Material change for the construction industry
soaring
, the government has announced it will make it easier for firms to
purchase and use international materials
for builds here in New Zealand.
Professor John Tookey from AUT joins Emile Donovan to look at whether this move will bring down the high cost of construction.
Photo:
123RF
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NZ Herald
9 hours ago
- NZ Herald
Synlait Milk and Mainfreight take hit, pulling NZ sharemarket down
Synlait said it expects to report a big lift in its underlying earnings for the current year and for its net bottom-line loss to shrink. Hamilton Hindin Greene investment adviser Jeremy Sullivan said the manufacturing issues could potentially lead to delays in a2 Milk getting its product to market. 'The new chief executive for Synlait came out and said 'we don't expect to need any more capital and we're well within our competences' and tried to reassure investors, but investors are voting with their feet,' Sullivan said. Synlait's share price fell 7.69% to $0.60, while a2 Milk shares dipped 1c to $8.80. Mainfreight's annual shareholders' meeting was met with a poor response from investors, after the business said it had a slow and disappointing start to the financial year. Its share price fell late in the day by $6.36 or 9.58% to $60.00 after $8,860,473.66 worth of shares traded hands. Elsewhere, the Government gave the green light for Kiwibank to raise up to $500m of capital to help the bank grow. Sullivan said the market would keenly welcome the move and the Government would likely get a good price for it as well. 'Look at the likes of the gentailers and how well that's actually worked out in terms of the Government maintaining their controlling stake in the businesses and the share prices. They got their cake and got to eat it too.' Air New Zealand announced it had found its replacement for outgoing chief executive Greg Foran, with current chief digital officer Nikhil Ravishankar appointed as his successor. Its share price remained flat on 58c after the announcement. Meanwhile, Ryman Healthcare's share price rose 1.22% or 3c to $2.49. following its annual shareholder meeting. Ryman chief executive Naomi James highlighted the changes the business is making to turn its fortunes around. Ryman had 903,906 shares change hands to the value of $2,242,196.08. Sullivan said to look out for Microsoft's earnings result, expected overnight tonight. International market Wall Street stocks retreated on Tuesday (local time) as markets digested major merger announcements and monitored US-China trade talks ahead of big-tech earnings later in the week. Representatives from Beijing and Washington signalled further talks were likely after a round of negotiations in Stockholm. However, a top US trade official emphasised President Donald Trump would make any 'final call'. Meanwhile, investors digested several significant earnings reports, as well as merger announcements in the rail and energy sectors ahead of major economic news catalysts later in the week. 'After reaching all-time highs, markets are going to take a wait and see attitude,' said Art Hogan of B. Riley Wealth Management. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 0.5% at 44,632.99. The broad-based S&P 500 shed 0.3% to 6,370.86, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index declined 0.4% to 21,098.29. Both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq had finished at record levels the previous day. – Additional reporting AFP Tom Raynel is a multimedia business journalist for the Herald, covering small business, retail and tourism.


NZ Herald
10 hours ago
- NZ Herald
Shane Jones unveils plan to double geothermal energy by 2040
Jones said he saw potential for the geothermal sector to expand and diversify into areas such as the extraction of minerals from geothermal fluid, and more use of direct geothermal energy to power industrial, commercial and agricultural applications. Among the proposals were improving access to geothermal data and ensuring regulatory settings were fit for purpose. The draft strategy paper said 'supercritical' geothermal technology – which involves drilling deeper into the Earth's crust – could offer up to three times more energy than current geothermal energy. The Government has ring-fenced $60 million from the Regional Infrastructure Fund to fund research into the 'super' resource. Jones said $5m of that funding has been drawn down for work on the detailed design and cost to drill the first of three exploratory deep wells in the Taupō Volcanic Zone. New Zealand's first, and the world's second, geothermal power station was Wairakei, near Taupō, which started generating electricity in 1958. Wairakei is now one of 17 geothermal power plants across eight geothermal fields in New Zealand – which deliver a combined generation capacity of 1207 megawatts. Unlike wind and solar, geothermal energy is consistently available. In 2024, geothermal energy accounted for 8741 GWh, or 19.9%, of New Zealand's annual electricity generation. The country's geothermal reservoirs (up to 350C and located between 1km and 3.5km deep) have long powered renewable energy. The Taupō Volcanic Zone offered a rare opportunity to access superhot fluids at depths beyond 5km and temperatures exceeding 400C, the paper said. Jamie Gray is an Auckland-based journalist, covering the financial markets and the primary sector. He joined the Herald in 2011.

1News
12 hours ago
- 1News
'Show about nothing': Aussie PM taunted over US tariffs
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been accused of being a "Seinfeld prime minister" as the opposition ramps up its rhetoric over the US tariffs issue. The Prime Minister has been compared with the famous 1990s "show about nothing", amid dwindling hopes Australia could secure a total tariff exemption. US President Donald Trump's deals with other nations have laid bare the limits of trade negotiations, with no countries receiving a better deal than Australia's 10% baseline tariff. And now Australian exporters faced the impost set on goods to the US being doubled, after Trump delivered an ominous warning on Tuesday. He implied the base rate, which applied to the goods of many countries, including Australia, could rise to 15-20%. ADVERTISEMENT Trump said his administration would soon notify about 200 countries of their new "world tariff" rate. "I would say it'll be somewhere in the 15-to-20% range," he said. "Probably one of those two numbers." Senior Labor government minister Clare O'Neil said Australia was continuing to argue to the US that it deserved beneficial treatment, given the two countries' long running alliance. "We want to get the best deal for our citizens — that's what our government is working towards every day," she told Seven's Sunrise program on Wednesday. But opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Michaelia Cash said the government's approach had been a failure so far, given Albanese was yet to secure a face-to-face meeting with Trump. "The prime minister of Australia, Albanese, is becoming the Seinfeld prime minister — he's a show about nothing," she told Seven. "Other countries ... they are successfully negotiating trade deals that benefit their countries. ADVERTISEMENT "We now hear it could go 15%, it could go 20%. "I just remind the Australian people that when the coalition was last in government, we successfully negotiated a 0% tariff." Senator Cash was referencing the Seinfeld episode The Pitch, when characters Jerry and George pitched an idea for a "show about nothing" to TV executives - recreating how creators Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David came up with the show's concept. During Trump's first stint in office, Australia, under former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, and several other countries secured tariff exemptions from the White House. No countries have secured total exemptions this time. The Government resolved one of Trump's grievances with Australia last week by lifting an effective ban on US beef imports. Canada on Wednesday morning, AEST, announced Australia also reopened market access for Canadian beef, ending a 22-year-old ban imposed following the discovery of mad cow disease.