PM Edition: Top 10 Business Articles on LiveNews.co.nz for March 26, 2026 – Full Text

Source: Media Outreach

• FOMO Pay launches FOMO AI Soundbox, Singapore’s first compact payment device to consolidate cards, PayNow, e-wallets, and stablecoins into a single point of acceptance with real-time audio confirmation.

• FOMO Pay also announces an AI-powered merchant intelligence layer in development, enabling merchants to gain insights from their transactions.

FOMO AI Soundbox is designed for this new era of commerce. The compact payments acceptance device supporting cards, QR payments, e-wallets, and stablecoins through a single terminal, while also establishing the groundwork for the AI-powered merchant intelligence capabilities FOMO Pay is developing. By consolidating multiple payment methods into one device, FOMO AI Soundbox gives merchants a unified point of acceptance without the need to manage multiple devices or fragmented integrations. Each transaction is confirmed in real time with instant audio notification, giving merchants and customers immediate visibility at the counter.

Beyond payment acceptance, FOMO AI Soundbox is designed to be more than a terminal. Built with an integrated microphone, FOMO AI Soundbox lays the hardware foundation for a future where merchants can soon interact with their business data as naturally as they interact with their customers. FOMO Pay is exploring AI-driven capabilities that would enable merchants to query their transaction data in real time, turning a payment device into a business intelligence terminal.

For many small and mid-sized businesses, turning day-to-day transactions into meaningful business insights takes time and resources most merchants do not have. FOMO Pay’s AI layer is designed to close this gap, helping merchants understand their own business performance and make more informed decisions, without the extra manual effort.

This shift is already underway. In the near future, merchants will increasingly need to accept both conventional off-chain payment methods together with emerging on-chain, programmable payments. Rather than existing separately, these two systems will increasingly operate alongside each other in everyday commerce. Businesses that are prepared to support both today will be better positioned for what commerce becomes tomorrow.

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Hashtag: #DigitalPayment #DigitalBanking #DigitalAsset #FinTech #AgenticPayments #AI

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– Published and distributed with permission of Media-Outreach.com.

Source: Radio New Zealand

New Zealand’s attempts to get more cooperation with the Trump administration on defence, space and sensitive technology sectors has been paying off, according to an official briefing.

“New Zealand has seized opportunities in the first year of the current US Administration to register – at all levels – the importance of US-New Zealand cooperation across these sectors,” said a Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) briefing, dated November and newly released under the Official Information Act.

“There is support in Washington for stronger partnership with us.”

In the latest bilateral move, NZ Space Agency officials will meet their counterparts in Washington this week.

This second US-NZ space dialogue – two years after the first – aimed to “strengthen bilateral space cooperation” but details were confidential, the agency told RNZ.

It has coincided with the US Department of Defence finalising a study looking at options for its increasing number of rocket launches – including at sites in other countries.

With Cape Canaveral and its other launch sites under growing pressure, a Pentagon study – due back with US lawmakers next week – covers environmental, regulatory, cost, geographic and orbital factors that may make alternate locations “outside the continental United States… viable or advantageous”.

RNZ has asked Congress’s armed services committee for a copy.

Defence, space and emerging tech have been evolving in new ways, at a time of big change including from US President Donald Trump applying America First policies and national security interests to international alliances, domestic production and arms exports.

Two impacts have been to tie commercial and military tech and space contracts more closely together, and to increase efforts to expand the US military industrial base. US law considers New Zealand to be part of that base.

‘Closer integration with key partners’

The November MFAT briefing said technology cooperation was increasingly significant to the relationship.

“Deeper cooperation with the United States in the defence, space and other sensitive technologies sectors has the potential to deliver significant economic and strategic benefits to New Zealand,” it said.

Local firms were advancing the country’s strategic interests by “facilitating closer partnerships and closer integration with key partners” but faced complex regulatory barriers and the growing ‘buy-America-made’ hurdle.

“Importantly, the Administration is open to investigating options for addressing regulatory challenges faced by New Zealand, particularly related to the US International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) and US domestic sourcing requirements.”

One option was to seek some sort of exemption from ITAR, it said.

The US has been lowering ITAR barriers for Australia and the UK because they are part of the nuclear-subs deal AUKUS.

The methods American firms could exploit that was the subject of a webinar this week from US trade officials – “Full Steam Ahead: AUKUS, ITAR, and the Keys to Australia’s Naval Supply Chain”.

Defence and Space Minister Judith Collins has been at the forefront of building the NZ-US relationship on these fronts, while also streamlining aerospace regulations and overseeing a defence capability plan rich in drone and emerging technology options.

But Collins steps down soon, and is not attending the Washington space dialogue or the US Space Force’s main annual symposium in Colorado next month, where last year she was the only non-US politician invited to speak.

At the symposium in 2024, New Zealand updated its agreement to align local space regulations more with America’s.

‘Few impediments to the transfer of technology’

However, the NZ Space Agency told RNZ it was not involved in the current Pentagon study that covered foreign launch sites.

Asked if New Zealand might be in danger of missing out on US business, the agency said: “Through our regulatory cooperation with the Federal Aviation Administration and the Technology Safeguards Agreement (TSA) with the US, the New Zealand Space Agency has been actively facilitating Rocket Lab’s provision of launch services from their private spaceport at Mahia since their inception. Customers of these services include US government agencies.

“If there was interest beyond Mahia, the New Zealand Space Agency would expect to become involved although not necessarily as the first point of contact.”

The November briefing said MFAT was prioritising work to strengthen the country’s export controls regime so it was more comparable “with our closest partners”, and to secure other short-term gains for local businesses in the defence, space and sensitive tech sectors.

“We have welcomed messaging from the US, at all levels, that as a close and trusted partner there should be few impediments to the transfer of technology between us,” it said.

In 2022, the US Congress said America should ensure that the Pentagon’s capabilities for rapid space launches “align with initiatives by Five Eyes countries” and other allies. New Zealand is in Five Eyes.

The US should implement space missions with allies that demonstrated “rapid launch, reconstitution and satellite augmentation from locations in the Indo-Pacific, European, and other theaters of operations” and “leverage allied and partner spaceports to diversify and disaggregate launch sites across the world for a multitude of missions, including national security missions”, it said.

After the first US-NZ space dialogue in 2024, the sides issued a statement focused on commercial space partnerships, and stating, “Participants acknowledged that New Zealand’s geographic advantages has enabled frequent and responsive launch for US industry and government agencies, adding strategic resilience to launch capacity.”

That year the NZ and US also launched a dialogue on critical and emerging tech, saying: “Both nations highlighted the necessity for increased interoperability with like-minded countries to address common challenges.”

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

MIL OSI

Source: Media Outreach

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 25 March 2026 – SenseTime (the “Company”; Stock Code: 0020) announced its annual results for 2025. For the full year, total revenue rose 33% year-on-year to more than RMB 5 billion, reaching a new record high and marking the fastest growth in three years. Net loss narrowed by 58.6% year-on-year, while adjusted net loss declined for a fourth consecutive half‑year period, with the pace of year‑on‑year reduction accelerating. EBITDA for the second half of 2025 reached RMB 380 million, turning positive for the first time since listing.

The Company has successfully transitioned from a technological investment phase into a period of sustainable and accelerated growth. During the reporting period, its endogenous growth momentum continued to strengthen, alongside improved capital efficiency and resilient cash flow generation. Trade receivables collection rose to a record RMB 4.87 billion. Operating cash flow recorded a positive net inflow in the second half of 2025, marking the first such achievement since listing.

Looking ahead, the Company plans to launch a new foundational model based on its second-generation NEO architecture in the second quarter of this year. The model is expected to deliver a further step in efficiency and cost-effectiveness, enabling the broad deployment of agentic AI applications.

Dr. Xu Li, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of SenseTime, said: “We firmly believe that the deep integration of language and vision represents the most effective path to pushing the boundaries of artificial intelligence. Built on our innovative NEO architecture, we have achieved unified understanding and generation, while exploring a new ‘Scaling Law’ for multimodal intelligence. These technological breakthroughs, together with the deep integration of agentic AI, will unlock new application possibilities and enable a new generation of vertical use cases. While continuing to drive innovation in core technologies, SenseTime has delivered dual growth in both revenue and EBITDA, demonstrating strong growth resilience and operational efficiency across the industry, and is steadily advancing towards high-quality development.”

Continuously rolling out native multimodal large models, “efficiency enhancement + cost reduction” drives accelerated commercial growth

In 2025, SenseTime continued to invest in cutting-edge R&D, delivering breakthrough progress across large-model architecture innovation, training paradigms, inference efficiency, and spatial understanding, while maintaining its leading position in China.

The performance of the SenseNova multimodal large model continues to improve steadily, maintaining long-term leadership across multiple authoritative benchmarks. The Company has successively released and open-sourced the SenseNova-SI Spatial Intelligence Model. In a comprehensive evaluation incorporating several internationally recognized spatial intelligence benchmarks, SenseNova-SI delivered outstanding results, ranking first globally among peer models. In parallel, the open-source Kairos-SenseNova became the first embodied native world model to achieve integrated multimodal understanding, generation, and prediction. In December 2025, SenseTime also unveiled and open-sourced NEO, an fundamentally new native multimodal model architecture. NEO achieves state-of-the-art performance comparable to industry peers of a similar scale while requiring only one-tenth of the training data and computing power. Together, these breakthroughs redefined model training paradigms and inference efficiency, marking SenseTime’s entry into a new phase in its pursuit of deep multimodal integration

Leveraging the leading capabilities of its SenseNova multimodal large model, SenseTime has established a robust, scalable and replicable B2B business model. By applying a comprehensive framework that assesses task complexity and fault tolerance, the Company is able to unlock the closed-loop value of AI agents across strategic use cases, including office productivity, finance, marketing, and content generation. Its customer base spans a broad range of industries, encompassing automotive, smart devices, consumer goods, Internet services, embodied intelligence, financial services, education and healthcare.

Meanwhile, SenseTime has continued to make progress in developing a new generation of AI-native consumer applications. The Kapi product series has successfully built a user base numbering in the tens of millions, underscoring the strong growth potential of AI-native applications and demonstrating the Company’s ability to embed advanced AI technologies into everyday life.

SenseCore: Deeper coordination between computing infrastructure and model R&D unlocks international commercial potential

As the core technological pillar of its “Infrastructure – Model – Application” strategy, SenseCore achieved a significant transition in 2025, converting technological strengths to a fully developed industrial closed loop. During the year, it supported nearly one million model R&D tasks, effectively unlocking the full chain from underlying hardware to top-level applications, and from software stacks to model adaptation. Notably, the LightX2V World Model Inference System delivered breakthrough performance on domestic hardware, outperforming leading overseas chips.

SenseCore accelerated collaboration across China’s domestic technology ecosystem, positioning itself as a key chain master within industry. It partnered with more than a dozen chip makers, including Huawei Ascend, Hygon and Cambricon, to launch the SenseCore Computing Power Mall. SenseCore has since become a core partner of leading research institutes, Internet giants, pan-entertainment groups, embodied-intelligence robotics firms and large-model unicorns, and has also launched China’s first overseas Chinese-led computing cluster in Saudi Arabia.

As of the release of this result announcement, the total operational computing scale of SenseCore had reached 40,400 PetaFLOPS (FP16).

CV 2.0 records first‑ever net profit and positive cash flow; “X” Businesses gains strong recognition from external investors

SenseTime’s Computer Vision (CV; Visual AI) business is transitioning from a technology investment phase into a period of large-scale commercial returns. During the reporting period, CV 2.0 achieved profitability for the first time and generated positive cash flow for a second consecutive year, emerging as a key driver of the Company’s revenue growth and cash-flow improvement. SenseTime has maintained the leading position in China’s CV market for nine consecutive years. Internationally, clients across Southeast Asia, Northeast Asia and the Middle East continued to repurchase CV products and services, while interest increased from clients in South America, Europe and other regions, forming a replicable, scalable “Chinnovation” model for global expansion.

In 2025, SenseTime firmly advanced its “1+X” strategy, establishing a highly efficient collaborative system in which the core platform (the Company) provides foundational capabilities, while ecosystem partners compete and scale within targeted verticals. This marked a strategic shift from standalone business expansion towards the multiplication of ecosystem-wide value. Ecosystem enterprises incubated by SenseTime made steady progress in financing during the year, attracting strong interest from external investors including Internet giants, leading venture capital firms and industrial funds. Notably, the edge AI chip and intelligent driving business successfully completed financing rounds and were subsequently spun off to operate independently.

Looking ahead to 2026, the Company believes it is well positioned to compete in the critical phase of the global AI industry. It will continue to deepen its native multimodal architecture, reinforcing its global leadership in the integration of native multimodal large models and spatial intelligence. Meanwhile, the Company plans to capitalize on opportunities in the merging agentic AI market, targeting rapid growth in both user scale and commercial value. The Company will also accelerate the adaptation of domestic Chinese chips, further reduce large-model inference costs, and enhance product competitiveness through superior cost-performance. Within its Visual AI business, it will leverage both domestic and international growth engines to drive large-scale expansion and establish a global benchmark for intelligent industries. In parallel, the Company will continue to advance its “1+X” strategy to capture incremental returns arising from the accelerating intelligent transformation of vertical industries.

Hashtag: #SenseTimeGroup

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

– Published and distributed with permission of Media-Outreach.com.

Source: Radio New Zealand

New Zealand is an expensive country, Reserve Bank chief economist Paul Conway says, with many products priced well above the OECD average.

And some things – such as construction services, household utilities and some food items – are among the most expensive in the OECD.

Conway spoke to the National Financial Advisers Conference in Auckland on Wednesday.

He said inflation had been one of the most obvious economic disruptions over the past few years, particularly over the pandemic, when demand combined with a lack of supply sent inflation soaring at the sharpest rate in decades.

He said people were still asking why everything felt so expensive, even though inflation was much nearer the Reserve Bank’s targets than it had been.

Conway said, since the start of the pandemic, overall prices had risen by 26 percent and the price of some essentials had increased much more.

Wages rose 32 percent but that increase was probably not evenly felt – people who moved jobs were more likely to have received larger wage increases.

Conway said that for the past five years, one or more of a range of everyday household essentials that were hard to avoid had been increasing strongly in price at almost every point. “That included prices for council rates, construction services, some foods – including meat and butter, and insurance.

“Because households cannot easily avoid some of these costs, this has no doubt added to the sense of a ‘cost-of-living crisis’.”

Rates, insurance and gas had jumped particularly in recent years.

Tobacco products were among the most expensive in the OECD and milk, cheese, eggs and fruit prices were well above the average. Seafood, clothing, and meat were slightly below average.

“For services, the price of construction in New Zealand is the highest in the OECD and more than double the average. This is undoubtedly a handbrake on housing and infrastructure development here. In fact, the price of ‘capital formation’ – which covers machinery, equipment and construction – is 70 percent above average in New Zealand and also the highest in the OECD. The price of housing services and utilities in New Zealand is also assessed as being the most expensive in the OECD.”

He said low and stable inflation mattered for the cost of living but it was not the whole story.

Monetary policy – such as the official cash rate set by the Reserve Bank – could help to anchor prices but not make New Zealand affordable on its own. He acknowledged that inflation ended 2025 just above the Reserve Bank’s 1 percent to 3 percent target band and was likely to be more elevated because of the Middle East conflict.

He said what mattered for households was their purchasing power.

Before 2020, the purchasing power of wages in New Zealand was growing faster than the OECD average on the back of strong employment growth and favourable terms of trade.

“Today, while wage purchasing power is around average across all 38 OECD members countries, it is about 20 percent below the average of the more advanced OECD economies that we typically compare ourselves to.”

Productivity the key

For there to be continued sustained improvements in purchasing power, there would have to be more productivity, he said.

Real per capita income in New Zealand was below the OECD average, he noted. It had been about 80 percent of the average until the mid-2000s then increased to more than 95 percent by 2020.

“Since 2020, real income in New Zealand has fallen back to around 90 percent of the OECD average and the income gap vis-à-vis Australia has widened. Purchasing power, as measured by real income, has not kept pace with the rest of the OECD nor Australia since the beginning of the pandemic.”

Wages had declined less compared to the OECD average and were at best average, he said.

“Importantly, this is compared to all 38 current OECD member countries, which includes several emerging economies. Compared to the 30 OECD member countries in 2010, average incomes in New Zealand sit around 20 percent below the average.”

He said productivity growth would be the single most powerful determinant of higher real incomes and better purchasing power over the long run.

“New Zealand’s productivity performance leaves much to be desired and has lagged other OECD economies. Further, productivity growth in the New Zealand economy fell significantly following the global financial crisis and has been negative in the wake of the pandemic.

“While low and stable inflation is a key ingredient in lifting productivity and improving purchasing power, it is insufficient on its own. By anchoring prices, monetary policy creates the conditions for growth. But sustained gains in purchasing power require structural improvements in the economy.”

Measures to improve resilience

He said a more fragmented and unpredictable global economy would raise the stakes for ensuring New Zealand’s structural policies were resilient, adaptive and fit for purpose.

“We are in a new era of heightened geopolitical risk and persistent uncertainty, with the conflict in the Middle East a timely reminder of how quickly geopolitics can disrupt the global economy. At the same time, cross-country flows of trade, capital, and people are shifting, governments are becoming more interventionist, and the rules-based order that once underpinned global integration has weakened considerably.

“This is not a temporary shock that we can simply wait out. It’s a durable shift that makes the global economy more difficult and dangerous for small economies like New Zealand. We are more exposed to external shocks, fragile global supply chains, and shifts in global rules and norms over which we have little control.”

He said sustaining living standards would depend on structural policy settings that built resilience into the structure of the economy by encouraging flexibility, investment and adaption.

“A more resilient and flexible economy would mean monetary policy does not have to work as hard, or be as aggressive, to stabilise inflation as shocks wash through the economy.

“While monetary policy plays a critical role in responding to shocks, it cannot solve New Zealand’s ‘cost-of-living crisis’. Low and stable inflation underpins economic stability and is critical for sustained gains in purchasing power. But monetary policy does not create prosperity directly. It creates the conditions in which prosperity can endure.

“Improving the purchasing power of New Zealand households requires improved productivity. Productivity gains support stronger real wage growth, while competitive markets help keep price increases in check… stronger productivity raises the economy’s speed limit – allowing faster growth without inflation. A more resilient and flexible economy also means monetary policy doesn’t need to be as aggressive to keep inflation stable when shocks hit.”

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

MIL OSI

Source: Media Outreach

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 25 March 2026 – The Department of International Trade Promotion (DITP), Ministry of Commerce, successfully hosted “Thai Night Hong Kong 2026” on 18 March 2026 at the Ballroom, JW Marriott Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China. The event aimed to foster business networking and promote collaboration between Thai entrepreneurs and international partners in the film and entertainment industry, with over 517 participants from across the global entertainment sector, including investors, content creators, and media representatives.

The event was graciously presided over by Her Royal Highness Princess Ubolratana Rajakanya Sirivadhana Barnavadi, who continues to play a vital role in supporting and promoting Thailand’s film and entertainment industry on the global stage. The occasion also provided a valuable platform for Thai entrepreneurs to expand business opportunities and strengthen international partnerships.

Thai Night Hong Kong 2026 was held alongside the Hong Kong International Film & TV Market (FILMART) 2026, one of Asia’s leading marketplaces for film and television content. The event served as a platform to celebrate the achievements of Thailand’s entertainment industry while showcasing the capabilities of Thai content creators to global buyers, investors, and industry stakeholders.

This year’s event was presented under the theme “Reimagining Thailand”, highlighting Thailand as a comprehensive creative destination for film and entertainment production. The concept reflects the country’s strengths in skilled talent, diverse filming locations, internationally recognized production standards, and advanced post-production capabilities.

The atmosphere of the event was vibrant and dynamic, with participants from various countries engaging in discussions, exchanging insights, and exploring opportunities for co-production and investment within Thailand’s entertainment sector.

In addition, the event featured live performances by Thai entertainment industry players, demonstrating the creativity and production excellence of Thai content. These performances blended contemporary storytelling with cultural identity, leaving a strong impression on international attendees and reinforcing Thailand’s position as a compelling creative partner on the global stage.

The successful organization of Thai Night Hong Kong 2026 reflects growing international interest in Thailand’s entertainment industry and underscores its potential as a key player in the global content landscape. The event also served as an important platform for Thai entrepreneurs to expand their market reach and build sustainable partnerships with international stakeholders.

Hashtag: #DITP

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

– Published and distributed with permission of Media-Outreach.com.

Source: Radio New Zealand

Industry groups and local government leaders are calling for the resurrection of a Buy Kiwi Made campaign as alarms sound over new job losses and factory closures.

McCain Foods announced on Tuesday it would close its Hastings processing plant weeks after Watties proposed cuts and closures in Hastings, Dunedin, Auckland and Christchurch.

Central Hawke’s Bay mayor Will Foley said the news came as shock, and he did not know how many people were affected.

But once factory workers and those across the supply chain were factored in, it would number in the hundreds, he said.

“If you think of all the contractors that grow the crops, harvest the crops, the trucking companies, the logistics of moving the crops from farm to factories and from there to our supermarkets, you’d be talking about hundreds and hundreds of people impacted. Specifically losing their jobs, perhaps not as many on day one, but the longer term impact we’ll be getting into the hundreds, if not a thousand across Hawke’s Bay.”

Vegetable growing had played a huge role in Hawke’s Bay, including being the home of Watties, which was founded in Hastings in 1934.

The mayor wanted to see a discussion at a national level about the closures and their causes.

“What can we do to address some of these issues and help out the businesses that are still there, because otherwise we’re just going to see this happen again and again.”

Energy and production costs and inflation would all have played a part in the decision, he said.

“A lot of companies and industries affected by Cyclone Gabrielle citied concerns back then about the cost of energy making them contemplate not rebuilding their businesses, as well as the cost of production and such high inflation across the board.”

Foley was keen to see more education and information about the importance of buying New Zealand-made, even if it meant paying a little extra.

“We’re not just losing the more expensive product, we’re losing the whole supply chain and employment and logistics and everything. We might not notice the change overnight, but we’ll notice it eventually as we lose more and more.

“Educating people around buying New Zealand-made and the benefits over and above just buying that product, what it gives to New Zealand Inc is definitely something that should be highlighted and be made more aware to the population after decisions like this,” he said.

The closure would hasten a move away from farming for some, especially those already considering retirement.

Others might consider converting to other types of farming, such as dairy, sheep and beef or apples, while others would look at subdividing for housing – though it would be better to keep productive land for food production, Foley said.

Current issues around fuel supply served as a stark reminder of supply chain vulnerabilities and food security challenges.

“It could be no different with food if similar things happen and supply chains get impacted and ships don’t arrive. We certainly need to try and preserve what we’ve got already and what we produce in this country.”

Buy NZ Made was first launched in the late 1980s with the slogan “Buy NZ Made & Keep Your Country Working”, though organised campaigns to encourage shoppers to buy local date back to the turn of last century.

The concept recieved a boost as part of the co-operation agreement between the Greens and Labour in 2005, after the Green Party negotiated $11.5 million towards a Buy Kiwi Made campaign, with former Green co-leader Rod Donald as spokesperson. After his death, Green MP Sue Bradford led the programme, which included a marketing push and increased use of New Zealand-made products in government procurement.

The National government suspended the programme in 2008 but BusinessNZ continued to run the parallel Buy NZ Made campaign.

Process Vegetables New Zealand chair David Hadfield said New Zealand consumers needed to buy locally grown produce.

“Otherwise they’re going to wake up one day and there won’t be any and then we’ll be relying on other countries to supply us and we don’t know when the next Covid or a bigger conflict will happen and the boats aren’t coming here with product on board.

“We’re learning in a pretty drastic way with fuel at the moment, aren’t we, about what happens when we have to bring it all in?”

While local products could be more expensive, the bulk of the profit was made after vegetables left the processor, he said.

“The grower is getting about 10 percent of what a packet of peas sells for.”

He wanted a closer look at supermarket margins – which differed by department – as well as the role of distribution centres.

“New Zealanders definitely need to be looking at buying New Zealand grown,” Hadfield said, and should pay close attention to labelling.

“Look at where it’s growing, not where it’s packaged, because there’s quite a bit of stuff coming into the country in bulk and then getting packaged to you,” he said.

It was impossible for New Zealanders to compete with countries where growers were subsidised or where pay and safety regulations were very low, Hadfield said.

The government also needed to investigate imported produce and whether there may be cases of dumping.

“I don’t know the government’s done anything through the Commerce Commission or anybody else to look at that.”

In early March, Watties proposed closing factories in Auckland, Dunedin and Christchurch, and shutting down processing lines at one of its Hastings factories.

The move would see 350 workers made redundant, 220 suppliers affected and the end of Wattie’s frozen vegetables, Gregg’s coffee and other household names.

Submissions on the proposal close this week.

In September, Wattie’s reduced its Hawke’s Bay peach production, cutting the contracts of some suppliers in the face of what it claimed was dumping from cheaper markets.

An investigation later found Chinese company J&G International Co. Ltd had been dumping peaches, causing “material injury to the New Zealand industry”.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Media Outreach

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Source: Radio New Zealand

Allegations of bullying against one of the most senior staff at Corrections were raised more than a month ago.

RNZ earlier revealed Corrections commissioner of custodial services Leigh Marsh was facing an employment investigation in relation to allegations of bullying.

On Wednesday, Corrections chief executive Jeremy Lightfoot confirmed the concerns were raised on February 15.

“No other formal concerns have been raised about this individual, and they have not previously been subject to an employment investigation.”

Do you know more? Email sam.sherwood@rnz.co.nz

After receiving the concerns, advice was sought from the human resources team and support was put in place for the staff member who raised the concerns, Lightfoot said.

“The decision was then taken to undertake a formal employment investigation.”

Lightfoot said it was important staff felt confident raising any concerns.

“And as an employer I have a duty of care to ensure the ongoing privacy and wellbeing of those involved.

“For these reasons, it would not be appropriate for us to provide further details about this employment matter at this time. I acknowledge the public interest in the conduct of our senior leaders and Corrections is committed to being transparent about the findings of this investigation at the appropriate time and in line with our obligations under the Official Information Act and Privacy Act.”

In response to questions about the inquiry into Marsh earlier this week Lightfoot told RNZ he expected “high standards of all our staff and take any allegations raised about their conduct extremely seriously”.

“Corrections can confirm that concerns have been raised about one senior leader that will be investigated by an external independent investigator.

“The concerns raised relate to alleged conduct around management processes and bullying within the employment relationship.”

The staff member who raised the concerns with Lightfoot was “being supported while this employment matter is ongoing”.

He also confirmed three operational deputy chief executives, including Marsh, would be undertaking six-month secondments into different DCE roles within Corrections.

“I had already been considering moving the operational DCEs into each other’s areas later this year. This is because I believe these secondments will allow each operational DCE to deepen their understanding of each other’s respective areas so we can continue building a coherent, cohesive organisation. Their employment agreements were developed to allow such secondments to take place.

“The decision to do this now was brought forward to ensure that a thorough and fair employment process for both parties in relation to the above complaint can be carried out.”

The secondment sees Marsh move to DCE of Pae Ora.

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