Dying proves to be a costly undertaking
Photo:
LDR / Emily Ireland
It may not be the cheapest place to live, but South Wairarapa is by far the cheapest place to die compared to its neighbouring districts.
It cost $1825 for a plot and to be buried in South Wairarapa, the council's 2025-26 list of fees and charges shows.
This was just five per cent more than it cost last triennium in the 2022-23 year.
In neighbouring Carterton, it cost $2400 - a 30 percent increase on last triennium, and in Masterton, it cost $3340 - a 36 percent increase.
Funeral Directors Association chief executive Gillian Boyes said councils' annual increases in burial and cremation fees were a significant driver of funeral costs.
"This impacts everyone and especially those who are struggling financially who may be eligible for support through the WINZ Funeral Grant but find that it barely covers these basic council costs," Boyes said.
The WINZ Funeral Grant of $2616.12 would not cover council fees for burials in most regions across New Zealand, where those fees can be as high as $7000 in New Plymouth, she said.
The nation-wide average was more than $4000.
"The sad reality is that at a time when a very low-income family is hurting and grieving and just wants to remember their loved one, they are going to be faced with the added pain of a big bill with fixed basic costs that just keep going up," Boyes said.
She said the current WINZ Funeral Grant no longer reflected the true cost of even a basic farewell, "especially where council fees are significant".
"We urgently need a review to ensure fair support for grieving families and to prevent funeral providers from carrying the reputational cost of a system that's no longer fit for purpose."
She called on the government to commit to increasing the WINZ Funeral Grant to match the average increase in council fees for burials and cremation, rather than just CPI.
The Association took a sample of 23 cemeteries and found Makara in Wellington had the lowest burial costs [$1823].
This did not include a maintenance fee of $664.
New Plymouth had the highest [$7207].
In Wairarapa, cremation remained the cheapest charge at $240 for ashes to be buried at South Wairarapa cemeteries at $315 for a cremation plot.
It cost $385 for a cremation berm in Carterton and $400 for a cremation berm in Masterton.
A service offered at Carterton, but not its neighbouring districts was natural burial, which cost $4387. This included the costs of the plot, burial, compost, and tree to be planted.
It was one of about a dozen certified natural burial locations in New Zealand.
Charges apply to those who live outside the district they wish to be buried at.
LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RNZ News
2 days ago
- RNZ News
Company directors load up on liability insurance as legal risks increase
Recent court decisions, including one involving Mainzeal, have set legal precedents that have spilled over into corporate governance. Photo: CC BY-SA 3.0 / Schwede66 Company and organisation directors are facing a growing storm of risks driven by legal uncertainty, rising company liquidations and the rise of litigation funding according to a new report from the Institute of Directors . The D&O Insurance- the Shifting Sands of Risk report said claims were likely to increase in the future, and the recent fall in the cost of directors and officers liability (D&O) insurance appeared to have bottomed out. Recent court decisions involving Mainzeal and Whakaari/White Island have set legal precedents that have spilled over into corporate governance, particularly in the fields of health and safety, climate change and the use of artificial intelligence. "From boardrooms to courtrooms the expectations on directors have expanded significantly," the institute's general manager Guy Beatson said. He said uncertainty was being fuelled by how the 30-year-old Companies Act would relate to solvency and the duties and personal liabilities of directors. The Act is due for a review and make over to bring it up to date. Beatson said directors of incorporated societies, non-profits and trusts, were also at risk. And the rise of class action litigation funding, as seen in the current high-profile action against ANZ and ASB , presented another legal risk, regardless of the merits of the case. Beatson said the risks and uncertainty have resulted in directors loading themselves with more liability insurance, with about 95 percent of board directors covered. Such insurance paid the bulk of the penalties imposed on the Mainzeal directors after the company's collapse. The list of risks is also growing - ranging from decisions about trading and insolvency, responsibility for managing and assessing climate risks, natural disasters, and now artificial intelligence and whether boards have put in sufficient safeguards and human oversight. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
3 days ago
- RNZ News
Construction firms offering large discounts to avoid collapse
Photo: Construction companies are struggling to stay afloat as orders dry up amid tough economic times, with some slashing quotes by as much as 50 percent to get whatever work they can. Latest data from the Building Research Association of New Zealand showed that liquidations in the construction sector rose 37 percent in February year on year, accounting for 31 percent of all liquidations nationwide. Latest figures from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) showed a similar trend. The number of businesses with an MBIE construction code that had a liquidator appointed nearly doubled for the year ending 30 June 2023 compared to the previous year, climbing from 210 in 2022 to 416. By the end of June 2025, 687 companies with an MBIE construction code had a liquidator appointed, marking a more than threefold increase in just three years. Amid the sharp rise in closures, some Chinese construction firms had resorted in cutting quote prices and squeezing already tight margins to stay in business. Henry Wang, a former carpenter who had worked in the construction industry for eight years and now ran his own business, said pay rates for carpentry work had dropped sharply compared to the industry's recent peak. "The market was booming from 2020 to 2022," Wang said. "At that time, a carpenter could earn around $150 to $160 per square meter on a residential build. However, now payments have fallen by as much as 40 to 50 percent." Photo: Supplied/ Unsplash - Josh Olalde Wang said he began feeling the pressure in 2023, as layoffs started to spread across the construction sector and available work began to dry up. Wang, who worked for a Chinese construction firm, recalled long hours during the boom years. "We used to work from 7am to 6pm - sometimes even until 7pm - including Saturdays when business was really busy," he said. "But gradually, the company could only guarantee three days of work a week," he said. "By the end of 2023, they started cutting staff because there simply wasn't any work left." He estimated that between 60 and 80 percent of the workers at his former company were made redundant. He eventually left as well, citing a lack of available work. Now the owner of a small construction firm with six employees based in Auckland, Wang said most of his clients were in the commercial building sector. He remains cautious about the sector's outlook. "I'm not optimistic about the market this year or even next year," he said, noting that the project pipeline heading into 2026 is alarmingly thin. Wang said the downturn had triggered a destructive price war in the industry, which he found deeply concerning. "There isn't much work out there," he said. "A lot of companies are dropping their quote prices. Some are even slashing them by half just to win clients and stay in business. All I can do is hang in there and try to survive these next two years." Photo: RNZ Steven Jin, director of commercial fit out company Unique Constructions, felt the same pressure. Jin started his business in 2010, recalling a boom period between 2016 and 2018, when a surge of Chinese restaurants and retail shops opened across the market. However, that momentum faded quickly. Business confidence took a hit during the Covid-19 pandemic, and his project volume started dropping sharply from 2023. "Compared to 2018 and 2019, our business volume fell by more than 60 percent in 2023 and 2024," he said. Jin described the current construction market as bleak, noting that many contractors he had worked with had also been forced to slash their quote prices to remain competitive. "It's very challenging to do business right now," he said. "We're squeezing margins, sometimes down to just 5 percent or even operating at no profit at all. But we have no other choice. With the market like this, the only way to compete is on price." Jin said he didn't expect the market to rebound this year. For now, his goal is simple: Survive and stay afloat. "Everyone is competing against each other," he said. "Even big construction companies, their goal is to survive and avoid liquidation." Fletcher Building announced Wednesday it was considering the sale of its construction division assets following a strategic review of the business. Julien Leys, chief executive of the Building Industry Federation Photo: Supplied Julien Leys, chief executive of the Building Industry Federation, said New Zealand's building sector was largely made up of small businesses, typically employing between three and five people. He said Asian-owned construction companies accounted for roughly 22 percent of the market, contributing as much as $48 million per month in construction activity in the Auckland region. Leys said Asian construction companies were facing the same challenges affecting developers across the country, including a slowdown in residential property sales. "It's just a fact that we're seeing a downturn across the sector," he said. "People are finding it harder to get work, particularly those smaller builders." Leys said while the construction sector might see an uptick in activity by the middle of next year, the current market remained challenging. "There's still uncertainty that is affecting people making decisions about whether to start a build or a project," he said. "That uncertainty means all the subcontractors and contractors involved in those projects don't get work. "Right now, what we're seeing is that their order books - where they'd usually have an actual pipeline of activity for the next 12 months to work on - pretty much there's nothing in it." According to the latest building consent data from Stats NZ, 33,530 new dwellings were consented in the year ending on 31 May, a 3.8 percent decrease against the same period in 2024. Gareth Kiernan, chief forecaster at Infometrics Photo: RNZ / Rebekah Parsons-King Gareth Kiernan, chief forecaster at Infometrics, said New Zealand experienced a residential construction boom in 2022, with approximately 51,000 consents issued, driven by surging house prices and historically low interest rates. However, he said it had since become much more difficult for developers to bring projects to market at a cost buyers were willing to pay. House prices fell substantially through 2022 into 2023, while interest rates and building costs continued to climb over the same period, he said. "Residential construction firms and the businesses supplying materials expanded their capacity a lot during the boom to meet demand," Kiernan said. "But now, there's just too much capacity across the industry, and that's causing issues for firms and leading to those liquidations." Kiernan said net migration shifts had also contributed to the softening of the housing market. "There was an undersupply of housing, particularly in Auckland," he said. "We haven't been able to keep up with demand through much of the last decade. "We had a migration boom initially when the borders reopened in 2023. But that's slowed away again, and now the housing market is still pretty soft. "Potentially, over the next year or so, we could be starting to move into a position with the housing market rather than being undersupplied to actually oversupplied. Meanwhile, Kiernan said a downturn in non-residential construction had emerged over the past six to nine months, as broader economic weakness began to weigh on commercial developments, adding further pressure across the sector. "Previously, commercial building was still holding up relatively well," he said. "But now we're seeing a flat to downturn in residential construction, and a downturn emerging in commercial building as well." Ankit Sharma, chief executive of the Registered Master Builders Association Photo: Supplied Ankit Sharma, chief executive of the Registered Master Builders Association, said builders nationwide, particularly small and family-owned firms, were under significant financial strain, driven by tightening profit margins, escalating costs and, in many cases, a lack of forward visibility. Sharma said residential activity expectations were beginning to lift in some regions. "We're starting to see early signs that the tide may be turning," he said. "In some regions like Central Otago, builders are telling us they're as busy as they've ever been." However, Sharma said the recovery remained uneven, particularly across parts of the upper North Island, including Auckland, where the pipeline of new work remained uncertain. Still, he said momentum was beginning to build. "Government initiatives such as the Investment Boost scheme and proposed procurement reforms are welcome steps that could help unlock activity and give firms greater confidence to invest," he said. Kiernan said the construction sector would eventually adjust to more sustainable levels of activity. "It's a case of almost like much of the rest of the economy," he said. "Things were really overheated in 2021 to 2022, and now it's kind of needing to move back, or consolidate back to what are more sort of sustainable levels of activity that can be kept going over the medium term."
RNZ News
4 days ago
- RNZ News
Auckland is NZ's ‘primate city', but its potential remains caged in by poor planning and vision
By Timothy Welch* of Auckland is hampered by car dependency, low-density housing and "weak economic performance", a recent report found. Photo: 123RF The recent report comparing Auckland to nine international peer cities delivered an uncomfortable truth: our largest city is falling behind, hampered by car dependency, low-density housing and "weak economic performance". The Deloitte State of the City analysis was no surprise to anyone who has watched successive governments treat the city as a problem to manage, rather than an engine to fuel. The report's findings were stark: Auckland rates 82nd out of 84 cities globally for pedestrian friendliness, and its car-dependent transport system is more carbon-intensive and slower to decarbonise than peer cities. This is the direct result of decades of planning failures, including what urban researchers call the 1970s "great down-zoning" which halved central Auckland's housing capacity. This isn't just Auckland's problem. When we mismanage what geographers call a "primate city," it reveals our fundamental misunderstanding of how modern economies work. The concept of the primate city was formalised by geographer Mark Jefferson in 1939 . Such cities are defined as being "at least twice as large as the next largest city and more than twice as significant". Auckland fits this definition perfectly. With more than 1.7 million people, it is more than four times larger than Christchurch or the greater Wellington region. The city accounts for 34 percent of New Zealand's population and is projected to hit 40 percent of the working-age population by 2048. Auckland contributes 38 percent of New Zealand's gross domestic product and its per-capita GDP is 15 percent higher than the rest of the country's. Its most productive area, the central business district, enjoys a 40 percent productivity premium over the national average. To economists, these numbers represent the "agglomeration benefits" research shows primate cities generate. It is the economic effect of combining businesses, talent and infrastructure. Yet New Zealand systematically underinvests in the very place generating this outsized economic contribution. Auckland's infrastructure deficit follows a predictable pattern. The City Rail Link, while progressing, has grown from an initial budget of NZ$2-3 billion to $5.5 billion, with opening delayed until 2026 . Light rail was cancelled entirely after years of planning. A second harbour crossing has been studied for decades without a shovel hitting dirt. Each represents billions in opportunity costs while congestion worsens. This goes well beyond project mismanagement. It is a deep structural problem. The Infrastructure Commission-Te Waihanga identifies a $210 billion national infrastructure shortfall, with Auckland bearing a disproportionate burden despite generating a disproportionately high level of revenue. International research by the OECD shows successful countries treat metropolitan regions as engines of national growth, not a burden. Public policy expert Ian Shirley called it the "Wellington Problem" : the way Auckland's governance became an obsession for politicians and bureaucrats based in Wellington. The tension dates to 1865 when the capital was moved from Auckland to Wellington , establishing a pattern where political power was deliberately separated from economic power. Auckland loses an estimated $415.35 million annually in GST collected on rates . This goes to Wellington and into government revenue rather than being reinvested locally. Central government properties in Auckland, worth $36.3 million in rates, are exempt from payment while still using Auckland's infrastructure. When Auckland speaks with "one voice" through its unified council, Wellington responds with legislative overrides. The recent National Land Transport Programme, for example, cut Auckland's transport funding by $564 million . Mayor Wayne Brown said the government's transport policy "makes zero sense for Auckland". The contrast with international approaches reveals just how counterproductive New Zealand's approach has been. London has an integrated Transport for London authority with congestion charging powers, generating £136 million annually for reinvestment. Paris is investing more than €35 billion in the Grand Paris Express transit project. Japan's "Quality Infrastructure Investment" principles include ¥13.2 trillion in regional infrastructure investment. Australia's A$120 billion infrastructure programme explicitly recognises its largest cities contribute more than 50 percent of GDP and require proportional investment. Research has shown excessive urban concentration in one country can create problems . But denying the primate city resources only leads to a "deterioration in the quality of life" that drags down the entire national economy. The solution lies in making strategic investments that maximise the benefits of agglomeration while managing any negative costs to the national economy. Auckland isn't a problem to be managed, it is an asset to be leveraged. Every successful developed economy has learned this lesson. Paris generates 31 percent of France's GDP and gets treated accordingly. Seoul produces 23 percent of South Korea's output and receives massive infrastructure investment. Tokyo drives Japan's economy. The international evidence is unambiguous: countries that strategically invest in their primate cities achieve higher productivity growth and maintain competitive advantages. Auckland doesn't need sympathy or special treatment. It needs what every primate city in every successful economy gets: infrastructure investment proportional to its economic contribution, governance structures that reflect its scale, and political leadership that understands agglomeration economics. The question isn't whether Auckland is too big. The question is whether New Zealand is big enough to nurture its primate city. * Timothy Welch is a senior lecturer in urban planning, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau This article was first published by [ The Conversation].
