Australian rental company Kennards Hire has continued growing with plans for a new office in Hamilton. Catering to a vast range of industries as well as the DIY home improvement market, Kennards Hire said the new branch would boast tools and equipment suited to the materials handling, construction, civil and concreting industries, among others. Tom Kimber, general manager of Kennards Hire New Zealand, said Hamilton was a hub for both construction and agriculture, which was a key motivator in opening a new branch there. “The opening of the Hamilton branch is great opportunity to say thanks to New Zealand for…

The government is ignoring the threat of an environmental disaster off the coast of Kawhia near Waikato despite repeated warnings of an unsafe mooring being used by giant cargo ships, says New Zealand First. “In June, eye witnesses reported that the dated Taharoa Buoy, in use since 1972, was sinking. This month there are reports of an aborted berthing due to bad weather,” says Conservation Spokesperson Clayton Mitchell. “The buoy is unstable and not suitable for such massive vessels in rough weather, but commercial pressures are forcing them to use the mooring anyway. “The government needs to wake up to…

WAUKESHA, WI--(Marketwired - August 15, 2016) - When a near-shore natural gas platform in New Zealand needed to be refurbished on a tight time frame, New Zealand contractor WorleyParsons found the perfect solution on the other side of the world -- in Safway's QuikDeck. After 10 years of safely delivering up to 40 percent of New Zealand's natural gas supply annually, the Shell-operated Pohokura field in the North Island of the country, needed an offshore refurbishment. This included painting the entire platform and legs situated in 115 feet of water -- safely -- while not impacting the environment, maintaining a…

Wellington, New Zealand – 16 August 2016 – Firefighters serving with New Zealand Fire Service will benefit from improved safety and communication while working in fire grounds through an innovative two-way radio solution. The new solution from Motorola Solutions and Spark will enable the service’s 10,000 career and volunteer firefighters to stay connected to their colleagues in the field via reliable and robust voice communication. Having attended around 73,000 incidents in the past year alone, New Zealand Fire Service needs the best tools for the job. The organisation will receive more than 4,500 new radios designed for use in the…

Bestech Australia introduces Fluid Power Training Institute’s MF102-H-TSE, the best Hydraulic Training System in the world. Designed by renowned hydraulics instructor Rory McLaren, it helps students understand the principles of hydraulics and shows them applications of the various principles and theories taught throughout their education. Students will be able to learn about fixed displacement pump circuits, pressure-compensated pump circuits, as well as load-sensing circuits all on one training system. It also contains six directional control valves – three parallel industrial type, one series industrial type, one cylindrical spool - centred mobile type and one motor spool centred mobile type. The…

The Commerce Commission today released its draft report on Fonterra’s base milk price calculation for the 2015/16 dairy season. The base milk price is the price Fonterra pays to farmers for raw milk and it is currently set by Fonterra at $3.90 per kilogram of milk solids for the 2015/16 season just ended. The report does not cover the forecast 2016/17 price of $4.25 that Fonterra recently announced. The Commission is required to review Fonterra’s calculation each year at the end of the dairy season under the milk price monitoring regime in the Dairy Industry Restructuring Act (DIRA). Deputy Chair…

Enough is enough, review of overseas banks overdue Friday 12 August 2016 - The Big Four Aussie banks are on track for another year of bumper profits at New Zealand’s expense, says New Zealand First Leader and Northland MP Rt Hon Winston Peters. “In the financial year just ended they are likely to be taking out over $4 billion after tax in profits and dividends from the NZ economy. This on-going drain is a major contributor to New Zealand’s persistent balance of payments deficit. “Over 90% of the banking sector in New Zealand is foreign owned, largely by the big…

Today’s Special Resolution will determine if our largest meat exporter remains in Kiwi hands and it is vital to ask hard questions of Silver Fern Farms’ board and management, says New Zealand First. “Today’s Special Resolution is the last chance farmers have to keep control before they learn the hard way what being Chinese controlled feels like,” says New Zealand First Leader and Northland MP Rt Hon Winston Peters. “If the spin SFF bigwigs put into last October’s ordinary resolution result is anything to go by, we can expect more of the same this afternoon. “It must be remembered that…

The Reserve Bank is deferring the start of the proposed changes to investor loan-to-value restrictions (LVRs) nationwide from 1 September to 1 October 2016, based on feedback from the banking industry from its recent consultation on the proposals. Deputy Governor, Grant Spencer, said: “Banks have indicated through their submissions that more time is required to enable them to meet the new restrictions that apply to investor loans nationwide, given the pipeline of loan pre-approvals made prior to our announcement in July. “We understand that banks have been applying the new LVR restrictions to new loan applications since the LVR changes…

The University of Otago has appointed construction firm Leighs Cockram JV to build its new Dental School. The University’s Project Working Party approved the appointment of the contractor on Wednesday 3 August, and Leighs Cockram JV, a joint venture company made up of Christchurch-based Leigh’s Construction, and Australian-based Cockram’s Construction, was subsequently notified. The appointment comes after a two-stage open tender process run via the Government tendering website over 12 weeks. At the conclusion of the process, which evaluated price and non-price attributes of tenders such as construction methodology, quality management, experience with similar projects and managing the links between…

A 10-year plan to address health risks in New Zealand’s workplaces was launched on the 10th of aust 2016  in Wellington by the Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon Michael Woodhouse. WorkSafe New Zealand’s strategic plan for work-related health, ‘Healthy Work’, outlines the approach WorkSafe will take over the coming ten years to support and enable businesses to better manage work-related health risks. Each year, these risks kill 600-900 people and lead to a further 30,000 New Zealand workers developing serious, but non-fatal, work-related health conditions. “Each one of those figures is a real person who has died or…