Author: MIL-OSI Publisher

The collapse of after-hours and emergency care in Upper Hutt is a warning sign for the rest of New Zealand unless the underlying problems facing general practice are urgently addressed, says the General Practice Owners Association (GenPro).

“The situation in Upper Hutt as reported by media is the canary in the coal mine for general practice,” says Dr Angus Chambers, Chair of GenPro. The Lower North Island city of 47,500 people currently has no hospital, no urgent or after-hours medical service, and a severe shortage of GPs.

Residents are forced to travel to already overcrowded emergency departments in Lower Hutt for even basic treatments.
 
“Upper Hutt residents are bearing the brunt of a national healthcare crisis,” Dr Chambers says. “The same lack of access to urgent and after-hours care is now emerging across New Zealand.”

Daytime GP appointments are increasingly difficult to secure, pushing up demand for urgent care. Yet providing urgent and after-hours services is becoming financially and operationally unsustainable due to:

Unsociable working hours and difficulty attracting staff;
Ongoing GP shortages and burnout;
Competition from heavily subsidised telehealth providers.

“Providing urgent care has become unviable for many clinics,” says Dr Chambers. “At the heart of the problem is a funding model that simply doesn’t reflect the real cost of running general practice and after-hours services.”

He warns that too few doctors are choosing to train or stay in general practice. Many are retiring early or moving overseas, leading to closures and cutbacks nationwide — as seen in Upper Hutt in 2022 when the local after-hours clinic shut its doors.

Dr Chambers acknowledges recent steps by the Government, including increased patient subsidies, modernising the funding model, and new funding for urgent and after-hours services.

“These are positive moves,” he says, “but they’re not enough to reverse years of underinvestment. Without bold, sustained action, we’ll see more communities facing the same crisis as Upper Hutt.”

“Telehealth is part of the solution, but not a panacea,” Dr Chambers notes. “Patients overwhelmingly prefer face-to-face consultations — and for many conditions, especially involving young children, that’s what provides the safest and most effective care.”
 
GenPro is urging the Government to increase funding for both accident-related care under ACC and general health care under Te Whatu Ora, ensuring it reflects the true costs of running modern general practices and urgent care.

“Adequate, sustainable funding will help retain and attract the GPs New Zealand desperately needs,” says Dr Chambers. “If we don’t act now, Upper Hutt won’t be the last community to have restricted local health care.”

5 November 2025 – “Financial stability risks remain higher than in recent years”, says Reserve Bank Governor Christian Hawkesby in releasing the Financial Stability Report this morning.

Fragmentation of global trade and finance, and ongoing uncertainty continue to present risks. Elevated global equity valuations, in areas such as tech stocks, and growing government debt levels in many advanced economies are also vulnerabilities. As a small open economy, New Zealand would be exposed to any impacts on global economic activity or volatility in financial markets.

“Underperformance in parts of the New Zealand economy such as retail and hospitality is creating challenging conditions for households and businesses. Loan defaults have picked up, although they remain low compared to during the Global Financial Crisis. Lower interest rates and high commodity prices are supporting some sectors, including agriculture,” explains Mr Hawkesby.

Banks remain well placed to manage the current uncertainty. Strong lending standards, including loan-to-value limits, have helped to restrict the amount of high-risk lending in the system. As demonstrated by our recent stress test, capital buffers would allow banks to cope with a significant worsening of the economy, while continuing to provide credit to support any recovery.

“To promote a resilient financial system that balances stability and depositor protection with competition and efficiency, we are currently assessing feedback on proposals for key capital settings and getting input from international experts. We intend to announce a decision in December.

“We are also closely monitoring impacts from the introduction of the Depositor Compensation Scheme in July. Some non-bank deposit takers have seen deposit inflows as customers spread their money to maximise coverage and returns,” Mr Hawkesby said.

In the insurance sector, property insurers have benefited from relatively few significant claims events and improved conditions in global reinsurance markets.

Health insurers, however, are facing significant growth in claims costs. This is resulting in operating losses and driving up customer premiums, as insurers look to restore margins.

“Results from our 2024 Cyber Capability survey show that regulated entities report they are generally aligned to our guidance on cyber resilience. However, there is room for improvement, with cyber and operational risks remaining focus areas of our supervisory work,” Mr Hawkesby said.

More information

November 2025 Financial Stability Report: https://govt.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=bd316aa7ee4f5679c56377819&id=a359d486cc&e=f3c68946f8

Reserve Bank to ease LVR restrictions: https://govt.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=bd316aa7ee4f5679c56377819&id=aeb7f765d7&e=f3c68946f8

See our recent bulletin outlining findings from our 2025 Bank Stress Test: https://govt.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=bd316aa7ee4f5679c56377819&id=b8c8906040&e=f3c68946f8

Reaction from Cindy Baxter, chair, Kiwis Against Seabed Mining, reaction to the government's announced plans to change the Fast Track Approvals Act.

“This is a fundamental undermining of democracy.

“On behalf of tens of thousands of Kiwis, we have opposed destructive seabed mining for 20 years.  The idea that we are ‘stalling progress’ simply because we may appeal is absurd. The Government wants to lock the public out entirely, but the EPA panels are doing their job thoroughly, despite the constraints already placed on them.”

“Wannabe seabed miners Trans Tasman Resources knows its application is full of holes: it hasn't done its homework. It needs Shane Jones to intervene in order to get this destructive project over the line.”

Dunedin City property owners will soon receive new three-yearly rating valuations by post.

Updated valuations have been prepared for all 57,395 properties in the district by independent valuers Quotable Value (QV) on behalf of Dunedin City Council. They reflect the likely price a property would have sold for on 1 June 2025, excluding chattels.

The total rateable value for the district is now $48,862 billion, down 0.1%, with the land value of those properties now $24,472 billion, a decrease of 4.8%.This reflects a downturn in the market since the district’s last revaluation on 1 July 2022.

Residential properties
Following the nationwide peak of late 2021, Dunedin’s residential home values began to decrease during 2022, bottoming out in mid-2023, with values declining by approximately 6% during that period.

Since then, there’s been a slight recovery, with the market remaining relatively flat, decreasing by less than 1% in the 12 months to the end of June. Some downward pressure remained at the new rating revaluation effective date of 1 June 2025, with August QV House Price Index data showing an average further -0.7% change in the three months after 1 June.

The most active part of the market is first-home buyers, driven by the sub-$600,000 segment. Investors have slowly returned on the back of increasing rents.

Listings rose in late 2024 but began to decline from March 2025. Sales volumes are up 15.6% on the same period in 2024. Overall, we consider the market to be entering a stable period of supply and demand.

Overall, residential values decreased by an average of -2.63% from July 1 2022 to June 1 2025. The average home value is now $664,651, while the corresponding average land value has decreased by 6.37% to $340,650.

“Property values have remained relatively stable within Dunedin City over the past three years and values have generally had minimal changes since the 2022 rating revaluation,” said QV Urban Valuations Manager, Tim Gibson.

“Properties that are in good condition, and modern dwellings, are seeing more demand and growth than the average property in Dunedin. While poorly maintained or more dated properties are likely to have seen larger decreases,” he said.

“Land value changes were also varied, with increases in areas where townhouse development is still occurring and in prime locations such as Māori Hill, Roslyn, and St Clair. Conversely, areas like South Dunedin and some particularly steep-contour locations saw greater-than-average reductions,” Mr Gibson said.
Lifestyle Properties
The lifestyle market has largely mirrored the residential market, with capital value (CV) decreases of 5 to 10% relative to 2022 levels, and values over the past 18 months have remained steady. Quality modern properties remain sought after, although with longer marketing periods. Older properties requiring maintenance and modernisation are being discounted by purchasers in line with building costs.

The lifestyle vacant-land market has been subdued in recent years, with very low building activity. By extension, there is minimal appetite for new lifestyle developments and subdivisions. The cost of earthworks and service connections is also a key factor. The average capital value of an improved lifestyle property has decreased by 4.5% to $1,102,378, while the corresponding land value for a lifestyle property decreased by 5.7% to $658,385.
Commercial and Industrial Properties
There are 2,676 commercial and industrial assessments within Dunedin City, with commercial and industrial property capital values showing average increases of 1.20% and 4.30% respectively since QV’s last revaluation in 2022. During the same period, land values increased by an average of 1.70% for commercial and 2.0% for industrial, compared to their 2022 land values. The Central Business District retail and office sector has experienced higher vacancy levels, along with a higher Official Cash Rate than in 2022. This has led to higher-than-expected yields for investors and minimal rental growth. Overall, this has resulted in a slight decrease in commercial capital values of -1.50% and land values of -2.0%.

Suburban commercial properties are faring better, with minimal vacancies and stronger rental growth observed from a lower base level. The greatest increases in capital values were noted in Mosgiel (+12.3%) and Green Island (+14.0%).

Industrial property remains investors’ preferred choice, with some strong sales for development sites noted along Hillside Road and good sales in Dukes Road North showing yields of 6.25%–6.50%. Sales volumes overall have been at lower levels than during the 2022 revaluation period.
Pastoral and Dairy Properties
Pastoral and dairy property values remain close to 2022 levels with minimal change. Low sales volumes, high-cost structures, and fluctuating commodity prices have been key factors over the past three years. Combined with ongoing legislative uncertainty, the market has not seen value growth.
Throughout 2025, rural confidence improved with higher commodity prices; however, this has not yet translated into increases in property sale prices. A key reason is the elevated cost of livestock in going-concern purchases, and farmers are acutely aware that commodity prices can drop as rapidly as they have risen.
What are rating valuations?
Rating valuations are usually carried out on all New Zealand properties every three years to help local councils assess rates for the following three-year period. They are not intended for other purposes, such as raising finance with banks or as insurance valuations.

They reflect the likely selling price of a property at the effective revaluation date, which was 1 June 2025, excluding the value of chattels. Any market changes since that time will not be included in the new rating valuations, which often means a sale price achieved today will be different from the new rating valuation.

Rating valuations are calculated using a detailed process that uses all relevant property sales in the area. A large number of properties will also be physically assessed, particularly those that have been issued building consents in the last three years.

The updated rating valuations are then independently audited by the Office of the Valuer General to ensure they meet rigorous quality standards, before the new rating valuations are confirmed and posted to property owners.
New rating values will be posted to property owners after 29 October 2025. If owners do not agree with their rating valuation, they may object by 5 December 2025.

If you’d like more information on rating valuations, head to www.qv.co.nz/about/about-rating-valuations/#, or for details on how to object to your new rating valuation, go to www.qv.co.nz/services/rating-valuations/object-rating/

Many New Zealanders take paracetamol outside the recommended dose and aren't aware of its high potential for toxicity.

Many New Zealanders take more paracetamol than recommended, because they perceive it is safe, when in fact it is a leading cause of acute liver failure, new research shows.
 
Despite its wide availability, little has been known about the New Zealand public’s understanding of paracetamol’s safe use, so researchers from Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland studied New Zealanders’ attitudes to paracetamol and practices. See New Zealand Journal of Primary Health Care. (ref. https://connectsci.au/hc/article/doi/10.1071/HC25060/230062/Paracetamol-associated-knowledge-attitudes-and?searchresult=1 )
 
“People think it's safe, which it is, if you take it at the right dose; but, because of the way it's broken down by the body, when you take more than the recommended dose, the liver gets overwhelmed and can be damaged,” says Dr Samantha Marsh, a senior research fellow in the Department of General Practice and Primary Care at the University of Auckland.
 
The study revealed significant gaps in understanding, particularly in identifying paracetamol-containing products and adhering to dosing guidelines.
 
The recommended dosage is two tablets every four hours up to a limit of eight tablets per day.
 
However, misuse is common with a third of New Zealanders commonly taking more than two tablets at once and 11 percent exceeding the daily limit, the study finds.
 
“People say, ‘I take more than two tablets, because I am a big person,’ but it doesn’t work like that,” Marsh says.
 
The study was based on an online survey of almost two-thousand people who broadly represented the makeup of the New Zealand population.
 
Two-thirds of respondents (70 percent) agreed that paracetamol was a very safe drug and almost as many (65 percent) thought that you can buy paracetamol from the supermarket because it is safe.
 
Many people (32 percent) will ask their doctor for a paracetamol prescription, even when they went for something else.
 
A similar proportion (27 percent) have asked for a paracetamol prescription then shared it with friends and family.
 
Another finding was that around half of respondents struggle to identify paracetamol in common cold and flu products, like Lemsip or Coldral, which could mean many more people are taking more paracetamol than they should, but they aren’t even aware of it
 
Marsh would like to see stickers on the front of such products with a warning – “Do not take with paracetamol” or “contains paracetamol”.
 
There was strong support for greater regulation.
 
While most considered it safe, more than half (55 percent) thought there should be restrictions on how much you can buy at once. A third thought there should be restriction on where you can buy it.
 
Regulation has had mixed success overseas, Marsh says. “There needs to be more research to ascertain what the best way to regulate is,” she says.
 
A particularly at-risk group is children, according to data from the National Poisons Centre.

About 60 percent to 65 percent of calls to the New Zealand National Poisons Centre relate to children under five. Paracetamol is the most common substance involved in poisoning in this age group.
The New Zealand National Poisons Centre receives about 1000 calls a year about paracetamol poisonings. About half of these calls involve children helping themselves to medication.

Marsh says parents need to keep track of how much paracetamol, often as Pamol, they have given their children, for example by writing it down where the other parent can see.
 
With measles cases on the rise in New Zealand, many parents may reach for paracetamol to ease fever and discomfort.
 
“It’s important to remember that paracetamol is safe only when used at the correct dose – even a small error can cause harm,” Marsh says.
 
“When a child is very unwell, it’s easy for tired or stressed parents to lose track of doses, particularly in the middle of the night, so keeping a written record can help prevent harm.”
 
Two-thirds of people said their doctors and pharmacists had never spoken to them about the dangers of taking too much paracetamol.
 
There needs to be an education campaign on when and how to take paracetamol, Marsh says.
 
“When you get paracetamol from either the doctor or a pharmacist, they should always remind you that you must take it according to the package.”
 

Paracetamol fact sheet: https://healthify.nz/assets/Brochures/paracetamol-english-factsheet.pdf