An array of government measures including better insulation on rental properties, the end of negative gearing for property investors, and the potential introduction of a capital gains tax may force a mass rental stock sell-off, warns property management consultant David Faulkner. We’ve all seen the headlines. Teachers forced to bunk in with their bosses; over … Read more
Every week on The Primer we ask a local business or product to introduce themselves in eight simple takes. This week we talk to Offcut founder Adrien Taylor whose company takes fabric scraps destined for landfill and turns them into hats instead. ONE: How did Offcut start and what was the inspiration behind it? I started the … Read more
Employee subsidies for public transport, less tax on KiwiSaver: There are some gems in the government’s latest tax report other than the capital gains distraction, writes tax expert Terry Baucher. For over 50 years a variety of tax working groups have pondered the greatest philosophical question in New Zealand tax: Should we tax all capital … Read more
New environmental taxes get the thumbs up, but commentators are as divided as ever on the thorny issue of a capital gains tax. The report is out, and as expected the government’s Tax Working Group (TWG) has recommended introducing a broad-based capital gains tax (CGT). While the social justice community applauds the move, business groups … Read more
Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand, with the interview available as both audio and a transcribed excerpt. This week he talks to Angus Brown from Arepa. There have been … Read more
‘A mangy dog’, ‘an assault on the Kiwi way of life’ and ‘yesterday’s cold porridge’: Business groups and opposition politicians are less than flattering about the proposed new tax. The business community is unsurprisingly less than impressed that the Tax Working Group (TWG) has recommended by a majority of eight to three that New Zealand … Read more
The Tax Working Group’s recommendations on changes to the New Zealand tax system have just been released. These are the main recommendations, according to RNZ. Tax the capital gain on sale of land, shares, business assets, intangible assets such as intellectual property. Tax to be imposed when the asset is sold, and levied at the … Read more
Everything from competition around supplying materials to how many lights you have in a room can determine the cost of building a house, says Box co-founder Dan Heyworth. You’re not imagining things – the cost of designing and building really is going crazy. In February 2017, the McKinsey Global Institute studied the effect of implementing construction … Read more
The Sallies are so fed up with mobile traders preying on poor areas and trapping people into crushing debt that they’re firing back with a rival service. When the Salvation Army first started in New Zealand in the 1800s it noticed the bakers of the day were exploiting people with extremely high bread prices. So, … Read more
Does yesterday’s surprise announcement around the tax status of digital giants indicate a willingness to tackle the vast problems they create? Yesterday was just another Monday for the global tech giants: a select committee in the UK referred to Facebook as “digital gangsters” (not in an admiring way) for their response to privacy concerns, speculation … Read more
For 18 years a small group of local business owners ran the Avondale Business Association as they pleased. It took 18 months for two brothers to spark a revolution. Marcus Amosa loves Avondale. And not in the reluctant way that most people love a place they’ve been forced to spend years of their lives in. … Read more
Property owners learn their fate on Thursday with the Tax Working Group‘s big reveal on capital capital gains tax. But whatever happens, it won’t be the housing panacea Generation Rent is hoping for, warns TOP’s Geoff Simmons. Here’s a message for young people who don’t yet own a home. In the coming months you will … Read more
Every week on The Primer we ask a local business or product to introduce themselves in eight simple takes. This week we talk to Erin Harrison, founder of The Freelance Village. ONE: How did The Freelance Village start and what was the inspiration behind it? I’ve been a freelance writer on-and-off for over 10 years and what … Read more
This week, the government proposed a major shakeup of New Zealand’s polytechnics and industry training organisations (ITOs). Associate professor at MAINZ Dr John Bassett weighs up both the pros and cons of this controversial move. In 2014 I moved from teaching in the Australian university sector to set up a music degree in the polytechnic sector … Read more
Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand, with the interview available as both audio and a transcribed excerpt. This week he talks to Romer founder Emily Heazlewood. We’ve all been … Read more
From extracting hemp oil to African artificial insemination programmes, a Christchurch-developed super refrigerator is taking the business of freezing to new levels. An obscure piece of kit that began life in a government science lab is now on the verge of creating a new $100 million export industry for New Zealand. Christchurch company Fabrum Solutions … Read more
Two 20-year-old Auckland students have created an app that combines the brevity of Q&A platforms like Yahoo Answers or Quora with the visual nature of websites like YouTube or Instagram. Now, they’re competing against 11 other teams all across Asia in one of the biggest student tech competitions in the world. A few years ago a … Read more
Mark Thomas discovers that ‘reality’ in North Korea means theme park-style monuments, hopelessly pot-holed roads, and much bowing to Eternal Leaders. Living and working in Singapore last June you couldn’t avoid the mayhem caused by the first Trump/Kim summit. But you could also feel the anticipation. On subsequent visits to South Korea I felt as … Read more
Every week on The Primer we ask a local business or product to introduce themselves in eight simple takes. This week we talk to James Koo, co-founder of student discount and job listings app Niesh. ONE: How did Niesh start and what was the inspiration behind it? Niesh actually started as a project between me and … Read more
Marsha Pohatu has lost two front teeth and seen friends die while working in the New Zealand trucking sector. The industry’s culture of dangerous practices has to stop, she says. Exhausting and illegal hours, antagonistic and exploitative management, untreated injuries and fatalities: Driver Marsha Pohatu has witnessed the industry she loves at its grim worst. … Read more
Sources suggest the New Zealand editorial arm of the global youth media giant is shutting down, reports Duncan Greive. A huge round of redundancies being rolled out worldwide by youth media giant Vice has reached the New Zealand office. Staff were told today that the team faces being slashed to one to two positions – with … Read more
Every week on The Primer we ask a local business or product to introduce themselves in eight simple takes. This week we talk to brand strategist James Hurman whose latest venture, Storytech, wants to help small businesses work out their elevator pitch in a single day. ONE: How did Storytech start and what was the inspiration behind … Read more
Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand, with the interview available as both audio and a transcribed excerpt. This week he talks to Mahmood Hikmet, research and development coordinator for … Read more
Last week, a survey attempted to measure the impact of more than 30 local social media influencers on Instagram. But Lucy Revill, a Wellington-based blogger and social media influencer, argues that the survey should have zero influence over New Zealand’s content creators and brands. On my blog, I’ve worked with many brands both big and … Read more
What role can technology play in our overburdened, underfunded health system? Jihee Junn spoke to some of the innovators working to ease the pressure on healthcare in New Zealand. Health has become a major focal point for the tech industry in recent years and nowhere has this been more apparent than at CES, the annual … Read more
The exposure of New Zealand banking to the whims of the Australian owners of our four biggest banks are well known. But if one of those NZ banks fails, Australian taxpayers could find themselves cleaning up the mess, write Matthew Greenwood-Nimmo and Timothy Jackson of the University of Melbourne Australian banks have been under enormous scrutiny during the financial … Read more
He’s 23 years old and runs a $9 million video company that interviews successful business leaders and then posts them online. Who is Unfiltered co-founder Jake Millar? And what even is Unfiltered? “Who’s got a couple of thousand dollars to spare?” One hand, two hands, three hands go up – for a Dick Frizzell, a … Read more
Every week on The Primer we ask a local business or product to introduce themselves in eight simple takes. This week we talk to Wellington-born Jonny McKenzie and Canadian-born Amy Alexander, founders of luxury pre-bottled cocktail company J.M.R. Cocktail & Co. ONE: How did J.M.R. Cocktails start and what was the inspiration behind it? Amy Alexander (AA): … Read more
Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand, with the interview available as both audio and a transcribed excerpt. This week he talks to Mark Kneebone, head of promotions at Live … Read more