Why are our university bookshops closing?
Last week it was announced the University of Auckland's campus bookshop, UBIQ, will close. In 2023 the Victoria University shop Vic Books also closed after nearly 50 years in business. Not only do these stores help stock students with textbooks, but they can also act as social hubs on campus. So, what are students missing out on without a bookshop on campus? And do we need to do more to support booksellers?
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RNZ News
34 minutes ago
- RNZ News
KiwiSavers may be missing out on crypto currency returns, digital investment firm says
KiwiSavers may be missing out on bigger returns offered by crypto currencies with many advisors reluctant to recommend them to clients. Swyftx analysis suggests under-diversified KiwiSaver portfolios are limiting retirement outcomes for thousands of New Zealanders. Photo: 123rf KiwiSavers may be missing out on bigger returns offered by crypto currencies with many advisors reluctant to recommend them to clients. Analysis by digital investment platform Swyftx suggests under-diversified KiwiSaver portfolios were limiting retirement outcomes for thousands of New Zealanders. Swyftx chief executive Jason Titman said if a typical KiwiSaver member had invested $36,500 in Bitcoin over the past decade, equivalent to $10 a day, they would now hold a portfolio worth about $2.8 million. "It's a clear example of the opportunity cost facing retirement savers when portfolios remain too narrow," he said. "Diversification into digital assets, even at a small allocation, could dramatically shift long-term outcomes for many Kiwis." Titman said New Zealand was lagging behind pension funds in countries like Canada, Germany and Singapore, which had been integrating crypto and other digital assets into broader retirement strategies. "Digital assets are now a mainstream component of diversified investment portfolios internationally, yet New Zealand advisers are lagging in both adoption and education," he said. "We know that the current financial education gap in New Zealand is significant, however, when advisers are equipped with evidence-based tools and global context, they're far more confident having conversations about diversification that includes digital assets." Titman said high-net-worth families had been early adopters of digital assets, recognising their growing potential as a legitimate diversification tool within a long-term investment strategy. He said an order signed by US President Donald Trump to allow alternative digital assets in registered pension funds was another example of a wider shift in how retirement funds were managed and regulated. "Regardless of political stance, what we're seeing globally is recognition that younger generations want more control, choice and exposure to higher-performing asset classes. "The question is whether New Zealand's system will evolve fast enough to meet that demand." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
NZ Herald
an hour ago
- NZ Herald
First-term government should be doing better, as Labour overtakes in new poll
Greaves said she would expect a first-term government to be polling better than this. She also said that Labour still had work to do to 'get it together', with the party yet to announce its team or policies. Associate professor in politics at Victoria University Lara Greaves. Photo / Michael Craig She said the big decider will be the economy – not just where it is at, but how people feel about the state of it this time next year and who they blame for it. '[It's about] their evaluations of the economy and who caused what and who's at fault for what and, you know, Trump's the other thing that's concerning for any government. 'We can see anecdotally the Canadian and Australian elections affected by Trump, but political science research is starting to come out to show that, yes, Trump does have a huge effect on other democracies.' On why Labour is remaining tight-lipped, Greaves said she believed they had internalised the idea that 'timing is everything'. 'The longer that the current government have knowing what that policy is going to be, the longer they can test and figure out how to peg something on them. 'But they're going to think of some way to really phrase the capital gains tax as affecting the middle class, as affecting New Zealanders and affecting the economy and paint Labour a certain way.' Greaves believed it was 'quite unusual' for Chlöe Swarbrick to raise her hand for the Finance Minister's job. She believed the Greens were trying to take up as much airspace as possible before a capital gains tax announcement. 'Because I think once there is some kind of capital gains tax policy announcement from Labour, that's all we're really going to be talking about for a while.' Speaking to Newstalk ZB's Mike Hosking this morning, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon dismissed the latest poll results, saying he does not want to speak about himself, and all Kiwis want is for National to fix the economy. 'I mean, I don't go into polls because every time there is a different poll every week in this country, and people don't want me to talk about myself or polls,' he told Hosking. 'I think the big trend is pretty obvious. People expect us to fix the economy. It's as simple as that. So fix it, and then in 2026, they'll make their call.'
RNZ News
an hour ago
- RNZ News
New seasonal worker visas 'awesome' for rural contactors
The Meat Industry Association said processors were needing hundreds of workers. Photo: Meat Industry Association The head one of New Zealand's biggest exporters says new visas for seasonal workers will be vital in keeping the industry running. The government has introduced two new work visas for seasonal workers, which Immigration Minister Erica Stanford said visas would make it easier for employers to retain the same workers for multiple seasons. The Global Workforce Seasonal Visa is for up to three years for experienced seasonal workers in roles such as rural contracting, sheep scanning, winemaking, and snow instruction. Workers will need to return to their home countries for at least three months each year. The Peak Seasonal Visa is valid for up to seven months for short-term seasonal roles like meat and seafood processing, calf-rearing, and wool handling. Visa holders will have to have at least one season of previous relevant experience and people will need to leave New Zealand for at least four months before the visa can be renewed. For visas over three months there will be a new requirement for insurance with health coverage. Meat Industry Association chief executive Sirma Karapeeva said meat processors often struggle to find workers especially in peak season, when hundreds of workers are needed. "We are very mindful we need to prioritise and ... employ New Zealanders first and foremost but when labour is short and we can't find the necessary labour we are forced to look elsewhere." Erica Stanford Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver "We know the success of our seasonal industries is critical to growing the economy. These new visas will make it easier for employers to bring back experienced seasonal workers and to fill short-term roles that are hard to fully staff locally," Stanford said. Business New Zealand chief executive Katherine Rich said the move was a chance for sectors with periods of high demand to have consistency in workers from overseas. Agriculture and tourism operators would not have to "start from scratch" every year, and would know the person's skill level and whether they were a fit for the organisation. Simpler processes and certainty of workforce quality would provide better value for a wide range of businesses, she said. Rich was confident the new rules wouldn't disadvantage local workers, since employers still had to prove they could not fill the role with a New Zealander Federated Farmers said it would make a huge difference to the agriculture sector. Immigration spokesperson Karl Dean said having good staff who would be able to return three years in a row would help rural contractors. "It's awesome, because it's the training and getting people used to your processes, your health and safety, the farms you deal with, is what does cost a business." Applications for both visas open on 8 December. The exisiting recognised seasonal employer (RSE) scheme which will continue unchanged. The new visas will replace the interim seasonal Specific Purpose Work Visa, was introduced in 2024 as a short-term measure to meet seasonal workforce needs.
