Author: MIL-OSI Publisher

Source: ASB Bank

8 October 2026

• Energy is now the second biggest concern of Kiwi businesses, with 73% concerned about current energy costs, closely behind the 79% concerned about general economic uncertainty.
• Fewer than 40% of businesses expect they could continue operating for more than three days if their primary energy source was down.
• ASB has partnered with Tether to launch Better Buildings, an industry-first platform to help Kiwi businesses invest confidently in more efficient, sustainable and resilient buildings.

More than two-thirds of New Zealand businesses are concerned about current and future energy costs, new research by ASB shows. Nearly one-third have raised prices because of energy costs or supply uncertainty, while one in five have reduced production, hours or output.

The survey of over 400 business leaders[1], supported by Talbot Mills Research, found seven in ten businesses say energy is a major or actively managed cost for their organisation, while the same proportion report that their energy costs have increased compared with two years ago.

The findings also reveal a gap between perceived resilience and actual preparedness. While nearly two-thirds (64%) believe their business is well equipped to keep operating through a prolonged power outage, only 37% expect they could continue operating for more than three days if their primary energy source was down.

In addition, more than a quarter of businesses (28%) have identified energy as a risk but do not yet have a plan in place to address it.

ASB Executive General Manager Corporate Banking Jonathan Oram says the findings suggest businesses need to treat energy as a strategic business issue, not simply an operational cost.

“Businesses clearly recognise the growing challenges posed by rising energy costs and potential supply disruptions, driven by declining domestic gas reserves, the Middle Eastern conflict, and global political uncertainty, yet many are not taking action.

“Technologies like solar power, battery storage, and electric vehicles are advancing rapidly. Research shows that businesses could reduce their energy costs by up to 20% through greater energy efficiency [2].

“Taking action on energy resilience today can help businesses reduce costs, manage risk and create a stronger foundation for long-term success. ASB is helping businesses through practical support, tools and trusted expertise, giving them the confidence to act and adapt in this uncertain environment.”

ASB partners with Tether to launch Better Buildings

More than 40% of businesses surveyed spend at least 40% of their energy costs on buildings and facilities. ASB has partnered with building performance company Tether, to launch Better Buildings.

This industry-first platform, available from today via ASB's website and www.betterbuildings.co.nz, is designed to help property investors, owner-occupiers and their tenants reduce investment uncertainty and improve the efficiency, sustainability and resilience of their buildings.

“Better Buildings helps businesses identify energy resilience opportunities, build the business case for investment and create better-performing, future-ready buildings. When businesses are ready to invest, ASB can support eligible projects through our sustainable finance solutions,” Oram says.

Tether's Founder and CEO, Brandon van Blerk, says: “Too often, property owners and occupiers have had to navigate building advice, suppliers and finance separately, making it harder to turn opportunities into action. Better Buildings brings the process together in one place, helping businesses build stronger investment cases, access funding and measure results.”

ASB has funded the expansion of the NABERSNZ energy efficiency certification scheme, enabling more businesses to measure and optimise their energy use.

As part of the expansion, shopping centres, retail stores, warehouses and cold stores can access the scheme from today. Administered by the New Zealand Green Building Council on behalf of the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA), NABERSNZ independently verifies a building's energy performance through a one to six-star rating system. The expansion builds on the success of the tool in New Zealand's office sector, where it has been widely used since 2014.

Access to Energy Consultants

For businesses with more complex energy needs, ASB is supporting access to independent energy consultants to help them identify opportunities to improve energy resilience, understand potential returns, and develop a roadmap for implementation. Eligible customers who proceed with qualifying ASB lending can receive reimbursement of consultancy costs of up to $50,000.

Investing for the Future

While the survey found 43% of businesses see upfront costs as the biggest barrier to investing in energy resilience, ASB offers a range of sustainable finance lending products for business and corporate customers. These include business sustainability loans, lending under the Government backed Gas Transition Loan Guarantee Scheme, as well as specialised lending for larger projects.

Notes

• The full ASB Business Survey can be found here.
• Through ASB's Pathway to Resilience, the bank is committed to helping Kiwi businesses build resilience, improve performance and lower operating costs. Through its broader Pathways to Progress programme, ASB is supporting businesses to become more productive, resilient and better positioned for long-term success. More information about how ASB is backing business is available here.
• ASB recently teamed up with DETA to release 'Opportunity in an Era of Energy Shocks', a report exploring changes, challenges and possibilities during New Zealand's energy transition. The full report is available here.

[1] Results in this report are based upon questions asked in a Talbot Mills Research online survey. The basis of the sample is n=406 NZ business leaders (business owners, C-suite, senior management). 402 were recruited from panel provider Dynata, and 4 were provided by ASB.

[2] Source: Sustainability Business Network, 'Saving Energy'

Source: Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners

8 October 2026

Almost half of specialist GPs’ work takes place outside funded face-to-face consultations. This work is essential to safe patient care, but the health system often relies on GPs and practices to absorb the cost or recover it from patients, creating further barriers to equitable access. The College is calling on the next government to fund the full range of clinical work that is required to provide safe, equitable, culturally safe and continuous care, and to meet its obligations under Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

The College is calling for the next government to:

• Fund the full range of clinical work, including work outside consultations.
• Address GP remuneration and working conditions compared with hospital-based specialties.
• Measure general practice need and use, including inequities for Māori, Pacific peoples, rural and underserved communities.
• Plan and adequately fund the workforce required to meet that need.

General practice is the entry point to the health system for most New Zealanders, with 90 percent of health conditions being managed in primary care. Specialist GPs provide early intervention, manage long-term conditions and help prevent illness from becoming serious enough to require hospital or emergency care. The demand is growing as the population ages and patients’ health needs become more complex.

Aotearoa New Zealand currently invests a low proportion of Vote Health funding in primary care, an average of about 6 percent.

However, the public funding model does not adequately fund the breadth of work carried out by GPs in the provision of culturally safe and clinically excellent patient care, including the time needed to respond to patients’ cultural, social and clinical needs. The College’s Your Work Counts project found that 44 percent of specialist GP work happens outside funded face-to-face consultations. This includes reviewing and acting on test results, writing and managing referrals, coordinating care with other services, and completing clinical follow-up.

Patients may never see this work, but their safety depends on it.

Expecting specialist GPs to provide this work without sufficient funding is not sustainable. It contributes to burnout, reduces the number of patients GPs can see and makes it harder to retain experienced specialist GPs. Patients experience longer waits, reduced continuity and greater difficulty receiving timely care. Pressure then shifts to hospital emergency departments and after-hours services.

Recruiting more GPs is important, but recruitment alone will not address the shortfalls of current primary care funding models. New Zealand must adequately fund those clinicians delivering primary care in a way that covers the breadth of their work. Clear career pathways in clinical leadership, teaching, supervision and practice ownership can support specialist GPs to maintain long-term careers in the communities they serve.

General practices also carry the costs of employing staff, maintaining premises and infrastructure, supporting training and sustaining services for their communities. Underinvestment can make practices financially fragile, particularly in rural and underserved communities where recruitment is already difficult and loss of local services can deepen inequities in access and continuity. Funding should support sustainable, culturally responsive models of care that reflect community need. If a practice reduces services or becomes unviable, patients lose access and continuity while demand moves to more expensive parts of the health system such as the hospital Emergency Department.

Policies intended to give more people access to care cannot succeed if general practice does not have the funded workforce capacity to deliver them. Training, teaching, clinical governance, patient follow-up and non-contact clinical time must be treated, and funded, as core components of care, rather than assuming this work will simply be absorbed into existing primary care workloads.

Properly funding this work will give specialist GPs more time for patients, support workforce retention and enable practices to plan for future demand. It can also support culturally safe care, Māori health equity, specialist GP clinical leadership and sustainable rural services. For the people of Aotearoa New Zealand, the benefit is straightforward: safer follow-up, better and more equitable access and more consistent care from a general practice team that can remain in the heart of their community.

This paper is part of a series of advocacy White Papers that set out our priorities for strengthening Aotearoa New Zealand’s health system through a sustainable general practice workforce. These papers will be released in the lead-up to the 2026 general election and outline the evidence, value and investment required to ensure the specialisms of general practice and rural hospital medicine can continue to deliver accessible, equitable care for all New Zealanders. Keep informed of our Budget and election advocacy on our website.

Source: University of Auckland (UoA)

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2026

Five stars might catch your eye, but it’s how a review is written that determines how helpful it actually is, according to new University of Auckland research.

Looking for a top-rated movie or a captivating new book? Chances are you’ll check a few reviews first. You probably give some more weight than others, but why?

What makes a good review?

New research from Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland suggests more formal reviews are generally considered more helpful.

Formal language is marked by precision, clarity, minimal self-reference and persuasiveness, and the study suggests it makes people take note compared to informally written reviews, typically resembling spoken conversation.

But there's a catch, according to the paper published in the European Journal of Marketing – become too formal and perceived helpfulness starts to decline.

Business School researchers Dr Shohil Kishore and Associate Professor Laszlo Sajtos analysed over a hundred thousand movie and book reviews across retail site Amazon and non-retail sites Google and LibraryThing, which is a community-driven book review site. Their analysis considered ‘helpful votes’ from readers.

“The key takeaway is that there’s a sweet spot,” says Kishore, “being too informal online can make a review less useful to others, but being overly formal can have a similar effect.”

He says understanding what makes a review helpful is important for both online platforms and sellers, with previous research showing Amazon books with more ‘helpful votes’ on their reviews tended to have higher sales.

For movies, the academics looked at 67,560 Amazon reviews and 31,517 Google reviews of the same 94 films, including blockbusters like Jaws, Finding Nemo and The Matrix.

For books, they compared 4,409 Amazon reviews with 3,462 reviews on LibraryThing of the same 53 titles, including bestsellers, children’s literature, science fiction, mysteries and classics.

They say Google movie reviews were typically shorter, less formal and used simpler language than those on Amazon.

Amazon movie and book reviews were already around the level of formality associated with greater helpfulness, while the findings suggest Google movie reviews and LibraryThing book reviews could benefit from increased formality.

“Amazon reviews, especially book reviews, already exhibit high formality and are more difficult to read, which limits the marginal benefit of further increases,” they write.

“LibraryThing, shows formality and complexity levels comparable to Amazon, yet readers still respond positively to more formal writing.”

They also say formality had a stronger influence on perceived helpfulness than two other features of writing previously studied in online reviews: complexity and readability.

The three measure different things. Formal text is “precise, lucid, eloquent and persuasive”. Complexity includes factors such as the diversity of words and sentence structure, while readability is concerned with how difficult it is for a person to process the text, including word and sentence length.

The study suggests formal reviews that emphasise objective content and descriptive clarity, while minimising personal, context-specific details, such as who someone watched a movie with or where they read a book, are beneficial for readers.

So, if you want your review to have impact, focus on clear, objective information that will be useful to other readers, says Sajtos.

“Avoid too many personal details or first-person statements and concentrate on the book, movie, product or service itself.

“Online platforms might also help by encouraging this approach when people write reviews, with prompts or real-time feedback that steer reviewers towards clear, broadly relevant information.”

Source: Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi

Key findings:

• Children’s dental workers report long waitlists and children in pain.

• A system stretched by staff shortages, lack of investment in equipment and infrastructure, and a lack of clerical support.

• Free dental care for young people shows how a properly funded free system could work for adults – unmet dental need surges after age 18.

Primary-aged school children are waiting years between dental appointments, many are stuck on waitlists while already in pain, according to a new report released today, Children’s Oral Health Workers: Voices for Dental for All .

The report, from the PSA in association with the Dental for All coalition, builds a new picture of children’s public dental care in 2026, based on in-depth interviews with 19 dental workers from around the country.

Dental workers describe in the report how underfunding has worsened over the past three years under the National-led Government, leading to reduced services and more staff vacancies.

“This is a disturbing snapshot of what we are seeing throughout the public health system – chronic underfunding that is fast eroding the high-quality oral health care for children that used to be the envy of the world,” said Fleur Fitzsimons, National Secretary for the Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi.

“These are frontline health workers with a clear message to the Government – invest in public health. Making sure our children grow up with healthy teeth is the best way to prevent problems later in life. It’s a no-brainer.

“Children should not have to endure weeks and months of pain before being seen.”

Workers say Health NZ has deliberately slowed recruitment to save money, leaving them far less time for the preventative work that stops problems before they start. Mobile dental clinics, key to reaching children, have maintenance problems that get worse every year, adding to delays.

“On top of this, Health NZ has slashed 1000 IT workers – this means digital systems are not being upgraded to meet demand, and support is far harder to get when technology breaks down.

“All this adds to waiting times, more pain for children and erodes the quality of health care.”

Worker testimony

‘When we go into schools, we’re not able to see everybody – we’re not able to see those who are due last year and do preventative work.’

‘The floor’s become spongy in a lot of the vans. We’re told they’re still safe to be in. It can make you quite nervous.’

‘We had a person leave who answered our 0800 number and they didn’t replace them. Frontline staff are covering the person they didn’t replace. I’m sorry it doesn’t work.’

A future blueprint for free universal care

The report also shows the children’s service is a blueprint for free adult dental care.

Among children aged 10 to 14, unmet dental need due to cost is 4 per cent. By contrast, 58 per cent of adults aged 25 to 34 need to see a dentist but are going without because of the cost.

“Dental workers see the cost of unmet dental need up close – the damage to people’s overall health and wellbeing, and to their confidence to smile. They worry about the kids who will eventually age out of their service,” said Fleur Fitzsimons.

“Many wish they could treat the adults in the whānau they see. Some are asked by parents to look at their teeth, and have to say no.

“Dental care sits outside the public system only because of a quirk of history – and lobbying by dentists in the 1930s to keep it private.

“In the decades since, it has become clear a privatised dental system doesn’t serve the people of Aotearoa, and plenty of research spells out how much inequitable access to dental care is costing our country.

“We hope this report adds to the growing support for Dental for All by setting out workers’ vision for a better system. It’s time everyone in New Zealand can access high-quality, free dental care.”

“This report shares important insights from community oral health workers about what universal, public oral healthcare should look like. In our policy paper released in April, ‘Fixing Oral Healthcare in Aotearoa New Zealand: A Costed Policy Plan for Delivering Dental for All’, we propose a model for universal, Te Tiriti o Waitangi-consistent oral healthcare which builds on the successes of public provision for children.

“We know what the solutions are, and the need is urgent. Now we need politicians to commit to taking action,” Dental for All campaigner, Hana Pilkinton-Ching, says.

Read the report in full at this link: https://content.app-us1.com/2g9OXD/2026/10/07/a6b3ff80-529c-4f77-afde-71cb544f0e38.pdf

The Report will be launched today (8 October) at 5pm at the Barclay Theatre at the Otago Museum with a panel discussion chaired by PSA National Secretary Fleur Fitzsimons and Samuel Carrington, Raewyn Sinclar and Janet Quigley.

Please register if you wish to join: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=pZ1WjE1jXUCaUAB_PhHr7M7upUZlUnNBpxxaM18KMcZUOFFRWkc5NUJOVFM1T1lTMUREM0lYREo4Ty4u&route=shorturl

Samuel Carrington (Te Arawa, Ngāti Whakaue, Ngāti Hurungaterangi) is a Māori Oral Health Therapist, Senior Lecturer and Associate Dean Māori at the University of Otago Faculty of Dentistry. He is Vice President of Te Ohu Pūniho Ora o Aotearoa – the New Zealand Oral Health Association, an Executive member of Te Ao Mārama – Aotearoa Māori Dental Association, and a member of the Dental for All coalition.

Raewyn Sinclair is a Senior Oral Health Therapist for the Community Oral Health Service and has been working in this service for the past 11 years. She is also a PSA Delegate for Community Oral Health, a position she has taken up for a second time. Raewyn started in dentistry at the University of Otago, School of Dentistry, as a Dental assistant in 1985 at the age of 16 and then worked in several private practices throughout her career. She decided as an adult student she wanted to help children’s dentistry so got her degree as an Oral Health Therapist at the age of 47 and has never looked back. She also has 3 grown children and 8 grandchildren whom she enjoys spending her down time with.

Janet Quigley graduated as a Dental nurse in the early 1970s and, alongside later MP and Minister for Health Annette King, she joined the march on parliament in 1974 to demand pay parity with Public Health nurses.

After two major restructures 18 years ago, Janet left community dental and took on a Health promotion role. The majority of her work now focuses on nutrition and oral health promotion in Early Childhood and Primary schools.

Throughout her career she has stayed very active is the PSA. She was on the bargaining team for the successful Allied Health Pay Equity claim in 2023 and currently serves as our Vice President.

Background: Dental for All (https://www.dentalforall.nz/about)

Dental for All is a campaign for free, universal, Te Tiriti o Waitangi-consistent oral healthcare in Aotearoa. The campaign, started in 2022, is led by ActionStation Aotearoa and supported by a core coalition, which includes unions, community organisations, oral health workers and many others passionate about transforming the way we treat oral health in Aotearoa – alongside a growing movement of everyday people organising for Dental for All in their communities

The Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi (https://www.psa.org.nz/) is Aotearoa New Zealand's largest trade union, representing and supporting more than 95,000 workers across central government, state-owned enterprises, local councils, health boards and community groups.

Source: Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi

As petrol prices hit an all-time high this week, 23,000 home support workers are struggling to make ends meet while the Government is silent on a review of their mileage rate.

“These workers travel between clients all day caring for elderly and disabled New Zealanders in their own homes and they have to fund and maintain their own car to do it, on wages at or near the minimum wage,” said Fleur Fitzsimons, National Secretary for the Public Service Association Te Pukenga Here Tikanga Mahi.

“Workers campaigned hard earlier this year to win a mileage rate increase. That was a real win. But the new rate of 82.5 cents per kilometre is still falls below what the IRD says it actually costs to run a car for work, and it is temporary.

“The Government promised a review of the rate by 1 July. It is now October and these workers have heard nothing.

“On top of having their pay equity claim ripped away, this is a kick in the teeth for these workers.

“This low-paid predominantly female workforce hold our health system together. “

Becks, a home support worker in rural Waimate was shocked to see the petrol price reach $3.88 this week. She said, “I have clients who are only 15-minute visits but by the time I factor in the distances between them and what it costs to run my car, I’m effectively paying to do those jobs.”

Sonia, a home support worker in Greymouth said, “I’m on a low wage and I live alone. I can’t afford this. I do this work because I love it but it’s just getting so hard to get by. It’s not OK.”

Fitzsimons said, “With petrol prices hitting $3.88 per litre in areas like Waimate, home support workers urgently need a mileage rate increase that covers their actual costs, and they deserve a response from the Minister.”

The PSA has written to Health Minister Simeon Brown this week calling for a rate increase and asking for the outcome of the 2026 review of rates, which was due on 1 July. The letter is attached.

The PSA and Etū have an ongoing Employment Relations Authority claim against Health New Zealand arguing that requiring workers to fund and maintain their own vehicles as a condition of employment breaches the Employment Relations Act.

Home support workers are available for interview.

The Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi (https://www.psa.org.nz/) is Aotearoa New Zealand's largest trade union, representing and supporting more than 95,000 workers across central government, state-owned enterprises, local councils, health boards and community groups.

Source: Fire and Emergency New Zealand

Cooler temperatures and light rain overnight have helped suppress the vegetation fire at Walter Peak, providing firefighters with more favourable conditions as operations continue today.

An early morning flight found that the fire has significantly reduced, with no visible flames observed around the fire perimeter.

District Commander Blair Kiely says this is a positive sign and reflects the progress being made by firefighters, but he emphasises the fire is not out and firefighters will continue working to identify and extinguish hotspots.

Ground crews are back on the fireground today supported by helicopters, focusing on hotspot suppression and strengthening containment around the fire perimeter.

This has been a large and highly visible fire in the Queenstown Lakes area, burning approximately 1,400 hectares of mainly tussock, scrub and some tree cover. At no stage was there a risk to Queenstown or lakeside communities. No homes, buildings, or livestock have been lost as a result of the fire and Blair Kiely says crews are encouraged by the progress being made.

Fire and Emergency has been working closely with landowners, the Department of Conservation, local iwi, and other partners throughout the response to identify and protect areas and values most at risk. “While our priority has been to protect structures and livestock, we are very conscious of the environmental impact of vegetation fires,” Blair Kiely says.

Air operations remain an important part of the firefighting effort, and Fire and Emergency is asking boaties and members of the public to continue supporting crews by staying clear of operational areas. Exclusion zones remain in place for the safety of helicopter pilots, firefighters, and the public.

Blair Kiely says firefighters, helicopter pilots and incident management personnel, and support crews have worked tirelessly in challenging conditions over the past several days.

Fire and Emergency investigators will undertake a formal investigation to determine the cause of the fire, in line with standard procedures.

Source: Fire and Emergency New Zealand

Firefighters will work until dusk this evening as they continue to tackle the vegetation fire burning in the high country above Lake Whakatipu.

The fire is estimated to have burnt 1,400 hectares of mainly tussock and scrub, with areas of trees. It is not yet controlled or contained, with the situation still dynamic.

The fire has spread from Walter Peak station along the McKinley's Creek area and has also affected parts of adjoining conservation estate and Cecil Peak station. No homes or buildings have been damaged, and there are no structures or livestock assessed as being at immediate risk

Five helicopters with monsoon buckets have been dropping water on the fire, targeting the most active fire edges. Ground crews are continuing structure protection work around the homestead, creating defensible space and strengthening containment lines. An Incident Management Team is directing operations and planning further ahead.

Firefighting operations will be suspended overnight for safety, with helicopters standing down at last light. A ground crew will remain at Walter Peak to monitor the fire and maintain readiness, enabling crews to resume operations at first light tomorrow.

District Commander Blair Kiely says that the fire’s behaviour continues to be influenced by steep terrain, the vegetation and changing wind conditions. Firefighters are closely monitoring weather forecasts and fire activity and adjust tactics as conditions change.

He says a specialist fire investigation will be conducted in accordance with Fire and Emergency procedures, but the immediate focus remains containing the fire.

Tomorrow there will be five aircraft supporting 23 firefighters, with incident management and support personnel all active.

Crews from the Department of Conservation and the Glenorchy, Hedgehope and Arrowtown Volunteer Fire Brigades will be working on the fireground.

Fire and Emergency is working closely with the landowners, the Department of Conservation and iwi to understand the areas and values most at risk.

“We have the resources in place to respond to changing conditions and continue protecting communities and assets,” Blair Kiely says.

He has asked the boating community to continue staying away from the Walter Peak fire area, with an exclusion zone in place for the safety of both the public and firefighters, including helicopter pilots.

Source: Northland Regional Council

A Northland Regional Council botanist has received a national award from the New Zealand Botanical Society to acknowledge her outstanding contribution and work over a more than 40-year career.

Council's Biodiversity Manager Lisa Forester was officially presented with the 'Allan Mere award’ at a ceremony in Auckland last night. (subs: Weds 07 October).

Ms Forester says she is humbled and grateful to receive the award, which over its 40-plus years, has been presented to a who's who of botanists – both professional and amateur – in New Zealand.

“I’m also a little surprised because there are so many other passionate people I really look up to who have done so much for botany in this country.”

“I’ve been really fortunate over my career to enjoy some fantastic support and mentoring from other botanists.” “Botanists tend to be very connected right across NZ and the world and collaborate and look after one another.”

Ms Forester says it’s also important to acknowledge that much of the work she does is on private or Māori land and there has been a huge amount of associated support from community, landowners and hapū.

Regional councillor Jack Craw, who chairs council’s Biosecurity and Biodiversity Working Party, says the award is an outstanding achievement and reflects years of dedicated work with Northland’s plants and biodiversity.

“I’m very pleased to see Lisa’s hard work recognised in this way and the fact it is her peers offering that recognition adds an extra dimension.” “Her knowledge, passion and willingness to share what she knows will continue to make a lasting difference, not only to the region’s biodiversity but the people working to protect it.”

“Lisa has not only worked assiduously to protect Northland's rare native fauna, she has actually discovered several new plant species and subspecies.” “She is so deserving of this prestigious award.”

The mere – a traditional pounamu hand club – at the centre of Ms Forester’s award was originally presented to the former DSIR Botany Division by the late Dr Lucy Moore in 1982 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the birthday of Harry Howard Allan – the first Director of the former DSIR Botany Division.

It was Dr Moore's intention the award be presented – not necessarily annually – to those staff members who had made the most significant contribution to New Zealand botany.

With the demise of the DSIR Botany Division in 1992 the mere was passed over to the New Zealand Botanical Society in 1999. The society now awards, on much the same basis as Dr Moore had intended, to those candidates nominated by regional botanical societies.

Ms Forester says the Allan Mere itself will remain on permanent display in the entrance to the Allan Herbarium at Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research in Lincoln.

Caption for image ‘Allan Mere Lisa F – 20261007’

Anthony Wright, President of the New Zealand Botanical Society, presents Lisa Forester with the Allan Mere award in Auckland yesterday (Weds 07 October).

Source: Cotality New Zealand

New Zealand home-building costs rose 1.7% in the September quarter, the fastest quarterly increase since late 2022, as higher material prices and increasing construction activity added to cost pressures.

The latest Cordell Construction Cost Index (CCCI) shows the quarterly increase accelerated from rises of between 0.9% and 1.1% during the previous three quarters.

Annual growth also increased, rising from 3.5% in the June quarter to 4.8% in the September quarter. This was the strongest annual increase since the June quarter of 2023 and above the long-term average of 4.0%.

Cotality NZ Chief Property Economist Kelvin Davidson said the result marked a clear shift from the more subdued conditions of the past two years.

“After a period of subdued changes, the cost to build a new house in New Zealand has started to rise more materially.”

“Builders have absorbed some cost increases, particularly where existing projects are covered by fixed-price contracts.

However, pricing for upcoming work is beginning to rise, suggesting households considering a new build may face a different cost environment in the months ahead.”

Why is a busier construction sector pushing costs up?

The construction sector has become busier in recent months, with the 12-month running total of new dwelling consents rising from fewer than 34,000 to more than 40,000.

While higher consent numbers do not necessarily translate directly into construction activity, they can reduce spare capacity across the sector and place additional pressure on costs.

Mr Davidson said higher fuel, freight and material costs were also contributing to the increase.

“Industry participants are reporting higher delivery and input costs associated with conflict in the Middle East, including fuel surcharges and increases in the price of some construction materials.

“Products experiencing cost increases include petroleum-based plumbing inputs, PVC, sealants, roof and ceramic tiles, reinforcing products and structural steel.”

Materials account for around 50% of the CCCI, with wages contributing approximately 40% and other expenses, including consenting and professional fees, comprising the remaining 10%. This means changes in material prices can have a significant influence on the overall index.

Are further cost increases on the horizon?

Mr Davidson said construction costs could continue to face upward pressure in the coming months.

“There is considerable uncertainty around the international outlook, and builders may need to pass on further cost increases where possible.”

“However, this may be challenging while the values of existing properties remain relatively flat and mortgage rates are rising. For some households, the changing cost equation could influence the choice between undertaking a new build and purchasing an existing property.”

“After a significant downturn that had begun to turn a corner, renewed global uncertainty is an unwelcome development for the construction industry. Further cost pressures may still flow through the pipeline.”