Mar 07, 2018  -  Security printer ABnote is moving ahead with plans to shut down its plastic card manufacturing business based at Christchurch and move the operation to Australia.

“The manufacturing will finish here at the end of March and we’ll all be out by the end of April,” says a staff member at ABnote NZ, based at 25 Halwyn Drive, in Sockburn, Christchurch.

E tū union spokesman Joe Gallagher says the lease on the old factory was due to expire and the company was not prepared to reinvest in equipment or property.

About 50 workers will lose their jobs at the site but some may be offered jobs at other ABnote locations in New Zealand and Australia.

“Most people will have cards in their wallet that were made at this site,” says Gallagher. “They produce bank cards, ID cards, loyalty cards and a lot more. It’s a real shame that these good kiwi-made products are just the next product to have production moved off-shore.”

Gallagher says that while the company may offer employment at other sites, this would be unrealistic for most workers.

“Families can’t just up and move to New South Wales. The company has indicated that they may help people find other jobs – we expect them to take the commitment very seriously.”

ABnote is the longest-established supplier of secure transaction products, services and logistics in Australia and New Zealand, employing around 600 people. The company is a market leader in identity cards, smart card solutions, instant issuance solutions, cheques, financial cards, driver’s licences and high-resolution barcodes.

Source: Print@1 Australia  ||  March 07, 2018   |||

Mar 07, 2018  -  MYOB Group, the Australian tax, accounting and business software company, lifted sales and profit in New Zealand in 2017 while seeking regulatory clearance on both sides of the Tasman to buy accounting software firm Reckon

Mar 07, 2018  - For the past two years, the Samoa Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries has been in discussions with the New Zealand Ministry of Primary Industries through its bilateral Quarantine Agreement meetings. Now there is finally an outcome that will see Samoa’s banana exports developing and growing again, although under strict New Zealand import bio security requirements.

Mar 07, 2018  -   The government is adding forestry rights to the Overseas Investment Act screening regime ahead of this week's signing of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership in Chile, preserving its right to legislate on the issue

Mar 07, 2018 -Negotiators for Lyttleton Port Company and the Rail and Maritime Transport Union are meeting this morning to try to stave off a strike set to begin tomorrow and last up to 14 days

Mar 06, 2018  -  Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has appointed senior business leader and former diplomat Philip Turner as New Zealand’s next Ambassador to the Republic of Korea.

Mr Turner has extensive experience working in North Asia. He has held a number of senior positions at Fonterra, and most recently as Director of Global Stakeholder Affairs. Prior to joining Fonterra, Mr Turner held a number of roles in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, including postings to the New Zealand Embassies in Tokyo and Brussels.

“Mr Turner’s background as both as a diplomat and a policy leader, as well as his extensive private sector experience, will help us grow our economic links, while continuing to deepen the political and people-to-people ties which underpin this vibrant relationship,” Mr Peters said.

“New Zealand and Korea are natural partners in the Asia-Pacific. We have a wide-ranging and modern partnership, built upon our shared sacrifice during the Korean War.

“Since the entry into force of our Free Trade Agreement with Korea in 2015, trade between our two countries has continued to flourish. There is scope for both sides to grow these benefits.

“We work closely with the Republic of Korea on North Korean nuclear issues, and New Zealand continues to support a diplomatic and peaceful resolution to the situation on the Korean Peninsula,” Mr Peters said.

| A Beehive release  ||  March 06, 2018   |||

Mar 06, 2018  -  A new shipping service for Northland's $40 million kiwifruit industry will take more than 500 truck and trailers trips off the road south of Whangarei and increase profits for the region's growers.

Starting May this year, Northland's kiwifruit will be able to travel directly to Singapore from Northland, via a new service being trialled out of Northport, at Marsden Pt, by the Mediterranean Shipping Company.

The Geneva-based company has announced its container vessels will stop at Northport to load Zespri kiwifruit and other locally grown produce every fortnight.

The new service is called "Kiwi Express" in a nod to its major target crop.

According to an article on nzherald.co.nz, Northland produces around three and a half million trays of kiwifruit a year, which equates to about 13,000 pallets and is worth around $40 million. The volume of trays is expected to double in the next three years.

| A FreshPlaza release ||  March 06, 2018   |||

Mar 06, 2018 - The AA has launched a new tradie callout service which will send home help to fix burst pipes, blocked toilets or electrical failures at any hour of the day.

Mar 05, 2018  -  In the January 2018 Kiwiflier, Zespri advised that the Zespri Board had requested the management team to fast-track data collection for a red variety to allow a 2018 commercialisation decision.

Mar 02, 2018  -  Green Party Co-leader James Shaw has today announced two important new transparency measures, which will apply to Green Party Ministers, MPs and staff, to help counter the influence of money in politics.