Founded by Max Farndale 1947 - 2018
Pic's Peanut Butter to hit shelves in China
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Strong Crown Accounts in April
Fog again causing problems at AKL airport this morning - check flights here
Combating protectionism and launch of EU negotiations high on McClay's Paris agenda
Some risk, some strengths for Fletcher
Small Business Minister Dean has today welcomed the release of the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment’s 2017 Small Business factsheet.
“The factsheet brings together statistics that relate to small businesses, and provides us with an overview of how valuable they are to the New Zealand economy,” Ms Dean says.
“Businesses with fewer than 20 employees make up 97 per cent of all enterprises in New Zealand, and contribute almost $65 billion to our GDP.
“Small businesses employ 29 percent of all workers in New Zealand, and it is important that we continue to support these businesses and help them thrive.
“Other key statistics highlighted in the factsheet are that small businesses created 42 per cent of all jobs in 2015, and salaries in small businesses average $45,867 per annum.
“Currently New Zealand is rated number one in the world for ease of doing business and this is something this government is very proud of.
“Our businesses are young, with 33 per cent of small businesses having existed for less than five years. We must continue to create a supportive environment to help small businesses mature and drive our economy forward.
The fact sheet is released annually by MBIE and a copy can be found here: http://www.mbie.govt.nz/info-services/business/business-growth-agenda/sectors-reports-series/the-small-business-sector-report-and-factsheet
| A Beehive release || June 02, 2017 |||
Singapore Airlines has become the first Asian carrier to participate in the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) PreCheck programme.
TSA PreCheck enables low-risk known travellers to enjoy expedited processing at airport security checkpoints across the US. PreCheck members have access to separate security screening lanes, where they do not have to remove jackets, belts, laptops, liquids and shoes.
Enrolment in the TSA PreCheck programme is open to US citizens and lawful permanent residents. However, non-US citizens can also enjoy the benefits of the programme through various Customs & Border Protection (CBP) trusted traveller programmes, such as Global Entry, NEXUS and SENTRI. Singapore citizens are eligible to apply to join the Global Entry programme for a fee.
Successful applicants of the TSA PreCheck programme or other CBP trusted traveller programmes receive a Known Traveler Number (KTN) which may be provided to the airline during booking or check-in. Once the customer’s KTN is recognised, the TSA PreCheck logo will be printed on their boarding pass, indicating that their KTN has been captured in their booking record.
Travellers can now provide their KTN across Singapore Airlines’ various check-in or booking channels, including its call agents, online reservations system, and online check-in via the airline’s website or app, in addition to checking in at the airport counter.
As a partner airline under the TSA PreCheck programme, Singapore Airlines will also be able to offer customers travelling to and from the US the option of having a self-printed boarding pass and/or mobile boarding pass.
| A Future Travel Experience Release || May 30, 2017 |||
Employment figures are no longer trusted
The imminent British general election has in common with the pending New Zealand general election that both elections will swing on the issue of immigration rather than the face value and rather more acceptable and perennial matter of trade and the economy.
In Britain the topic hinges often unspokenly on the nation’s ability to accommodate immigrants in the refugee category.
In New Zealand the issue is a wider one and encompasses especially the demand-over-supply pressure that liberal immigration policies have on infrastructure in general and residential accommodation in particular.
In Britain the issue devolves to a greater degree on the nation’s National Health Service which is viewed as buckling under the strain of coping with the influx of immigrants from everywhere.
Both countries vigorously portray a belief in the dual pivotal theorems of multi-culturalism and diversity even though in the UK the operating process in effect remains that of the 19th century United States which is the melting pot one.
In both countries immigration means different benefits to each of the two major political parties.
Immigrants carry value to labour parties because the new arrivals in the political process are considered to cast their new votes in the general direction of the socialist party, however nominally socialist it in fact is.
For the conservative parties immigrants generate industrial demand and thus the economic growth that conservative parties are expected to deliver.
In between these two fixed points are a number of tender topics centred on the pressure such influxes bring to bear on both ends of the voting spectrum with the poor at one end and the prosperous on the other.
As is frequently heard in New Zealand, and increasingly so in the run up to general election, the negative pressure is focussed at the poorer end simply because those of limited means find it harder to compete with the additional competition for residential accommodation, especially in the nation’s northern and most populous industrial regions.
The higher income groups with their invested capital are seen as benefiting from this. But they are also sensitive to the pressure immigration puts on essential services funded by taxes that directly or indirectly they see themselves as funding.
The common element in both countries is the refugee-category immigration cheerleading especially from the non-productive services sector.
The position in Britain between the opinion centres has suddenly become scrambled before New Zealand observers as both ends of the spectrum have taken up the cause of the other.
The Daily Mail, for example, the tribal noticeboard on the nation’s middle class, in recent weeks has trumpeted the way in which Britain’s Labour Party led by Jeremy Corbyn has closed the gap on the once seemingly unchallengeable lead held by Theresa May’s ruling conservatives.
This narrowing the gap news is though presented with ominous conjecture about Labour’s deep down commitment to letting in more immigrants.
A de-coding of this indicates that the middle class tribune has detected a signal danger –- that of the conservative vote becoming complacent to the point at which it will not bother to deliver itself to the polling booths on the election day.
A feature of both elections will be the distrust of unemployment figures once the stand-out indicator in both countries of their economic state of health.
The reason is that these figures are now widely distrusted, as was experienced in the run-up to Brexit, because they carry no indication of the value of the job in terms of pay, or whether the job is part time, full time, or temporary.
Similarly voters have now largely woken up to such statistical wheezes as people taking part-time courses on any subject at all considered officially as being employed.
In Britain immigration hovers as a national security issue first and then as putting pressure on available public resources.
In New Zealand this is reversed.
The British general election is on June 8 this year. New Zealand’s on September 23.
| From the This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. || Saturday 3 June 2017 |||
Hexcel Corp. (Stamford, Conn.) has entered into exclusive negotiations to acquire all of the shares of Structil SA (Structil), a French producer and supplier of high-performance composites to the aerospace, defense and industrial markets.
The proposed transaction is subject to review by relevant employee representative bodies and approval from the applicable French authorities. Assuming those reviews and approvals are successfully completed, the acquisition is expected to close in 2017.
Structil is a joint venture between Safran Ceramics, a wholly owned subsidiary of Safran, and Mitsubishi Chemical Corp. (formerly Mitsubishi Rayon Corp.). The company employs approximately 70 people at a 68,000-square-foot production plant on a seven-acre site in Vert-le-Petit, France, about 25 miles south of Paris. Structil's 2016 sales were approximately $21 million. The company’s product lines include prepregs, structural adhesives and pultruded profiles used in engine nacelles, aerospace interiors, military jets and more.
Hexcel’s chairman, CEO and president Nick Stanage, stated, “By combining Structil’s advanced composites product portfolio of prepregs, adhesives and pultrusions with ours, this acquisition would further enhance our product offerings to our customers in aerospace and industrial, providing an expanded choice of advanced composite solutions. The integration of the Structil team would also further strengthen our development capability and technologies for next generation aerospace and industrial applications. Hexcel is a Safran First Circle supplier, and this project will further reinforce our strong 30-year-long partnership.”
| Hexcel release || june 1, 2017 |||
Australia remained New Zealand’s top trading partner in the year ended March 2017, Stats NZ said today. Trans-Tasman travel was worth more than $2 billion each way, which means the trade ties with Australia were worth more than those with China.
“Higher travel services have pushed Australia into the top position for total trade, despite China being New Zealand’s top exports destination for goods such as dairy, logs, and meat,” international statistics senior manager Daria Kwon said.
New Zealanders travelling to Australia spent $2.2 billion in the year ended March 2017, significantly more than the $257 million spent by New Zealanders travelling to China.
Most of this $2.2 billion worth of travel service imports was for personal travel, such as holidays or visiting friends and family. However, business travel was worth $537 million in the year.
Australians travelling to New Zealand (exports of travel services) spent $2.4 billion in the March 2017 year, mostly on personal travel ($1.9 billion).
New Zealand’s largest goods export to Australia was precious metals, jewellery, and coins ($625 million in the March 2017 year, mainly from gold mining), our 17th largest export commodity overall. This was followed by crude oil from the Taranaki oil fields, various foods, and machinery. Dairy products exported to Australia were New Zealand’s 23rd largest export commodity.
New Zealand’s total two-way trade with Australia was worth $24 billion, and we had a $1.6 billion trade surplus with Australia.
Total exports of goods and services were $70.4 billion, while total imports were $67.4 billion. Overall, New Zealand’s trade with the rest of the world was a $3.0 billion surplus for the March 2017 year.
Goods and Services Trade by Country: Year ended March 2017 – for more data and analysis
| A StatisticsNZ release || June 02, 2017 |||
Auckland Airport today formally launched Ara, its South Auckland jobs and skills hub. Ara has connected 211 people living in the airport’s South Auckland neighbourhood with long-term employment and training since it began as a trial in November 2015, and will connect thousands more local people with employers based at the airport over the next 30 years as the company builds its ‘airport of the future’.
Adrian Littlewood, Auckland Airport’s Chief Executive, says: “People in the South Auckland community tell us that having stable work near their homes is important to them. Our location in South Auckland and our 30-year infrastructure development programme put us in a unique position to generate employment opportunities with businesses based here. We’ve set up Ara to connect local people with local jobs.”
Insight Economics has calculated that the benefits of the airport’s 30-year investment in infrastructure include creating around 27,000 more jobs.
“Long-term, local employment benefits everyone in South Auckland – people living here, students studying here and businesses based here, including our airport itself. We’re excited about Ara and what it means for South Auckland and Auckland Airport’s development plans.”
Ara is a charitable trust established by Auckland Airport. It is a partnership between Auckland Airport, the South Auckland community, Fletchers, Hawkins and other local employers, government agencies (the Ministries of Social Development, Business Innovation and Employment, and Education and the Tertiary Education Commission), Auckland Council, local schools and tertiary institutes, industry training organisations and training providers.
Since it began as a trial in November 2015, Ara has placed 227 people in jobs, 211 of whom come from South Auckland. One hundred and three of these 227 people were previously on benefits. Twenty-six people placed by Ara are building their skills through apprenticeships.
In addition, 1,068 people have successfully completed training through Ara. Sixty-eight students from five secondary schools near the airport have been or are currently involved in a work experience programme through Ara to support their NCEA studies.
“While Ara has to date focussed on placing people into construction jobs, that focus is now expanding to include the many industries located around the airport, including logistics, travel and tourism, retail and hospitality,” says Mr Littlewood.
Auckland Airport is investing more than $1 million every working day on core airport infrastructure and expects this level of investment will likely continue into the near future. The major upgrade of Auckland Airport’s international departure area is now well underway, as is the expansion of Pier B of the international terminal which will add two more contact gates that can each accommodate an A380 or two smaller aircraft. Auckland Airport is also progressing the design of the new domestic section of its future combined domestic and international terminal.
| An Auckland airport release || June 2, 2017 |||
Foreign Minister Gerry Brownlee has today welcomed the appointment of a New Zealander to an important role at the United Nations.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has confirmed the appointment of New Zealander Jan Beagle to the position of Under-Secretary-General for Management for a term of four years.
“This is a significant role with the United Nations given the new Secretary-General‘s reform priorities. It is one of a handful of very senior roles within the UN Secretariat,” Mr Brownlee says.
“As the Secretary-General noted in making the appointment, Ms Beagle has had a distinguished career in the United Nations serving in a number of high-level roles in New York and Geneva, most recently as the Deputy Executive Director of UN AIDS.
“This appointment is a tribute to Ms Beagle’s abilities and her excellent performance in the United Nations.
“I’d like to congratulate Ms Beagle on her new role and we look forward to working with her,” Mr Brownlee says.
| A beehive release || June 02, 2017 |||
Associate Health Minister Peter Dunne says New Zealand is to remove restrictions around cannabidiol (CBD), in line with international developments.
CBD is a substance found in cannabis that has potential therapeutic value. It has little or no psychoactive properties, yet it is currently a controlled drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act.
“At present CBD products for therapeutic use are only available if approval is given by the Ministry of Health.
“I have taken advice from the Expert Advisory Committee on Drugs (EACD) that CBD should not be a controlled drug and am pleased Cabinet has now accepted my recommendation to make this change. Therefore, I am now taking steps to remove restrictions accordingly.
“In practical terms, the changes mean CBD would be able to be prescribed by a doctor to their patient and supplied in a manner similar to any other prescription medicine.
“Australia has already taken a similar step while other countries are also responding to emerging evidence that CBD has a low risk of harm when used therapeutically.
“This change is about future-proofing access to CBD products, as the reality is that there will continue to be barriers beyond New Zealand’s control to people accessing such products from overseas,” says Mr Dunne.
Currently there is a limited range of CBD products made to a standard where prescribers can be sure the products contains what is claimed – and strict import and export restrictions on products sourced from other countries, which will continue to impact the supply of CBD products in New Zealand.
“However, we do know of at least one CBD product in development made to high manufacturing standards that will contain two per cent or less of the other cannabinoids found in cannabis,” said Mr Dunne.
The changes will include removing requirements for:
Prescriptions would be allowed for up to three months’ supply, rather than one month. These measures can be achieved by amending the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 1977 in the first instance, pending any future amendment of the Misuse of Drugs Act.
| A Beehive release || June 2, 2017 |||
Construction on the new NZ$36m (US$25.5m) hotel at Wellington Airport is underway following a groundbreaking ceremony at the site, with an expected opening in late 2018.
The four-star 134-bed hotel at the northern end of the airport will be managed by Rydges and is to include a restaurant, bar and conference facilities. It will be fully integrated with the main terminal building, constructed above the international terminal and accessible from inside a newly redeveloped passenger lounge.
Steve Sanderson, Wellington Airport’s chief executive, said, “The hotel is part of the airport’s wider efforts to improve the experience of everyone who has to catch an early flight or arrive on a late one. Many travelers utilize these international flights and the airport’s particular focus is on improving its role as the gateway for central New Zealand.
“Grabbing a room and getting a good night’s rest will be a smart option for those that need to travel a fair distance home. We expect the airport hotel to be hugely popular with business travelers, families and those travelling internationally.”
Wellington Airport’s international market has experienced exceptional growth in recent years, welcoming new services from Singapore Airlines, Fiji Airways and Jetstar. International passenger numbers have more than doubled in the last 15 years to nearly 900,000, with the total passenger numbers traveling through Wellington Airport reaching almost 6 million.
| June 1, 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
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