Continuing to strengthen New Zealand borders 25 July 2016 - All travellers flying to, from or through New Zealand will now be checked against INTERPOL’s Stolen and Lost Travel Documents (SLTD) database in a move that will make the border even safer. een implemented for all travellers at the time of check-in. This new security check will take place at the time of check-in. Travellers should notice no difference to the current check-in process as this check will integrate seamlessly with Immigration New Zealand’s (INZ) Advance Passenger Processing (APP) checks that airlines already conduct for people travelling to New Zealand.…

New Online Travel Management Application Drives Cost Savings and Productivity Gains for Smaller Businesses Auckland, New Zealand. 25th July 2016 – Serko Ltd. (SKO.NZ) launched its new small business travel management application, serko.travel, in conjunction with Xero, the leader in online accountancy software. From today, businesses in New Zealand and Australia with up to 150 employees can sign up and make bookings online without any service fees, kick-starting a revolution in small business travel. Designed to fundamentally change the way small businesses book and manage company travel, serko.travel gives users access to the same travel-booking technology and some of the…

A new plant based oil is being developed to replace petrochemicals in industrial products ranging from fuels and lubricants to specialty chemicals and plastics, writes Hartley Henderson. In a joint project between the CSIRO and the Grains Research Development Corporation (GRDC) to establish the Crop Biofactories Initiatives (CBI), Safflower seed oil that contains over 92 percent oleic acid has been produced. This has been dubbed ‘Super High Oleic Safflower Oil’ (SHOSO). According to the CSIRO’s Dr Craig Wood, plants can produce a wide range of compounds that can be used as raw materials for making industrial chemicals and these crop…

New Zealand is poised for a period of enormous change in the coming 30 years and initiatives to tackle the major shifts will be launched at the Local Government New Zealand 2016 Conference this weekend. Over the next three decades New Zealand communities will have to adapt to significant economic, social, cultural and environmental changes. Whether it’s coping with increased urbanisation and what this means for cities and regions, responding to climate change or caring for our environment, big challenges lie ahead. LGNZ’s 2050 Challenge: future proofing Kiwi Communities discussion paper has been developed to generate discussion about how the…

A survey of over 2,000 collective employment agreements from Victoria University of Wellington shows that while gains are being made for unionised workers, the benefits are having a wider effect as collectively agreed terms and conditions are often extended to new employees and non-union workers. The survey results, providing greater understanding of current employment provisions and issues, will be released next week at the first of five seminars in main centres across the country. Victoria’s Centre for Labour Employment and Work (CLEW) conducted the survey, which covers the full range of industry sectors. The survey found that after years of…

Chorus has today said that, in partnership with its service companies, it is aiming to recruit another 250 technicians and support staff by the end of the year. This is to help meet the demands it faces across its copper and fibre business, despite nearly 2000 people already being added to the workforce since 2011. The announcement comes as the company apologises to customers who have been waiting too long for faults on its copper network to be repaired, and it has made improvement in this area its immediate priority. During winter, when volumes of faults increase due to the…

An interesting item from the Booksellers Association Feature by Marcus Greville. We’ve all got our gripes about distributors, but we save the deep grumbles for UBD. When Random House’s Auckland warehouse closed we lost a significant resource, consequently we became hyper-aware of any stuff-ups from UBD – I was like an angry vampiric meerkat whenever a TOLL courier arrived – but it may be time to cool our jets, note the changes, and start spreading our distribution grumps around in a fairer and more constructive way. I had a talk to Colin Pinfold, National Operations and Logistics Manager for Penguin…

As Autodesk continue our transition to a fully subscription-based business, we remain committed to providing you greater value, more flexibility and a simpler way to access the Autodesk software you need. On 1 August 2016, we will introduce Autodesk industry collections and end the sale of Autodesk Design & Creation Suites. Industry collections will provide you access to a wide selection of essential Autodesk software for your profession. They will offer immediate access to new technology, cloud services and several licensing options. In short, industry collections will give you the freedom to access the software products you want, when you…

Manufacturers are pleased with today’s announcement by James Shaw and the Green Party to include a Minster for Manufacturing in any future cabinet. This is a vital step for ensuring government understands manufacturing and can effectively help unleash the potential of the sector. This is a solid idea that we hope can be embraced by any and all political parties, say the New Zealand Manufacturers and Exporters Association (NZMEA). NZMEA Chief Executive Dieter Adam says, “Manufacturing remains one of the biggest providers of quality jobs with wages higher than the average, economic growth and export income into New Zealand. Yet…

ContainerCo (NZL) Limited (ContainerCo), the container depot operator, today announced that it will develop a major new container services facility in Hawke’s Bay as reported earlier in the year on MSCNewsWire The new purpose built facility will be developed on a five hectare site in Mersey Street, within the Napier City Council’s industrial zone. Over time, it is expected that $5-10m will be invested in the site development. ContainerCo’s managing director Ken Harris said that the investment both reflects and supports the growth of exports and imports in Hawke’s Bay as well as the continued success of Napier Port in…

Prospects for growth in the global economy have diminished despite very stimulatory monetary policy and low oil prices. Significant downside risks remain. Financial market volatility increased following the UK referendum and long-term interest rates have fallen. Domestic growth is expected to remain supported by strong inward migration, construction activity, tourism, and accommodative monetary policy. However, low dairy prices are depressing incomes in the dairy sector and weighing on farm spending and investment. There continue to be many uncertainties around the outlook. Internationally, these relate to the prospects for global growth and commodity prices, the fragility of global financial markets, and…