Sir Peter Beck's Outset Ventures has raised another $45m to invest in start-ups
The sum is well ahead of the initial 'Fund II' target of $30m and a big jump on
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NZ Herald
4 days ago
- NZ Herald
The NZ economy is still sick, doubts are growing about the Govt prescription
Are these the right antibiotics? Are the antibiotics making me feel sick? I do feel a little better I think. But it's taking longer than I expected. Maybe I should see the doctor again. Or am I just being impatient? Ugh, so much uncertainty. Hopefully, those who've tuned in for a fresh read on the state of the economy can see where this is going. Never let a metaphor go by, I say! Anyway, here's me and the New Zealand economy, both sick in the midst of a miserable wet winter and worrying about whether our recoveries have stalled. A run of negative data has knocked the wind out of the nation's sails. The bad vibes are being pushed along by a strong political current. Both the left and right are telling us that the Government has prescribed the wrong medicine. The left blames the Government for cutting spending into a downturn. The logic is pretty simple. Any good Keynesian will tell you, when demand in the private sector falls, that's the time for the Government to come to the party. Borrow a bit more, don't slash and burn civil service, hire more teachers and nurses, build more stuff ... it won't be inflationary because it won't be crowding out private sector competition, which is in recession. The trouble is, we're still in the aftermath of the last big spend-up, which went on too long. Labour's stimulus, once we got through the initial Covid shock, did clash with a private sector boom and exacerbated inflation. That muddied the political narrative. It made it inevitable that the incoming centre-right coalition would cut back despite the extra damage that would do to economic growth. In the context of using fiscal policy to drive economic prosperity, you can make a good case that successive governments have got things completely arse about face. You'd expect this argument from the left. But Christopher Luxon and Nicola Willis are being savaged even more aggressively from their right flank. The monetarists, the supply-side guys, the neo-liberals, (whatever you want to call them) are berating the Government for not dealing with the national debt and Crown deficit by administering a Rogernomics-style reboot of the whole economy. I doubt that would make the current downturn any more pleasant, but they argue it couldn't be much worse. And the payoff would be longer-term gains as the economy found a more productive and financially secure baseline. Both arguments can be compelling and, if nothing else, add to the concern that the current strategy of subtle market-oriented tweaks risks underdelivering on all sides. But through all of this gloom, one thing we need to remember is that most economists still believe the foundations of recovery are in place. Step back a bit from the mess of ugly recent economic data – the second quarter sucked, we get it! What are we actually experiencing? The labour market is tough. Unemployment is rising, and new job creation is almost non-existent. But this is not a surprise. In fact, while economists do get things wrong, they've been forecasting unemployment to be about where it is now for more than a year. We know it's one of the last pieces of data to turn in any recovery. Unfortunately, it is now overlapping with an unwanted and unexpected spike in inflation. Like a jump scare in the final scene of a horror movie, food prices (with rates and power, and insurance) have conspired to pause Reserve Bank rate cuts and rattled our faith in the recovery. Then there are tariffs and global unrest and all of that. It's not really surprising that it all feels bleak. So it's a bit ironic to be writing an optimistic take on the economy, especially given the rough week stuck at home that I've just had. My view wouldn't have been so upbeat if I hadn't been woken from my sick bed on Friday morning by a text from investment bank HSBC's Australian head of communications. He was asking how far away I was from my scheduled meeting with their global chief economist, Janet Henry and and Australia-New Zealand chief economist Paul Bloxham. Oops ... I was a long way away. But they kindly let me Zoom in later, and I'm very glad I did. As anyone with Australian cousins will know, sometimes it's healthy to be slapped in the face with a slightly condescending, external view of the New Zealand condition. Bloxham told me his forecasts currently make him one of the gloomiest economists on Australian growth. However, he's one of the most positive on New Zealand growth. Last year, New Zealand had the single largest contraction of any economy in the developed world, Bloxham points out. That inevitably comes with a hangover. But if you believe in the fundamentals of the New Zealand economy, which he does, there is no reason to assume the cycle won't turn. 'I suspect why I'm a little bit more upbeat than others is I sit in Sydney and watch it from the outside and go: hey, you've got two big forces at work that are set to continue to lift growth and give you a recovery.' No prizes for guessing those two forces – falling interest rates and booming agricultural commodity prices. The money flowing into the rural economy must eventually flow through to the cities and lift growth, Bloxham says. It won't happen overnight, but it will happen (my words, not his). We've had a big downswing, which means we're due a pretty big upswing to get back to trend, he says. And we've got monetary policy and the terms of trade in place to drive that cyclical upswing. 'All cycles look different. We always ask the same question going through: oh, it's not quite happening as quickly as we thought. 'The question you ask yourself is: is that because it's not working? Is it that interest rates aren't going to have the same effect? That a positive-terms-of-trade shock won't have the same effect? Or are things just a bit different this time around?' Great question. And look, the sun's finally out and I think my head's clearing. Time to go for a walk and ponder it all. Liam Dann is business editor-at-large for the New Zealand Herald. He is a senior writer and columnist, and also presents and produces videos and podcasts. He joined the Herald in 2003.
NZ Herald
6 days ago
- NZ Herald
Government's secret pay equity overhaul bypassed public scrutiny
It halted existing claims and raised the threshold for proving work had been historically undervalued to support a claim. Claims then had to start again under the new threshold. The bill halted existing claims and raised the threshold for proving undervalued work. Photo / Jason Dorday It was revealed in the Budget that the savings from tightening the regime amounted to about $12.8 billion over the next four years. The documents, released to RNZ under the Official Information Act, revealed ministerial meetings, including one involving the Prime Minister, were carefully managed, with instructions to withhold their proactive diary release under confidentiality provisions. One email from Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden's office instructed officials to manually remove digital access to cabinet papers, warning that leaving the default settings in place 'will give access to ministers but also SPSs [senior private secretaries] and some ministerial advisers. So you might want to remove that and we can add individual named ministers instead'. Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden's office kept details of pay equity changes under tight wraps. Photo / Mark Mitchell Another memo described how hard copies were hand-delivered to ministers' offices to avoid creating digital trails. 'If you really need a soft copy, I can email it through,' wrote an official from the office of van Velden. 'For context, I swear I'm not being weirdly difficult – this was the method of distribution that has been advised.' The strategy was internally referred to as 'Project Ten'. A comprehensive communications pack was prepared in advance, to be released only after the bill had been introduced and passed. 'We recommend that any announcements or statements about the proposed amendments must be made after the introduction of the bill,' one paper said. 'This is because there is a risk of a large increase in the number of claims being raised if information about the proposed changes is made public beforehand.' That advice was followed. The legislation stopped 33 active claims overnight, some of which had been under way for years, and implemented a stricter legal test for future ones. The documents make clear that fiscal concerns were central to the push – a key driver was to significantly reduce costs to the Crown. Officials stressed the need for the law to be passed in time for Budget 2025, reinforcing the cost-cutting motive. But, they acknowledged the truncated timeline meant there was no opportunity for public submissions on the bill, a process later criticised as 'particularly unusual and draconian'. Officials also conceded limited testing and analysis of the policy proposals because of the short timeframe, and raised concerns about unintended consequences arising once the bill has been passed. Despite the rushed process, the internal discussions reveal the Government was aware of the contentious nature of the changes. Officials noted the proposed transitional arrangements, which 'retrospectively remove and alter people's rights', were 'most likely to be contentious' and 'may engage the Human Rights Act and Bill of Rights Act'. It proceeded anyway. – RNZ
Scoop
7 days ago
- Scoop
NZ Reopens For Petroleum Exploration
Operators will be able to apply for new petroleum exploration permits as early as September following the third reading of the Crown Minerals Amendment Bill, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Bill removes the ban on oil and gas exploration beyond onshore Taranaki, better aligns decommissioning settings with international practice, establishes a new tier of permit to undertake small-scale non-commercial gold mining, and signals the Coalition Government's intent to reinvigorate investment in Crown-owned minerals. 'This Government is pragmatic about the vital role natural gas will play in our energy mix in the decades ahead and we have set a course for greater energy security backed by our own indigenous reserves,' Mr Jones says. 'The ill-fated exploration ban in 2018 has exacerbated shortages in our domestic gas supply by obliterating new investment in the exploration and development needed to meet our future gas needs. Reserves are also falling faster than anticipated. 'New Zealanders are bearing the brunt of this constrained gas supply, and energy security concerns are impacting investor sentiment. These factors are taking a toll on our economic growth and prosperity. 'We are seeing businesses in the regions closing as a result with Kiwis losing their jobs, and we're importing hundreds of tonnes of Indonesian coal to meet peak energy demand. 'This legislation is just one of many actions we are taking to get the right settings in place to resuscitate sector confidence, shore up energy supply and protect electricity affordability.' During the progression of the Bill, a gap was identified in the existing Crown Minerals Act that relates to liability for the costs of decommissioning petroleum infrastructure. In certain circumstances, parent companies of permit-holders could sell their shares without remaining responsible for the costs of decommissioning old petroleum infrastructure, exposing the Crown to fiscal risk. 'Together with changes to the decommissioning regime that better balance regulatory burden and risk to give operators the clarity they need to invest in exploration and development wells, we have introduced ministerial discretion to assign liability for decommissioning costs to former permit-holders and others who have held interests in a permit,' Mr Jones says. 'We recognise that a one-size-fits-all approach for every scenario not only erodes investor confidence, it also doesn't allow us to best manage risk. 'I want those who benefited from having an interest in a petroleum permit to pay for decommissioning the relevant infrastructure. While financial securities remain at the core, the new approach to assigning liability will ensure the most appropriate person will remain responsible for costs if the current permit-holder cannot meet their obligations and financial securities are insufficient.' Most of the changes through the Bill will take effect immediately, while others will require staged implementation and secondary legislation. All changes will be operational by the end of September 2025.
