Attributable to Detective Senior Sergeant Jo Carolan:

Police continue to work at the scene of last night’s fire in Mairehau.

We can now confirm that the child who died in the house fire was a three-year-old girl.

Four other children aged between 10 weeks and five-years-old, were admitted to hospital. The children are siblings of the deceased girl.

Three of the surviving children have been discharged and are in the care of family members. One child, a girl aged two-years-old, remains in hospital in a stable condition, with moderate injuries.

A 23-year-old woman, the mother of the children, is in a critical condition in hospital and sadly is not expected to survive her injuries.

The fire is not being treated as suspicious. Enquiries by Police, and Fire and Emergency New Zealand are ongoing, including a scene examination.

An increased presence will remain in the Whitehall Street area while enquiries continue.

This is a heartbreaking tragedy for the whānau, and Police extend our deepest sympathies as they navigate this devastating time.

ENDS

Issued by Police Media Centre

MIL OSI

Police, and Fire and Emergency New Zealand, enquiries are underway after one person died following a house fire in Mairehau.

Emergency services were called to a house on Whitehall Street at around 8.25pm on 14 May.

Sadly, a child died at the scene.

One person received critical injuries, three were in a serious to moderate condition, and two received minor injuries. The injured are two adults and four children and were all transported to hospital.

Detective Senior Sergeant Jo Carolan, says a scene guard was put in place at the property overnight.

“Police will be carrying out a scene examination today, including working with Fire and Emergency New Zealand Fire Investigators.”

The cause of the fire is still to be determined, but it is not believed to be suspicious.

At this stage, there is no further information available.

ENDS

Issued by Police Media Centre

MIL OSI

Police, and Fire and Emergency New Zealand, enquiries are underway after one person died following a house fire in Mairehau.

Emergency services were called to a house on Whitehall Street at around 8.25pm on 14 May.

Sadly, a child died at the scene.

One person received critical injuries, three were in a serious to moderate condition, and two received minor injuries. The injured are two adults and four children and were all transported to hospital.

Detective Senior Sergeant Jo Carolan, says a scene guard was put in place at the property overnight.

“Police will be carrying out a scene examination today, including working with Fire and Emergency New Zealand Fire Investigators.”

The cause of the fire is still to be determined, but it is not believed to be suspicious.

At this stage, there is no further information available.

ENDS

Issued by Police Media Centre

MIL OSI

MIL OSI

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

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

A child has died and six people have been injured, one critically, after a house fire in Christchurch.

Police and Fire and Emergency New Zealand have started inquiries after the child died at the scene of the fire in Mairehau.

One person received critical injuries, three were in a serious to moderate condition, and two received minor injuries, police said on Friday.

The injured are two adults and four children and they were all transported to hospital.

Detective Senior Sergeant Jo Carolan says a scene guard was put in place at the property overnight.

“Police will be carrying out a scene examination today, including working with Fire and Emergency New Zealand fire investigators.”

The cause of the fire is still to be determined, but it is not believed to be suspicious.

Emergency services were called at about 8.25pm on Thursday.

An RNZ reporter at the scene on Friday morning says neighbours told her a family had lived there.

RNZ understands neighbours helped people who had come out of the house.

The reporter said she has been told by one neighbour that they saw “very high flames” when they came outside last night.

Emergency services were called to the property on Whitehall Street at around 8.25pm.

Christchurch Metro Area Commander Superintendent Lane Todd said emergency services remained at the scene late on Thursday night.

Cordons remain in place on Whitehall Street and Hills Road.

At first, it was unclear how many people were in the house.

“Reports were made that a house was on fire with people unaccounted for,” Todd said in a previous statement.

Firefighters, police and St John staff were at the scene last night alongwith Police Commissioner Richard Chambers who briefly attended.

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

Police, and Fire and Emergency New Zealand, enquiries are underway after one person died following a house fire in Mairehau.

Emergency services were called to a house on Whitehall Street at around 8.25pm on 14 May.

Sadly, a child died at the scene.

One person received critical injuries, three were in a serious to moderate condition, and two received minor injuries. The injured are two adults and four children and were all transported to hospital.

Detective Senior Sergeant Jo Carolan, says a scene guard was put in place at the property overnight.

“Police will be carrying out a scene examination today, including working with Fire and Emergency New Zealand Fire Investigators.”

The cause of the fire is still to be determined, but it is not believed to be suspicious.

At this stage, there is no further information available.

ENDS

Issued by Police Media Centre

MIL OSI

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

About 20 firefighters have tackled a house fire in North Auckland in the early hours of Friday.

Fire and Emergency (FENZ) were called to a house on Gibbs Crescent in the suburb of Red Hill, about 3.19am.

Three crews, two pumps and a command unit were on the scene at the peak of the fire.

An aerial unit was also deployed to tackle the fire at the two-storey house.

FENZ said the fire was extinguished within an hour, and all the occupants were accounted for. No one was injured.

Some crew members were still on the scene at 5.30am, assisting a fire investigator.

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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

Kiwifruit orchards are humming mid-harvest, but Zespri is concerned port bottlenecks are becoming a real pressure point for its fruit exports.

The Port of Tauranga is the critical gateway for most of New Zealand’s lucrative kiwifruit from growing hub Bay of Plenty to the world.

Orchardists were expected to produce around 220 million trays of fruit – equating to around 6.6 billion pieces of fruit – for export this season.

Zespri chief executive Jason Te Brake said plans to double those exports in the next decade would depend on efficient ports, freight connections and well-functioning road infrastructure.

“Port bottlenecks are becoming a real pressure point for the kiwifruit industry,” said Te Brake.

“Around 95 percent of Zespri’s New Zealand fruit is exported through the Port of Tauranga, so congestion or capacity constraints directly affect our ability to get fruit to market on time, protect quality and deliver strong returns to growers.”

Te Brake said constrained transport and port networks increased costs, emissions and undermined confidence for investors.

“With around 80 percent of our fruit grown in the Bay of Plenty, continued investment in road and port infrastructure is critical – including upgrading access through the Mount Maunganui industrial area via the Connecting Mount Maunganui project, improving productivity and resilience for freight movements to and from the Port, and delivering additional port capacity to support future growth.”

Port constrained to new vessels

Port of Tauranga chief executive Leonard Sampson said while there was no bottleneck as such at present, because product was moving through, its container terminal was particularly constrained.

“We’re at capacity at the moment and unfortunately we’re unable to take any further container vessels at the container terminal, so that really is a potential bottleneck for the kiwifruit industry.”

Sampson said it had known about the kiwifruit industry’s growth ambitions for years, and was committed to growing its services.

“At the moment we’re getting it through on the services that we have, but ultimately, with the aspirations of Zespri and the potential doubling of that cargo over the next 10 years, it could mean exactly that; fruit loss, delays in terms of getting that refrigerated cargo away.

“And ultimately, it potentially makes a number of orchards or that growth unviable, because there’s simply just not that capacity to get the cargo away.”

Sampson said infrastructural constraints meant it had to decline an international shipping line recently, despite benefits like greater competition and more shipping availability it would have provided.

He declined to comment on the name of the company.

“We have a situation where we’ve unfortunately had to turn away an international service to a new market,” he said.

“That international service offered somewhere between $70-90 million of ocean freight savings back to New Zealand’s importers and exporters.

“That’s obviously revenue that would have otherwise been back in the New Zealand economy, but unfortunately we’re unable to realise it.”

The port was about seven years into trying to secure a consent for its Stella Passage berth and wharf extension, currently still under consideration for a second fast-track application.

Sampson said it re-applied for a fast track approval for the project, because the constrained nature at the port was costing exporters and importers.

Among opposition to the project was local iwi Ngāti Kuku, supported by Ngā Hapū o Ngā Moutere, due to proposed dredging, land reclamation and other issues.

“Port of Tauranga has been unable to reach agreement with opposing iwi and hapū parties on the appropriate level of mitigation for the cultural impacts of the development,” the port said in an earlier statement.

The Environmental Protection Authority had appointed an expert panel to consider the new fast-track application, with a decision due in September.

Shipping still coming, but they’ve increased prices

In light of the fuel crisis, brought on by the US-Israel war in the Persian Gulf, leaders from the port joined Prime Minister Christopher Luxon in Singapore recently on his fuel security mission.

Sampson said export cargo ships were arriving on time and with little disruption, despite the fuel situation, though he said shipping services had increased their costs.

“It’s pleasing that … at this point in time, we haven’t seen any deterioration of shipping services.

“So there’s been no reduction in the shipping services coming to New Zealand, nor a deterioration in the on-time performance. In fact, it’s better than it was this time last year.”

Sampson said last month’s Cyclone Vaianu caused more disruption to the port recently than the impact of fuel.

But he said the fuel situation had led to a slowdown in some commodity exports.

“We are starting to see from a cost perspective, however, that some of the cost of fuel flowing through to the shipping prices, we are seeing a slowdown in some commodities, particularly the likes of some of the forestry commodities.”

He said around 30 percent of New Zealand’s export logs went through the Bay of Plenty port, as well as many pulp and paper products from nearby North Island forests and mills.

“It’s a challenge, and unfortunately, I guess it’s one of those commodities – unlike kiwifruit that that will need to be picked and sent – the trees can potentially not get harvested and they can be delayed for a period of time before they need to to be harvested, and wait for commodity prices to improve.”

Sampson said half of all New Zealand’s containerised exports went through the Port of Tauranga, and it was a busy period for red meat exports at the moment.

“We’re seeing strong volumes of of red meat going through the port at the moment.”

He said a number of meat containers were sent back and re-shipped at the start of the war, but most found connections to the Middle East on other shipping services via North or Southeast Asia.

“But you know, that does obviously come at a higher cost as well.”

Te Brake said Zespri strongly supported the Western Bay of Plenty Regional Deal application, as certainty from government would be met with private capital.

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One person has died and six people have been injured, one critically, after a house fire in Christchurch.

Police were called to the property in Whitehall Street, Mairehau, at about 8.25pm on Thursday.

Christchurch Metro Area Commander, Superintendent Lane Todd, said emergency services remained at the scene late on Thursday night.

“Sadly, we can confirm one person has died,” he said.

“One person has critical injuries.

“Three other people have moderate and serious injuries, and two have minor injuries.”

A scene investigation is ongoing and cordons remain in place on Whitehall Street and Hills Road.

At first, it was unclear how many people were in the house.

Earlier it was reported two people were critically injured and others may be missing.

“Reports were made that a house was on fire with people unaccounted for,” Todd said in a previous statement.

“Two people have suffered critical injuries. We are working to determine how many people remain outstanding.”

An RNZ reporter at the scene said a significant emergency service presence – including firefighters, police and St John staff – was visible.

Police Commissioner Richard Chambers also briefly attended the scene.

“Members of the public are advised to avoid the area as emergency services work at the scene,” Todd said.

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With AI+ at its core and the vision to bring positive impact to local industries and societal wellbeing, PolyU IFC 2026 strategically focuses on five industry domains: Life Sciences and Healthcare, Advanced Manufacturing and Microelectronics, Digital Economy and FinTech, Smart City and Green Living, as well as Aerospace and Aviation Technology. The focus domains of each competition region are outlined as follows:

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

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Two people have been critically injured in a Christchurch house fire, and others may be missing.

Christchurch Metro Area Commander Superintendent Lane Todd said emergency services were called to a house on Whitehall Street around 8.25pm tonight.

“Reports were made that a house was on fire with people unaccounted for,” Todd said.

“Two people have suffered critical injuries. We are working to determine how many people remain outstanding.”

Cordons are in place on Whitehall Street and Hills Road.

A significant emergency service presence can be seen at the scene including firefighters, police and St John staff.

“Members of the public are advised to avoid the area as emergency services work at the scene.

“Further information will be released when it comes available. “

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Please attribute the following to Superintendent Lane Todd, Christchurch Metro Area Commander:

Emergency services are attending a house fire on Whitehall Street in Christchurch tonight.

About 8.25pm, reports were made that a house was on fire with people unaccounted for.

Two people have suffered critical injuries.

We are working to determine how many people remain outstanding.

Police are on the scene with cordons in place in Whitehall Street and Hills Road. 

Members of the public are advised to avoid the area as emergency services work at the scene.

Further information will be released when it comes available. 

ENDS 

Issued by Police Media Centre

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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Analysis – Nicola Willis has put her money where her mouth is and reduced her Budget’s operating allowance for a third year running.

For years, the Finance Minister has been relentless in her criticism of the previous minister, Grant Robertson, and his extensive operating allowances – $5.9 billion in 2022 and $4.8b in 2023 – promising to rein in spending and prioritise fiscal discipline.

In her first Budget in 2024 she told reporters in the lock-up that she was “weaning off the addiction to spending” that Robertson had created over six years of a Labour government.

At that year’s Budget, an operating allowance of $3.5b had been forecast, which was ultimately reduced by $300 million to $3.2b.

Last year the slashing was even more aggressive when a forecast $2.4b allowance was chopped in half by her pre-Budget speech to just $1.3b – a reduction of $1.1b.

And on Wednesday the Prime Minister delivered the news for her, telling a Business NZ audience in Auckland that the forecast $2.4b allowance had been nudged down by $300m to $2.1b.

Those operating allowances are tight, but critics will find it difficult to describe them as austerity, especially with the likes of the Taxpayers’ Union arguing the number should be closer to zero.

Singing from that same songsheet traditionally is the ACT Party. When leader David Seymour was asked at Parliament on Wednesday whether he would have liked the cuts to go further, he said his aim would have been a “less than zero” Budget.

“Speaking as the ACT leader, yeah, I think we need to be a lot tougher on reducing the deficit and reducing government spending, but also speaking as the Deputy Prime Minister, I’m proud to be part of this government and I know that we wouldn’t have made the level of savings we have [without ACT].”

Seymour said the savings had ACT’s fingerprints all over them and his ministers were the ones at the Cabinet table putting pressure on the coalition to make “careful use of taxpayer money”.

Willis told RNZ on Wednesday that if it weren’t for the fuel crisis her operating allowance reduction would be larger and more in tune with the cuts seen last year.

“It is the case that without the fuel crisis, yes, we may have been able to have an even tighter allowance, but my view is that we have achieved a great deal by reducing our forecast operating allowance, ensuring that we’re building up buffers for the future, keeping New Zealand financially secure.”

The buffers are needed more than ever given the increasingly volatile world countries are operating in, where in the space of a few weeks a US-Israel attack on Iran can shoot petrol prices at the pump in New Zealand beyond $3 a litre.

That’s required unexpected support packages that are already chewing up some of the operating allowance put aside for this year’s Budget to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars.

While the operating allowance restraint speaks direct to Willis’ narrative over the past two-and-a-half years, this year’s Budget is accommodating a $2.2b increase on what was forecast for capital expenditure – up from $3.5b to $5.7b.

Christopher Luxon addressed that increase, saying “the recent crisis has acted as a timely reminder that significant levels of capital investment will be required in the coming years”.

But he also signalled it didn’t reflect a “permanently higher rate of borrowing” and that in the years ahead a balance would be found between saving and borrowing.

Seymour also defended the increased capital spend saying it was to deal with “things that are yet to be announced, that I think are significant and timely investment”, adding that in later years in the fiscal cycle the capital expenditure would reduce.

While Budgets are drastically impacted by global and national events and disasters – think the Christchurch earthquakes, the Covid-19 pandemic, or the ongoing fuel crisis – they’re also shaped by individual government’s political decisions.

Willis will be commended by many for slashing the operating allowances at each of her Budgets to date, but remains open to criticism from other quarters about both what the coalition cut and continues to prioritise spending on.

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

Date:  14 May 2026

The trip into the Matemateāonga Range was Department of Conservation Ranger Shane Woolley’s last helicopter mission prior to his retirement at the end of this month.

“We had a good team in there,” says Shane. “We removed all the burnt iron from the old hut, cleaned up a few trees for safety – it’s all clean and level now, like there was never a hut. We also brought in a water collector, so visitors don’t get caught out.

“The three days out there were all hard work and laughter, which is what my time at DOC has been about,” says Shane, while packing up his DOC accommodation in Pipiriki.

Shane’s initial job with DOC in Pipiriki was meant to last six months.

“Then 26 years later…,” he laughs.

“The place grabs a hold of you, it’s hard to get away from the river. And there’s nothing like this team, you can’t beat these funny, cheeky buggers!”

“It’s been an amazing time and not just on the home front, either. Working with DOC gave me the opportunity to deploy internationally to fight fires in Canada, and Australia several times in the last ten years or so. Their fires are huge and angry; I will never forget those life-changing experiences.”

“But we all gotta move on sometime, and I’ve got mokos to spoil”, Shane says.

“I’m definitely going to miss it all.”

The 11 December 2025 fire destroyed the Pouri Hut, with Fire and Emergency New Zealand unable to determine a cause. Wood burners and cooking equipment were ruled out.

Visitors planning on naturing along the Matemateonga Track are urged to bring their own tent if they plan to stay overnight between Oamari and Ngapurua Huts.

DOC Whanganui is working on options for a replacement hut.

Contact

MIL OSI

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

The Natural Hazards Commission [NHC] is now receiving more claims for damage from landslides than for any other natural hazard.

NHC received almost 13,000 claims for damage from landslides in the last five years, 10,000 more than the previous five years.

“Landslides can happen with little warning and cause significant damage to homes and property and in some cases put lives at risk,” NHC chief executive Tina Mitchell said.

“As storms become more frequent and intense, landslides are understandably a growing concern for many communities,” she said.

Mitchell said it was good to understand the risks in your are and practical things that can be done to strengthen your property.

“Regular maintenance, good drainage, and getting expert advice early can make a real difference,” Mitchell said.

“If you have concerns about retaining walls or slope stability, a geotechnical engineer can help assess risks and recommend next steps.”

Homeowners living on or near slopes are encouraged to be alert to early warning signs of instability, such as cracks in the ground, leaning retaining walls, or changes after heavy rainfall.

“It is also important to understand how your insurance works. That allows homeowners to make informed decisions – whether that’s strengthening their property or planning for any gaps in insurance cover,” she said.

For those buying property, NHC recommended checking the Natural Hazards Portal for information about previous claims relating to landslides or other hazards, which can indicate future risk.

“Understanding your property’s natural hazard risks before an event occurs can help reduce stress and financial pressure later,” Mitchell said.

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

For the past 20 years Annette Hall has been like a mother to the boaties of the Far North.

She’s kept tabs on where they are with twice-daily calls, checked to make sure they return to port when expected, provided weather forecasts, and – when things go badly awry – co-ordinated rescues at any time of day or night.

She’s done all that, unpaid, from her living room in a modest cottage overlooking Doubtless Bay.

At 6pm on Wednesday, however, the radio operator with the infectious laugh signed off for the last time.

That also meant the end of a service that’s been running since at least 1947.

Surprisingly, Hall had no maritime background – beyond a love of fishing – when she first got involved with Far North Radio and Sea Rescue in the early 2000s.

She was previously a publican, who pulled pints at well-known hotels in Ōpua, Kaitāia and Mangōnui.

Hall said she got involved by accident because she used to live next door to Far North Radio stalwarts Malcolm and Maureen MacMillan, better known as Mac and Mo.

“One afternoon, Maureen said to me, ‘You’re very good at talking a lot. Let me show you the radio’. And I said, ‘Okay, how hard could it be?’”

Initially Hall did a few evening shifts so her neighbours could have some time off.

When Maureen MacMillan sadly died of motor neurone disease, Hall agreed to step in while her husband “sorted things out”.

“I came home from work, and there was all their radio equipment on my dining table. So I said, ‘Okay, let’s just do it for a few months, and we’ll take it from there’.”

That was 20 years ago.

“It’s longer than four months. Way longer. But it’s been fun, you know? It’s a community thing, and very family-oriented.”

Far North Radio and Sea Rescue operated a VHF marine radio service from Whangaroa Harbour on the east coast up to the Three Kings Islands, and down the west coast to the Hokianga Harbour.

It also had a single-sideband (SSB) radio service with an almost unlimited range, and – until a few weeks ago – a rescue boat named Lily Walker.

A previous boat, Good as Gold, got its name from Maureen MacMillan’s favourite expression.

The service catered to commercial and recreational fishers, “blue water” sailors travelling between New Zealand and the Pacific Islands, and many a fishing contest.

As the senior operator, Hall was responsible for the morning and evening calls, with other volunteers covering the day shifts so she could go to work at the local vets.

She also monitored the airwaves during weekends and public holidays, and even had a radio next to her bed so she could be roused for emergencies at any time of night.

Doubtless Bay-based commercial fisherman Nat Davey said Hall’s contribution had been “amazing”.

“Over the last good 20 years, Annette’s been like a mum to the fishermen out there,” he said.

“She’s kept a great eye on us, and if for some reason we haven’t called up in the evenings and she knows we’re out there, she’ll always check in to make sure we’re all fine. It’s pretty selfless, really. She just gets in there and does it.”

Ethan Bryant, skipper of fishing charter boat Te Ariki Nui, spoke to RNZ by satellite from the Three Kings Islands, about 30 nautical miles north of Cape Reinga.

“We look at her as our guardian angel,” he said.

“She’s one of the only people that looks out for us out here. Between 7.30 and 8 o’clock every single morning without fail you hear that sweet voice come on the radio, no matter how rough or rainy or sunny or whatever it is, you always feel comfortable. That little 30 second chat every morning and every afternoon, it means a lot.”

Bryant said Hall would be greatly missed – especially by boaties who travelled far offshore, beyond the reach of Coastguard.

“She knows exactly where everybody is. If she doesn’t hear from you or you forget to do your afternoon call, she’ll make sure she gets hold of you before the end of the day. If she can’t, then she knows something’s up,” he said.

“I know she looks at us as her boys that she looks after. It’s definitely a big help knowing that somebody’s looking over you and knows exactly where your nearest help is.”

Hall said the toughest part of her role was when tragedy struck.

The most serious events included the Enchanter sinking of 2022, when five people died, and the Karikari Peninsula fire of 2011, when a helicopter on a rescue mission crashed into the sea.

If she was woken for an emergency at night, she had a simple technique for “getting into the zone”.

“When something happens, you get up, and put the jug on first,” she said.

“One of the really big ones I had was the Karikari fire, when we lost two people in the helicopter. That was a real tragedy.”

Hall, who turns 75 later this month, said she had a number of reasons for hanging up her handpiece.

“It’s just natural attrition, really. You know, we’ve all got older, and you need to go on and do other things. My daughter’s just moved up here from the South Island, I’d like to spend some time with her. And also, I’m actually quite old, believe it or not.”

Hall said she also had “a lot of cricket to catch up on” and was hoping to finally get a chance to do some fishing.

Coastguard New Zealand told RNZ it was currently in discussion with Far North Radio and Sea Rescue about the future of VHF radio coverage in the area.

No decision had been made as yet, but Coastguard wanted to ensure Far North boaties had continued access to safe and reliable radio coverage.

Boaties could also use VHF channel 16 for trip reports and requests for help, which would be passed on to Coastguard if needed.

In 2025, Hall was named a Local Hero medallist in the New Zealander of the Year Awards, and was presented with a Te Tohu Tutuki/Lifetime Achievement Award by the Far North District Council.

Independent, volunteer-run Far North Radio and Sea Rescue received no direct government funding. Member subscriptions, sponsorship and fundraising were its main sources of income.

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

A proposal to run a floating sauna in a popular Te Anau reserve has gone up in steam in the face of public backlash.

The plan was for people to sweat it out on a floating pontoon on Lake Henry with the option to finish with a cold plunge.

Floating Sauna Limited first applied for a licence to occupy in Ivon Wilson Park under the Reserves Act back in 2024 – it was granted a resource consent in February.

The Southland District Council spent hours discussing the many concerns residents raised at a meeting on Wednesday.

In the busy tourist town of Te Anau, Diana Zadravec said Ivon Wilson Park was a welcome patch of tranquility

“We really appreciate to have one space in town that is not commercialised, that is not pre-dominantly for tourism,” she said.

She and others have been fighting to keep the floating sauna from setting up shop on the lake at its heart.

“It’s just the place you can go and just walk and have quiet and have peace, and it’s just incredible. There’s this little lake in the middle that’s like the jewel in it.”

The company’s application said the saunas would create a new way to appreciate the park without compromising the enjoyment of the wider reserve and it would provide a year round opportunity for residents and visitors to “provide for their health and well-being”.

Earlier this year, council received 210 submissions on the planned sauna – 170 were against it and 37 backed the proposal.

Councillors considered those points of view at Wednesday’s meeting, with councillor Matt Wilson saying residents had ensured their voices were heard.

“Lake Henry is only this big. There’s three public platforms and one out of three of them would be commercialised so that sentiment from the submissions, I think, really does need to stand,” he said.

Many residents did not want to see a business on a lake they treasured, he said.

“The acknowledgement that Te Anau’s got a strong tourism economy but the park was cited as a space where locals could step away from the commercial tourism and go to a local space that wasn’t commercialised.”

Councillor Jaspreet Boparai agreed.

“Multiple people said that the jetty’s the first place we head to when we visit the park,” she said.

A resource consent for the saunas was granted in February.

But councillor Don Byars said that should not mean the community’s environmental concerns were discounted, especially as the saunas were wood-fired.

“Heating saunas to accommodate 160-something people (a day), I would have thought that on balance that there is going to be an effect of smoke in that park. I don’t see how you can rule that out,” he said.

When it came to decision time, no one backed the proposal and it was declined.

Diana Zadravec said it was the right call to make.

“I think it was never a question of whether the community supported a sauna project, it was just not the right location for it,” she said.

“I was really impressed with the robustness of the discussion that was held by the council. It was a very thorough and long discussion about it.”

A floating sauna on Lake Henry might be off the cards, but some locals hope the idea will not lose steam – just find somewhere else to go.

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

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

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today outlined the need to secure New Zealand’s future in an increasingly volatile world, focusing on economic resilience, energy security, defence, international relationships and disciplined economic management.  

“We can’t control the storm, but we can secure New Zealand’s future within it,” Mr Luxon says. 

Speaking to BusinessNZ ahead of Budget 2026, Mr Luxon said New Zealand had for decades relied on a world order that had become unstable and unpredictable.  

“For too long we’ve assumed our location protects us, that an ocean and a quiet reputation are enough. They aren’t. Geography gives us time, but it doesn’t give us immunity.

“This is the world New Zealand must now navigate – not with fear, but with clear eyes and a willingness to make the tough choices that will allow our country to achieve its massive potential.”

The Prime Minister set out the Government’s focus on strengthening energy security, securing trade relationships across the Indo-Pacific, lifting defence capability and maintaining social cohesion in a more uncertain world.  

“We can’t have prosperity – more jobs, more opportunity, and higher wages for hard working Kiwis – without security.”  

Mr Luxon also said global turmoil reinforced the importance of responsible economic management and fiscal discipline ahead of Budget 2026.  

“We are getting the books in order while continuing to invest in the essentials – health, education, defence, law and order, and infrastructure. That requires ongoing reprioritisation, because the alternative is more borrowing or higher taxes – and ultimately a weaker economy.”

The Prime Minister confirmed the Government remains committed to returning the books to surplus by 2028/29 and putting debt on a downward trajectory towards 40 per cent of GDP.

He also confirmed that net operating spending on new initiatives in the Budget will total $2.1 billion – about $300 million less than the $2.4 billion allowance set in December. 

“Small countries can only live on credit for so long. Between 2017 and 2023 Government debt blew out by $120 billion, but eventually the bill must be paid to ensure we aren’t heaping higher taxes or larger debt on future generations. 

“Being able to withstand international shocks depends on the size of the buffers you have. Budget 2026 will help rebuild those buffers to restore New Zealand’s financial security.”

MIL OSI