Author: MIL-OSI Publisher

40 years of the Rich List reveals just how much of our wealth in Aotearoa New Zealand is increasingly accumulating at the very top, while ordinary people see their living standards and opportunities decline – the Better Taxes for a Better Future Campaign says this inequality highlights the pressing need for tax changes.

“NBR released its 40th anniversary Rich List today, touting that in that time the collective wealth of the richest people in New Zealand has increased 23-times over, from $5.3bn to $129bn. But this massive accumulation of wealth by a few at the very top has occurred while child poverty rates have tripled,” said Kate Stone, spokesperson for the Better Taxes for a Better Future Campaign.

“In the early 1980s the average child poverty rate in New Zealand was about 8%, by 2025 that rate had risen to 21.5%*. That is 248,500 children living in poverty. And for every child living in poverty, their parents, their whānau are living in poverty too.”

“Not only does this represent significant deprivation for many whānau in Aotearoa, but it also represents a significant cost to our society and economy – estimates from the Institute for Democratic and Economic Analysis (IDEA) indicate the cost of child poverty is equivalent to 3.4% of our GDP or $14bn a year,” said Stone.

“So while members of the Rich List might claim they're creating wider economic benefits, it is clear that rapidly increasing wealth inequality in Aotearoa New Zealand has significant costs. As IDEA points out, the costs manifest in weaker educational results, poor physical and mental health, higher social welfare and justice system costs.”

“Wealth in and of itself is not the problem, the starkly unequal distribution of our wealth as a country is a really serious problem. But there are practical steps we can take to address this issue,” said Stone.

“Right now ordinary people are contributing through taxes on their wages and salaries to funding the things that support people to stay out of poverty and succeed in life – education, healthcare, housing and so on. But those who make money from their accumulated wealth, are not paying their fair share because in New Zealand we tax wealth very lightly, if at all. As a result we are not gathering enough revenue to fund these essential services.”

“If we look around the world we can see that there are sensible tax changes we could make to bring us in line with countries we like to compare ourselves to and gather the revenue we need to give our people the best chance in life. These changes include a comprehensive capital gains tax, a wealth transfer tax on large gifts and inheritances, taxing the accumulated wealth of the super rich and sizable trusts,” Stone points out.

“Rebalancing our tax system so we're taxing wealth fairly, and not just work, is critical to generating the revenue we need to fund the things that matter. And it is critical to tackling inequality and the concentration of our wealth in the hands of a few, undermining our living standards, social cohesion and democracy.”

Better Taxes for a Better Future Campaign Manager

*Note: That is taking the more conservative measure of children in households below the 50% median income after household costs – the numbers are even more stark if expanded to include those below 60% median income, see: Boston (2013); StatsNZ (2026).

The Better Taxes for a Better Future Campaign is a coalition of over 20 organisations led by Tax Justice Aotearoa.

New Zealand’s largest industrial landowner is set to invest over $110 million in a rooftop solar and battery storage rollout it says will lower production costs for local and export firms while reducing pressure on the national electricity grid at peak times.

Over the next decade, the initiative will see up to 170,000 solar panels installed across the group’s industrial rooftops, creating up to 85MW of rooftop solar capacity, along with battery storage systems to store surplus generation.

Calder Stewart has more than 900 hectares of zoned industrial land across Auckland, Canterbury, Otago and Southland, giving it one of the country’s largest platforms for distributed energy generation.

Its energy arm, Calder Stewart Energy, has already installed solar systems across 17 industrial sites, covering over 152,000m2 of roof space and capable of generating up to 3.6MW at peak output.

The systems are expected to generate about 4.2GWh of electricity a year, equivalent to the annual power use of more than 500 homes.

Sam Stewart, Calder Stewart director, says sector-wide adoption of rooftop solar across the country’s industrial sites could save millions of dollars in avoided transmission and distribution-related costs, while reducing the need for additional grid investment.

He says network losses typically add around 5% to 10% to the amount of electricity users pay for, meaning industrial businesses are effectively paying for more power than they consume onsite.

“If your meter says you have used 100 kilowatt hours, you may actually pay for 105 because of the losses across the network.

“By generating power above where it is used, we can take pressure off the lines network and reduce the cost of moving electricity across the system,” he says.

Stewart says solar will now be integrated as standard into the company’s new industrial developments, while the bulk of existing buildings are expected to be retrofitted within the next 12 months.

He says reducing the delivered cost of power could help lower the cost of producing goods for local and export markets, particularly for manufacturers, logistics firms and other energy-intensive occupiers.

“Every percentage point matters when businesses are operating in competitive markets,” Stewart says.

“If we can help reduce one of the core operating costs for industrial occupiers, that ultimately supports lower-cost production, stronger margins and a more competitive export sector.”

Stewart says the company’s move into rooftop solar reflects a shift in the way industrial buildings are expected to operate as New Zealand businesses electrify transport, heating and production systems.

He says industrial roofs have historically been an underused asset, despite their scale and proximity to large power users.

“We build these buildings and the roof is sitting there unused. The opportunity is to turn that into a productive asset that supports the tenant, supports the grid and creates a long-term return,” he says.

“Our model also avoids some of the land-use tensions associated with large-scale ground-mounted solar by using industrial roof space that would otherwise sit idle.”

Ben Krieble, Calder Stewart Energy manager, says the company’s model allows tenants to access cheaper solar power without needing to fund or own the solar infrastructure themselves.

He says tenants continue to buy power from their normal supplier, but receive a portion of their electricity from the rooftop solar system at a lower cost.

“Because the generation is on the roof, there are no lines charges, no network transmission losses and no levies attached to that portion of the electricity.

“That allows us to undercut the normal retail power cost because we are generating the power where it is being used.”

Krieble says the company can offer longer-term power price certainty, helping industrial businesses manage costs as electricity and lines charges rise.

He says some tenants are being offered power price arrangements of up to 12 years, creating greater certainty for businesses planning around energy-intensive operations.

“It is like fixing a mortgage for a longer term. On the backdrop of rising electricity prices and lines charges, fixing that operational cost line gives businesses more certainty as they plan ahead.”

Krieble says rooftop solar is particularly well suited to industrial property because many tenants operate during daylight hours when solar generation is strongest.

In summer, some sites can generate more electricity than the occupier needs during the day, allowing excess power to be exported to the grid. In winter, solar still contributes to daytime demand, with the tenant drawing the balance from the grid.

Krieble says the economics vary by site, depending on the size of the building, the solar system and the tenant’s energy use.

He says battery storage is the next step in improving the economics of rooftop solar, allowing more of the power generated during the day to be stored and used when demand is higher.

The planned battery rollout would allow more solar power to be used onsite and help reduce demand from the grid during morning and evening peaks.

Stewart says batteries could also play a wider resilience role by reducing pressure on local lines networks during periods of high demand.

“The two peak periods in New Zealand are first thing in the morning and around six o’clock at night. If power has been stored onsite, or batteries have been topped up overnight when electricity is cheaper, that power can be used instead of drawing from the grid at peak times,” he says.

“That has benefits beyond the individual occupier. It helps reduce stress on the national grid and local networks.”

Krieble says once battery storage is added at scale, the company’s rooftop solar network could become a form of virtual power plant.

“When you have distributed generation and batteries across a portfolio, it is not just a generation asset. It can provide services to the network, reduce demand when the grid is under pressure and keep buildings operating from stored power,” he says.

The company’s solar strategy is being integrated into its property development model, with new buildings designed from the outset to support energy generation.

Krieble says this avoids the need for expensive structural upgrades later and makes solar a standard part of the design process.

“The design philosophy is to include the ability to install solar from the beginning. If you have to go back and retrofit structural upgrades, that can become expensive. By designing for solar at the start, it becomes part of the building,” he says.

The rooftop solar programme forms part of a broader energy strategy for the company, which is also exploring standalone utility-scale wind generation across parts of its wider land development platform.

Stewart says more New Zealand commercial and industrial property owners need to start considering onsite generation as part of their long-term strategy.

“Property as an industry has spent decades assuming it can just connect to the grid and get the power it needs,” he says.

“That may still be possible, but businesses should not assume they will be paying the same price forever.”

BUNIA, Democratic Republic of the Congo, 15 June 2026 — One month after the Ebola disease outbreak was declared in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) warns that despite the recent scale-up in the response, major gaps in surveillance, diagnosis, contact tracing and community engagement continue to undermine efforts to bring the outbreak under control. A response that is proportionate to the scale of the outbreak is urgently needed.

“One month on, the Ebola disease outbreak is outpacing the response effort,” says Kate White, emergency medical coordinator for MSF in DRC. “No one knows the true scale or exactly where the disease is spreading in DRC. What we do know is that most treatment centres in Ituri province are overwhelmed; many of our patients arrive at a late stage of the disease, and the majority were never identified or monitored as contacts before seeking care.”

The disease is spreading across Ituri, North Kivu, and South Kivu provinces in eastern DRC, with Ituri accounting for nearly 95 per cent of the cases. The response, led by the Congolese Ministry of Health and supported by several international partners, is being put in place in the affected areas. Unfortunately, insecurity makes reaching certain communities difficult, and even in more stable areas, efforts to detect cases, test patients, identify contacts, and monitor transmission are insufficient. In neighbouring Uganda, 19 confirmed cases have also been reported by the health authorities.    

Congolese health authorities officially reported more than 650 confirmed cases and over 130 deaths. However, MSF warns that these figures likely represent only part of the picture.

“Testing remains one of the most significant weaknesses in the response, despite recent improvements in laboratory capacity and the arrival of hundreds of mobile test kits in eastern DRC, designed specifically for the Bundibugyo virus,” says White. “Many communities, especially those affected by ongoing insecurity, still have limited access to these kits, while treatment centres continue to face significant delays in receiving laboratory results. Without faster and more widely available testing, we will struggle to detect cases early enough to contain the outbreak.”

In areas where the outbreak is unfolding, millions of people have already been living with decades of active conflict, repeated displacement, chronic gaps in healthcare, and a limited humanitarian response. These conditions severely hamper response efforts and create an environment in which the disease can spread more easily.

In Ituri, where MSF has been present for decades, we have observed fear and mistrust among communities, with some being wary of the sudden arrival of Ebola response teams.

“Setting up activities and explaining the disease is not enough to build community trust –   people’s concerns need to be listened to, and communities should help shape the response,” says Frederic Lai Manantsoa, emergency coordinator for MSF in DRC.

For many communities, the outbreak is just one of several health emergencies that have been inadequately addressed for years. Maintaining access to routine healthcare is just as important as controlling the outbreak itself to save lives.

“Pregnant women still need maternal care, children still need vaccinations, and patients still need treatment for malaria and cholera,” says White. “Maintaining access to routine healthcare also helps support Ebola disease surveillance among communities.”

Although the number of confirmed cases reported in North Kivu and South Kivu is relatively low, they face many of the same challenges around surveillance and testing. In North Kivu, there is only one laboratory to test blood samples, and they take several days to process. Since there is no automated system for sending them to healthcare facilities, it can sometimes take almost a week to get results.

Alongside direct patient care, MSF is also sending teams to more remote and insecure areas to strengthen detection and response capacity where alerts have been reported.

 “This outbreak can still be brought under control, but the window for action is narrowing,” says  Lai Manantsoa. “Diagnostics, surveillance, access to care, and community engagement must be urgently strengthened. We urge authorities, and all stakeholders involved in the response, to do everything possible to facilitate the movement of health workers and supplies, and enable a response that matches the scale of this crisis.”

MSF Ebola Disease Outbreak Response: Since the beginning of the outbreak, MSF teams in Ituri, North Kivu and South Kivu have established Ebola treatment centres in Bunia, Mongbwalu, Komanda, Goma, Bukavu, and Lwiro, and we are preparing more isolation and treatment facilities across the three provinces. MSF has reinforced infection prevention and control measures in the health facilities we support. We are also carrying out a wide range of critical activities, including engaging with communities, supporting surveillance activities, training health workers in infection prevention and control, supporting on safe and dignified burials, supplying health facilities with equipment and medicines, and helping to ensure continuity of essential healthcare services beyond the Ebola disease response. Hundreds of tonnes of equipment and medicines have been shipped from Kinshasa and abroad, and nearly 600 staff are currently involved in MSF's Ebola disease outbreak response.

MSF activities in DRC: In parallel with our support for the Ebola outbreak response, MSF remains committed to providing impartial medical care to people across DRC, where we work in 16 of the country's 26 provinces. Our teams respond to the needs of people affected by conflict, violence, displacement, and disease outbreaks. Key activities include surgical care for the wounded; treatment of malnutrition; HIV and tuberculosis care; reproductive health services; paediatric care; malaria prevention and treatment; disease outbreak prevention, surveillance, and response; and mental health support. Our teams are also currently responding to other preventable disease outbreaks, including cholera and measles.

Link to video material:

• An interview with Australian Kate White, Emergency Medical Coordinator in Ituri, describing the current situation with a focus on the Ebola response in the epicentre, Mongbwalu (in English)  https://media.msf.org/Share/fn6x5bu7y66867f2p3mjyx61s2402gc0 
• An interview with Dr. Maria Mashako, Emergency Medical Coordinator in Ituri, describing the situation with a focus on the fact that Ebola is not the only emergency affecting Ituri (in French) https://media.msf.org/Share/pw4al1u2w081ctt5284od7jm6aue3261 
• Maps of the affected areas :https://media.msf.org/Share/5dqjnc6m5crb13sxs68b5346184qf8jl
• Broll of Ebola activities is available upon request.

MSF is an international, medical, humanitarian organisation that delivers medical care to people in need, regardless of their origin, religion, or political affiliation.  MSF Australia was established in 1995 and is one of 24 international MSF sections committed to delivering medical humanitarian assistance to people in crisis. Every year more than 120 Australians and New Zealanders go on assignment with Médecins Sans Frontières  working as: doctors, midwives, psychologists, laboratory technicians, human resource/finance coordinators, pharmacists, mental health specialists and logisticians. MSF delivers medical care based on need alone and operates independently of government, religion or economic influence and irrespective of race, religion or gender. For more information visit msf.org.au  

·         95% of employers have extended a counteroffer to employees who received external job offers in the last 12 months
·         When the counteroffer was extended, 50% say the employee is still with them, while 37% say the employee left within 12 months and another 8% declined the counteroffer and left
·         43% say counteroffers are a valuable tool to retain talent whilst 30% say they are a short-term fix that rarely solves deeper issues
·         In response to turnover, 48% say they prioritise proactive retention strategies while 28% rely on reactive counteroffers

Auckland, 16 June 2026 – Counteroffers have become a widespread retention tactic in today's competitive hiring market but their effectiveness is under scrutiny.

The 2026 Robert Half Salary Guide reveals 95% of New Zealand employers extended a counteroffer to employees with external job offers in the past year. Yet despite these efforts, more than one in three (37%) of those employees still left within 12 months and 8% declined the counteroffer, raising doubts about whether counteroffers are a long-term solution or just a temporary fix. (ref. https://www.roberthalf.com/nz/en/insights/salary-guide )

Only 1% of employers say they don't offer counteroffers and 4% haven't encountered the need to extend one in the last 12 months.

A quick save or a lasting fix?

Counteroffers continue to play a prominent role in retention strategies. When asked how their organisation views counteroffers in today's competitive job market, employers expressed mixed opinions, highlighting a divide between short-term necessity and long-term effectiveness.

·         43% say they are a valuable tool to retain top talent in a tight market
·         30% say they are a short-term fix that rarely solves deeper issues
·         24% say they are a necessary tactic due to wage competition
·         2% say they avoid counteroffers
·         1% are unsure or have no formal stance

How employers are approaching turnover

When asked which approach their organisation prioritises, 48% say they focus on proactive retention strategies such as career development opportunities, salary reviews, and engagement initiatives to reduce the likelihood of resignations before they happen.

Meanwhile, 28% admit to taking a more reactive approach, relying on counteroffers when valued employees hand in their notice. Another 20% say they use a mix of both, depending on the circumstances, highlighting the fluid nature of retention strategies in today's talent market.

Just 2% of employers say turnover isn't a major concern for their business, and 2% remain unsure.

“Counteroffers can be effective in the short term, but they are rarely a complete solution,” says Megan Alexander, Managing Director at Robert Half. “Compensation may influence an employee's decision to stay initially, but long-term retention is usually driven by broader factors, such as career development, workplace culture and overall engagement. Employers should see counteroffers as a short-term measure, not a replacement for a strong, forward-looking retention strategy.

“With competition for skilled talent remaining high, employers are under pressure to improve retention, but quick fixes like counteroffers rarely solve the root cause of employee turnover. Leading organisations are taking a longer-term approach by investing in career pathways, reviewing pay regularly, and maintaining clear communication to strengthen loyalty before employees are tempted to leave.”

About the research

The study is developed by Robert Half and was conducted online in October 2025 by an independent research company of 250 finance, accounting, and IT and technology hiring managers. Respondents are drawn from a sample of SMEs as well as large private, publicly-listed, and public sector organisations across New Zealand. This survey is part of the international workplace survey, a questionnaire about job trends, talent management, and trends in the workplace.

About Robert Half

Robert Half is the global, specialised talent solutions provider that helps employers find their next great hire and jobseekers uncover their next opportunity. Robert Half offers both contract and permanent placement services, and is the parent company of Protiviti, a global consulting firm.  Robert Half New Zealand has an office in Auckland and the South Island. More information on roberthalf.com/nz.

As the winter power bills start to bite, research by Consumer NZ has found half the nation’s households have stayed loyal to their power provider for at least five years. Loyalty could be costing those customers hundreds of extra dollars each year.

“Essentially, over a million households are probably inadvertently paying a loyalty tax,” says Paul Fuge, who manages Powerswitch, Consumer’s free price-comparison website.

Many people think all power providers charge around the same, but that’s simply not true, Fuge says.

“You could be using the same amount of power as your neighbour but paying much more than them.”

The price a household pays for power varies significantly depending on their provider, plan type and location.

According to Consumer, energy retailers tend to offer their best pricing deals to new customers. Existing customers don’t reap the same benefit from the promotional perks.

Fuge says: “What really gets people fired up is coming to Powerswitch and finding not only could they be getting a better deal with another retailer, but often they could also get a better deal from the retailer they’re already with!

“Too many consumers – especially those that have been with their retailer for a long time – understandably assume their retailer will reward their loyalty and look out for them by letting them know when a better deal comes along. To be fair, some do, but, unfortunately, not all.

“Power prices are already high, up 20% in the past two years alone. Don’t add a loyalty tax on top. The average annual saving for people who switch on Powerswitch is now around $450.”

Bundles need an abundance of caution

Bundles continue to be popular, but Consumer recommends would-be bundlers proceed with caution.

Three in 10 energy customers are on a bundled deal. This means they have multiple services with the same provider.

“A quarter of New Zealanders say bundled deals are important to them when choosing a provider. Similarly, a quarter of people say promotions, such as free electronics or appliances, are an important factor when choosing who to give their custom to,” says Fuge.

“In our experience, people who bundle tend to get tied in with their provider because the barriers to switching appear more complicated. In reality, once your contract is up, a bundle should not be a barrier to switching. You might be paying over the odds for multiple services and could save even more by splitting out your utilities.

“We urge people to do their homework before signing up for a plan with a free appliance. Chances are you will be paying for that appliance through higher-than-average power prices throughout the duration of your fixed-term contract.

“Pay less for power this winter, and make today the day you say no to a loyalty tax.

“It only takes a few minutes to compare power plans and switch for savings on  Powerswitch.org.nz.”

About Consumer

Consumer NZ is an independent, non-profit organisation dedicated to championing and empowering consumers in Aotearoa. Consumer NZ has a reputation for being fair, impartial and providing comprehensive consumer information and advice.