Founded by Max Farndale 1947 - 2018
A nationwide study into design’s economic contribution to New Zealand’s economy was released today. The ground-breaking research shows that during the last year alone design contributed $10.1b to New Zealand’s GDP (approximately 4.2 per cent).
The results of the Value of Design report, which was started in 2013, launched today in Wellington by Hon. Steven Joyce Minister of Finance.
The study was undertaken by PwC and commissioned by a national design consortium DesignCo, which comprises Massey University’s College of Creative Arts, the Designers Institute of New Zealand, Otago Polytechnic School of Design, NZTE (Better By Design programme), AUT School of Art and Design, the Auckland Co-design Lab, Callaghan Innovation and Victoria’s University’s School of Design.
Professor Claire Robinson, convenor of DesignCo, said at the launch of the research today: “There is a strong correlation between national prosperity, economic growth and a thriving design sector. International evidence confirms that design leads to more competitive firms making and selling higher value products and services.
“The research reveals that if design were treated as an individual industry its contribution to the New Zealand economy would be larger than agriculture and on a par with retail trade ($10.6b), and food, beverage and tobacco product manufacturing. The sector also provides approximately 94,200 FTE design positions in New Zealand, roughly 4.4 per cent of employment,” Professor Robinson said.
The study indicates a broadening use of design as an effective process – in exporting firms, technology, health, conservation, the public sector and within cities.
Ludo Campbell-Reid, general manager of the Auckland Design Office and Design Champion for Auckland said: “There is a global movement that is centred on cities that are transforming themselves through people centred urban design. Think Melbourne, Vancouver, London, Barcelona, Bilbao, Portland, Seattle, Helsinki and Copenhagen. Each of these cities has pursued a deliberate programme of economic revitalisation and urban renewal based around design led thinking. Great design is all about the value add: good for the environment, good for business, good for attracting talent and critical for social cohesiveness”.
Continue to read the full article in ArchitectureNow here
More than 90% of Britons want supermarkets to introduce an aisle free of plastic packaging in stores.Plastic free aisle
Environmental campaign group A Plastic Planet commissioned a Populus survey of 2,000 UK adults.
Respondents were asked if they support or oppose the introduction of a supermarket aisle that features only products that are free of plastic packaging,
with 91% saying they supported it.
Additionally, 81% of those surveyed said that they were concerned ‘about the amount of plastic packaging that is thrown away in the UK’.
Support for a supermarket aisle featuring only goods not wrapped in plastic packaging was highest in the North East, where 96% of survey respondents backed the move.
The survey revealed that women are slightly more likely to support the introduction of Plastic Free Aisles than men (92% compared to 91%), while people aged 65 or over are more likely to advocate the measure than any other age group (94% compared to 89% of 25-34 year-olds).
Results from opinion polls and surveys can sometimes appear convenient, but the British Polling Council has said that results can often be attributed the time a poll was conducted, the “order effect” of how questions are asked, and the “mode effect” where respondents (consciously or sub-consciously) give different answers depending on whether they are asked questions in person by an interviewer, or impersonally in self-completion surveys sent by post or email/Internet.
Sian Sutherland, A Plastic Planet co-founder, said it was clear the public wanted an alternative to goods laden with plastic packaging.
“Too much of our plastic waste ends up in oceans and landfill. Consumer demand for products that generate less plastic waste is higher than ever. A plastic free aisle would help supermarkets meet the needs of shoppers who are fed up of buying products covered with layer after layer of throwaway plastic.
“For years we’ve able to buy gluten-free, dairy-free, and fat-free, so why no plastic free?”
Professor Hilary Kennedy of Bangor University’s School of Ocean Sciences added: “There is a growing body of evidence that plastic waste poses a global challenge, directly affecting marine life and ecosystems.
“A plastic free aisle in supermarkets would help encourage a reduction in the amount of plastic waste being dumped in our environment.”
| A packaging News release || July 26, 2017 |||
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Thailand and New Zealand have agreed to market access improvements for our exporters and announced a new agricultural cooperation programme.
“In Bangkok today we signed an agreement increasing the volume of New Zealand dairy products that can enter Thailand under a preferential tariff rate. For some products this will mean a preference increase of between 10 and 20 per cent,” Mr McClay says.
“We also agreed to launch a new programme that will help Thailand to improve its domestic dairy production and processing.”
“This is a positive step forward for our bilateral trade relationship.”
“Thailand is now our eighth largest market. Total goods exports between our countries have increased almost 150 per cent since the Thailand New Zealand Closer Economic Partnership was signed.”
Mr McClay met with the Thai Airways President who also confirmed that Thai Airways will be launching daily flights between Bangkok and Auckland later this year.
“This new service will be a welcome addition for travellers, international students and business people. More than 100,000 Kiwis travelled to Thailand last year and tens of thousands of Thai tourists visited New Zealand,” Mr McClay says.
| A Beehive release || July 26, 2017 |||
Understanding key trends in the economy is crucial for the Reserve Bank, even though the trends can only be estimated and never directly observed and measured.
Assistant Governor and Head of Economics Dr John McDermott said today that three trends were particularly important: the neutral interest rate; potential output growth; and the equilibrium real exchange rate.
“These trends are the anchors around which we aim to stabilise the economy, and thereby inflation over the medium term,” Dr McDermott said in a speech. “While these trends are unobservable and the Reserve Bank has no control over them, they’re important to pin down so that monetary policy can be set appropriately.”
These unobservable factors are often denoted in economic models with a star (or asterisk). So, metaphorically, one might say it is necessary to estimate the position of the economy’s stars in order to navigate monetary policy appropriately.
“Core inflation is another important unobservable concept, because by filtering out temporary factors it provides a better guide to future medium-term inflation,” he said.
Dr McDermott’s speech provided an update on how the Reserve Bank thinks about the trends in the New Zealand economy and the changes in the trends over time. Currently, the neutral interest rate is estimated to be around 3½ percent; potential output growth is 2.9 percent; and core inflation is 1.4 percent.
The neutral interest rate has been slowly falling for some time. In part, this reflects developments in potential output growth – the sustainable growth rate of the economy. Despite a boost from strong net immigration in recent years, growth in potential output has remained much lower than in the past two expansions due to nearly no contribution from productivity growth.
More information:Looking at the Stars speech
Foreign Minister Gerry Brownlee has welcomed further engagement between New Zealand and the United Kingdom.
“The establishment of a people-to-people dialogue has been announced during Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson’s visit to New Zealand,” Mr Brownlee says.
“New Zealand and the United Kingdom enjoy a broad and enduring partnership. At its foundation are the connections between the people of our two countries.
“The Foreign Secretary and I agreed that enhancing those connections will help support a stronger political and economic relationship between New Zealand and the United Kingdom.
“The dialogue will provide a forum for discussing a wide range of issues of mutual interest, including how we might improve the opportunities that exist for our citizens to live and work in each other’s countries.
“The relationship New Zealand shares with the United Kingdom is an important one. The UK is our fifth largest trading partner and one of our closest international security partners.
“As the United Kingdom looks to reshape its relationships around the world following its decision to leave the European Union, we see enhanced engagement as an opportunity to further strengthen the friendship the UK and New Zealand have enjoyed for so long,” Mr Brownlee says.
The people-to-people dialogue will be convened at officials’ level at six monthly intervals. It will complement the existing trade policy dialogue, and strategic dialogue on foreign policy.
| A Beehive release || July 26, 2017 |||
Living up to New Zealand’s reputation as a standout digital nation, the tech sector and the government will stage a major international tech summit in Auckland next year, NZTech chief executive Graeme Muller says.
The Digital Nations conference on February 18 and 19 2018 will be a forerunner to the Digital 5 summit to be held later that week in Wellington.
The D5 is a network of the world’s most advanced digital nations, with a shared goal of strengthening the digital economy. It was founded in London in 2014 by the United Kingdom, Estonia, Israel, New Zealand and South Korea.
The D5 provides a focused forum to share best practice, identify how to improve the member-countries’ digital services, collaborate on common projects and to support and champion our growing digital economies.
Muller says NZTech and event partner Conferenz, are working with government to bring some of the best international digital leaders to New Zealand to pick their brains for great ideas that can help make New Zealand more prosperous.
His comments come hard on the heels of the 2017 Digital Planet report by the Fletcher School at Tufts University that shows New Zealand is one of the world’s leading digital nations.
“The Digital Nations conference next year provides a unique opportunity to bring together New Zealand’s digital leaders, with international experts, business leaders, societal change agents and policy makers to envision what New Zealand could look like as a digital nation by 2030, and then agree on investments and policy to help us get there.
“By listening to the plans of other leading nations and then working on what it could mean for New Zealand’s education, health and financial systems, our productive sectors and the society, should help us move together as a country towards a more prosperous future during a period of profound change.
“NZTech is pleased with the close and proactive partnership with in the Department of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment as industry and government work together to prepare New Zealand for a tech focused future.
“New Zealand’s innovation ecosystem and institutional environment are both noted as strengths for New Zealand in the 2017 Digital Planet report and this Digital Nations conference partnership between industry and government is a great example of why we are seen as a leading country,” Muller says.
The Digital Nations conference is expected to attract more than 300 people including D5 Ministers and their delegations, invited international government representatives and New Zealand digital leaders and influencers representing all sectors.
| A Make lemonade release || July 26, 2017 |||
Dairy products give big boost to exports
Sustainable corn packaging inventor aims to turn biggest food brands green
Successful launch for new Auckland ferry Torea in Whanganui
Manawatu Gorge fate: Ashhurst will be bypassed 
McClay says NZ-Thailand economic relationship upgraded
Fuji Xerox NZ voluntary suspends all NZ government contracts
How the Reserve Bank thinks about the trends in the New Zealand economy
New talks with UK to strengthen friendship
Gallaghers building 24 warehouses at Tatu Industrial Park
Seabed mining decision delayed
$1.25m boost for recycling farm plastic waste
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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