Author: MIL-OSI Publisher

Posted on

Greenpeace – Official documents reveal widespread opposition to Seymour’s Regulatory Standards Bill

Source: Greenpeace

Documents released to Greenpeace Aotearoa under the Official Information Act reveal that both the Ministry for the Environment (MfE) and Treasury have joined the growing list of bodies issuing strong warnings against the Regulatory Standards Bill.
In a scathing assessment dated 20 March, the Ministry for the Environment described the Bill as “deeply problematic” and warned that it “conflicts with the fundamental principles of the environmental management system” and “poses risks to the health, safety, economic, social, and environmental interests of current and future New Zealanders.”
Greenpeace is calling on the Prime Minister to withdraw his support for the Bill.
“This damning official advice confirms what Greenpeace have been warning all along: this Bill represents an unprecedented threat to our environment and to the Government’s ability to respond to the climate crisis,” said Greenpeace spokesperson Gen Toop.
The Treasury, in a separate briefing dated 28 March 2025, warned the Bill “could impose costs on agencies exceeding the potential economic and societal benefit” and “may also have a chilling effect on the development and retention of beneficial regulation.”
“What we’re seeing here is overwhelming opposition to the Bill from the very institutions tasked with upholding good lawmaking, public safety, and environmental stewardship. That’s because the real intent behind David Seymour’s Regulatory Standards bill is to tie the hands of future Governments and impose the ACT party’s far-right neoliberal principles on our democracy.”
“This is a dangerous, undemocratic piece of legislation being pushed through via a backroom coalition deal,” said Toop. “It’s time for the Prime Minister to show some leadership and scrap it.”
MfE and Treasury were both particularly critical of the Bill’s proposed expectation that the government compensate corporations for regulations that affect their property. MfE said it risks “reversing the ‘polluter pays’ principle”, and Treasury stated it “goes further than conventional policy in this area” warning it could lead to delays and increased costs on infrastructure projects.
“It’s a simple principle: polluters should pay – not be paid by the public,” said Toop. “But this Bill would flip that on its head, allowing corporations to expect taxpayer compensation for basic environmental and human health protections,” says Toop.
“It is the role of the Government to govern for the collective well-being of the people it serves, and that includes protecting the environment and the climate on which we all depend. This Bill up

Posted on

Transport – Funding to speed up market demand for New Zealand’s recycled tyres

Source: Tyrewise

Innovators, investors and change makers are being called on to put their best ideas forward as a substantial investment in funding becomes available to develop the market for tyre-derived recycled rubber material, and create economic value from Aotearoa New Zealand’s worn-out tyres.

Tyrewise, the country’s regulated product stewardship scheme for end-of-life tyres, is looking for initial expressions of interest in its inaugural grant funding round. Expressions of interest are open in this first round from 1 July to 29 July 2025. Up to $7 million will be available over three rounds in a financial year.

Tyrewise works with the whole industry to ensure tyres are collected for recycling or repurposing. The scheme is achieving a high collection rate and is now focussing on developing high-value, best use recycling and repurposing solutions for the tyres, says Mark Gilbert, Chair of Auto Stewardship New Zealand that governs the Tyrewise scheme.

“To enable this goal, Tyrewise is providing contestable funding to help develop end markets for the recycled rubber material from tyres in New Zealand,” Mark says.

Tyrewise has a goal of 80%, of our end-of-life tyres to be recycled and repurposed into new products in New Zealand by its fourth year of operation, and over 90% by its sixth year.

“Tyres are a versatile resource that can be turned into many products or used in a number of processes, such as roading, playground surfacing, as a substitute for aggregate, or even earthquake-proofing buildings. The market in New Zealand isn’t currently big enough though to take all the recycled rubber from tyres which are collected, so the aim of the fund is to stimulate the development of new products and markets here says Adele Rose, Tyrewise Scheme Managers, 3R Group”

The fund is structured into three main ‘streams’ – research and development, emerging markets, and community development. “This allows funding to back projects across the spectrum of the typical phases of product development,” Adele says.

To be eligible for funding, applicants must be a registered New Zealand business, research institute, or university, ideally have been operating for at least 12 months, and have satisfactory environmental, safety and financial performance, among other criteria.

“This is a call for expressions of interest. Once we have assessed them, we will ask for a more formal, detailed application,” Adele says. “Kiwis are innovators by nature, so we’re excited to see what ideas are out there to create a circular economy for tyres here at home.”

To learn more about the fund visit https://www.tyrewise.co.nz/expressions-of-interest/

Tyrewise is Aotearoa’s first regulated product stewardship scheme. It minimises the environmental impacts of end-of-life tyres by working with the whole tyre industry to ensure tyres are collected from registered partners so they can be recycled and repurposed into other useful products.  

The scheme is accredited by the Ministry for the Environment, and is operated by Auto Stewardship New Zealand, a not-for-profit trust which acts as the Product Stewardship Organisation. It is funded by the tyre stewardship fee charged on imported tyres.

Posted on

Universities – Can reading the news make you richer? – UoA

Source: University of Auckland (UoA)

Researchers have uncovered a novel way to forecast stock market volatility using daily business news.

Business news can do more than report on financial markets; it can predict where they're headed.

That's the finding from a new study by University of Auckland finance lecturer Dr Justin J. Case and Queensland University of Technology's Professor Adam Clements, who show that utilising business news articles, specifically those published in The Wall Street Journal, can more accurately forecast stock market volatility than other commonly used methods.

“Volatility is a common proxy for financial risk,” says Dr Case. “By accurately forecasting this risk, investors can take strategic steps to protect their investments before market shifts occur.”

Using more than 1.1 million Wall Street Journal articles published between January 2000 and December 2022, the researchers analysed the language used in business reporting and linked it to fluctuations in the S&P 500 – the world's most-watched equities index.

Their study shows that news text offers a forward-looking, real-time lens on market conditions, delivering more accurate signals about risk than the retrospective data typically used in economic forecasting.

The researchers applied a machine learning algorithm to news articles, sorting the text into topics and analysing these alongside high-frequency data on the S&P 500 index.

“We're looking at the world's biggest equities market, and the biggest business newspaper in the US, and asking whether the news explains stock market volatility,” says Case.

“We find that news coverage is strongly related to stock market volatility movements. And by analysing business news articles, we can identify both the topics and specific events influencing stock market volatility.”

Additionally, the researchers found incorporating their news-based measures into benchmark volatility forecasting models reduced forecast errors by over 40 percent at the monthly horizon. They also found significant reductions in forecast errors at weekly horizons.

To show how this could be applied in practice, the researchers used their news-enhanced forecasts in a simulated investment strategy. The strategy saw more invested when the market was expected to be stable and less when it was expected to be volatile. This approach, utilising the news, improved investment performance, with risk-adjusted returns higher than both a traditional buy-and-hold strategy and a strategy using standard volatility forecasts.

“If you're able to forecast volatility more accurately with our news measures, you can decrease your risk exposure, and therefore, increase your portfolio performance.”

Among the news topics the researchers analysed, stock market activity, financial institutions, economic shocks, and government policy were most related to stock market volatility.

“Interestingly, we also identify several news topics associated with a less volatile stock market. In particular, news attention to corporate mergers and acquisitions is associated with reduced volatility. This suggests that increased mergers and acquisitions news coincides with greater confidence in economic conditions.”

The study also finds that sports news is related to a less volatile market.

“This could be interpreted as a distraction effect, where increased attention to non-economic news coincides with lower stock market volatility,” says Case.

Finally, the researchers explore whether the large language model, ChatGPT, can forecast the impact of news on market volatility.

While ChatGPT shows some ability to extract information about volatility from news headlines, the study finds its forecasting power is inferior to the researchers' approach at longer horizons.

“Our method allows for a more granular analysis of news text, capturing term frequencies that provide more nuanced volatility-relevant information.”

In contrast, he says ChatGPT's classification framework is restricted to a coarse categorisation of news headlines.

Read the paper: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=5207116

Posted on

Economy – Depositor Compensation Scheme now in effect – Reserve Bank

Source: Reserve Bank of New Zealand

1 July 2025 – The Depositor Compensation Scheme (DCS) came into effect today, protecting depositors for up to $100,000 in the unlikely event that their bank or other licensed deposit taker fails.  

Licensed deposit takers include banks, credit unions, building societies and finance companies who take retail deposits in New Zealand and are supervised by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand.  

The scheme covers money held in standard banking products, including transaction, savings, notice, and term deposit accounts. It protects individuals, businesses and trusts, and applies automatically from today.    

The scheme is established under the Deposit Takers Act 2023, and the Reserve Bank will manage and administer the scheme. It is fully funded by levies on industry.

Kerry Beaumont, Director of Enforcement and Resolution at the Reserve Bank says, “While deposit taker failures are rare, the DCS gives depositors extra peace of mind that their standard banking products are protected. This type of protection already exists in many other countries and contributes to the stability of New Zealand's financial system.”  

The scheme does not cover investments like KiwiSaver, bonds, shares, and similar products. It also does not protect against frauds or scams.  

Banks, credit unions, building societies and finance companies who take retail deposits will list their DCS-protected products on their websites so depositors can check if their accounts are covered. Information about the scheme is also available on the Reserve Bank website.
 

More information

You can find a list of all deposit takers that offer DCS-covered deposits on the RBNZ's website here: https://govt.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=bd316aa7ee4f5679c56377819&id=7fb4bc651b&e=f3c68946f8

Posted on

Annual number of home consents down 3.8 percent – Stats NZ media and information release: Building consents issued: May 2025

Annual number of home consents down 3.8 percent – media release

1 July 2025

There were 33,530 new homes consented in Aotearoa New Zealand in the year ended May 2025, down 3.8 percent compared with the year ended May 2024, according to figures released by Stats NZ today.

“The record for the annual number of new homes consented was 51,015 in the year ended May 2022. While consent numbers fell sharply after that peak, they have levelled out over the past year,” economic indicators spokesperson Michelle Feyen said.

In the year ended May 2025, there were 17,852 multi-unit homes consented, down 8.6 percent compared with the year ended May 2024. There were 15,678 stand-alone houses consented, up 2.4 percent over the same period.

Visit our website to read this news story and information release and to download CSV files:

Posted on

Banking – ASB offers relief to upper South Island customers affected by severe weather

Source: ASB

ASB will support customers affected by severe weather across Nelson, Tasman and Marlborough with tailored packages, including suspension of home loan repayments and emergency overdraft facilities for personal, business and rural customers.

ASB Executive General Manager for Personal Banking Adam Boyd says ASB’s team is here to help any customers who require financial assistance or support.

“We understand this is a really hard time for the region, as communities focus on the huge clean-up effort, while preparing for the potential of further heavy rain later this week. To take some pressure off, we’re activating our relief packages and our teams are ready to talk through practical ways we can help customers facing weather damage to their homes, businesses or farms.”

ASB’s emergency assistance can be offered to personal, farming and business customers on a case-by-case basis, including:

 

  • Option to suspend home loan principal repayments for up to three months.
  • Immediate consideration of requests for emergency credit card limit increases and overdraft facilities.
  • Tailored solutions for eligible ASB business and rural customers including access to working capital of up to $100,000.

 

Mr Boyd says weather events such as these are a good reminder for customers to check they have the right insurance cover in place. “We encourage property owners to check their polices are up to date and their coverage is sufficient, particularly if there have been renovations to the property.”

Personal customers needing support should call ASB’s contact centre on 0800 803 804. Alternatively, customers can email hardship@asb.co.nz.  Affected ASB business and rural customers should speak to their relationship manager or call 0800 272 287. 

 

Further detail on available support is available at Extreme weather support l ASB: https://www.asb.co.nz/page/extreme-weather-support.html

 

More information and full terms, fees and charges can be found on ASB’s website.

Posted on

Transport – Honouring the driving forces of the transport sector

Source: Ia Ara Aotearoa Transporting New Zealand

New drivers, old hands, smart brains and clever operators were honoured on Saturday at the 2025 South Island Seminar Industry Awards in Christchurch.
The awards, hosted by Transporting New Zealand, celebrate individuals and organisations that have made exceptional contributions to the road transport sector through innovation, safety, industry awareness, and training.
The Supreme Contribution to NZ Road Transport Award was a posthumous award to Alex McLellan who tragically died in a workplace accident last year.
Alex was the founder of Balclutha’s McLellan’s Freight and was a huge presence in the freight sector. He was well known for his big hearted and generous nature, his sense of fun, and a commitment to making the industry better.
The award was accepted on his behalf by widow Kim Unahi-McLellan, herself a key player in the sector.
The other award winners were:
Jax Smith and Jen Hall, the co-owners of Marlborough’s Renwick Transport, won the TrackIT Logistics Women in Road Freight Transport Award.
From advocating for diversity to lifting grape harvest logistics standards in Marlborough , they are a driving force for change, community and inclusion in the industry.
The EROAD Young Driver Award went to Sydney Sangster of Conroy Removals.
Aged 22, Sydney is a top-tier operator, navigating the South Island in B-Trains with confidence and skill. From tail-lift trucks to career day presentations, she’s delivering excellence and promoting the industry to the next generation of drivers.
The EROAD Outstanding Contribution to Health and Safety Award went to Hammar New Zealand Limited for their AI-powered pedestrian detection system.
Installed on side-loaders, the system identifies when people are too close to a trailer or vehicle, triggering real-time visual and audio alerts for operators.
The Fruehauf Outstanding Contribution to Innovation Award went to TrackIT Logistics for its end-to-end business platform. It integrates dispatch, compliance, safety, stock management and live data, and is the trusted tool for many businesses nationwide.
The Outstanding Contribution to Training Award went to MOVe Logistics, which has embedded training into the fabric of its operations.
The company has delivered a range of development opportunities for its people, supporting qualifications across the Level 3 Heavy Vehicle Operator programme, micro-credentials and business training.
Dom Kalasih, the chief executive for Transporting New Zealand, said it was fantastic to see the calibre and the numbers of people nominated for the awards.
“Times are tough at the moment, but these are the people and the companies that don’t shy away from investing in their products, and their people.”
“I applaud all the nominees and the winners for making our industry better in all sorts of ways.” 
About Ia Ara Aotearoa Transporting New Zealand
Ia Ara Aotearoa Transporting New Zealand is the peak national membership association representing the road freight transport industry. Our members operate urban, rural and inter- regional commercial freight transport services throughout the country.
Road is the dominant freight mode in New Zealand, transporting 92.8% of the freight task on a tonnage basis, and 75.1% on a tonne-km basis. The road freight transport industry employs over 34,000 people across more than 4700 businesses, with an annual turnover of $6 billion.
Posted on

Local News – Lower Hutt Mayor welcomes new water entity reset for the region

Source: Hutt City Council

Wellington’s metropolitan councils have agreed to form a new jointly owned water services entity that will be more efficient, reliable, and deliver greater value for money.
Upper Hutt City Council was the final partner to vote in favour of the new entity today, following earlier support from Porirua, Lower Hutt and Wellington City Councils and Greater Wellington Regional Council.
The new entity will take over the ownership and management of drinking water, wastewater and stormwater infrastructure by 1 July 2026.
Unlike Wellington Water, the new entity will own the water infrastructure that is currently owned by councils. The entity will be able to generate its own income, manage its own debt, and will not be constrained by council funding.
Lower Hutt Mayor Campbell Barry welcomed today’s milestone saying the decision marks a reset for water services in the region.
“The new entity unlocks the financial tools needed to make smart investments in water infrastructure, without placing an unsustainable burden on ratepayers. “It will enable better decision-making across the entire network and ensure more consistent service delivery.”
Barry said it was significant that all five councils have come to the table with a shared vision.
“It shows we’re putting what's best for our ratepayers and residents ahead of parochial politics.”
Barry said turning around historical underinvestment in water infrastructure will take time and water bills will still increase under the new entity to meet the needs of the region’s ageing network.
However, high-level modelling shows that any rise in water charges will be about 30% less than what households would face under the current model.
“Our main goal is to introduce a new way of delivering water services that allows for more investment in the network with an entity that is more efficient; while keeping costs more affordable and sustainable over the long-term,” Barry said.
The entity will be governed by a board of independent professional directors who will be appointed by a steering committee of council and iwi representatives.
The primary relationship of the entity will be with its customers (residents) not its shareholders (councils), giving the organisation the independence and accountability to deliver.
The decision comes as part of the Government's ‘Local Water Done Well’ reform, which requires councils to decide on a long term water services model and submit delivery plans by September 2025.
Posted on

Greenpeace activists confront second "ocean killer" at sea, as vessels turn off AIS

Source: Greenpeace

For a second time, Greenpeace Aotearoa activists have confronted a bottom trawler off the East Coast, rebranding it an “ocean killer” in protest at its destructive fishing activities.
Launching from the Greenpeace vessel Rainbow Warrior, activists came alongside Sealord’s Ocean Dawn while it was bottom trawling in the Chatham Rise area on Monday morning, and painted the message on its hull.
This comes three days after activists confronted Talley’s bottom trawler, the Amaltal Atlantis, in the same area and painted “Ocean Killer” on its hull.
Ocean Dawn, owned by Sealord, trawls heavily on the Chatham Rise, an area known as a hotspot for coral life. In 2018, Ocean Dawn illegally trawled in a Benthic Protected Area on the Chatham Rise, bringing up 1.3 tonnes of sponges and bycatch. The vessel has also previously received permits to fish in the High Seas of the Tasman. 
Speaking from onboard the Rainbow Warrior, Greenpeace Aotearoa spokesperson Juan Parada says, “Greenpeace Aotearoa activists have again taken action to stand up for ocean life that we all want to see thrive. Today they have rebranded another bottom trawler at sea, once more calling out bottom trawlers for what they are – “ocean killers”.
“Bottom trawling is indiscriminate and destructive. When the heavy trawl nets are dragged across the seafloor and over seamounts, they turn coral into rubble, and kill fur seals, sharks and seabirds as ‘bycatch’.
“Out here, we’ve observed these trawlers operating day and night, emptying the oceans on which we all rely.
“If you were moved and horrified by the footage in David Attenborough’s Ocean, you should know it’s happening right here, right now, by multiple companies including Sealord and Talley’s.
“If we want a healthy ocean for the future, bottom trawling must stop on the places it does the most harm.” 
Greenpeace has been documenting trawling off the east coast of the South Island from the Rainbow Warrior. Overnight, after multiple bottom trawling vessels stopped submitting their location information, Greenpeace tracked a mystery trawler, which turned out to be Ocean Dawn. The captain of one trawl vessel Greenpeace spoke to via radio, reported they had been given a company directive to turn the Automatic Identification System (AIS) off.
The New Zealand bottom trawling industry operates in the waters of Aotearoa, and in the High Seas of the Tasman where New Zealand is the only country still operating a fleet.
Parada says, “The rest of the world is taking steps to protect international waters, places like the Tasman Sea where marine life is varied and abundant, from deep sea corals to migrating whales and seabirds. Shockingly, New Zealand is actively standing in the way of progress by continuing to advocate for the bottom trawling industry.
“It’s time Sealord, the trawling industry, and the government listened to the tens of thousands of New Zealanders who want ocean health valued over industry interests.
“From depleted fish numbers to smashed coral, dead sharks and seabirds, the cost of bottom trawling is too high. To protect the ocean for the future and safeguard the ocean we all love, bottom trawling must stop.”
Last week Greenpeace documented another trawler, Thomas Harrison, also owned by Sealord, in the Cook Strait, photographing the net surrounded by seabirds and seals – which often end up as bycatch.
Notes:
  • The paint used to paint the hull is water based and non-toxic
  • In the period 1990 to 2004 the total area trawled in NZ waters was 465,100 square kilometres – almost double NZ’s land mass.
Posted on

Appointments – Young leaders step up to Federated Farmers board

Source: Federated Farmers

Karl Dean (36) and Richard Dawkins (35) have been elected to the Federated Farmers board at the organisation’s AGM in Christchurch, replacing Richard McIntyre and Toby Williams.
“It’s really exciting to have two capable young leaders like Karl and Richard stepping up into these significant national leadership roles,” Federated Farmers president Wayne Langford says.
“While they may be new to our national team, they’re by no means new to Federated Farmers. They’ve held senior leadership roles within our organisation for some time now.
“Karl and Richard are both highly respected and experienced farmers within their regions, and have worked their way up from the grassroots.
“I have no doubt they’ll both make a huge contribution.”
Karl Dean, who sharemilks with his wife Amie near Leeston in Canterbury, has been elected as the organisation’s new national dairy chair.
He has previously held roles as Federated Farmers North Canterbury provincial president and vice-chair of the national dairy council.
“It’s a real privilege to be elected to the board, and I’m genuinely excited about the opportunity to help lead a constructive and future-focused dairy council,” Dean says.
“It’s also been a huge honour to work with Richard McIntyre over the past seven years on the dairy council, and his 12 years of service hasn’t gone unnoticed.
“His leadership has helped shape a strong, positive culture, and I’m committed to carrying that legacy forward.”
Richard Dawkins, who farms with his wife Jess in the Waihopai Valley near Blenheim, has been elected as the organisation’s new national meat & wool chair.
He has previously spent five years on Federated Farmers’ national meat & wool council and two years as Marlborough province’s vice-president.
“It’s a huge honour to be elected to this role and I’m really looking forward to leading a young and dynamic team of meat and wool farmers who are passionate about the future,” Dawkins says.
“The face fronting the ‘Save our Sheep’ campaign may have changed, but the team standing behind it remains the same. We’re ready to tackle the challenges sheep farmers face head on.”
Langford also acknowledges the role outgoing board members Richard McIntyre and Toby Williams have played in a significant revival at Federated Farmers over the last few years.
“Both Richard and Toby have been real heavyweights who were absolutely relentless in their advocacy for farmers and rural communities,” Langford says.
“Richard is probably best known for his work calling for an independent inquiry into rural banking, but his legacy within Federated Farmers is so much bigger than that.
“He also put in a huge amount of effort pushing for better immigration settings for farmers, and changes to KiwiSaver rules that will really help our next generation of young farmers.
“Toby’s impact has been enormous too. He’s the man who stepped up to put the final nails into the coffin of He Waka Eke Noa.
“He’s also led the charge in the fight against blanket carbon forestry on productive farmland, launching the iconic ‘Save Our Sheep’ campaign earlier this year.”
Langford says while goodbyes are always difficult, they also create an exciting opportunity for new leaders to step up, bring fresh thinking, and stamp their own mark on the future of farming.
“Nobody has a job for life at Federated Farmers. Our roles are up for re-election every year and there’s always somebody waiting in the wings ready to step up.
“That’s what keeps us on our toes and accountable to our members at the grassroots – but it’s also what keeps the fire burning in our bellies to keep delivering tangible results for farmers.
“As an organisation, we’re lucky to have passionate young guys like Karl and Richard putting their hands up for some pretty big leadership roles within the sector.
“I know they’re going to make a real impact for farmers, and will pick up the fight exactly where Richard and Toby left off. I’m looking forward to working with them.”