As the world of manufacturing becomes more integrated, the role of robotics is changing the shape of the factory floor writes Steven Impey in today's Australian Manufacturers' Monthly Newsletter as he takes a look at the effect it will have on the Australian workforce.
Depending on which literature the industry insider goes by, the impact that robotics will have on the factory floor of the future often splits its audience.
The rise of robots programmed to do a human worker’s job sounds daunting – the very thought of seeing the livelihoods of Australian manufacturing workers potentially cut from under them is itself a concern. Manufacturing jobs have been in a steady decline for several decades as the industry shifts into a different gear.
Continue to original article || June 16, 2017 |||
Economic Development Minister Simon Bridges has today launched a new guide for potential investors highlighting opportunities in the Māori economy.
Speaking at the He kai kei aku ringa – E RERE Māori economy conference in Rotorua, Mr Bridges told the audience that Māori have huge potential to lift the New Zealand economy.
“Māori are a young and growing population who will form a large part of our future workforce. Māori control over $15 billion in assets, with significant land holdings, and are diversifying in to other high value sectors,” Mr Bridges says.
“Investors are interested in partnering with Māori, and global consumers are interested in their intergenerational outlook and underpinning cultural values of taking care of people, building strong relationships, and looking after the environment.
“The Māori Economy Investor Guide will help investors understand the Māori economy, culture and people. It offers insights as to how and where potential investors can engage with Māori enterprises, embrace the distinctive global advantages of the Māori economy, and forge strong partnerships for the future.”
Produced by KPMG, the Māori Economy Investor Guide was funded by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment as part of their commitment to He kai kei aku ringa – the Crown-Māori Economic Growth Partnership.
The Guide can be found at www.mbie.govt.nz. Further information about investing with Māori can be found at www.nzte.govt.nz.
| A Beehive release || June 16, 2017 |||
Both leader new to politics and both invented their own parties
A French election transposed on New Zealand would result in a victory for Gareth Morgan's new political party..
Interest in election outcome transfer has so far covered the British general election.
But a scrutiny of the result of the French presidential election won outright by Emmanuel Macron and then of the ensuing French parliamentary election also won outright by his party demonstrates a dream that on face value could only be achieved by Gareth Morgan.
Here now are the similarities:-
*President Macron had never stood before as a party political candidate – Neither has Mr Morgan
*President Macron invented his own polltical party, En Marche. Mr Morgan has also created his own party, the Opportunities Party
*President Macron’s background is in high finance. So is Mr Morgan’s
*En Marche is liberal centrist. So is Opportunities
*President Macron launched himself into the presidential election which he won, and the legislative election which he also won claiming that no existing political party was in a position to effect any positive change. Mr Morgan is saying the same thing.
In the event, President Macron re-cast the French political scene, causing to disappear as any force at all the ruling Socialist Party.
Will Mr Morgan accomplish the same sweeping reorganisation of the political landscape here?
A problem in contrast with seeking to transpose the British general election to New Zealand is that no reading can be taken, no tea leaves read, on the disrepute in which professional career politicians were regarded by the British electorate.
This is because they were all professional politicians who had all devoted their adult careers to politics.
So in the New Zealand general election the electorate in the form of Mr Morgan will be faced with this man-of-the-hour type drawn to the fray--- out of patriotism.
President Macron in his own election, and then in the En Marche dominated legislative (Parliamentary) election broke France’s endless party political electoral conveyor belt which runs from the City councils, through the regional/departmental councils by way of the European Parliament.
It could also be added that the two party names, the one in France, and the one in New Zealand mean pretty much the same thing in being code for a break with the past.
Beyond an agricultural focus and a shared Polynesian experience, the two nations are not immediately apparent as political mirror images.
In recent years however France has followed several New Zealand structural leads. It has cut its presidential political term from seven years to five – still much longer though than New Zealand’s quick-fire three year term.
In recent weeks there has been a strong groundswell in France in favour of proportional representation.
| From the This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | Friday 6 June 2017 |||
The sensitivity of the New Zealand economy to global developments has been underlined in the Reserve Bank Bulletin.
An article published today examines the current economic expansion since 2009, comparing it with earlier expansions in order to highlight current features.
The current period has unique characteristics. While this economic expansion has in part been shaped by the Canterbury rebuild, the rebuild itself has been less inflationary than the Reserve Bank initially feared. This current expansion also includes the largest net immigration cycle (as a share of working age population) since at least the late 1970s, but the consequences for inflationary pressure appear more muted than in the past.
Productivity growth has been weak, consistent with the continued decline in the estimated neutral interest rate since the Global Financial Crisis. The Reserve Bank has also found that household consumption appears less responsive to increased housing wealth than during the previous expansionary period.
Some of the features presented in the article have simply been revealed with the passage of time, and some reflect the Reserve Bank’s evolving understanding of how the economy operates. That the Reserve Bank has been confronted with such developments or challenges to our understanding is an enduring feature of the environment in which monetary policy operates. Studies of the kind published today provide valuable insight for the Reserve Bank’s on-going understanding of an evolving economy, enabling policy to adjust as quickly as possible to new information.
More information: Characterising the current economic expansion: 2009 to present day
| A RBNZ release || June 15, 2017
Listed companies and other financial markets businesses will now have alternative options for sending annual reports, saving them money and time, says Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Jacqui Dean.
“Cabinet has agreed to changes to the Financial Markets Conduct Regulations 2014 which will allow ‘FMC reporting entities’ to reduce the number of annual reports they send,” Ms Dean says.
“This will result in time and cost savings, and a reduction in the amount of paper required.
“Currently companies are required to send to every shareholder a hardcopy of their annual report or a notice asking if the shareholder would like to receive a copy.
“Under the new process they can instead make their annual report publicly available online, after asking shareholders how they would like to receive the reports.
“Those shareholders who would like to receive printed annual reports can still receive one free of charge.
“My fellow MP Matt Doocey introduced a Member’s Bill on this matter late in 2016, noting that digital communication is now the primary means by which investors obtain information on listed companies. Many of the proposals in Mr Doocey’s Bill have now been adopted.
“I Intend to have regulations in place later this year.”
A copy of the Cabinet paper outlining the proposed changes is available at the MBIE website http://www.mbie.govt.nz/info-services/business/business-law/financial-markets-conduct-act/regulations
| A Beehive release || June 15, 2017 |||
Two crowdfund investors in failed Balex Marine have bought the Tauranga company's assets because they say its boat loader is too good to fail.
Two expat Kiwi businessmen who participated in Balex Marine's $330,000 equity crowdfunding have now bought the automatic boat loader's assets from the liquidator for an undisclosed sum.
The innovative loader is "too good to fail", they say.
Liquidators were appointed to the Tauranga-based company and its sister firm Suelex last month after Balex couldn't find a new funding lifeline when high costs and slow sales had drained its coffers.
The boat loader raised $330,000 through 80 investments via equity crowdfunder Snowball Effect in October, just above its minimum target.
Participants included expat businessmen Daniel Given and Reon Oak, who run Hong Kong-based manufacturing and supply chain firm Gait International.
They bought the Balex assets including its intellectual property, stock and work in progress, they said in a statement on Wednesday. The assets will be poured into a new company - Balex Marine South Pacific - which will be based in Tauranga.
Gait International had already taken over the management and supply chain operations for Balex's automatic boat loader, and Mr Given said they plan to draw on their current business to support the new Balex.
The automatic boat loader "is incredibly well engineered, utilises the best in high precision components and has already gained remarkable traction in the market," Mr Given said.
"Reon and I only invest in companies that we really believe in and the Balex automatic boat loader is simply far too good to be allowed to fail."
Gait International is affiliated with Tauranga-based Gait Trading Co, which was set up by the Given family in 1989 as a wholesaler of residential locks and latches to the building sector.
It will continue to supply the boat loader to New Zealand and Australian boat manufacturers and marine dealers, and that the new entity is close to finalising a deal with a European distributor.
It also plans to look at entering the US.
MSCNews Jun 15: Reaman Industries are water treatment specialists operating out of Napier providing not only a nationwide service but also to Australia and the Pacific Islands. Being a solution providing focused operation they have have been challenged over the years to come up with appropriate solutions. One such request that came through recently from a regional council scientist was to overcome the challenge of effective deep water body aeration at an affordable cost. A solution has developed that met the environmental demands and importantly is still within the regions budget. The details of this project will be incuded in a forth coming Case Study but should you be looking for a solution to a similar problem then This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. is your first point of contact at Reamans.
The head of the national rural health group today made an impassioned plea for the government to consider much-needed rural research.
Michelle Thompson, chief executive of the Rural Health Alliance Aotearoa New Zealand (RHAANZ) says there is a strong feeling that rural health outcomes are poorer than urban health outcomes but until they have the hard data they can’t be sure whether there is a difference or understand the scale of the difference.
Earlier this year the RHAANZ presented its five most urgent priorities to government, one of which included comprehensive rural health research support.
“It’s been such a relief today to see the government provide a further half a million dollars for rural mental health initiatives. This is a good sign to us they agree, in the absence of hard data, this is an area of concern.”
Thompson was speaking today from the National Fieldays in Hamilton which is the biggest agricultural event in the southern hemisphere, reflecting the importance of rural industries on the NZ economy.
“Yet we know very little about the people who live and work in rural NZ from a health perspective. To do this we first need a nationally agreed definition on rurality as it pertains to health in New Zealand.
“Then we need to ensure that the Ministry of Health, the district health boards and primary health organisations use this definition to routinely report health statistics using a rural/urban comparison.
“The 49-member organisations of RHAANZ believe the lack of a fit-for-purpose definition of rural is a major stumbling block to our work and until we have such a definition that is routinely used across Government neither we, nor the government, can write informed health policy. Neither can we be sure that our precious resources are being targeted to where they are most needed.
“It is not okay that we don’t know whether our children are disadvantaged because they have poorer access to maternity and youth health services than urban children, for example.
“We just don’t know whether our outcomes for cancer are poorer because of the extra difficulties getting to chemotherapy or radiotherapy services. Logic would tell us that having to travel long distances to services would make a difference but we can’t be sure about this without a firm evidence base.
“Alongside a new definition of rural we want to see a rural proofing tool reinstated across policy development in New Zealand.
“We used to have this 10 years ago but it appears to have dropped off the scene. Rural proofing requires our policy-makers to take in to account the circumstances and needs of rural communities and rural business when developing and implementing policy before the policy is introduced.
“This is to enable any unintended consequences to be addressed before the policy is rolled out. Consideration of low population density and isolation are critical to rural proofing.
“While rural definitions and rural proofing may sound dry and boring, they are seen as absolutely essential to get right. These are the top two election issues our members took to government last month.
“Words talk but numbers shout. Without hard evidence, it’s pretty much impossible to make a case to government for additional support and resourcing for rural communities,” Thompson says.
For more information contact RHAANZ chief executive Michelle Thompson on 021 2347413 or Make Lemonade editor-in-chief Kip Brook on 0275 030188.
| A make Lemonade release || June 15, 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