News Roundup - 31 May

31 May 2021

Migrant employers will need accreditation under new work visa rules
Employers with migrant staff are facing what the immigration ministry says is the biggest change to work visas in a generation.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/443636/migrant-employers-will-need-accreditation-under-new-work-visa-rules

Immigration top of agenda at post-budget briefing in Invercargill
Minister of Finance Grant Robertson says now is the time for businesses that need migrant workers to bring them to New Zealand.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/125270675/immigration-top-of-agenda-at-postbudget-briefing-in-invercargill

Carbon targets hurdle: one-third of small road freight operators tipped to disappear
Further consolidation is expected in the road freight industry as small firms struggle to meet decarbonisation targets on their own.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/443548/carbon-targets-hurdle-one-third-of-small-road-freight-operators-tipped-to-disappear

New Zealanders working harder, not smarter - productivity report
Working New Zealanders are pulling longer hours than their counterparts in other developed countries. A report by the Productivity Commission found New Zealanders work 34.2 hours a week on average, which was 2.3 hours a week more than the average of 31.9 hours per week in other OECD countries.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/443464/new-zealanders-working-harder-not-smarter-productivity-report

Zespri profit soars to $290m despite 'incredibly difficult conditions'
Kiwifruit giant Zespri has reported record returns for the 2020-21 season.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/country/443545/zespri-profit-soars-to-290m-despite-incredibly-difficult-conditions

Sweet as! How a Northland family grew New Zealand's first commercial pineapple crop
On a hillside smothered with ripening pineapples near Whangārei, Owen and Linda Schafli are harvesting their first commercial pineapple crop of between 5000 and 10,000 pineapples from their 22,000 plants.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/homed/garden/125129780/sweet-as-how-a-northland-family-grew-new-zealands-first-commercial-pineapple-crop

Ravensdown looks to alternate supplies for potash
Ravensdown, which supplies about half of New Zealand’s fertiliser, has secured alternative shipments of potash from Canada as it eyes rising tensions in Belarus, one of the main sources of the nutrient. There are relatively few companies that export potash and those are based in Canada, Germany, Russia and Belarus, said Ravensdown spokesman Gareth Richards.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/125242601/ravensdown-looks-to-alternate-supplies-for-potash-amid-belarus-tensions

Protesters block fertiliser headquarters in bid to stop shipment of 'blood phosphate' from Western Sahara
A New Zealand group fighting for the rights of indigenous people in Western Sahara protested outside a fertiliser company’s headquarters, calling on the company to stop importing the “immoral” phosphate from a war-stricken country.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/300319808/protesters-block-fertiliser-headquarters-in-bid-to-stop-shipment-of-blood-phosphate-from-western-sahara

Logging price boom drives up biofuel price in Southland
An Invercargill businessman is worried that international demand for logging is driving up the price of woodchips used to fuel eco-friendly boilers. The McCallums Group managing director Wayne McCallum said the price of the woodchips was linked to the export price and higher international prices meant more logs were being exported rather being processed in New Zealand.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/125280988/logging-price-boom-drives-up-biofuel-price-in-southland

News Roundup - 31 May

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