Watch: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon holds post-Cabinet media briefing
Earlier on Monday,
Luxon
told
Morning Report
that people wanted the government to fix the economy.
Big cities in New Zealand were struggling, while primary industry was showing signs of recovery, he said.
The latest
Taxpayers' Union-Curia Opinion poll
predicts that if an election were held now there would be a hung Parliament.
Labour has overtaken National as the largest party, gaining 2 points to 33.6 percent, while National drops 2.1 points to 31.8 percent.
If an election were held today, the centre-right bloc would lose four MPs for a total 61 seats, while the centre-left bloc would gain four MP and also reach a total 61 seats.
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RNZ News
14 minutes ago
- RNZ News
One in five businesses reporting losses
One in five businesses reported a current loss in the 2023 tax year. Photo: RNZ/Nick Monro A growing number of businesses are reporting losses, and economists say the situation may become worse before it improves . Data from Inland Revenue released under the Official Information Act shows that in the 2023 tax year, 107,360 companies out of 475,010 reported a current loss. Another 40,670 were carrying a loss over from a previous tax year. In the most recent tax year, for which data is still being compiled, there were 107,450 business with a current loss. That compares with 99,500 in 2022, and 98,260 in 2016. In the 2024 year, there were 157,560 companies with no income. Inland Revenue said that could be because the company had brought forward losses from previous years in some cases. The number of companies reporting a profit had lifted in recent years, from 146,930 in 2021 to 164,670 in the 2023 year and 162,300 in the 2024 year. Infometrics chief forecaster Gareth Kiernan said, leaving aside the companies not recording any income, the share of companies recording a profit had climbed from 46.5 percent in 2016 to 52.8 percent in 2022. "It has edged down a bit over the last two years though, getting down to 52.3 percent. "Although some of this growth between 2016 and 2022 has come due to fewer companies making losses … some of the growth has also come from fewer companies claiming previous losses against current income. "The downward trend in this latter share, from 16.5 percent in 2017 to 13 percent in 2023, reflects the further and further away we've got from the last major downturn, the GFC (global financial crisis), meaning there are fewer currently profitable businesses with remaining losses to offset against current profits." He said that meant it was probably better to measure profitability through the proportion of companies posting a current loss. "The increase in the 'current loss' share from 32.3 percent to 34.6 percent since 2022 is probably the most instructive figure." He said the March 2023 year was still relatively good from an economic perspective, and the worst of the recession would not appear until the June and September quarters of 2024. The data showed that in the 2023/24 tax year, more than 40 percent of accommodation and food services businesses were making a loss. Just 25 percent of companies in arts and recreation services were recording a profit. Miles Workman, senior economist at ANZ, said the economy was growing in a nominal sense. "The population is expanding, even if migration is low, it's still positive." He said the data so far was stable but many businesses were holding on in the expectation of a recovery soon . "There are other pieces of data out there suggesting business balance sheets are becoming a little bit more stressed." He pointed to Reserve Bank data, which showed about 1.2 percent of total business loans were non-performing. It was low compared to its previous peak but the highest level since about 2016, he said. The number of business liquidations was also on the rise. He said Stats NZ business financial data also provided a helpful insight. It showed sales up in most sectors year on year except for mining, construction and information media and telecommunications, which all fell. Forestry and fishing was flat and retail and accommodation up just 1.3 percent. "The parts of the economy that are quite interest rate sensitive do appear to be the parts that are doing it perhaps the toughest - then of course you've got those that are, you know, exposed to international tourism, which still hasn't fully recovered. So they're doing it really tough and then you've got other pockets of the economy, the agricultural sector … it's been a good season." He said there was generally evidence that business balance sheets were stressed because costs were still quite high and demand for goods and services had diminished. "Obviously we're in the lull of the cycle, it's very difficult to pass high costs on which effectively erodes profits." Many businesses had come out of the pandemic in relatively good health, he said. "What really took the hit through the pandemic and the lockdowns was the government's balance sheet ... Ultimately there was a huge amount of money transferred which meant businesses had a bit - not all businesses of course, but some businesses had a bit of a buffer built up to get through difficult times. So the question becomes one of how long can businesses hold out?" He last week raised the prospect that businesses could be "labour hoarding" in the expectations of recovery. Those workers could be dropped if it did not happen as quickly as expected. "We know businesses are expecting the Reserve Bank to eventually engineer a recovery and the question becomes, well, how long can businesses hold out before they have to shed some of the labour they've been holding because they just don't have the balance sheet capacity to do that anymore?" 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
University students turn to digital textbooks: 'Pretty much everything is online'
Some students say stock is running low at UBIQ. Photo: Ke-Xin Li Last month, the University of Auckland's bookstore UBIQ announced it was in liquidation, citing a decline in student population amid a cost of living crisis . But with the University's full time numbers increasing by over 1500 students between 2018 and 2023, is digital learning killing textbooks and textbook retailers ? Students say the shop's closure is a sign of the times. "It's kind of surprising, but I suppose the shift towards virtual learning has added to that, there's not much emphasis on textbooks, which is an odd future," said Marlo, a fourth-year psychology student who completes the majority of his coursework digitally. He said the last time he visited UBIQ was last year to buy fantasy books. Wiley, one of the largest textbook publishers, noted in its 2024 annual report a decrease in print sales but an uptake in the purchase of its digital services. And that was backed up by students across Auckland University's campus. "Largely I don't buy textbooks for money reasons. I'm a poor uni student living off pennies, so if I can get a virtual textbook I probably will because they are cheaper," Marlo added. Second year law and commerce student Natalie has never visited UBIQ. "Pretty much everything is online, they [the lecturers] give it to you and you can access it online. I don't have any textbooks. Everything is downloaded to my iPad." First year student Annabelle, who has a required textbook for her course this semester, lamented paying over a hundred dollars for a physical copy. "I bought the textbook The globalization of world politics: an introduction to international relations . It was $111. (I feel) really sad, and really poor. I don't usually spend that much money on things, this is probably the most expensive thing I bought this year." She said there were no free online versions, and it cost a similar amount to borrow the e-book as to buy it. "They basically give you a code to access an e-book for a year. To loan it, it was $80 for a year, so I thought might as well just buy it." On the first day of the second semester, UBIQ is full of students buying coursebooks, textbooks and some are looking to buy fiction. Photo: Ke-Xin Li While many students worked digitally with no need for pen or paper, those who did buy stationery said they rarely bought it on campus. Marlo bought his pens and highlighters from Daiso, where he said it was cheaper. Annabelle bought her pens from MUJI and her exercise books from Warehouse Stationery. And, as the store entered its final weeks of trading, stock was running low. Finn, a first year law and economics student who preferred pen and paper, walked out of UBIQ disappointed. "They are out of stock [of] the coursebook I need, so not much I can do about that. I'm hoping they are going to get it back in stock before they close it down." Alison, who is completing a masters in engineering also did not find what she needed. "I wanted to buy some notebooks. But there's nothing right now. The one I wanted they didn't have any in stock. And the price is a bit high here as well so it's better to go into the CBD and get something." The bookstore was expected to remain open until 31 August, with the directors still hopeful someone may buy the business. Rachel Mason-Thomas, UBIQ's liquidator, said there had been a good level of interest from potential buyers with an outcome expected around the end of August. Mason-Thomas said preferential and secured creditors would be paid in full, with a good likelihood of a distribution to unsecured creditors. She said they had received nearly half of the expected unsecured creditor claims - which included gift vouchers and trade creditors - and called for outstanding claims to be submitted. 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
Government accused of 'fence-sitting' on Palestinian statehood
Christopher Luxon and Winston Peters. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone An academic is accusing the coalition of sitting on the fence during the Gaza conflict so they don't upset the United States. New Zealand has fallen out of step with Australia, Canada, France and the UK in its positioning on Palestinian statehood. Australia confirmed it would make the formal recognition at next month's UN General Assembly on Monday afternoon. Minutes beforehand, Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters put out a statement saying he had raised the issue in Cabinet . "Cabinet will take a formal decision in September over whether New Zealand should recognise a state of Palestine at this juncture - and if so, when and how," his statement said. Fronting questions in his post-Cabinet media conference, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon would not elaborate on what factors Cabinet was considering, what his colleagues views were, what his view was or what the decision-making process would look like, other than "ongoing conversations" among Cabinet members. Auckland University law professor Treasa Dunworth said the statements put out by countries like Australia weren't without their problems. "It's conditional on Hamas not being part of the post war governance structures in Palestine but the whole idea of state recognition is that the state gets to choose. That's what self determination is," Dunworth said. However, Dunworth said "the time for action was some time ago" and New Zealand had fallen behind many other countries in its position on Palestinian statehood. "I don't accept that they haven't been thinking about this because that's just not credible. They do know and therefore they're fence-sitting because they're not entirely sure which way the wind is blowing," Dunworth said. "We have to raise questions about whether this is all about our diplomatic relationship with the United States and looming above that is the question of the tariffs being imposed by Donald Trump. "If they want to sell New Zealand out on the basis of trade advantage or disadvantage then so be it, at least say that honestly, rather than hiding behind, 'oh it's complicated'." Luxon has denied the coalition's position has anything to do with the United States, reiterating New Zealand has an independent foreign policy. "We'll make our own decisions that are right for New Zealand and consistent with our values," he told reporters on Monday. Labour leader Chris Hipkins said a move to recognise Palestinian statehood was well overdue. "What's really concerning is that New Zealand doesn't appear to have a coherent position on Palestine, doesn't seem to be able to articulate why we're not recognising Palestine as a state or what the criteria might be for us to recognise Palestine as a state," Hipkins said. "It's well and truly time for the government to put this issue to bed. Recognise Palestine. It's the right thing to do." Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick - who's put forward a members bill to sanction Israel - said the whole situation was baffling. "It's just honestly mind-blowing. This government for the better part of two years has said that is is doing everything it can while it sits on its hands. Palestinians can't eat empty statements." RNZ asked voters hurrying home in the wintry weather on Monday night what they thought the government's position should be. "If they're considering it they've probably got their reasons for and against," one Wellington woman said. "It's a very complicated situation," another woman said. "I really don't know. In a way it's none of our business, in another way it's a humanitarian crisis," a Wellington man said. "The least we should be doing is recognising a Palestinian state," another Wellington man said. "There's people starving there, there's people dying there every day. It's stupid not to recognise Palestine," an Auckland woman said. "I think it's the only pathway to peace really... the sooner the better," an Auckland man said. Peters will travel to New York in late September to represent New Zealand at the UN General Assembly. Asked if the public would know Cabinet's decision on recognising a Palestinian state before Peters heads to the US, Luxon said he suspected so. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
