9 Nov 2017 - There are major changes afoot at New Zealand’s biggest union. FIRST Union, which represents 27,500 New Zealanders in the retail, finance, transport and logistics sectors, will bid farewell to its president, general secretary and retail and finance secretary in Auckland on Thursday. The union cites recent wins in taking on Cotton On over the soon-to-be-repealed “tea break law”, advocating on behalf of migrant workers and the victims of education trafficking, and for working with communities to help keep bank branches open.
“The outgoing leadership team and I are proud that, after nine years of a National government, our membership grew by 28 per cent,” said outgoing general secretary Robert Reid, who will take up the president’s position.
“We’ve negotiated an average wage increases of 3 per cent for our members, an increase well above the national average over this time.”
President Syd Keepa, retail and finance secretary Maxine Gay and national organiser Bill Bradford are moving on.
The new FIRST leadership team begins their four-year term immediately.
They include general secretary Dennis Maga, assistant general secretary Louisa Jones, retail and finance secretary Tali Williams and transport and logistics secretary Jared Abbott.
| A nznewswire release || November 9, 2017 |||
9 Nov 2017 - Statement by Reserve Bank Governor Grant Spencer: The Reserve Bank today left the Official Cash Rate (OCR) unchanged at 1.75 percent. Global economic growth continues to improve, although inflation and wage outcomes remain subdued. Commodity prices are relatively stable. Bond yields and credit spreads remain low and equity prices are near record levels. Monetary policy remains easy in the advanced economies but is gradually becoming less stimulatory. The exchange rate has eased since the August Statement and, if sustained, will increase tradables inflation and promote more balanced growth. GDP in the June quarter grew broadly in line with expectations, following relative weakness in the previous two quarters. Employment growth has been strong and GDP growth is projected to strengthen, with a weaker outlook for housing and construction offset by accommodative monetary policy, the continued high terms of trade, and increased fiscal stimulus. The Bank has incorporated preliminary estimates of the impact of new government policies in four areas: new government spending; the KiwiBuild programme; tighter visa requirements; and increases in the minimum wage. The impact of these policies remains very uncertain. House price inflation has moderated due to loan-to-value ratio restrictions, affordability constraints, reduced foreign demand, and a tightening in credit conditions. Low house price inflation is expected to continue, reinforced by new government policies on housing. Annual CPI inflation was 1.9 percent in September although underlying inflation remains subdued. Non-tradables inflation is moderate but expected to increase gradually as capacity pressures increase. Tradables inflation has increased due to the lower New Zealand dollar and higher oil prices, but is expected to soften in line with projected low global inflation. Overall, CPI inflation is projected to remain near the midpoint of the target range and longer-term inflation expectations are well anchored at 2 percent. Monetary policy will remain accommodative for a considerable period. Numerous uncertainties remain and policy may need to adjust accordingly. Read the Monetary Policy Statement
| A RBNZ release || November 9, 2017 |||
9 Nov 2017 - In 2015 Zespri’s technical team and Everfresh NZ, represented by Ernst Slabbekoorn (EMS NZ and AUS representative), identified a clear need for a rugged and very reliable analyser to monitor ethylene in the post-harvest and transport of kiwifruit.
EMS has had significant experience in developing in house high end analysis equipment for the fresh produce and flower industries. Jan-Kees Boerman from EMS was convinced that the analysers designed could perform under extreme conditions and able to measure very low concentrations (parts per billion, ppb-range) required to store kiwifruit.
Zespri as a leading marketer of kiwifruit chose to put the EMS analysers to the ultimate test and at the same time conduct a thorough test in an independent lab. For the test in the field a number of analysers were placed on board different vessels to monitor ethylene levels and ethylene production and the additionally these analyzers were fitted with O2 and CO2 to monitor respiration.
Zespri Technical Manager, Frank Bollen, with more than 20 years of experience with ethylene measurements, mentioned the outcome of the reports and the results of the field test "a fantastic job" referring to the level of detection of EMS ethylene analysers.
Both tests have had outstanding results and Zespri is now in the process of investigating how to integrate the analysis equipment in their supply chain. This commitment has led to an ongoing relationship between 2 companies which are operating at the highest level.
The EMS MACView® can be used everywhere to keep track of the valuable product throughout the supply chain wherever location. EMS analyzers can be used for cool store, reefer and warehouse monitoring even in the middle of the ocean. Data is synchronized to a web portal which is enables global access to all data.
| An EMS release || November 8, 2017 |||
#8 - This intelligentsia-driven flap was an offshoot of climatism and a forerunner of the Peak Oil panic. The contention was that the greater the distance the final consumer was from the food that they were consuming that each mouthful was responsible for a correspondingly greater consumption of transport oil and thus spread of carbon dioxide from the combustion process.
The position nowEconomies of scale proved that this equation, the one relating fuel consumption to distance to plate, flawed. The scurrying around of delivery vans on roads was seen to be less oil-burning per- plateful than shifting food around in container ships which had the added advantage of reducing road usage.
| MSC Newswire Big Frights of Our Times Series #8 || Thursday 9 November 2017 |||
9 Nov 2017 - New Zealand’s exports in semi-processed casings are set to resume in the next few weeks following successful talks between New Zealand and China. Semi-processed casings are thin tubular cases used as sausage skins. Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor says trade discussions have been successful.
“The Ministry for Primary Industries and Chinese authorities have successfully completed talks to enable exports of semi-processed natural casings from New Zealand to China to resume.
“In 2013, New Zealand voluntarily suspended exports in semi-processed casings in response to discussions with Chinese authorities about the processing steps for these casings.
"New Zealand was able to provide information to Chinese authorities and work with them on revised certification requirements to enable trade to resume next month,” says Damien.
“International trade is built on good working relationships between countries and I’m pleased that trade in semi-processed casings will resume soon.
“Natural casings from New Zealand have traditionally been in high demand in China.
“New Zealand currently exports fully processed casings to China. Access for semi-processed casings will provide industry with opportunities to increase export value and returns.
“China will be a significant market for our semi-processed casings, with exports expected to exceed $100 million.
“This progress is further demonstration of the positive relationship New Zealand shares with China."
9 Nov 2017 - Air New Zealand is rolling out new tracking technology which will allow the airline to more easily track and analyse the movements of cargo shipments and its cargo equipment worldwide. The airline is currently installing more than 5,500 Bluetooth® tags on its cargo containers, pallets and unit load devices as well as more than 100 readers at 29 airports it provides cargo services to around the world. When a tagged item passes the reader it automatically updates an online application providing real time information to the team. Air New Zealand General Manager of Cargo Rick Nelson says the technology is expected to drive enormous efficiencies for the airline. “This technology has been introduced as a result of direct feedback from our cargo and airport staff who saw an opportunity to enhance our handling processes. These Bluetooth® tags and readers will not only allow us to speed up cargo handling but also improve our accuracy and inventory management and help to locate any missing items,” says Mr Nelson. The airline has been working with Core Transport Technologies Inc on the technology which has been designed and manufactured in New Zealand. “We believe this to be the first time this type of technology has been deployed at this large scale anywhere in the world. It’s great to see our technology benefitting Air New Zealand and its many cargo customers and we look forward to continuing to work with the airline to further drive efficiencies,” says Core Transport Technologies Inc Managing Director Ian Craig. While the technology is only being used internally at this stage, the airline hopes to make it customer-facing in the future. “We see significant potential for this technology – it could be rolled out at airports to monitor ground service equipment, or used to manage mail shipments and eventually we would like to see it become customer facing so our cargo customers can more easily track their shipments,” says Mr Nelson. Air New Zealand Cargo plays an important role in growing New Zealand’s high value exports, processing the majority of the country’s air freighted imports. The airline operates an average of 3,566 cargo flights per week and exports a total of 42,000 tonnes of goods from New Zealand annually. Click here to download broadcast quality footage on Air New Zealand’s new cargo tracking solution.
| An AirNZ release || November 8, 2017 |||
Palace of the Alhambra, Spain
By: Charles Nathaniel Worsley (1862-1923)
From the collection of Sir Heaton Rhodes
Oil on canvas - 118cm x 162cm
Valued $12,000 - $18,000
Offers invited over $9,000
Contact: Henry Newrick – (+64 ) 27 471 2242
Mount Egmont with Lake
By: John Philemon Backhouse (1845-1908)
Oil on Sea Shell - 13cm x 14cm
Valued $2,000-$3,000
Offers invited over $1,500
Contact: Henry Newrick – (+64 ) 27 471 2242