Making money, saving the world: all the NZI Sustainable Business Award winners

Big businesses such as New Zealand’s largest ever transport infrastructure project are tackling “real” sustainability issues instead of the greenwashing of the past, organisers of the NZI Sustainable Business Network Awards say. “We’re all desperately looking for ‘how do you do this stuff’ now. I don’t think businesses would be deliberately doing things that would … Read more

Tinder for homecare: The controversial service that lets elderly choose their carers

Opposition to a new online homecare service could be a sign of things to come, as the ageing population pits workers’ employment rights against the right of older people to choose who cares for them. Wellington homecare worker Jane* once had an elderly man yell at her and order her to leave the house. Another … Read more

Outsourcing ethics: how All Heart NZ is helping businesses go sustainable

All Heart NZ proves the proverb that one man’s waste is another’s treasure. Nominated for an NZI Sustainable Business Network Award, it’s one of the social enterprises listed on a new platform encouraging corporates to help the world while making money. A hundred metres of unwanted car yard fencing that was destined for the scrap … Read more

Claims of electricity giants’ ‘rip-off’ as independent retailers face closure

Householders are losing out as ‘unjustified’ wholesale prices cause a wave of power company closures, a group of independent power retailers have told the Electricity Authority.  Four independent electricity retailers have laid a joint complaint with the sector’s market regulator over prices they say are “threatening the very existence of independent competition”. Industry sources said … Read more

Turning beauticians into digital whizzes: welcome to the future of work

No science or engineering background? No problem. A new apprenticeship scheme is addressing the skills shortage by training up people with no previous technical know-how. What do beauty therapy and the internet of things have in common? Absolutely nothing, unless you are 27-year-old solo mum Gabriella Swaby. The Melbourne woman was managing a suburban beauty … Read more

Motorists v cyclists: Why the growing anger on our roads is a danger to us all

A cyclist filmed delaying a driver on a west Auckland road is so alarmed at the reaction that he’s issued a plea for Kiwis to come to their senses and end the cultural war. The inflammatory issue of cyclists riding two abreast or otherwise inconveniencing those in automobiles is regular clickbait on New Zealand news … Read more

Grab-and-go revolution: Cashierless shopping comes to NZ

A Kiwi startup is at the cutting edge of a technology that knows what you put in your shopping basket, eliminating the need for checkouts and queues. Aucklanders are about to get their first taste of a shopping revolution that is gathering pace around the globe. If you thought the demise of single-use plastic bags … Read more

Sour grapes: Nobilo wine family feud over a ‘squandered’ fortune

The sons of pioneering immigrant vintner Nikola Nobilo are embroiled in legal action over the family inheritance, with one accusing the other of losing it all. A bitter battle over money has caused a deep rift in one of west Auckland’s original Croatian wine-making families, leaving two brothers slugging it out in court. Relations between … Read more

Blockchain 101: All you ever wanted to know but couldn’t be bothered asking

If your eyes glaze over at the very mention of the word, purple-haired ‘community strategist’ Savannah Peterson is here to change your mind about blockchain, writes Maria Slade. If Savannah Peterson were Mark Zuckerberg, she’d be transforming Facebook into a social network based on blockchain as we speak. Peterson is no ‘crypto-naut’. With her purple … Read more

Housing minister dismisses calls to rein in rogue property managers

Politicians have been ignoring pleas to control the wild west property management industry for over a decade, including the latest lobbying effort. The housing minister is unmoved by calls from a coalition of 26 organisations to regulate rental property managers. Social change agency Anglican Advocacy is leading a lobby to rein in the uncontrolled property … Read more

The Chinese students on a crusade to expose immigration fraud in NZ

An anti-corruption student media start-up says there’s an ugly underbelly to building a new life in Aotearoa. Leo Shao is an unlikely caped crusader. The softly spoken 20-something looks like any other student striding around Auckland’s CBD in his dark duffle coat, takeaway cup in hand. Yet behind this understated exterior lies an alter ego. Shao … Read more

The great imposter: Xero boss Craig Hudson on his mental health battles

The New Zealand head of accounting success story Xero talks to Maria Slade about battling his demons, and helping Kiwi businesses through their own dark days. Many people would think Craig Hudson has it all – sporting talent, good looks, a lovely wife and four children, and a great job as New Zealand managing director … Read more

Zuru is using its toy manufacturing nouse to build better houses

From blow-up water balloons to prefabricated buildings: Homegrown toy giant Zuru is flexing its manufacturing muscles in the direction of the housing shortage. Toy giant Zuru has launched a massive international push into the prefabricated building industry, a venture it says will “make everything else we do look small’. Zuru is the half-a-billion-dollar toy manufacturing … Read more

‘What are you doing to stop further deaths?’ Auckland wharfies plead for action on safety

Following the death of a young wharfie there are claims Ports of Auckland is encouraging unsafe practices by paying bonuses for moving cargo faster, reports Maria Slade. Last month 23-year-old wharfie and father Laboom Dyer suffered fatal injuries when the straddle carrier he was driving tipped over at the Ports of Auckland. The tragedy has … Read more

Same-sex nuptials on the cover of a Kiwi magazine – a wedding world first?

Here come the brides! Together Journal’s latest cover features a same-sex couple in what might just be a mainstream wedding world first, reports Maria Slade.  A New Zealand-based magazine believes it’s the first mainstream wedding publication to feature a same-sex couple on the cover. Together Journal is a quarterly magazine founded by Kiwi businesswoman Greta Kenyon … Read more

Fonterra’s $200m loss explained: Why our biggest company is in the red

Milk is practically white gold, right? Turns out not so much, with Fonterra announcing a huge loss for the year. Business editor Maria Slade explains why our biggest dairy company has lost so much money. Has our largest company really made its first ever loss? Yes. Fonterra Co-operative Group has announced a $196 million loss … Read more

Why the lack of a capital gains tax is letting property companies off lightly

No capital gains tax no problem? Not exactly – Tax Heroes has uncovered our biggest property players pay a much lower tax rate, Maria Slade reports. Whether New Zealand should introduce a capital gains tax is set to be almost as hot a topic in Labour’s first term as the prime minister’s pregnancy. While debate … Read more

From Mexico to Cuba St: One woman’s mission to create inclusive coffee

They’re helping Mexican farmers grow sustainable coffee, but The Lucy Foundation’s next step is to give disabled Kiwis employment chances. Maria Slade caught up with founder Robbie Francis to find out how she is building a business model with inclusiveness at its core. Heaven knows how New Zealand would keep functioning if its citizens didn’t … Read more

If we’re going to legalise weed, should we do the same for heroin and meth?

An adviser on America’s opioid epidemic says New Zealand needs to treat all drug abuse as a health problem, not a criminal one. Fresh from leading a committee advising US Federal officials on policies to address America’s runaway opioid problem Professor Richard Bonnie believes New Zealand must go beyond the legalisation of cannabis and decriminalise … Read more

Kiwi house prices are 65 times their 1970 levels – but is it really a bubble?

House prices are how high now? Maria Slade takes a look behind an alarming graph and finds NZ’s housing ‘bubble’ may be overblown. Canadian commentator and investment adviser Hilliard McBeth alarmed the Twittersphere this week when he posted a graph showing New Zealand house prices 65 times higher than they were in 1970. This compares … Read more

Inside the risky business of building an Uber for babysitting in New Zealand

Book an Uber, an Airbnb and a stranger to look after your child? Maria Slade looks into the potentially risky business of online parenting services. Coverage of Balmoral mum Jane Haagh’s new childcare venture, Sitterzen, sent Facebook into a frenzy this week. Dubbed the ‘Uber of babysitting’, the aspect of her web-based service which most … Read more

The great meth testing scam

Are Kiwis wasting thousands unnecessarily decontaminating their homes? Maria Slade looks into a business growth story which appears to be solving a problem which doesn’t exist. Sugar soap and elbow grease “Any standard detergent will do. I’ve suggested they should use two different ones if they want to be sure, and then get it retested,” … Read more