undervaluation. The government worked on the changes in secret, before announcing the amendment bill in May and passing it under urgency. New Zealanders protested the changes to the Equal Pay Amendment Act. File photo. Photo: RNZ / Tess Brunton At the Budget, Finance Minister Nicola Willis revealed the changes had saved $12.8 billion over the forecast period. The short timeframe to get the bill passed before the Budget meant there had been "limited testing and analysis" of the policy proposals, and the retrospective provisions in the bill were "inconsistent" with general principles. Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden. Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii MBIE acknowledged the transitional provisions would likely be "contentious" but without them it was unlikely the amendments would "meet the policy objective of ensuring the regime achieves pay equity, whilst better managing claims, and ensuring costs are related to sex-based differences in remuneration." The legal risks remained redacted, and the bill had no Regulatory Impact Statement. The process was also kept secret to prevent a surge of claims being lodged and potentially determined under the existing Employment Relations Act. The acting Attorney-General, Paul Goldsmith's consideration of the bill concluded that while it imposed limits on the right to freedom from discrimination, the right to justice, and freedom of expression, it was still consistent with the Bill of Rights Act. The paper van Velden took to Cabinet for approval, included in MBIE's document dump, shows she considered any limitations on the rights to be justified. "I consider that this is justified to meet the policy intent of allowing employers to better manage their operations, reducing potential risks to an employer's financial viability, which may lead to a reduction in employment or the quality or quantity of services provided," van Velden wrote. In December 2023, shortly after assuming the government benches, the finance minister requested more information on how the pay equity forecasts worked and whether there were any upcoming large claims. In February 2024, the Treasury reported back, saying the approach brought in by the previous government had contributed to higher cost outcomes, as it disincentivised agencies and funded sector employers from taking a lower-cost bargaining approach. "While the current Pay Equity process does require agencies to seek a bargaining contingency prior to the bargaining phase, this occurs late in the process, and many of the potential parameters for settlement are already largely agreed between the parties," officials said. "The absence of financial incentives during the pre-bargaining phase may have contributed to agencies adopting approaches which exceed the minimum requirements of the Equal Pay Act, for example, agreeing to higher paid comparators when lower paid ones would be appropriate." It also meant the Cabinet had "poor visibility" of the costs, until parties were at or near settlement. Treasury said pay equity costs were managed outside of Budget allowances, and there was merit in exploring an approach that brought some or all of the costs back within Budget allowances. By April 2024, Cabinet had agreed to a reset, bringing pay equity funding into two centralised tagged contingencies: one for the funded sector, the other for the public sector. This still allowed the government to meet its legal obligations as an employer, but was deemed to support the coalition's fiscal strategy. However, by the end of 2024, the government was looking to disestablish the funded sector contingency, identifying it as a significant spending commitment. It expected service providers to manage their own claims, with any cost pressures they created managed like any other cost pressure: through the Budget process. Nicola Willis chose to close the funded sector contingency and return the funding to the Budget 2025 allowance and capital allowance. This saved $9.6b over the forecast period. For the public sector contingency, Treasury recommended it be retained, but at a reduced level. "On balance, we consider retaining the contingency at [redacted] for residual costs to protect future allowances to be preferable given the legal obligations on the Crown as an employer under the new Act and Treasury's judgment that we can quantify the impacts with more than 50 percent confidence," Treasury wrote. The government adopted this approach, with the tagged public sector contingency reduced by $3.2b over the forecast period. In total, the changes returned around $12.8b to the Budget 2025 operating and capital allowances. Closing or reducing the contingencies without some certainty from Cabinet on policy change, however, was seen to potentially "strain the credibility" of future Budget allowances. And so, the future approach to pay equity was developed. Van Velden's legislation discontinued 33 claims and increased the threshold for what qualified as work that was "predominantly performed by female employees." All review clauses under settled claims became unenforceable. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
