Jan 10, 2018 - Long before the start of the harvest the New Zealand avocado crop was estimated to be down by approximately 50% due to the bi-annual nature of the trees. The latest estimate has the New Zealand export crop at approximately 2.2m trays down from over 5m in the previous year.
Jan 9, 2018 - After receiving national and international acclaim in 2017 for several products in its expanding portfolio, New Zealand pet food manufacturer, Ziwi, is preparing for strong continued growth in 2018.
Jan 9, 2018 - Kalmar has signed an agreement to acquire the port services business of Inver Engineering in Australia. The investment in Inver Port Services supports Kalmar’s goal of growing in services while strengthening and broadening its existing service capabilities throughout Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific. The acquisition was closed on 29 December 2017.
Jan 9, 2018 - Thats right IATA CEO Alexandre de Juniac has come out swinging with accusations that the global aviation industry is in a crisis writes Hannah Edensor for TravelWeekly. The major player in aviation claimed, in his latest IATA blog post, that “we are headed for an infrastructure crisis”, in which airports are over-committed and under-resourced.
“Many of the world’s airports are operating at or beyond their design capacity,” he wrote.
“The provision of air navigation services in major markets like the United States, Europe and China is struggling to keep pace with the technical capabilities to manage demand at optimum efficiency.”
According to de Juniac, the world’s airports need to undergo reform, despite it seeming like a bit of a long shot.
“We don’t see governments preparing to make the investments today that will be needed to cope with future growth—especially as major infrastructure planning cycles are now measured in decades,” de Juniac claimed.
“THERE IS ALSO A CRISIS IN THE COST OF INFRASTRUCTURE AND EUROPE, UNFORTUNATELY, PROVIDES THE EXAMPLE.
“Over the last decade, passenger charges on the average one-way ticket have more than doubled—from €16 ($19) to €33 ($39). Over the same period the airfare portion of the average ticket price fell.
“Why these divergent courses? The bluntest explanation rests on pure market forces,” de Juniac asserted.
“Airlines are subjected to intense competition. So they are in a constant search for the efficiencies needed to make a more compelling price offering to their customers.
“Airports, on the other hand, are not subjected to the same competitive pressures. With very few exceptions, there is no choice of airports.
“If you want to fly to Amsterdam, for example, Schiphol is your only choice. And when it looks like there might be competition as in Paris, you find that Orly and Charles de Gaulle have the same owner.
“AIRPORTS ARE CRITICAL PARTNERS FOR AIRLINES. WITHOUT THEM, AIRLINES WOULD LITERALLY HAVE NO PLACE TO TAKE THEIR PASSENGERS.
“And we are working in partnership with airports to make improvements in key areas such as security, the environment, and the passenger experience.
“But when it comes to charges, the market power of airports is dominant. And that is reflected by European airports, which, despite a light-handed airport charges directive trying to promote efficiency, still managed to double their passenger charges.
“The good news is that the European Union (EU) is set to consider reviewing its airport charges directive. And airlines (the main customer of the airports) are asking, in no uncertain terms, that it be substantially strengthened.
“STRENGTHENED REGULATION WILL, IN THE FIRST INSTANCE, PROTECT PASSENGERS. HAD EUROPEAN CHARGES REMAINED AT 2006 LEVELS WE ESTIMATE THAT 50 MILLION MORE PEOPLE WOULD BE FLYING IN EUROPE TODAY.
“And that would pay big dividends by creating some 238,000 jobs and adding €50 billion to the continent’s GDP.
“Those are figures that EU regulators should find hard to ignore. Our goal is to find a regulatory regime that fairly balances the interests of airports, passengers, airlines, citizens and the economy.
“If we can achieve that, it will be a hot export commodity. Other regions would have to take note.
“Because the challenges of high airport charges are in no way limited to what we see in Europe!”
Source: TravelWeekly || January 9, 2018 |||
Jan 9, 2018 - Anyone who has ever flown from Melbourne to Sydney would know the flight is quite easy. A mere hour twenty will have you transported from graffiti-clad laneways to pristine harbourside beaches.
Jan 9, 2018 - Environmental organisation WWF and its partners have introduced revolutionary blockchain technology to the Pacific Islands’ tuna industry, the first of its kind for this region, to help stamp out illegal fishing and human rights abuses.
Tracking fish from vessel to the supermarket, the Blockchain Supply Chain Traceability Project is using digital technology in the fresh and frozen tuna sectors of the Western and Central Pacific region to strengthen supply chain management.
As part of an innovative initiative, WWF-New Zealand, WWF-Australia, and WWF-Fiji have teamed up with global tech innovator ConsenSys, information and communications technology (ICT) implementer TraSeable, and tuna fishing and processing company Sea Quest Fiji Ltd. to deliver the project in Fiji.
“We are so excited that WWF-New Zealand is a Blockchain project partner,” said WWF-New Zealand CEO Livia Esterhazy. “This innovative project has the potential to really improve people’s lives and protect the environment though smart, sustainable fisheries.”
“For years, there have been disturbing reports that consumers may have unknowingly bought tuna from illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and, even worse, from operators who use slave labour.
“Through blockchain technology, soon a simple scan of tuna packaging using a smartphone app will tell the story of a tuna fish – where and when the fish was caught, by which vessel and fishing method. Consumers will have certainty that they’re buying legally-caught, sustainable tuna with no slave labour or oppressive conditions involved. Blockchain technology is a digital, tamper-proof record of information that is accessible to everyone.”
The buying and selling of Pacific tuna is currently either tracked by paper records, or not at all. Now fishermen can register their catch on the blockchain through radio-frequency identification (RFID) e-tagging and scanning fish.
“This is about helping people understand exactly where their food comes from – telling the story about the fish, the fisherman, the families, the crew – the path from ocean to plate,” Ms Esterhazy said.
Now steps are underway to find a retailer to partner in the project and use blockchain to complete the tuna’s traceability story.
ConsenSys, one of the leaders in blockchain development, is working with WWF and Sea Quest to test and implement the Viant blockchain traceability tool for the Pacific tuna industry.
“We are thrilled to be working with WWF and Sea Quest Fiji on this project, as ConsenSys has a keen interest in supporting applications of blockchain that offer an opportunity for social impact and doing good in the world,” said Tyler Mulvihill, Co-Founder and Global Business Development, Viant.io.
Brett “Blu” Haywood, the CEO of Sea Quest Fiji, welcomes the blockchain technology. “Sustainable fishing ensures the longevity of the fishing business, and Sea Quest wants to see sustainable fishing in the region. This blockchain project with the three WWF offices certainly gives the industry the best opportunity going forward,” Mr Haywood said.
The project receives technical support from TraSeable Solutions, a new technology company based in Fiji. CEO of TraSeable Ken Katafono said: “I am very excited to be part of this project, which I’m sure will lead the transformation of seafood supply chain traceability in the Pacific and potentially around the world”.
Source: WWF - New ZEaland || January 9, 2018 |||
No Kudos for Labour Coalition in Handing Over Beleaguered IT Developer
Fugitive IT developer Kim Dotcom’s scalp is seen as a trophy of rapidly diminishing value in the United States where it was so ardently sought until a year ago. Should the larger-than-life IT avatar turn up manacled in the United States the result is likely to be the opposite of the one intended when New Zealand law enforcement and intelligence agencies launched the airborne raid on his live-in headquarters in 2012.
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