Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: New wave of bank closures hitting the regions, Australia rocked by war crimes report, and ten years since Pike River marked. A massive wave of bank branch closures is coming, with BNZ shutting down 38 locations over the next year. They’re in both cities and towns, … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Stories of the modern housing crisis, commerce commission to study supermarket industry, and Tauranga’s local government civil war deepens. The term ‘housing crisis’ featured a lot in NZ politics over the last decade, but it means different things to different people. In today’s Bulletin, I’m going … Read more
The Commerce Commission is undertaking a year-long study of supermarkets to see whether consumers are getting a fair deal, but it seems even the prime minister knows the answer will be an emphatic no, Justin Giovannetti reports. There might be something rotten with New Zealand’s supermarkets. Food prices are high and increasing, producers are being … Read more
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: For and against a four year term, Labour planning market studies on groceries and building supplies, and NIMBYs fighting youth hub in Christchurch. One of the major newslines out of Wednesday’s leaders’ debate was on a point of agreement between Ardern and Collins. During the quickfire … 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
It’s a more complicated issue than simply whether one company should control the majority of the market, writes regulatory law expert Edward Willis. The closure of Bauer Media’s operations in New Zealand, along with many well-loved magazine titles, is devastating. The broad impact of the closure, coupled with the realisation that Bauer Media’s print media … Read more
How honest do advertisements really need to be? Madeleine Chapman investigates a newspaper ad promising a price of $14.99 when the real cost is far, far more. The best advertisements make you stop. Sometimes because they’re funny, or fun to look at. Sometimes because they’re inspiring. And sometimes, though less often, because they offer a … Read more
Last Friday the Commerce Commission announced that the WORLD fashion label had accepted it had likely breached the law over false garment labels and that it had made enforceable undertakings to the regulator as a result. This morning, in an interview on The AM Show, the company’s founder and frontperson professed not to know anything about … Read more
After its initial stubborn refusal to accept wrongdoing and attacking the integrity of Spinoff reporting, the NZ fashion retailer WORLD has changed its tune, accepting a likely breach of law over clothing labels, following a Commerce Commission investigation. New Zealand fashion label WORLD has accepted the Commerce Commission’s view that labelling on some imported clothing … Read more
From broadbeans to home wiring, the Spinoff and the Commerce Commission provide some essential tips on how to enhance your broadband performance. The internet is buzzy as. Think about it for a second. Inexplicable technology has the answer to every question you’ve ever had, held inside magic flying around in the sky, just waiting for … Read more
Measure twice, cut once. New Consumer Affairs Minister Kris Faafoi is on a mission to make our laws fit for purpose. Unfair clamping fine from a private carpark: $760. Phone call from a debt collector: $30. Interest on a short-term loan: 400%. These are the sort of consumer outrages in the sights of Commerce and … Read more
Companies in New Zealand make a lot of claims about their environmental values and support of local communities – but is it all a greenwashed dream? Jenny Keown lifts the lid on ethical consumerism. Picture this: you’re a mum rushing through the supermarket, wailing child in tow, headache forming and needing to make a split … Read more
Made in New Zealand. Four words that attract a premium price. But who says what’s Kiwi made and what’s not? Following today’s revelation that WORLD sells clothing manufactured offshore with cardboard swing tags that state “FABRIQUE EN NOUVELLE-ZELANDE” (translation: Made in New Zealand) we started to wonder – what are the laws and rules which … Read more
NZME and Stuff are working together wherever they can, regardless of what the watchdog and high court have to say about it. Update 21 February: Stuff announced further closures and redundancies below – this story has been updated to incorporate this news. A week before Christmas the High Court stepped in to save journalism from itself. … Read more
Meat substitute company Sunfed Meats is being taken to the Commerce Commission, accused of misleading consumers over its chicken-free chicken. Jihee Junn looks at how such stoushes are becoming increasingly common as the meat and dairy industries begin to fight back. Here’s a puzzle for you: can meat still be meat if it isn’t actually … Read more