PM Edition: Top 10 Business Articles on LiveNews.co.nz for May 7, 2026 – Full Text

MIL OSI

Source: Radio New Zealand

An economist is warning the unemployment rate is likely to get worse in the coming months and could reach up to 6 percent due to the Iran War.

The unemployment rate eased to 5.3 percent in the three months ended March, down slightly from the previous quarter.

A total of 163,000 people were unemployed, a fall of 2000 on the previous quarter but 7000 higher than a year ago.

Kiwibank chief economist Jarrod Kerr said Wednesday’s data was “very outdated”, and the full impact of the fuel crisis would be felt in the second or third quarter of this year.

Kiwibank was forecasting unemployment to reach 5.5 per cent, Kerr said, but there was a chance it could reach 5.8 or 6 percent if conditions didn’t improve.

“We are hearing of [construction] projects being post-poned, we are hearing of projects being cancelled, we are hearing of forestry crews being stood down because it’s too expensive to cut-down trees at the moment.”

He expected both surging air fares and flight cancellations in the wake of the Iran War to dent the tourism industry, including the regions, which had recently been performing well due to a strong export market.

“Tourism is the one we don’t hear a lot about. It was our largest exporter prior to Covid, more than dairy. Now dairy’s our number one.

“New Zealand’s got such a large tourism sector, so for that to be falling back, it’s a big negative for large parts of the country.”

Kerr noted the numbers of people who were employed but needed to work more hours – the underutilisation rate – which was stubborn at 12.9 per cent.

That wasn’t a good sign, he said.

“Businesses, they cut hours before they cut heads…so you’ve got a workforce, you’ve trained them, in many cases you’ve worked with them for years, and a crisis hits – you cut their hours before you cut their jobs…that’s where the slack shows up first.”

ASB chief economist Nick Tuffley told Midday Report said he expected the unemployment rate to reach 5.5 percent and would briefly stall the employment growth evident at the beginning of this year.

Bay of Plenty unemployment rate ‘surprising’ – mayor

Auckland, Wellington and the Bay of Plenty had the highest unemployment rates in the latest figures, between 6 and 7 percent.

Bay of Plenty’s unemployment rate had increased to 7.1 percent in the March quarter, from 5.7 percent in the previous quarter.

Rotorua Mayor Tania Tapsell said she was “very surprised” to see the Bay of Plenty’s unemployment rate rise, and would be looking into why it had increased.

“I know that as a region we are actually doing quite well, and I hear from businesses that they are seeking employees as well – so again [I’m] very surprised.”

She said it was concerning to hear families could be struggling.

Some conference and business events in Rotorua were looking at postponing due to the effect of fuel costs, Tapsell said, but in general, tourism in the city was “booming”, and domestic flights hadn’t been cut.

But Tauranga chamber of commerce chief executive Matt Cowley said tourism in the Eastern Bay of Plenty had been “patchy”, forestry was “doing it tough”, as well as some manufacturers exposed to the domestic market.

He cited Ballance Agri-Nutrients decision to end manufacturing operations in Mount Maunganui, and cut 60 jobs, as one example.

“Hospitality has been somewhat contracting due to reasonably tough summer periods,” Cowley said.

Auckland and Wellington’s unemployment rates remain high – Auckland’s increasing from 6.4 to 6.6 percent in the March quarter, and Wellington’s from 5.8 to 6.3 percent.

Kerr said Wellington had been in a “very dark place” over the last couple of years, due to public sector job cuts.

He said surveys consistently showed Wellington businesses were “downbeat”, and Auckland, “not that much better”.

He compared that to Canterbury where unemployment rates were 4.4 percent in the March quarter – up from 3.7 percent in the previous quarter – but the region was generally performing better than the North Island cities.

“I think Auckland and Wellington, they need to do something to drag themselves out of this funk that they’re in.”

Finance Minister Nicola Willis said in any economic recovery, unemployment was the last thing to recover.

“You’re seeing that it is in the cities that that recovery has taken the longest to turn around. What we do see is the signs are there that the recovery is starting to latch on in those cities.”

Willis said some businesses had been expanding, selling more and creating more jobs.

“What we need to do is give them every chance of continuing that in the months ahead, notwithstanding the events in the Middle East.”

Labour’s Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said the statistics were “nothing to sing about,” even though the headline figure had come down.

“If you scratch a little bit deeper, that’s 163,000 people who are out of work, and the unemployment levels being higher in Auckland now than it was 11 years ago, higher in Wellington than it was 12 years ago.”

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Source: Media Outreach

TikTok leads new BOI approvals as Thailand moves to strengthen power readiness, clean energy access and fast-track strategic investment

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

More than half of businesses have reported AI-generated identity fraud at an average cost of $2.2 million for each attack.

Christchurch-founded document workflow provider Lumin said sophisticated impersonation technology had reached new heights, with 90 percent of the 1000 organisations it surveyed in the United States, New Zealand and Australia concerned their critical workflows were vulnerable to AI-powered fraud.

Ninety percent of New Zealand organisations believed the processes they used to sign, verify, and complete legally binding business contracts, were vulnerable.

Lumin chief executive Max Ferguson said AI-generated fraud was eroding trust.

The findings of its report, Digital Identity in Business: The Threats, Impact, and Opportunities, indicates advancements in AI, were severely eroding business trust, with the majority of New Zealand organisations seeing historical fraud breaches as a major deterrent to collaborate with potential partners.

The report indicates 69 percent of New Zealand businesses would be less willing to work with a partner who recently experienced an identity fraud incident.

“With cybersecurity-threatening AI super intelligence at our doorstep, vulnerable agreement workflows are a goldmine for fraudsters,” the report says.

“When these systems fail, sensitive financial data, corporate information and personal information are exposed. With these breaches often triggering extensive data leaks and devastating financial damage, securing these digital processes is no longer optional.”

Ferguson said the goal was to help businesses improve resilience and ensure New Zealand remained a trusted place to do business.

“I see the reality of this threat everyday with scammers impersonating me to my staff and targeting our accounts team with fake invoices. AI has sharpened these fraud tactics to the point where they directly threaten the trust that keeps our business ecosystem interconnected and operating smoothly,” he said.

“Preventing identity fraud is no longer just an IT responsibility.

“Businesses need to acknowledge that it can strike any department and must be addressed at the boardroom level.

“Industries have to move beyond simply capturing a signature and shift toward verifying the person signing. By evolving how we secure identities now, we can protect our reputation and our future.”

The report indicates two-thirds (67 percent) of New Zealand organisations were planning to increase investment in identity verification technology and processes over the next two years.

“While this investment level still lags behind Australia (82 percent) and the US (78 percent), there is a clear push for modernised solutions, with 85 percent of NZ firms also supporting the introduction of government-issued digital IDs, with the primary motivator being the ability to make identity verification significantly easier.”

Ferguson said New Zealand business leaders needed to take action to make identity fraud protection a strategic priority, by evaluating vulnerabilities and addressing them, without slowing down the signing process.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Small and medium-sized businesses are becoming increasingly dissatisfied with the government ahead of this month’s budget as rising costs and a weak economic outlook eat away at confidence.

MYOB’s Annual Business Monitor indicates 35 percent of more than 1000 SME owners and operators surveyed were dissatisfied with the coalition government, outnumbering those who were satisfied (33 percent), with 31 percent remaining neutral.

The survey indicated businesses were under pressure from increasing overhead costs, which were up an average of $1200 per month, while insurance premiums rose an average of $1800 in the past year or by $3200 for an average medium-sized businesses.

“At the beginning of this year, our insights suggested most SMEs were starting 2026 more hopeful about their prospects and backed by relatively stable revenue and cashflow, but rising costs and recent increasing uncertainty may have clouded over some of the growth ambitions we saw coming through,” MYOB chief executive Paul Robson said.

“These factors, as well as a slower-than-anticipated economic recovery, can often shape some of the sentiment by businesses around the support available to them.”

SMEs voting intentions

Despite satisfaction dipping, the coalition parties maintained a clear majority of support from SME operators.

By political party, National was still the first choice among business owners, with 37 percent of those polled expecting to vote for the party at this year’s general election, while coalition partners – NZ First and ACT – each had 11 percent support.

Support for opposition parties had seen some grown, with 20 percent of SME decision-makers intending to vote for Labour (up 5 percent), while the Greens improved slightly to 4 percent.

Support for the Opportunities Party was two percent, while Te Pāti Māori had one percent support.

“We have seen some movement in voting intentions compared to the run up to the last election, and just over one-in-10 SME decision-makers are undecided about their vote,” Robson said.

“Given the size of the SME community in New Zealand, that is still a significant number of votes to compete for and overall, business owners will be looking for practical policy platforms that deliver targeted support where it is most impactful.”

SMEs said the top three actions the government could take to better support business this year were reducing compliance burdens, alleviating cost pressures, and supporting investment.

What SMEs want

• Reinstating the ACC No Claims Discount for small businesses (32%)
• Greater efforts to simplify health and safety compliance requirements (28%)
• Changing the current low value asset write-off of $1000 to be a permanent instant asset write-off of $10,000 (26%)
• Increase the provisional tax threshold (24%)
• Action to address insurance affordability for SMEs (23%)
• Energy bill relief via tax rebates (23%).

“While there is little doubt about the balancing act the current government faces in investing in the future of New Zealand business and managing existing debt levels, there is clear opportunity for practical support for local SMEs that will ease some of the load they are carrying day-to-day,” Robson said.

“Business owners will be monitoring outcomes of the upcoming budget keenly to see what’s in it for them, but looking further ahead to the election on the horizon, the parties that put forward credible, targeted policies for SMEs will strengthen their appeal to a segment that represents a significant share of the voting public.”

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Explainer – New Zealand has signed a deal with Singapore that will ensure exports of essential supplies like food and fuel keep flowing, even during a crisis.

A bit like the one we’re facing now.

While it was inked this week, negotiations concluded last year, and Singapore has kept the fuel coming since the outbreak of the war on Iran.

Neither Christopher Luxon nor his Singaporean counterpart Lawrence Wong would have known just how handy that deal was going to become back in October.

It’s a pretty simple equation, crisis or no crisis: New Zealand needs fuel, Singapore supplies fuel. Singapore needs food, New Zealand supplies food.

With no refinery in New Zealand since the closure of Marsden Point, we’ve had to rely on importing refined fuel from elsewhere. Singapore has supplied around a third of that.

The background

New Zealand and Singapore have a longstanding trade relationship.

In the year to June 2025, two-way trade was worth $11.07 billion.

The two countries signed a free trade agreement (the New Zealand-Singapore Closer Economic Partnership, or CEP) all the way back in 2000.

In April 2020, they committed to a declaration on trade in essential goods, in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

That declaration ensured neither New Zealand nor Singapore would impose export restrictions like tariffs on 120 essential goods like various foods, pharmaceuticals, and medical equipment.

While the declaration was non-binding, in 2022 former New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern and former Singapore prime minister Lee Hsien Loong established a supply chain working group to build on those commitments and spirit of cooperation.

In October 2024, Cabinet agreed to launch negotiations, and a year later the Agreement on Trade in Essential Supplies (AOTES) was agreed to.

Were we at risk of fuel being cut off?

Singapore has made it clear it was hardly going to turn the tap off anyway, given the relationship and how much it runs counter to our general trade philosophies.

New Zealand farmers are pretty reliant on diesel, in order to produce the food that is then exported to Singapore.

So there was never much of a motivation for Singapore or New Zealand to all of a sudden become more protectionist.

But now it’s in writing, with legal obligations, and sitting within the CEP.

“Unlike the declaration, the AOTES is a binding, treaty level agreement and is not responding to an immediate supply shock but helping both of our countries prepare for future crises,” Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade officials wrote in a national interest analysis.

Countries can use a critical shortages exception under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), but this new deal is “novel,” officials said, because it prevents that from happening.

Not that New Zealand has ever used that exception. To the best of their knowledge, officials couldn’t find an example.

So, even if Singapore experiences a supply shock, it still can’t apply that shortages exception, which gives New Zealand more certainty.

But what if the worst happens?

If we’re talking about the absolute worst of the worst of situations, like a nuclear apocalypse which wipes out all of our crops, or the island where Singapore’s refineries are based all of a sudden sinks into the sea, then yes, sure, Singapore and New Zealand could technically circumvent the agreement.

The countries can still use other provisions or exceptions in the GATT or their World Trade Organisation agreements, so they can still impose export controls for “reasons such as national security threats, the protection of human, plant and animal health, public morals, or the regulation of classification, grading or marketing of commodities in international trade.”

That’s where a rapid review clause comes in, meaning both parties can call an emergency meeting to discuss adding or removing goods to or from the list.

Singapore and New Zealand have also promised to share information with each other in the event of a significant or imminent supply chain disruption, such as the predicted impact on their economy or national security, or how long it may last.

There is a provision within Singapore and New Zealand’s CEP which allows Singapore to adopt “any measure” to address critical shortages of essential imports.

So, if there’s a supply chain crisis, Singapore could use the provision within the CEP to prove an exemption from the AOTES.

But, officials said, the threshold was high, as the “relevant goods need to be listed as essential in Singapore’s domestic law, the critical shortages need to give rise to major difficulties for Singapore, and the measure should not be used to arbitrarily discriminate against New Zealand or to impose a disguised restriction on trade.”

So why is fuel still so expensive?

While the deal reduces New Zealand’s risk of fuel shortages, it doesn’t reduce our exposure to prices.

The AOTES ensures both countries continue to “expedite and facilitate” the flow of supplies, and prevents them from imposing export restrictions.

It does not “cut across” the role of the private sector in the production or management of supply chains, and there’s no regulation within the agreement for the private sector.

It also doesn’t mean New Zealand or Singapore have to commit to procurement, or guarantee the supply of goods.

New Zealand importers still have to pay the market rate for the fuel, and that inevitably gets passed on to consumers.

Singapore’s refineries have had to adapt to process sweeter crude than they’re used to, and sourcing it from elsewhere has also brought in extra costs.

The fuel companies can source it. They can refine it. They can transport it. But it’s still going to cost us, especially if that supply gets more constrained.

That’s why, even though the fuel is still coming into New Zealand, we’re still seeing those prices at the pump.

Both Wong and Luxon have been bleak in their assessments of the fuel crisis, with neither thinking it’s going to end any time soon.

What else is in there?

Food and fuel are the headline items, mainly because they’re the most pressing things the respective countries would need in a crisis.

The lists can be changed, but only if both parties agree to the edits.

New Zealand’s list includes petroleum and oils (other than crude, which we wouldn’t need anyway without a refinery), hydrocarbons, medications, vaccines, polymers, medical equipment, and building materials like steel and glass insulation.

Officials on the New Zealand side said the list was chosen to reflect what New Zealand already imported from Singapore, as well as “whether New Zealand could or could not stand-up production of the specific good in the times of crisis, how substitutable the good is, and whether we can easily source the good from elsewhere.”

Singapore’s list is almost entirely food: meats, vegetables, legumes, fruits, dairy, grains.

Coal is also on Singapore’s list, as are photographic cameras, for some reason.

Is it really a world first?

The “first of its kind” definition is technically true.

Australia concluded negotiations on a similar economic resilience deal with Singapore last month, committing to keep supplying Singapore with liquefied natural gas while Singapore promised to keep supplying Australia with refined fuel.

But even though New Zealand’s deal has only just been signed now, it has been locked in for longer.

Luxon has used that to rebuff criticisms that he should have got on a plane to Singapore sooner. The deal was agreed to in October, Singapore promised to abide by it in-principle once the war started, there was no rush.

“We didn’t need to, because the Australians didn’t have what we have. They probably still haven’t got what we have. We put this in place in October, Prime Minister Wong and I are good friends, and we agreed that we would work to this and formally sign it on this visit. So it’s served us incredibly well. We haven’t needed to go sooner as a result of this,” he told RNZ ahead of the trip.

Can we expect others to join in?

Luxon is pointing to the deal as an example of smaller countries innovating and modernising trade architecture, rather than responding to the United States’ tariffs with a tit-for-tat protectionism.

Both he and Wong have expressed openness to other countries wanting to join in.

Singapore and New Zealand’s deal had an advantage because they came from a running start, and had identified the products each other wanted, but both prime ministers have said others can sign up, as long as they can meet the same standards, guarantees, and commitments.

In July, New Zealand will chair a meeting with 15 other like-minded economies such as Malaysia, Switzerland, Norway, and the United Arab Emirates, and Luxon has said it’s possible some of those countries may want to give it a go.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

• Reserve Bank warns of heightened uncertainty due to Iran war
• Economic recovery expected to be “somewhat slower”
• Financial institutions well-placed to support economy

Risks to financial stability have increased due to the Middle East conflict, with a bleaker outlook for the economy, potentially making it harder for borrowers to service debt.

In its half-yearly Financial Stability Report, the Reserve Bank (RBNZ) stressed the country’s financial system remained resilient, and the banking system was well-placed to support customers even if conditions worsened.

The RBNZ said the longer the Iran war continued, the greater the risks to global financial stability, with New Zealand already feeling “significant economic effects”.

Governor Anna Breman said high diesel prices were having the biggest effect on the transport and logistics sectors, as well as primary industries, including forestry and fishing.

“While economic growth had been recovering prior to the conflict, we are now likely to see a somewhat slower recovery, affecting job growth and debt servicing,” Dr Breman said.

The RBNZ said banks had strong capital and funding buffers, meaning they were not only “well-placed” to help struggling customers, but also manage stresses in offshore funding markets.

It said stress testing results showed banks’ ability to withstand significant economic shocks, including geopolitical events like the Middle East conflict.

The RBNZ expected the impact on insurers to be limited, noting health insurers have raised premiums and adjusted policies following several years of high claims costs.

The RBNZ said it was working on a stress test of life and health insurers.

Fuel prices close to their highest levels in 50 years

Unsurprisingly, the RBNZ said higher oil prices will increase costs for firms, including those already facing weak demand.

“Prices for these important inputs are now close to their highest levels in the past 50 years after adjusting for inflation,” the RBNZ said in its report.

It warned that in addition to increased costs for firms, higher oil prices will reduce consumers’ spending power.

“Higher near-term CPI [consumer price index] inflation due to the conflict will reduce real wages,” the RBNZ said.

“While it seems unlikely at this stage that the impact on real wages will be as large as it was over 2021/22, even a small decline in spending power could create financial hardship for some households given the existing cost-of-living pressures.”

Meanwhile, low profitability in recent years meant firms were in a “more vulnerable position”.

“Business deposits were elevated after the pandemic, given fiscal support and the strong economic recovery,” it said.

“However, over the past three years, business deposits, particularly for smaller firms, have declined as a share of GDP [gross domestic product].”

The RBNZ said mortgage arrears have also declined from the recent peak as the economy improved, with non-performing loans at around 0.6 percent of lending.

However, it said arrears and non-performing loans remain higher than pre-pandemic levels.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

The Labour Party has announced its final candidate for the Māori seats in this year’s election, as the contest in various electorates heats up.

Te Pūoho Katene, a Fulbright scholar from Stanford’s Graduate School of Business, says it’s a privilege to be selected to contest Te Tai Hauāuru.

He told RNZ he could see where politics focused on the negative, and he wanted to see “hope returned to the table”.

It comes as Associate Professor of Politics Lara Greaves told RNZ there will be a lot of “tight and interesting and very unpredictable races” in the Māori seats.

The Victoria University of Wellington professor said the Māori seats contest would be “incredibly important” for the overall result, after last election saw an overhang created in Parliament.

“Before all of this Pāti Māori drama last year, I was expecting to see the potential for a greater overhang being created.

“Now it’s kind of hard to tell exactly what’s going to happen, but I still think that the Māori electorates are incredibly important.”

Greaves said it was a possibility to see Te Pāti Māori gone entirely, or Te Pāti Māori secure many electorate seats – both scenarios would change “the math” of the makeup of Parliament.

She said they would be unpredictable because the range of contests in the mix, with Labour, Greens, Te Pāti Māori and potential independent candidates running.

“It’s really on a race by race, electorate by electorate basis,” said Greaves, acknowledging the possibility of votes being split with the Greens.

Greaves said Te Pāti Māori had gone down in the polls and expected some kind of effect on the different electorate races, but couldn’t say how exactly that would play out, including whether some MPs would be punished more than others.

She cited Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke as an example, who came out of that “drama situation” looking “fairly put together.”

“Whereas others, perhaps their reputation has been a bit damaged by it.”

Regardless, Greaves said the Māori electorates would likely have a “pretty big influence” on the election.

“They are a feature of the electoral system that could be used strategically.”

Labour’s candidates

Kātene, of Ngāti Toa and Ngāti Whaatua descent, joined a line-up of candidates running for Labour that included sitting MPs and new faces.

Cushla Tangaere-Manuel, who was the only Labour MP to secure a Māori seat last election, would run for Ikaroa-Rāwhiti again.

Willow-Jean Prime would run against the Greens Hūhana Lyndon and Mariameno Kapa-Kingi in Te Tai Tokerau.

Kingi Kiriona, the deputy chairperson of Te Māngai Pāho, would run in Hauraki-Waikato for Labour.

Former Auckland councillor Kerrin Leoni would run in Tāmaki Makaurau, where Te Pāti Māori’s Oriini Kaipara is the current MP.

Former chair of Te Rūnanga o Koukourarata Mananui Ramsden would run in Te Tai Tonga, where Tākuta Ferris holds the seat as an independent.

Whakatāne District Councillor Toni Boynton, an advocate for Māori wards, would run in Waiariki again where co-leader of Te Pāti Māori Rawiri Waititi has held the seat since 2020. While losing the candidate vote, Boynton won the party vote for Labour in 2023.

Kātene told RNZ studying abroad, including with a scholarship in Japan, had shown him how Māori culture “translates across borders.”

His study at Stanford looked at “kumara economics” and the idea that “money is like a kumara” and its “true value lies in its ability to feed people.”

“That’s what I’ve been doing in my day job and in my governance roles, making sure that we can position this Māori economy to drive transformative change for our people and our communities.”

He was humble in his acknowledgment of Debbie Ngarewa-Packer who holds Te Tai Hauāuru currently for Te Pāti Māori.

“She has been fighting a strong fight for a long time, even before her time in Parliament, for her people.

“That’s an important element to bring into these kind of conversations,” said Kātene, who acknowledged he brought a certain set of skills and experiences.

“They’re different from whaea Debbie’s and from the other candidates.”

Labour’s strategy

Labour’s campaign chairperson Willie Jackson told RNZ the candidates selected were of a high caliber in terms of Māori who had done well in terms of Te Ao Māori.

“We’ve got real skills in terms of te reo Māori, in terms of business, in terms of Mana Wāhine, and well known in terms of their own electorates,” said Jackson.

“I think we’re going to go close to winning just about every every seat.”

Jackson said the party’s strategy was “simple”, and the party had a “clear economic policy strategy.”

“In terms of the needs of our people, those needs are in the housing, health and jobs area.

He spoke of getting rid of “rubbish legislation” the current government was implementing, including “watering down the Treaty”.

When asked what was in it for Māori specifically, he referenced the previous Labour government’s “one billion dollar of investment.”

Distinguishing Labour from Te Pāti Māori he said Labour was the leading party in the country.

“We’re the ones who roll the money out.

“Why would you waste a party vote there?

“Don’t be wasting your time with the Māori Party.”

He rejected the notion of making deals between parties.

Green Party candidates

The Greens had three candidates selected so far: Hūhana Lyndon who had run in Te Tai Tokerau previously, Heather Te Au-Skipworth running in Ikaroa-Rāwhiti and Tania Waikato in Waiariki.

Co-leader Marama Davidson said the party was putting its “full backing” behind Lyndon who had a “massive chance” in the northern seat.

“She has got a real reputation and record for being on the ground with whānau, but also taking your voice into the house, into the hallways of power.”

Te Au-Skipworth had previously been a Te Pāti Māori candidate, while Waikato represented Te Pāti Maori in the Privileges Committee.

Asked why they had moved to the Green Party, Davidson told RNZ it “wasn’t about any other political party.”

“This is about the Green Party having held the space for Te Ao Māori politics for decades now.

“You can’t have environmental protection and climate protection and social justice without upholding Te Tiriti.

“So it’s actually about us. We’ve always been holding this line as a movement, as a party, and we’re grateful that more and more people are starting to see that and know that about the Green Party.

Like Jackson, Davidson said there would be no deals between parties or arrangements made to secure seats.

“No one owns any electorates. No one owns any seats. That is really up to the people to decide” she said.

Te Pāti Māori MPs and the seats themselves

Te Pāti Māori has yet to confirm its candidates for this year, that will come in a few weeks.

Tākuta Ferris’ plans were yet to be announced as well, but a social media post on Tuesday from the Te Tai Tonga electorate stated its executive had “formally resigned” their positions effectively immediately.

“We will no longer compromise our integrity or values by enabling bad leadership,” the post read. Ferris has been approached for comment.

And it’s still unclear whether Mariameno Kapa Kingi will run as a candidate for Te Pāti Māori, or an independent.

The National Party has said it would run candidates in the Māori seats, but none had been selected yet.

Meanwhile, New Zealand First planned to campaign this year on a referendum regarding the existence of the seats themselves.

The ACT party has long held the position it would abolish the seats.

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

Source: New Zealand Government

Trade and Investment Minister Todd McClay has welcomed Costa Rica to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) today. 

“Costa Rica is a close friend to New Zealand with shared values and a likeminded approach to trade rules and liberalisation, and their accession offers opportunities for our exporters,” Mr McClay says. 

Over 94 per cent of New Zealand exports to Costa Rica will be duty-free from day one, rising to over 99 per cent within 10 years.

For New Zealand, key outcomes include full tariff elimination on day one on products such as sheep meat, seafood, horticulture, wine, and therapeutic respirators.

The agreement is also good for Kiwi meat and dairy farmers. Beef becomes tariff free after eight years, with dairy duty rates falling to zero over 13 years.

New Zealand has also secured strengthened commitments for investors as well as streamlined processes to do business with Costa Rica.

“The CPTPP is one of the most comprehensive trade deals ever concluded. It is a high standard agreement that underpins rules-based trade and economic integration in our region and beyond,” Mr McClay says.

“The continued expansion of the CPTPP is important for growing New Zealand’s preferential access to markets, as well as in response to increased challenges to the rules-based trade system.”

Note to editor:

Costa Rica will become the 13th Member of CPTPP and the second economy to accede to the Agreement, following the United Kingdom, which entered into force on 15 December 2024.

The next steps for Costa Rica’s accession are the signing of the Accession Protocol, expected in November, then individual parties will undertake their internal processes of ratification. For New Zealand this will include parliamentary review. 

Entry into force is expected in the second half of 2027.

CPTPP economies include Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and Viet Nam. Together they account for more than 15 per cent of world GDP – worth more than NZ$27 trillion.

MIL OSI