NZ | Economy Thread [Archive]

SYDNEY

September 14th, 2006, 01:27 AM

Bollard leaves cash rate unchanged

Thursday September 14, 2006

Reserve Bank Governor Alan Bollard left the Official Cash Rate (OCR) unchanged at his quarterly review of monetary conditions published today but back-tracked on last quarter's signal that there are unlikely to be more rate hikes this business cycle.

He has left the OCR unchanged at 7.25 per cent all this year despite annual inflation being outside the bank's 1-3 per cent target band for four quarters. In a "hawkish" statement, Dr Bollard said the bank saw more inflation pressure than in the June quarter review and the inflation rate was not expected to fall below 3 per cent until late next year. "In these circumstances, we are less confident that no further policy tightening will be required in this cycle," he said, adding that there was no prospect of an OCR cut for some considerable time.

The bank's assumption for the 90-day bank bill rate, from which banks fund mortgages, is to have a small rise next year and no drop until the first half of 2008. Dr Bollard said the economy continued to show resilience despite clear signs of an easing in activity. There had been a rebalancing of demand from domestic to the external sector since late last year. "However, economic activity appears to have been stronger than expected through the first half of 2006, with the expansion of employment particularly surprising," he said.

Net exports and government spending had contributed to the buoyancy but household consumption had been more moderate than projected. Although the housing market had slowed, it "continues to exhibit momentum". Dr Bollard said he expected the effects of higher oil prices and last year's interest rate rises to further dampen demand. "But even allowing for these effects, we see more inflation pressure than in earlier reviews." He noted that oil price rises and the fall of the New Zealand dollar had helped push annual inflation to 4 per cent in the June quarter.

While second-round flow-on effects had so far been limited, inflation expectations had continued to drift upwards, influenced by the rising headline numbers. The risk of second-round inflation (passing on costs) had increased because of the persistence of demand and labour market pressures, Dr Bollard said. "Given the continued strength of medium-term inflation pressures, the outlook for monetary policy has become more finely balanced."

This is Reserve Bank-speak for moving monetary policy away from an easing bias towards a tightening one, where the next more in the cash rate could be up. Dr Bollard said there was little leeway to withstand further surprises to medium-term inflation pressures and the balance of risks was on the upside.

Higher oil prices had contributed a quarter of the 4.0 per cent inflation rate, and Dr Bollard blamed these for "almost all the upside surprise to our headline inflation number". In the June quarter, the bank had projected crude oil prices to fall to US$45 by some time in 2008 but this quarter it made a less heroic projection, of around US$53. The bank projects slightly higher near-term economic growth than in the June quarter but the rebound in 2008 and 2009 will be milder. Growth in the year to March 2007 is projected at 1.8 per cent (1.6 per cent in June) and in 2008 is seen at 2.4 per cent (previously 2.7 per cent).

Although Dr Bollard forecasts a "soft landing" for the economy, as he has for some time, the growth rate is projected to be "sub-potential" for a prolonged period. The New Zealand dollar rocketed up immediately after the Reserve Bank's 9am statement, and within 21 minutes was up three-quarters of a cent against the US currency to US65.36c. UBS economist Robin Clements said, despite Dr Bollard's comments, he did not think there would be any rate hikes. "They see growth being a bit stronger than expected, more resilient, inflation pressures a bit higher than their previous reviews and as a result the key words are 'less confident that no further policy tightening will be required'."

ANZ-National Bank chief economist Cameron Bagrie said he was sticking to the view that the Reserve Bank would cut rates in mid-2007, as opposed to raising them. "Dr Bollard's saying enough is enough, he's lost patience, he's seen the slowdown in growth but it's just not quick enough to satisfy the risk posed by inflation," he said. "I think he's setting the economy up for a hard landing or an outright recession."

First NZ Capital senior economist Jason Wong said he was a little surprised at the firmness of the statement in light of the strength of the currency over the past couple of months and the big fall in oil prices. "The bank is putting a lot of emphasis on the domestic economy, employment, capacity constraints, etc." Deutsche Bank chief economist Darren Gibbs said the statement was clearly more hawkish than the market expected. "The RBNZ sounds almost like its at the end of its tether on inflation risks," he said.

"It means there's a real risk now that rates will have to go higher. October is probably too early, but if we don't see a definite slowdown by December, there has to be a significant chance of a hike."

SYDNEY

September 14th, 2006, 01:31 AM

NZ house price lift ranks seventh in rich nations survey
Wednesday September 13, 2006

The rise in New Zealand house prices ranks seventh in this year's survey of 20 rich countries by the Economist. The 12.4 per cent rise for New Zealand was down from the 13.7 per cent rise in the magazine's survey last year.

Denmark posted the biggest rise, 23.6 per cent (15.4 per cent up in 2005). Japan's house prices fell 3.9 per cent (5.4 per cent down last year).

Prices in Australia were up 6.4 per cent in 2006 (1.9 per cent rise in 2005) while in Britain the rise was 6.6 per cent (6.1 per cent last year).

House prices in the United States rose 10.1 per cent (14 per cent in 2005).

The rise from 1997 to 2006 in New Zealand was 94 per cent and in Australia 126 per cent

SYDNEY

September 14th, 2006, 01:53 AM

This is a great article and says what I want to say - I am going to frame it ;) I also love the name given to New Zealand - GODZONE

http://danny.oz.au/travel/new-zealand/p/1669-milford-sound.jpg

New guide gives Godzone a dose of personality
Tuesday, 12 September 2006, 9:40 am

Lonely Planet’s new edition New Zealand guidebook, released today (Tuesday 12th September), says New Zealand’s most attractive feature is not only its “outlandishly beautiful scenery”, but its people.

According to Errol Hunt, the Commissioning Editor for the new guide, “the fascinating mix of Maori, Polynesian, and Pakeha culture, as well as the nation’s quirky eccentricity and genuine community vibe, is the recipe that makes New Zealand’s personality so attractive.”

As the guide says, “In recent years, New Zealand has been punching well above its weight and demanding to be noticed. Its movies, music, wine, progressive politics and clean green image have been kicking goals around the world, and people have been paying attention in ways the country never dreamed possible.”

While New Zealand’s natural wonders rightly receive high praise throughout the guide, the book also notes that, “… a pretty backdrop is not all NZ has going for it. Genuine friendly locals go out of their way to ensure visitors feel welcome. There is a vibrant Maori culture too, for this is a country that recognises and respects its indigenous people.”

The guidebook features an increased focus on Maori tourism, with regional Maori ‘highlights’ sections offering information on how travellers can respect and immerse themselves in Maori culture. “New Zealand’s strong indigenous culture – both traditional and contemporary – is something very unique about this country. With this guide we’ve tried to show travellers how to seek out and experience the multi-faceted, ‘living’ culture of Maori New Zealand, rather than see it as ancient history,” said Errol Hunt.

Eccentric New Zealand is also fully embraced in the guidebook. Bizarre, tacky, or just downright strange tourist attractions include Stratford’s Shakespeare-spouting Glockenspiel, the big L&P bottles in Paeroa, Owlcatraz in Shannon, Palmerston North, Ohakune’s Big Carrot, and Auckland’s Sky Screamer: “Should you hurl, rest assured, you can get a video of it.” Charmingly eccentric personalities such as Napier’s Art Deco ambassador, the unfailingly debonair Bertie, also feature.

“When they think of New Zealand, most potential visitors think: landscape, sport and the haka. But until they go there, they often don’t realise how incredibly quirky New Zealanders are, with a wicked sense of humour. At the same time, Kiwis are also increasing their reputation for being stylish and modern,” said Hunt.

WHAT DID I SAY ? ;) .... “Hip, energetic city” Wellington gets a great rap for “its thriving café and entertainment scene, and serious dedication to the arts”.

Auckland’s blend of the social, the natural, the cultural, and edible – along with great local fashion designers – personify the city’s cool. While Christchurch is described as a “thoroughly modern NZ city” behind its picturesque Englishness.

The new edition of the guidebook doesn’t pull any punches and contains the trademark honesty and opinion Lonely Planet is renowned for. But praise is also lavished when due. For example on “bright, attractive” Nelson as “one of NZ’s most liveable cities”, Queenstown’s “atmospheric restaurants, laid-back cafes and excellent boutiques” combined with “spellbinding views”, and Dunedin, an “increasingly cosmopolitan city”. Other destinations don’t fare so well, such as Kaitaia, “the highlight of no-one’s trip to NZ” and “shabby little Bluff”.

For the latest edition of New Zealand, Lonely Planet’s team of five expert authors spent a total of 26 weeks on the road, or about 1,820 hours of research – a third more than the previous edition. During that time, the authors personally visited thousands of hotels, restaurants, cafes, bars, galleries and more. Lonely Planet authors are independent, and never take freebies in exchange for positive coverage.

The new guide also includes contributions from expert Kiwis such as author and television maker Professor James Belich on history, prolific journalist Russell Brown on culture, food writer Julie Biuso on food and drink, ex-All Black Josh Kronfeld on surfing, and dreadlocked Greens MP Nandor Tanczos on the environment. And Gandalf himself – Sir Ian McKellen – writes on the perils of sandflies.

WHAT LONELY PLANET SAYS ABOUT ...

AUCKLAND
“Behind historic shopfronts, Ponsonby Rd’s many restaurants, bars and cafés are abuzz with sociable chatter of caffeine fiends, fashion hints from the city’s swishest sales assistants and the incessant tones of mobile phones and text messaging.”

CHRISTCHURCH
“Christchurch is often described as the most English of NZ’s cities … But for all its self-consciously inherited charm, Christchurch is also a thoroughly modern NZ city, as exemplified by the Kiwi art that has pride of place in the city’s modern gallery, the wildlife reserves teeming with native animals, and a multitude of great cafés, restaurants and bars.

COROMANDEL REGION
“It’s a great, quintessential getaway spot, with an old-fashioned holiday feel and plenty of opportunities to get back to basics. After all, some of the more remote communities in these parts are still accessed by gravel roads, and an aura of rugged individualism hangs like mist over this compact and special region.”

DUNEDIN
“Dunedin is becoming increasingly popular as a mellow city nurturing a strong artsy side. If you can unglue yourself from the city’s café scene, the raggedly shaped Otago Peninsula lies practically in Dunedin’s backyard and is teeming with wildlife and outdoor activities.”

FIORDLAND & SOUTHLAND
“Southland is the New Zealand many of us dream of; expect to wear holes in your boots, go through countless rolls of film and capture vistas in your memory that will stay with you for a lifetime.”

GISBORNE
“With a dogged up-and-comer’s approach, Gisborne has morphed itself from redneck backwater into progressive, ebullient town with sassy restaurants, classy motels, million-dollar Wainui Beach houses and an apartment-lined harbour bobbing with expensive yachts.”

HASTINGS
“Hastings is a utilitarian agricultural town with tractors on the streets and little of the chutzpah Napier manifests so readily. A random scene: a shirtless young renegade drives his ember-red utility around and around Hastings’ main block, The Doors’ Light My Fire stuck on repeat, blaring from open windows, an unlit cigarette dangling from his lip… The question is, will Hastings light your fire?”

HAVELOCK NORTH
“Five kilometres southeast of Hastings’ rural toil, Havelock North is a different kettle of fish (or vat of wine) altogether. Range Rovers and BMWs cruise the streets as bleached-blonde 50-something wine wives sip lattes in a prosperous village atmosphere. The towering backdrop of Te Mata Peak keeps egos in check.”

INVERCARGILL
“Invercargill rarely scores high marks with travellers, something that the city is working hard to rectify. Boy racers in souped-up cars and girls with souped-up hair-dos hint at the fact that there’s not much to do around here. Nevertheless, … if you’re willing to explore a little, there are a few gems in the way of architecture, museums, parks and galleries that are worth calling on. The city is a little rough around the edges but it certainly won’t be swamped with other tourists.”

KAURI COAST
“Unless you’re a passionate fan of the kumara (sweet potato), which is the dominant vegetable of the rolling farmland, your main reason for coming here will be to marvel at the magnificent kauri forests – one of the great natural highlights of NZ.”

MARTINBOROUGH
“Martinborough, with its many vineyards, is a prime ‘minibreak’ destination and the center for tourism in the Wairarapa. At weekends, Gucci replaces gumboots as gourmands dine in the excellent restaurants, sniff the pinot, and lap up the luxurious boutique accommodation.”

NAPIER
“A dignified, sunny, composed city, there’s the air of an affluent English seaside resort about the place. The focus rests squarely on Napier’s urban virtues: its much-vaunted Art Deco architecture is milked for every tourist dollar, while good-looking middle-agers who’ve had too much sun glide between cool cafés.”

NELSON
One of NZ’s most liveable cities, Nelson is a bright, active place ... It’s noted for its fruit-growing, wineries and breweries and its energetic arts and crafts community.”

OAMARU
“At first glance, it might not look like there’s a lot going on in Oamaru. Tourists saunter, locals languish and even the traffic seems mellow. But with countless penguins, gorgeous public gardens, a historic precinct and an excellent gallery – as well as some slightly less conventional sights such as a rustic jazz bar, upmarket cheese factory and penny-farthing races – this slightly eccentric, wonderfully friendly town will keep you engaged.”

OHUKUNE
“Ohakune leads a double life as the North Island’s top ski destination and, strangely, NZ’s Carrot Capital. Expect the orange vegetable to creep into burgers and appear on pizzas, especially during July’s annual Carrot Festival.”

OTOROHANGA
“Otorohanga (often called ‘Oto’ by locals) is a friendly, easy-going farming community and the perfect example of the Kiwi icon that is the one-street town … decorated with murals and displays of other kiwiana, including the All-Blacks, sheep, Maori carvings, gumboots, Anchor butter and pavlova.”

PALMERSTON NORTH
“Palmerston North, Manawatu’s main city, is a town of two peoples: laid-back country fast-foodies and caffeinated Massey University literati, coexisting with none of Cambridge’s ‘Town versus Gown’ sabre-rattling. Easy-going and unaffected, ‘Palmy’ people walk around whistling and go barefoot on the grass.”

QUEENSTOWN
“The size of a small town but with the restlessness of a city, Queenstown has mountains of things to do. … Keep in mind that Queenstown is undeniably a big-budget resort town and draws more than a million visitors each year.”

RAGLAN
“On the coast, 48km west of Hamilton, is the small, delightful community of Raglan …It’s the sort of charming place that sees you inevitably shuffle your itinerary as you make plans to extend your stay and the time spent in your jandals.”

ROTORUA
“Maori culture is a major drawcard in Rotorua and, although some find it heavily commercialised, it’s a great opportunity to learn more about Aotearoa’s (Land of the Long White Cloud) original culture.”

RUSSELL
“In its early days Russell was a magnet for rough elements such as fleeing convicts, whalers, prostitutes and drunk sailors. Charles Darwin described it in 1835 as full of ‘the refuse of society’ and it also picked up the chirpy nickname ‘hellhole of the Pacific’. Sadly, all good things must come to an end, and the town is now a bastion of cafés, gift shops and B&Bs.”

TAKAKA
One of the most relaxed towns in NZ, Takaka is the centre for the Golden Bay area and the last town of any size as you head towards the northwestern corner of the South Island. It’s a bustling place in summer, with a local community of ‘Woodstock children’ and artistic types.

TARANAKI
“… people in the ‘naki (as locals call it) are proudly independent, with healthy dairy industries and off-shore mining creating enough prosperity for their own locally funded bank.”

TAURANGA
“With a real-estate boom since the 1990s, Tauranga is one of NZ’s fastest-growing cities. … with a swell in holiday-home buyers the workhorse has become a show pony.”

THE WEST COAST
“Solitude is easy to find here. Turn off the highway and you’re alone beneath a rainforest canopy or standing on a tumultuous shore – your face reflected in a mirror lake – or your feet kicking through the rusted waste of century-old mining abandon. This is a place where people aren’t particularly important; where dreams aren’t easily realised.”

WANGANUI
“With rafts of casual Huck Finn sensibility, Wanganui is a come-as-you-are, raggedy historic town … Old port buildings are being restored and the town centre rejuvenated.”

WELLINGTON
“If, until now, your travels in NZ have been about small towns and the great outdoors, stop in Welly to dose up on big-city treats like art-house cinemas, designer clothes stores, sophisticated wine bars and late-night cafés.”

WHANGAMOMONA
“A stop at Whangamomona is compulsory, mostly because of the border guard. This quirky village became an independent republic after disagreements with local councils.

OverseasKiwi

September 14th, 2006, 06:16 AM

SYDNEY

September 14th, 2006, 07:03 AM

hehe thats not the greatest news :P, actually quite bad!

Yeah, you are right BUT at least it isn't a negative growth which can be bad for investment ;) Our salaries need to grow proportionally - I want my dream house dammit :bash:

SYDNEY

September 23rd, 2006, 01:01 AM

Increase in Visitor Arrivals
Friday, 22 September 2006, 11:07 am

There were 155,700 short-term overseas visitor arrivals to New Zealand in August 2006, up 5,000 (3 percent) on August 2005, Statistics New Zealand said today. More visitors came from Australia and China in August 2006, but fewer from Japan and the United Kingdom, compared with the previous August.

Seasonally adjusted monthly visitor arrivals were up 3 percent in August 2006, following a decrease of 4 percent in July 2006. In the year ended August 2006, there were 2.381 million visitor arrivals, down 16,200 (1 percent) from the August 2005 year.

New Zealand residents departed on 163,800 short-term overseas trips in August 2006, down 7,900 (5 percent) from August 2005. There were fewer trips to Australia and Japan, but more trips to the United Kingdom.

In the August 2006 year, there were 1.861 million New Zealand resident short-term departures, up 1 percent on the 1.841 million departures in the previous August year.

Permanent and long-term (PLT) arrivals exceeded departures by 1,000 in the month of August 2006, compared with an excess of 600 arrivals in August 2005. The seasonally adjusted series recorded a net PLT inflow of 1,100 in August 2006, compared with a net inflow of 1,400 a month earlier.

There was a net PLT migration gain of 12,500 people in the August 2006 year. This is up on the net gain of 6,600 people in the August 2005 year. The increase was due to 2,000 more PLT arrivals and 3,900 fewer PLT departures.

SYDNEY

September 23rd, 2006, 01:05 AM

Screen Industry Gross Revenue Tops $2.6 Billion

The New Zealand screen industry recorded gross revenue of over $2.6 billion in the 2005 financial year, Statistics New Zealand said today. Production and post-production work was the greatest contributor, earning $1.3 billion, with television broadcasting earning a further $1.0 billion. There were 2,058 businesses working within the screen industry in the 2005 financial year. Of these, 506 of these were production companies and 1,579 were independent contractors.

The level of turnover generated by the New Zealand screen industry in the 2005 financial year was comparable with both the forestry and logging industry ($2.9 billion) and the horticulture and fruit growing industry ($2.9 billion). Thirty businesses received individual gross revenue of more than $10 million in the 2005 financial year. Television programme production was the dominant sub-sector in the industry, with 1,125 businesses (54 percent) working within this sub-sector in the 2005 financial year. Despite this, the feature film and short film sub-sector was the largest revenue earner, with 54 percent of the $1,294 million production revenue. The United States of America's $521 million was the largest revenue contribution to New Zealand production companies, although domestic sources also contributed $365 million. The Auckland and Wellington regions were the business base for 81 percent of all screen businesses in the 2005 financial year.

Recording activity by production companies showed that 78 percent of businesses filmed within the Auckland region and 42 percent filmed within the Wellington region during 2005. This is the first year that Statistics NZ has run the Screen Industry Survey, which measures the size and activities of the New Zealand screen industry.

SYDNEY

September 26th, 2006, 11:54 PM

NZ Growth Modest But Improving
27/09/2006

New Zealand's economy is set to show modest but improving growth over the next 18 months, underpinned by business investment and employment gains, a private research house said on Wednesday. Business and Economic Research Ltd. (BERL) said the economy had slowed, but was past the bottom of the cycle and growth would start to pick up again.

"There's still a bit of momentum in the employment and investment side and add to that migration coming back in, we're modestly optimistic on the medium-term outlook," senior economist Ganesh Nana said. The research group raised its forecasts slightly for annual average growth in gross domestic product (GDP) to 2.1 percent in the year through March 2007, from 1.9 percent previously.

Growth was expected to increase to 2.7 percent by 2008 and 3.4 percent the year after, from June's forecast of 2.4 and 3 percent respectively. Nana said the export sector was starting to recover, but would take some time to take a lead role in fuelling growth, and was susceptible to any rise in the New Zealand dollar.

"The commodity exports take time, tourism exports are sensitive to the exchange rate, which is not heading in the right direction," he said. The New Zealand dollar has fallen 1.9 percent so far this year, although at one stage it was 12.1 percent lower. It has regained the lost ground over the past two months on expectations the central bank will keep interest rates high.

"The Reserve Bank is walking a fine line, but we hope they stay on hold rather than push up rates any further, which could choke off employment and investment," Nana said, adding that he did not expect a rate cut before the second half of 2007. Consumer price inflation, which was 4 percent in the year to June 30, would remain outside of the central bank's target band of 1-3 percent until the second quarter of next year, when BERL forecast it at 2.4 percent.

SYDNEY

October 6th, 2006, 01:02 PM

Ports of Auckland’s key project nears completion
Friday, 6 October 2006, 1:52 pm

The first half of New Zealand’s largest port infrastructure project - and biggest recycling venture - is almost complete. Imagine 295 Olympic-sized swimming pools of marine mud and cement (known as ‘mudcrete’). That is the volume - 740,000 cubic metres - of material that has been recycled so far into Ports of Auckland’s new reclaimed land extension!

When Stage One (first half) of the extension is complete early next year it will provide five hectares of new land at the Axis Fergusson container terminal. This extra area will provide container handling space for an additional 120,000 TEU at the terminal. Stage Two, the remaining 4.4 hectares of the extension, will be completed over a period of time using maintenance dredgings from around the port wharves.

The project (Stages One and Two inclusive) will add a total of 9.4-hectares of new land, increasing the total area of New Zealand’s largest and busiest container terminal to around 35 hectares – or 350,000 square metres! Ports of Auckland Managing Director Geoff Vazey says, “This is an important project for the Port and for the Auckland region. By increasing the Port’s capacity we are ensuring our ability to handle Auckland’s rapidly growing imports and exports well into the future.”

The first two hectares of Stage One were completed in January and are in use, aiding increased productivity at the terminal. Ports of Auckland’s second container terminal, Axis Bledisloe has a total area of 14 hectares. The large project has been undertaken in a way that is both environmentally and community friendly. It is of such low intensity, both in terms of noise and visibility, that few port neighbours or recreational harbour users are aware of the progress of the project.

The mudcrete, made by mixing dredgings mainly from the deepening of the shipping lane with cement, is being recycled into the reclamation as environmentally friendly fill to form the extension of the Company’s Axis Fergusson container terminal. “By recycling the dredgings from the commercial shipping lane into the reclamation extension we do not need to truck in substantial amounts of scare quarry rock, which is good news for our neighbours and road users.

“Using this method is also good news for the environment as dredgings are recycled and not disposed of at sea and the mudcrete made from dredgings is environmentally friendly,” says Geoff Vazey.

New public access to the waterfront :
The construction of an all-new public waterfront walkway on the reclaimed land is also underway, due to be completed in early 2007. A protective rock seawall is being placed around the eastern exterior of the reclamation. Once the seawall is completed, a three-metre wide walkway and two viewing platforms will be built on top, giving 400 meters of direct public waterfront access.

“There are many operational benefits to be gained from this new area, but we are also very pleased to have the opportunity to open the eastern side of the reclamation to the public. It will be an appealing place to visit offering stunning views up the harbour, as well a safe, close-up view of our busy container terminal,” says Geoff Vazey.

Deepening the commercial shipping lane:
The commercial shipping lane deepening, which provides material for the new reclamation, has progressed to its final stages in the northern end of the shipping lane in the Rangitoto Channel. The channel deepening, to a depth of 12.5 metres at the lowest point of the tide, will be completed within the next few months.

The channel deepening is required in order to widen the tidal window for larger containerships such as those now calling at the port and also to provide for the next generation of vessels expected in the future. This will enable these larger ships to call at almost all stages of the tide.

Fast Facts:

When the shipping lane deepening and Stage One of the Axis Fergusson container terminal extension are completed:

•
Auckland will have a terminal that can service larger containerships with ease.

•
Auckland will cater for an additional 120,000 TEU.

•
Auckland will have the capacity to move almost one million containers a year.

•
Five hectares of land will have been reclaimed. On complete of Stage Two the Axis Fergusson container terminal will have a total area of around 35 hectares – or 50,000 square metres.

•
A new 3-meter wide, 400-metre long waterfront walkway with two viewing platforms on the eastern side of the new terminal will be open to the public.

•
40,000 cubic metres of rock will have been used on the sea walls surrounding the new reclamation extension.

•
An estimated 800,000 cubic meters of mudcrete - enough to fill 320 Olympic-size swimming pools - will have been placed in the reclamation. (At present more than 740,000 cubic metres of mudcrete have been placed in the reclamation; that’s enough to fill 295 Olympic-sized swimming pools.)

•
The new shipping lane depth will be 12.5 metres at chart datum (the lowest of low tides).

* Container volumes are measured in TEUs (20-foot equivalent units – or the size of a standard 20-foot container).

SYDNEY

October 6th, 2006, 01:04 PM

New Zealand Businesses Show Continued Growth
Friday, 6 October 2006, 10:58 am

The level of sales of goods and services for New Zealand businesses, as measured by the Annual Enterprise Survey (AES), reached $362.7 billion in the 2005 financial year, Statistics New Zealand said today. This is an increase of 5.8 percent ($19.8 billion) on 2004, which is higher than the 5.0 percent increase recorded in 2004. Sales are the major component of total income, which reached $461.1 billion in 2005.

Purchases and payments to employees have also increased. Salaries and wages paid to employees increased by 7.8 percent ($4.6 billion) to $62.8 billion. Purchases and other operating expenses increased by 6.3 percent ($16.0 billion) to $270.0 billion.

Net additions to fixed assets increased by 12.3 percent to $38.6 billion, following a 34.5 percent increase in 2004. Other financial variables and economic ratios by industry are available in the accompanying Hot Off The Press, and at a more detailed level on request.

The AES is New Zealand's most comprehensive source of financial statistics, providing annual financial performance and financial position information about industry groups operating within New Zealand. Industries covered in the survey contribute approximately 90 percent of New Zealand's gross domestic product.

SYDNEY

October 8th, 2006, 10:35 PM

Investor optimism grows for year ahead

Monday October 9, 2006

More investors are confident they will earn better returns over the next 12 months, and residential property remains the favourite investment despite the cooling housing market and lower rental yields, the ASB says. A net 19 per cent of respondents expected to do better from their investments in the next 12 months, up from 16 per cent three months ago, says the ASB investor confidence report released today.

"While we continue to get mixed messages about the performance of asset classes in New Zealand and overseas, there is enough good news in key indicators such as equities, employment and housing to drive confidence," said Jonathan Beale, head of investment services at ASB Investments. Confidence has risen from a net 9 per cent six months ago.

Nineteen per cent of New Zealanders said they expected residential property to deliver the best returns, unchanged from three months ago. "Despite rising interest rates, the cooler housing market and lower rental yields, residential rental property remains the highest-ranked asset class," said Beale. The popularity of bank deposits and term deposits fell from 13 per cent each to 12 per cent and 9 per cent respectively.

Beale said: "It is a real surprise to see drops in confidence with savings and term deposits, given the rates currently available in the market and the continued success of high-interest call accounts."

Kiwis' nest-eggs

New Zealanders' top investments:
* Residential property 19pc
* Bank savings accounts 12pc
* Commercial property 11pc
* Managed investment fund 10pc
* Term deposit 9pc

TonyNZ

October 9th, 2006, 08:46 AM

Thank you Enigma for posting so many economic facts and figures i enjoy reading them, keep up the good work! :cheers:

SYDNEY

October 10th, 2006, 08:27 AM

^^^ You are welcome ;)

Business confidence up sharply in latest survey

1.00pm Tuesday October 10, 2006

Business confidence remained negative but improved sharply in the September quarter, the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research (NZIER) said today in its quarterly survey of business opinion (QSBO). The independent think tank said a net 19 per cent of firms in the survey expected a deterioration in the general business situation in the next six months, the most positive figure for 18 months.

"This is sharply lower than the net 44 per cent expecting deterioration in June and well down on the net 61 per cent figure recorded last December," NZIER said. On a seasonally-adjusted basis, a net 26 per cent of firms were expecting deterioration in the September quarter, down from 40 per cent in the two previous quarters, and 68 per cent in December.

The increase in the general business confidence statistic was reflected in all regions and business sectors for which separate data were analysed, NZIER said. Seasonally adjusted, the number of firms reporting an increase in their own activities in the past three months was the same as the number reporting a decrease. Last quarter a net balance of 5 per cent of firms reported lower activity, seasonally adjusted.

Capacity utilisation had increased for the first time since December 2004, from 91.4 per cent in the June quarter survey, to 92.3 per cent in the September quarter, only just below the December 2004 all-time high of 92.6 per cent. "This statistic will be of some concern to the Reserve Bank," NZIER said.

A net 5 per cent of manufacturing firms reported a decline in output in the previous three months, compared to 17 per cent in June. A net 6 per cent of manufacturers reported an increase in exports, compared to a net 26 per cent reporting a decline in the June quarter, and a net 3 per cent reported an increase in new orders compared to a net 17 per cent reporting a decline.

"The reduction in the value of the New Zealand dollar in the first half of 2006 has obviously fed through into orders for the manufacturing sector. "At the same time, the slowing of domestic demand resulting from the tight monetary policy and higher fuel prices squeezing consumption spending on other items has also had an effect on the sector," NZIER said.

In building construction, a net balance of 7 per cent of firms had reported an increase in output in the September quarter, up from 5 per cent in the June survey. A net balance of 9 per cent of firms reported an increase of new orders, a significant jump from 18 per cent reporting a decline in the June survey.

But the number of building firms reporting a lift in the level of overdue debtors was also up, with 24 per cent reporting an increase in overdue debtors, compared to 3 per cent reporting a decrease in overdue debtors in June. "Architects' views about the level of work available in their own area have become generally more optimistic since the June survey, and especially so for government and local authority work and for the period 12 months to 24 months from today," NZIER said.

Among merchants, a net 1 per cent reported a decline in local sales in the previous three months, compared with 15 per cent in June. Looking at employment issues, NZIER said a net 6 per cent of firms intended to increase staff in the next three months, while the difficulty finding skilled labour had eased considerably since early 2005, down from 25 per cent in the June survey to 21 per cent this time.

Firms reporting the availability of labour as the single factor most limiting their ability to increase output had fallen from 26 per cent in the March survey to 14 per cent in September. A net 32 per cent of firms increased selling prices in the past three months, slightly above the net 28 per cent recorded in the June survey, NZIER said.

The net balance of firms that had experienced cost increases in the past three months jumped from 42 per cent in the March survey to 53 per cent in June and 54 per cent in September. "These price and cost-related data will give the Reserve Bank some comfort that inflationary expectations and the outlook are not continuing to deteriorate. The recent strengthening of the dollar and easing of fuel prices have clearly shaped these changes in expectations." A net balance of 27 per cent of firms reported a decline in profitability in the past three months, and a net balance of 9 per cent expected a decline in the next three months.

Melburnian_in_sydney

October 10th, 2006, 08:32 AM

What a love fest!

I guess CAD figures seen in last week's Economist shouldn't be posted here.

Whatever makes you sleep better at night I assume.

SYDNEY

October 10th, 2006, 08:58 AM

What a love fest!

I guess CAD figures seen in last week's Economist shouldn't be posted here.

Whatever makes you sleep better at night I assume.

So astute and yes, your guess is right ! Thanks for stopping by :hi:

SYDNEY

October 11th, 2006, 05:07 AM

Govt announces $11.5 billion surplus

Oct 11, 2006

Government balance sheets have revealed a surplus of $11.5 billion, $2.5 billion more than it was expecting. The record surplus is expected to put increasing political pressure on the government to offer tax cuts. Labour and United Future parties already have a review of business tax rates underway but National says the big surplus means the government can afford to cut personal rates as well.

National's finance spokesperson John Key says the surplus makes a mockery of claims made by Michael Cullen before the last election that tax cuts were unaffordable and would put at risk core primary services. He says when surpluses are this enormous, any veiled hope the government had that it is not overtaxing people will rapidly evaporate. Enterprise advocacy group Business NZ says that the surplus means the government could easily bring forward the planned 2008 business tax cuts.

Chief Executive Phil O'Reilly says the business tax reduction from 33 to 30 cents planned for April 2008 could be brought forward to April 2007. "The last time the business rate was cut, in 1989, business tax revenue actually went up," O'Reilly said. "In the decade before 1989, revenue averaged around $1 billion a year, while in the decade after, it averaged nearly $3 billion a year - in other words, revenue nearly tripled.

"So there are good reasons for cutting business tax - it stimulates business and economic growth. O'Reilly says that the surplus is not stimulating the economy in any way but is simply a drain from taxpayers' pockets. "It should be put to use in a way that truly benefits New Zealand," O'Reilly says.

However, the union body representing civil servants is urging any surplus be ploughed into things like hospitals and schools ahead of tax cuts. The Public Service Association wants an accord from both Labour and National so that the future of health, conservation, border control and social welfare is safeguarded.

dubious

October 11th, 2006, 05:35 AM

shrewd.user

October 11th, 2006, 05:42 AM

so how goes the GDP per capita?

dubious

October 11th, 2006, 05:58 AM

so how goes the GDP per capita?

US$23,200 (PPP)

Melburnian_in_sydney

October 11th, 2006, 06:47 AM

^^ That's a major piss-off. Our surplus as a percentage of GDP is nearly higher than every other country in the OECD. What's even scarier is that Crown Revenue under the Labour regime has risen to 48.8% of GDP- meaning that we're now only 1.3% behind having a state which is larger than the private sector!

Communism here we come!!

ENIGMA:
"Our business savvy keeps surprising wealthier countries and our enterpreneurial spirit is second to none."

Maybe all NZ's savvy business minds are working in the public sector.

SYDNEY

October 11th, 2006, 06:49 AM

^^ That's a major piss-off. Our surplus as a percentage of GDP is nearly higher than every other country in the OECD. What's even scarier is that Crown Revenue under the Labour regime has risen to 48.8% of GDP- meaning that we're now only 1.3% behind having a state which is larger than the private sector!

Communism here we come!!

It is time to use that Surplus and pump it into Auckland - just imagine what we can do with $2 billion Dollars !!

SYDNEY

October 11th, 2006, 07:25 AM

New Zealand's Social Wellbeing Improving

The Ministry of Social Development's Social Report 2006 shows that, on key indicators of social wellbeing, New Zealanders' lives are better, on average, than they were a decade ago. Of the 22 indicators for which there is time series data in the report, 16 show improvement since the mid-1990s. "New Zealanders continue to be better off financially, healthier and better educated", Marcel Lauziere, Deputy Chief Executive of Social Development Policy and Knowledge said.

Strong growth in real GDP per capita has underpinned improved economic standards of living. The unemployment rate has fallen below 4 percent, while the employment rate and real wages have increased. There has been a decline in the proportion of the population with low incomes and in the proportion of households spending more than 30 percent of their income on housing costs. However, income inequality has increased slightly as a result of relatively larger rises in the incomes of middle and higher income households.

While poverty rates are still higher than they were in the late 1980s, outcomes for children relative to adults have improved substantially. The proportion of children living in low income families fell from 27 percent in 2001 to 21 percent in 2004. This compares to a fall from 22 to 19 percent in the proportion of the population aged 15 and over with low incomes. The poverty rate of older people aged 65 and over remained lower than that of other age groups, at 8 percent in 2004. Real median hourly wages have increased for young people aged 15-24 since 1997, but less so than for older age groups.

In the health domain, life expectancy has increased, while smoking, road casualties and suicide deaths have declined. The youth suicide rate fell by 41 percent between 1995 and 2005. In contrast, there was little change in the rate of child deaths from intentional injury over the 1990s. The five-year annual average rate was 1.1 per 100,000 for the period 1996-2000, almost twice the rate over 1981-1985 (0.6 per 100,000). Obesity among adults has become more prevalent, increasing from 17 to 21 percent between 1997 and 2005.

In the knowledge and skills domain, children starting school are more likely to have experienced early childhood education, participation in tertiary education has increased, and the proportion of adults with tertiary qualifications has risen. In the year ended June 2005, 16 percent of adults aged 25-64 years held a tertiary qualification at bachelor\'s degree or higher, up from 10 percent in 1996. However, there has been little change in the proportion of school leavers with higher qualifications.

The disparity between men and women has narrowed for some key indicators within the last decade. Life expectancy at birth - while still lower for men than women - has improved more for males since the mid-1980s. Falling rates of unemployment, suicide death and road casualty have improved men\'s outcomes relative to those of women. On the other hand, the employment rate has risen slightly faster for women than men, and growth in women\'s real median hourly earnings since 1997 has been double that of men. For two indicators - school leavers with higher qualifications and participation in tertiary study - the gap between the sexes has widened.

Several indicators show greater improvements for Maori than for European/Pakeha. These include life expectancy, suicide, participation in early childhood and tertiary education, school leavers with higher qualifications, adult achievement in education, unemployment, employment, low incomes and housing affordability. Three indicators show greater improvements for Pacific peoples than for European/Pakeha: housing affordability, median hourly earnings and participation in early childhood education. While these improvements have slightly reduced ethnic disparities, indicators of wellbeing remain relatively poor for Maori and Pacific peoples in a number of areas, particularly health, economic standard of living and education.

Other findings of the report show that most employed New Zealanders (66 percent) are satisfied with their work-life balance, and that four in five adults are satisfied with their leisure time. Levels of trust in other people are lower than average among Maori and Pacific peoples. Levels of loneliness are higher than average among people with low personal incomes. New Zealand has consistently demonstrated low levels of perceived corruption since surveys began in 1997.

The report uses a set of statistical indicators to monitor wellbeing across ten domains: health, knowledge and skills, paid work, economic standard of living, civil and political rights, cultural identity, leisure and recreation, physical environment, safety, and social connectedness. For the first time, the Social Report includes information about how social wellbeing varies across the country against the 19 social report indicators for which there is regional data. Canterbury, Wellington and Nelson are in the top quartile for at least half of the indicators. Northland, Gisborne and the West Coast are in the lower quartile for more than half the indicators. More detailed regional information is available on the social report website. This information is being provided to support central and local government to identify and develop responses to issues, and to monitor progress across time.

globocentric

October 11th, 2006, 07:35 AM

New Zealand is an Island nation of 4.1 million people yet we are a developed nation and one of the richest countries in the world. Our business savvy keeps surprising wealthier countries and our enterpreneurial spirit is second to none. Let's celebrate all that is good regarding NZ's economy.

http://www.teara.govt.nz/NR/rdonlyres/43D67A7B-8A01-46D1-BBC6-CA2B34312937/68748/e2575enz.jpg

That's a pigheaded and eurocentric statement. New Zealand GDP per capita is not even among the top 25 in this world. Even Countries like Singapore and Taiwan have higher GDP per capita than NZ

Melburnian_in_sydney

October 11th, 2006, 08:07 AM

Figures (IMF) for 2005 with countries of similar size to NZ:

NEW ZEALAND:
GDP (PPP) 2005 estimate
- Total 101.685 billion USD7 (58th)
- Per capita 24,797 USD8 (27th)

DENMARK:
GDP (PPP) 2005 estimate
- Total $187.9 billion2 (45th)
- Per capita $34,7402 (6th)

NORWAY:
GDP (PPP) 2005 estimate
- Total $195.13 billion (42nd)
- Per capita $42,364 (2nd)

IRELAND:
GDP (PPP) 2005 estimate
- Total $167.75 Billion (49th)
- Per capita $40,610 (4th)

FINLAND:
GDP (PPP) 2005 estimate
- Total $163 billion (52nd)
- Per capita $31,208 (13th)

UAE:
GDP (PPP) 2006 estimate
- Total $111.3 billion (59th)
- Per capita $27,957 (23rd)

SINGAPORE:
GDP (PPP) 2006 estimate
- Total $123.4 billion (57th)
- Per capita $29,900 (22nd)

SYDNEY

October 11th, 2006, 08:21 AM

WOW, the figures are even better than I thought -

GDP (PPP) - 27th out of 181 Countires
GDP (NOMINAL) - 47th out of 180 Countries (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_%28nominal%29)

GLOBAL COMPETETIVE INDEX - 23rd out of 125 Countries
HUMAN DEVELOPMENT INDEX - 19th out of 177 Countries

Denmark - 1.4 million people MORE than NZ
Norway - 400 000 people MORE than NZ (way to go Norway - you should be a very proud Nation)
Ireland - smaller than NZ (very impressive)
Finland - 1.1 million people MORE than NZ
UAE - smaller than NZ (if only we had their oil ;) )
Singapore - 300 000 people MORE than NZ (one of Asia's tigers - way to go)

These figures definitely validate the fact that we are one of the World's richest Countries. Kiwi's - give yourself a pat on the back !

NB - let's not forget that NZ has hardly any mineral wealth and we are extremely isolated when compared to the above-mentioned countries who are surrounded by other wealthy countries, a huge population pool and countries like UAE have oil. In lieu of these facts, we are doing extremely well.

SYDNEY

October 11th, 2006, 08:25 AM

^^ That's a major piss-off. Our surplus as a percentage of GDP is nearly higher than every other country in the OECD. What's even scarier is that Crown Revenue under the Labour regime has risen to 48.8% of GDP- meaning that we're now only 1.3% behind having a state which is larger than the private sector!

Communism here we come!!

Just watched the news - our surplus is the 2nd highest in the developed world (Norway is higher).

Melburnian_in_sydney

October 11th, 2006, 08:35 AM

SYDNEY

October 11th, 2006, 08:42 AM

What is the point of having a thread dedicated simply to the 'good news'?

It serves no one any use and I am sure having both sides of the story would ensure that SSC members and visitors alike receive much more of a balanced account of what is happening in regards to NZ's economy.

A love fest is of no benefit except for making some within this forum feel good about the apparent economic strength of NZ.

I only say this because I have an interest in the NZ economy.

If you have such an interest in the NZ economy, you should know everything about our economy and you will not need to read about it at SSC - you obviously read all the newspapers, The Economist etc. what more do you need ?

The World is full of doom and gloom - people are starting to thrive on negativity - just watch the news, read the newspapers, read through some of the forums at SSC ;) ... why not just focus on the positive news, after all, it still reflects what is happenning in NZ and is still an integral part of our economy.

Wellington has a great slogan - positively Wellington (and it is a very positive city) - it rubs off and it is very contagious. Join our little love fest or just IGNORE this thread.

TonyNZ

October 11th, 2006, 08:45 AM

Imagine if we could get back the 700,000 odd kiwi's living overseas (mainly AUS) it would be pretty good if they did come back though. 4.8 million would be very cool.

SYDNEY

October 11th, 2006, 09:00 AM

^^^ I agree with you but don't worry - South Africans, and the British are filling those gaps at a rapid rate ;)

Spring boosts Auckland property market

The first month of spring was reflected in good sales volumes for the Auckland property market according to the latest transaction figures from leading Auckland real estate firm Barfoot & Thompson. Barfoot & Thompson recorded 1,059 sales for the month of September – making it the second busiest month so far this year and representing a 13 per cent increase on the volume of August sales. While there was plenty of activity in the market, prices were softer with the September average sale price dropping back from $483,777 in August to $476,524.

The increase in sales volume was reflected in good activity at the top end of the market. More than 25 percent of properties (by value) sold over the $750,000 mark and nearly 16 percent (by value) fetched prices of a million dollars or more. Director Peter Thompson says, “The overall picture is one of stability with good levels of activity, particularly in the upper end of the market. Now that we have the school holidays out of the way, I expect the market to get even busier through until Christmas.”

“This is a great time for new vendors to consider bringing their properties to market as the high number of sales during September means a shortage of listings is developing at a time when there is traditionally plenty of buyer interest and competition around.” On the property management front, September produced a steady month with the number of fresh lettings rising from 616 in August to 651 in September. The average weekly rent increased to $343 compared with $340 in August.

Melburnian_in_sydney

October 11th, 2006, 09:06 AM

Neitzsche

October 11th, 2006, 09:08 AM

What is the point of having a thread dedicated simply to the 'good news'?

It serves no one any use and I am sure having both sides of the story would ensure that SSC members and visitors alike receive much more of a balanced account of what is happening in regards to NZ's economy.

A love fest is of no benefit except for making some within this forum feel good about the apparent economic strength of NZ.

I only say this because I have an interest in the NZ economy.

I don't quite see why your worried about the point of this thread. I hate to state the obvious but SSC ain't a news website - it's full of people's opinions. Why people would go to a site about tall buildings for solid and objective information about economic conditions in a country, (something that can be hard to find even in the mainstream media) is beyond me. I think I've seen one or two other threads in this community that may also lack a point.....

:dunno:

SYDNEY

October 11th, 2006, 09:14 AM

It's your 'love fest' Enigma you have posted 19 of the 30 posts on this thread. Cutting and pasting selective media releases must take up most of your day.

BTW TonyNZ there is a reason 700,000 choose to call Australia home. They are called 'economic migrants' (most stay more than the usual 2 year sojourn seen in the UK) and this number will only increase for years to come.

Also Enigma I never said NZ wasn't doing well and from experience working with the NZT, the NZ public sector is extemely well oiled. I just don't see the point of this thread, very little of the information you post is in a wider context of what is really occuring in NZ.

You don't see the point of this thread and I don't see the point of you raining on my parade ?? Like I said before, ignore it .. trolling through this thread must take up most of your day and what I do with my time has got nothing to do with you.

P.S. I never said that you said that NZ wasn't doing well ?? Don't be so insecure. I appreciate your input and I am thrilled that you are interested in the NZ economy. It will be great to have you on board and I am sure that you can teach me alot.

This thread is going to stay POSITIVE ! that is that !

TonyNZ

October 11th, 2006, 09:32 AM

holly crap i was just watching the news and apparently 680 kiwis leave our shores for Australia every week thats 35,360 kiwis a year. depressing is it not?...

OverseasKiwi

October 11th, 2006, 09:33 AM

NB - let's not forget that NZ has hardly any mineral wealth and we are extremely isolated when compared to the above-mentioned countries who are surrounded by other wealthy countries, a huge population pool and countries like UAE have oil. In lieu of these facts, we are doing extremely well.

Sorry m8t just have to point out that location has practically no bearing on how well a country will develope. Mauritius is as isolated as us and they were one of the fastest growing nations of the past 10 years. Macao is surrounded by some of the fastest growing countries in the world and it is very stagnant.

You can argue however that for the EU countries close to our size, they are growing fast and are strong because of their ties to the EU and the fact there is a free movement of labour and goods between each others boarders. As well as the fact that the EU government subsidises a great deal of the agricultural produce and has a HUGE venture capital fund.

I'm very happy that New Zealand is doing as well as it is, but lack of good governance and direction will come bite us in the ass 10 years from now when all of a sudden the huge amounts of money NZ collects from taxes ( we are a freakin nanny state ffs, not to the extent of the the Slavic nations where some take 2/3 of income as tax, there was an excellent economist/time article on their issue not so long ago) but 40% + tax is ridiculous. No wonder everyone leaves for other countries. We pander to the families not to business, and business is what runs a country

KIWIKAAS

October 11th, 2006, 10:50 AM

As a kiwi living overseas (just for the record, I didnt leave NZ because of the economy) and living in the € zone I have learnt to take many of these ppp statistics with a grain of salt. While a TV, fridge or groceries maybe a little cheaper for me to purchase here (on basis of ppp), leasure/free time activities are far more expensive (but these arent taken into account when judging a counties ppp income). For example:
1. a 250ml glass of beer at the pub = €2.50 / NZ$4.55
2. a basic main course at a restaurant = €12 / NZ$22
3. an introductory flying lesson (a hobby of mine) = €200 / NZ$361 (in NZ this costs between NZ$70 and NZ$90 (in 2006). Needless to say I've had to drop that hobby since I live here.
4. Lets not even start on the price of petrol
5. a pack of 25 cigarettes is cheaper though = €4.65 / NZ$8.45

All in all, I could afford far more freetime activities (with my lower NZ wage) in NZ than here. Whether that was going flying, parachuting, a weekend skiing etc, etc. Although officially my standard of living should be higher living here, I can not in all honestly say that my quality of life has improved.
Needless to say I don't intend to live the rest of my life here.

property_boy

October 11th, 2006, 10:54 AM

holly crap i was just watching the news and apparently 680 kiwis leave our shores for Australia every week thats 35,360 kiwis a year. depressing is it not?...

A lot of my mates live in Australia, it's a natural progression though.. many people like big cities and in New Zealand where do you after Auckland?
I'm sure you will find that most Kiwi's live in the densely populated east coast of Australia. Climate is also a big drawcard, 'Sunbelts'.. why Florida and South East Queensland are growing at such rapid rates.

New Zealand's size cannot offer the scope and scale of what some desire.. but then there are many other people in the world that choose to move here for a quieter lifestyle.

We still, and have since 1999 had positive Net Migration. Peaked at over 44,000 in 2004.

KIWIKAAS

October 11th, 2006, 11:49 AM

^^
Agreed. Few people I know actually move to Australia for economic reasons (although this is offen portrayed as such in the media). Climate and citylife are generally the drawcards.

TonyNZ

October 11th, 2006, 12:30 PM

A lot of my mates live in Australia, it's a natural progression though.. many people like big cities and in New Zealand where do you after Auckland?
I'm sure you will find that most Kiwi's live in the densely populated east coast of Australia. Climate is also a big drawcard, 'Sunbelts'.. why Florida and South East Queensland are growing at such rapid rates.

New Zealand's size cannot offer the scope and scale of what some desire.. but then there are many other people in the world that choose to move here for a quieter lifestyle.

We still, and have since 1999 had positive Net Migration. Peaked at over 44,000 in 2004.

I totally agree with you but i think 680 a week is to much, i would understand something like 200 or 300 but 680 is just to much people.

Marky Mark

October 11th, 2006, 12:54 PM

You don't see the point of this thread and I don't see the point of you raining on my parade ?? Like I said before, ignore it .. trolling through this thread must take up most of your day and what I do with my time has got nothing to do with you.

P.S. I never said that you said that NZ wasn't doing well ?? Don't be so insecure. I appreciate your input and I am thrilled that you are interested in the NZ economy. It will be great to have you on board and I am sure that you can teach me alot.

This thread is going to stay POSITIVE ! that is that !

Its great to see , don't worry about a Fine Wine alcoholic from Aussie who is lost between two cities and a Globocentric who has No city or Country to his Name to be Proud of ! :banned:

Marky Mark

October 11th, 2006, 01:03 PM

holly crap i was just watching the news and apparently 680 kiwis leave our shores for Australia every week thats 35,360 kiwis a year. depressing is it not?...

Country of Birth of these so called Kiwi's leaving NZ , I think you will find a Large proportion are using NZ as a back door to Aussie ! I have a couple of Mates whom work in Box Hill , a very Asian populated Burb in Melbourne , the number of customers trying to open accounts with NZ passports is huge , and alas these Kiwis speak very little English :doh:

flyin_higher

October 11th, 2006, 01:07 PM

^^Well Tony you will have to put your foot down and get ur ass back to NZ! lol

SYDNEY

October 11th, 2006, 01:11 PM

Thanks for the support boys ;) I have read that more Australians move to New Zealand than Kiwi's move to Oz - I will try to find the article .... At one point we were thinking of moving to Oz NOT for economic reasons (our life-style and quality of life is the envy of many here in New Zealand and in South Africa) but for the weather ... we love this country so much (and thank God we are not up America's backside) that we have decided to make the weather work for us .. come winter 2007 we will visit Australia's hot spots and The Pacific Islands. We are here to stay and I can't wait to receive my Kiwi Passport (we will celebrate until the cows come home) ;)

Marky Mark

October 11th, 2006, 01:12 PM

^^
Agreed. Few people I know actually move to Australia for economic reasons (although this is offen portrayed as such in the media). Climate and citylife are generally the drawcards.

When I left for Melbourne , big Citylife and a Relationship were the reasons , as you say Kiwikaas and Propertyboy it had nothing to do with economics .
It is a general Kiwi Progression , to live and travel overseas , just as the thousands of Aussies whom live and work in England and around the World do.::runaway:

shrewd.user

October 11th, 2006, 01:20 PM

let's not let this get into an oz vs nz thing...

but it is kind of weird to only post good news... :S

TonyNZ

October 11th, 2006, 01:20 PM

^^Well Tony you will have to put your foot down and get ur ass back to NZ! lol

Well im only 16 but when im old enough and finacially stable i will most definately come back to New Zealand.

SYDNEY

October 11th, 2006, 01:23 PM

let's not let this get into an oz vs nz thing...

but it is kind of weird to only post good news... :S

Agreed - and I support the "weird" option. I have always been "different" ;)

SYDNEY

October 11th, 2006, 01:40 PM

Drilling of Cheal oil wells begins

1.00pm Wednesday October 11, 2006

Drilling of the first development well in the Cheal oil field in Taranaki started yesterday, Austral Pacific Energy said today. The field is located in Petroleum Mining Permit 38156 in the onshore Taranaki Basin. Austral Pacific holds a 36.5per cent interest in the field and is the operator.

The Cheal B1 well is the first of four wells to be drilled back-to-back from the Cheal B site as part of the Cheal oil field development. The Cheal B wells are planned to intersect Mt Messenger and Moki targets identified from 3D seismic data. Austral chief executive Rick Webber said the start of drilling was significant.

"The Cheal Joint Venture has put in a place a development programme which will deliver oil production of approximately 1000 barrels a day during the first quarter of 2007, rising to approximately 1900 barrels a day during Q2 2007."

An independent reserves estimate put the probable and possible remaining reserves at 4.4 million barrels of oil for Cheal. The start of drilling from Cheal B comes less than three months after the partners approved the development of the field and follows the award of the mining permit in July.

The permit allowed for production from Cheal for an initial term of 10 years with a right to extend the duration of the permit following the delineation of further reserves. Total spending is budgeted at $25 million. After drilling the Cheal B wells, the Ensign Energy Services Rig 19 will be moved to the Cheal A site to drill two further development wells. Existing wells will be reworked in December.

Austral Pacific's share of the development costs is $9.1m. The other joint venture participants are TAG Oil (NZ) and Arrowhead Energy. Production from Cheal started in July at rates up to 300 barrels per day. The first oil from the field's permanent production facilities was expected to be available in the first quarter of 2007.

flyin_higher

October 11th, 2006, 02:49 PM

Well im only 16 but when im old enough and finacially stable i will most definately come back to New Zealand.

Oh right 16, I thought you were abit older than that. Fair enough, NZ will be glad to have you back! :)

btw, looks like you and aucklandman will be battling it out for youngest of the forum lol. Well, youngest but certainly not least-intelligent.

Kane007

October 12th, 2006, 04:56 AM

SYDNEY

October 13th, 2006, 02:07 AM

^^^ I have no idea - Flyin should know ??

Neitzsche

October 13th, 2006, 06:47 AM

1900 barrels a day sounds a lot, but, does anyone know what NZ's barrel per day demand is? Should help to put this into perspective.

151,900 bbl/day (2003 est.)

So 1900 is ass all really. Useless fact but Ghawar, the giant feild in Saudi Arabia and by far the largest feild known to exist on the planet pumps out around 5,500,000 bbl/day. Over half of all saudi oil output.

flyin_higher

October 13th, 2006, 06:55 AM

^^Yea, and the world as a whole uses 85,000,000 barrels a day!

SYDNEY

October 13th, 2006, 11:40 PM

Satellite launches TV without rain fade

Saturday October 14, 2006

Farewell to rain fade, two minutes before the end of a crucial test match - and hello, Optus D1, more channels and high-definition television. The new Optus D1 satellite is due to launch into orbit this weekend from French Guyana, and will provide Sky TV with more power, meaning more channels and less chance of rain fade.

TVNZ's current limited digital service will also transfer to the new satellite and Optus D1 will house the new free-to-air digital service, Freeview, which so far includes TVNZ, TV3 owner CanWest, the Racing Board, Radio New Zealand and Maori TV. Sky spokesman Tony O'Brien said the change to Optus D1 from the old Optus B1 would take place in about four weeks, after the satellite was tested in orbit.

"In essence, it means greater capacity, so there will be more services and channels. Secondly, because the satellite is more powerful, it means less rain fade or loss of signal because of the weather." The Optus D1 satellite will increase Sky's channel capacity by 25 per cent and gives the company the chance to add further channels and services in future. It currently has 85 channels, including audio and interactive.

Future services would include high-definition programming by 2008. The loss of coverage due to weather was already "very rare" on Optus B1. "If we've had a weather bomb in Auckland, you've got 40 per cent of New Zealand's population in the one spot. So of course rain fade is going to seem worse than it is." On other occasions, the "rain fade" message was programmed to come up automatically when the signal was interrupted for reasons such as maintenance.

Mr O'Brien said the transition of Sky's signal from Optus B1 to Optus D1 should be "seamless" and viewers were unlikely to notice it. The new satellite will also host up to 18 channels for Freeview broadcasters, expected to be launched either late this year or early next year. Broadcasters are yet to announce what new channels will be on offer. If it gets sufficient government funding, TVNZ is widely expected to have two new channels, including a 24-hour news channel, by the time digital television is launched.

CanWest - owner of TV3, C4 and RadioWorks - plans to launch two additional channels by 2008. Sky launches the DOCUMENTARY CHANNEL on 10 November 2006.

new zealander

October 15th, 2006, 01:45 PM

Hmm... I just went though HAYS recruting web site and looked at their salary survey http://www.hays.com.au/salary/default.aspx - I cannot see that famous 35% gap in salary between Oz and NZ.
IT industry http://www.hays.com.au/salary/pdfs06/InformationTechnology.pdf
Construction http://www.hays.com.au/salary/pdfs06/ConstructionProperty.pdf
Banking http://www.hays.com.au/salary/pdfs06/Banking.pdf
For full list please see http://www.hays.com.au/salary/default.aspx - I trust these guys, they work with these industries and they are pretty much in range for Sydney. (By the way I left NZ NOT for economical reasons - just my partner is musician and she requires a big population. And eventually I am planning to come back to NZ). So, what did I miss with 35% salary gap between Oz and NZ?

OverseasKiwi

October 15th, 2006, 03:20 PM

if you want to know the salary gap just find the average wage for Aus and NZ (adjusted for PPP of course)

which is... (in USD)

NZ GDP per capita (PPP) 25,500 for 2005
AUS GDP per capita (PPP) $31,900 for 2005

Thus approximately a 25% wage increase over NZ. AND you can buy more for the same amount of cash in australia than new zealand. Add to the fact that their tax rates are lower, nice climate, better employment, its not suprising many of us go to Australia. My best mate of 10 years who is still in NZ is going to australia because he got offered a better paycheck (something like 30% more, in Auzzie $) Sad thing is, he is a Bio-chemical engineer, a trade in which NZ should be specializing, but is not doing enough to retain its skilled workers.

Oh If you want to know what it is now, you can estimate it by adjusting the figures with this years exchange rates (though given the world current economic situation, it would be false as the figures have already been adjusted for PPP)

Neitzsche

October 16th, 2006, 12:18 AM

[QUOTE=OverseasKiwi;10117087]if you want to know the salary gap just find the average wage for Aus and NZ (adjusted for PPP of course)

which is... (in USD)

NZ GDP per capita (PPP) 25,500 for 2005
AUS GDP per capita (PPP) $31,900 for 2005 QUOTE]

Could anyone correct me on this? I was having a chat to a mate about the difference in GDP per capita, something NZ enjoyed a higher level of until the 70's when mother England joined the Euro common market. He explained as such - While part of the reason was OZ being quick at establishing other trading links the main reason for the higher GDP is the mineral industry. Apparently the extra money brought into the country by mining operations equates to a similar amount to the difference in GDP per capita and almost a quater of OZ's wealth comes out of WA. Because the wealth comes in from concentrated industries it doesn't trickle down to all areas of the economy - hence the wage gap isn't as bad as some statistics make out. Kindda makes sense but not my forte. Thoughts anyone?

Kane007

October 16th, 2006, 12:39 AM

Marky Mark

October 16th, 2006, 12:53 AM

Neitzsche

October 16th, 2006, 01:36 AM

Looks a lot like Trickledown Economics (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trickle-down_economics) or Reaganomics at work. Definately works well in Australia (http://www.aph.gov.au/library/intguide/SP/poverty.htm), just take a look at the Aboriginal situation or Cabramatta or The Block in Redfern.

Yep if Bill Gates earns another US$10 billion this year then that definately means the US GDP per capita just increased a further US$33!

Exactly - you know what they say. Lie dam lies and statistics. I haven't a shadow of a doubt that Oz is the richer country, what I'm interested in is how the money is spread around.

To be honest I'm rather worried about the Oz economy. Whilst the mineral resources will always be a source of income there are more than a few things that bode as ominous signs. First up there were reports that the current drought and El nino weather pattern this summer will knock about 10 billion NZ$ out of the economy - further damage to an already suffering rural sector. Secondly, and climate related again is the lack of water. A friend was over from Brissy the other day and told me how the local government is asking farmers to stop farming for a year to allow the water to be used in the cities. That screams desperate measures to me - and its experiencing such huge population growth rates. As a clever chap once said "things that can't go on forever don't". Add to that the likelyhood of increasingly expensive oil (fertiliser). I know a few of my ozzie mates are worried but in general across the ditch it seems very much like 'she'll be right mate'. And at a time when these climate conditions are only getting worse. I'd be pretty stressed. Again thoughts anyone?

Kane007

October 16th, 2006, 01:51 AM

^^ Yep! Solar, wind, wave, tidal or nuclear generated water desalination plants along the coasts!

Or if cheaper, water pipelines from South Islands West Coast - bonus we could charge something like bottled water - US$234 a barrel (DISCOUNTED FOR OUR AUSSIE MATES). Though the price could jump for any bad mouthing!

Water could be the new black gold of the 21st Century.

Neitzsche

October 16th, 2006, 01:55 AM

I know of the one desalination plant being built in Sydney - so they are making plans? I do know there is a lot of resistance to the use of the euphamistically labeled 'grey water'. Mmm, yum. I think i'd go with the South Island pipeline thanks.

Kane007

October 16th, 2006, 02:20 AM

Grey water, whats the problem, astronauts on the space stration drink loads of it!

Yeh the pipline I like too. But why hasn't the government built one across to Canterbury yet to relieve its water issues? But maybe the problem there is nothing compared to Aus.

OverseasKiwi

October 16th, 2006, 05:06 PM

Exactly - you know what they say. Lie dam lies and statistics. I haven't a shadow of a doubt that Oz is the richer country, what I'm interested in is how the money is spread around.

To be honest I'm rather worried about the Oz economy. Whilst the mineral resources will always be a source of income there are more than a few things that bode as ominous signs. First up there were reports that the current drought and El nino weather pattern this summer will knock about 10 billion NZ$ out of the economy - further damage to an already suffering rural sector. Secondly, and climate related again is the lack of water. A friend was over from Brissy the other day and told me how the local government is asking farmers to stop farming for a year to allow the water to be used in the cities. That screams desperate measures to me - and its experiencing such huge population growth rates. As a clever chap once said "things that can't go on forever don't". Add to that the likelyhood of increasingly expensive oil (fertiliser). I know a few of my ozzie mates are worried but in general across the ditch it seems very much like 'she'll be right mate'. And at a time when these climate conditions are only getting worse. I'd be pretty stressed. Again thoughts anyone?

Having just moved to australia from the UK (Mum moved there from when we were in Spain, WHY you ask? i have no freaking idea, still slightly pissed at the decision...and since i'm only doing a Masters next year might as well check out aus :()
Farmers here in Aussie are probably going to be compensated with 700million package deal from the Aussie govt. Remember they have an anual GDP of roughly around 650billion AUD. So i was quite suprised at how small that package is. There is drought yes, but here in Australia in the news they dont seem to worried about it. They are more worried about the Ashes it seems (silly buggers) and are plotting on how to beat us in sports (unfortunately Netball and Rleague arent going our way grrrr)

Problems with the aus economy? yes. $10billion NZD off? small change. Thats only knocking off 0.7% growth. The slack will be taken up by the new increases in prices of commodities. Their job data just came out, they have the lowest unemployment in a generation. An extremely strong job market which is putting inflationary pressure on the economy thus the Governor of their Central Bank has indicated another rate rise. Forecast more strong growth due to more ties with ASEAN countries.

The conservative party here have pleaded not to do so, to protect their poor oh so poor farmers (their voter base of course) and of course they do so without putting any thought on what would happen to the rest of the economy if inflation spiralled out of control. (commodities become penny to the pound for overseas buyers, and australians can't then afford to import) argh how i detest agriculturally based parties. if i had the chance i'd shoot all the ministers in europe who push farm subsidies f******s

OverseasKiwi

October 16th, 2006, 05:13 PM

Would like to see some more figures myself ............Overseaskiwi ? the statement " you can buy more for the same amount of Cash " in Aussie , do you have the figures there ?
Being in the housing / building market in Melbourne , we deal with alot of immigrants , mainly from the UK lately , we have had several sales fall through recently , from immigrants deciding to return home , they say the only item that Australia lived up to , was plenty of sunshine LOL their promised income , wasn't what was promised { included a large proportion of super , that they don't see until in a wheelchair } and alot of other items thrown in to make the package attractive , but wasn't actually cash in hand ....
Actually thats a good point , most Salary Packages here include a chunk of super which is compulsary , say mine as an example 12 % , its a good thing I guess , but its not cash in hand until retirement .:)

Thats what the PPP adjustment is for. Purchasing Power Parity. The GDP of all the countries are compared to a common Index (or a common basket of goods if you will) To which then their exchange rates and GDP are adjusted to a common factor. The actual GDP/per C may be higher or lower. Using china for instance, they have a low actual GDP per capita (USD) but when adjust for PPP its shoots up by about 20-25%. I can include figures if you want.

Neitzsche. You are correct about NZ being stronger in the 70's. Then because about 70% of trade was to the UK, when they joined the eurozone and barriers shot up, nz hit a recession. Include the fact that there was the oil shock then as well, its was a bad time for NZ. But the same was true for australia. They had a smaller % of their trade to the Uk (about 50%) but it was still a large shock. Yes their mining operations are strong, but low commodity prices in the early 90's and late 80's (aftershocks of the oil hit) did not help them.
The difference between us and the australians are basically size. They have resources that they can sell whilst we dont. The level of internal inequality in NZ and Aus are more or less the same (wage wise, is this what you meant?) but makes no difference. The average wage in australia is still higher then New Zealand.

Becuase of their size, they can build the infrastructure which we cannot, giving them more of an edge. You will notice that the larger countries always do well (bar India but they probably did the biggest economic meltdown in the world in '91, only themselves to blame. ) But basically size = more resources, labour, etc etc. There are a whole lot of other factors(ie good policies, good governence). Basically new zealand in order to compete concentrates on Niche markets, which we excell at. Bio-tech, wine industry, tourism. You will notice that we dont have any large scale manufacturing plants, ie automotive, electronics. We just dont have the scale economies to manage it. Whilst Australia does.

The problem with the income part is that Aus is experiencing an extremely competitive job market, as i've mentioned above. I'm afraid that the recent influx of immigrants from NZ and elsewhere is giving employers more power to dictate wage levels. And of course, for them the lower, the better.

KIWIKAAS

October 16th, 2006, 05:50 PM

Could anyone correct me on this? I was having a chat to a mate about the difference in GDP per capita, something NZ enjoyed a higher level of until the 70's when mother England joined the Euro common market. He explained as such - While part of the reason was OZ being quick at establishing other trading links the main reason for the higher GDP is the mineral industry. Apparently the extra money brought into the country by mining operations equates to a similar amount to the difference in GDP per capita and almost a quater of OZ's wealth comes out of WA. Because the wealth comes in from concentrated industries it doesn't trickle down to all areas of the economy - hence the wage gap isn't as bad as some statistics make out. Kindda makes sense but not my forte. Thoughts anyone?

As far as I know NZ and Austr jostled for possition within the top 5 at that time. Austr was generally the wealthier but NZ had better infrastructure (for instance many suburbs in Australian cities has no sewerage systems in the 1970s! It is unthinkable to NZers that suburban houses had outhouses with septic tank collection in the 1970s .).

But unfortunately NZ enjoyed a 1st world standard of living in the 1950s and 60s with what was basically a 3rd world style economy. It was doomed to fail eventually and with the UKs entrance to the Common Market NZ's fate was sealed (despite guarantees at the time from the UK govt that nothing would change).

Kane007

October 16th, 2006, 11:39 PM

Thats what the PPP adjustment is for. Purchasing Power Parity. The GDP of all the countries are compared to a common Index (or a common basket of goods if you will) To which then their exchange rates and GDP are adjusted to a common factor. The actual GDP/per C may be higher or lower. Using china for instance, they have a low actual GDP per capita (USD) but when adjust for PPP its shoots up by about 20-25%. I can include figures if you want.

Neitzsche. You are correct about NZ being stronger in the 70's. Then because about 70% of trade was to the UK, when they joined the eurozone and barriers shot up, nz hit a recession. Include the fact that there was the oil shock then as well, its was a bad time for NZ. But the same was true for australia. They had a smaller % of their trade to the Uk (about 50%) but it was still a large shock. Yes their mining operations are strong, but low commodity prices in the early 90's and late 80's (aftershocks of the oil hit) did not help them.
The difference between us and the australians are basically size. They have resources that they can sell whilst we dont. The level of internal inequality in NZ and Aus are more or less the same (wage wise, is this what you meant?) but makes no difference. The average wage in australia is still higher then New Zealand.

Becuase of their size, they can build the infrastructure which we cannot, giving them more of an edge. You will notice that the larger countries always do well (bar India but they probably did the biggest economic meltdown in the world in '91, only themselves to blame. ) But basically size = more resources, labour, etc etc. There are a whole lot of other factors(ie good policies, good governence). Basically new zealand in order to compete concentrates on Niche markets, which we excell at. Bio-tech, wine industry, tourism. You will notice that we dont have any large scale manufacturing plants, ie automotive, electronics. We just dont have the scale economies to manage it. Whilst Australia does.

The problem with the income part is that Aus is experiencing an extremely competitive job market, as i've mentioned above. I'm afraid that the recent influx of immigrants from NZ and elsewhere is giving employers more power to dictate wage levels. And of course, for them the lower, the better.

Yes I agree, we'll never bet economies of scale, its just the nature of the beast. 20 million Aussies v 4 million kiwis is sort of like the Aussies trying to compete with 300 million (http://www.census.gov/main/www/popclock.html) Americans! P.S. you can actually watch the clock growing every few seconds as it races to the 300 mill mark - last I looked it was 4500 off, increasing at 1 every 5 seconds, so in about 6 hours the Americans are going to hit the 300 million mark.

Anyways, Indias' on the rebound, catching up with China ASAP!

I prefer using the Big Mac Index (http://www.oanda.com/products/bigmac/bigmac.shtml) but each to their own.

As at 2006/03/25 NZs PPP was 1.44, and Australias 1.05. Whats really eye catching is the other selected countries PPP.

dubious

October 17th, 2006, 01:30 AM

SYDNEY

October 19th, 2006, 01:53 AM

NZ a land of coffee-loving beachgoers
Thursday October 19, 2006

New Zealand is a nation of great hostels and plucky, tolerant, coffee-loving beachgoers, according to the latest edition of tourist guidebook The Rough Guide.

Wellington received especially glowing reviews, being described as the country's most exciting city. Despite being buffeted by Cook Strait winds most days, the compact city was easily walkable and had a buzzing arts scene. Its "big heart" and sophisticated cafe society made up for its small size, the authors said.

Although often regarded by visitors as being chiefly a transit hub, Auckland had a beautiful harbour and warm weather. Prim wooden villas with big gardens created a small-town feel beyond the glitzy city centre. Karangahape Rd got a special mention for its trendy cafes.

Christchurch was a relaxed city where parks and gardens rubbed shoulders with gothic architecture, according to The Rough Guide. However, its Englishness was largely skin-deep, the book said, and in recent years the city had acquired a "youthful, bohemian edge".

Dunedin, meanwhile, was "darkly attractive", with iconic architecture crafted from local stone. Its green, tree-filled Octagon drew praise, and the authors suggested tourists visit during Otago University's term-time, when local nightlife took off.

The Rough Guide, scheduled for release next week, had few pointed comments of the sort that appeared in the Lonely Planet handbook released last month. The Lonely Planet authors described Bluff as shabby and Kaitaia as crawling with thieves, while most of Central Otago's small towns were dismissed as having little to offer.

The Rough Guide was gentler in its criticism. Whangarei was "a bit disappointing", while Akaroa was attractive but twee, and New Zealand's growing sophistication (This is very true, I have noticed this in the last couple of months, especially in Auckland) seemed to have passed Westport by. Other towns fared better. Nelson was beguiling and "supremely placed" among beaches and national parks, while Cambridge was peaceful, understated and attractive in a rural way.

The authors pointed out that people hoping to see elves and wizards roaming countryside dotted with stone fortresses would be in for a shock. Kiwi food and drink in general got a resounding thumbs-up, with the authors recommending local favourites including cervena, feijoas, hot dogs and lamingtons.

Budget accommodation was also singled out as being particularly impressive. "New Zealand has pioneered the backpacker hostel. Found all over the country, hostels offer superb value to travellers. Wherever you stay, you can expect unstinting hospitality and a truckload of valuable advice."

Furthermore, New Zealanders liked to think of themselves as tolerant and open-minded people, and foreigners were generally welcomed with open arms. Holidays were a major part of the relaxed New Zealand lifestyle, the book said, so perhaps it's no wonder locals did such a good job as hosts. "Kiwis identify strongly with the land, and perhaps even more so with the sea. During summer large swathes of the population decamp from the town and cities to baches or camping spots by the beach."

The country's rugged beginnings also played a big part in shaping the national psyche. "At its core the Kiwi personality is rooted in the desire to make a better life in a unique and sometimes unaccommodating land. New Zealanders are inordinately fond of stories of plucky Kiwis overcoming great odds."

SO THEY LIKE US (A selection of comments from the Rough Guide travel handbook):

Landscape

Despite its diminutive size, New Zealand packs in an enormous diversity: unspoiled sub-tropical forests, rich volcanic basins, boiling mud pools and geysers, intricate and rugged coastlines with golden sand beaches and spectacular alpine regions.

Race relations

In theory, biculturalism gives equal status to the beliefs and values of Maori and Pakeha with distinct but complementary systems for things like health care and education. Such measures have detractors - some see it as pointless tokenism, while radicals see it as going nowhere near enough. While acknowledging its faults, most people are proud of their country's race relations.

Media

Travellers are always griping about low TV standards but, while much prime-time viewing is unashamedly populist, there is high-quality stuff out there. All the main papers are politically fairly neutral newspaper journalists get little scope for imaginative or investigative journalism.

[B]Sport

If God were a rugby coach almost every Kiwi would be a religious fundamentalist. Newspapers and TV news often give prominence to sport, and entire radio stations are devoted to sports talkback, usually dwelling on the occasions when Kiwi underdogs have overcome better-funded teams from more populous nations.

Sir Edmund Hillary

He embodies the qualities Kiwis hold most dear: Hard-working, straight-talking and, most of all, modest. As he said on his return from [conquering Everest]: "Well George, we knocked the bastard off." That's what gets your face on every $5 note in the country.

Kea

These kleptomaniac parrots can be persistent and frequently grab sandwiches from inattentive lunching walkers. Trampers have been known to wake up to a clinically dismembered rucksack or, in more extreme cases, a semi-digested tent.

Nuclear power

For decades, no one dared suggest New Zealand should invest in nuclear power. But the power pinch and the need to follow Kyoto commitments is beginning to change that. It would take a brave Government to take the first step but the nuclear option is no longer a total no-go.

Speech

Throughout the country, Kiwis add an upward inflection to statements, making them sound like questions; most are not and, to highlight those that are, some add the interrogative "eh?" to the end of the sentence, a trait most evident in the North Island, especially among Maori.

WHAT DID THEY SAY ABOUT YOUR TOWN ?

Hamilton:
Most visitors pass straight through Hamilton but it's a pretty enough place, well-sited on the banks of the Waikato River.

Gisborne:
Not overly endowed with attractions but its relaxed pace and easy-going vibe make it gently appealing.

Rotorua:
No amount of bad odour will keep visitors away from this small, ordered city, with its origins firmly rooted in tourism.

Taupo:
This unobtrusive resort town attracts Kiwi and foreign tourists alike, the latter increasingly due to its skydiving.

Napier:
A Mediterranean climate and a population barely touching 50,000 make it an easy place to warm to.

Blenheim:
A sleepy service town surrounded by some of the most highly regarded vineyards in the land.

Queenstown:
There is no doubt it is one of the most commercialised resorts but remains an idyllic spot, attractively set beside Lake Wakatipu.

Invercargill:
Sprawling over an exposed expanse of flat land, the monotony is relieved by huge parks and friendly people.

Kane007

October 19th, 2006, 02:09 AM

Yes, read this morning in the NZ Herald also. Atleast we are finally being credited for more than just our landscape and rugby. Yes I agree we are getting really good with our coffees.

That bit about hot dogs was just perfect. You know in my travels arround the world I've allways used my hotdog scale to judge a location. Americans and Canadians make the best but the Poms and frogs have absolutely no idea. Brought a dog outside big ben and it only consisited of the bun, sausage (not that good) and tomotoe sauce - no onion, cheeses, gherkins, mustards, nothing! Actually very poor.

I know, its sad that I judge a society on their ability to produce a good hot dog!:doh:

Davee

October 19th, 2006, 02:15 AM

Speech

Throughout the country, Kiwis add an upward inflection to statements, making them sound like questions; most are not and, to highlight those that are, some add the interrogative "eh?" to the end of the sentence, a trait most evident in the North Island, especially among Maori.

This is so true - I'm working with a visiting colleage from Dunedin here in the UK - and the inflection in his speach is increadable. Folk find it rather strange - I find it funny - Why Australians and Kiwi's do it, I don't know

Kane007

October 19th, 2006, 02:31 AM

^^

southerners are more noticable thant the rest of NZers. Sort of like Victorian accents v Queenslanders!

Davee

October 19th, 2006, 02:36 AM

"eh" up north

and

"rrr" down south

Kane007

October 20th, 2006, 11:45 PM

International visitor numbers are continuing to rise. 2006/10/21 (http://xtramsn.co.nz/news/0,,11964-6463637,00.html)

Figures for September show the number of visitors to New Zealand last month up 1.7 percent on last year.

Visitors from China and Korea showed the strongest growth, both up by about 30-percent. The UK and US markets both showed growth of just under 2 percent, however, the number of Australian visitors has fallen away by 1.8 percent.

Tourism New Zealand chief executive George Hickton says there are mitigating factors that have had an impact on the Australian market in September. He says there was a 7.5 percent increase in Australian visitors in 2005, due to a large number of conferences and rugby's Bledisloe Cup.

Mr Hickton says this year has also seen some Australian school holidays change months.

SYDNEY

October 25th, 2006, 12:02 AM

Forbes Lavishes Praise On NZ

25/10/2006

United States business magazine Forbes has praised New Zealand as an investment destination, arguing against Kiwis' opinion of their country as small and isolated. In an opinion piece, Barclay Partners Asset Management president William Buechler said he was surprised at a pervasive lack of optimism and confidence among New Zealanders, despite the "unfailingly bright and motivated" business men and women he met on a recent visit.

The country was a democratic, largely self-reliant, law-abiding society, with an investor- and business-friendly legal environment, and a high-yielding but undervalued, under-owned and under-appreciated stock market, Mr Buechler said. New Zealand was not small compared with Ireland or Israel, examples of strong economies built out of the technology revolution, nor isolated in a technology-driven world.

Downsides include the currency risk, and concern that political leaders "may misunderstand the needs of maintaining efficient capital markets while failing to grasp that strong economies generally go hand-in-hand with strong capital markets". "As for leadership and vision, the Kiwis have it, although getting everyone to share that vision will be the next progressive step for them," he said. While it was not easy for an outsider to grasp the nuances of investing in New Zealand, Mr Buechler said returns from Telecom and the NZ stock exchange's index-related funds were good.

"As other investors from around the world realize the opportunities and advantages of investing in New Zealand, new money from these outside investors - both retail and institutional - will flow to New Zealand in amounts well beyond anything experienced in the past and will serve as the catalyst that jumpstarts an economic boom in New Zealand that will simply defy current expectations," he wrote. Only three New Zealanders feature in the magazine's list of worldwide billionaires - brothers Richard and Christopher Chandler at 382 with a net worth of $US2 billion ($NZ3.05 billion), and Graeme Hart at 451 on $US1.7 billion.

Melburnian_in_sydney

October 25th, 2006, 06:53 AM

Neitzsche

October 25th, 2006, 10:08 AM

Hi Guys,

Didn't think this was worthy of posting a new thread so decided to ask my question here.

Does anyone recommend any books on New Zealand Foreign Policy?

Half through my thesis and needing some FP books with an NZ perspective.

Cheers,

Can't think of any books off the top of my head but I can prob suggest some articles that may be of use. What's your thesis on?

Melburnian_in_sydney

October 25th, 2006, 10:39 AM

In not so many words it's about 'The validity and legitimacy of the multilateral trading system and the effect of the increasing prevalence of bilateral preferential trading agreements.'

Already exhausted the Australian POV on the topic so was looking for other perspectives.

SYDNEY

October 26th, 2006, 12:08 AM

No change in official cash rate

9.05am Thursday October 26, 2006

Home owners, businesses, and unions can breath easier today after Reserve Bank governor Alan Bollard left the Official Cash Rate (OCR) unchanged at 7.25 per cent. In his regular six-weekly review of the OCR, Dr Bollard said: "The balance of inflation risks remains skewed to the upside."

The announcement caused the NZ dollar to fall against its US counterpart to US65.74c immediately afterwards. Against the Australian dollar the kiwi dropped from A86.85c to A86.42c. A slim majority of economists had expected Dr Bollard to hike the rate today to try and quell inflation that has been outside the bank's 1-3 per cent target range for five quarters.

However, yesterday's Consumer Price Index rise of 0.7 per cent in the September quarter was lower than anticipated, resulting in the annual rate falling from 4.0 per cent to 3.5 per cent. Today the bank said there had been a significant improvement to the near-term inflation outlook since its September Monetary Policy Statement. In a statement, it said: "We expect lower fuel prices, together with the recent rebound in the exchange rate and Statistics New Zealand's reweighting of the CPI, to give an unusually low December quarter CPI increase."

It said inflation pressures appeared to be abating gradually but that some indicators of resource pressures "continue to signal caution". "Taking all of this into account, monetary policy pressure will need to be maintained for some time to bring inflation back sustainably within the 1-3 percent target band," it said. "In this regard, the policy outlook is little changed from our September statement.

"The balance of inflation risks remains skewed to the upside. Further monetary policy tightening cannot be ruled out, and any easing of policy remains a considerable way off." Dr Bollard refused to take questions after announcing the OCR decision. Citigroup senior economist Annette Beacher said the Reserve Bank had chosen to talk hawkish and sit tight on rates, which she considered to be the right choice.

"A hike would have caused too much uncertainty. They were so hawkish in September that it was easy to just keep that tone and they've clearly warned that inflation risks are to the upside and they may have to tighten again," she said.

Kiss the Rain

October 27th, 2006, 01:04 PM

The problem with the NZ economy is that, in my opinion, people take the amount of readily avaliable jobs(usually low skill) for granted, combined with the safety created by minimum wage act, people lose any innovations to seek higher education and just live in the comfort zone and only take up those unskilled, none to low tech jobs. This is why NZ is so vulunerable to world economic crisis like a sudden drop of world price, we are too dependent on the farming industry and natural resources to create wealth, what with the government being very reluntant to help grow the industrial sector and very poor funding for scientific research.

SYDNEY

October 31st, 2006, 12:54 AM

Confidence at 18 month high

Oct 31, 2006

Business confidence has hit an 18 month high, in the latest National Bank business outlook. Chief Economist Cameron Bagrie says businesses are more upbeat about their own activity. He says firms' profit expectations are also up, boosted by lower fuel prices adding to the discretionary income of consumers.

Bagrie says economic activity is beginning to increase after a lull over most of the year and other confidence surveys also point towards an economy that's reflating. He says the economy is on track for around 2.5% growth.

heyitsmechris

October 31st, 2006, 06:00 AM

Thats what the PPP adjustment is for. Purchasing Power Parity. The GDP of all the countries are compared to a common Index (or a common basket of goods if you will) To which then their exchange rates and GDP are adjusted to a common factor. The actual GDP/per C may be higher or lower. Using china for instance, they have a low actual GDP per capita (USD) but when adjust for PPP its shoots up by about 20-25%. I can include figures if you want.

Neitzsche. You are correct about NZ being stronger in the 70's. Then because about 70% of trade was to the UK, when they joined the eurozone and barriers shot up, nz hit a recession. Include the fact that there was the oil shock then as well, its was a bad time for NZ. But the same was true for australia. They had a smaller % of their trade to the Uk (about 50%) but it was still a large shock. Yes their mining operations are strong, but low commodity prices in the early 90's and late 80's (aftershocks of the oil hit) did not help them.
The difference between us and the australians are basically size. They have resources that they can sell whilst we dont. The level of internal inequality in NZ and Aus are more or less the same (wage wise, is this what you meant?) but makes no difference. The average wage in australia is still higher then New Zealand.

Becuase of their size, they can build the infrastructure which we cannot, giving them more of an edge. You will notice that the larger countries always do well (bar India but they probably did the biggest economic meltdown in the world in '91, only themselves to blame. ) But basically size = more resources, labour, etc etc. There are a whole lot of other factors(ie good policies, good governence). Basically new zealand in order to compete concentrates on Niche markets, which we excell at. Bio-tech, wine industry, tourism. You will notice that we dont have any large scale manufacturing plants, ie automotive, electronics. We just dont have the scale economies to manage it. Whilst Australia does.

The problem with the income part is that Aus is experiencing an extremely competitive job market, as i've mentioned above. I'm afraid that the recent influx of immigrants from NZ and elsewhere is giving employers more power to dictate wage levels. And of course, for them the lower, the better.

China's GDP is $2.225 trillion US, or $8.859 trillion US when adjusted for PP this is a just under 400% increase as opposed to the "20-25%" you quoted.

heyitsmechris

October 31st, 2006, 06:13 AM

What a defeatist attitude by everyone above. Sheesh no wonder NZ is quickly slipping behind in world standards if most people have the mindset that "it's all too hard".

The size of a country's population will most likely have an effect on its GDP, but not GDP per capita. 8 out of the top ten countries for per capita GDP have populations less than 10 million. Luxembourg at the top of the list with a pop of just 465,000 has a per capita GDP which is $27,500 more than Norway in 2nd place.

The main difference between NZ and Australia is their desire to succeed. Australians consider their country the best in the world, and want to keep it that way through innovation and constant development. On the world stage NZ shies away from attention and is more than happy to settle for less. It's refected by this current government which believes that where we are now is the best NZ can get. We'll think of every excuse imaginable to avoid doing something that might change the status quo, and only implement something if the lack of doing so is already having a negative affect on people's lives (eg. Auckland roads/ public transport).

I love the way you compare New Zealand to Luxembourg, I mean the two countries are so alike...one is a couple of small islands out in the middle of nowhere; while the other a piece of land smaller than Rhode Island wedged in between the 3rd, the 6th and the 17th biggest economies in the world, not to mention that 400 million (rich) people live very nearby.

The main differences between New Zealand and Australia is that Australia has a larger landmass, with a larger population and a large amount of minerals. Minerals are in high demand at the moment so it is no wonder that their economy is booming. We can't change the factor endowements that our countries have...Australia obviously was just more fortunate in that it's resources are currently worth more.

Not to mention the fact that Australia has a right-wing party which means Capitalism can thrive as opposed to the left-wing regime in New Zealand where Capitalism is being smothered.

Neitzsche

October 31st, 2006, 11:51 AM

Not to mention the fact that Australia has a right-wing party which means Capitalism can thrive as opposed to the left-wing regime in New Zealand where Capitalism is being smothered.

Is that really a bad thing? Being a small fish what would stop NZ being smothered by overseas capital buying everything and subsequently all profit being shipped off shore? This one does my head in as I'm for "the market" but, given our relative position of weakness how do we protect from being owned by people who don't live here and who don't give a shit about NZ? Oz at least has the resource base to compete with the big boys. I really struggle trying to figure out where the line should be drawn.

flyin_higher

October 31st, 2006, 12:49 PM

dubious

October 31st, 2006, 10:47 PM

I love the way you compare New Zealand to Luxembourg, I mean the two countries are so alike...one is a couple of small islands out in the middle of nowhere; while the other a piece of land smaller than Rhode Island wedged in between the 3rd, the 6th and the 17th biggest economies in the world, not to mention that 400 million (rich) people live very nearby.

I wasn't comparing NZ to Luxembourg at all. My point was that a large population doesn't directly translate to a successful economy.

Kane007

October 31st, 2006, 10:51 PM

I wasn't comparing NZ to Luxembourg at all. My point was that a large population doesn't directly translate to a successful economy.

Luxembourg. Now thats interesting because I remember reading something in Time magazine from the early 90's at the break up of the USSR, that actually stated their economy was no bigger than Luzembourgs and that was with 300m prisoners. The advantages of a centrally planed economy versus a social democratic one.

Marky Mark

November 1st, 2006, 06:02 AM

http://www.tmet.net/blog/auckland_aerial.jpg

Strong rise in building consents
31 October 2006

The home building boom is getting a second wind, with rising consent numbers for the past three months, and a 6.1 per cent gain in September.

One bank economist said the recent consents figures suggested the low point in the house building cycle had passed, though interest rates were higher than two years ago.

Statistics New Zealand figures out yesterday showed 2472 consents were issued in September, the most since March 2005.

House building was increasing with growth in net migration and consumer confidence rising to a 13-month high, Deutsche Bank said.

Net migration in the year to September was 13,200, while there were consents granted for almost 26,000 homes.

The latest figures included consents for 493 apartments, almost double the number in the previous two months, and the highest level since February.

The total rise in consents since June was almost 29 per cent, though there is a normal lift in consents and building work in spring.

The 26,000 building consents issued for the year compared with the 32,000 annual peak in 2004, at the top of the building boom.

Excluding apartments, core consents for new homes rose 1.2 per cent in September. That was up more than 5 per cent on a year ago, after a dip earlier this year.

Master Builders Federation chief executive Pieter Burghout said consent numbers and values were holding steady across most industry sectors and regions. Most builders had at least 12 months of committed work, he said.

Overall, the annual year to date construction spending was just more than $11 billion, up 2.1 per cent on the September 2005 year, he said.

The September figures show a strong surge in consents in Auckland, with almost 800 consents issued in the month, up 255 on the same month last year, indicating growth in apartment building plans.

There were 150 consents in the Wellington region, down 110 from the same month last year, though that was an unusually high figure. Wellington City Council staff said building work remained at a "reasonably high level".

ANZ Bank economists said the latest national rise in consents would not be welcomed by the Reserve Bank, which wanted to see a rebalancing away from domestic spending towards exports.

The Reserve Bank would be "especially wary" of any rising trend in consents because that could keep pushing up building costs.

Deutsche Bank chief economist Darren Gibbs estimated the average price to build a home was $1221 a square metre in the three months to September, up 10 per cent on the same period last year.

Latest official inflation figures showed a 6 per cent rise in construction costs.

However, UBS economist Robin Clements said a closing of the gap between demand for new housing and the increased supply of homes was consistent with reduced house price inflation.

"Increased building activity need not be inconsistent with a further cooling in house price inflation," he said.

heyitsmechris

November 3rd, 2006, 06:28 AM

Is that really a bad thing? Being a small fish what would stop NZ being smothered by overseas capital buying everything and subsequently all profit being shipped off shore? This one does my head in as I'm for "the market" but, given our relative position of weakness how do we protect from being owned by people who don't live here and who don't give a shit about NZ? Oz at least has the resource base to compete with the big boys. I really struggle trying to figure out where the line should be drawn.

Just for the record New Zealand is already Capitalist (just a very bad example), so if we were to become more Right-wing (more-capitalist) than that would not necessarily mean that the flood-gates are suddenly open and everything New Zealander's own can be bought out...there are such things as foreign-ownership rules. Even without these though, using Trademe as an example...sold to an Australian company for $700m (so now Trademe's profits go to Australia which is what you are implying will happen more) however that means that now New Zealander's have $700m more then they did before which can then in turn be invested in either New Zealand companies or overseas companies (bringing profit back into NZ) so the net effect of foreign ownership isn't necessarily bad. And the Right-wing ideology of tax-cuts would spur economic growth at unprecedented levels bringing with it wealth and growth to New Zealand.

heyitsmechris

November 3rd, 2006, 06:30 AM

^^Well in terms of foreign ownership, Aussie already owns 80% of our banks. But thats not necessarily a bad thing, they still invest in NZ (ie; new bank buildings, etc) and we still retain a level of control here in NZ. I'd rather Aussie owned them than the Americans or someone else anyway..

Australian owned banks control more of the market share than that, and it's in their best interests to invest in their New Zealand subsidiaries as it increases their bottom line. What's wrong with American ownership?

heyitsmechris

November 3rd, 2006, 06:33 AM

I wasn't comparing NZ to Luxembourg at all. My point was that a large population doesn't directly translate to a successful economy.

A large population definately helps...although not as much as a large landmass.

heyitsmechris

November 3rd, 2006, 06:37 AM

Luxembourg. Now thats interesting because I remember reading something in Time magazine from the early 90's at the break up of the USSR, that actually stated their economy was no bigger than Luzembourgs and that was with 300m prisoners. The advantages of a centrally planed economy versus a social democratic one.

Not completely sure what you are saying here...but to me it looks like you are trying to say that after the collapse of the Soviet Union their economy was equivalent in size to that of Luxembourg...is this what you are saying?
Because if it is, then you are clearly mistaken as the USSR would have been manufacturing the value of the Luxembourg economy many times over in weapons alone. And how can a country of roughly 300m have 300m prisoners?

Kane007

November 3rd, 2006, 06:39 AM

A large population definately helps...although not as much as a large landmass.

Just like Japan!

heyitsmechris

November 3rd, 2006, 06:42 AM

Just like Japan!

They have the large population part...not the large landmass though...which is why it is only a matter of time before they are surpassed. The Japanese economny is only as strong as it is now because of their large investment in Capital goods which pushed their PPC out.

OverseasKiwi

November 3rd, 2006, 09:25 AM

A large population definately helps...although not as much as a large landmass.

india...1billion +

stagnant growth for 40+ years.

heyitsmechris

November 3rd, 2006, 10:01 AM

india...1billion +

stagnant growth for 40+ years.

India is currently experiencing a very high growth.

Previous governments have hindered growth, and India is also relatively small in terms of land area which doesn't help.

Kane007

November 3rd, 2006, 10:27 AM

flyin_higher

November 3rd, 2006, 12:20 PM

Australian owned banks control more of the market share than that, and it's in their best interests to invest in their New Zealand subsidiaries as it increases their bottom line. What's wrong with American ownership?

Just personal preference, mainly to do with relative size and distance :)

Kiss the Rain

November 3rd, 2006, 01:47 PM

heyitsmechris

November 3rd, 2006, 02:26 PM

Large land mass theory, hmmm.

1 Russia
2 Canada
3 China
4 USA
5 Brazil
6 Australia
7 India
8 Argentina
9 Kazakhstan
10 Sudan

I see atleast 2 of these top 10 that NZ is economically more powerful than.

But the UK, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Israel, Sth Korea, Singapore, etc, don't fit anywhere in these top 10 listings, whether by geographical size, population, resources.

So if we are just using those than I am 80% right...that's pretty good.
6 out of those 10 countries you have just listed [second list] are part of the European Union which due to it's structure and nature makes it effectively one large economy, this single economy does have quite a sizeable landmass and an even larger population. Switzerland isn't in the EU but they are connected to the EU with the "Swiss-EU bilateral agreements". Why have you put Israel on there? There economy is barely larger then ours yet they have double the population. South Korea is an exception as the only "large" thing they have is their relatively large population 49m, there economy did receive significant American aid and investment though. And again with Singapore...roughly the same size economy as us and same size population which shows that NZ is under performing as we have more resources.

heyitsmechris

November 3rd, 2006, 02:34 PM

heyitsmechris

November 3rd, 2006, 02:40 PM

Land mass doesnt mean bull if it's not productive, russia has the largest land mass so you would expect them to have the highest agriculture output, but since it lacks the right climate and fertile soil, it doesnt give as much economical advantage as what people think.
Yea, sudan is definitely larger than nz and we are so much richer than them, wow, now we have something to brag about!!!! =_=

I'm glad you brought Russia up; when did I say landmass = agriculture? I said (or meant to say) it equaled resources (potential). So Kiss the Rain were you aware that Moscow has the second most billionaires in the world after New York and before London? Russia has 25% of the world's proven natural gas reserves, and a significant amount of the world's oil reserves. Russia is a very energy-rich nation, and energy is politically more powerful and valuable than agriculture; so yes they do have a economic advantage over nearly every other nation. A large mass can be used for a variety of purposes too, as Russia shows with them being the largest Weapons supplier to developing nations.
Yes we do have a larger economy than Sudan...although considering there has been some form or another of war going on in Sudan for the last 50 years it's not that suprising that the government hasn't been successful in economic growth for the country.

flyin_higher

November 3rd, 2006, 03:02 PM

Don't slag America off; I mean don't forget who saved the Allies back in World War II. (and to an extent WWI)

Did i slag them off? No.
Don't get into one of your argumentative posting moods chris. Most of us don't appreciate it.

heyitsmechris

November 4th, 2006, 07:20 AM

So if we are just using those than I am 80% right...that's pretty good.
6 out of those 10 countries you have just listed [second list] are part of the European Union which due to it's structure and nature makes it effectively one large economy, this single economy does have quite a sizeable landmass and an even larger population. Switzerland isn't in the EU but they are connected to the EU with the "Swiss-EU bilateral agreements". Why have you put Israel on there? There economy is barely larger then ours yet they have double the population. South Korea is an exception as the only "large" thing they have is their relatively large population 49m, there economy did receive significant American aid and investment though. And again with Singapore...roughly the same size economy as us and same size population which shows that NZ is under performing as we have more resources.

So actually Israel is a good example of my theory...because even with their higher population and the large amount of AID they receive from the USA their economy is still barely larger perhaps because we have a area 12 times larger?

heyitsmechris

November 4th, 2006, 07:21 AM

SYDNEY

November 6th, 2006, 10:56 PM

NZ ranked least corrupt

Nov 7, 2006

New Zealand is in a three-way tie with Finland and Iceland for first place in a survey of 163 countries to find the least corrupt. Denmark was 4th, followed by Singapore and Sweden. Haiti ranked last for 2006, just below Myanmar and Iraq.

The annual survey by the Berlin-based organisation Transparency International draws on surveys from multiple independent institutions. It defines corruption as the abuse of public office for private gain and measures the degree to which corruption is perceived to exist among a country's public officials and politicians.

Data is gathered from businesspeople and country analysts. Not every country is included in the survey because of an absence of reliable data from the remaining countries. The scores range from 10 (squeaky clean) to 0 (highly corrupt). New Zealand, Iceland and Finland rated 9.6 while Haiti scored just 1.8, marginally behind Myanmar, Iraq and Guinea with 1.9.

A score of 5.0 is the number Transparency International considers the borderline figure distinguishing countries that do and do not have a serious corruption problem.

Kane007

November 6th, 2006, 11:03 PM

^^ Hahaha, I was actually reading my way through Transparency Internationals (http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/cpi/2006) website re this Corruption Index.

The table does contain some interesting figures.

Singapore (5th) and Australia (9th) are the only other top 10 non European nations. The UK is 11th in a another 3 way split. Canada comes in 14th. The USA is in a 3 way split for 20th with Belgium and CHILE. Chile, wasn't that up to recently a dictatorial banana republic? Yes, Americans must being feeling particularly proud at the moment:) .

shrewd.user

November 6th, 2006, 11:10 PM

what do you guys think about a currency union with australia?

Neitzsche

November 6th, 2006, 11:19 PM

Hard to say at this point in time for a few reasons. At present the world is splitting into three economic blocs - EU, NAFTA and the proposed East Asian Community (EAC), also there is South America which at this point in time is rather disfunctional. Both NZ and Oz are in an observer status over discussions about forming the EAC as japan and ASEAN want a region not based on race (and to counter China's growing clout). Any real traction on the issue is a ways off but if NZ and Oz are accepted and are happy then benifits of a joint currency are mitigated. May even be a region wide currency. Also if NZ does have at least 1.3 trillon US dollars worth of energy (probably more if oil keeps heading north price wise) in the Great South Basin prob would be better to go the way of Norway and keep an independent economy and maintain control of our own economy. Which is the other point in any union with Oz NZ would be the junior partner and basically be told what to do - I'm not sure I'm will to have that just over the promise of maybe a percentage point or two increase in GDP. No offense of course.

Kane007

November 6th, 2006, 11:46 PM

flyin_higher

November 7th, 2006, 01:55 AM

I think a common currency is possible and would have some benefits, but NZ should definitely stay an independent country to Australia.

SYDNEY

November 7th, 2006, 05:58 AM

I have lost count - we have won so many awards this year and here is another one for the mantle piece -

NZ rated best for natural beauty and outdoor activities

3.25pm Tuesday November 7, 2006

New Zealand has topped a worldwide survey for natural beauty and outdoor activities. It also ranked second for family activities and authenticity of culture, and third for safety in the survey of frequent travellers carried out by Country Brand Index 2006 (CBI). The results were released today at the World Travel Market, the premier annual exhibition of the global travel trade, in London.

The CBI identifies countries as brands and emerging global travel trends in the world's fastest growing economic sector - travel and tourism. Researchers surveyed over 1500 international travellers, travel industry experts and hospitality professionals, all of whom had travelled internationally at least once per year. From their comments, the researchers constructed the index, gauging what people thought about countries, where was hot and where wasn't.

Australia was ranked the top country brand, followed by the United States and Italy. New Zealand ranked eighth. New Zealand was ranked first for natural beauty an outdoor activities. It was ranked second as a destination with activities suited to families and second as the most "authentic" brand, in terms of distinctive, genuine and unique cultures. Egypt had the best architecture and monuments, Peru was the most exotic, Canada was the safest ahead of New Zealand in third place, and Italy had the best food and nightlife.

"Powerful marketing is only as good as the experience the individual has on the ground and this is something New Zealand has done brilliantly," Future Brand senior strategy consultant Dominic Mason said. "New Zealand's emergence as the number one country for outdoors is a triumph of brand experience matching the brand promise. "Governments throughout the world can look to New Zealand as a country that has fulfilled much of its potential as a country brand," he said.

Marky Mark

November 9th, 2006, 12:00 AM

Kane007

November 9th, 2006, 12:11 AM

National News
NZ population increases by 43,500 in year :banana:

1.35pm Wednesday November 8, 2006

The New Zealand population has climbed by 43,500 people to 4.15 million since September last year.

Statistics New Zealand said today the 1.1 per cent increase was due to more births than deaths and more people coming to live in the country than leaving it.

The statistics also showed residents were getting older.

At September 30 2006 half the men in the country were older than 35 years and half the women 36.7 years, an increase of 2.8 years for men and three years for women in the last decade.

The total number of children living in New Zealand has decreased since 2004 by 1.1 per cent.

Overall since September 1996 the number of children aged 0-14 years has increased 1.5 per cent, people in the 15-64 age group 12.6 per cent and people 65 and older 19.7 per cent.

43,500 increase, hmmm. About 39,000 of that would have gone to Auckland according to Census NZ's own, earlier modeling. 43,500 more taxpayers for Helen and Cullin to fleece - poor suckers. See its all good for the economy - it should equal another 40 thou cars, 45 thou tv's, 10 thou new houses, 15 thou new renters and so forth.

Obviousely Hell's Pizza's Lust and Condom pizza advertising is just not getting through! :)

Marky Mark

November 9th, 2006, 12:26 AM

43,500 increase, hmmm. About 39,000 of that would have gone to Auckland according to Census NZ's own, earlier modeling. 43,500 more taxpayers for Helen and Cullin to fleece - poor suckers. See its all good for the economy - it should equal another 40 thou cars, 45 thou tv's, 10 thou new houses, 15 thou new renters and so forth.

Obviousely Hell's Pizza's Lust and Condom pizza advertising is just not getting through! :)

Ive heard about the Condoms and Pizza LOL :cheers:

dubious

November 9th, 2006, 01:36 AM

See its all good for the economy - it should equal another 40 thou cars, 45 thou tv's, 10 thou new houses, 15 thou new renters and so forth.

But that nice man Mr Cullen has been telling us that spending our money on things is bad for the economy. Now I just don't know what to think :dunno::sly:

Kiss the Rain

November 10th, 2006, 06:55 AM

But that nice man Mr Cullen has been telling us that spending our money on things is bad for the economy. Now I just don't know what to think :dunno::sly:

I dont think it's valid to just simply something is bad for economy, as pretty much everything in economics is in two way.

For example, people would general accept that economic growth is desirable, but it also creates inflation. Any change in economy has its postive and negative effects of it.

SYDNEY

November 14th, 2006, 07:32 AM

New Zealand Ranks 20th As Best Place To Live
Tuesday, 14 November 2006, 2:26 pm

No matter how cold its winter, or inhospitable the north of the country, Norway is the best place to live according to a recently publish UN report. Iceland is second. The report, compiled by the United Nations Development Fund, the biggest UN entity by budget and foreign offices, ranks 177 countries according to a so-called Human Development Index (HDI). New Zealand, with a score of 0.936 ranks 20th, right after the United Kingdom (0.940) and Spain (0.938). Germany, with a score of 0.932, places 21st in the listing. New Zealand’s score has been steadily improving since the late 90s: in 1995 it was 0.906, while in 2000 it was 0.925.

This year’s Human Development Index, which refers to data from 2004, highlights the very large gaps in well-being and life chances that continue to divide our increasingly interconnected world. By looking at some of the most fundamental aspects of people’s lives and opportunities it provides a much more complete picture of a country’s development than other indicators, such as GDP per capita. “Human development index trends tell an important story,” the report reads. “Since the mid-1970s almost all regions have been progressively increasing their HDI score. East Asia and South Asia have accelerated progress since 1990. Central and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), following a catastrophic decline in the first half of the 1990s, has also recovered to the level before the reversal. The major exception is Sub-Saharan Africa. Since 1990 it has stagnated, partly because of economic reversal but principally because of the catastrophic effect of HIV/AIDS on life expectancy.”

shrewd.user

November 14th, 2006, 09:57 AM

the HDI is definately a good indicator of a properous and developed economy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Development_Index

SYDNEY

November 15th, 2006, 01:25 AM

It's Official: Brits Love NZ

Brits have given another thumbs up to New Zealand by voting it the world's 'dream destination' at the 2006 British Travel Awards in London. Nearly 100,000 people voted in the dream destination category, which was introduced for the first time this year and featured nine other nominees - Barbados, Brazil, Dubai, Fiji, Hawaii, the Maldives, the Seychelles, South Africa and Australia.

Tourism New Zealand chief executive George Hickton said the award was pleasing on the back of a campaign tailored to the British market, which encourages people to "Come Now. If Not Sooner". This year New Zealand has already been voted the 'coolest destination' and 'favourite long haul destination' in other British travel awards.

shrewd.user

November 16th, 2006, 02:08 PM

good on ya NZ ;)

SYDNEY

November 16th, 2006, 10:32 PM

Data suggests economy is bouncing back

Friday November 17, 2006

Manufacturing bounced back strongly in October according to a survey released yesterday - the fourth piece of economic data this week pointing to an economy on the rebound. "Things seem to be coming together for a good end to the year," said Deutsche Bank chief economist Darren Gibbs. "Consumer confidence has been improving very, very sharply, as has business confidence, the currency is off its highs - although it's still relatively high - and people have become very comfortable with the current level of interest rates." Also, petrol prices are well below their high around the middle of the year.

Yesterday's Performance of Manufacturing Index stood at a four-month high of 56.4, up from 51.0 in September. A reading above 50 points indicates manufacturing is generally expanding, while below 50 indicates it is contracting. Business New Zealand, which commissions the monthly survey, said it "showed a healthy level of [manufacturing] activity approaching Christmas, despite the increasing value of the New Zealand dollar and a downturn in numbers employed in the sector". The survey comes on the same day as Real Estate Institute figures showing houses sold more quickly in October than September - 29 days compared to 31 - and the median house price rose 3.5 per cent to $324,000.

ANZ bank said the data would concern the Reserve Bank, but was unlikely to prompt Governor Alan Bollard to raise interest rates next month. "This could be the early signs of a re-acceleration in housing market activity," ANZ said. "The material slowdown in the housing market the Reserve Bank wants to see is a long way off." The data follows strong retail sales and producer prices data earlier in the week. Adjusted for inflation, retail sales rose 1 per cent in the September quarter, bouncing back from a 0.4 per cent decline the previous quarter, thanks to lower petrol prices giving consumers more cash to spend. Also, producer input prices - costs to businesses - rose more quickly than expected.

Deutsche Bank's Gibbs pondered whether the data represented a temporary blip or the start of a new upswing. That the full impact of the Reserve Bank's interest rate hikes over the past couple of years had not yet been felt because of fixed-rate mortgages suggested a blip, said Gibbs. "On the other hand, the fall in petrol prices has put a lot of money into people's pockets," he said. "That's a one-off. It won't happen every month. What you might find is that the economy does bounce back a bit and then the gains slow."

SYDNEY

November 27th, 2006, 10:40 PM

Confidence Hits Two-Year High

28/11/2006
Business confidence hit a two-year high in November having steadily improved in the last year, with optimism increasing in all sectors except agriculture, according to the latest National Bank of New Zealand monthly outlook. A net 14 percent of respondents to the survey said they expect business conditions to worsen over the coming year, bettering the net 22 percent negative response in the previous survey.

The construction sector was the most confident at a four-year high, with a net 10 percent expecting better conditions, National Bank chief economist Cameron Bagrie said. Companies' own expectations, considered a closer reading on the domestic economy, rose six percentage points to a two-year high of net 24 percent expecting conditions to improve -- indicative of 2.5 percent growth over the next year, he said.

GDP growth was 1.9 percent for the year ended June, the lowest in five years, and economists polled by Reuters earlier this month tipped growth of 1.8 percent in 2007. "A plethora of good news appears to have perked up confidence," Mr Bagrie said. "The retail sector is humming courtesy of lower petrol prices putting discretionary income back into people's pockets. While the unemployment rate nudged back up in the September quarter, at 3.8 percent it remains exceptionally low, and job vacancies remain plentiful."

Nudging lower were pricing intentions, down 2.6 points to 23.1 percent expecting to raise prices, and inflation expectations, falling to a rate of 3.31 percent from 3.38 percent. Annual inflation was 3.5 percent in the September quarter, above the Reserve Bank's target band of 1-to-3 percent. The main blot on the economy remained poor productivity, Mr Bagrie said, with employment growth outstripping economic growth for over a year. A net 6.1 percent of companies expected to increase staff numbers, little changed from 6.3 percent in the previous survey. "Strong productivity performance remains the missing ingredient for inflation to trend lower at a time capacity pressures are intense and the economy is showing signs of strengthening," he said.

Kane007

November 27th, 2006, 10:51 PM

Welcome back Enigma from your self imposed sabbatical.:)

SYDNEY

November 27th, 2006, 11:19 PM

Welcome back Enigma from your self imposed sabbatical.:)

LOL - I am still FUMING !! and saturday morning at The Supper Club didn't help my mood either ..... this guy came over to me on the dance floor and said that I had better stop looking at his girlfriend so I told him that I was GAY !! .... his reply was that if I don't stop looking at her he will beat me up .... what part of gay did he not understand ;) ... the funny thing is that even if I was straight, I wouldn't touch his girlfriend with somebody else's hands, she is soooooo ugly :lol:

I am too sensitive, I am still upset by the whole experience - too hell with sr8 clubs now, I will stick to the more civil, gay clubs.

Kane007

November 27th, 2006, 11:33 PM

That guy, sounds like an uneducated westy! In that case the correct classification for his girlfriend would have been - BUSHPIG!.

Technically a description evolved out of Avondale College in the early 1980's.

dubious

November 28th, 2006, 12:18 AM

LOL - I am still FUMING !! and saturday morning at The Supper Club didn't help my mood either ..... this guy came over to me on the dance floor and said that I had better stop looking at his girlfriend so I told him that I was GAY !! .... his reply was that if I don't stop looking at her he will beat me up .... what part of gay did he not understand ;) ... the funny thing is that even if I was straight, I wouldn't touch his girlfriend with somebody else's hands, she is soooooo ugly :lol:

I am too sensitive, I am still upset by the whole experience - too hell with sr8 clubs now, I will stick to the more civil, gay clubs.

You poor thing lol!

I'm not the greatest fan of Supper Club. There's too many strange characters, not helped by the fact you're forced to cram up next to them!

SYDNEY

November 28th, 2006, 12:22 AM

SYDNEY

November 28th, 2006, 12:27 AM

You poor thing lol!

I'm not the greatest fan of Supper Club. There's too many strange characters, not helped by the fact you're forced to cram up next to them!

It is a shame because I have met many great people there - what am I going to do with myself from the 6 am until 2pm ??? Go home and keep myself busy there ;)

Kane007

November 28th, 2006, 12:29 AM

Most definitely a fan of one liners and one worders! :)

Mr Palmer and his 5 sons could keep you company. :okay:

SYDNEY

November 28th, 2006, 12:35 AM

Most definitely a fan of one liners and one worders! :)

Mr Palmer and his 5 sons could keep you company. :okay:
LOL - the bf is there for that - he is so happy that I had that shitty experience at Supper Club - now I have no excuse but to cum home with him ;) ..... ooooooooh la la .... best he eat all his cereal every morning, he will need the energy ;)

SYDNEY

December 4th, 2006, 08:55 PM

NZ voted second best destination

Dec 5, 2006

New Zealand has been voted the second best travel destination in the world by Lonely Planet readers. The travel guide has released its Bluelist for 2007 which sees Australia the favourite destination, and New Zealand the second as voted by travellers worldwide. The list comes out annually and reveals the best destinations, experiences and travel trends for the year ahead. Co-founder Tony Wheeler says it is not at all surprising New Zealand has been voted the world's second best travel destination. He says the outdoors nature of the country always attracts rave reviews from travellers, who are able to ski, go white water rafting, and go on walks. But, Wheeler says people also like the friendliness of the locals and the fabulous scenery.

The Bluelist also names what it calls 'Cities on the Rise.' In the 2007 edition Wellington has made an appearance as one of those cities alongside Belfast, Belgrade and Perth. The capital's weather gets a passing mention, but the emphasis is on arts, culture, music and the restaurant scene. It says Wellington is gaining in reputation as a place to be in the southern hemisphere. Lonely Planet says youthful energy abounds with hip hop dance-offs, plenty of live music and cafes, fashionable bars and bookshops. Wellington is described as more beautiful than Seattle or Melbourne.

Kane007

December 4th, 2006, 11:12 PM

Kiwis show turnaround in attitude to economy
NZ Herald
2006/12/05 (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10413789)

Nearly four out of every 10 New Zealanders think the economy will improve in the next year, according to the latest Herald-DigiPoll survey.

Asked whether the economy would do better or worse over the next 12 months, 39.8 per cent said it would improve and 23 per cent felt it would perform "about the same".

Of those surveyed, 26 per cent said it would do worse and 11.2 per cent did not know.

This is a change from the last survey, in August, when 29.9 per cent felt the economy would improve over the next year and 33.3 per cent told the pollsters it would do worse.

Despite the confident outlook, a narrow majority disagreed with the Government's policies.

The sample split 47.7 per cent "no" and 43.9 per cent "yes" when asked if the Government was headed in the right direction.

This is a slight change from August when the split was 44.3 per cent "no" and 46.3 per cent "yes".

About one third of respondents felt the economy was doing better than a year ago, against 28.9 per cent who said it was worse, and 27.9 per cent who said it was "about the same".

Neitzsche

December 5th, 2006, 02:27 AM

Rather surprising:

World Bank says tax burden on NZ businesses 'minimal'

12.40pm Tuesday December 5, 2006

A World Bank study has ranked New Zealand 10th out of 175 economies for ease in paying taxes.

Finance Minister Michael Cullen said the Paying Taxes: The Global Picture study found New Zealand was one of the easiest economies in the world for businesses to pay taxes.

The World Bank-PricewaterhouseCoopers study ranked Australia at 35th.

Dr Cullen said the result showed government progress in improving the competitiveness of business.

The study ranked New Zealand at eighth for the least time spent complying with tax requirements at 70 hours per year. Australian businesses spending an average for 107 hours a year complying.

Dr Cullen said if tax havens and oil producers that did not need to tax to finance spending were excluded New Zealand's ranking would rise to fifth in the world.

New Zealand had made changes such as aligning GST and provisional tax dates and more would be done once the Business Tax Review was finalised.

"It is important we continue our efforts as the World Bank study found that when the tax system is less onerous we get better infrastructure and education systems, higher investment and lower avoidance activity."

aucklandman

December 5th, 2006, 11:45 AM

good on ya mate

Kane007

December 5th, 2006, 10:42 PM

To go hand in hand with Transparency Internationals corruption index back in October, Gallup Worldwide Corruption Index (http://www.galluppoll.com/content/?ci=25612), released in Washington yesterday places NZ 2nd equal with a score of 21 - with Denmark but behind Finland (12).

Stupid reporters at the NZ Herald (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10413986) saying were 3rd. Idiot just needs to visit the Gallup poll website and read it properly!

I digress - the naughty Australians are well back in 9th, behind Saudi Arabia. This could be a reflection of their convict past or a premonition of their next Rugby World Cup placing in France! :)

UK 6th
USA 19th equal with Tanzania

Were is that banana republic, Fiji. Good god its off the scale, could explain the current crap going on???:ohno:

SYDNEY

December 5th, 2006, 10:45 PM

^^^ LOL ....

South Africa 43rd - not bad, I expected them to be waaaaay lower.

SYDNEY

December 6th, 2006, 07:49 AM

NZ population grows 7.8%

Dec 6, 2006

New Zealand's population has grown faster in the past five years than in any other census period in the last 30 years.Just released 2006 census results show New Zealand's population increased by 7.8% in the five years to 2006 to 4,027,947 people, compared with a 3.3% rise between 1996 and 2001. Statistics New Zealand says in the general population there is further evidence of a "man drought" with there being around 97,000 more women than men.

All regional council areas showed population growth or had steady populations between 2001 and 2006, except for Southland which had a marginal decline. This contrasts with the previous five years when six regional council areas showed population decline. The biggest increases between 2001and 2006 were in Auckland, up 12.4% and Canterbury which rose 8.4%.The Asian ethnic group had the biggest growth since 2001, up 48.9 % to reach 354,552. The Asian ethnic group now represents 9.2% of those who stated their ethnicity.

Other significant changes in New Zealand's ethnic make-up included a 7.4% growth for Maori since 2001 to reach 565,329, and Pacific peoples, up 14.7% to 265,974. "New Zealander" is published as a separate category for the first time, after previously being counted in the European category. This ethnic group totalled 429,429 (11.1%) in 2006. European remains the largest of the major ethnic groups, totalling 2,609,592 (67.6%) in 2006. Internet availability in households nearly doubled between 2001 and 2006 from 37.4% to 60.5%. This census was the first to ask about the availability of cellphones in households and shows 74.2% of households had access to cellphones.

IHaveNoLegs

December 6th, 2006, 11:26 AM

i wonder how many of those 565,329 maori are over half maori, i suspect none

GoluBoy

December 6th, 2006, 08:51 PM

LOL - I am still FUMING !! and saturday morning at The Supper Club didn't help my mood either ..... this guy came over to me on the dance floor and said that I had better stop looking at his girlfriend so I told him that I was GAY !! .... his reply was that if I don't stop looking at her he will beat me up .... what part of gay did he not understand ;) ... the funny thing is that even if I was straight, I wouldn't touch his girlfriend with somebody else's hands, she is soooooo ugly :lol:

I am too sensitive, I am still upset by the whole experience - too hell with sr8 clubs now, I will stick to the more civil, gay clubs.

I would have told him that you were having a temporary "outage" and transmission would be restored ASAP.And any complaints should be directed to anyone who happens to give a fuck!.

MwAh*.....You more than welcome to come along with your BF to my Gay NiteKlub....that I will eventually set up once I win Powerball :ohno: :lol:

Free VIP passes for SSC Members :nocrook: And that means free :cheers: :cheers2: :drunk: :cheers1:

:dance: :dance:

Davee

December 6th, 2006, 08:55 PM

I would have told him that you were having a temporary "outage" and transmission would be restored ASAP.And any complaints should be directed to anyone who happens to give a fuck!.

MwAh*.....You more than welcome to come along with your BF to my Gay NiteKlub....that I will eventually set up once I win Powerball :ohno: :lol:

Free VIP passes for SSC Members :nocrook: And that means free :cheers: :cheers2: :drunk: :cheers1:

:dance: :dance:

Hoorah!!!!!!!!:banana: :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana: :)

SYDNEY

December 6th, 2006, 10:56 PM

I would have told him that you were having a temporary "outage" and transmission would be restored ASAP.And any complaints should be directed to anyone who happens to give a fuck!.

MwAh*.....You more than welcome to come along with your BF to my Gay NiteKlub....that I will eventually set up once I win Powerball :ohno: :lol:

Free VIP passes for SSC Members :nocrook: And that means free :cheers: :cheers2: :drunk: :cheers1:

LOL ..... I went to Supper Club again last weekend and it was way better - no riff raff. I am crossing fingers that you win the Powerball - wouldn't it be great ? ;)

SYDNEY

December 6th, 2006, 11:07 PM

Reserve Bank leaves cash rate unchanged

UPDATED 9.45am Thursday December 7, 2006
Reserve Bank governor Alan Bollard gave borrowers a backhanded Christmas present today by leaving the Official Cash Rate (OCR) on hold at 7.25 per cent. Some economists had expected him to raise the rate, which has been unchanged all year, to try and squeeze New Zealand's 4 per cent annual inflation rate lower. The rapid fall in world oil prices and the rise of the New Zealand dollar - to a 10-month high of US69 cents this week -- has meant Dr Bollard has not had to apply the monetary brake harder.

Dr Bollard said in his quarterly Monetary Policy Statement that while the short-term inflation outlook had improved, medium-term pressures remained persistent. "We are less optimistic about medium-term prospects," he said. He left the door well ajar for further rate risks, saying "a firmer monetary policy stance could still be required to maintain downward pressure on inflation in the medium-term". "Further tightening cannot therefore be ruled out," he said, adding that any easing of policy must remain some considerable way off.

As he previously noted in his monetary policy reviews almost all this year and some of last year, Dr Bollard said the economy and the housing market had surprised in their strength. Mainly because of falling oil product prices, the bank is forecasting negative inflation for the current quarter which will help bring inflation back inside the bank's 1-3 per cent target band for the first time in six quarters. Dr Bollard said the annual inflation rate could be as low as 2 per cent next year which should help bring down inflation expectations and medium-term inflation pressures.

He expressed renewed concern about the housing market which appeared to have developed new momentum. High house prices give consumers the confidence to spend and borrow more exacerbating inflation pressures and national debt problems. He noted houses were now selling as fast as any time this year and the average number of days it takes for a house to sell is a reliable indicator that house prices will rise. Dr Bollard acknowledged the damage the high currency was doing to exporters. "If sustained (it) could threaten the ongoing rebalancing of the economy," he said.

However, he said primary producers were getting relief from favourable commodity prices, which the bank now expects to continue for longer as a result of global supply shortages. The bank has raised its forecasts for economic growth for the year to March 2007 and for 2008 but lowered it for 2009. It now expects GDP to grow by 2.1 per cent in 2007, 2.7 per cent in 2008 and 2.5 per cent in 2009. Dr Bollard issued a thinly veiled warning to the Government about tax cuts or new spending, indicating either would be met by interest rates rising. He noted the Government's budget position had strengthened as a result of the stronger-than-expected economy and this created a risk of "new initiatives" at a time when there was less headroom to accommodate additional fiscal expansion.

The bank had not factored in policy changes to its projections but Dr Bollard noted "fiscal policy poses a particular rise for the medium-term outlook". If the Government stimulated the economy further with new spending or tax cuts, "any initiatives would need to be factored into the outlook and could imply additional monetary policy response". Dr Bollard said that in view of New Zealand's hefty current account deficit -- running at nearly 10 per cent of GDP -- the exchange rate appeared "unjustified". A slight easing in the current account account deficit is forecast, although even in 2009 it is projected to remain at 7.5 per cent of GDP. The announcement gave the New Zealand dollar a lift, with the currency moving from around US68.25c just before the decision to around US68.45c soon after.

BNZ senior economist Craig Ebert said today's statement from the Reserve Bank was justifiably more hawkish than previous statements. "By the look of it the RBNZ is setting the scene for a rate hike early in the next year, but they still need to see the evidence to tip them into doing so," he said. Citigroup market economics co-head Stephen Halmarick said the Reserve Bank was probably close to tightening this time and it sounded like it would not take much to push it into hiking in January. JPMorgan economist Jarrod Kerr said the Reserve Bank had implicitly forecast another tightening by March, but that was still data dependant. Household demand was surprising on the upside and fiscal stimulus was a concern, he said. "So, the RBNZ is on hold until at least March and a move then will be a close call, but JPMorgan maintains its view of unchanged policy."

Marky Mark

December 7th, 2006, 12:11 AM

I would have told him that you were having a temporary "outage" and transmission would be restored ASAP.And any complaints should be directed to anyone who happens to give a fuck!.

MwAh*.....You more than welcome to come along with your BF to my Gay NiteKlub....that I will eventually set up once I win Powerball :ohno: :lol:

[QUOTE]Free VIP passes for SSC Members :nocrook: And that means free :cheers: :cheers2: :drunk: :cheers1:
:dance: :dance:

Goodluck with powerball :cheers:

Kane007

December 7th, 2006, 06:22 AM

House prices - the boom keeps rolling

NZ Herald
2006/12/07 (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10414159)

House sales by Auckland's largest residential real estate agency have hit a new high.

Figures issued by Barfoot and Thompson yesterday show increasing wealth for people who own houses, and bring disappointment for the thousands waiting for prices to drop - or at least stop climbing.

The market's continual rise is the wrong way for first-home buyers and the Reserve Bank.

Last month, Barfoot's figures showed the average price of an Auckland house passed the $500,000 mark for the first time.

Yesterday, the agency said strong spring demand and a large increase in the number of houses sold had pushed the average price to $507,470, up on October's $502,297.

The figures are one measure of housing sales, which are also gauged by the Real Estate Institute and Quotable Value which use national figures.

Barfoot director Peter Thompson said last month was the agency's busiest in at least three years.

The number of houses sold rose from 978 in October to 1089 last month.

Mr Thompson said the agency had 63 sales offices and about a third of the Auckland market.

Barfoots is selling more mansions - 17.8 per cent of sales last month were for $1 million-plus places, compared with 16.7 per cent in October.

Barfoots sold 70 $1 million-plus houses last month, up on the 51 it sold in October.

Darren Gibbs, Deutsche Bank's chief economist, said Barfoot's figures showed the market had outstripped the Reserve Bank's projections.

"This is entirely consistent with every other indicator I'm seeing in the housing market and other indicators related to domestic demand," Mr Gibbs said.

"There is no question that activity and pricing continues to be much more robust than Reserve Bank's projections."

BNZ chief economist Tony Alexander said the Barfoot and Thompson figures showed prices had picked up.

"The market is nowhere near as strong as it was three years ago but it has improved from weakness late in 2004 when the overall slowing of the rate of growth of the economy was starting," he said.

Reserve Bank Governor Dr Alan Bollard last month bemoaned New Zealanders' preoccupation with housing ahead of owning shares in companies.

Although house sale prices are up, rents have remained almost static, the Barfoot figures show.

Among the properties the agency manages, the average weekly rent last month was $359, against October's $356, September's $343 and August's $340.

The agency let 633 houses or units last month, up on 620 in October and 651 in September.

The Real Estate Institute will give its November sales figures in the next fortnight. Last month, it reported a record national median price of $324,000 and a record 8857 sales.

The Auckland region median was $415,000. North Shore's median rose from $457,500 in September to $507,250 October. Houses under Auckland City Council's authority rose from $428,000 to $445,000.

Quotable Value said the average national sale price was $345,007 in October.

* An expected rush of house buyers in the week between Christmas and New Year has prompted Barfoot and Thompson to tell its agents to keep their doors open.

Last year, the agency sold about 200 houses during that week and Mr Thompson said he expected at least that this year. People had more time to shop for a house in the holiday week and were more likely to buy, he said.

How they rose

Barfoot and Thompson's Auckland house sales:
* Last month: $507,470
* October: $502,297
* November last year: $476,916

SYDNEY

January 16th, 2007, 04:17 AM

Business confidence strengthens

Business confidence is continuing to improve according to the latest survey results released by the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research. The NZIER's Quarterly Survey of Business Opinion (QSBO) for December 2006 shows the net balance of firms which are expecting the business situation to deteriorate in the next six months has fallen from 24 per cent to 5 per cent, on a seasonally adjusted basis.

A net 6 per cent of firms report an increase in their own activities in the last three months. In the September survey, the number of firms reporting an increase was the same as the number reporting a decrease. 13 per cent of firms expect their own trading activity to improve in the next three months. The corresponding statistics in the September survey was 5 per cent. Balanced against these positive results, the survey also found that capacity utlization is back to 91.7 per cent, down from 92.3 per cent in the September quarter, although the NZIER notes that it remains an historically high level.

SYDNEY

January 16th, 2007, 04:22 AM

Bumper start to year for tourism

The Tourism Industry Association says the Christmas and new year period was one of the most successful on record in many parts of New Zealand, despite the poor weather. A survey of regional tourism organisations found visitor numbers are substantially up compared to previous years. Northland tourism operators say they have seen business boom by more than 30%. There is also a strong number of bookings until April which is expected to bode well for the industry for the year.

Marky Mark

January 16th, 2007, 12:05 PM

new zealander

January 16th, 2007, 12:56 PM

shrewd.user

January 17th, 2007, 05:52 AM

http://au.biz.yahoo.com/070116/30/11zht.html

-8<--

A survey has named Hong Kong as the world's freest economy for the 13th straight year, followed by Singapore and then Australia.

The study of 157 economies released Tuesday by the Heritage Foundation and the Wall Street Journal placed the United States and New Zealand after Australia.

-8<--

Australia is up there with HK and singapore? i had no idea our economy was that liberal.... i mean i know its highly liberalised... but 3rd?

on a slightly differen't note can i say that this thread is a shadow of what it could be.... becasue its all about the good news.... there's absolutely no discussion of the economic issues at hand... in fact there's barely any discussion at all, just feel good articles :)

flyin_higher

January 17th, 2007, 08:17 AM

^^There's already been a discussion about the nature of the discussion in this thread. It was decided that this would remain generally a info posting thread, of a positive nature. Debate about economic issues would be kept to other threads. This can be changed of course if everyone wants.

trueapprentice

January 18th, 2007, 07:14 AM

http://www.heritage.org/index/topten.cfm

NZ 5th ( equal with the UK) , in the world's freest economy 2007

SYDNEY

January 21st, 2007, 09:48 PM

Not particularly good news but it makes for interesting reading -

NZ houses among least affordable

New Zealanders are paying some of the world's highest house prices compared to our incomes and Auckland ranks alongside London as one of the world's most expensive housing markets. The third Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey released today showed it takes Aucklanders 6.9 years of full annual earnings of $57,500 to afford the $395,000 median house price.

Auckland ranked 21st out of 159 cities surveyed, with the least affordable city being Los Angeles. Christchurch ranked 31st out of 159, with its residents taking six years of $48,400 annual earnings to afford the $291,000 median. Wellington fared better in place 47 with its residents taking 5.4 years (earning $61,400 annually) to afford the $331,000 median.

A survey author blamed tight land supply for New Zealand's housing squeeze, saying excessive land use regulation had strangled subdivision expansion and artificially pushed up prices. In the past year, New Zealand house prices rose about 10 per cent, significantly more than the rise in people's incomes.

Most analysts expect Reserve Bank Governor Alan Bollard to hold the official cash rate at 7.25 per cent on Thursday - and give homeowners a breather from higher mortgage rates - after lower oil prices contributed to better than expected inflation figures. Housing Minister Chris Carter told the Affordable Housing Forum in Wellington late last year that the Government had identified three new ways of solving the crisis - new uses of planning rules, special sector partnerships and Government-led development projects on surplus Crown land. "People of my generation are deeply disturbed by the enormous difficulties our children face in getting into the housing market, and housing affordability is an issue preoccupying hundreds of thousands of young households around the country.

"The problem with supply is not that we haven't been releasing land for development as those who want to gut the Resource Management Act are fond of claiming," he told the conference. Hugh Pavletich, Christchurch-based co-author of the survey with Wendell Cox in the United States, criticised councils for ring-fencing cities which he said was strangling the supply of land crucial for development.

"Houses should not cost any more than three years' annual incomes," he said, calling for more rural land to be freed up. "Less than 1.4 per cent of our land is urbanised, so there's no shortage of land for housing." The survey found Australians had the world's most pervasive housing affordability crisis, taking 6.6 years of full earnings to afford a house. New Zealand come in close behind, taking a median six years, followed by Ireland and Britain.

Canadians have the world's most affordable houses, taking only 3.2 years of full earnings to afford a median-priced place. Americans score close behind, taking just 3.7 years of earnings to buy a house. The survey found many people living in North America were much better off than New Zealanders. Their housing markets are the world's more affordable.

Number of years' income to buy house:
* Australia 6.6 years.
* New Zealand 6 years.
* Ireland 5.7 years.
* Britain 5.5 years.
* United States 3.7 years.
* Canada 3.2 years.
Source: Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey

aucklandman

January 21st, 2007, 10:44 PM

One word: lol

I think thats a good thing, says something about how good it is here.

flyin_higher

January 22nd, 2007, 12:49 AM

^^Perhaps but its not ideal for thsoe of us who aren't hugely rich and who are looking to buy their first house (no that i am personally lol).

Kane007

January 22nd, 2007, 02:07 AM

Cool, I'm almost a half millionaire!:lol:

Lol: Only $14.70 cash in my wallet!

aucklandman

January 22nd, 2007, 07:44 AM

^^Perhaps but its not ideal for thsoe of us who aren't hugely rich and who are looking to buy their first house (no that i am personally lol).

Well the good thing about that then is:

Less expensive areas will become richer and better communities with the GROWING minds moving into them.

Thats one way of looking at it :banana:

Also: Supply & Demand

Kane007

January 25th, 2007, 01:04 AM

OCR Remains On Hold

New Zealand's official interest rate remains unchanged at 7.25 percent, but Reserve Bank Governor Alan Bollard has again warned that higher rates could be on the way.

He also raised concerns that rising government spending was adding to inflationary pressures.

The country's Official Cash Rate has been stable since December 2005, through nine reviews by the Reserve Bank.

Releasing his latest decision today, Dr Bollard said the near term inflation outlook was relatively benign, but the Reserve Bank remained concerned about the risk of higher inflation in the medium term.

"In the absence of clear indications of a moderation in housing and domestic demand, it is likely that further policy tightening will be required," he said.

The position would be reassessed in the light of a full review of economic forecasts in the Reserve Bank's next Monetary Policy Statement in March.

"A return to a moderating trend in housing and domestic demand will be essential if we are to see a reduction in medium term inflation pressures," Dr Bollard said.

While indicators showed that economic growth had continued to moderate in the third quarter of 2006, it was increasingly apparent that domestic demand had rebounded since then.

Retail trade had picked up, there was a resurgent housing market, and consumer and business confidence had recovered strongly.

The main drivers appeared to be a decline in petrol prices since October, an increase in net immigration and an expansionary fiscal policy, he said.

Dr Bollard noted that headline inflation had fallen, with annual Consumers Price Index (CPI) inflation dropping to 2.6 percent in December as a result of lower oil prices and a strengthening exchange rate in the fourth quarter.

The CPI was projected to decrease considerably further through 2007, helping to lower inflation expectations.

But the medium term outlook was less rosy, with annual rates of inflation projected to return to the upper part of the Reserve Bank's 1-3 percent target range through 2008 and into 2009, Dr Bollard said.

The Reserve Bank was particularly concerned that its assumptions about the housing market and consumer demand - that they would resume a slowing trend during 2007 and 2008 - were looking more uncertain.

That was particularly the case if further fiscal expansion happened, he said.

Dr Bollard's comments today were not the first time he has warned about the possible need for future interest rate rises.

He gave a similar warning at the most recent previous review of the OCR in December, and has caused concern among some economists that he threatens too much and does not act enough.

Among those who will be disappointed Dr Bollard did not raise the rate today will be BNZ head of research Stephen Toplis who is worried about the risk of the economy "seriously overheating".

Mr Toplis said recently that Dr Bollard had consistently defied the need to raise the OCR despite strong supporting evidence to do so.

dubious

January 25th, 2007, 05:42 AM

^^ Thank goodness for that! Mortgagee auctions are taking over. Any higher and the whole country will be filing for bankruptcy...

Kane007

January 28th, 2007, 03:30 AM

Quality of Life 2007

Entire article available here (http://www.internationalliving.com/issues/2007/2007_article.html), though I've pasted relevant New Zealand information.

The best place in the world to live?
For the second year running in our annual Quality of Life Index, we say: France.

At the other end of the Index, again for year number two, Iraq scores the fewest points and ranks as the world’s worst place to be.

The European countries always get top scores (with the Netherlands, Switzerland, Denmark, and Luxembourg making it into our top 10 this year), as do the antipodean nations of Australia (second place) and New Zealand (fourth). Argentina, for the first time, makes it into our top 10 (in 10th position).

First runner-up
Australia moves from third position last year to second place this year. If you don’t mind a 12-hour flight back to the States when you’ve a hankering to “go home,” then Australia is an attractive option, especially if you’re young. The climate is good (Australia gets an 89 in this category of our Index), the lifestyle is easygoing, and there are plenty of ways to spend your days living in the Great Outdoors. Cost of living is low (the country scores 73 in this category). And, right now, the U.S. dollar is holding its own against the Australian dollar; a buck buys you $1.27 Aussie dollars.

Australia’s neighbor Down Under, New Zealand, comes in fourth place this year in our Index, moving up one position from last year.

New Zealand is jaw-droppingly beautiful. Stretching across 1,000 miles, the North Island and South
Island make up what the native Maori people call Aotearoa—the Land of the Long White Cloud. Settlers have called it “Godzone:” God’s own country.

Made famous as the location for The Lord of the Rings movies, its elemental landscapes are so pristine you might have trouble believing they’re for real…even if you see them with your own eyes.

Geysers gush, and mud pools bubble. Whales spout, dolphins frolic, and surf booms onto sands where yours might be the only footprints. Iced with glaciers, towering mountains range above a landscape veined with rushing rivers.

But New Zealand offers more than surf, turf, and Middle Earth wonderland. Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch are vibrant urban centers. And numerous small coastal and rural towns offer an enviable community spirit that’s increasingly hard to find in today’s world. Auckland is the fifth best city in the world to live, according to a 2006 Quality of Life survey by Mercer Consulting, with Wellington coming in 12th position.

The other-worldly landscapes are backed up by substance: affordable health care (New Zealand scores 90 points in this category in our Index), an English-speaking population, free education, a low crime rate, great infrastructure, and one of the world’s highest “healthy longevity” figures.

On top of all that, New Zealand hides enticing real estate opportunities. You can still find homes—and we mean proper houses you can move into—for less than US$50,000. (Right now your U.S. dollar will buy you $1.46 Kiwi dollars.)

The downside to living in Australia and New Zealand is how increasingly difficult it is to obtain full-time residency. Both countries are looking for younger, professional expats. In New Zealand, for example, you must qualify through a point system—you get more points for certain qualifications than for others, and the younger you are, the better.

he 2006 Corruption Perceptions Index is a composite index that draws on multiple expert opinion surveys that examine perceptions of public sector corruption in 163 countries around the world.

This year, countries with significant worsening in perceived levels of corruption include Brazil, Cuba, and the United States. Countries in the Americas with a significant improvement include Uruguay and Paraguay. The best in the world? New Zealand and Finland are tied for first place. The world’s worst? Haiti.

aucklandman

January 28th, 2007, 07:00 AM

lol Haiti,

GOOD NEWS THOUGH!

Nows its getting less and less surprising,

NZ is a great place to live, no matter how much people complain.

flyin_higher

January 28th, 2007, 10:45 AM

^^Yea its nice to see that people from overseas are recognising the things we've known about NZ for ages. ITS BLOODY GREAT HERE!

aucklandman

January 29th, 2007, 07:31 AM

^^Yea its nice to see that people from overseas are recognising the things we've known about NZ for ages. ITS BLOODY GREAT HERE!

ITS BLODDY F:banana: :banana: :banana: :banana: NG GOOD HERE!

spotila

January 29th, 2007, 01:37 PM

i blame todd

flyin_higher

January 29th, 2007, 09:49 PM

lol, thanks paul:hammer:

SYDNEY

January 29th, 2007, 11:42 PM

No surprise here - I have travelled the World and this is what I have been saying for a long time - the life-style here is second to none :) My mom will second that ;)

SYDNEY

February 2nd, 2007, 03:22 AM

Record Monthly Visitor Arrivals

Friday, 2 February 2007, 10:59 am

There were 319,000 visitor arrivals to New Zealand in December 2006, the highest number recorded for any month, Statistics New Zealand said today. This is up 4 percent on the 307,100 visitor arrivals in December 2005, and 2 percent more than the previous high of 313,100 in December 2004. More visitors arriving from Australia, the United Kingdom and China contributed to the increase. There is a continuing decline in visitor numbers from Japan, with 13 percent fewer arrivals in December 2006 than in the same month of 2005. Seasonally adjusted monthly visitor arrivals decreased 1 percent between November and December 2006.

In the year ended December 2006, there were 2.422 million visitor arrivals, up 2 percent on the December 2005 year. There were more visitors from Australia (up 28,800), China (up 17,900) and the United States of America (up 11,100), but fewer from Japan (down 18,500) and the United Kingdom (down 12,000). New Zealand residents departed on 190,500 short-term overseas trips in December 2006, up 2,000 (1 percent) on December 2005. More New Zealand residents departed for India, Samoa and Australia. Fewer trips were taken to Fiji (down 28 percent) following the political coup on 5 December 2006.

In the December 2006 year, there were 1.864 million New Zealand resident short-term departures, slightly lower than in the previous December year. Permanent and long-term (PLT) arrivals exceeded departures by 1,000 in December 2006, compared with an excess of 1,100 arrivals in December 2005. On a seasonally adjusted basis, there was a net PLT inflow of 1,200 in December 2006. In the December 2006 year, there was a PLT net inflow of 14,600, up on the net migration gain of 7,000 in the previous December year.

Kane007

February 2nd, 2007, 03:41 AM

+ 1 Sth African Mum!

ps we know why there's that upswing in yanks don't we :)WMD:)

SYDNEY

February 2nd, 2007, 10:32 PM

Immigration still climbing

The net inflow of migrants was still running strong in December with a gain of 1160 pushing the total for the whole of 2006 to 14,610, figures from Statistics New Zealand show. It continues the recovery in net immigration since the annual figure bottomed-out around 6000 in October 2005. The trend has been driven by increasing arrivals.

Departures have fallen too, but gradually. During 2006 there were 82,700 permanent and log-term arrivals - people declaring in their airport arrival cards that they intended to stay for a year or more - an increase of 5 per cent on 2005. The number of permanent and long-term departures - those leaving for at least a year - fell to 68,100, 5 per cent fewer than in 2005.

The 47,600 New Zealand citizens leaving the country was down 1600 from 2005 levels, while the number of returning Kiwis was almost unchanged. The main sources of immigrants were Britain (22,700) and Australia (13,300). The net inflow of 14,610 last year was more than the 13,700 the Reserve Bank had forecast in their December monetary policy statement.

"The current level of net migration will provide further support to the housing market and retail spending - both of which the Reserve Bank wants to see moderate," ANZ National Bank chief economist Cameron Bagrie said. Around 77 per cent of the net inflow of people last year were of working age, which would expand the workforce and alleviate labour shortages, he said.

Cartel

February 3rd, 2007, 09:08 AM

Buy a proper house in NZ for $50,000 US, that's a joke right?

aucklandman

February 3rd, 2007, 11:17 AM

^^ Must be Huntly

SYDNEY

February 5th, 2007, 12:24 AM

^^^ or Kawakawa :)

Strong annual wage growth continues

Monday - February 05, 2007
Salary and wage rates (including overtime) rose 3.2 per cent in the year to the December 2006 quarter, Statistics New Zealand said today. Earnings growth was also evident in the Quarterly Employment Survey (QES), where seasonally adjusted total gross earnings increased 9.0 per cent in the same period, the largest annual increase recorded by Statistics NZ for this series in the QES.

In the Labour Cost Index (LCI), salary and wage rates (including overtime) for finance and insurance increased 5.9 per cent in the year to the December 2006 quarter and 3.0 per cent in the December 2006 quarter. These are the largest annual and quarterly increases since the series began in the June 2001 quarter. Matching market rates and the settlement of collective employment agreements were the main reasons given for the latest quarterly increase.

The mean increase was 5.5 per cent for all surveyed salary and ordinary time wage rates that rose in the year to the December 2006 quarter. This is the same increase as in the September 2006 quarter. The mean increase was 5.2 per cent for the December 2006 quarter, the largest quarterly mean increase since the LCI began in the December 1992 quarter.

QES results for the year to the December 2006 quarter show the annual increase in total gross earnings exceeded the annual increase in total paid hours. This resulted in a 4.9 per cent annual increase in average total hourly earnings, to $22.40. Employment, as measured by full-time equivalent employees (FTEs), increased 2.8 per cent for the year to the December 2006 quarter.

dubious

February 5th, 2007, 06:40 AM

In the Labour Cost Index (LCI), salary and wage rates (including overtime) for finance and insurance increased 5.9 per cent in the year to the December 2006 quarter and 3.0 per cent in the December 2006 quarter.

At least this is one upside of working in finance. My salary increased nearly 8% in six months working in the same job. :) :banana:

SYDNEY

February 12th, 2007, 12:58 AM

At least this is one upside of working in finance. My salary increased nearly 8% in six months working in the same job. :) :banana:

Gr8 news - now you can buy the drinks ;)

SYDNEY

February 12th, 2007, 12:59 AM

From QE2 to Queen Mary 2, a record cruise week for Auckland

11 February 2007
Ports of Auckland Ltd will service a record 9 cruise ships this week, starting with the arrival of the QE2 at 6am on Sunday 11 February. The record week will be completed when the QE2’s sister, the Queen Mary 2, arrives on Saturday 17 February. Ports of Auckland port services general manager Wayne Mills said the most challenging day for port logistics will be Friday 16 February, when 2 giant ships, the Statendam & the Sapphire Princess, arrive within an hour of each other in the early morning: “It will be the biggest passenger exchange the port has ever handled – nearly 8000 people in one day. That’s equivalent to more than 19 jumbo jets.

“The logistics will stretch our staffing resources but we have all our systems in place and we are ready to meet the challenge.” The Customs Service’s acting manager for marine & trade, Simon Williamson, said the service had organised extra resource to help deal with the number of passengers needed to be processed: "The challenge for Customs is that some passengers & crew will be leaving the ships and returning home via other transport. So we need to make sure this happens as seamlessly as possible while not jeopardising border security. It's definitely a busy time for us but we are ready for it.”

Because of the number of ships calling, not all will be able to berth at the main Overseas Passenger Terminal at Princes Wharf. The Statendam will be processed at the recently upgraded secondary facility at Queens Wharf and the 345m-long Queen Mary 2 will berth at Jellicoe Wharf, which can accommodate its length more safely. Ports of Auckland’s marine services team, which manages operations at the Overseas Passenger Terminal, will set up parallel facilities on 2 wharves 3 times during the week. This includes set-up of security, ticket counters, and all the equipment required for Customs, MAF & Immigration processing of passengers & baggage.

Marky Mark

February 22nd, 2007, 04:57 AM

Net migrant inflow 14,600

Published 21 February 2007

New Zealand’s net migrant inflow ended 2006 at a level double the previous year and just below the 2004 inflow.

Statistics NZ said yesterday the net inflow for 2006 was 14,610, up from 6970 the previous year & just below the 15,110 in 2004. Immigrant numbers increased by 3770 to 82,730 in 2006, while emigrant numbers fell by 3870 to 68,120.

Numbers migrating from Australia were down on the previous 3 years at 13,306, while numbers heading to Australia were down slightly from 2005 at 20,709.

Other strong inflows included 10,900 from the UK, 11,400 from Asia.

Statistics NZ said there were net outflows in the 20-24 & 50-54 age groups but net inflows of 3000 in the 30-34 bracket & 2800 in the 25-29 bracket.:cheers:

flyin_higher

February 22nd, 2007, 05:47 AM

^^Thats kinda good news. Alot of pple my age going on their OE i guess.

TonyNZ

February 22nd, 2007, 07:44 AM

Good news! Get more of those bloody poms over here lol.

Marky Mark

February 25th, 2007, 05:05 AM

I do know that it makes it harder for the average first Home Buyer to get into the Market Place with Values going up :ohno:

NZ mega-mansions set to break all records
Email this storyPrint this story 5:00AM Sunday February 25, 2007

The $26.5 million property at Cowes Bay, Waiheke Island
Agents dealing in prime New Zealand real estate predict that exclusive local property will soon be jostling for position on the annual Forbes list of the world's most expensive homes for sale.

This year only the Waiheke Island's Cowes Bay property, with an asking price of $26.5 million, showed up on the list. But top-end real estate agent Graham Wall said the price of prime New Zealand was "about to explode".

"Every single piece of coastline and harbourside in New Zealand is massively undervalued. New Zealand is the only place on earth that is advantaged by the global phenomena that is disadvantaging the rest of the world. Things like pollution and overcrowding means isolation works for us."

He predicted that prime properties in places like the Bay of Islands, Hawke's Bay and Queenstown, and waterfront properties around Auckland were about to enjoy "an explosion in value, simply because New Zealand's time has come.

"It's coinciding with everything. We're going to win the World Cup Rugby, the America's Cup, we're starting to win things that it looked like we couldn't do. We 're even winning the cricket. This is New Zealand's time in the sun," Wall said.

In the past two months his company had sold Auckland waterfront properties for $10 million, $7.7 million and $6.5 million.

"Two or three years ago, the prices would have seemed outrageous, but the fact is, what we have in New Zealand is what the world wants."

High-end estate agent Michael Boulgaris agrees New Zealand real estate will feature increasingly on lists like the Forbes real estate.

"Today, international investors want to have a wide portfolio of investments around the world, and it is so easy to jump on a plane and look at properties in other locations. It is trendy almost to have properties scattered worldwide in your portfolio," Boulgaris said.

New Zealand had no capital gains tax, no stamp duty and no "gazumping" as in Britain.

"I believe it's the easiest place in the world to buy property."

Boulgaris said there had been steady interest in the Cowes Bay property, and he had recently flown Korean and American clients there in a helicopter. Overseas clients who had arrived in Auckland on their super-yacht were scheduled to look at it this weekend.

Internet marketing for this sort of property made all the difference, he said. "The internet today is the worldwide audience."

Last year, he sold a Queenstown property for $2.8 million which the clients bought sight unseen after viewing it on the internet. Other clients made a sight unseen offer of $3 million for a property they had seen on the internet, an offer which was turned down by the owners.

Last year's top sale in New Zealand was $10 million for businesswoman Diane Foreman's North Shore clifftop home, but many more millions are being spent on creating new mega-mansions.

Chrisco couple Richard and Ruth Bradley have spent $30 million on a sprawling estate at Coatesville, and on Auckland's Paritai Drive, Eric Watson's business partner Mark Hotchin is building a 2800sq m mansion which, taking into account the $17.5 million he paid for the land, will cost him more than $30 million by the time it is finished. Two years ago Hotchin paid a record $13.85 million for a holiday home on Waiheke Island.

And Navman co-founder Lionel Rogers is building a $20 million home in Parnell's St Stephen's Ave, a Getty-marble clad home with views over Hobson Bay and the Waitemata Harbour.

TonyNZ

March 1st, 2007, 03:23 AM

Migrant gain nearly double 2005 figure

New Zealand gained 14,609 people through immigration last year, nearly twice the 6971 figure for 2005, the Government said today.

Immigration Minister David Cunliffe released a new report and said it showed the country was benefiting.

The report said 90 per cent of skilled migrants were "satisfied" or "very satisfied" with life in New Zealand, and 81 per cent of employers said they were impressed with the performance of their migrant staff.

"New Zealand needs to grow and we need people with skills to undertake the economic transformation we need for a prosperous future," Mr Cunliffe said.

"However, the net gain through migration is not so large as to have a radical impact on our communities."

The Maori Party has complained about the immigration rate, which it blames for the fact that an eighth Maori seat in Parliament was not created when voter figures were worked out earlier this year.

Although there were more people on the Maori voters roll, the overall increase in the population cancelled them out in terms of an extra seat.

aucklandman

March 1st, 2007, 03:46 AM

^^ Very good, keep this country growing!

Kane007

March 1st, 2007, 03:49 AM

Shhhh, don't let Winston or NZ First hear that, or Brian Tamaki! They firmly believe that immigrants are detrimental to economic development, despite the evidence.

aucklandman

March 1st, 2007, 03:50 AM

^^ Yea but I would think, minus parts of Tauranga :lol:, that most would agree both of them are detrimental.

Marky Mark

March 10th, 2007, 02:17 AM

Thriving building sector driving economic growth:) Email this storyPrint this story 5:00AM Saturday March 10, 2007
By Tracy Withers
New Zealand's residential and commercial construction rose in the fourth quarter, adding to signs the economy expanded at the fastest pace in 18 months.

Residential building rose 2.3 per cent in the three months ended December 31, excluding inflation, Statistics New Zealand said in a report released in Wellington yesterday.

Non-residential construction rose 2.2 per cent.

The economy probably expanded 1 per cent in the fourth quarter, led by housing and consumer spending, Reserve Bank Governor Alan Bollard said on Thursday.

Accelerating growth prompted the central bank to raise benchmark interest rates to a record 7.5 per cent.

"The report is entirely consistent with the view that the fourth-quarter was very robust," said Stephen Toplis, head of research at Bank of New Zealand in Wellington. "It reflects the general strength of the economy in the second half of 2006."

Toplis expects gross domestic product increased 1.1 per cent in the fourth quarter. The growth report is published on March 30.

On March 5, the Treasury Department said fourth-quarter growth was probably between 0.8 per cent and 1 per cent. Previously, the department forecast 0.4 per cent.

Bollard said on Thursday that economic growth would accelerate to 3 per cent this year from a seven-year low of 1.4 in the September year.

The recovery in domestic demand and the housing market "is not temporary" and may stoke inflation, justifying the first rate increase in 15 months, he said.

"Depending on the persistence of the current upturn, further tightening may be required."

Toplis expects growth of 2.6 per cent this year and said the economy could not expand any faster without fanning inflation.

"Housing is strong, retail spending is still lofty. It's only the exporters that are suffering from the currency."

Export volumes fell 2.5 per cent and import volumes rose 3.2 per cent in the fourth quarter, Statistics New Zealand said in its terms-of-trade report released on Thursday.

Volumes of consumption goods rose to a record.

"There has been some rebalancing of the economy toward exports and away from domestic spending," said Khoon Goh, senior economist at ANZ National Bank in Wellington.

"It is looking like that is reversing as the external sector struggles with the high dollar."

- Bloomberg:banana:

SYDNEY

March 29th, 2007, 12:44 AM

Tourist visits climb to a record

5:00AM Thursday March 29, 2007

New Zealand tourist arrivals rose 2.9 per cent to a record in the three months to the end of February, the Ministry of Tourism said. International visitor arrivals rose to 833,000. More than half of visitors arriving in January and February said they were on holiday and 28 per cent said they were visiting relatives. Tourism is the main foreign exchange earner, accounting for about 10 per cent of gross domestic product. In the year ended February, tourist arrivals rose 5.3 per cent. Arrivals from China rose 22 per cent to overtake South Korea as the fifth-largest market behind Australia, the UK, the US and Japan. Air New Zealand began direct flights to Shanghai last year and will increase the frequency to five a week in October.

SYDNEY

March 29th, 2007, 12:46 AM

Economists divided over sharp rise in new housing consents

5:00AM Thursday March 29, 2007

Latest building consent figures show the number of residential dwellings being planned rose sharply in February. Residential consents were up by 5.8 per cent on January (or 5.9 per cent when apartments were excluded). That compares with a rise of 3.7 per cent in January and falls in October, November and December. The rebound in February has divided economists, some of whom see it as a sign that building activity is picking up again - something that would provide Reserve Bank Governor Alan Bollard with an incentive to raise interest rates again next month.

"It's not necessarily a surprise, but it's not good news either," said Darren Gibbs, chief economist at Deutsche Bank. "It's probably the bad news that the bank expects to see." When you combined the rebound in January and February with other indicators such as the latest data on house sales and the residential construction intentions index in the NBNZ business survey, Gibbs said, it was starting to look as if the issuing of residential consents would continue to rise over the next three or four months. "If the pick-up we've seen over the next couple of months is sustained, then we might find we weren't in a downtrend at all." But other economists were not convinced the trend was shifting.

It was premature to say that the consents were in an upswing, said UBS economist Robin Clements. "The February bounce was a strong number," he said. "But it hasn't altered the trend, which is still declining." A trend line from August last year still shows an overall decline in residential consents and on a seasonally adjusted basis the total number of residential consents for the month is down when compared with every February since 2004. "The Reserve Bank is looking for moderation in housing," Clements said. "This is one of the elements of housing and the trend has been declining since August, so by definition that is a moderation." An ANZ review of the data also notes that the number of residential consents is below the average for 2005 and 2006. It says overall consents - including non-residential - were still in decline and that news would be welcomed by the Reserve Bank.

Marky Mark

March 29th, 2007, 01:39 AM

This wouldn't happen very often :cheers:

Building consents jump 5.8 per cent
NZPA | Wednesday, 28 March 2007

Email a Friend | Printable View | Have Your Say
JOHN KIRK-ANDERSON/The Press
GOING UP: Residential building consents rose 5.8 per cent in February, but economists said it was nothing to get too excited about.
Excluding apartments, the rise was 5.9%, Statistics New Zealand said. Canterbury lead the way with 474 consents, higher than at any time in the past year.

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AdvertisementThe number of residential building consents rose 5.8 per cent in February, but economists said it was nothing to get too excited about.

Excluding apartments, the rise was 5.9%, Statistics New Zealand said.

ANZ economists said the 2132 consents in February was the highest since October, but still down from the 2170 average over 2005 and 2006.

The value of non-residential building at $273 million was also below the 2005-6 average of $336m.

ANZ noted the monthly trend for consents continued to fall, although the lack of moderation in the housing market would worry the Reserve Bank.

The bank's focus would remain firmly on developments in domestic demand and the housing market.

ANZ said that even a small fall in consumer confidence, shown in the Westpac quarterly survey, was not enough and there would be a rise in consumer consumption this quarter.

ANZ said credit growth data due tomorrow was likely to show mortgage demand remains strong, indicating the moderation in the housing market the Reserve Bank seeks was still some way off. In a rare reversal, Auckland was pushed out of top place for new building authorisations last month -- ceding its usual dominant position to Canterbury.
Auckland had 463 new dwelling consents in February, similar to levels of the previous three months but well down on much of the rest of the past year.

In contrast, Canterbury's 474 consents were higher than at any time in the past year.

Statistics New Zealand (SNZ) which published the consents data today said Auckland's drop of 328 units from February 2006 was mainly due to a drop in apartment numbers in Auckland City.

Conversely Canterbury's increase of 158 units last month from a year earlier was largely because of an increase in apartment consents. Nationally, apartment unit numbers were prone to largely monthly fluctuations.

For the 12 months before last month, Auckland accounted for 28% of the new dwelling units approved in the country, Canterbury 16 percent and Waikato 13%.

The value of all residential building consents last month was $597m, up 6.2% from a year earlier, while the value of non-residential consents was down 5.3% to $273m.

For the year to February, 25,770 new dwelling consents were issued, down 1.4% from the previous February year.

The value of consents issued for all buildings for the year was up 2.9% to $11.2 billion. :)

TonyNZ

April 5th, 2007, 02:30 AM

Stronger Economy, Longer Marriages

Marriage is making a surprising comeback after years of decline, possibly because the strong economy is easing relationship strains.

The comeback is small so far: the proportion of two-parent families dropped from 90 per cent of all families with children in 1976, soon after the introduction of the domestic purposes benefit, to a low of 71 per cent in 2001.

It has picked up slightly to 72 per cent in the 2006 Census.

But a Ministry of Social Development study presented at a social policy conference in Wellington yesterday says other data from the quarterly household labour force survey show the proportion of sole parents peaked in 2003-04 and seems to have begun falling.

The decline has been particularly marked in families whose youngest child is under 3, while sole parenthood is still increasing for families whose youngest child is 14 or over.

Ministry analyst Moira Wilson said this indicated that the present generation of young parents were more likely to stay together than the generation before them.

"The younger generation has higher education, they are having children later, and they are enjoying a virtuous time in the economy where the men have jobs and the women have jobs if they want them. Older parents were affected by the difficult labour market in the late 1980s and early 1990s when their children were born."

The older generation was also affected most by an exodus of men to Australia and beyond, which caused an excess of women over men left in New Zealand in their 30s and 40s.

Social Development Minister David Benson-Pope told the conference the number on the DPB had dropped by 8000 in the past year and ministry figures suggested that the dominant driver had been the economy.

Davee

April 5th, 2007, 03:43 PM

. In a rare reversal, Auckland was pushed out of top place for new building authorisations last month -- ceding its usual dominant position to Canterbury.

This was amazing.

Christchurch and Canterbury are really buzzing..........good news for the south:banana:

aucklandman

April 6th, 2007, 06:05 AM

^^ Yea that is interesting, go CAB!

dysan1

April 10th, 2007, 11:10 AM

Hey guys, just a question. What percentage of the NZ economy does Auckland account for? I'd imagine it would be close to 50%

Kane007

April 10th, 2007, 01:21 PM

Earlier posts had it at about 35-37%. That is its tax contribution and about the same for % of GDP.

Population is about 33%.

dysan1

April 10th, 2007, 10:12 PM

thanx. i did really expect it to be higher

Kane007

April 11th, 2007, 12:18 AM

NZ is still basically an agrarian(agricultural primary produce) dominated economy but with a rapidly expanding tertiary sector based around the 4-5 main centres and service industries in the remaining larger centres.

The only real heavy industry (secondary) sectors in New Zealand: steel (1 Auckland), aluminium (1 Bluff), petrochemicals (1 Taranaki), oil refining (1 Whangarei), forest products (lots) and dairy (and even more). Source - Ministry of Economic Development (http://www.med.govt.nz/templates/MultipageDocumentTOC____21873.aspx).

SYDNEY

April 11th, 2007, 03:30 AM

Government surplus at $6.5 billion
NZ Herald 10:40AM Wednesday April 11, 2007

The Government's operating surplus is $6.5 billion for the eight months ending February, almost $1.5 billion ahead of forecasts mainly due to higher than expected investment income. Treasury said that after taking into account book-keeping changes and revaluations, the surplus was $5.59 billion, $507 million ahead of the forecasts made late last year. After investments and advances such as student loans the Government had $1.23 billion in residual cash. This was $1.4 billion ahead of forecast. Treasury predicted the surplus cash available would fall before the end of the year as it was mainly due to delays in departmental spending and capital purchases.

The higher than forecast headline operating surplus has been revealed in the accounts earlier in the financial year and is largely made up of money that is not available for general spending. The New Zealand Superannuation Fund earned $400 million more than expected, ACC $200 million and the Government Superannuation Fund $300 million. There was also $300 million in higher than forecast foreign exchange earnings. The books also continue to show a $11.7 billion gain in the Government's net worth mainly due to the massive revaluation of the rail network to $10.3 billion. Finance Minister Michael Cullen has been dismissive of the revaluation saying it does not represent reality.

SYDNEY

April 11th, 2007, 03:43 AM

NZ ranked fifth as investment destination
Source - National Business Review

http://www.nbr.co.nz/images/forbes_nz_150sq.gif

New Zealand has scored fifth on the Forbes Capital Hospitality Index 2007, which measures a country’s attractiveness to private investment. New Zealand’s high ranking is pulled down by its relatively high corporate tax rate (though well below fourth-placed Denmark), restrictions on land ownership and lack of competitiveness. But New Zealand scores full marks for its investor protection and personal freedom. All the top five – the US, Japan and Canada take out the first three places – score maximum points for personal freedom while Canada is also high for its lack of red tape. Japan, by contrast, rates lowest for its regulation and red tape. Denmark gains maximum points for its technology. Australia comes in 11th, its ranking affected by tough restrictions on foreign ownership, lack of investor protection and high corporate taxes.

The complete list of 144 countries is based on a number of other accepted international benchmarks that cover competitiveness, corporate taxes, corruption, economic freedom, technology and business regulation.

RANKINGS -

http://www.forbes.com/lists/2007/6/07caphosp_Capital-Hospitality_Rank.html?boxes=custom

SYDNEY

April 11th, 2007, 04:59 AM

Unemployment figures at 27-year low
NZ Herald 1:50PM Wednesday April 11, 2007

The official unemployment rate stands at 3.7 per cent -- one of the lowest among developed nations.

The number of people on the unemployment benefit has dropped to a 27-year low, the Government said today. Social Development Minister David Benson-Pope said the number of people receiving the unemployment benefit had fallen by a third in the past year. However, the overall working-age beneficiary numbers have dropped by just 6 per cent since 1999, prompting National to ask for an explanation. Figures released today by Mr Benson-Pope show unemployment beneficiary numbers dropped from 44,549 at the end of March 2006 to 28,845 at the end of March this year -- a decline of 35 per cent.

The number of solo mums and dads on the domestic purposes benefit (DPB) also dropped 6 per cent over the same period. But the figures show the number of people receiving the sickness and invalid's benefits continued to grow, by 4 per cent and 3 per cent respectively. Since 1999 sickness benefit numbers have risen by 46 per cent and invalid's benefit numbers by 47 per cent. Overall 365,272 working-age people are receiving a benefit -- a 6 per cent drop on the 401,415 receiving one in December 1999. Mr Benson-Pope credited the Government's "active labour market policies". The Government's Working for Families package was also successfully encouraging solo parents back into work, he said.

Despite an ageing population, growth in the sickness and invalid's beneficiary numbers was slowing, he said. Maori Affairs Minister Parekura Horomia said the number of Maori on the unemployment benefit had dropped below 10,000 for the first time in years. The number was now 9902 -- down from 44,000 in 1999. National Party welfare spokeswoman Judith Collins today said the figures showed a "relentless" increase in the sickness and invalid's benefit numbers at the same time unemployment benefit numbers were dropping.

"No one would criticise a decrease in the level of unemployment. It should be embraced as the perfect time to reform aspects of welfare when there are jobs and opportunities in the economy. "But what's puzzling is the relentless increase in the number of people collecting sickness and invalid's benefits, when there appears to be no epidemic of sickness and injury," Mrs Collins said. "David Benson-Pope needs to explain how this can be, when the sickness benefit is supposed to be short term."

Kane007

April 11th, 2007, 06:18 AM

These figures are miss leading and will be used by pratts for their political gain!
Lets see if I can tidy this up a bit.

Post 1999!

What exactly is "overall working-age beneficiary". Does this include working for families where top ups are added to families with children? Does this include Firemen who are injured in their job and are currently on sick leave?

Now this is IMPRESSIVE "Overall 365,272 working-age people are receiving a benefit -- a 6 per cent drop on the 401,415 receiving one in December 1999." THAT'S EVERY KIND OF BENEFIT.

Shit over the same time the New Zealand population grew from 3.81 million to 4.2 million today - 9 % growth.
So not only are 36,000 beneficiaries now employed but another 400,000 new New Zealanders have gotten (excellent grammar) jobs as well.

Good god Judith Collins get that pole out of your arse! Now if only the Herald would share with their intelligent readers the actual numbers of those currently receiving a sickness benefit + those in 1999 and we could do the maths for ourselves. Because a 47% increase on 1000 people over 8 years to 1470 people is a MASSIVE NUMBER.

MS Collins "But what's puzzling is the relentless increase in the number of people collecting sickness and invalid's benefits, when there appears to be no epidemic of sickness and injury," please share your figures or are you showing by your omission your true fealings that NZers don't have their own brains.

Typical dickhead politician.
Typical fascist rightwing prickhead newspaper.

aucklandman

April 11th, 2007, 02:39 PM

^^ I think its good news whichever way you look at it Kane, National never seems, whenever its in power, to boast about its figures.

It was covered in the same way by other media in the same way.

Kane007

April 11th, 2007, 11:55 PM

Just a rant.

All J Collins and the Herald needed to do was actually display the sickness figures for 1999 and 2007, so that we could draw our own conclusions and comparisons with the other figures given.

Something about fair and balanced reporting.

SYDNEY

April 12th, 2007, 07:57 AM

NZ's 100pc Pure joins Google Earth in world first
NZ HERALD - 4:05PM Thursday April 12, 2007

Tourism New Zealand's 100 per cent Pure campaign has gone interstellar - or perhaps that's internetstellar - with a world first partnership with Google Earth. The state-funded international tourism marketing body has provided data for a "layer" of information on visitor centres, points of interest and scenic highlights on Google Earth's photographic satellite map of the planet. Links through to Tourism New Zealand's official consumer website can then provide greater information, including activities and accommodation.

Other "layers" for Google Earth had been developed including National Geographic and the United Nations Environmental Program but the latest addition was the first to be developed in partnership with a tourism authority. Google's Craig Nevill-Manning, who unveiled the new overlay, said other countries were likely to follow the lead of Tourism New Zealand - who did not have to pay for the global exposure. "It's a benefit to our users to be able to get high quality information when they're browsing around Google Earth and there's benefit for Tourism New Zealand to get their data out there," Nevill-Manning said. "So it's kind of a win-win."

Google Earth had had about 200 million unique users since it was launched in 2005 and people planning a holiday could now make a virtual visit to New Zealand and get a real sense of the country, he said. "I think it makes the world a bit smaller in a good way and I think that's to New Zealand's benefit." Tourism Minister Damien O'Connor said it was a huge opportunity to be associated with the Google community. "The partnership brings together Google's technology, reputation and popularity and the award-winning newzealand.com's credible and authentic content."

SYDNEY

April 13th, 2007, 01:24 AM

Manufacturing shows buoyant times
MSN 9:00AM Friday April 13, 2007

New Zealand manufacturing activity grew at its strongest pace in 10 months in March as jumps in production and new orders offset the negative impact from a strong local currency, a survey showed today. The seasonally adjusted Business NZ Performance of Manufacturing Index (PMI) rose to 57.1 last month from an upwardly revised 54 in February, and 52.9 in March last year. A figure over 50 indicates manufacturing is expanding, while under 50 indicates contraction. "While the New Zealand dollar is still the hot issue for manufacturers, steady results in overall PMI activity over the last year have been encouraging," Business NZ Chief Executive Phil O'Reilly said in a statement. Four of the PMI's five sub-indices rose on the previous month, with product and finished stocks showing the strongest gains. Employment was the only measure to decline. O'Reilly said the strength of the New Zealand dollar was the most-mentioned negative factor facing manufacturers, although labour shortages were also singled out as constraining production.

"On the positive side, some have still managed to increase offshore orders despite a high NZ dollar," O'Reilly said. The New Zealand dollar hit a 23-month high of $0.7313 on Wednesday, supported by New Zealand's high interest rates, a firmer neighbouring Australian dollar in late February, and overall US dollar weakness. A rise in the currency makes New Zealand's exports less competitive on world markets, although it also lowers the price of imported raw materials.

flyin_higher

April 13th, 2007, 06:13 AM

Yay! Go New Zealand Made stuff :)

SYDNEY

April 16th, 2007, 12:36 AM

Kiwi drafted into major league as dealers cash in
NZ HERALD 5:00AM Monday April 16, 2007

New Zealand's high-flying dollar has been added to the world's biggest electronic foreign exchange trading platform. Until now the kiwi was primarily bought and sold on Reuters' trading platform, but London-based company ICAP has added the dollar to its EBS electronic trading system. "We're starting to consider the aussie and the kiwi dollar as major currencies now," said ICAP's Nick Murray-Leslie. The EBS platform operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It handles more than US$145 billion (196.6 billion) a day in spot foreign exchange transactions between banks and large hedge funds. "It's a question of putting the kiwi on a global stage," said Murray-Leslie.

ICAP had responded to rapidly growing demand from investors over the last six to 12 months as the kiwi emerged as a favoured currency for those looking for high yields. "They went to our customers ... ANZ, BNZ and Westpac, and said they needed to see the kiwi on this system. "People's investment strategies are changing all the time and getting more complex and they need better technology." Murray-Leslie said about 200 banks around the world were now set up to trade in the kiwi with EBS, leading to increased liquidity in the currency. ANZ head of markets John Body said the kiwi's inclusion in the EBS trading platform "further recognises the maturity of the New Zealand capital markets and the increased focus of the global investor community on the New Zealand dollar".

"This platform will further enhance liquidity, benefiting both local importers and exporters and broadening the pool of global investors active in the New Zealand dollar." But ANZ head of currency trading David Wilkinson said the inclusion was essentially a move by ICAP to try to grab a slice of the rapidly growing trade in kiwi from Reuters. "They've seen how much kiwi business is going through these days and decided it's in their best interests to do so." Trade in the kiwi was increasing dramatically and the currency was now among the most traded in the world, he said. "It's not just yield, it's also volatility related. The FX markets have been pretty quiet now for a number of years and the kiwi can fly around a bit and that tends to attract participation."

Nevertheless, Wilkinson welcomed ICAP's introduction of the kiwi to its EBS platform as "another avenue" to trade the currency which had some advantages such as 24-hour operation. The kiwi has been one of the most heavily traded of the world's smaller currencies for the past two years, with investors attracted by the country's high interest rates. It has risen 20 per cent against the US dollar in the past year. On Friday it closed at US73.45.

Big bucks

*
The kiwi dollar is now being bought and sold on the world's largest electronic foreign exchange trading system, EBS.

*
The kiwi has increasingly become a favoured currency among forex traders because of its yield and its relative volatility.

*
EBS handles US$145 billion worth of transactions every day.

Kane007

April 27th, 2007, 05:59 AM

One million households now online

NZ Herald 207/04/27 (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10436435)

More than a million New Zealand households are now online, according to latest official figures.

Sending and receiving email remains the most common reason for using the interent, but online shopping is now a key area, with more than 900,000 people used the internet to make a purchase during 2006.

The million figure equates to almost two-thirds of all households nationwide, with half of those with an internet connection using broadband.

In total, 33 per cent of households now have broadband, which still leaves us significantly behind the US where 42 per cent have high-speed access at home.

Only Auckland is in line with the American figure, though Wellington and Centerbury both score above the New Zealand average. Manawatu/Wanganui trails with just 22.7 per cent of households using broadband.

The figures released by Statistics New Zealand today are the first of their kind but the survey which produced them will now be repeated every two years. The 2001 Census suggested that just 37 per cent of households were online at that time.

The accompanying report - Household Use of Information and Communication Technology - said the main reason people did not have broadband was cost. However, in rural areas the lack of availability was also a major factor.

The main uses of the internet were:
* Sending and receiving email
* General web browsing
* Getting information on goods and services
* Internet banking

The survey also confirmed high mobile phone use among young people.

Almost 2.6 million people of all ages had a mobile phone for personal use and 90.6 per cent of people aged 15 to 24 had one.

The older generation were found to be happy to stick with landlines however, with only 33.9 per cent of people aged over 75 owning a mobile.

chris lewis

April 27th, 2007, 08:14 AM

F. and P. going offshore:

'Managing director Jon Bongard says it is not just a matter of cheaper wages and freight costs. He says the Thai government is also offering very generous incentives to lure manufacturers, including tax advantages. He says nothing like that has been seen in New Zealand for the past 15 to 20 years and the Government must come up with some ideas to stop more manufacturers moving off shore. He says all the company's main rivals have moved to Asia, and to remain competitive Fisher and Paykel may have to make more workers in New Zealand redundant. Fisher and Paykel still makes fridges, stoves and dishwashers in this country'.

Plus maybe Sleepyhead:

'New Zealand's biggest bed manufacturer Sleepyhead is looking at moving manufacturing to China.
It come a day after Fisher and Paykel's announcement it is to move washing machine and dryer manufacturing from Auckland to Thailand, shaving 350 jobs.
Sleepyhead owner Graeme Turner says it is getting too costly to manufacture in New Zealand, and that is compounded by red tape and compliance costs. He says it is not feasible to expand in New Zealand because the costs are too high'.

flyin_higher

April 27th, 2007, 08:49 AM

^^Yea that is sad news.
Its really globalisation to blame. This kind of thing happens in almost all western countries, as competition forces companies to look for cheaper labour, most likely in Asia.

SYDNEY

April 27th, 2007, 09:48 AM

I see that Harry Potter has been here, waving his magic wand and changing the name of the thread ... renameus horribalus ... the original title was New Zealand Economy - the good news

Thanks for spoiling a rather upbeat thread boys :ohno:

Kane007

April 27th, 2007, 10:20 AM

**** RENAMUS FABULOSUS***

POOF

The BNZ says the latest hike in the official cash rate will raise floating mortgage rates but is unlikely to slow down the economy.

Reserve Bank governor Alan Bollard delivered a further crushing blow to the fortunes of prospective home buyers and exporters when he raised the Official Cash Rate (OCR) this morning by 25 basis points to a new high of 7.75 per cent.

In announcing the raise, Bollard this morning cited inflationary pressure from the housing market, strong domestic demand and government spending.

The BNZ said that while the New Zealand dollar is exceptionally high by historical standards, farmers are getting good prices for exports and more tourists are visiting the country.

BNZ Chief Economist Tony Alexander said controlling the interest rate is the only tool at the Reserve Bank's disposal.

Green Party co-leader Russel Norman also today said the OCR was too blunt a tool and was exacerbating imbalances in the economy by driving up the New Zealand dollar.

He called for changes to tax rules on property, including a cpaital gains tax, and wants a ban on land sales to non-resident foreigners.

"These measures combined offer the hope of stabilising the housing market," Dr Norman said.

"This would take pressure off interest rates and hence the New Zealand dollar and the productive sector."

The Wellington Regional Chamber of Commerce is also calling on the Government to take more responsibility for reducing inflationary pressures.

Chamber chief executive Charles Finny points to increased Government expenditure as having a big role in pushing up inflation.

Today's increase, expected by a narrow majority of economists, is the second in two months and maintains New Zealand's official interest rates as the highest in the developed world.

However, several economists polled following this morning's announcement said they felt that having delivered today's message to New Zealand consumers, Dr Bollard may now be content to "sit back and watch" how the economy reacts.

The Reserve Bank said recent economic indicators had confirmed a resurgence in economic activity that began late last year had continued over recent months, with domestic demand continuing to expand strongly.

"As we noted in March, demand is being fuelled by a buoyant housing market, increases in government expenditure, a rising terms of trade, ongoing net immigration, and a robust labour market."

While data out last week showed headline for the year to March at 2.5 per cent, was easily within the Reserve Bank's 1-3 per cent target band, non tradeables or domestic inflationwas up to 4.1 per cent, a sign that domestic demand remains strong.

Recent housing data has also printed strongly.

The bank said that lift in domestic demand was placing further pressure on already-stretched productive resources.

"Firms report that capacity is very stretched and that they are again experiencing increased difficulty in finding both skilled and unskilled staff."

The kiwi dollar, which hit a 22 year post float high of US74.93c a week ago and was trading around US74.40c immediately before the announcement, initially dipped by about 10 basis points on the news but began to head higher and was trading at US74.60c 15 minutes after the 9am release.

The bank said recent rises by the New Zealand dollar against the currencies of our major trading partners would "exert some downward pressure on medium-term inflation," and it also noted recent increases in fixed mortgage interest rates.

However it said today's increase was aimed at ensuring that inflation outcomes remained consistent with achieving its target of 1 to 3 per cent inflation "on average over the medium term".

The bank noted that the exchange rate was now at levels that are both "exceptional by historical standards, and unjustified on the basis of medium-term fundamentals".

"Parts of the export sector continue to face challenging conditions, but the recent sharp lift in world dairy prices is expected to provide a boost to incomes in that sector and tourist arrivals are continuing to grow."

SYDNEY

May 12th, 2007, 12:34 AM

NZ improves competitiveness

New Zealand has climbed two places on the IMD’s world competitiveness scoreboard, one of two that rank countries by their ability to create and sustain enterprise competitiveness. New Zealand’s rise from 21st to 19th place on the 55 ranked economies follows a dramatic slide last year. The improvement in New Zealand's IMD ranking also closes the transtasman gap with Australia, which tumbled from sixth to 12th place.

The USA is again number one closely followed by Singapore and Hong Kong but, according to Professor Stephane Garelli, director of the IMD's World Competitiveness Centre, the results this year signal a "big shake-up” in global economic and business power. Some 40 economies are now increasing or maintaining their competitiveness compared to the US - in other words, “closing the gap”. Only 15 are losing ground. For the first time, the ranking indicates not only the competitive position of nations in 2007 but also their ability to catch up with the leader (the US). The New Zealand data, compiled in partnership with the NZIM, reveals a significant slip in more areas of the country's competitive performance.

Five main areas of weakness are identified:

• The need to adopt education policies that focus on quality learning;

• Boost the nationwide adoption of broadband communiction technologies;

* Tackle key infrastructure issues including water and energy supply and affordability;

• Address critical primary sector climate change issues and policies; and

• Encourage more companies to export their goods and services.

The rankings are based on four major categories: economic performance, government efficiency, business efficiency and infrastructure.

New Zealand improved on business efficiency, held steady on infrastructure, climbed from 12th to sixth place on government efficiency and slipped badly from 28th to 40th place on economic performance. The 2007 edition identifies China, Russia, India, the Slovak Republic, Sweden, Austria, Denmark, Switzerland and Hong Kong as strong improvers while Indonesia, Italy, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Turkey, the Philippines, South Africa and France have tended to lose ground.

Kane007

June 1st, 2007, 01:18 AM

Northland sitting on pot of gold and minerals (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10443003)
NZ Herald
2007/06/01

A study by GNS Science and the NZ Institute of Economic Research has revealed that mineral deposits worth $33.2 billion were potentially present.

There was potential for more than 2700 extra full-time job positions being created and billions of dollars of revenue being pumped into the economy over the next 20 to 30 years.

Mr Halse said the study revealed that mining revenue could increase from more than $100 million a year to $354 million a year, under a scenario for realising Northland's mineral potential.

That would inject more than $683 million into the economy each year, when indirect benefits to local business were included.

Wealth Creation

Northland's mineral revenue could increase to $354 million by:

* Increasing the production of aggregates (building materials) and limestone.
* Establishing a gold-silver mine.
* Mining aluminium and copper.
* Boosting silica sand mining.
* Mining commodities like bentonite, coal, feldspar, kaolinite, kauri gum, peat and zeolite.

Crown Minerals (http://www.crownminerals.govt.nz/)

NZer

June 1st, 2007, 04:35 PM

I just hope all the money stays north of the Brynderwins. :D

SYDNEY

August 9th, 2007, 06:56 AM

Unemployment rate drops back to historic low
Thursday, 9 August 2007, 12:38 pm

New Zealand's labour force survey posted a stronger than expected 0.7%q/q gain (14,000 positions) in employment in 2Q (JPMorgan 0.2%, consensus 0.3%), after a rapid 1.2% spike in 1Q. The continued momentum in employment growth took the unemployment rate back to an equal record low 3.6% (JPMorgan and consensus 3.7%) from a downwardly revised 3.7% (previously 3.8%) in 1Q. New Zealand's unemployment rate has been bouncing off the record low since it first hit 3.6% in 3Q05 (chart). The labour force participation rate hit an all-time high of 68.8%, as the growth in the size of the workforce outstripped growth in the working age population.

The Government's Working for Families package, which encourages both welfare beneficiary and working families to work for tax credits, is impacting supply. The supply of part-time employment in the survey has increased, pushing up the level of participation, and reducing the unemployment pool. The increased labour supply is being met by demand, however, as employers are becoming increasingly willing to take on part-time workers - the casualisation of the work-force continues.

On the outlook for interest rates, the risk of yet another policy tightening over the next six months has risen. Today's employment report in isolation is not enough to push the RBNZ across the line in September, but it does support an already uncomfortable nontradables inflation trajectory, which remains pegged in the top half of the RBNZ's 1-3%oya target range. The report shows that the macro environment in New Zealand remains one of stretched resources, a drum-tight labour market, and continued inflation pressure in the pipeline. Such an environment will keep the RBNZ at action stations, as the war on inflation rages on.

It is important to note that we have had four policy tightenings since March (the last was in July), and this report was for 2Q. The RBNZ has time on its side to access the impact of their recent policy response on economic activity. The housing market, for example, is beginning to show signs of turning, and the forward looking indicators (various confidence surveys) are softening.

SYDNEY

August 12th, 2007, 02:41 AM

Rich-list Brits buy up NZ
NZ HERALD - 5:00AM Sunday August 12, 2007

When Katoa Station on the East Cape recently sold to an English company for almost $4.2 million, there were alarmed mutterings that foreigners with deep pockets were squeezing local farmers out of the market. Cue the familiar ghoulish caricature of rich, rapacious foreign landlords striding our prone pastures, extracting a quick buck then moving on. Except the reality could, in this case, be precisely the opposite. And it's certainly more interesting, involving as it does one of the world's richest greenies with a grand global vision for sustainable farming. Connections to diffuse business interests include literary king-makers Granta, charitable trusts with an annual grant pool exceeding £17.5 million ($46.5 million) revenue, and there is also the project to save endangered languages and the whiff of (legal) tax dodging in Britain.

But first, the land. Katoa Station is a verdant 600ha of large flat expanses and rolling hills dotted with pockets of native scrub and, from spring, grazing lambs. It's a 15-minute drive to Te Araroa on the East Cape, 165km to Gisborne. It's picturesque to a townie but hard work and capital intensive to the farmer, especially with its erosion-prone hills and with sheep prices low. After farming lambs and bulls there for 15 years, Murray and Linda Pike were ready to sell. So when British farming company Ingleby expressed an interest in the land, the Pikes put Katoa on the market. They knew of Ingleby by reputation: it already owned four farms in the Gisborne district. Less was known about the Swedish-born, British-resident, family behind the company. The Rausings' vast wealth flows from milk cartons, specifically from Tetra Pak, which was invented by the company founded by Rueben Rausing in Sweden in 1950. Rueben's sons, Hans and Gad, co-owned the packaging company when they moved to Britain in 1983. In 1995, aged 70, Hans sold his 50 per cent share in Tetra Pak to his brother for about $4.4 billion. His daughters Lisbet and Sigrid are actively involved in managing the family fortune - both on the investment and philanthropic side. Lisbet, a historian of science, has the most to do with Ingleby.

Bayleys agent James MacPherson received 17 inquiries about Katoa, but none could match Ingleby's offer. The station's rating valuation in September 2005 was $2.5 million. Six weeks ago, Ingleby bought it for just under $4.2 million. And now, the company is courting a nod from the Overseas Investment Office to buy Matahia Station, also in the Gisborne region. Rick Braddock, Ingleby's Auckland-based general manager, says the Gisborne properties will be managed as a single network, with livestock bred on some and fattened on others (Katoa's role). "It's a strategic acquisition: it's not a land-grab for the sake of purchasing land," he says. Ingleby is a global farming company with holdings in Australia, North America, South America and Europe. Braddock, a financier who has worked in farming all his life and who leases Motutapu Island in the Hauraki Gulf, says he was attracted to Ingleby's sustainability ethos. He sounds like a true believer.

"[Ingleby] wants to combine the best practical, ethical and scientific know-how with good leadership and organisation. And it has a belief that good farming can both feed the world and protect the environment." Of course, it also has a brief to make "a high threshold return on investment". INGLEBY bought its first New Zealand farm in 1999 - Puketiti Station, near Piopio in the King Country - for $9.5m. This country was attractive because, Braddock says, "We farm in a sustainable and environmentally correct manner, we are English speaking, non-corrupt, politically stable and generally a good country to invest in." Now, Ingleby owns almost 17,500ha in the King Country and Gisborne regions. It briefly owned the historic Raincliff Station in Canterbury, where it farmed deer, but it sold that last year for some $5 million more than it paid just a few years earlier. Braddock says the company is now focusing on sheep after discovering that deer farming didn't gel with its farm-portfolio model.

Despite the sale of Raincliff, Braddock says, the outlook for the remaining farms is long term. "Multi-generational - let's say 100 years." Local Federated Farmers president Jean Martin has only good things to say about Ingleby. They've got a very good reputation for being very good farmers; they're very good at sustainability and environmental issues, they employ all local people, they're good employers... they've done a lot of development work." She says New Zealand owners don't always have the capital to invest to bring out a property's full potential. Some farmers see foreign ownership as preferable to pine plantations, the fate of other East Coast farms that have been sold, out of desperation, into forestry. Martin wryly observes the flow of New Zealand dairy farmers to Australia and New Zealand company PGG Wrightson's purchase of dairy farms in Uruguay. "It's happening. We're doing it, too."

Ingleby has curried favour with local communities, too. It sponsors the East Coast rugby union, funds a farming school in Waipaoa, and has bought equipment for the East Coast ambulance service. Says a farm manager on one of their Gisborne properties, "They're not here to take a quick flick and disappear." When asked about her immense wealth, Lisbet Rausing once told a reporter, "Often Americans say, 'Oh, my wealth is a terrible burden' - and I think, 'you should be bloody grateful'. I feel enormously lucky. It brings opportunities and extra responsibilities, but it is not a burden." The Sunday Times ranked the Rausing family sixth in its British rich list this year, estimating its fortune at £5.4 billion. Hans received an honorary knighthood last year for his philanthropic work, and Lisbet and Sigrid run their own charitable trusts. The Sigrid Rausing Trust has shelled out more than £85 million (NZ$230 million), and intends to give away £17.5 million in grants this year alone, mostly to human rights, women's rights and environmental groups.

Lisbet's Arcadia Trust favours environmental groups and the protection of cultural heritage, reflecting Lisbet's other occupation as a research fellow in the history of science at the Imperial College of London. One of Arcadia's major beneficiaries was a London University project to record the thousands of languages at risk of extinction by the end of this century. Lisbet, in her late 40s, is most involved in overseeing Ingleby (Sigrid, who bought Granta magazine and publisher in 2005, and founded independent publisher Portobello Books, busies herself with publishing and her philanthropic work). Lisbet visited New Zealand twice, staying on Ingleby farms and meeting all the staff. Braddock describes her as "a very pleasant woman, very intelligent, very capable and very caring".

She lives in Holland Park, London, with her husband Peter Baldwin, a professor of history at UCLA, Berkeley, and her son and daughter. She and her family appear to be a breed not often seen here: mega-rich, erudite, and serious philanthropists. Hans, now in his early 80s, lives in a purpose-built Sussex palace, but retains frugal habits, such as reportedly wearing a Timex watch and claiming senior citizen rates on tickets. In a 2005 interview, Lisbet told the Independent newspaper of her surprisingly ordinary childhood in Lund, Sweden. "We didn't have cooks or chauffeurs, or anything... And I am glad because it meant I learned how to do things: how to cook and so forth... "My younger brother [Hans Christian] and sister [Sigrid] and I always had the same pocket money as everyone else, and we went to normal village schools. I suppose some of the other children might have been aware of our family being different. But the little medieval university town I grew up in was very academic. A lot of the kids were children of vicars and doctors.

"My father never worked on weekends. And he always stopped work early on Fridays so we could go out and ride. When we got home after our ride my mother would make pancakes for us and my father would cook dinner for us. "I don't think my father ever thought money was important. He was - still is - always thinking about machines and innovations and fixing things. That is his passion. He just likes solving problems. He has that kind of mind. Money is a by-product." The main negative press the Rausings received came from a 2002 investigation by the British Guardian into Hans Rausing's tax affairs. The article alleged Hans used a legal loophole in British tax law, and contortionist financial management, to greatly minimise his taxes, in one year declaring taxable earnings at the same level as someone on a £656,000 salary. (The loophole lies in the fact that you can be a British resident but be classed as "non-domicile", so you are not required to pay UK taxes, if you can show that you retain ties to your home country and intend to return there at some point.)

Braddock insists the Rausings "have a very responsible attitude towards the community, and that includes towards tax. I am very surprised that that article came out, it's certainly not the belief I have in how they manage their affairs." The Rausings couldn't be reached for comment. Meanwhile, Ingleby is busy preparing Katoa for the spring lambs - and the future. Earlier this year, Ingleby farm managers and their wives were flown to Copenhagen for a conference, where they were shown Scandanavian examples of profitable sustainability. Says Braddock, "We would like to think we'll be leaving this land in a better condition than when we inherited it."

SYDNEY

August 15th, 2007, 01:06 AM

Rocket project gears for take off
NZ HERALD - 5:00AM Wednesday August 15, 2007

http://media.apn.co.nz/webcontent/image/jpg/Mark-Rocket.jpg

Auckland company Rocket Lab is preparing to launch a suborbital rocket capable of shooting 150km in space. It has designed the rocket, due to be launched in September next year, for use in scientific research looking at micro gravity, solar physics and climate change. Business development manager Mark Rocket (who changed his name by deed poll) said New Zealand was the perfect place to set up a rocket launch because of its clear air space and favourable regulatory environment. The 5.5m carbon-fibre rockets, named Atea, or "space", will also be available to launch human ashes into space - for a fee.

Mr Rocket, a Christchurch internet entrepreneur and space enthusiast, and Peter Beck are behind the company. "New Zealand has a golden opportunity to be a space industry leader in the Southern Hemisphere," said Mr Rocket, who declined to say where the rockets would be launched. Graphics produced by the company indicated a launch pad on the south-eastern coast of the South Island. Economic Development Minister Trevor Mallard praised the venture for its creativeness and spirit, and the potential for its efforts to open up new opportunities for the aviation sector. Mr Mallard said commercial opportunities in the space industry were growing with American space agency Nasa contracting out much of its work globally to private providers.

"Our aviation industry has grown substantially and now represents an important and thriving industry sector in its own right," he said at the company's opening function in Auckland. "The entrepreneurs behind Rocket Lab want to deliver pioneering technology and specialised components to the international space industry," he said. Creation of a respected sub-orbital space industry in New Zealand could provide opportunities for New Zealand's aviation sector, and associated technology and component suppliers. "To compete internationally, New Zealand needs to move up the value chain and create high-value spin-off industries," Mr Mallard said. Mr Rocket has attracted publicity as the first New Zealander to buy a ticket for a space trip. His journey - for which he has paid $300,000 - is scheduled for 2009, from the Mojave Desert on an eight-person spacecraft owned by Virgin Galactic.

trueapprentice

August 21st, 2007, 07:00 AM

New Zealand to take Australia to WTO over apples

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

New Zealand plans to take its closest ally Australia to the World Trade Organization over a 21-year dispute about access for apples, the New Zealand government said yesterday.
New Zealand had tried to resolve the issue bilaterally but had faced continued delays, Trade Minister Phil Goff and Agriculture Minister Jim Anderton said.

"We have said that if the bilateral route could not deliver commercially meaningful access for our apples, then WTO dispute settlement would be the only option left. Regrettably, we have now reached that point," they said.

Australia has banned the import of New Zealand apples for 86 years, claiming they might carry a bacterial disease called fire blight that is not present in Australia. However, New Zealand has disputed the scientific basis of the ban, claiming it is aimed at protecting Australian apple growers, and has tried since 1986 to have it lifted. Australian Trade Minister Warren Truss said he was disappointed at the New Zealand decision and defended Australia's quarantine system.

The WTO in 2003 ruled against Japan on a similar ban it imposed on the import of US apples.

New Zealand and Australia have had a free trade agreement since 1983, with two-way trade worth about NZ$16 billion (HK$86.8 billion). REUTERS

Davee

August 21st, 2007, 04:37 PM

^^ ^^ :lol:

Perhaps we could cluster bomb Canberra with Grannysmiths, Pink Ladys and Crabapples. Then to finish them off, a sustanined drop of Brayburns. :lol:

Do we have any planes to do that with??:lol:

Kane007

August 22nd, 2007, 12:18 AM

For that task the best would be Hercules and I believe we have 5 of those particular birds. :).

The problem will getting past the Aussie F16 squadrons.

Davee

August 22nd, 2007, 01:12 AM

mmmm - I'm sure we could come up with a deterant...........but what???

A boat load of exploding Kiwifruit(s) in Sydney harbour..........:lol:

Kane007

August 22nd, 2007, 01:23 AM

We could tow over a few ice bergs, and sink them.

SYDNEY

September 5th, 2007, 12:31 AM

Aliens have landed - with chequebooks
NZ HERALD - 5:00AM Wednesday September 05, 2007

Foreigners are spending more money in New Zealand, with a $15.3 billion rise in the value of deals allowed in the first half of this year. The Government authority which approves the transactions released figures yesterday showing a big jump in the dollar value of deals, from $5.4 billion in the first six months of last year to $20.7 billion for the first half of this year. The Overseas Investment Office released details of deals approved in the six months to July 2007. Although the dollar value of deals was up, the ultimate number of deals fell from 98 approvals between January and July last year to 82 approvals in the same time this year.

In dollar value terms, the three largest deals were collectively worth $1.1 billion. They were:

*
The $660 million net investment by Canada's YPG Finance in Telecom's Yellow Pages Group. Although the money involved in this deal was higher than this, the office said this was the net investment in New Zealand.

*
The $319 million deal for a British entity GDF-ILLP to buy Peninsula Rd and Melview Viaduct Harbour, two companies with control of a large Queenstown real estate project being developed by Nigel McKenna of Auckland.

*
The $156 million purchase by Germany's HIH Global Invest GmbH to buy leasehold interests owned by Manson Buildings in two large Auckland property projects in the Quay Park area: the GE Building at 8 Tangihua St and the BNZ Building at 30 Mahuhu Crescent.

In land area terms the office listed the three largest deals in the first half of this year as:

*
Fulton Hogan's sale to Barra Bidco - 34 per cent owned by Australians - of shares in EnviroWaste Services, which owns 3767ha of land around New Zealand.

*
American entity Coleridge Downs' purchase of 1285ha of land at Dry Acheron Station in the Rakaia Valley, Canterbury.

*
British entity The Ingleby Company's purchase of 595ha of land at Whakaangiangi Rd, Te Araroa. Yesterday, the office also released a string of approvals it made in July.

Fletcher Concrete and Infrastructure got approval to buy two blocks of land at Pokeno in South Auckland. This division of listed Fletcher Building got approval to buy a 211ha block of land at 42 Potter Rd from Roger Taylor and a 19.8ha block at 242 Bluff Rd from the Lancewood Family Trust, but it applied for both the price and rationale for proposed development to be kept a secret and the office agreed, suppressing these details. Although Fletcher is listed on NZX, it must apply for the office's approval for large New Zealand land purchases because 34 per cent of the company is in Australian hands, 13 per cent is owned by Americans and a further 11 per cent is owned by various foreign entities, the office said.

Interests in Australia's Macquarie Goodman got approval to buy New Zealand's Workstore Developments which owns 3ha of leasehold land at 60 Westney Rd in Manukau. Macquarie is developing a large office park with warehouse and distribution buildings on the land but the price of the deal was suppressed. Iceland's Hf Eimskipafelag Islands got approval for a $72 million deal to buy all the shares in Canada's Versacold Holdings. A 1.9ha block of land at Hornby in Christchurch was involved. The office said the Icelandic entity was buying all the outstanding units of Versacold INcome Fund, a trust listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange created to buy public refrigerated warehousing, distribution and related businesses in the US, Canada, Australia Argentina, and New Zealand. The purchase was part of the Icelandic entity's strategy to become an international operator in cold storage and logistics networks, the office commented.

MonsieurAquilone

September 7th, 2007, 11:57 AM

In light of Enigma's snooping and an article I saw written in the Herald by Colin James a few days back, I am certainly of the opinion that New Zealand should definitely try to expand internationally far more, its own companies as opposed to overseas ones buying into or completely swallowing up ours. The question I have though is do we, as the nation we are currently, have the economic power to make what would certainly be positive moves in the right direction? We have a GDP of almost $103.9 billion, though I see our imports outweigh our exports. I am evidently not an economist or well versed in such matters so I was wondering what your thoughts are on how New Zealand can pull off what Colin James did mention.

MonsieurAquilone

September 7th, 2007, 12:06 PM

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/466/story.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=10461438 Here is the article, for reference.

metroman

September 21st, 2007, 04:04 PM

Other countries have done it and not necessarily big countries so why can't we? What are the possibilities that can raise our economic status significantly in the world? The Great South Basin and Taranaki hold the potential to turn us into significant oil and gas producers. According to a geological survey conducted in Northland, the area may have upto $32 billion worth of gold and other mineral deposits. What other areas offer us potential to achieve an ''economic miracle"?:banana:

NZer

September 21st, 2007, 04:10 PM

NZ needs to make sure it reaps the benefits of these resourses and invest the money back into itself, not just be raped by miners who then fuck off and leave NZ to drag it's arse along selling butter and woodchips again.

metroman

September 22nd, 2007, 11:27 AM

Tourism while a credible money earner for New Zealand is a little thickle. It can suffer from various circumstances such an oil crisis, terrorism or any event which sends shock waves into the travelling public. New Zealand is doing exremely well make no mistake about it but I think our geographic isolation may limit our growth to some extent. I personally think it would be great if Emirates turn Auckland airport into its hub, whether or not it should be foreign owned , I don't know. To become a wealthy country gas and minerals are what will do that. Fonterra and tourism to some degree, but for us to be a true economic success story those are the elements we need to produce in abundance. Compare countries like Ireland, Iceland and some of the Scandanavian countries they are countries with small populations who are doing very well and also Singapore.:banana:

SYDNEY

September 24th, 2007, 09:19 AM

Elite homes selling fast
NZ HERALD - 5:00AM Sunday September 23, 2007

Sales of multi-million dollar houses are booming - even as concerns grow over a slump in the rest of the property market. Real estate agents at the top end of the market say demand has never been stronger for luxury houses and apartments. This month, an Indian businessman paid a record $11 million for a penthouse apartment atop the Sentinel tower block in Takapuna. But agents say most buyers shelling out millions for homes are New Zealanders, rather than wealthy foreigners. "I have never seen the top end of the market as strong as it is at the moment," Barfoot & Thompson agent Paul Barnao said.

He knew of a four-bedroom home on the seafront at St Heliers which sold for $20 million. Barnao said that he also had clients lining up for another property listed at $12 million. "The buyers are normally Kiwis, rather than overseas buyers. "You wouldn't suspect they have the money - people wouldn't have heard of them. "Many of them seem to have a background in some form of property," Barnao said. "In most cases they are locals," agreed Jim Mays, from Premium Real Estate. His company sold a house in Clifton Rd, Takapuna last week for $8 million. Since April, Premium has sold houses for $8.7 million and $9 million. "Some buyers have been from overseas - but 90 per cent would be local," Mays said. "There's no mucking around once they see something they like."

Last week, estate agent Michael Boulgaris sold a house in Lucerne Rd, Remuera for $10 million - snapped up on its first day on the market. In the same week, he flew to Christchurch to list another $10 million house in Fendalton. "There's a lot of wealth in New Zealand," Boulgaris said. "It's the vanity of real estate. People always want to upgrade to a better investment and a better home." Estate agent Graham Wall has sold a number of properties in the $6.5 million-$10 million bracket in recent months - "all of them to New Zealanders". "It's not like they are all bankers or property investors. They are just successful New Zealand people. There are a large number of extremely successful people in New Zealand who weren't there in the 90s."

The spending spree at the top end of the property market comes as confidence in real estate generally appears to be on the slide. A BNZ survey last week showed many people working in real estate were pessimistic about the sector. Agents said the market was extremely quiet, with low sales and falling prices, particularly in Auckland. But it's clearly a different story in the elite property price range. "Exceptional properties are immune to the market," Wall said. "At that very top end nothing changes."

Still Waiting

*
Pakatoa Island, in the Hauraki Gulf, now priced at $40 million, has been on the market for around three years.

*
Cowes Bay estate on Waiheke Island, 36ha with a 1200sq m plantation-style mansion, priced at $30 million, has been on the market for nearly 15 months.

*
The Princes Wharf penthouse owned by property developer David Henderson has been on the market since last year, priced around $10 million.

*
The 46ha Arcadia estate, which is near Glenorchy and is priced at $11 million, has just been taken off the market after several years without a buyer.

Marky Mark

September 24th, 2007, 01:12 PM

Which I see as a good thing ......good to see the locals are buying them :cheers:

Elite homes selling fast
NZ HERALD - 5:00AM Sunday September 23, 2007

Sales of multi-million dollar houses are booming - even as concerns grow over a slump in the rest of the property market. Real estate agents at the top end of the market say demand has never been stronger for luxury houses and apartments. This month, an Indian businessman paid a record $11 million for a penthouse apartment atop the Sentinel tower block in Takapuna. But agents say most buyers shelling out millions for homes are New Zealanders, rather than wealthy foreigners. "I have never seen the top end of the market as strong as it is at the moment," Barfoot & Thompson agent Paul Barnao said.

He knew of a four-bedroom home on the seafront at St Heliers which sold for $20 million. Barnao said that he also had clients lining up for another property listed at $12 million. "The buyers are normally Kiwis, rather than overseas buyers. "You wouldn't suspect they have the money - people wouldn't have heard of them. "Many of them seem to have a background in some form of property," Barnao said. "In most cases they are locals," agreed Jim Mays, from Premium Real Estate. His company sold a house in Clifton Rd, Takapuna last week for $8 million. Since April, Premium has sold houses for $8.7 million and $9 million. "Some buyers have been from overseas - but 90 per cent would be local," Mays said. "There's no mucking around once they see something they like."

Last week, estate agent Michael Boulgaris sold a house in Lucerne Rd, Remuera for $10 million - snapped up on its first day on the market. In the same week, he flew to Christchurch to list another $10 million house in Fendalton. "There's a lot of wealth in New Zealand," Boulgaris said. "It's the vanity of real estate. People always want to upgrade to a better investment and a better home." Estate agent Graham Wall has sold a number of properties in the $6.5 million-$10 million bracket in recent months - "all of them to New Zealanders". "It's not like they are all bankers or property investors. They are just successful New Zealand people. There are a large number of extremely successful people in New Zealand who weren't there in the 90s."

The spending spree at the top end of the property market comes as confidence in real estate generally appears to be on the slide. A BNZ survey last week showed many people working in real estate were pessimistic about the sector. Agents said the market was extremely quiet, with low sales and falling prices, particularly in Auckland. But it's clearly a different story in the elite property price range. "Exceptional properties are immune to the market," Wall said. "At that very top end nothing changes."

Still Waiting

*
Pakatoa Island, in the Hauraki Gulf, now priced at $40 million, has been on the market for around three years.

*
Cowes Bay estate on Waiheke Island, 36ha with a 1200sq m plantation-style mansion, priced at $30 million, has been on the market for nearly 15 months.

*
The Princes Wharf penthouse owned by property developer David Henderson has been on the market since last year, priced around $10 million.

*
The 46ha Arcadia estate, which is near Glenorchy and is priced at $11 million, has just been taken off the market after several years without a buyer.

SYDNEY

September 27th, 2007, 05:35 AM

Value of Building Consents Still Rising
SCOOP - Thursday, 27 September 2007, 1:54 pm

Although the rate of increase in the number of building consents issued over the last few months has slowed slightly, they are still up overall on last year’s numbers, and in particular the value continues to rise in comparison to 2006. “We’ve been predicting this flattening out of the industry to occur across 2006 and 2007, but clearly the increased value in the work that is being undertaken continues to rise and reflects a buoyant and healthy sector, with our builders still being kept very busy,” says Pieter Burghout CEO, Registered Master Builders. New housing consents issued for August 2007 numbered 2465, a 1.1 percent increase on August 2006. The value of these consents, released today by Statistics New Zealand, showed an 8.5 percent increase on last year, a total value of $753 million. New apartment consents were slightly down on this time Regionally, the largest increases were in Auckland in Canterbury with Bay of Plenty having the largest decrease. There was one less consent issued in the North Island and 29 more in the South Island compared to August 2006.

Non-residential consents for August 2007 also had an increase in value on this time last year of 8.5 percent to $398 million. There was an increase in the value of consents for six of the 11 non-residential categories with a spike in hostels and boarding houses. Shops, offices and factories are still the highest contributors to the non-residential building consent total. Overall, for the year ended August 2007, the total value of consents issued for all buildings was $11,997 million, up $840 million (7.5%) from the previous August 2006 year. Each year we achieve the highest ever levels of construction industry spend – and the year to 2007 at nearly $12 billion is no exception. The continued healthy state of the building and construction sector has played, and continues to play, its part in underpinning the health of the overall New Zealand economy. We are forecasting the continuation of this pattern through the remainder of 2007 into 2008, before starting to rise again in 2009.

SYDNEY

September 27th, 2007, 11:02 PM

Business confidence up as economy undergoes rebalancing
NZ HERALD - 5:00AM Friday September 28, 2007

A buoyant agricultural sector is keeping business confidence afloat in the face of global uncertainty and turbulent financial markets. The National Bank's monthly survey found firms' views of their own prospects unchanged from August and recorded a rise in their expectations for general business conditions in the year ahead. Pessimists still outnumber optimists about the general outlook but by a smaller margin - a net 27 per cent instead of the net 34 per cent recorded last month. Employment and investment intentions, and profit expectations all nudged higher. Overall, the survey's indicators pointed to economic growth of around 2 per cent over the coming year, the bank's chief economist, Cameron Bagrie, said.

Yet slightly fewer firms expected to raise their prices, which was encouraging, he said. The big improvement was in the agricultural sector, where a net 40 per cent of respondents expect better times (for themselves, not the wider economy) in the year ahead. That is up from a net 22 per cent last month and is the highest reading for the sector since July 2001 when the New Zealand dollar was around US40c, not much more than half its current level. Bagrie attributes the farm sector's optimism not only to surging export commodity prices but also to the fact that most of the survey's responses came in in the first half of the month, when the dollar dipped briefly below US70c. It has since rebounded to nearly US75c. Manufacturers, by contrast, are taking a gloomier view of their prospects, with a net 4 per cent expecting their own activity to decline over the coming year, compared with a net 20 per cent expecting expansion just a month ago.

Manufacturers' export intentions are up, perhaps reflecting the fact that Australia is their main export market and the New Zealand dollar has fallen 5 per cent against the Aussie over the past two months. But those manufacturers primarily exposed to the domestic economy, and especially the housing sector, faced headwinds, Bagrie said. Construction firms' expectations of their own outlook have fallen sharply and their profit expectations are at levels not seen since 2000, when house prices were falling. Overall, he said, the survey was heartening insofar as it pointed to long-awaited, and necessary, rebalancing of economy from the inward-facing sectors to the export sector.

In a nutshell

* General business confidence has improved

* It is the export sectors which are feeling more optimistic

* These results suggest the economy may be returning to a more even keel

Kane007

October 1st, 2007, 04:00 PM

The Dominion Post (http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominionpost/4221985a6034.html)
2007/10/02

The highly profitable Bluff aluminium smelter and Meridian Energy have signed the country's biggest power contract, in a secret deal thought to be worth more than $5 billion over almost 20 years.

The deal ensures a long-term future for the Bluff smelter, which exports aluminium worth more than $1 billion a year and employs 787 fulltime workers and 133 contractors.

Latest Companies Office reports show smelter company Rio Tinto Aluminium New Zealand made a $277 million profit last year, more than double the previous year's gain.

Mining giant Rio Tinto owns almost 80 per cent of the smelter, with the balance being held by Sumitomo Chemical of Japan.

Faced with a 45 per cent rise in power costs in the past five years, the smelter had threatened to generate 600 megawatts of its own power if it could not get an acceptable deal.

New Zealand Aluminium Smelters, which is owned by Rio Tinto, had said that from 2012 it could produce power from a coal-fired station at less than 7cents a kilowatt hour, effectively capping the price Meridian might get.

The new contract - understood to be about 4.7c a unit, about a quarter of the cost to the average home - covers the price New Zealand Aluminium Smelters will pay Meridian from the start of 2013 to the end of 2030, and will involve about 15 per cent of New Zealand's power.

State-owned Meridian said the terms of the contract for 572MW of continuous power a year for the smelter were "confidential" and it would not even indicate if the smelter would be paying more than it did now.

Rio Tinto Aluminium Power's annual report filed with the Companies Office for the year to December 2006 showed it had spent about $276 million buying power.

That was nearly $4 million more than the previous year. RTA Power's main activity is to buy power for the smelter.

According to Companies Office files, the previous contract was for 543MW of power under a "take or pay" contract till 2012, with a right of extension till 2022.

Extra power, about 66MW, was available on a short-term commercial agreement, based on usage.

Last year the smelter used 604MW, indicating it would still need to buy a large chunk of power on wholesale markets to add to the just-signed contract.

Power makes up 40 per cent of the $2billion plant's cost of producing aluminium.

Rio Tinto Aluminium's managing director Smelting NZ and Britain, Tom Campbell, said the company was pleased with the agreement.

"This contract provides a long-term future for our business," Mr Campbell said.

Meridian Energy chief executive Keith Turner said the contract gave "clarity" to Meridian's relationship with the smelter.

"The negotiations have been hard and tough," he said.

Meridian is New Zealand's biggest power generator and most of the power for the smelter will come from the Manapouri hydro power station.

jarbury

October 2nd, 2007, 02:25 AM

Yay isn't that nice..... we're all cross subsidising an aluminium smelter when we pay our power bills.

KIWIKAAS

October 2nd, 2007, 05:16 PM

^^
It's a bulk user. They pay an annual power bill of NZ$250,000,000.
Logical that they get a reduction on the unit price.

SYDNEY

October 3rd, 2007, 02:10 AM

Migrant contribution set at $3.3 billion for year

Migrants contributed $3.3 billion to the governments coffers in the year to 30 June 2006, according the government. Immigration Minister, David Cunliffe, says a new report shows migrants contributed $8.1 billion in income tax, GST and excise duties. He says that far outweighed the $4.8 billion New Zealand spent on education, health and welfare for "our new kiwis." The research report, "The Fiscal Impacts of Immigration," showed that the positive impact from migrants has grown about 80 percent from previous research done in 2003 which showed a net fiscal impact of $1.7 billion.

Kane007

October 3rd, 2007, 02:17 AM

Always new immigration was good for the country financially, let Peters suck on that!

Svartmetall

October 3rd, 2007, 02:21 AM

Always new immigration was good for the country financial, let Peters suck on that!

More importantly, let Brian Tamaki suck on that. :lol: He's the most anti-immigration public figure we have at the moment.

Nicco

October 3rd, 2007, 02:33 AM

SYDNEY

October 3rd, 2007, 02:33 AM

Are they both DUMB ? stupid pricks .....

jarbury

October 3rd, 2007, 03:00 AM

More importantly, let Brian Tamaki suck on that. :lol: He's the most anti-immigration public figure we have at the moment.

I'm sure he'd love some more fundy Americans to immigrate here.

Kane007

October 3rd, 2007, 03:02 AM

Lol, they'll most likely fail both the IQ and English language tests.:bash:

metroman

October 3rd, 2007, 01:11 PM

Kane007

October 3rd, 2007, 10:41 PM

SYDNEY

October 4th, 2007, 12:33 AM

British-based property buyers targeted at NZ expo
SCOOP - Thursday, 4 October 2007, 10:04 am

Ex-pat Kiwis and British buyers wanting a slice of the good life in New Zealand are being targeted during the Opportunities New Zealand Expo in London and Manchester later this month. The Opportunities New Zealand Expo is the biggest employment and migration expo specifically for New Zealand anywhere in the world and is aimed at both ex-pat Kiwis looking to return home and skilled people wanting to migrate to New Zealand. Hundreds of last year's visitors to the expo are now living and working their dream in New Zealand. "The interest in New Zealand and coming to live here is just consistently ramping up,’’ says David Murray, chairman and director of Bayleys Canterbury, who will be attending the expo.

It’s more than five years since Bayleys Realty identified the UK market as a target area for its properties and took the bold step of setting up a display office in London and securing the right to be the sole national real estate company at the Opportunities New Zealand Expo. “Research was showing that a significant amount of property was being purchased by UK citizens either as an investment or because they wanted to come and live out there,’’ David Murray explains. Since then the company has sold a significant amount of residential property to UK-based buyers keen to start a new life for themselves: “They’re eager to move here because of the perception of safety, because of climate, because of less congestion and because it’s a young country, relatively speaking, with incredible opportunities for employment for people with appropriate skills,’’ David Murray says.

The company currently has a database of more than 8000 UK-based buyers, many of whom are planning to move to New Zealand within the next six to eight months. Statistics New Zealand figures show that in the past two years nearly 20,000 Brits have migrated to New Zealand. “Interestingly the most inquired about area is Canterbury . . . the British really relate to Canterbury,’’ David Murray says. Financially, buying property here is very attractive for UK-based buyers, particularly those from the large cities like London where even a garage can set people back 150,000 pounds. One ex-pat Kiwi was so intent on relocating his family to New Zealand that he recently flew from the UK to New Zealand for half-a-day simply to view a French Farm property on Banks Peninsula that he had spotted on Bayleys website. Within four days of returning to the UK he had placed a conditional offer on the property, which he eventually bought.

Many vendors are also realizing the benefits of targeting the British market and are specifically seeking to have their properties marketed by Bayleys in the UK. Bayleys Canterbury chief executive Scott McCrea says there is a huge potential in the British market: “It is great to have our chairman David Murray over in the UK this month promoting our vendors’ properties to this enthusiastic group of ex-pats and British nationals who are keen to emigrate to New Zealand and carve out new lives for themselves here.’’ The Opportunities New Zealand Expo is on in London on October 13 & 14 and on in Manchester on October 20 & 21.

Svartmetall

October 4th, 2007, 03:23 AM

British-based property buyers targeted at NZ expo*snip*

We went to that before moving out here. It wasn't that interesting and the staff were not helpful at all - they were only interested in you if you were willing to part with huge amounts of money. I actually got WAY more information about New Zealand from an ex-pat who lived there. Since going to that, we have had nothing to do with Bayleys because of their snobby attitude. Good on the ex-pat for helping us out though!

Neitzsche

October 4th, 2007, 05:32 AM

Kane, I was looking at your post from May 31 on Northland. That is a significant amount $32.5 billion. Is there likely to be a mining boom up there in the foreseeable future? That and the possibility of gas and oil down south is what NZ needs to become a serious player.:banana:

Slow day at the office so I'll have a punt - any thoughts or disagreements feel free anyone.

By serious player I assume you mean climbing back to our earlier position of near the top of the OECD, rather than say attaining middle/great power status.

In that regards I think NZ is very much in a strong position to climb well back up the ladder, due both to resources possessed and wider global trends. The Northland deposits are substantial, but in a global context pretty minor compared to say Western Oz. As for the oil in the great south basin we shall see. It potentially could put NZ in a similar position to Norway, given the tightening of oil supplies around the globe. Yet where I think NZ will really benefit from is the agricultural sector as a whole.

We are in the beginnings of a global food shortage i.e. we have used more food than produced 7 out of the last 8 years. A problem being exacerbated by drought through-out the globe and the move to bio-fuels as an oil substitute. This is reflected in the record payout to dairy farmers this year. Personally I think this is just the beginning of such huge pay outs and they will spread across all primary sectors. Add to that any added benefits from the resource sector and NZ will be sitting pretty. Unfortunately it will be at the expense of a lot of misery around the globe.

One other factor that will become apparent, given this scenario does eventuate, is both ex-pats returning and environmental refugees wanting to flee to NZ. The best example is our Tasman neighbors. They are facing serious problems environmentally, so much so that Sydney is predicted to hold a population similar to Alice Springs in 2070, that's under 30k down from 4.5 mill.

http://au.messages.yahoo.com/news/top-stories/834541/

Perhaps overly pessimistic, but then what's optimistic? Down to only 2 mill? Worrying indeed. And that's only one country, there are many more facing serious problems. This will be a slow process but regardless it will put NZ in a position to pick and choose who best to let into the country which will in turn help the economy. Still nothing is set in stone and some panacea for these problems may just get pulled out of the hat, but don't count on it. Also add the inevitable increase war over dwindling resources with the corresponding blow back i.e. bombs in public places, NZ looks increasingly a nice place to be.

Anyways that's my, admittedly dark, crystal ball gazing.