After a week off, NZ Warriors arrive in Brisbane for NRL ‘Magic Round’, facing a perfect storm of obstacles, as they pursue their fifth straight win.

Firstly, they must pick up where they left off two weeks ago, when they accounted for Parramatta Eels 36-14 to continue their solid start to the 2026 season.

Bye weeks have not been kind to the Warriors previously, so carrying on that momentum has been a focus this time.

“Before we went on our three-day break, we had three days of training,” coach Andrew Webster reported. “We had two field sessions and a wrestling session, two gym sessions, so they were important.

“The boys made sure they were awesome sessions, because you can have one eye on your break and it doesn’t really matter, but we wanted to get some reps in.

“We spoke about how that sets up this week and, since the boys returned to training on Monday, they’ve been awesome.”

Secondly, the draw has pitted them against the defending NRL champions TWICE at their home ground this season, with Magic Round counting as a Warriors home fixture.

“Would I much rather play the Broncos here?” Webster mused during the weekly Mt Smart media session. “Of course I would, but the draw is what it is and we’re looking at it as how exciting it is to play in that atmosphere with that many fans.”

Thirdly, the Warriors haven’t beaten the Broncos at Suncorp Stadium since 2018. The draw feels like a stitch up.

“Someone asked me that at the start of the year about Melbourne too,” Webster responded. “You’ve got to end that at some point, so why can’t it be us this week?

“We’ve got so much respect for our opponent, but I don’t think we’re going there worried that we can’t beat them because of a hoodoo or because of history. We make our own history and we’re keen to do that.”

Here’s what you need to know about Warriors v Broncos at Magic Round.

History

This fixture represents another instalment in the Warriors’ oldest rivalry, as they again face their original opponents from 10 March, 1995.

Brisbane won that inaugural match-up at Mt Smart Stadium and have since enjoyed a 29-22-1 head-to-head advantage, including 5-4-1 in their last 10 meetings and 11-4 at Suncorp Stadium.

The 18-18 ‘Golden Point’ deadlock came in July 2019, when Kodi Nikorima and Anthony Milford missed several field goal attempts in extra time, and could not provide their teams with the winning edge.

Last time they met, the Broncos prevailed 26-12 at Suncorp, with centre Gehamat Shibasaki scoring two tries for the home side and halfback Adam Reynolds kicking 5/6 from the tee. Warriors half Luke Metcalf left the contest with a season-ending knee injury.

Brisbane went on to win the 2025 grand final 26-22, with a second-half comeback against Melbourne Storm.

The biggest margin of victory over the rivalry is Brisbane’s 44-6 effort in their second meeting in 1995, when legendary centre Steve Renouf scored four tries.

In 2013, the Warriors matched that 38-point difference, when they prevailed 56-18 in Brisbane, with Glen Fisiiahi, Konrad Hurrell, Tommy Leuluai and Manu Vatuvei all scoring try doubles.

Form

After back-to-back defeats, the Warriors have now won four in a row against Melbourne Storm, Gold Coast Titans, the Dolphins and Eels.

After the bye week, they still sat second on the competition table, two points behind Penrith Panthers and ahead of Sydney Roosters on points differential. Notably, they were six points clear of the ninth-placed Dolphins, consolidating their playoff aspirations.

The bye week has affected their statistical standings, but the Warriors are clearly best at completing sets (84 percent) and level with the Roosters in possession (53 percent).

They have committed the least errors (95) and handling errors (72) in the competition, and were the second-least penalised team (37), behind only the Panthers (35). Individually, front-rower Jackson Ford still led metres after contact (690).

One area the Warriors will need to address this week is their vulnerability coming out of bye weeks. In the three years under Webster, they are 4-4 after the rest.

In 2025, they produced their best performance of the season to beat Cronulla Sharks 40-10 in round 14, but lost momentum during their subsequent week off, suffering back-to-back defeats and winning just four of their last 11 regular season fixtures.

Meanwhile, Brisbane have struggled to follow up their dramatic grand final win last season, currently sitting outside the playoff reckoning with a 5-5 record, after back-to-back losses to the Roosters and Manly Sea Eagles.

Through 10 rounds, they had conceded more penalties (59) than any other team in the league, and sat second in errors and ineffective tackles. Half Ezra Mam led the league in missed tackles (48), while second-rower Jordan Riki had the most ineffective tackles (20).

Magic Round

The ‘Magic Round’ concept, where all games are played in one city, is based on Super League’s ‘Magic Weekend’ and was first held in 2019.

All subsequent gatherings have taken place in Brisbane, with the Warriors winning their first fixture against St George Illawarra Dragons, before losing the next three and winning the last two for a 3-3 record.

Their most famous victory came in 2024, when a depleted line-up accounted for the champion Penrith Panthers 22-20, with fullback Taine Tuaupiki scoring a late converted try to clinch the win.

Last year, the Warriors accounted for North Queensland Cowboys 30-26, but were held scoreless for the final 37 minutes, as the Cowboys rallied from 28-12 down at halftime.

Teams

Warriors: 1. Taine Tuaupiki, 2. Dallin Watene-Zelezniak, 3. Ali Leiataua, 4. Adam Pompey, 5. Alofiana Khan-Pereira, 6. Chanel Harris-Tativa, 7. Tanah Boyd, 8. James Fisher-Harris, 9. Wayde Egan, 10. Mitch Barnett, 11. Leka Halasima, 12. Kurt Capewell, 13. Erin Clark

Interchange: 14. Sam Healey, 15, Jackson Ford, 16. Demetric Vaimauga, 17. Jacob Laban, 18. Tanner Stower-Smith, 20. Te Maire Martin

Reserves: 21. Eddie Ieremia-Toeava, 22. Luke Hanson, 23. Makaia Tafua

Coach Andrew Webster has tinkered with his winning line-up, promoting co-captain Mitch Barnett to the starting front row and moving in-form Jackson Ford to the bench.

Centre Roger Tuivaa-Sheck is sidelined by a shoulder injury, but he is replaced by Ali Leiataua, back from concussion protocols.

Hooker Wayde Egan left the field against Parramatta with a head knock, but served his protocols during the bye week, while veteran utility Te Maire Martin (broken leg) and front-rower Tanner Stowers-Smith return to the bench from injuries.

There’s no room for Luke Metcalf, who was cleared to approach other teams during the week and subsequently signed with St George-Illawarra Dragons from 2027.

Broncos: 1. Reece Walsh, 2. Josiah Karapani, 3. Jesse Arthers, 4. Gehamat Shibasaki, 5. Phillip Coates, 6. Ezra Mam, 7. Adam Reynolds, 8. Preston Riki, 9. Cory Paix, 10. Xavier Willison, 11. Jaiyden Hunt, 12. Jordan Riki, 13. Patrick Carrigan

Interchange: 14. Ben Hunt, 15. Ben Talty, 16. Va’a Semu, 17. Aublix Tawha, 18. Hayze Perham, 19. Josh Rogers

Reserves: 20. Tom Duffy, 21. Luke Gale, 22. Kane Bradley

Meanwhile, the Broncos are also juggling personnel, as they deal with significant absences.

Veteran halfback Adam Reynolds returns from concussion, but front-rower Payne Haas (knee), centre Katoni Staggs (suspension) and wing Deine Mariner (leg) are all sidelined.

Guided by former NZ Kiwis coach Michael Maguire, their line-up includes former Warriors Reece Walsh and Jesse Arthars, and Kiwis Xavier Willison, Preston Riki, Jordan Riki (not related), Va’a Semu, Aublix Tawha and Hayze Perham.

Player to watch

Fullback Reece Walsh‘s ascent to the very top of the NRL has been stalled this season by a facial fracture that kept him out of three games.

Brisbane won two of those three without him, but have lost both since his return, and he’ll need to show some form, with State of Origin selectors watching intently.

Kiwi player to watch

In Haas’ absence, Kiwis forward Xavier Willison has had to step into a fulltime starting role and has filled the void admirably.

He’s been used at prop, lock and second row, as well as off the bench, but with Jack Gosiewski suffering concussion last week, Willison is back in the front row against the Warriors.

What will happen

A showdown between arguably the two dominant fanbases of the competition will see Suncorp packed to the rafters.

The Wahs faithful will lay the platform for their team to perform on the field and, after everything that’s happened over the past week, the players will – hopefully – be recharged and ready to tear into their opponents.

Warriors by six.

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

Last year’s win of a prized trophy for Māori farmers is still sinking in for Northland farm trustee Wess Wetere.

“Having a million-dollar herd and having made a profit was something we looked forward to in five years, not three – none of us were really farmers.”

The farm, owned by the Whangaroa Ngaiotonga Trust, was awarded the Ahuwhenua Trophy in 2025 for its beef operation near the settlement of Whangaruru on a finger of land jutting out from Northland’s east coast.

“We knew what a cow was and a bull was, but we didn’t know whether we’re going to milk cows, whether we were going to do what the previous tenant did,” Wetere told Country Life during a tour of the farm.

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In 2020, with the help of a $900,000 Provincial Growth Fund grant, the trust turned a calving operation on a degraded block of land into a beef fattening farm running 950 young bulls on 350 hectares.

The 1100-hectare block also includes native and exotic forest and wetlands.

They were able to bring the land back from the brink, tidy it up by removing 60 hectares of gorse, setting up a 40-kilometre network of pipes to supply troughs and put in 57 kilometres of fencing.

It was the culmination of decades of alienation from the land for some 1300 Ngātiwai shareholders.

“We basically had no fertiliser for many years, there was only one or two troughs, the fencing was in poor state, gorse took up over a third of the farm,” Wetere said,

“It’s taken a lot to get the pasture quality up and control our gorse as well, but we’re getting there,” farm manager Matthew Payne said.

But just as the farm was rehabilitated, it was hit by a devastating deluge in January, a huge setback, but one Payne and his team have taken in their stride.

“It ripped out a lot of infrastructure, laneways, fences, water pumps, and we just got a lot of mud pulled out of swamps and blocked access ways to the farm.

“We had to do a lot of walking and a little bit of kayaking to shift cattle.”

Shifting cattle was a 40-minute job instead of five minutes “when we kind of didn’t have a lot of time”.

The farm was still recovering during Country Life’s visit in the autumn. Larger culverts had been installed and roads were being rebuilt with material from the on-farm quarry.

Payne said the new drains had helped the farm come through more heavy rain events over the past few months.

The team is aware climate challenges will not be going away but still sees “heaps of potential” for the whenua, Wetere said.

Aside from beef, horticulture and agritourism – such as mountain biking on the forest tracks – were some of the ideas being floated.

Analysis pointed to a more tropical environment, with even crops like mangoes a possibility, he said.

Learn more:

• Find out about the Ahuwhenua Trophy here

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

The Government is strengthening plant variety rights (PVR) to protect investments underpinning high‑value exports, regional jobs and global demand for New Zealand produce, Trade and Investment and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay and Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Cameron Brewer say.

“High‑value horticulture relies on years, often decades, of breeding, testing and commercialisation. Strengthening the Plant Variety Rights Act 2022 gives New Zealand the intellectual property settings it needs to compete internationally, protect our investment and grow export returns,” Mr Brewer says.

“From drought-resistant grass seed that benefits pastoral farmers, to higher-yielding and better-tasting produce for New Zealanders and our export markets, these changes will provide vital support for growers,” Mr McClay says.

“In 2024, 75 per cent of the $3.5 billion in export returns from kiwifruit and an estimated 55 per cent of the $979 million in export returns from apples came from plant variety rights‑protected varieties. This shows the vital contribution that new plant varieties make to growing export earnings and taking us closer to New Zealand’s ambitious goal of doubling the value of exports in 10 years.

“A successful sector means thriving communities, economic growth, secure jobs and a prosperous economy.”

“Zespri’s projections show that extending the PVR term by five years for SunGold Kiwifruit alone would mean additional revenue of around $1.8 billion over five years from the time of the extension, to the kiwifruit industry and the Biosecurity Science Institute,” Mr Brewer says.

“Growers will also benefit from additional returns as PVR varieties maintain their market value for longer, allowing growers to continue to build high value demand ahead of supply.

“Directly and indirectly we all benefit when our domestic growers are thriving. 

“Breeding and importing new varieties can be a long, expensive and uncertain process. Breeders and importers take a significant risk, and we need to ensure they are supported in this process.”

The Government is also restoring provisional protection, so breeders are covered from day one of their rights application instead of when it is granted.

“This means plant breeders can take immediate legal action if new varieties are stolen and commercially exploited during the application process, which can take up to five years and sometimes much longer,” Mr Brewer says.

“By providing greater certainty and support, we are empowering plant breeders to keep innovating – driving economic growth and ensuring New Zealand remains competitive on the world stage,” Mr McClay says.

“The National-led Government is fixing the basics and building the future by making common-sense changes for industry that help support more opportunities for New Zealanders.” Mr Brewer says.

MIL OSI

The continued operation of the Kaimai Hydro-Electric Power Scheme in the Bay of Plenty has been granted Fast-track approval, Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop and Regional Development Minister Shane Jones announced today.

This is the 23rd project to be approved under the Fast-track process and supports New Zealand’s renewable electricity generation infrastructure.

Manawa Energy Limited lodged a substantive application in September 2025 for the re-consenting of the existing Kaimai Hydro-Electric Power Scheme.

Approval has taken five and a half months since the independent expert panel commenced.

“The Kaimai Hydro-Electric Power Scheme involves the continued operation of the existing hydro-electric generation scheme and associated water and generation infrastructure in the Kaimai Range,” Mr Bishop says.

“The scheme generates an average of 169 GWh of electricity per year, equivalent to the electricity needs of approximately 24,600 households, and contributes around 32 per cent of Tauranga’s electricity demand.”

“Reliable renewable electricity generation is critical to supporting economic growth and regional resilience,” Mr Jones says.

“This scheme has been operating in some form for at least 50 years and continues to play a vital role in supplying electricity to the Bay of Plenty community.

“Fast-track is helping ensure important infrastructure projects like this can continue operating with greater certainty and efficiency.”

“The continued operation of the scheme is expected to avoid an increase in emissions of around 26,693 tonnes of CO2 per year, supporting New Zealand’s emissions reduction goals,” Mr Bishop says.

“The project involves re-consenting the existing hydro-electric power scheme, including associated generation and water infrastructure, to support ongoing renewable energy production.

“The independent expert panel released its draft decision and conditions for the project on 24 April 2026.”

Notes to editor:

For more information about the project: Kaimai Hydroelectric Power Scheme Re-Consenting

Fast-track by the numbers: 

•    23 projects approved by expert panels. 
•    16 projects with expert panels appointed. 
•    46 projects are currently progressing through the Fast-track process. 25 active substantive and 21 referral applications.
•    47 projects have been referred to Fast-track by the Minister for Infrastructure. 
•    149 projects are listed in Schedule 2 of the Fast-track Approvals Act, meaning they can apply for Fast-track approval. 
•    On average, it has taken 118 working days for decisions on substantive applications from when officials determine an application is complete and in-scope. 

Fast-track projects approved by expert panels: 

•    Arataki [Housing/Land]  
•    Ashbourne [Housing/Land]  
•    Ayrburn Screen Hub [Infrastructure]
•    Green Steel [Infrastructure] 
•    Homestead Bay [Housing/Land] 
•    Bledisloe North Wharf and Fergusson North Berth Extension [Infrastructure]  
•    Drury Metropolitan Centre – Consolidated Stages 1 and 2 [Housing/Land] 
•    Drury Quarry Expansion – Sutton Block [Mining/Quarrying] 
•    Kings Quarry Expansion – Stages 2 and 3 [Mining/Quarrying] 
•    Kaimai Hydro-Electric Power Scheme [Renewable energy] 
•    Maitahi Village [Housing/Land] 
•    Milldale – Stages 4C and 10 to 13 [Housing/Land] 
•    Pound Road [Housing/Land]  
•    Rangitoopuni [Housing/Land]  
•    Ryans Road [Housing/Land]  
•    Southland Wind Farm Project [Renewable energy]
•    Sunfield [Housing/Land]  
•    Tekapo Power Scheme – Applications for Replacement Resource Consents [Renewable energy] 
•    Takitimu North Link – Stage 2 [Infrastructure] 
•    Waihi North [Mining/Quarrying] 
•    Waitaha Hydro [Renewable energy] 
•    Waitākere District Court – New Courthouse Project [Infrastructure]
•    Wellington International Airport Southern Seawall Renewal [Infrastructure]

Expert panels have been appointed for: 
•    Bendigo-Ophir Gold Project  
•    Bream Bay Sand Extraction Project
•    Central and Southern Block Mining Project
•    Delmore
•    Downtown Carpark Site Development
•    Foxton Solar Farm
•    Haldon Solar Farm 
•    Hananui Aquaculture Project 
•    Lake Pūkaki Hydro Storage and Dam Resilience Works 
•    Mahinerangi Wind Farm 
•    Mt Iron Junction
•    Northwest Rapid Transit
•    State Highway 1 North Canterbury – Woodend Bypass Project (Belfast to Pegasus)
•    Stella Passage Development
•    The Point Mission Bay 
•    The Point Solar Farm  
 

MIL OSI

The two people suspected to be responsible for the death of baby Soul Turany never discussed how the boy suffered his catastrophic head injuries, an inquest has heard.

Police say either the boy’s mother Storme Turany or her then-partner Tony Farmer must have inflicted the injuries that killed the 16-week-old, some time on the morning of 30 August, 2014 at their rural home near Darfield.

Soul died early on 31 August, 2014.

Clinicians have told the inquest into Soul’s death that he could not have injured himself, the person who did it would have known what they had done and Soul would have been unconscious soon after the assault.

Coroner Ian Telford advised Turany and Farmer of the privilege against self-incrimination before they gave evidence in Christchurch.

During more than nine hours on the stand Turany did not invoke that privilege and strenuously denied any involvement in her son’s death, instead pointing the finger at Farmer.

On Friday, Farmer also denied ever harming Soul.

A possibility put to Farmer by counsel assisting the coroner Jamie O’Sullivan was that, “You were not Soul’s father, you’ve been in a stressful situation, Storme’s snapping at you, you became stressed and annoyed at Soul?”

“No, I wasn’t,” Farmer responded.

“Have you ever become frustrated with Soul and handled him roughly?” O’Sullivan asked.

“No,” Farmer responded. Farmer said he had also never handled his own child roughly.

Asked what he would say in response to suggestions he had harmed Soul, Farmer said “that I didn’t”.

Farmer went to Soul’s funeral and stayed with Turany for several days afterwards.

He told the inquest he wanted to remain in a relationship with her.

“I loved Storme,” he said. “Maybe now I might not have been in as much love as I thought I had been, but at the time, yep.”

Farmer said the couple never spoke about how Soul died, despite both being told by police one of them must have caused the non-accidental injuries.

“She said she was confused, but we didn’t discuss anything to do with Soul or cause of death or anything like that,” he said.

Asked why not, he responded, “I don’t know – just neither of us did.

“Obviously she wasn’t doing too well. She was upset so I didn’t really want to bring it up. It sounds silly, such a raw subject. You might have questions but you don’t want to upset someone further.”

On the morning Soul was injured, he woke between 3am and 3.30am and was unsettled. Turany spent much of the morning trying to settle him, including giving the child paracetamol and a nasal spray.

Farmer admitted going into the child’s room and placing a dummy in his mouth while Turany prepared a bottle.

Soul was still unsettled at 5.29am and Farmer sent a message asking Turany if she wanted help.

Turany called Healthline at 6.23am but hung up after 17 seconds.

Turany then made a series of unanswered calls to her sister and left a voice message saying she was going to take Soul to hospital.

She again called Healthline.

Turany and Farmer agreed Soul was alert at this time. Soul was sitting on Farmer’s knee and Turany said she went outside at some stage during the nine-minute call.

Farmer and Turany agreed Soul was limp at the end of that call.

Clinicians told the inquest Soul’s fatal injuries were likely inflicted about six to 12 hours before his first scan at Christchurch Hospital at 10.20am on 30 August. They said he was likely unconscious immediately following the assault or very soon afterwards.

O’Sullivan asked Farmer if he had injured Soul while he was sitting on his lap.

“Is there anything you could have done with Soul that harmed him either accidentally or in another way?” she asked.

“No,” he said.

Farmer’s evidence is continuing on Friday.

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

Climate Change Minister Simon Watts has released guidance and tools to help New Zealanders take part in voluntary nature and carbon markets with confidence.

“The Government wants to support the growth of voluntary markets that are trusted and able to deliver real benefits for nature, the climate and wider economy,” Mr Watts says. 

“Activities like restoring a wetland and planting natives are nature-based solutions that remove carbon from the atmosphere, protect our biodiversity and even reduce the impact of flooding.

“Businesses, corporates and philanthropists, here and overseas, want to invest in New Zealand’s projects because they value our reliable geopolitical landscape and strong environmental reputation.  

“Strong and credible voluntary markets can deliver real benefits for the climate, environment and economy. But investors must be able to trust they’re buying high quality credits and can make transparent claims, so they’re not accused of greenwashing.”

The refreshed guidance will help participants understand what high-quality, projects should look like. 

“Under the guidance, principles describe what qualities buyers should look for to be confident they are investing in projects that make solid environmental claims. Carbon activities must be additional, durable, real and measurable. They must also be transparent, not double-counted and respectful of rights,” Mr Watts says.

The release of the guidance and tools supports the Government’s approach to grow New Zealand’s voluntary nature and carbon markets announced earlier this week.

“The same principles underpin the Government’s endorsement of high-quality schemes and methodologies announced earlier in the week. This will make it easier for project suppliers – developers, farmers, landowners, iwi, conservationists and community groups – to build high integrity projects which will help them attract more funding,” Mr Watts says.

Also announced today are online guidance and a tool to help organisations explore other carbon removal options. This follows the Assessment Framework for Carbon Removals released last year.

“This tool supports businesses to prepare to submit an application for scientific assessment. It will help people understand whether an activity is scientifically robust, cutting out uncertainty,” Mr Watts says.

MIL OSI

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

The Government is making sweeping changes so farmers, growers, and vets can maximise economic growth and productivity by getting access to new agricultural chemicals and veterinary medicines safely and swiftly, says Food Safety Minister Andrew Hoggard.

“The changes proposed in the Agricultural Compounds and Veterinary Medicines (ACVM) Amendment Bill, introduced on 11 May, reduce barriers to innovative new products while making sure any associated risks are dealt with proportionately,” says Mr Hoggard.

“The amendments remove avoidable complexity and focus regulators on real risks and speeding up the process for considering novel products.

“One way the Bill will achieve this is by enabling greater reliance on the assessments of trusted overseas regulators when evaluating risks and benefits. I consider there is no good reason our primary sector should be waiting on work that has already been done by other reputable agencies outside of New Zealand.

“The changes will also focus regulators on what matters so that products that are known to pose a lower risk will get a quicker pathway to authorisation by exemption and not require registration. 

“Although the current framework has served New Zealand well, a review by the Ministry for Regulation last year found that improvements could be made and these amendments to the ACVM Act reflect this.” 

The ACVM Amendment Bill works in tandem with the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms (HSNO) Amendment Bill, also introduced earlier this week. Novel products cannot be registered under the ACVM Act until they have approval under the HSNO Act.

“Together, the Bills will establish a more adaptive regulatory framework that maintains safety, supports trade competitiveness, and aligns with international best practices, while improving timely access to agricultural and horticultural products,” says Mr Hoggard.

Notes to editors:
The Bill also modernises and strengthens the framework for assessing novel products by:

• supporting efficient and timely decision making by moving time limits for registration, currently identified in the ACVM Act, to regulations
• strengthening the independent data assessor framework by clarifying how data assessors can be recognised by the Ministry for Primary Industries as providers of this service to industry
• making processes relating to applications, variations and other matters clearer, more consistent, and more flexible
• enhancing transparency by improving public notification of applications
• strengthening provisions relating to reassessment and suspension of products, to ensure greater protection of trade and public health.

This Bill will be considered by the Primary Production Committee and, after public consultation, is expected to return to Parliament for its final readings in late 2026.

MIL OSI

The Government is amending the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act to speed up access to new agricultural and horticultural products for farmers, growers and industry, Environment Minister Nicola Grigg announced today.

The changes mean that New Zealand farmers and growers can access products that are available overseas more easily to control pests and invasive species, and for crop protection. 

“These changes remove unnecessary barriers and improve efficiency to put New Zealand businesses on an even playing field with their overseas competitors.”

 The amendment bill builds on recommendations from a 2024 Ministry for Regulation review. 

“The Review found that while the current system effectively manages risks, the approval pathway is too slow and complex and adds unnecessary costs to businesses.” 

“Streamlining processes will give agrichemical companies, farmers, horticulturalists and other industries certainty and clearer regulatory pathways for new products.”   

 The proposed amendments also address the Review’s recommendation that duplication can be reduced by making better use of assessments by overseas regulators, while maintaining New Zealand-specific protections.

“Better regulatory settings for new products will support New Zealand’s primary sector to stay globally competitive and unlock growth and export potential,” Ms Grigg says. 

The role of the Environmental Protection Authority as an independent regulatory decision maker is unchanged.  

 “The proposed amendments do not weaken current protections for people or the environment. They are about improving processes through smarter regulation and reflect the Government’s commitment to regulation that’s fit for purpose and effective.” 

MIL OSI

New Zealand Food Safety is supporting Presbyterian Support Services (South Canterbury) in its recall of Too Easy Meals brand Crumbed Chicken and Gravy (350 g) due to the possible presence of foreign matter. 

“The concern with these crumbed chicken and gravy meals available in Timaru and online is that they could contain clear hard plastic,” says New Zealand Food Safety acting deputy director-general Jenny Bishop. 

“If you have any Too Easy Meals brand Crumbed Chicken and Gravy meals produced between 2 April 2026 and 4 May 2026 and with best-before dates of 2 April 2027 to 4 May 2027, don’t eat them. Customers should contact Presbyterian Support Services (South Canterbury) for a full refund.”  

The affected products are sold at: 

New Zealand Food Safety has not received any notifications of associated injury, and the products have not been exported. 

Visit New Zealand Food Safety’s recall page for up-to-date information and photographs of the affected product. 

Too Easy Meals brand Crumbed Chicken and Gravy

“As is our usual practice, New Zealand Food Safety will work with Presbyterian Support Services (South Canterbury) to understand how this happened and prevent its recurrence,” says Ms Bishop. 

The vast majority of food sold in New Zealand is safe, but sometimes problems can occur. Help keep yourself and your family safe by subscribing to our recall alerts. Information on how to subscribe is on the New Zealand Food Safety food recall page.

MIL OSI

Hours after baby Soul Turany died from catastrophic head injuries at Christchurch Hospital, the boy’s mother sent a text message to her then-partner.

“I still don’t understand why I haven’t heard from you. Soul has passed away,” she wrote.

Police say either Storme Turany or Tony Farmer must have inflicted the injuries that killed the 16-week-old child, some time on the morning of 30 August 2014 at their rural home near Darfield.

He died early on 31 August.

Clinicians have told an inquest that Soul could not have injured himself, the person who did it would have known what they had done and he would have been unconscious soon after the assault.

Turany sent the message to Farmer at 5.43am on 31 August.

“I’m so sorry about Soul. I want to be there for you. I don’t know what to do,” Farmer replied.

The pair continued to exchange messages over the following days, with Turany inviting Farmer to Soul’s funeral.

Coroner Telford asked Turany – who had described herself as an over-protective mother – how she could explain her messages to Farmer if she was innocent, given that would mean he had killed her son.

“I can’t explain it. It makes me feel sick,” she said.

Before her second interview with police, Turany said she did not want to think that Farmer had killed her son.

“I did not want to believe it,” she said.

“I thought at this point the detectives might still be wrong. I thought this might have been some kind of mistake.”

Turany ended the relationship with Farmer some time about 12 September, when she was formally interviewed by police under caution.

Farmer’s lawyer Andrew McCormick suggested she ended the relationship to cast guilt over her former partner.

“Tony is saying he’s there for you and you are seeking out contact from him,” McCormick said, characterising the messages between the pair following Soul’s death.

McCormick asked if Turany wanted to point the finger at Farmer.

“I did not hurt my son. If this is about one out of two people, then yes there is a reason to point the finger,” she responded.

Several lawyers put direct accusations to Turany about her involvement in Soul’s death.

On Monday Turany’s sister Skye Lamborn told the court about an occasion when Turany “chucked” Soul down on a bed and then called her in tears.

On Wednesday Turany had claimed that was mischaracterised but on Thursday said she could not recall it.

Lawyer for police Kerry White asked if it provided a clue as to what happened on the morning of 30 August.

“You’ve done something to Soul that morning and it’s not the first time that it’s happened is it?” White asked.

“I cannot recall,” Turany responded.

“Due to frustration and exhaustion you have again chucked Soul down hard on the bed?” White pressed.

“No,” Turany interjected, mid question.

“But he’s hit something – is it the headboard?” White continued.

“That is not true,” Turany responded.

“I’m not suggesting that is an outcome that you intended but that is what’s happened, isn’t it?” White pressed again.

“No it is not,” Turany said.

McCormick then took a different path, asking: “Was it an accident?”

“That is not what happened,” Turany said.

On Thursday Turany struggled to recall many details of the morning Soul was injured, including her first phone call to Healthline and several calls to her sister but was adamant she had nothing to do with his death.

Farmer will take the stand on Thursday afternoon.

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

The flotilla departs tomorrow with 54 boats and nearly 500 participants from 45 countries on the eve of Nakba Day.

MARMARIS – The Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) issued a definitive declaration today from the port of Marmaris, confirming that its nonviolent mission to break Israel’s illegal siege of Gaza will proceed. The fleet departs tomorrow, joining forces with the Freedom Flotilla Coalition to launch 54 boats carrying nearly 500 participants from 45 countries. As the world mobilizes after 78 years of Palestinian dispossession, occupation, and erasure, the flotilla will be at sea, sailing toward Gaza, maintaining that commemoration without action is no longer enough.

Four New Zealanders are set to continue on this mission to break Israel’s illegal siege. These individuals are Samuel Leason, Hāhona Ormsby, Mousa Taher, and Julien Blondel.

After a month defined by maritime violence, illegal abductions, and the documented torture of international human rights defenders by the israeli Occupation Forces (IOF), our fleet has regrouped and expanded in preparation for the final leg of its journey to the shores of Gaza where they will deliver food and aid to Palestinian children and families continuing to live under israel’s brutal occupation.

The Strategic Mandate for Action

The decision to proceed is grounded in visceral mandates. While Gaza’s healthcare system continues to face total collapse, the Flotilla’s medical fleet serves as a direct, civilian-led humanitarian intervention. GSF organizers emphasized that as the Israeli regime attempts to make the blockade the permanent status quo, the strategic risk of inaction has become far greater than the risks of sailing.

This determination follows the return of Steering Committee members Saif Abukeshek and Thiago Ávila, who were released on May 10 after ten days of illegal detention and systemic abuse and torture at the hands of the israeli state as well as the beating and sexual abuse of flotilla volunteers who were illegally intercepted and detained in European international waters on 29 April. Their return is a testament to international mobilization, yet their release does not constitute true freedom while over 9,500 Palestinians remain trapped in a system of torture and impunity.

For the Flotilla, the moral imperative of direct action against the israeli regime far outweighs the risks of remaining silent in the face of ongoing genocide and ethnic cleansing. In parallel with the maritime departure, a land convoy is currently staging in North Africa. Comprised of dozens of trucks and hundreds of participants from over 30 countries, this overland mission is moving through Libya toward the Rafah border crossing.

Defying the Machinery of Impunity

The mission has further evolved into a universal struggle for liberation. Representatives from the Rohingya community and other oppressed peoples have joined the fleet, framing Gaza as the tip of the spear in a global uprising against genocide.

A Direct Challenge to Global Complicity and State Piracy

Flotilla organizers explicitly condemned the complicity of the Greek government, the European Union, and other flag states whose silence allowed the IOF to carry out abductions in international waters, over 1,000 km from Gaza, with total impunity.

Parallel to technical preparations, international legal experts finalized a global accountability strategy at a legal symposium held last week. This includes immediate legal prosecution and potential proceedings at the International Criminal Court against the israeli state and governments providing diplomatic and logistical cover for these crimes; exploring legal actions in more than 30 countries; and continued demands for sanctions against and reparations from the israeli state for its ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people.

GSF continues to demand formal accountability for the violence and sexual abuse inflicted on participants. GSF maintains that civilian maritime missions are firmly protected under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), a framework the Israeli state and its allies are currently dismantling.

A Direct Challenge to Political Cowardice

The mission stands as a direct challenge to world leaders who have offered only calibrated statements and letters while witnessing the continued genocide and starvation of Gaza. While 14 UN Special Rapporteurs, the Prime Ministers of Spain and Brazil, and 19 members of the U.S. Congress have spoken out, the U.S. State Department has issued threats against its own citizens rather than defending them from attacks in international waters. This response is being documented as a legal and political fact.

In the absence of state intervention, people of conscience are acting as the physical barrier between military brutality and Palestinian lives. As the flotilla sets sail, movement and Palestinian civil society leaders are coordinating global protests on land, with over 400 actions planned across 47 countries on May 15 and 16. The horizon is not negotiable.

MIL OSI

The mother of a Canterbury baby who died of catastrophic head injuries has broken down in tears as she claimed she struggled to recall the morning her son was injured.

Soul Turany was less than four months old when he died in 2014.

No one has been charged over his death but police have said either his mother, Storme Turany, or her then-partner, Tony Farmer, is responsible.

Turany broke down in tears at an inquest on Thursday morning as she struggled to recall the events of the day Soul was grievously injured.

“I just want to be able to help as much as I can but I know I’m not,” she told the inquest, tearfully.

“I want the answers as much as you do.”

Coroner Ian Telford is examining the circumstances of Soul’s death during a two-week inquest in the Coroners Court at Christchurch.

Storme Turany returned to the court to give evidence on Thursday morning after spending all of Wednesday on the stand.

The coroner advised Turany of the privilege against self-incrimination before her evidence on Wednesday, though she is yet to invoke that privilege.

The inquest heard Soul was taken to hospital on the morning of 30 August 2014 after emergency services were called to the rural home near Darfield he shared with Turany and Farmer.

Doctors found Soul’s skull was broken in two places. He was bleeding in one eye and over a vast tract of his brain. The infant died in hospital early on 31 August.

After Soul was taken to hospital Turany told police the boy awoke between 3am and 3.30am and was unsettled.

Evidence showed she first called Healthline at 6.23am but hung up after 17 seconds.

The court has heard she then told Tony Farmer she wanted to go to the hospital.

Turany then made a series of unanswered phone calls to her sister Skye Lamborn.

Turany told the lawyer for police Kerry White she did not remember making those calls.

White put it to Turany she had been the only one with Soul since he woke up and the reason she was calling Healthline and wanted to go to the hospital was because she had injured the boy.

“The reason that you called Heathline and hung up and then told Tony Farmer you needed to get Soul to the hospital is because you knew Soul was terribly injured?” White put to Turany.

“No that’s not correct,” Turany responded.

“And you knew Soul was terribly injured because it was you that caused that injury?” White went on.

“No that’s not true,” Turany said.

The evidence showed Turany left a voicemail saying she was taking Soul to the hospital during the rapid series of unanswered phone calls to her sister.

She then called Healthline again and spoke to the clinician for about nine minutes.

White asked Turany if she was panicking.

“There was no panic from myself until he went limp. He was very much conscious when I was on the phone talking to Healthline,” Turany said.

Turany said she could not recall making the calls to her sister, but she did remember Soul was still alert when she was talking to Healthline.

“He was very much conscious, he was very much alert, he was very much still himself,” Turany said.

“Why then do you need to take him to the hospital?” White asked.

“Because he wasn’t settling that morning, he wasn’t himself. I was a good mum,” Turany said, tearfully.

“I was a good mum, I back that.”

White pressed Turany on why she would need to take Soul to the hospital if he was – in her words – fine and his normal self.

“When I say fine and his normal self, I mean limp,” she said before pausing.

“I need to be careful with my words,” Turany said.

“You don’t need to be careful with your words,” White offered.

“I do need to be careful – clearly I need to be,” Turany responded.

“He was looking at me, like I’m looking at you now,” Turany said, of her memory from the call to Healthline.

“He was still warm, he was still breathing.”

Turany told the inquest she went outside for a cigarette while talking to Healthline.

Farmer was holding the baby during that time, she said.

But the time she returned from the call Soul “was limp, he was gasping for air”, Turany said.

Turany earlier on Thursday told the inquest she knew what White was insinuating.

“I’m trying my best, I’m really trying my best. I have been questioned like this before. I’m not stupid, I know what we are getting to,” Turany said.

Turany told the coroner on Wednesday she knew what was at stake.

“I know how this comes across to the court and I know how this is potentially coming across to all of you. What this looks like. I get it,” she said.

“What does it look like?” Telford asked.

“Clearly one of myself or Tony has done something. One of us isn’t telling the truth. I understand that,” Turany responded.

Clinicians had told the inquest Soul was likely to have suffered the fatal injuries six to 12 hours before his first scan about 10.20am on 30 August at Christchurch Hospital.

Turany told the inquest she had spent much of that morning trying to settle her son and had given him paracetamol and a nasal spray to try to settle him.

When she called Healthline the second time, she reported Soul was unsettled and had a waxy substance coming from his ears.

Emergency services were called soon after as Soul was limp with firefighters and St John arriving at the property about 7.10am.

Turany told the inquest on Wednesday Soul was conscious and responsive when she called Healthline.

Farmer was holding the boy and she stepped outside during the nine minute phone call, she said.

“I have gone over and over this morning and the window that the police were talking about at the time that this could have happened seemed minute – as in how quickly this could’ve happened,” Turany told the inquest.

She suggested it was also possible Farmer inflicted the injuries while she was getting a nappy bag together to take Soul to the hospital.

Counsel assisting the coroner Jamie O’Sullivan questioned if there were any clues to Farmer hurting Soul while Turany was speaking to Healthline.

“You didn’t hear any noises – any banging, any sudden painful cry – during that Healthline call at all did you?” O’Sullivan asked.

After a pause of more than 10 seconds, Turany responded: “No I did not”.

Turany’s account of why she called Healthline was inconsistent.

O’Sullivan questioned if that was because the call was an alibi to divert from injuries Turany had already inflicted on Soul.

“You didn’t hear any screaming, any thud, notice anything while you were on that call did you?” O’Sullivan asked.

“No,” Turany replied.

“Is the reason you’ve been inconsistent with what you’ve said about the reason for calling Healthline because that was a reason that was manufactured?” O’Sullivan pressed.

“No,” Turany said.

“Is it possible that with Soul being unsettled and you dealing with him for an extended period of time that morning after a week leading up to that of limited sleep and struggling that for a moment, in the early hours of that morning, sometime around 6.20am you did something to Soul with enough force to cause the injuries that we’ve heard about?” O’Sullivan asked.

“No,” Turany said, again.

O’Sullivan questioned if Turany had any reason to lie to protect Farmer.

“If you’d seen Tony do anything to Soul, you would have told police about it and you would have told us about it?” she asked.

“100,000 percent,” Turany replied.

“So if you’re no longer in a relationship, you’d have no reason to cover for him?” O’Sullivan said.

“No, not at all,” Turany said.

The court heard Turany was considering leaving Farmer around the time of Soul’s death.

Turany told the court Soul did not like Farmer and Turany had not liked how he held the child throughout their relationship.

Soul was conceived following a one-night stand with a worker on the farm Turany’s sister and brother-in-law managed and where Turany had also worked at the time.

She was only 21.

The court heard she had struggled at times with being a young mother and isolated.

In messages to a close friend about a month after Soul was born, Turany confided she had baby blues.

“No shit just between me and you, the other day I couldn’t even look at Soul. I wanted to run myself into a car but I’m ok now it’s just some days,” one message from Turany said.

But the inquest has also heard from Turany’s midwife and a Plunket community health worker who said Soul was happy, healthy and well-cared for until his death.

They both said Turany was coping as well as could be expected for a young first-time mother.

Turany and Farmer met on the dating app Tinder just over a month after Soul’s birth.

The couple soon moved in together at Turany’s sister’s home before moving into a farmer’s residence on the dairy farm.

Turany and Farmer had been living with Soul at that home for only about a month when he was fatally injured.

Farmer will give evidence later on Thursday.

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

Chris Wood will captain the All Whites for their FIFA World Cup campaign in North America.

New Zealand head coach Darren Bazeley named his 26-player squad for the Cup, which will be held in the United States, Mexico and Canada, starting on 11 June.

The squad is:

Goalkeepers: Max Crocombe, Alex Paulsen, Michael Woud

Defenders: Tyler Bindon, Michael Boxall, Liberato Cacace, Francis de Vries, Callan Elliot, Tim Payne, Nando Pijnaker, Tommy Smith, Finn Surman

Midfielders: Lachlan Bayliss, Joe Bell, Matt Garbett, Ben Old, Alex Rufer, Sarpreet Singh, Marko Stamenic, Ryan Thomas

Forwards: Kosta Barbarouses, Eli Just, Callum McCowatt, Jesse Randall, Ben Waine, Chris Wood (captain).

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

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

MIL OSI

Good evening, everyone. Thank you to the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs for the invitation to deliver this year’s annual lecture. It’s a pleasure to be here.

I would like to acknowledge NZIIA Patron and former Governor General Sir Anand Satyanand, members of the diplomatic corps, distinguished guests. I would also like to acknowledge the outgoing members of the NZIIA Board, Dr James Kember and Suzannah Jessep and new board members Rosemary Banks and Dr Julia Macdonald.

The NZIIA has been asking hard questions about New Zealand’s place in the world for over seventy years. Tonight those questions are as relevant as at any point in that history.

I want to start with a simple observation. New Zealand is a trading nation. Not in the casual sense that politicians invoke when they want to sound economic – but fundamentally, and structurally.

One in four jobs in this country depends on our ability to sell to the world. A quarter of our GDP is generated offshore. We know that exporters pay higher wages at home and are more productive than domestically focused firms. We are geographically remote, domestically small, and globally dependent. That is not a problem to be solved. It is the defining condition of our economic prosperity.

And the system that has underwritten that economic life – the rules-based international trading order – is under more pressure than at any time since it was constructed after the Second World War.

The Global Trade Landscape
Two developments in the past twelve months have made that pressure acute.

The conflict in the Middle East has disrupted global supply chains in ways our exporters are feeling directly. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz – which carries around 20% of the world’s daily oil supply – has driven up fuel costs and made getting products to market harder and more expensive.

The ceasefire is welcome, but the situation remains fragile, and the impacts on our exporters are real. They are navigating challenges with sourcing key inputs, maintaining competitiveness in the face of rising production and distribution costs, and finding reliable routes to market.

And even before that conflict, our exporters were already navigating a fundamentally changed approach to tariff policy from the United States. And the US is not the only one. Just ask our dairy exporters to Canada. The major economies really are playing outside the rules with very sharp elbows. These shifts are the clearest signal yet of a broader global trend: we are moving from a world governed by shared rules to one increasingly shaped by power.
For a small trading nation, that shift matters more than it does for many other countries.

I want to be clear about the stakes. Our exports rose 11.8% last year in 2025 – growth that happened because Kiwi exporters are world class and consumers will pay a premium for what we produce. That is a remarkable achievement in a difficult environment.

But it is not an achievement we can take for granted. It depends on continued access to markets, continued investment in relationships, and a continued commitment to the rules that provide certainty and transparency and enable our exporters to compete on a level playing field.

Tonight I want to talk about how this Government is responding to that challenge. Not reactively. Not defensively. But with a clear plan. Our plan has three parts: 
•    shoring up and creating new rules that underpin our trade. 
•    building resilience so our exporters can weather disruption. 
•    and innovating – because in a world where the old rules are contested, New Zealand has to earn its seat at the table.

Shoring Up Trade Rules
For a small trading nation like New Zealand, the rules-based system has always mattered more to us than it does to the large economies that can apply asymmetrical bilateral leverage.

Kiwis believe in fairness and the rules deliver exactly that. They level the playing field. They give our exporters the certainty, the transparency, and the market access that no amount of diplomatic relationship-building can substitute for.

It is worth remembering that despite everything, 72% of world trade still takes place under WTO rules. The system is battered. But it is not broken – and New Zealand has a clear national interest in saving as much of the multilateral furniture as possible.

That said, we are pragmatic. Progress at a multilateral level moves slowly. Too slowly for our exporters, who need better and certain access now. Which is why this Government has invested heavily in free trade agreements – the bilateral and regional deals that lock in the access we need and provide certainty that WTO processes alone cannot deliver.

FTAs
In 2025, 71% of New Zealand’s exports were covered by 17 high-quality FTAs. That is not an accident. It reflects a sustained, deliberate investment in trade architecture over 25 years – and this Government has moved faster and further than any that came before.

The results are tangible. Since our EU FTA entered into force in May 2024, New Zealand’s exports to the EU have grown by NZ$3 billion. Our exports to the UK grew 13% in the year to December 2025, following the conclusion of our UK FTA. 
Our exports to the UAE have seen record growth of 33% following that agreement’s entry into force.

And we have now concluded a deal with India – the world’s soon-to-be third largest economy, with 1.4 billion people and within the next 5 years a middle class of 700 million. That’s greater than the entire population of the EU or ASEAN.

When our Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) agreement enters into force, 75% of New Zealand’s exports will be covered by FTAs. These are not theoretical gains. These are the binding international treaties that are the building blocks of long-term prosperity for New Zealand.

Shoring up trade rules is not only about securing new FTAs – equally important is investing in existing FTAs to make sure they continue to deliver for the evolving needs of our exporters. This means upgrading and expanding these FTAs. We upgrade them by negotiating new rules to meet the new issues and challenges our traders are grappling with – for example last year an upgrade negotiation for Asean- Australia New Zealand FTA (AANZFTA) was informed by the COVID supply shock experience and delivered outcomes which make trade of essential goods easier and more efficient during times of crises.

We are working energetically to expand our plurilateral FTAs through accession negotiations. This brings more economies within the umbrella of FTA rules our exporters rely on and provides new preferential market access. CPTPP already consists of 12 economies that represent around 16% of global GDP, and we have concluded accession negotiations with Costa Rica, with an ever-growing list of countries queueing up to join.

The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership is the world’s biggest FTA globally by population and total GDP, and we are working to expand it further including into important markets where New Zealand does not currently have FTAs, such as Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

WTO
These agreements will continue to be an essential component of New Zealand’s economic resilience strategy. And we will continue to prioritise the WTO which provides the foundation for the global system of trade rules that matters so much to New Zealand.

But let me be direct about the WTO. The 14th WTO Ministerial Conference in Cameroon was deeply disappointing. And I say this as the Vice Chair of the Conference and as the facilitator for the negotiations on reform.

The absence of multilateral outcomes – extending WTO reform, on the e-commerce moratorium, on agriculture and fish subsidies – reflected the entrenched positions of major economies unwilling to compromise. That is a real setback, and we should not pretend otherwise.

New Zealand will not walk away. We will continue to be a constructive, pragmatic broker. We will continue to push on agricultural trade reform, harmful fisheries subsidies, trade-distorting industrial policy, and digital trade rules. Because in a world shifting from rules to power, every institution we can support and every norm we can embed makes New Zealand safer. The alternative – abandoning the multilateral system – is not an option for a country like ours. And we will invest in the institution. I am delighted that the 165 WTO members have endorsed the appointment of the New Zealand Ambassador to Geneva to lead the WTO peak body, the General Council.

Building Resilience
Trade rules alone are not enough. Our second pillar is resilience – the ability to keep New Zealand’s trade flowing when the system is under stress. I see our resilience agenda through three lenses: engagement with our exporters, diversification in our international relationships, and the unglamorous but high-value and critical work of removing non-tariff barriers.

Engaging our exporters
When the US tariff announcements hit, we moved immediately to get real-time information out to exporters and to hear from them directly. We have run regular, well-attended webinars since then. And MFAT’s website contains 754 market intelligence reports for New Zealand traders.

I have already done five India FTA roadshows around the country over the past few months with more to come. Getting out and hearing from our exporters and the public – not just in Auckland and Wellington, but across the regions – is one of the most valuable things I do as a Minister. It shapes our priorities and it builds trust.

We will continue to prioritise this kind of engagement, particularly in the current tumultuous environment. Kiwi exporters have shown time and again that they are resourceful and resilient. Our job is to make sure they have the information, the access, and the support they need to make the most of the opportunities we have secured for them.

Take for example an ice cream company that established a New Zealand and Asian plastic packaging supply chain following COVID 19.  Given the low stocks, they are now exploring how cardboard could be used instead.

Investing in relationships
This Government has prioritised both investing in our partnerships and diversifying our trade relationships.  This has included more international visits than any previous government in a parliamentary term to build and strengthen New Zealand’s relationships with key partners.  

Trade missions are about opening doors for New Zealand exporters – helping them build relationships, understand markets, and turn opportunities into real contracts, and the trade missions we’ve achieved to date have helped deliver over 200 commercial outcomes valued at more than NZ$2 billion. Those are not just numbers. They represent new connections, new contracts, and new confidence for Kiwi businesses in markets they might not have entered alone.

Our Saudi Arabia mission is a good example. We unlocked five commercial deals worth over $100 million. The 21 businesses who came with us opened doors in premium food, technology, services, construction, and the creative industries. Those doors opened because we showed up.  We invested in the relationship, and we demonstrated that New Zealand is a serious partner.

Our relationship with Singapore tells a similar story. New Zealand’s original trade agreement with Singapore was one of our first. We have invested in that relationship for over two decades. And that investment recently produced something genuinely new – the world’s first Agreement on Trade in Essential Supplies, designed specifically to keep essential goods moving in times of crisis. It delivers better fuel predictability for New Zealand and food security for Singapore. 
It only became possible because we had built the relationship long before we needed it.

Not only have we prioritised engagement with our long-standing partnerships – such as Australia and the EU- but we are also future-proofing our trade resilience through diversification, which can help open alternative markets and sources of supplies.

This is why we saw the China market as a good opportunity back in 2008 – when no other developed country had an FTA with China. China is now New Zealand’s largest export market and the value of our exports to China has soared from between $2 to $3 billion to around $23 billion per annum.

Another approach we have taken to strengthening partnerships is through our leverage of CPTPP to establish formal dialogues with the EU and ASEAN – something the PM and I have prioritised in these challenging times.  This provides a valuable opportunity for large trade blocs (with the EU and CPTPP representing a third of global trade) to move on issues that are currently paralysed at the WTO.

And our partnerships with the Pacific, through the PACER Plus agreement, are essential to the prosperity and resilience of our region. That is why our government, alongside Australia, has invested NZD 38 million in Aid for Trade initiatives that strengthen countries’ trade capacity under the agreement.
I will also continue to strengthen relationships with Pacific Island Countries that have yet to join PACER Plus, including Fiji, because regional economic integration through trade makes us all more resilient.

Removing non-tariff barriers
Our relationships are also critical to resolve many of New Zealand’s non-tariff barriers (NTBs) – from certification requirements, labelling rules, testing regimes, to environmental regulations – these issues slow growth.

NTBs currently affect almost NZ$9 billion worth of New Zealand’s exports across more than 50 markets, and this government is committed to finding solutions. 
Last year alone, we resolved NTBs affecting around $600 million of exports. Some examples include unlocking access to China’s $200 million cosmetics and skincare market, signing and implementing a deer velvet arrangement with China providing market growth worth $64.5 million in the year to December 2024, and expanding access for New Zealand dairy products and blueberries to Korea worth $5 to $10 million, and $5 million, respectively.

We are also progressing a new plurilateral arrangement with like-minded partners to tackle NTBs in third markets cooperatively. This work does not generate headlines. But it directly affects whether Kiwi exporters can compete.

Innovation: Securing Our Seat at the Table
Our third pillar is innovation. I have heard the phrase: “New Zealand needs the world to trade, but the world doesn’t need New Zealand.” That just means we have to earn our place. And innovation is how we do that.

New Zealand has a record of bringing trade ideas to the world that larger countries haven’t thought of yet. The Digital Economy Partnership Agreement – DEPA – is a clear example. New Zealand, Singapore, and Chile created the world’s first standalone digital economy agreement, covering everything from business facilitation and digital trust through to AI and digital inclusion. The Republic of Korea has since joined. Costa Rica and Peru are seeking membership. That agreement started as an idea from three small, like-minded countries, and it is now shaping the architecture of global digital trade.

Similarly, we are working to maximise the commercial value of indigenous business connection through the Indigenous Peoples Economic and Trade Cooperation Arrangement (IPECTA).

Our leadership in institutions like APEC, the OECD, and the Small Advanced Economies’ Initiative has gradually found its way into the hard rules of agreements like CPTPP. That is how small countries shape the world.

We are building on that legacy with the Green Economy Partnership Agreement. Working with Chile and Singapore, GEPA will make the green transition easier for producers, exporters, and investors, and position Kiwi businesses to compete in a global green economy projected to be worth US$11 trillion by 2040.

And through the Future of Investment and Trade Partnership – FIT-P – New Zealand is working with 16 like-minded, trade-dependent economies with a global reach ranging from Norway to Rwanda to Malaysia. Our approach is to cooperate on practical solutions for supply chains, paperless trade, non-tariff barriers, and trade-distorting subsidies. This initiative came about when I got together with trade colleagues from Switzerland, Singapore and the UAE. We knew we needed to find a way to support each other, reinforce the rules-based system, and work together to create new rules that give our traders more certainty.

Most recently at MC14, Eleven FIT-P members released a Joint Statement on maintaining open and resilient supply chains given the impact on global trade of the Middle East conflict. New Zealand and these FIT partners have committed to working together to identify disruptions to the trade of essential goods and exchanging information on how we will approach and mitigate these.

I will host my fellow trade ministers at the next FIT-P Ministerial in Auckland later this year. That is a leadership role, and we intend to use it to find new ways to support our exporters and their jobs, incomes and productivity in New Zealand.

The Long Game
Our goal is ambitious: to double the value of New Zealand’s exports in ten years. That requires growth in trade relationships – but it also requires growth in investment.

New Zealand is well below the OECD average for foreign direct investment as a share of GDP. That gap has a direct cost in productivity and wages. That is why this Government established InvestNZ – New Zealand’s first dedicated foreign investment agency – to attract more capital into sectors with the highest growth potential: renewable energy, technology, data infrastructure, advanced manufacturing. More capital means higher productivity. Higher productivity means better wages for New Zealanders.

And we are also seeing our export base diversify in ways that are genuinely exciting. Technology, commercial services, and education are growing fast. Companies like Auror – which exports retail crime prevention software to Australia, the UK, and North America – and Halter, exporting high-tech livestock management solutions globally, are proving that New Zealand innovation can compete anywhere. These are exactly the kinds of businesses we want to see more of, in more markets, with more support behind them.

We also want to venture deeper into global markets that are bursting with opportunities – like Latin America, which is fast becoming a key growth market for New Zealand exporters, with our exports to the region rising by 41% since 2021.  

This Government has already started making inroads – the Minister of Foreign Affairs led a Parliamentary and large business delegation to Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay earlier this year to strengthen our partnerships, deepen our people-to-people links, and boost our profile.  

The visit was a huge success, with a range of New Zealand exporters announcing new commercial agreements with companies in Argentina – fostering connections, and growing partnerships.  

We’re also exploring additional markets in Asia and looking at opportunities in Africa.  Diversification is not just an economic strategy – it is insurance.

Conclusion
Let me finish with this.

The world New Zealand trades in today is harder and much more uncertain than the one we were trading in five years ago. The rules are more contested. The relationships are more complex. The disruptions are more frequent. I do not expect that to change anytime soon.

But this is not a new challenge for a country like ours. New Zealand has always had to work that much harder and smarter than larger economies to secure and protect its access to markets. We have always had to be more creative, more constructive, more persistent, and more present.

What this Government has done is bring that same mindset – and more energy, and more urgency – to the task.

That’s why this Government has run more trade missions than any previous administration in a parliamentary term.

That’s why this Government established New Zealand’s first dedicated investment agency.

Because 400 million people around the world get around 10% of their diet from New Zealand. Our farmers, our food producers, our tech companies, and our service exporters are among the best in the world. They deserve a government that fights for them on the world stage.

We are fighting for them. And we are not finished.
 

MIL OSI

MIL OSI

The mother of a Canterbury baby that died of catastrophic head injuries has denied any involvement in her son’s death.

Soul Turany was less than four months old when he died in 2014.

No one has been charged over his death, but police have said either his mother, Storme Turany, or her then-partner, Tony Farmer, is responsible.

Coroner Ian Telford is examining the circumstances of Soul’s death during a two-week inquest in the Coroners Court at Christchurch.

Turany gave evidence on Wednesday and denied ever having hurt Soul.

“Soul was everything to me – my kids are absolutely everything to me. Soul made me realise why I was put on this Earth and that was to be a mum,” Turany told the inquest.

Turany told her lawyer Allister Davis she loved Soul “with everything I have”.

Davis asked if she ever took her frustrations out on the boy: “Not once,” Turany responded.

Had she ever injured Soul? “Not once,” she responded again.

“Let me put this to you – did you have anything to do with Soul’s death?” Davis asked.

“No, I did not,” Turany answered.

The inquest heard Soul was taken to hospital on the morning of 30 August after emergency services were called to the rural home near Darfield he shared with Turany and Farmer.

Doctors found Soul’s skull was broken in two places. He was bleeding in one eye and over a vast tract of his brain. The infant died in hospital early on 31 August.

Turany’s sister Skye Lamborn last week told the court about an occasion when Turany “chucked” Soul down on a bed and then called her in tears.

That episode came to light when Turany was being interviewed by police about a fortnight after Soul’s death.

Lamborn was invited into the interview by investigators and told Turany to tell them about it.

But Lamborn told the coroner on Monday she offered the information as she wanted to get to the bottom of how her nephew died, and had no concerns about how her sister treated Soul or any other children, including her own.

Lamborn was adamant her sister was not involved in Soul’s death.

Turany told the coroner on Wednesday the incident was blown out of proportion and she did not chuck her son on the bed.

“It was not chucked – I was over-dramatic and over-protective,” Turany said.

“When I have put Soul down on the bed – I was so careful with Soul – so when I’ve put him down, it was firmer than I would have put him down every other time.”

The court heard she had been concerned on another occasion when a fly landed on Soul.

Soul had been unwell in the days before 30 August.

Asked about the morning Soul suffered the fatal injuries, Turany said Soul woke up about 3am and was unsettled. Turany said she tried settling him using paracetamol, nasal spray and by removing mucus from his nose.

When she could not get the boy to settle, she called Healthline about 6.30am. Soul was conscious when she called Healthline, Turany said.

Farmer was holding Soul when she made the call and stepped outside to speak to Healthline, Turany said. The phone call lasted about nine minutes.

“Tony had Soul for the entire duration I was on the call,” Turany said.

“Tony was now standing up to hand Soul to me. He was standing up holding Soul ready to pass him to me and he’s either said ‘Storme’ or ‘babe’, but it was in a very shocked voice.

“He looked really worried. As he’s handing him to me, Soul’s arms have gone completely limp. He’s completely limp by the time he’s handed him to me.”

The coroner heard the couple met on the dating app Tinder just over a month after Soul’s birth. The couple soon moved in together at Lamborn’s home before moving into a farmer’s residence on the dairy farm Lamborn managed with her husband.

Turany and Farmer had been living with Soul at that home for only about a month when he was fatally injured.

“Things were moving quite quickly,” Turany said.

Farmer will give evidence on Thursday.

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

Remnant wetlands are hard to come by in Canterbury.

Since the mid-1800s, nearly 90 percent of the area’s original natural environment has been lost, according to [file:///C:/Users/asatya/Downloads/Ausseiletal2008WONIwetlands_All_Final.pdf a 2008 Manaaki Whenua – Landcare research paper.]

Environment Canterbury’s principal biodiversity advisor for wetlands, Jason Butt, said Canterbury experienced some of the highest levels of historic wetland loss, largely due to drainage and land use change.

So when Baden and Judith Sommerville found naturally seeded snow tussock and mānuka on their Springburn farm, they knew it was worth protecting.

“It used to be summer grazing when the family first took over this farm in 2013,” son Campbell Sommerville said, looking out over the now six-hectare wetland.

“Come springtime… you do get woken up by the birds before you get woken up by an alarm around here.”

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The wetland discovery began the first of many long-term restoration projects on Somerview Farm, continued by Campbell Sommerville and his fiancée Sonja Vreugdenhil today.

Planting streams, carrying out monthly water quality checks, and culling pests are routine for the pair.

Hares are a major issue, making light work of native shrubs which have been planted in the wetlands and around streams, Sommerville said.

“If one farm does a good hunt, and gets rid of a lot, they just come in from neighbouring farms.

“That’s why the catchment’s working so hard on pests.

“If everyone’s doing it around [us] we’re more likely to get on top of them, and [protect] the investment we’re putting into the natives and the wetlands.”

Will Wright added: “The possum doesn’t know that your farm ends there and starts there.”

He is the facilitator for the Ashburton Forks catchment group, a collective of farmers working to manage and improve the health of their waterways, like the Sommervilles and Vreugdenhil.

Formed in 2023, the 28 group members manage 11,000 hectares of land within the Forks area, Staveley and Alford Forest.

Among the jobs Wright does is trap-setting on properties and facilitating water quality tests, such as nitrate tests or eDNA (environmental DNA) tests, which discern which creatures are present in certain waterways.

He also helps connect farmers who are newer to restoration work with those who’ve been doing it for decades – like Mark and Jenny McDonald.

The pair own Red Cow Farm, a unique milking shorthorn and friesian operation on the north branch of the Ashburton River.

They’ve been planting out their property’s streams and wetlands with native flora since 2008.

“All this was gorse and broom; the whole stream was sort of clogged up with weeds,” Mark said.

“I’ve always been interested in native trees, and I love a project.”

With native seedlings not often found at the garden shop in 2008, Mark found himself wandering the foothills to source his own. Almost 20 years later, the stream bed takes care of itself.

“It’s just a really nice feeling when you come down here now, with things established.”

The McDonalds’ efforts have brought back some native wildlife: eels and Canterbury galaxiids have been spotted in the wetland, and fantails often flit around the planting.

“We haven’t got natives back here, apart from the fantails and warblers. I look forward to the day when we get tui and bellbirds and maybe wood pigeons.

“That’ll take time, but I’m sure it will happen.”

That will come with more planting and continued pest control – assisted by automatic traps he secured through the catchment.

“We’ve got a couple of grandkids now, and every time they come out to stay, we have to come down and check the traps to see if there’re any, what do they call them? Dirty rotten scoundrels.”

Over its three years, the catchment has culled around 6500 pests.

Massive progress, but for Mark McDonald, this restoration work is only the beginning of a long environmental journey – one that will outlast him, and be passed on to future generations.

“Right back at the start, I planted a matai down in amongst the willows there,” he said. “A matai has a juvenile stage of about 60 years.

“I’m not planting for our own satisfaction, it’s for the future.”

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

Wellington’s mayor has told a review panel “it is not your role” to consider whether the Golden Mile project to revamp transport in a corridor of the central city offers value for money.

In a council briefing on Tuesday, Andrew Little said he was concerned that the independent panel might be overreaching, after it presented its methodology for reviewing the project’s benefit-to-cost ratio.

He also twice asked about panel members’ ties to the Golden Mile project and to Let’s Get Wellington Moving, a now-defunct initiative which previously had oversight of the project.

But Jenny Chetwynd, Wellington City Council’s Chief Infrastructure Officer, said she was confident there was no conflict of interest with any panellists.

“One of the criteria in selecting the panellists was that they hadn’t been involved in the Golden Mile project, noting that some declared they had historical involvement with projects associated with Let’s Get Wellington Moving,” she said.

Wellington City Council voted in November to pause and review the project after cost estimates grew from $139m to $220 million.

Work had already begun at the intersection of Cambridge and Kent Terraces last year.

The upgrade of the Golden Mile, which stretches from the Lambton Quay to Courtenay Place, sought to remove cars from the latter during the day, widen foot paths, create a cycle lane and improve lighting.

It would also line the street with anti-slip pavement and new greenery, and replace old water pipes that are sitting under the throughfare.

The Transport Agency was expected to provide half of the funding for the transport aspects of the project.

The independent panel conducting the review, which was expected to cost up to $400,000, was instructed to tell councillors how much the project would cost to execute, and whether it was still viable.

‘Not redesigning the project’

In November, when the review was announced, Little said: “The review does not relitigate the benefits of the Golden Mile project.”

However on Tuesday Chetwynd told councillors the review was set up to “look at the value for money the project still represented and the strategic alignment the project still represented to your strategy and your goals”.

She insisted that the panel was “not redesigning the project”.

The panel’s presentation gave an overview of its methodology into assessing the project’s benefit-to-cost ratio and whether it could deliver on its objectives.

It said it would identify cost-saving opportunities or re-scope refinements in line with the project’s goals.

However, Little disputed that this was the panel’s responsibility, saying: “You seem to be going into highly value judgment-laden areas, which – with all due respect – is not your role.”

Little argued that finding the project to be good value for money would not be able to help the council if it still couldn’t afford to do the work.

Chetwynd said she had been clear with the panellists on the review’s terms of reference and scope.

“This was to look at if the project still represented value for money, it wasn’t to look at whether the project is affordable for Council. We appreciate the Mayor’s comments this afternoon and we’ll ensure elected members will have all the information they need to make their decision on how to progress.”

Councillor Nureddin Abdurahman concluded the briefing by asking the independent panel to consider the feedback it received, specifically over a possible conflict of interest over ties to the Golden Mile or Let’s Get Wellington Moving.

After the briefing, Little said: “The scope of the review set by councillors was to test, in the context of current economic conditions, whether the existing project remains viable and aligned with its original objectives in light of significant cost and risks escalation.

“During the meeting I raised a concern that there was an appearance of the review panel moving beyond that scope into the realm of making – or the perception of making – decisions that must remain with elected members.

“My expectation is that the review remains within the scope set by councillors and leaves political decisions to the council.”

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

The Auckland City Rail Link (CRL) is undertaking large-scale safety testing ahead of its opening later this year.

Volunteers have been taking part in a range of real-life simulations to test evacuation procedures.

Auckland Transport rail services group manager Mark Lambert told Morning Report the organisation has been working with emergency services to rehearse scenarios such as fires and other serious, and not so serious incidents.

“There’s obviously the emergencies, and tests such as fires, derailments in tunnels. Also, if a train breaks down in the tunnel, fires in stations as well.”

The tests involved around 400 people and lasted for around three hours. A large part of the testing was around evacuating passengers from inside the CRL’s tunnel network, which is 45 metres underground at its deepest point.

“We have some actors in the crowd as well, such as unruly passengers, or people with prams which really make it a real-life scenario for our staff.

“All the systems are being tested – the evacuation alarms, tunnel ventilation systems which push the smoke through the tunnels and out again. It’s really testing all those systems and our staff, so we’ve got a pretty good idea of how ready we’re going.”

No official start date has been announced for the CRL, and Lambert said that would depend on how the current tests played out.

“The City Rail Link has just entered into its testing commissioning stage. There are a number of different emergency scenarios that we’re testing over the next month or so, around 15 in total.”

No major issues had been encountered so far, but there had been a few smaller problems.

“The test on Saturday, one of the escalators didn’t work before we started the test, then there was another technical issue with one of the systems, so the staff are actually responding in real time to some hiccups,” Lambert said.

“That’s really pushing the boundaries for our staff.”

Pressed for a potential opening date, Lambert said there might be more to say in the coming weeks.

“The tests are pretty much the last stage before the contractor, Link Alliance, puts in its applications to the council. So we’re really, really close to construction completion.

“Let’s see how the next four weeks or so go around these tests. We’re hoping we can give a little bit more information at that point.”

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

Source: Westland Milk Products

Westgold butter has come out on top of all butters sold in supermarkets after a blind tasting test conducted by Consumer New Zealand. So, what’s our secret? The grass-fed diet of cows raised on the pastures of one of the most beautiful and remote dairy farming regions of the world.

A taste panel by Consumer New Zealand thought Westgold butter was complex, delicious and, most importantly, buttery. Some of their comments are worth their weight in gold.

“More complex than others, in a good way,” said one, “Yes, just yes. Yellowy, buttery goodness,” said another, and: “Rich, salty and decadent. Hell yeah.”

Westland Milk Products CEO Alex Turnbull said the results confirm one of Westland’s best kept secrets, and we want the world to know and help them share in the magic of grass-fed butter from the magical West Coast of New Zealand.

“Given our location and the knowledge and skills of our butter team, we know we have a lot going for us, but this result still fills us with pride,” Mr Turnbull said.

The simplicity of mixing only grass-fed fresh cream and salt gives Westgold butter a distinctive texture, while Westgold’s distinctive gold colour is a result of the more than 97[i] per cent grass-fed diet of our West Coast dairy cows cherished and looked after by our partner farmers.

A centuries-old churning method built into the butter plant Westland commissioned in 2022 at Hokitika on the West Coast is used to process cream into butter. This is a slower processing method that results in a higher-quality product.

But perhaps the most important ingredient to making butter as good as Westland does is the time spent perfecting the craft involved in making butter. Staff in the butter team have spent an average of 20,000 hours (or 10 years) producing butter.

Cream Senior Production Manager, Dean Robinson, has celebrated more than 30 years of service.

“Our butter-team has more accumulated knowledge than any other team at Westland and, potentially, more knowledge than any other butter producers in the country,” Mr Robinson said.

“After making butter for so many years, everyone working in the factory has the eye for it and just knows when it is right. Our butter churners all have their own characteristics. Our staff have been able to use the instinct that comes from extensive experience.”

New employees are trained by those who have the most experience to make sure that everyone gets the benefit of the team’s knowledge. 

This all drives the taste of Westgold Butter as more people around the world – and at home – are discovering. Sales of Westgold butter are booming and have grown around 40 per cent over the past four years in New Zealand.

MIL OSI

A group of Hawke’s Bay growers is looking at whether it could take over the McCain vegetable processing factory and save the industry.

McCain is closing its frozen vegetable factory in Hastings, a decision that’s impacting more than 100 growers of peas, beans, corn and carrots.

The international company said it had reviewed operations at the site and ‘considered a range of options to strengthen the long-term position of the site’.

However, it said the business was ‘unable to identify a sustainable pathway under the current model’.

The decision is a huge blow to the industry in Hawke’s Bay, where the impact is being felt widely from growers to contractors, and mechanics to factory workers.

Alistair Setter has been farming in Central Hawke’s Bay for decades, and told RNZ the closure has come as a shock, and with no warning.

“I was like, oh gosh…have we really grown our last crop of peas? My father grew peas back in the 70s and it’s an important business for us but it’s also an emotional thing as well.

“It’s a great thing to be part of that pea growing business – you think you’re doing good for the world and everything else. As the days go by it kinda sinks in and it really feels like a loss on quite a few levels,” Setter said.

He owns 180 hectares near Ongaonga, growing crops over the warmer months and grazing cattle in winter. About a quarter of his income is from supplying peas to McCains – so the financial hit is substantial.

“It will be significant and we will have to think of alternatives… but they won’t pay as much and it will put risks on other cropping programmes… so yeah we’ve got challenges,” he said.

“There are wider issues at play here about how we handle food security as a nation.. when the industry’s go they’re very hard to get back,” Setter said.

One of the alternatives could be a group of growers taking over the current McCain’s factory site, and processing their crops themselves.

Since the closure was announced several meetings have been held between ministers, mayors, and growers to see if anything can be done to save the industry in Hawke’s Bay.

Setter said there were a lot of people keen to see the pea, bean and corn cropping industry survive.

“There’s a lot of desire among farmers like myself and other industry participants to have a go at trying to save it.

“It’s a big thing to try and organise, and it’s a big business, but there is a lot of will out there. The farmers we know around here, a lot of them are really capable business people so sometimes when there is a will and a need… maybe there is a way,” Setter said.

One of those farmers is Hugh Ritchie. He’s been growing peas for McCain for over 30 years and said for it to work, there must be more scrutiny of the food production chain. He said to understand why big companies like McCain can’t make it work, everyone’s margins, from growers to supermarkets, must be analysed.

“If we don’t solve this problem and really understand why it’s happening then it’s just going to be the start of a downward spiral on the domestic production of food,” said Ritchie.

Central Hawke’s Bay mayor Will Foley is also keen to find out the cause of McCain decision.

“It doesn’t seem right that we can’t produce that food and sell it locally and for export – all at a success. That’s why we want to get to the bottom of what is going on here and can we take it on ourselves,” he said.

However, the pressure is on because McCain is only using its Hastings factory until January; after that the machinery could be packed up and sent overseas.

“There is a lot of urgency because any businesses involved that are thinking there is no more business going forward, they are needing to dispose of their assets, otherwise it’s just a cost to them..

“And if we lose those assets and have to start again, the cost to start up will be so much more than if we can take over what is already there,” Foley said.

The Minister for Agriculture, Todd McClay, said he had a constructive and informative meeting with the region’s mayors last week.

“There is a huge amount of optimism in the region and the Minister is looking to meet with growers over the coming weeks,” he said.

McCain told RNZ it has received ‘potential interest in the plant and its equipment from several parties and is continuing discussions’.

‘Massive’ flow-on effect

Many growers, especially for crops like peas, beans and sweet corn, would normally get a contract in mid-year and then start planting crops through August and September.

The impact of McCain closing is rippling through the region, from growers to factory workers, to companies selling seeds and chemicals, contractors and machinery engineers.

Fogarty Spraying in Ongaonga sprays about 1500 hectares of McCain crops each season, and employs three people to help run the operation.

Owner Stuart Davies told RNZ that with McCain’s shutting up shop he’s looking at scaling down by cutting one worker and possibly selling one of his spraying machines.

He said while others were much harder hit than him, this was the kind of impact that was being felt widely in the region.

“That whole economical side of it. It’s all singing and dancing until all of a sudden the big red button’s been hit and that’s it – she’s all stopped. It has a massive flow-on effect,” he said.

Davies said luckily there was currently a lot of confidence in other farming sectors like red meat and dairy, but it would still be a tough time for growers.

The news came out of the blue for most, and Davies said McCain could have done a better job at communicating its closure, as there was no notice that it was even being considered.

“We didn’t quite expect the rug to be pulled just like that, it would’ve been nice to have some warning.

“That was the feel around the place – that the rug was pulled pretty abruptly rather than maybe a softly softly ‘hey guys this is happening in 18 months’,” he said.

McCain declined RNZ’s request for an interview, saying in a statement the business informed key stakeholders of the closure on the same day as its Hastings team was told.

“We indicated to our stakeholders that we are available to answer any questions about the closure and are also available to discuss the impact the closure may have on them.”

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

BDC intends to further deploy HVO-powered energy solutions across its data centres in Asia Pacific and beyond

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