This year’s budget was a chance to re-orient our economy to help it work better for Māori, not just now but into the future. The government failed to grasp the opportunity, writes Missy Te Kanawa. For Māori, the budget met the Covid-19-created need but missed the long-term mark. There were some good wins, but overall … Read more
Michael Andrew heads to the south Auckland amusement park as it returns to business. When I was maybe 10 or 11 years old, I used to dream about having Rainbow’s End to myself. What if the park was empty, and I could enjoy all the rides without having to compete with the crowds or the … Read more
With billions paid out through the government’s wage subsidy scheme, Vanessa Schouten asks if all that was claimed by businesses was actually needed, and if it should be paid back. When the government introduced the wage subsidy scheme back in March, it was on the basis that the money would “help keep people attached to … Read more
The mothballing of Dunedin Railways represents a huge loss for the city where New Zealand’s rail preservation story started. Now, the community is asking for a chance to save their train, and with it the crown jewel in Dunedin’s tourist industry. The Taieri Gorge Railway has been and meant many things. The railway line is … Read more
There’s widespread appetite for domestic tourism, while public support for the alert level two shift is high. New Zealand tourism could be handed a lifeline if New Zealanders take the domestic holidays they say they will in the next three months. In a new Stickybeak survey, 42% said they intend to holiday in New Zealand … Read more
Amid the budget hype on Thursday, the New Zealand Teaching Council announced it would be increasing teacher registration fees twofold. Teachers and teaching groups say the decision shows their opinions aren’t valued. The Teaching Council’s move to more than double registration fees is “unacceptable” and amplifies teachers’ mistrust in their professional body, Post Primary Teachers’ … 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. This week he talks to Emily Miller-Sharma, general manager at Ruby. One of the nicest things to come out of lockdown is a … Read more
Budget 2020: The tourism sector was holding out hope for a lifeline to come in the form of yesterday’s budget. It didn’t come, and now its leaders say they’re drowning. Members of the beleaguered tourism industry say the support they’ve been offered is a drop in the bucket compared to what is necessary given the … Read more
Budget 2020: Yesterday $50b worth of financial measures were committed to protect jobs in the industries most affected by Covid-19. So what did small business owners make of it? For many business, perhaps the most anticipated and welcome measure in the Covid-19 response budget was the $4bn support package, which included an eight-week wage subsidy … Read more
For all The Spinoff’s latest coverage of Covid-19 see here. Read Siouxsie Wiles’s work here. New Zealand is currently in alert level two – read The Spinoff’s giant explainer about what that means here. For official government advice, see here. The Spinoff’s coverage of the Covid-19 outbreak is funded by The Spinoff Members. To support this work, join The Spinoff … Read more
Budget 2020: The government has unveiled a massive $50bn spending package, including an eight week extension to the wage subsidy. Duncan Greive asks the business community: is it enough? The government this afternoon unveiled a massive new $50bn programme of spending – “much bigger than anyone expected”, according to Kiwibank senior economist Jeremy Couchman. The … Read more
Grant Robertson has just published the 2020 budget, drawn up in what the prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, calls ‘the most challenging economic conditions faced by any government since the Great Depression’. Here are the essential elements, via RNZ. A $50 billion rescue fund sits at the centre of 2020’s “once in a generation budget” as … Read more
Budget 2020: While the cost of Covid-19 means crown debt will increase dramatically, setting the right priorities means the economy can recover sooner. The government should have two priorities in this budget. First, and most importantly, the health system needs to be ready for the medium-to-long term changes that the pandemic has forced on the … Read more
After moving back home to Clyde in Central Otago for the Covid-19 lockdown, George Driver wonders how the tiny town on the edge of Queenstown’s tourism boom and bust will survive. Growing up, Clyde always felt like a quiet backwater. Cut off from the main road and in the shadow of the 100m concrete wall … Read more
After nearly two months of working from home, many people will relish the change of scene when they return to their actual work places on Thursday. But how has this bizarre period influenced employees’ perception of work? Sent out through our daily live blog, social media, and our daily Bulletin, a new Stickybeak survey asked … Read more
Budget 2020: With the unemployment rate growing and predicted to rise further, many more people face financial hardship and poverty. Alan Johnson explores how the government could address this in Thursday’s budget. In previous budgets the finance minister Grant Robinson proved himself a fiscal conservative, suggesting that it wasn’t time to fully address our various … Read more
Expected to be the most significant in a generation, Thursday’s budget will reveal how the government will offset the monstrous cost of Covid-19. Terry Baucher explores the likelihood of tax changes. As usual, the finance minister is not lacking for advice in the run-up to this week’s budget. It ought to be something of a … Read more
With shovels preparing to break ground on Covid-19 recovery projects, Mark Thomas writes why the rebuild should focus on addressing New Zealand’s systemic challenges. When the government put out a call for shovel ready projects on April 1, it was inundated with about 1,800 initiatives worth many billions of dollars. Not surprisingly, most of these … Read more
NZME asked the commerce commission for urgent approval to buy Stuff for $1. Minutes later, Stuff’s owner said it was no longer in talks with NZME. In the space of a chaotic few hours, the long-running courtship between print media giants NZME and Stuff dramatically escalated, as NZME informed the sharemarket that it was seeking … Read more
One of the success stories of the level four lockdown, SOS Business has provided a channel for incapacitated communities to send support where it is needed most. In the frenzied 48 hours before level four took effect, when packs of Cottonsoft were being ripped off supermarket shelves like the last lifejackets on a sinking ship, … 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. This week he talks to Asantha Wijeyeratne from PaySauce. Recently, local employment solutions provider PaySauce announced it had raised more than $5 million … Read more
Working in customer service has never been easy, but now it’s pushing workers to the brink. Emily Writes talks to those on the other side of online shopping. Katie* has cried every day for the last few weeks. It’s a good day if she can make it to the end of the day before she … Read more
For all The Spinoff’s latest coverage of Covid-19 see here. Read Siouxsie Wiles’s work here. New Zealand is currently in alert level three – read The Spinoff’s giant explainer about what that means here. For official government advice, see here. The Spinoff’s coverage of the Covid-19 outbreak is funded by The Spinoff Members. To support this work, join The Spinoff Members … Read more
In the second part of our new series with Kiwibank answering your questions about Covid-19’s impact on New Zealanders’ finances, a reader asks what the mortgage holiday offer is and what it would mean for their repayments. Kiwibank’s Nicole Pervan responds. Dear Nicole, I’d like your help in understanding the mortgage holiday offer. I am … Read more
Midway through lockdown, Kiwibank received Rainbow Tick accreditation. Sam Brooks talks to Kiwibank’s chief risk officer Liz Knight about what the Rainbow Tick means for the company. Acceptance isn’t a state of being, it’s an action. It’s not a casual nod to a stranger on your walk, it’s a handshake. You know, back when we … Read more
In a small community on a remote stretch of the West Coast, tourism operators contemplate a town without tourists. Halfway between Westport and Greymouth, Punakaiki usually heaves with rental cars, campers and buses during the summer. More than 400,000 people visit the unique geological formations known as the pancake rocks every year, according to a … Read more
Reality TV star Harry Jowsey has been taken to task on YouTube by a British teenager over a $600 online business accelerator scheme. He was the charming Aussie with the Ledger-esque smile who graced our screens last year in New Zealand reality show Heartbreak Island, and more recently made his international telly debut on Netflix’s … Read more
For all The Spinoff’s latest coverage of Covid-19 see here. Read Siouxsie Wiles’s work here. New Zealand is currently in alert level three – read The Spinoff’s giant explainer about what that means here. For official government advice, see here. The Spinoff’s coverage of the Covid-19 outbreak is funded by The Spinoff Members. To support this work, join The Spinoff Members … 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. This week he talks to the editor of Homestyle magazine Alice Lines and chairman of the Magazine Publishers Association (MPA) Nicholas Burrowes. With … Read more