PM Edition: Top 10 Business Articles on LiveNews.co.nz for April 5, 2026 – Full Text

Source: Radio New Zealand

A consumer watchdog says diners encountering surcharges over Easter should make sure businesses are not blaming a non-existent public holiday.

Many hospitality businesses add surcharges on public holidays to cover the higher wage costs.

But Consumer NZ says only Good Friday and Easter Monday are statutory holidays, so any business adding a surcharge on Sunday cannot use that as an excuse.

Chief executive Jon Duffy told RNZ businesses simply needed to be honest about the reason for the additional charge.

“They can apply a surcharge if they want to, and customers – if they decide they don’t like that surcharge – can decide that they will take their custom elsewhere.

“The rules, as they exist under the Fair Trading Act, simply say that businesses can’t mislead you about the reason for that surcharge.”

Businesses could spread their holiday wage costs across the year instead of surcharging, Duffy said.

“It’s a practice that’s crept in and become more commonplace over the years. We see it in other areas, we see massively inconsistent surcharging when it comes to payments and EFTPOS terminals all over the country.”

Businesses also need to clearly disclose the surcharge in advance, not hidden behind the counter or on a note put back in the employee toilets.

People could complain to the Commerce Commission or report businesses misrepresenting surcharges to Consumer NZ, Duffy said.

He added that he was hoping the government would follow through with its proposal to ban paywave surcharges.

The government introduced legislation last year to ban in-store card surcharges, but the bill currently languishes on Parliament’s Order Paper, four months after the Finance and Expenditure Committee published its report.

ACT has now made it clear it would not support a blanket ban, as retailers would have to push up their prices to absorb the charges, but Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Scott Simpson insisted nothing had changed with the legislation, and he was pausing to do more work on the policy.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

More than 30 years after moving away from caged egg farming, the Bennik family is proud of the legacy it has paved over three generations.

From one of the country’s first commercial poultry farms started by parents Harry Sr and Wilhelmina in the 1950s, brothers Harry Jr and Nick Bennik – along with their siblings Paul and Janie, and wider family – had grown the business into a diverse operation over multiple sites and with multi-income streams.

“I believe that we’re doing some very, very good things here, and actually we have been leading the industry in certain areas,” eldest brother Harry told Country Life. “We’re not afraid of new initiatives.”

Bennik’s Eggs had grown from a farm in Horowhenua into the NZ Egg Group – with 135,000 chickens in Levin still owned by the family to supply locals and its liquid egg plant, and another 75,000 birds supplied by contractors around Auckland for its export packhouse.

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Since the early 1990s Bennik’s had been running free-range and barn-range chooks, well ahead of the country phasing out caged-egg farming in 2023. It was also the first egg farm to become SPCA Animal Welfare Accredited.

“At that time, a lot of poultry farms in New Zealand were looking at modernising their operations that were getting a bit dated and they felt that investment was needed for the future,” Harry explained.

“Considering trends that were happening overseas, I thought, well, rather than invest a lot of money into intense battery farming, which had an unknown future, why not go into cage-free farming.”

He told Country Life they were proud to have “pioneered modern cage-free farming in New Zealand”. It had its challenges though, including breeding and developing good nesting traits in the commercial flock of hens.

One of the bigger challenges was convincing local retailers and supermarkets that they could sell the eggs for a premium price.

Nick said consumers were now much more accepting of free-range and cage-free production as an “alternative to a cheaper colony product”. It had helped as the business had grown into producing a range of liquid eggs.

“We’re starting to see now that food manufacturers are also starting to promote the fact that they’re using free-range or cage-free products in the manufacture of their own food items.

“We think eggs are a phenomenal protein source, a phenomenal food ingredient and there’s more to the humble egg than being contained in a shell for the future of our company anyway.

“So we see a solid future going forward around being able to provide those raw ingredients to those manufacturers in the cage-free and free-range format.”

Developing the liquid egg factory had not only helped the family diversify its income stream, it also helped stabilise prices for the wider industry, according to Harry.

He explained there were times when overproduction could lead to a bit of a surplus. Now rather than sell the eggs below the cost of production, the family could freeze the product and allow it to keep for longer.

“New Zealand is an exceedingly small country when you look at a global scale. With 5 million people, there’s only so many eggs consumed in any given year. The industry on a national level caters for that demand more than satisfactorily.”

Harry said for the company to grow without flooding what was a “very small market” and lowering egg prices, it had needed to look outside the box.

It had also provided work opportunities for those in the family, like Harry’s daughter Courtney.

She told Country Life it was special to work with family.

“[It’s] really sentimental to me, especially my grandfather coming over from Holland all those years ago and starting a chicken farm here and now it’s grown to this,” she said.

Learn more:

• Find out more about Bennik’s Eggs, here and the NZ Egg Group here.

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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

New Zealand small businesses have ranked last out of 11 Asia-Pacific countries in terms of their growth, for the second year in a row.

CPA Australia has released the results of its 18th small business survey. It found only 38 percent of New Zealand small businesses reported growth in 2025, up from 36 percent last year.

The average across other countries was 62 percent.

Rick Jones, CPA Australia’s regional head, said it highlighted persistent challenges.

“While small businesses across most of the Asia-Pacific are growing, New Zealand remains at the bottom of the table. In Vietnam, 84.5 percent of small businesses grew last year. In Singapore, the figure was 43.5 percent. In New Zealand, it was 38 percent. The https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/on-the-inside/583808/nz-s-low-productivity-is-often-blamed-on-businesses-staying-small-that-could-be-a-strength-in-2026 gap is significant and it’s not closing].”

Only 5 percent of businesses had plans for a new product or service this year, compared to 29 percent across the survey.

Only 7 percent were planning to hire this year, compared to 36 percent across the region.

New Zealand small business owners also tended to be older. Businesses whose owners were under 40 were much more likely to be reporting growth.

“Of the over 300 New Zealand small businesses that were surveyed, 68 percent of those were aged over 50.

“What we’re seeing from the survey is that those respondents aged under 40, for example, are more likely to adopt new technologies. And it’s certainly not an age thing in isolation, but we want to encourage younger New Zealanders to start a business or potentially acquire an existing one.

“But we also need a comprehensive small business strategy, to lift the overall performance… we need a comprehensive strategy to support business owners of all ages, particularly around the digital support programmes.”

But 79 percent of small business owners said they were satisfied with running their business.

“The data tells a clear story. New Zealand’s small businesses are falling behind their Asia-Pacific peers, and the gap is widening on the measures that matter – growth, innovation, technology adoption and job creation.

“Growth doesn’t have to mean rapid expansion. For many small businesses, it’s about having the tools and support to take the next step – whether that’s hiring another employee, moving sales online, or investing in a system that saves them time.

“Lifting small business technology adoption should be a central priority. Our data consistently shows that businesses which invest effectively in technology grow faster, hire more people and are more likely to innovate. Countries like Singapore have demonstrated what targeted digital support programmes can achieve – there are proven approaches in our region that could work here.”

Jones said businesses had been under pressure and the latest fuel price increases were another hurdle.

“It is tough and increasing costs is a challenge and that was noted even in last year’s results. And then you add that to the current fuel crisis, which is only escalating that problem.”

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

• Commerce Commission set to approve $1.14 billion replacement of the Cook Strait power cables
• National grid operator Transpower needs regulator approval to spend
• Current cables 35 years old, near end of life
• Transpower wants to add fourth cable to improve capacity and resilience
• ComCom seeks public submissions

The Commerce Commission says it is inclined to approve a Transpower request to spend $1.14 billion to upgrade, replace, and expand the Cook Strait power cables.

The state-owned national grid operator wants to replace the current 35-year-old cables, which are coming to the end of their operational life, and add an extra cable.

Major capital spending by Transpower and electricity lines companies must be approved by the regulator to ensure they do not take advantage of their monopoly positions.

Associate Commissioner Nathan Strong said the cables were critical electricity transmission infrastructure and vital for national security of supply.

“Installing a fourth cable at the same time unlocks an additional 200MW of capacity, which can reduce long-term electricity market costs and enable the development of lower cost renewables generation in the South Island.”

The commission is asking for [https://www.comcom.govt.nz/regulated-industries/electricity-lines/projects/hvdc-link-upgrade/

public submissions] on the proposal.

Strong said approval of the first stage of the project now would allow necessary ordering of equipment and cable and for work to start in 2028, and cable replacement in the early 2030s.

“The investment would be added to Transpower’s total asset base and recovered gradually over the many decades the equipment is in service.

“Under the benefits based pricing method, these costs would be shared between electricity consumers and generators who benefit from the HVDC (high voltage direct current) link,” Strong said.

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

Source: New Zealand Government

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced a refreshed ministerial lineup to continue fixing the basics and protecting New Zealand’s future.

“New Zealanders are facing economic challenges brought on by conflict in the Middle East and its effect on fuel supply across the world,” says Christopher Luxon.

“Having a strong ministerial team with real-world experience to deliver our response is crucial. Today’s reshuffle reflects that and brings in new talent.

“Having successfully delivered significant reforms from outside Cabinet, Chris Penk will now join Cabinet, picking up the Defence, GCSB and NZSIS, and Space portfolios. Chris’ time in the NZDF leaves him well placed to lead the work our Government has done in raising the status and capability of our armed forces.

“Penny Simmonds also joins Cabinet with responsibility for Tertiary Education and Science, Innovation and Technology. Penny has successfully delivered reforms to the vocational education sector, also from outside Cabinet, and will bring her extensive governance experience to her new portfolios.

“The past few weeks have underlined how important energy security is and as such I will be elevating the Energy portfolio to senior minister Simeon Brown.

“Chris Bishop becomes Attorney-General and Paul Goldsmith takes responsibility for the Public Service and Digitising Government, and Pacific Peoples portfolios.

“Louise Upston will become Leader of the House and Simon Watts will be Minister for Auckland.

“Nicola Grigg becomes Minister for the Environment and Scott Simpson becomes Minister of Statistics and Deputy Leader of the House. 

“Joining as a Minister outside Cabinet, Cameron Brewer becomes Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs and Small Business and Manufacturing, and Associate Minister of Immigration. Mike Butterick becomes Minister for Land Information and Associate Minister of Agriculture.

“Finally, I acknowledge the public service of Judith Collins and Shane Reti who, between them, have dedicated almost 40 years to representing their communities in Parliament.

“Judith was first elected in 2002 and since then, has held numerous different ministerial portfolios and served as Leader of the Opposition. This term, she has delivered the Defence Capability Plan, advanced New Zealand’s space industry and modernised of our public service.

“In Shane’s 12 years in Parliament, he has served as Deputy Leader of the Opposition and has delivered key reforms as a minister, including improving the commerciality of our science sector to boost incomes and create jobs. He has also played a key role in projects that will benefit New Zealanders for generations, like the third medical school and expanded cancer screening.  

“I would also like to acknowledge the staff who have supported Judith and Shane throughout their time here.

“New Zealand is better for Judith and Shane deciding to enter public service and I am grateful to count them both as friends. On behalf of the Government and the National Party, I wish them all the best for their futures outside Parliament.”

These changes will come into effect on Tuesday 7 April.

MIL OSI

Source: Media Outreach

TrendAI research reveals pressure to deploy AI for business speed is outpacing control, visibility and accountability

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

Source: Media Outreach

New Report Finds Serious, Actionable Attacks Rose More Than 20% as SMBs Face Growing Threat from Increasingly Precise, AI-Enabled Adversaries

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

Users of car sharing service Mevo are gutted the company has gone into voluntary administration, saying it is a cost-effective and climate-conscious choice that has served them well for years.

The Wellington-based company had cars in the capital as well as Auckland, Hamilton and Nelson.

Users reserve a car through an app, unlock it and drive, paying a flat rate for however long they use it and returning it to a choice of dedicated Mevo parks.

Mevo went into voluntary administration on Monday, and regular customers are hoping it will come out the other side.

Peter Graczer lives in Mount Cook, just outside Wellington’s city centre, and said Mevo prevented him from needing his own car.

“We used to have a car, but Mevo turned out to be more economical because we only had that once every week or so use case,” he said.

“It made living without a car actually realistic.”

The service was perfect for weekend trips to pick up bulky items from hardware shops, a trip to the tip and the weekly groceries, said Graczer.

“It’s those occasional errands that it was really perfect for where public transport and Uber just don’t work.”

It was a shame that the company could be going out of business, and he was forced to consider buying a car, he said.

“I just don’t see an alternative which is as flexible and as convenient as Mevo has been for the last few years.”

Wellingtonian Denise Garland had been using Mevo to get to work for years, because her shifts started early, before buses were running.

“It was a really amazing option being able to just pick up a car from down the road and then drop it off outside my workplace,” she said.

She also used it for big supermarket shops, and road trips.

“Just pick up a Mevo, drive it to Castlepoint or even to Hawke’s Bay, have it as a runabout for a couple of days and then return home, park it outside the house and end the trip. Super simple.”

For Garland, it was a climate-conscious choice: much of Mevo’s fleet was electric.

“I made a conscious decision not to buy another petrol vehicle ever again, and electric vehicles are very expensive, so it was much more cost-effective and also very convenient to just be able to pick up Mevos from around the city or outside my house in Miramar and use those.”

She would really miss the service if it closed, and it would make life that little bit more difficult, she said.

Samantha Richards has her own car, but for a quick whip into town or the airport Mevo worked out cheaper – because it has free dedicated car parks.

The prospect of Mevo’s closure was “tragic”, she said.

“It was a great model … I wish we had cars parked on every street that we could all share instead of everybody owning a car or two cars per family.

“I think it’s the future of car use, is to have some system like that.”

For that reason, Richards wanted to support Mevo and had been using it as much as she could, as well as spreading the word to family and friends in an attempt to support the company’s concept.

Mevo could continue under new ownership – administrator

Mevo co-founder Erik Zydervelt referred RNZ’s request for comment to the voluntary administrators appointed on Monday: BDO Wellington’s Jessica Kellow and Iain Shephard.

Kellow said Mevo still had a future.

The 10-year-old company had recorded profits as recently as the last few quarters of last year, but struggled recently to make enough with its expensive fleet, she said.

It was starting to move away from Teslas and BYDs to the likes of Suzuki Swifts.

“The modelling did show that this would be a clear pathway to a turnaround, if you like, but they just essentially have run out of runway.”

The company was also considering adding another option to its offering – having private car owners leasing cars to Mevo, to on-rent.

An investor was set to give Mevo $1.7 million which would have seen it through, but Kellow said they pulled out because Mevo breached some conditions.

She would not give any further detail.

Voluntary administration gives the company breathing space to figure out its next move – investment or sale. Kellow said the latter was more likely.

“We are working with parties that have expressed an interest in completing some due diligence on the business, and we’re hopeful that might lead to a transition of … the business to a new entity or investment into that current platform.”

That would need to be completed within 30 days of the company being placed into administration, which happened on 30 March.

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

Source: Radio New Zealand

By AFP teams in Tehran, Jerusalem, Washington, Beirut, Dubai and Sanaa

Iran launched a hunt for the US crew whose jet Iranian media said had been shot down by the Islamic republic’s air defence systems Friday, deploying troops and offering a bounty.

US media reported US special forces had rescued one of the two crew members, and a local official television station in southwestern Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province aired footage of what it said was wreckage of the downed plane.

The war started more than a month ago with US-Israeli strikes on Iran, triggering retaliation that spread the conflict throughout the Middle East, convulsing the global economy and impacting millions of people worldwide.

US Central Command (CENTCOM), responsible for military operations in the Middle East, did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment on what would be the first known loss of a jet inside Iran since Trump ordered the war.

“Dear and honourable people of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province, if you capture the enemy pilot or pilots alive and hand them over to the police and military forces, you will receive a valuable reward and bonus,” said an Iranian television reporter on the official local channel.

The report of the downed jet came as fresh strikes hit Israel, Iran, Lebanon and Gulf countries.

Meanhwile, large blasts rocked northern Tehran, an AFP journalist said. Israel said it had launched a wave of strikes in the Iranian capital, alongside parallel attacks in Beirut.

Blown-out windows

Earlier, Israel’s military reported a new missile salvo from Iran, activating its air defences.

Strikes by all sides have increasingly targeted economic and industrial sites, raising fears of wider disruption to global energy supplies.

In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said the US military “hasn’t even started destroying what’s left in Iran. Bridges next, then Electric Power Plants!”, after US strikes damaged Iran’s tallest bridge.

In the area around the bridge, in Karaj, west of Tehran, an AFP reporter saw a villa and residential buildings with blown-out windows – but no military installations.

According to the deputy governor of Alborz province, the attack killed eight civilians and wounded 95 others.

About 70 percent of Iran’s steel production capacity has been taken out, Israel said Friday.

In Abu Dhabi, Iran’s neighbour across the Gulf, metal giant Emirates Global Aluminium meanwhile said it could take up to a year before it can resume full production, after its site was damaged by Iranian strikes.

Ex-FM urges peace deal

Writing in the US journal Foreign Affairs, Iran’s former top diplomat said that Tehran should make a deal with the United States to end the war by offering to curb its nuclear programme and reopen the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for sanctions relief.

Iran has virtually blocked the key waterway since the war began, where in peace time one-fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas passes through.

Of the few ships that have managed to cross, most have had links to Iran, with sixty percent of commodity-bearing ships crossing the strait either coming from Iran or heading there, an AFP analysis of maritime data showed.

In the first known transit by a major European shipping group since 1 March, the Maltese-flagged Kribi, belonging to the French maritime transport group CMA CGM, crossed the strait to exit the Gulf on Thursday, according Marine Traffic data analysed by AFP.

Three other ships, including one co-owned by a Japanese company, crossed Thursday, as commodities carriers see a 94 percent drop in traffic compared to peace time, according to data from business analysts Kpler.

Iranian military spokesperson Ebrahim Zolfaghari warned that, in response to Trump’s threats to attack infrastructure, Iran would increase its own attacks on energy sites in the region.

A drone attack on a refinery owned by Kuwait’s national oil company on Friday sparked fires at several of its units, state media said.

Later, an Iranian attack damaged a power and desalination complex, Kuwait’s water and electricity ministry said.

In Abu Dhabi, a gas complex shut after a fire broke out, following an attack that resulted in “falling debris” upon interception, the government media office said.

Trump wants bigger defence budget

Meanwhile, the Israeli military said Friday it had struck more than 3500 targets across Lebanon in the month since fighting with Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group.

It added it would attack two bridges in Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa region “in order to prevent the transfer of reinforcements and military equipment”.

Lebanon’s health ministry said on Thursday that 1345 people had been killed – and 4040 wounded – since the start of the war, including 1129 men, 91 women and 125 children. Among those are 53 healthcare workers.

Hezbollah has so far not announced its losses.

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon said a blast wounded three peacekeepers, the third such incident in a week.

A UNIFIL spokesperson said the origin of the explosion was unknown.

The war’s economic impact is rippling far beyond the Middle East, as energy and oil costs surge.

At a protest in Lahore, Pakistan, over fuel price hikes, Naveed Ahmed, 39, told AFP: “The government, overnight, has dropped a ‘petrol bomb’ on its people.”

Meanwhile, the White House on Friday sent a spending proposal to lawmakers calling for a massive hike to the US defence budget.

It remains to be seen what Congress will ultimately approve, but US media reported the $1.5 trillion budget request – a 42 percent hike – would be the largest year-on-year increase in Pentagon spending since World War II.

– AFP

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