logo
Commerce Commission dismisses Federated Farmers complaint on net-zero banking

Commerce Commission dismisses Federated Farmers complaint on net-zero banking

RNZ News5 days ago
ANZ, ASB, BNZ, Westpac, and Rabobank are all signatories to the Net-Zero Banking Alliance.
Photo:
RNZ
The Commerce Commission has dismissed a
Federated Farmers complaint
that five major local banks acted like a cartel, tying lending to climate targets.
ANZ, ASB, BNZ, Westpac, and Rabobank are all signatories to the Net-Zero Banking Alliance, which aligns lending policies to climate change goals. Together, the five banks account for 97 percent of agricultural lending in New Zealand.
The Commission's general manager competition Vanessa Horne said no evidence of anti-competitive or cartel-like behaviour had been found.
"We thoroughly investigated the complaint and concluded that the banks had made their own, independent decisions.
"We found no evidence of unlawful co-ordination between the banks or with the Net-Zero Banking Alliance, either relating to the banks joining or in meeting their obligations under this alliance."
Federated Farmers alleged the five banks were co-ordinating their agricultural lending with Net-Zero Banking Alliance strategies which could violate the Commerce Act.
It also alleged that this could make it harder for farmers to get loans and increase borrowing costs.
Its banking spokesperson Mark Hooper called the Commission's decision disappointing but accepted it.
"The reason we made the submission in the first place was that we felt there had been some collusion and there was a sort of collective agreement that would have limited farmers' choice. So in that sense we're disappointed, but we still think it was the right course of action to go down."
Hooper said they remained concerned that banks were straying from their "core role of lending money based on real risk considerations and not indulging in the climate change space".
The Net-Zero Banking Alliance is a United Nations (UN) initiative that guides banks to lead on climate mitigation in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement.
Its website claims 127 banks worldwide have signed up, overseeing $74 trillion in total assets.
In background information the Commission said the Alliance did not prescribe targets for signatories, gave a framework for target setting, and tools to assess the emissions within their portfolios and how to speed up lending towards low-carbon activity.
Rural concerns about the reduction of
lending to rural based petrol stations
, prompted New Zealand First MP Andy Foster to pursue a private members' bill to prevent banks from refusing to lend for so-called "woke ideology" reasons.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero
,
a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Taranaki mayors want hydrogen kick-start from Wellington
Taranaki mayors want hydrogen kick-start from Wellington

RNZ News

time2 hours ago

  • RNZ News

Taranaki mayors want hydrogen kick-start from Wellington

Hydrogen is touted as a fuel with lower carbon emissions, especially for fuel-cell powered heavy trucks. Photo: Supplied / Hiringa Energy Taranaki mayors want central government to partner up with their councils to kick-start a hydrogen industry. This despite ongoing questions about the gas's effectiveness in reducing carbon emissions. The Taranaki Mayoral Forum said Wellington should financially back the region as it is the logical base for hydrogen energy production. That work would include both onshore and offshore exploration. As economies attempt to move away from fossil fuels, hydrogen is touted as a lower-carbon-emission alternative with no pollution from the exhaust pipe. It is especially promising for freight trucks, which are hard to power by battery. The mayors' submission to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Enterprise on regulating hydrogen has admitted drawbacks: hydrogen's green credentials depend on how it's made. The forum emphasised hydrogen is not a silver bullet for climate change - noting that other technologies, scaled-up mitigation and behaviour change were also necessary. Despite those doubts, the mayors enthusiastically pitched Taranaki as New Zealand's best bet for a hydrogen headquarters, asking the government to take "proactive action". "Government support may be required to help kick-start an industry in New Zealand and make sure risks are appropriately managed." The forum is made up of the New Plymouth, Stratford and South Taranaki district mayors and the chair of Taranaki Regional Council. Their submission points to Taranaki's experience in energy production, existing infrastructure, and promising geology - as well as councils' experience in regulating the energy sector. Hiringa Energy's project to make hydrogen at Kāpuni powered by windmills taller than Auckland's Sky Tower defeated a court challenge from Te Korowai o Ngāruahine. Photo: Supplied / Hiringa Energy "We would welcome Taranaki being considered as a home base for this industry." The mayors are clear that iwi and hapū need to be in the room from the start. "The Mayoral Forum supports a regulatory regime that provides mana whenua with early and meaningful engagement," their submission said. "Treaty settlements in Taranaki have clear provisions around oil and gas developments, and [we] recommend that the government consider how best to honour those commitments in regulating hydrogen, even if hydrogen may not strictly fall within definitions in Treaty settlements." Different ways to make hydrogen have varying carbon footprints. Manufacturing demands huge amounts of electricity in a relatively inefficient process: Hiringa Energy is gearing up capacity at Kāpuni to make "green" hydrogen with power from four giant windmills, taller than Auckland's Sky Tower. MBIE is investigating "natural" and "orange" hydrogen. Geological processes in the Earth's crust form natural hydrogen, while the orange version is made by injecting water and carbon dioxide into particular mineral formations to stimulate hydrogen generation. The MBIE paper points to two options to regulate the infant industry: The mayors' submission said mana whenua must be part of talks, whatever officials decide. "Whichever regulatory pathway the Crown adopts regarding the RMA or CMA, discussions will be required with iwi and hapū to define rights to the resource." They also suggest collaboration with local booster agency Venture Taranaki and Ara Ake, the region's nationally-focused energy innovation centre. - LDR is local body reporting co-funded by RNZ and NZ on Air.

Auckland FC stick with dual stadiums, plan for expansion
Auckland FC stick with dual stadiums, plan for expansion

RNZ News

time2 hours ago

  • RNZ News

Auckland FC stick with dual stadiums, plan for expansion

North Harbour Stadium and Go Media Mt Smart Stadium. Photo: photosport Auckland FC pivoted on plans to create their own home base and are now planning to seek to stay longer in their council-controlled split stadium situation. The owners of the A-League club this month withdrew their plans to transform Western Springs Stadium into Auckland Arena which would have been their home ground and training facility. Challenges with public land led them to withdraw their proposal for the privately funded venue, according to the club. Last year Auckland FC signed a five year deal with Go Media Mt Smart Stadium to host their home games and a three year deal with North Harbour Stadium to be the team's training base. Auckland FC chief executive officer Nick Becker said the length of the deals with the two stadiums nearly 30 kilometres apart could be secured for longer terms as both suited the club's current set up. The shorter contract with North Harbour Stadium was a precautionary move as Becker said when the club came into existence last year they were unsure how the space would work for their needs. The club made several modifications - put in a kitchen, gym, transformed corporate boxes into offices and a created a players' lounge - to feel more at home. But the club has a vision for more. "The guys love it up here," Becker said of the Albany base where the players are a couple of weeks into pre-season training ahead of the A-League kicking off on 17 October. "We're going to need additional facilities obviously for our women's team when it comes on, our youth, our reserves, our football schools. "We're really happy up at North Harbour. We'd love to continue to be here for a longer term. "I think as a space relatively central, there's so much potential here to create a really fantastic home for our professional teams and our youth teams. "What sort of development that requires we're not sure about that right now, but I'd definitely love to see some development here into a more high performance centre." North Harbour Stadium is home to football and rugby sides. Photo: Andrew Cornaga/ Auckland FC are not the first to float the idea of turning the stadium and surrounds into a high performance or sporting hub - it is an idea that has been around for decades - but the timing might be right . Tātaki Auckland Unlimited was this month retained as operators of North Harbour Stadium and the surrounding Domain Precinct after a better alternative could not be found. The council-controlled organisation's chief executive Nick Hill said Tātaki Auckland Unlimited (TAU) "will pursue a refocused operational model at North Harbour Stadium". The search for a new operator by the North Harbour Steering Group had aimed to find an operator that could deliver increased connection with the community and improved financial performance. The Steering group, with TAU, was now working to determine the long-term future of North Harbour Stadium and Domain Precinct, focusing on the most appropriate ownership, funding, governance, improvements, and operational management model which was expected to take until December 2026 to be decided. Auckland FC has shared the training field space with Super Rugby Pacific side Moana Pasifika and their game day home ground with the Warriors NRL club. Scheduling clashes were avoided last season during the cross-over in the A-League and NRL seasons at the stadium in Penrose. Becker said he had a draft draw for the 2025/26 A-League season that would have a "few tweaks" before "key fixtures" were drip-fed out to fans next week.

Insurance disputes surge to record levels
Insurance disputes surge to record levels

RNZ News

time5 hours ago

  • RNZ News

Insurance disputes surge to record levels

By Kajal Nair , RNZ Dovedale flood damage. Photo: RNZ/Ellen O'Dwyer Insurance disputes have surged to record levels, with a 25 percent increase in formal cases this year, the Ombudsman reports. It has prompted the Insurance & Financial Services Ombudsman (IFSO) to issue fresh calls for insurers to do more to support vulnerable customers. The IFSO scheme has accepted 600 cases for investigation so far this year. Ombudsman Karen Stevens said while many complaints were resolved quickly, more were unresolved even after going through an insurers internal processes. Stevens said many insurers were already making positive changes, particularly in the aftermath of last year's flooding, but warned the current economic climate meant vulnerability was becoming more widespread. "Vulnerability isn't a label - it's a situation that can affect anyone. "Insurers need to recognise when someone is struggling and respond with empathy, flexibility, and fairness," she said. In response, the Insurance Council of New Zealand (ICNZ) said insurers took their responsibility to vulnerable customers seriously and have made significant changes to their processes following recent North Island weather events. "Insurers changed their processes and approaches to better identify, prioritise, and support customers with significant vulnerabilities," a spokesperson said. "This included strengthening claims systems, improving training, and assigning skilled handlers to the most vulnerable cases - including direct contact [owners] with red- and yellow-stickered homes." The IFSO scheme encourages all insurers to improve communication by using plain language, offering extra time to customers in distress and providing access to support services such as interpreters and mental health resources. It has also launched training tools, including a short course developed with Massey University, to help insurers better recognise and respond to signs of vulnerability.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store