44 articles
Official modelling shows 26,000 Pacific families will lose an average $30.75 a week from April 2027 under the Budget 2026 housing support package, the steepest ethnic average loss among losers.
Health Minister Simeon Brown has marked the start of major works on Whangārei Hospital’s acute services building and Budget 2026-backed 158-bed ward tower, a multi-year Crown capital path still partly held in tagged contingency.
NZ Vine Care Limited, a dormant Katikati horticultural labour supplier, entered shareholder liquidation owing Inland Revenue $845,000 as the sole preferential creditor, crystallising years of PAYE, GST, penalties and interest.
The Coalition has put $3 million of Regional Infrastructure Fund operating money behind the Taranaki Alliance, an industry bid vehicle intended to redeploy oil-and-gas engineering skills as Methanex prepares to idle Motunui from early 2027.
The Reserve Bank raised the OCR 25 basis points to 2.75% on 2 September, a second consecutive hike framed as gradual removal of stimulus toward neutral settings rather than a 2022–23-style squeeze, as Treasury’s Fortnightly Economic Update tied the move to firmer business activity, a fuel-led CPI spike to 4.1%, slowed Australian growth and a Very Strong El Niño.
ANZ Bank New Zealand is consulting on winding most of its Dunedin contact-centre capacity down to two roles, while the NZ franchise booked $2.37 billion cash profit and the parent still talks efficiency.
Auckland firms lifted positive confidence to 26% and cut negative readings to 40% in the Chamber’s August survey, a sharp rebound from May’s oil-shock trough, while hiring and investment intentions rose and late payments collapsed—yet consumer demand remains the binding constraint as the OCR climbs to 2.75%.
Proposed staffing cuts at the National Library and Archives New Zealand could trim services to schools by about 36 percent, the School Library Association says, as officials review a 47 full-time-equivalent reduction already flagged against Budget 2025 baseline savings.
Stats NZ annual average unemployment for the year to June 2026 runs from 8.1% in Northland to 3.8% in Tasman/Nelson/Marlborough/West Coast, matching Kiwibank’s multi-speed recovery map.
The Reserve Bank raised the Official Cash Rate 25 basis points to 2.75% on 2 September 2026, the second consecutive hike, as June CPI of 4.1% stayed above the 1–3% band. The central track peaks near 3.2%.
The Government has introduced a KiwiSaver bill fixing two rules that blocked farm workers and first-time farm buyers from first-home withdrawals available to other members since 2010.
Centrix data put hospitality liquidations at 3.3 times the all-business average even as industry sales and card spending lift. The exits are a lagging cleanup of post-Covid balance sheets meeting Inland Revenue enforcement and soft labour demand.
The Public Service Association will push a mandatory public-good cost-benefit test before major agency restructures, seeking institutional limits on the Government’s drive to cut core public service FTEs to about 55,000 by mid-2029.
From 2 November 2026 most single 18- and 19-year-olds without children lose Jobseeker Support if combined parental income exceeds $67,225, just as New Zealand’s unemployment rate sits at 5.6%.
Forestry Minister Todd McClay has appointed former Bay of Plenty regional chair Doug Leeder as facilitator to advise Ministers on further support or intervention for forestry in Tairāwhiti, days after Gisborne District Council launched its own independent review of consenting and compliance.
New Zealand’s recovery is real in soft indicators and South Island export cash-flow, yet annual CPI at 4.1% and unemployment at 5.6% leave the RBNZ removing stimulus into spare capacity—and the pain is not evenly shared.
New Zealand’s unemployment rate rose to 5.6 percent in the June 2026 quarter, an 11-year high, even as employment and participation lifted and hours softened—Treasury’s definition of spare capacity—while a retreating oil shock after a 4.1 percent CPI spike leaves the 2 September OCR decision as the fulcrum between headline risk and slack-driven wage containment.
The labour cost index rose 2.0 percent in the year to June 2026 while consumer prices climbed 4.1 percent, Stats NZ data show.
New Zealand's unemployment rate rose to 5.6 percent in the June 2026 quarter, the highest level in 11 years, as economist Cameron Bagrie urged greater powers for the Commerce Commission to drive competition and support higher wages.
Pasifika unemployment stood at 11.6 percent in the June 2026 quarter, more than double the national seasonally adjusted rate of 5.6 percent.
New Zealand's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to 5.3 percent in the March 2026 quarter from 5.4 percent in the December 2025 quarter, Stats NZ reported. Filled jobs nationwide reached about 2.35 million, still roughly 41,000 short of the October 2023 peak.
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones has reappointed John Rae as Chair of Crown Regional Holdings Limited for a further three-year term.
The Westpac-McDermott Miller Consumer Confidence Index plunged 14.3 points to 80.4 in the June 2026 quarter.
The government is considering reinstating a payroll subsidy for small businesses as forecasts show tax debt reaching $10.5 billion. Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand has proposed a two-pronged approach to curb the rise.
New Zealand's unemployment rate fell to 5.3 per cent in the March 2026 quarter, the first decline since December 2021. This points to pre-oil-shock momentum in the labour market. Yet the sharp drop in April consumer and business confidence, alongside Australia's proactive rate hike, signals transmission risks that could stall the recovery and prompt tighter policy later in the year.
The Social Security (Mandatory Reviews) Amendment Bill received royal assent on 26 May 2025 and took effect immediately, authorising broader use of automated electronic systems for eligibility checks and payment decisions at the Ministry of Social Development.
Budget 2026 confirms $4.77 billion in baseline funding over four years for the Ministry for Primary Industries. The allocation supports New Zealand's food and fibre sector as exports head for a record $62 billion this year.
Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivered Budget 2026 on 28 May 2026, forecasting an OBEGALx surplus of $2.6 billion in 2028/29, a year earlier than the December 2025 HYEFU projection of a $900 million deficit.
Budget 2026 redirects $1 billion in savings from axing the final-year fees-free scheme into nearly $2 billion of new operating and capital spending on schools and early childhood education over four years.
The Government will raise the minimum income-related rent contribution for social housing tenants from 25 percent to 30 percent of income from 1 April 2027, delivering net fiscal savings while redirecting most proceeds into higher Accommodation Supplement rates.
Health Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the ratification of a new 24-month collective agreement for about 1,000 members of the Nurses Society of New Zealand, featuring a 2.5 per cent pay rise in year one and 2 per cent in year two.
A jobseeker who accepted voluntary redundancy in 2024 has applied for more than 130 positions without success nearly two years later.
M.E. Jukes & Son Ltd, trading as Jukes Carriers, was ordered to pay a $420,000 fine, $140,000 in reparation and $10,000 in costs after a worker died in a waste shredder at its Gisborne premises.
The Council of Trade Unions is pressing the government to deliver targeted relief for workers in the 28 May Budget, citing Australia's recent tax measures for low-income earners as an example.
WorkSafe New Zealand charged WasteCo NZ Ltd on or around May 4 2026 with three alleged breaches of the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 following the May 2025 death of worker Lynda Marion Kelly at the Te Anau transfer station.
The Ministry for Regulation now targets a permanent structure of 91 full-time staff, more than four times the headcount of the New Zealand Productivity Commission it replaced in 2024.
A median full-time worker paid $15,148 in personal income tax for the year ended June 2023. That amount more than doubled the $7,427 paid in the year ended June 2011. Real wages failed to keep pace with the increase.
The New Zealand government will cut 8700 core public service jobs over three years. The plan reduces full-time equivalent staff to no more than 55,000 by July 2029.
Finance Minister Nicola Willis will set an explicit target to reduce New Zealand's core public service below 60,000 full-time equivalent staff by 2029 in her pre-Budget speech today.
New Zealand's services sector remained in contraction in April 2026. The BNZ-BusinessNZ Performance of Services Index rose 2.7 points to 48.9 from a revised 46.2 in March.
Health New Zealand carries a $1.8 billion liability for past Holidays Act compliance errors. The Employment Leave Bill 2026 targets this fiscal burden with simpler rules.
Associate Education Minister David Seymour announced on 15 May 2026 that the Healthy School Lunches Programme will save taxpayers $122 million in 2027 while delivering meals to 242,000 students each school day.
The seasonally adjusted BNZ-BusinessNZ Performance of Manufacturing Index dropped to 50.5 in April 2026 from 53.2 in March, marking the weakest expansion in months as fuel costs surge.
Lyttelton Port Company will eliminate 14 container terminal roles after the Maritime Union of New Zealand decided against a Supreme Court appeal.
