PM Edition: Top 10 Business Articles on LiveNews.co.nz for April 10, 2026 – Full Text

Source: Radio New Zealand

Households around the country are under increasing financial pressure, as the cost of fuel rises – so what can you do if you’re feeling the pinch?

RNZ asked experts for their tips.

Cut spending

Enrich Retirement founder Liz Koh said people should look at their bank statements for the past three months.

“Categorise your spending into three groups – fixed expenses you have little or no control over, like rent, mortgage or insurance, discretionary expenses you have full control over and which are not essential, like lunches, coffees and entertainment, and the remaining group, essential expenses that you have some control over, like food and petrol.

“The easiest expenses to cut back on are the discretionary expenses. Set yourself a limit on how much money you spend on these items by either setting up a separate bank account to cover them or paying for them in cash.”

She said most people would find food was their biggest expense, after their rent or mortgage payments.

What are your money saving tips? Email susan.edmunds@rnz.co.nz

“Take a hard look at what you are spending. Set a limit on food expenses and cut back on the number of times you go to the supermarket.

“Depending on how big your family is, you may be able to save $100 a week or more on grocery items by planning your meals, buying cheaper brands and cutting out some items altogether.”

Move your mortgage

If you have a mortgage, you may be able to save a few thousand dollars by shifting to another bank or threatening to.

Banks have competed with cashback offers for some time and new customers are often offered up to about 1 percent of their loan amount as a cashback incentive.

Even if you don’t move banks, sometimes it is possible to ask your current bank to match a competitor’s offer with a “retention” payment of its own.

The payments usually come with rules around how long a customer must remain with the bank.

Review subscriptions

You might have subscriptions you aren’t using or that you haven’t reviewed in a while.

Koh said people should regularly review their payments for things like streaming services, websites and other memberships, and see whether they still needed them.

Some banks offer tools to help with this.

Think about how you drive

Kernel founder Dean Anderson said the cost of petrol and diesel would be the main concern for most households now.

“Most of us are still driving internal combustion cars and how we drive has a real impact on fuel use. With prices seeming to climb every other day, those habits matter.”

Things like driving slower and accelerating more gently can cut fuel use.

“Public transport is an easy win, if it’s a viable option for your commute. There’s also a Kiwi tech company, Extraordinary, that employers can set up to let staff pay for public transport from gross rather than net income.

“For an average commuter, that could mean savings of $700-plus a year, without changing your routine. Easy savings into your back pocket.”

Have an emergency fund

It might be hard to do at the moment, but building up a savings account to fall back on can save money in the long run.

When you have that buffer, you’re less likely to need expensive short-term debt to cover emergencies.

Consistency more important than timing

Pie Funds chief executive Ana-Marie Lockyer said people should set up regular saving and investment habits, not get stuck trying to time the markets.

“Keeping up regular contributions to things like KiwiSaver, even when markets feel a bit uncertain, is one of the most effective ways to build wealth over the long term.

“If people have the option, looking at ways to boost income – whether that’s through looking at growth opportunities in your existing job or a new one, picking up extra work or building new skills – can often have a bigger impact than cutting costs alone.

“Overall, it’s less about doing anything drastic, and more about staying steady and making small, sensible improvements where you can.”

Take advantage of the government KiwiSaver contribution

It’s not as much as it used to be, but it’s still worth getting the full government contribution.

Put $1042 into your KiwiSaver account before 30 June each year to have about $260 added.

Shop around

You may be able to save money or pick up additional incentives by shopping around for a better deal on your power, phone or broadband.

For example, Powershop offers a $150 power credit to new customers, Pulse Energy offers $160, Mercury has $300 for those who sign up for electricity, or a free Samsung product for people taking electricity and broadband contracts for a two-year term.

Powerswitch has previously said people can often save hundreds by moving to another supplier with a better price.

“Power, broadband and mobile plans are often very similar across providers,” Anderson said. “If you’re not locked into a contract, it’s worth reviewing your options.

“Switching can come with upfront credits, free months or discounted rates – small wins that add up over the year.”

Sell things

Earlier this year, Trade Me said that 75 percent of people had unused or unwanted items in their homes that they could sell.

It said, on average, each person had 19 things they could sell, which would have an estimated value of $1300.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

LiveNews: https://livenews.co.nz/2026/04/10/how-to-save-or-make-money-during-a-fuel-crisis/

Source: Radio New Zealand

Analysis: Netball New Zealand should be celebrating a milestone 10th season of the sport’s domestic showpiece, but instead officials are working furiously to secure its future.

The country’s elite netballers are about to head into a third season of uncertainty, when the ANZ Premiership begins this weekend.

Reflecting on a decade of the league would only highlight how much it’s gone backwards.

New Zealand’s top-flight netball competition has gone from attracting millions in broadcast rights from Sky to forking out some of its own money to stay on TV.

Last year, Netball NZ struggled to secure a broadcast deal for the competition and it has no plan in place yet beyond this year’s agreement with TVNZ.

Players had to take a 20 percent pay cut for 2026 and the six franchises are waiting to hear what the national body’s plans are for the competition.

Former Silver Fern Michaela Sokolich-Beatson began her elite career in 2016, when she joined Northern Mystics and will captain her side for another season.

A decade ago, she could not have imagined the competition would be at risk.

“When I joined, compared to now, I definitely saw growth,” Sokolich-Beatson said. “From 2016-19, there was massive growth and then, obviously with Covid, lots changed, but I didn’t think it would come to this, where year on year, we are wondering if we’re going to have a competition.

“I also have faith that there are people in places that are doing everything they can to make sure we do have a competition and I know that there’s people working really hard behind the scenes.”

Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic team relationship manager Gary Dawson said the past three years had been difficult for franchises.

“It presents some unique challenges in terms of doing long-term planning or even medium-term planning,” Dawson said. “We’ve had to make sure that we’re doing everything as cost effective as we can across every part of the organisation.

“It’s just the environment that we happen to be in in this semi-professional sports market.”

The real difficulties began at the end of 2023, when Netball NZ started negotiations with Sky for a new broadcast agreement to replace the one that expired at the end of 2024.

Eventually, the national body signed a significantly reduced one-year deal with Sky for 2025, which would be its last season as the sport’s major broadcast partner after 18 years.

It remains to be seen whether Sky Sport will hold onto rights for Silver Ferns tests or if TVNZ will vie for those as well. Neither broadcaster would comment on whether it was engaged in any discussions with Netball NZ for tests or the domestic competition from next year.

Australian league no silver bullet

Over the past few years, there has been a growing call in New Zealand to get teams into Australia’s Suncorp Super Netball (SSN) competition.

The former trans-Tasman league ended in 2016, when Netball Australia was confident it could secure its own broadcast deal to underpin its competition.

The two countries went their separate ways and fans have seen the SSN, with its unlimited import policy, become the strongest league in the world.

The salary level between the two leagues used to be similar, but the SSN now offers at least double what NZ-based players earn.

Last year, Australia’s governing body confirmed it was considering adding two new teams to the SSN from 2027 and was open to expressions of interest from New Zealand.

RNZ understands that’s not part of Netball NZ’s plans at the moment, with its focus on strengthening the ANZ Premiership.

The appetite in Australia for a New Zealand franchise is low, with calls for expansion focussed on giving local players more opportunities.

If Netball NZ went down the path of pursuing a licence, the best it could hope for might be one franchise, running the risk that the country’s top talent would be condensed into one team.

Pursuing an SSN licence would take a lot of resource and Netball NZ would rely on variables outside its control.

Netball Australia is also trying to negotiate their own broadcast deal from 2027, as its current one runs until the end of 2026. The national body is reportedly also eyeing at least a partial return to free-to-air.

The current Collective Player Agreement (CPA) for SSN players will expire at the end of the 2026 season and collective bargaining can’t start until a new broadcast deal is in place.

New model needed?

Dawson said Netball NZ had been working with the franchises and other key stakeholders over the future of the domestic competition.

“They now need to work through all the different options, and the board and Netball NZ senior management then need to make a decision as to what that will look like, but they have been communicating with us in terms of the work that’s going on.”

No doubt the biggest challenge and priority for interim Netball NZ chief executive Jane Patterson since starting in January has been figuring out how the domestic league can be funded.

Patterson is expected to share some news about the future of the competition later this month.

The Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic is one of three franchises under the administration of Netball New Zealand, along with the Stars and Mainland Tactix.

With half the six franchises unable to stand on their own financially, the national body must wonder if it can go down a more sustainable route.

The current ownership model sees the Netball New Zealand zones own and operate their respective ANZ Premiership franchise teams, but private ownership would take the pressure off the netball eco-system.

In 2022, the professional women’s basketball league – Tauihi Basketball Aotearoa – was established and, while the league itself is owned by Basketball New Zealand, the five franchises are privately owned.

Last year, New Zealand’s most successful Olympian, Dame Lisa Carrington, joined the ownership group of the Auckland-based Kāhu – the first all-women-owned sports team in New Zealand.

At one point, as many as half a dozen England internationals played in Australia’s Suncorp Super Netball (SSN) competition, but more and more have returned home, with England Netball ramping up efforts to improve their domestic product.

Last year, a revamped Netball Super League (NSL) launched in the UK, after undergoing a major transformation to attract private investment and take a big step towards making the top-flight competition fully professional.

For example, English Premier League football club Nottingham Forest invested in and launched a team to compete in the Netball Super League (NSL) 2.0.

This year, just three England Roses internationals are playing in Australia.

Last year, Sport New Zealand helped cover the cost of broadcasting one game each round on TVNZ, which Netball NZ self-produced, but the government agency says it won’t fund any production costs this year.

Moving the domestic competition to free-to-air will hopefully lead to better sponsorship opportunities, with more people able to watch the league this year.

The team structure may also come under review.

Netball NZ may consider whether it can afford to also support the National Netball league (NNL), which serves as a feeder league into the ANZ.

The competition has been watered down since it was introduced in 2016, with teams now playing just one round robin.

The Netball South Zone initially decided to not field a team in the 2026 NNL season, given the costs of supporting a team, but backtracked.

Could the very best of those 60 players be folded into the top domestic league by increasing squad sizes or adding another team?

Meanwhile, Sokolich-Beatson said she felt for the younger players.

“If anything was to happen, I’ve had real quality time playing at this level,” she said. “My biggest thing is those young ones who haven’t been able to showcase their full skills yet and, honestly, we have some incredible talent coming through.

“I want them to get the opportunity that I’ve been fortunate enough to have.”

Sokolich-Beatson said she was proud of the commitment players had shown, despite pay cuts.

“I just think, ‘Good on you’, because it could be easy to walk away, and just try and get a full-time job, but you can see that they’re here because they love it and they want to keep playing for as long as they can.

“You wouldn’t know by the way that we’re training and the things that our management have done that people have taken pay cuts, because everybody’s still working just as hard.”

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

LiveNews: https://livenews.co.nz/2026/04/10/netball-anz-premiership-at-tipping-point-after-decade/