Founded by Max Farndale 1947 - 2018
16 Nov 2017 - New Zealand has endorsed the Bonn Communique of the Climate and Clean Air Coalition on Tackling Air Pollution to Save Lives and Protect the Environment.
Climate Change Minister James Shaw endorsed the communique at the COP23 climate change conference in Bonn, Germany, overnight New Zealand time.
The communique focuses on “super pollutant” short-lived gases that cause air pollution and climate change, such as methane.
“It’s really good to see the momentum and hard work that’s going into finding solutions for agricultural and waste emissions,” Mr Shaw says.
“Endorsing this Bonn Communique recognises the important role that New Zealand plays internationally looking for ways to tackle agricultural climate pollution.
“We’ve known for a long time that tackling agricultural climate pollution and other sources of air pollution are critical to addressing climate change and ensuring we leave a stable climate for future generations.
“The Green Party’s confidence and supply agreement with Labour commits to significant reductions in waste to landfill by 2020, and this Bonn Communique recognises how important work to reduce waste emissions is.
“Auckland City has committed to a very ambitious target of zero waste by 2040. The new Government is proud of the leadership Auckland is showing. We support that goal, both at home and on the world stage,” Mr Shaw says.
| A Beehive release || November 15, 2017 |||
16 Nov 2017 - Foreign Minister’s APEC and EAS visit. Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister the Rt Hon Winston Peters returns to New Zealand overnight following a visit to Viet Nam and the Philippines where he attended the APEC Meetings in Da Nang, and the East Asia Summit in Manila. “My first visit to these two major regional summits as Foreign Minister provided a valuable opportunity to be reacquainted with counterparts who I have previously met, and to have introductory meetings with Foreign Ministers from a significant number of countries where New Zealand has strong economic and strategic interests”, Mr Peters said.
Across both summits, Mr Peters had formal meetings with the Foreign Ministers of eleven countries, including Australia, China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Lao Peoples’ Democratic Republic, Papua New Guinea, Russia, Singapore, Thailand, Viet Nam, and the United States.
Additionally, Mr Peters met informally with Foreign Ministers from a range of other countries, including Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Indonesia and Malaysia. Mr Peters also accompanied the Prime Minister the Rt Hon Jacinda Ardern to meetings with her counterparts.
“The visit allowed me to participate in discussions on the big issues facing the Asia‑Pacific region, including the threat posed by North Korea’s actions, the territorial disputes in the South China Sea, the challenge of countering terrorism in South East Asia, and the conflict and resulting humanitarian crisis in Myanmar’s Rakhine State”, Mr Peters said.
Mr Peters also launched a new phase of New Zealand Official Development Assistance supporting the development of Viet Nam’s dragon fruit industry. In the Philippines, the Minister also announced a new phase of New Zealand assistance to support agriculture‑based livelihoods and agribusiness in Mindanao.
Mr Peters also confirmed the appointment of New Zealand Honorary‑Consuls to Davao and Cebu, further strengthening New Zealand’s relationship with the Philippines.
| A beehive release || November 16, 2017 |||
16 Nov 2017 - Most engineers didn’t go to school aiming to become economists, but that’s often what it feels like once you take on a managerial role. High-performance equipment is expensive, and downtime is costlier than ever. Lubrication is a fact of life, as is maintenance, whether it’s an airliner on the ramp or a conveyor on an assembly line, and the overall cost of preventative maintenance is always in play. High temperature applications make the problem even worse. At 400° F and higher, conventional hydrocarbon lubricant formulations aren’t enough.
For the difficult environments found in aerospace and aviation applications, for example, high-performance perfluoropolyether (PFPE) lubricants can perform under extreme temperatures, pressures and exposure to harsh chemicals. Often, advanced PFPE lubes are the only solution, but what about cases where hydrocarbon formulations can survive? In this case, there are still strong cost and performance advantages to going with higher performance products.
Consider the true cost of lubrication in manufacturing. Maintaining Lubrication in Extreme EnvironmentsMachines can fail for any number of reasons, but improper lubrication is often a leading culprit. This is commonly due to environmental factors such as temperature, pressure or exposure to harsh chemicals, or due to a lack of scheduled maintenance and relubrication. Extreme environments pose a significant challenge for keeping machines properly lubricated. Steam turbine controls, for example, will see wear on cam shafts, valve lift bar anti-friction bushings and gears if they’re using conventional lubricants, leading to
| Continue toread the full article here || November 16, 2017 |||
16 Nov 2017 - The NZ deer industry has agreed to support one of South Korea’s largest pharmaceutical companies in its plans to develop and market a product with proven health benefits based on NZ deer velvet. The Chief Executive of Yuhan Corporation Mr Jung Hee Lee, and the Chief Executive of Deer Industry New Zealand (DINZ), Mr Dan Coup, this morning signed a memorandum of understanding in Wellington, witnessed by the Minister of Agriculture Damien O’Connor and the Ambassador for the Republic of Korea, Mr Seung-bae Yeo.
Mr Lee said Yuhan’s objective is to successfully develop, register and market a health food product containing scientifically validated components of New Zealand deer velvet.
“This will be a world-first. In recent years a number of Korean companies have developed easy-to-consume formulations of traditional herbal products based on deer velvet, but none have commissioned supporting research in New Zealand to the same level of detail that Yuhan will do,” he said.
“AgResearch and Yuhan scientists will be working together to build on existing scientific knowledge. AgResearch is recognised internationally for its knowledge of velvet processing techniques, the composition of deer velvet and the potential health benefits.”
Mr Coup says DINZ and Yuhan have a shared interest in the registration of NZ deer velvet as a health food.
“If this is achieved it will further strengthen the reputation of NZ deer velvet as a natural, safe and quality food ingredient in Korea.”
He says DINZ will work with Yuhan to help promote the “New Zealand velvet story” and support the successful launch of its velvet products where appropriate.
“The two parties may also co-fund some specific areas of research and marketing activities, but these will be subject to separate agreements.”
Ms Ashley Kyung-in Chung, head of Yuhan’s food and health marketing team, said the company would be investing a minimum of $1.5 million on research with AgResearch and had budgeted for the substantial costs involved in registering a functional food claim and taking a product to market.
She said Yuhan had chosen New Zealand as the source of velvet because of the country’s transparency on three fronts – the farming environment, animal welfare and the traceable and hygienic supply chain.
“Yuhan is one of the most respected companies in Korea – consumers trust us and trust our partners. We travel the world looking for ingredients that are produced in systems as close to nature as possible and where animals are treated with care – that’s why we have come to New Zealand. Velvet from other countries does not have the same standards as New Zealand.”
As part of its market positioning, Yuhan has also signed an agreement with Alpine Deer Group.
“In our marketing we will be using images and videos of one of Alpine’s iconic high-country deer stations that will be one of our main sources of velvet. Our marketing materials will strongly reflect our connection with New Zealand as both the source of our velvet as well as the technology we are using to bring innovative velvet-based products to the market,” Ms Chung said.
Background information
Yuhan Corporation was established as a health company in 1926 by Dr Ilhan New. Today it is one of South Korea’s largest pharmaceutical companies, formulating and marketing high quality and innovative health products.
Yuhan’s 2016 sales turnover was approximately US$1.18 billion. Approximately 9% of its revenue was reinvested into research and development.
Yuhan’s mission is to create a balanced portfolio of health food products and supplements from the most natural sources for every life stage. Yuhan has been awarded the most respected company title in South Korea for the last 14 consecutive years (2017).
Yuhan has 220 highly trained scientists involved in product development and commercialisation.
For more information on Yuhan Corporation, refer to www.yuhan.co.kr
Deer Industry New Zealand (DINZ) is a marketing authority established by the Deer Industry New Zealand Regulations 2004 pursuant to the Primary Products Marketing Act 1953. Functions of DINZ relevant to the MOU with Yuhan are:
a. to promote and assist the development of the deer industry in New Zealand b. to assist in the organisation and development of the marketing of products derived from deer c. to assist in the development of existing and new markets for products derived from deer.
DINZ works closely with New Zealand’s leading Crown Research Institute, AgResearch, and has a joint venture partnership with AgResearch called Velvet Antler Research New Zealand (VARNZ).
For more information on DINZ, refer to www.deernz.org
| A DeerNZ release || November 16, 2017 |||
16 Nov 2017 - The Financial Markets Authority (FMA) has concluded an investigation into certain trading activity by Goldman Sachs New Zealand LTD (GS). The GS investigation was prompted by concerns arising from an investigation into trading by Mark Warminger and Milford Asset Management. The FMA was concerned that GS trading may have been in breach of section 11B of the Securities Market Act 1988 by creating a false or misleading appearance to the price and supply of securities.
The FMA determined that pursuing enforcement action in court would not have been the most appropriate response to this case or the best way to achieve its regulatory objectives. The FMA decided to publish a report based on its concerns about the alleged misconduct in the investigation, and to educate the market about its expectations surrounding trading by brokers.
The FMA decided not to go to court based on a number of factors, each detailed in the report. These include litigation risk and limited regulatory options available in this case and the details of the specific misconduct alleged. The FMA also considered the significant cost, time and resources required in pursuing litigation would outweigh the potential benefits.
GS has explained the alleged misconduct to the FMA as facilitating trades for a client. Since the trading covered in the report, GS has ceased operating as a trading participant in the New Zealand market.
In addition to publishing a report, the FMA will take the following additional actions:
The FMA also considered the most proportionate response to the GS conduct would have been for the NZX to refer GS to the NZ Markets Disciplinary Tribunal (NZMDT). The NZX did not take this action.
Rob Everett, the FMA’s Chief Executive, said “Capital markets growth and integrity is a key FMA strategic priority. Successful markets rely on confident participation and any activity which threatens market integrity reduces confidence from investors and the public.
Mr Everett said, “We had a difficult decision in terms of what the appropriate regulatory response was in this instance. Ultimately, we decided that our regulatory objectives would best be met by issuing the report.”
“Publishing the results of the GS investigation enables us to demonstrate the lessons for industry in our findings. We’ll continue to engage with industry to ensure they are clear about the standards of conduct, governance, systems and controls we expect, and use this report as the basis of discussions with brokers.”
A copy of the report can be found here.
| A FMA release || November 16, 2017 |||
16 Nov 2017 - For many people, an electric bike makes sense for longer commutes, but it isn't needed for shorter jaunts or recreational rides. As a result, we've seen a number of kits that allow cyclists to temporarily turn their existing bike into an e-bike, by swapping one of its wheels with an electrified one. It's a pretty simple solution, although the Swytch eBike Conversion Kit may be even simpler and easier yet. Most of the electric wheels we've seen have been quite heavy – this is because they contain not only a motor, but also a battery pack and the associated electronics. That extra revolving weight makes them difficult to move if pedalling without electrical assistance, so the bike's original unpowered wheel needs to swapped back in when using the bicycle in non-e-bike mode.
In the case of the Swytch system, though, the supplied front wheel only contains a 36V/250W hub motor. This reportedly leaves it light enough that it can stay on the bike full-time, permanently replacing the bike's regular wheel. The lithium-ion battery and electronics are in a separate power pack that clicks in and out of a handlebar-mounted bracket within just a few seconds.
Electrical cables run from that bracket to the motor, and to brake and pedal sensors. Initially installing all of the permanent hardware is a one-time affair, which is claimed to take about 10 minutes. From there, users just pop the power pack on when they want an e-bike, and pull it off when they don't.The whole Swytch system – including both the permanently-mounted bits and the power pack – weighs...
A control panel in the top of the pack lets riders do things like selecting the amount of electrical assistance, and checking how much power is left. An electronically-limited top speed of 15 mph (24 km/h) is possible in the European version, or 20 mph (32 km/h) for the US/international model. The range sits at either 25 or 50 miles (40 or 80 km), depending on which of two available battery capacities are selected. Charging time is 3-4 hours or 5-6, respectively.
The whole system – including both the permanently-mounted bits and the power pack – weighs 3.9 kg (8.6 lb) with the small battery, or 4.8 kg (10.6 lb) with the big one. By contrast, the lightest all-in-one electric wheel we've seen so far tips the scales at 7 kg (15 lb), with others more in the neighborhood of 9 kg (20 lb).
The Swytch system is currently the subject of an Indiegogo campaign, with pledge levels starting at US$299 for the 25-mile model. The planned retail price is $650. There are also complete bikes available, with the system built in.
It can be seen in use, in this video.
| Source: Indiegogo || November 16, 2017 |||
15 Nov 2017 - Tower says it aims to leave its larger rivals with 'clunky legacy systems' in its wake by transforming into a "digital challenger" offering customers more tailored products that draw on deeper pools of information. The Auckland-based insurer is raising $70.8 million to bolster its balance sheet and has adopted an ultra-conservative approach to the most problematic claims lingering from the Canterbury earthquakes seven years ago. Chief executive Richard Harding says that gives it the headroom to overhaul its IT infrastructure and embark a new way of doing business which will deliver better products for customers, tailored to their specific needs and priced accordingly.
Tower has hired EIS Group to scope out and cost the process of integrating four systems into one core infrastructure as part of a wider programme to simplify the business, putting the insurer on the front foot against its rivals which are carrying more cumbersome systems that struggle to keep up with changing consumer demands.
"It's that flexibility to use data from all sources, get that data compiled in a way for you as a customer that we actually have insights about you so we can make a compelling price for you," Harding told BusinessDesk in an interview. "It's really about turning around insurance to be simple and easy for customers.
"We won't get to that in financial year '20 but we've certainly built the foundations that will enable Tower to have the flexibility to deliver that sort of claims outcome or customer experience," he said.
Harding doesn't anticipate the country's larger insurers can match that strategy, because "they're not as nimble and they don't have that ability and flexibility."
Tower's online drive has already started paying dividends, with yesterday's announcement of the capital raise and lingering issues with Canterbury claims clouding a robust underlying business. The firm's online sales generated 30 percent of new business for the insurer in the September quarter coming through digital channels, compared to just 9 percent in the March quarter of 2016.
Still, the insurer booked $19.6 million of impairment charges on software in the 2016 financial year after finding its current systems restricted its ambitions and accelerated the amortisation charge on internally developed software in 2017. The closing book value for Tower's software was $31.3 million as at Sept. 30, after accumulated amortisation of $33 million.
Information is the key benefit for insurers in the digital environment, and Harding said the industry will be able to deliver better pricing for customers with more robust data analysis. He points to the cross-subsidisation in the larger insurers, where about six Auckland policyholders are effectively paying more for their earthquake premiums to cover one Wellington policy, which carries greater risk.
"By having cross-subsidisation you're encouraging development in places where it shouldn't be developed," Harding said. "Should we be building commercial property on reclaimed land in Wellington harbour? Should we be allowing continued construction on 60-degree slopes on the Wellington foreshore?
"At the moment we do because there isn't a risk signal coming from the insurance industry saying that's not a viable thing to do."
Harding expects big data will let insurers move to more accurate pricing for risk, which will "mean unfortunately a higher cost in Wellington, but more affordable insurance for other people." That's a decision which will need wide societal input, "and is a challenge New Zealand will have to face up to in the next five years or so," he said.
That shift to a digital interface will also change the nature of Tower's workforce, something the insurer has been to develop over the past year. Harding said one of the biggest issues service staff have contended with is the duplicated systems and large suite of products, which has meant they spent less time focused on the customer.
Tower has been working on overhauling its culture from an old-school insurance firm to that of a "much more nimble challenger mindset", although Harding says they've "still got some way to go".
He doesn't anticipate a shock to the make-up of the workforce in the way some industries have been scaling back staff numbers to make way for automation, rather he wants to take staff "on a journey through as we change the company" where they can become more valuable to the customer.
"The shift that we want and the opportunity we see is how can we have a better connection with our customers, because our staff aren't being bogged down with our processes and the way the system works and are freed up to do more for the customer," Harding said. "That does require a greater level of capability and a change in people's expectations around work, but I think it gives them greater satisfaction and greater opportunity as well."
| A BusinessDesk release || November 15, 2017 |||
15 Nov 2017 - Paints supplier DuluxGroup is reviewing the future of its underperforming business in China but is set to launch into the Indonesian market. Paint supplier DuluxGroup may consider pulling out of its joint-venture business in China as its paints brand struggles but has flagged higher hopes for Indonesia, with plans to start selling some its Selleys products into the growing market there.
DuluxGroup lifted profit by 9.6 per cent to $142.9 million for the year to September 30, and said on Wednesday it expects to deliver an even better result in the year ahead.
Strong growth in the group's Dulux Australia-New Zealand business contributed the bulk of earnings, driven by positive markets and good margin management, and Selleys Australia and New Zealand also lifted.
But earnings from DuluxGroup's "other businesses" segment, which includes the Yates garden care range, PNG, south-east Asia, and China's DGL Camel paints business fell because of a weaker Camel result.
DuluxGroup managing director Patrick Houlihan says DuluxGroup's China business generates about $50 million in revenue, or about three per cent of group revenue.
The China business comprises Camel paints, which is the largest part, and the Selleys range.
Camel and Selleys are profitable in Hong Kong, and Selley's has prospects for success on mainland China, but the Camel paints business has struggled from lack of scale and lack of brand awareness and delivered a poor result in fiscal 2017.
The Camel paints joint-venture started in 2012.
"We just don't have the competitive ratio (with Camel)," Mr Houlihan told reporters on Wednesday
"We doing a strategic review of that business at the moment, particularly the coatings (Camel) portion of it.
"As to what that concludes, I won't pre-empt."
Mr Houlihan said Indonesia has good prospects.
DuluxGroup is partnering with Avian Paints, one of the largest paint companies in Indonesia, to sell some of the Selleys adhesives and sealants range starting in mid-2018.
Mr Houlihan said the joint-venture with Avian has the potential to ultimately access about 40,000 retail hardware outlets in a large and growing market.
"It's going to take a few years to build - this won't be transformative overnight," Mr Houlihan said.
"Over the short term, it will really be about launching in quite a considered matter, portions of the range, one at a time."
DuluxGroup expects its Australia-New Zealand business to remain resilient in the year ahead with its core markets - home renovation, housing construction and commercial markets - forecast to provide solid growth in 2018.
DuluxGroup also said its new paint factory in Merrifield in Melbourne is schedule to begin commercial production in the first half of the 218 financial year and will support the company for decades to come.
Shares in DuluxGroup were 20 cents, or 2.6 per cent, higher at $7.74 at 1117 AEDT.
DULUX LIFTS ANNUAL PROFIT, DIVIDEND
* Full-year profit up 9.6pct to $142.9m
* Revenue up 4pct to $1.8b
* Fully-franked final dividend of 13.5cps, up from 12.5 cents
| A SBS release || November 15, 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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