One year to the day since the Ihumātao eviction, here’s how things stand

Today marks one year since police evicted mana whenua and members of the Protect Ihumātao campaign from land at Ihumātao, South Auckland. Justin Latif looks back at the standoff, the eviction, and what’s happened since. Has it really been a year?! Yes it really has. On July 23 2019, police descended on Ihumātao in South … Read more

‘We will see a positive resolution’: the flag comes down at Ihumātao

On day 1,173 of the occupation at Ihumātao, it was announced that a resolution is imminent, and expected before Waitangi Day. Leonie Hayden reports from Māngere.  This morning Kiingi Tuheitia travelled to Ihumātao and lowered the flag of the Kiingitanga. Six years after ancestral land at Ihumātao in Manukau was earmarked for a future housing … Read more

The Bulletin: Construction giant holds contentious AGM

Fletcher Building CEO Ross Taylor

Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Fletcher Building holds AGM at crucial time for company, chances of Manus Island refugees being settled in NZ increases, and more NZ First Foundation documents emerge. To lead us off today, a look at the AGM of a hugely important company. Ihumātao has been forced onto … Read more

Fletcher Building fields questions on Ihumātao at AGM

Fletcher Building has finally addressed the elephant in the room and it has caused no more than a ripple among its conservative shareholder base, writes business editor Maria Slade. Pania Newton, shareholder, and protector at Ihumātao, is now close to an old hand at Fletcher Building annual meetings. When she rose to ask a question … Read more

How will the convention centre fire impact Fletcher Building – the corporate giant which cannot catch a break

Will New Zealand’s largest construction firm have to write off yet more money over the troubled International Convention Centre project? Both Fletcher Building and SkyCity’s share prices have felt the impact of the devastating fire that has raged at Auckland’s half completed convention centre for over a day now. More than 80 firefighters continue to … Read more

24 hours on: The SkyCity Convention Centre fire explained in 15 questions

Smoke continues to billow in downtown Auckland 24 hours after fire broke out in the incomplete complex. Shortly after 1pm yesterday came the first reports of a fire on the site of the SkyCity New Zealand International Convention Centre in central Auckland. That brought a massive mobilisation of emergency services, evacuations of surrounding buildings and … Read more

Ihumātao land protectors shut out of government talks

Occupiers of the disputed land at Ihumātao have been shut out of talks with the government about finding a resolution, saying they haven’t had any direct contact with ministers in more than a month, write RNZ’s Te Aniwa Hurihanganu and Meriana Johnsen. The Māori King announced in September mana whenua had reached a consensus that they … Read more

The Bulletin: Prefab factory promising but huge need remains

Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Prefab housing factory opened amid huge need, worrying new measles developments, and public shows common sense on drug testing. A new factory has been opened to produce building materials, which if scaled up could have a significant impact on construction time and costs. Anne Gibson at … Read more

Cheat Sheet: Fletcher Building unveils huge profit amid Ihumātao outcry

New Zealand’s largest construction company and controversial owner of the disputed Ihumātao land near Auckland airport has made a $164m profit, a big turnaround from its losses last year. Business editor Maria Slade analyses what it all means. What has Fletcher Building announced? The construction and building products company with operations on both sides of … Read more

A message of solidarity from Pussy Riot to the people of Ihumātao

Pussy Riot’s Masha Alyokhina has been travelling from Auckland to Wellington overnight to join SOUL (Save Our Unique Landscape) in presenting a petition to MP Marama Davidson on the steps of parliament this morning. She speaks here about why she supports the campaign. It’s a real honour that Pussy Riot can be a part of this campaign. Today … Read more

How is a major contractor going bust in the middle of NZ’s building boom?

Henry Oliver asked John Tookey, AUT’s deputy head of the School of Engineering, Computer & Mathematical Science, to explain how Ebert Construction is going bust just as New Zealand’s building industry is supposed to be ramping up. This morning, construction company Ebert Construction went into receivership, leaving workers on several major projects across the country … Read more

The Bulletin: Police to reopen Pike River case?

Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Pike River case could be reopened, public service workers to vote on strike action, and police accused of behaving like a private security force. Police could reopening the Pike River mine case, and criminal charges may follow, reports Newshub. The government’s top investigator has been in Greymouth, … Read more

How much tax did our largest companies pay last year?

Tax Heroes: We take a closer look at how much tax our 50 biggest companies paid in 2017. “Tax is love”: Read Duncan Greive’s introduction to our new Tax Heroes series here. Do our biggest businesses pay their fair share? This was the question confronting Auckland accounting professors Jilnaught Wong and Norman Wong. So they … Read more

The Bulletin: Another National heavyweight bows out

Good morning and welcome to the first ever edition of The Bulletin, a round up the best and most important NZ news of the day. Sign up here to get The Bulletin direct to your inbox every single morning.  Another National heavyweight is bowing out, a report into referrals of kids to protection services is … Read more

Pay your bills: The Spinoff survey of corporate payment times

Imagine you didn’t get paid for a month or two for your work. Big businesses have used this tactic to keep cash in the bank – but how long do our corporates take to pay? Rebecca Stevenson investigates. In New Zealand, they account for 97% of businesses. In Australia, 97%. In the UK, 96%. Small … Read more

Ten numbers that tell the story of Fletcher Building’s astounding $660m loss

Fletcher. The name is synonymous with construction and building in New Zealand, and has been since, well, forever. But it’s been in the news for all the wrong reasons lately – here are ten numbers that sum up the company’s bad news streak. $660 million This morning, Fletcher Building announced losses from its Building and … Read more