Category: Public Media

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New Zealand redraws open work visa conditions

Source: Radio New Zealand

RNZ / Yiting Lin

Open work visa holders are set to see changes to their visa conditions next month.

An open work visa generally allows people to work for almost any employer, across most sectors and locations, without needing a job offer.

From 20 April, Immigration New Zealand said open work visas would include two new types of employment conditions.

Under the first set of conditions, some open work visa holders, including those on Post Study Work Visas and a range of partner visas, will be able to work for an employer or be self-employed, including as a sole trader or by owning and operating a business.

Under the second set of conditions, open work visa holders on Victims of Domestic Violence Work Visas, Migrant Exploitation Protection Work Visas, Asylum Seeker Work Visas and all working holiday visas will still be required to work for an employer, either under an employment agreement or a contract for services.

The change makes clear that open work visa holders will not be allowed to employ other people, either directly or indirectly through a business they own or operate, including where the business is the named employer.

Peter Elms, director of visas at Immigration New Zealand, said the changes were prompted by sector feedback and were intended to remove uncertainty created by existing work visa settings for both visa holders and immigration advisers.

He said updating and standardising the conditions would provide clearer guidance and reduce the risk of unintentional breaches of the Immigration Act.

“Overall, the changes are intended to help migrants better understand their visa conditions and work rights while they are in New Zealand,” Elms said.

The upcoming changes have been welcomed by immigration lawyers and advisers.

David Cooper, chief executive of New Zealand Immigration Partners Supplied

David Cooper, chief executive of New Zealand Immigration Partners, said the update to immigration instructions and policy would remove confusion and close a grey area that had existed previously.

“Particularly for people who held open work visas, whether or not they were allowed to work for themselves was never clear in the immigration instructions,” Cooper said.

“This will now allow them to do it and make it very clear that it’s legal for them to be able to do that.”

Cooper said that while self-employment would not apply to every type of open work visa, it would give eligible visa holders another option beyond finding a job.

“If they do struggle to find a job, they can at least consider setting up their own small business and trying that,” he added.

Sonny Lam, an immigration lawyer at Queen City Law, said clearer guidance could spur a modest lift in the recruitment of non-resident workers.

“The rules become muddled due to frequent changes and create a perception in busy employers’ minds that they can only hire someone on the Accredited Employer Work Visa,” he said.

Sonny Lam is an immigration lawyer at Queen City Law in Auckland. Supplied

“With this latest change, it will likely remind employers that they can hire such workers on open work visas again, leading to a slight increase,” he said.

Lam said the restriction preventing open work visa holders from employing others appeared to envisage gig-economy work, such as ride-share driving or delivery services.

This sort of work was a popular way for migrants to generate income and could provide a small boost to the wider economy, he said.

Arunima Dhingra, a senior licensed immigration adviser and chief executive of Aims Global, said clearer rules could reduce risk and improve compliance.

“In recent years there has been increasing confusion around what ‘open’ actually means,” she said.

“Many migrants and employers assume ‘open’ means unrestricted in all respects. At the same time, we have seen growth in contracting, project work and small-scale sole-trading arrangements.

“Those grey areas can create compliance risks if visa holders inadvertently step outside what is permitted.”

Arunima Dhingra, chief executive of Aims Global Supplied

Dhingra said that once the rules were explicit, employers could have greater confidence in engaging open work visa holders under appropriate arrangements.

For visa holders, she said, it reduced the risk of unintentionally breaching visa conditions.

Dafydd Parry, a licensed immigration adviser at Greenstone Immigration, said the restriction preventing open work visa holders from employing others could affect some current open work visa holders who are already running businesses that employ staff.

He said transitional arrangements and support would be available for those people until their current visa expires, after which the new rules would apply.

He said the clarification could also help ensure that employment created by temporary visa holders was sustainable and compliant, and that vulnerable workers were protected.

“Allowing temporary visa holders to employ staff could be deemed to create risks,” he said.

“If the visa holder must leave New Zealand, their employees may suddenly lose their jobs,” he said.

“Some cases may raise concerns about exploitation or non-genuine job arrangements.”

Elms said not all migrants were familiar with New Zealand’s employment laws or business obligations, and that allowing self-employment and business ownership while restricting the ability to hire staff helped support safe and compliant work practices.

He said it also reduced the risk of employers unintentionally breaching employment or immigration requirements.

Elms added that the rules also reflected a distinction between activities that signal temporary intent and those that suggest a more permanent footing.

“Running a business that employs others generally indicates a more ongoing and established presence in New Zealand, which is not the intent of a temporary open work visa,” he said.

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Seascape developer Shundi Customs placed in receivership

Source: Radio New Zealand

The Seascape apartment project in Auckland is at a standstill. RNZ / Ziming Li

The owner and developer of the 187-metre 52-storey Seascape development near Auckland’s waterfront has been put into receivership.

Receivers Brendon Gibson and Neale Jackson of Calibre Partners said the immediate priority was to ensure Shundi Customs’s development continues to remain safe and secure.

Shundi has been unable to restart major construction works since it was ceased on-site in August 2024.

“We will work with the current contractor onsite (Icon Construction) to ensure the development remains safe and secure. Our focus will then move to assessing options that will see funds generated to repay creditors,” Gibson said.

“Seascape is a partially completed development. While we will move as quickly as possible to assess options, it may take some time considering the nature of the asset.”

The receivers will make further statements as the receivership progresses.

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Primary teachers’ union seeks ERA intervention in stalled pay talks

Source: Radio New Zealand

RNZ / Alexander Robertson

The primary teachers’ union wants to take stalled pay talks to urgent facilitated bargaining.

The Educational Institute Te Riu Roa says mediated bargaining last week failed to reach a settlement of the primary teachers’ collective agreement.

Negotiator Liam Rutherford told RNZ the Education Ministry made an offer which was only slightly different from the offer the union’s members rejected in December last year.

He said it fell well short of what members had told the union they wanted prior to mediation.

“I think it’s fair to say that teachers didn’t get the outcomes from that they went into it with and as a result, we’ve called for urgent facilitation from the Employment Relations Authority. We’re really hoping that might be the circuit breaker to get the government to come to the table and for us to get this settled,” he said.

The December offer would have provided a pay rise of 2.5 percent at the end of January and a further 2.1 percent a year later.

Secondary teachers accepted a similar deal last year.

The Public Service Commissioner Sir Brian Roche warned earlier this week that primary teachers were missing out on increased pay and benefits because they had refused to settle.

Roche said since the end of January, primary teachers at the top of their pay scale were missing out on about $50 a week before tax they would have received had they settled last year.

He said the sums were even larger for the 60 percent of primary teachers who had management units for extra duties.

Under the December offer, a teacher at the top of the scale with one unit was missing out on around $63 (before tax) per week, and those with two units were missing out on around $76 (before tax) per week, Sir Brian said.

“Teachers know there are no lump sums or backpay available in this bargaining round.

“Every week without settlement is money teachers aren’t receiving.”

Rutherford said NZEI members understood what they had rejected.

“Teachers are well aware that if they had accepted the offer, they would be getting the pay increases on offer. But I think that more points to the strength of the issues that we’re facing in the sector,” he said.

Rutherford told RNZ the government’s curriculum changes were a big factor in teachers’ expectations of a better pay offer.

“What came through more strongly than we ever have is this absolute avalanche of curriculum change that people have found themselves in at the start of 2026,” he said.

“I think it’s been one of those areas where people have known that it’s coming, but to be in 2026 and to look at not just the size, but the speed of the ambition of the Minister of Education to implement this, lots of people are feeling like they’re drowning.”

Rutherford said the union advised the Education Ministry on Tuesday that it wanted facilitated bargaining.

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LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/03/04/primary-teachers-union-seeks-era-intervention-in-stalled-pay-talks/

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Christopher Luxon forced into another correction over Iran war visas

Source: Radio New Zealand

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon in Parliament. (File pic) VNP / Phil Smith

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon had to make a personal explanation in the House on Tuesday night, after he stated incorrectly the government was automatically extending visas for people in New Zealand affected by the war in Iran.

The Greens co-leader says he “snuck” into the House “late last night” to correct the record and it shows he’s “not across his brief”.

“He simply does not seem to understand the weight of the things that he is talking about, or the substance or logic that sits behind them,” Chlöe Swarbrick said.

Follow updates with RNZ’s blog

Earlier this week the Prime Minister admitted he “misspoke” when he said New Zealand supported “any actions” to prevent Iran having nuclear weapons.

She says it’s disconcerting to have a leader of New Zealand talking about things that are “currently so much of a powder keg” and every time he opens his mouth “we have no idea how that is going to place our country in the context of the very tense international relations at play”.

Greens co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick RNZ / Mark Papalii

In Question Time on Tuesday, Swarbrick asked Luxon if the government would commit to automatically extending visas for people who are in New Zealand now whose home countries have been affected by the war, as happened in the context of the invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Luxon responded saying, “I understand that we are doing that, and the Minister of Immigration will continue to take advice on that too.”

That was in contradiction to what his Immigration Minister Erica Stanford had said earlier that day, where she advised anyone who might be affected by the conflict to contact Immigration New Zealand.

“If they contact Immigration, we will be really pragmatic about making sure that they remain legally in New Zealand.”

Immigration Minister Erica Stanford RNZ / Mark Papalii

She said it would be considered on a case-by-case basis, and the current visa that may be expiring could be extended.

Swarbrick said on Wednesday the Prime Minister had effectively said a blanket extension was happening when “we know it wasn’t happening”.

“So [the Prime Minister] then snuck into the house at 9:02pm I believe, late last night, to correct the record and to say that there was a case-by-case process, which we all already knew, available to those people.”

At 9.03pm on Tuesday night, Luxon sought leave to make a personal explanation.

“To be perfectly clear, Immigration New Zealand has a well established process for international conflicts, and will facilitate and take a pragmatic approach to visa renewal when people are unable to return home,” he explained.

“This was not an automatic process in the context of the invasion of Ukraine, and decisions will continue to be taken on individual visas.”

Swarbrick told RNZ he also “misspoke” or “got his correction incorrect” when he said there wasn’t a blanket extension applied during the war in Ukraine.

“We have it in black and white from a Cabinet paper,” she said.

The paper stated Cabinet agreed to “extend by 12 months the visas of all Ukrainians onshore whose temporary visas were due to expire by the end of 2022”.

She said the extension meant people didn’t have to go through an arduous “case-by-case” basic to have them extended.

Swarbrick said she was now expecting the Prime Minister to have to “correct his correction”.

She said politicians were human beings, “all of us will screw up, we will stumble over our words, we will also make mistakes.”

“But I think there is quite a substantive difference between that and what the Prime Minister has modelled time and again, but very evidently over the last few days, which is that he is not across his brief.”

Comment has been request from Luxon’s office.

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New Zealand family living in Qatar: ‘Like a Covid lockdown with the occassional loud boom’

Source: Radio New Zealand

Missiles are seen in the skies over Doha on March 3. MAHMUD HAMS/AFP

The family car is filled with petrol and packed with supplies and go bags for a hasty escape.

But for now, a New Zealand family living in Qatar’s capital, said they would stay where they were while loud booms could be heard in the distance.

Since Israel and the United States launched an attack on Iran on Saturday, a number of countries in the Middle East have been hit by missile strikes including Qatar.

“If you’re calm and prepared, that’s probably the best thing that we can do,” Kathryn Rush said her Doha home.

Motorists drive past a plume of smoke rising from a reported Iranian strike in the industrial district of Doha on March 1. MAHMUD HAMS / AFP

She and her husband were oil and gas lawyers, meaning Doha was somewhere with work in their field.

Rush and their two children, Nick who’s 11 and 9-year-old Emily, moved over from Wellington at the end of December.

But now things had changed.

“It’s very reminiscent of Covid,” Rush said.

“We’ve spent the first few months getting ourselves into dance classes and bits and pieces, football clubs and things like that.

“So all of that’s now on hold as everyone has to stay at home as much as they can, my husband is working from home, the kids are home-schooling,” she said.

“Things are happening, you don’t know if it’s going to happen to you or not, and you’re just waiting and try to stay positive in the meantime.”

Rush was trying to stay positive for her young children too.

“The booms, you hear the booms and some of those sound closer than others… so they can be relatively loud,” she said.

“I popped outside and my daughter was on a trampoline tonight just to say ‘oh, do you want to come inside, those were quite loud’ and she said ‘yeah and there were some flashes in the sky too but I want to do some more trampolining’.”

Rush felt it was important to acknowledge with her children what was happening, “but not to be freaked out by it”.

“My 11-year-old is quite smart and quite onto it and is relatively are of what’s going on, but he’s settled in really nicely to school here, he’s got friends from all sorts of different countries and I think they probably talk about it a little bit as well,” she said.

For now, Rush felt comparatively safe – their house was among about 100 in a compound and all were low-rise.

They’re also to the north of Doha’s centre and airport, in the opposite direction to the American base further south.

For now, it felt like an added layer of safety, she said.

“We’re in an older compound… and the villas are really sturdy… so I don’t feel that we’re in as much of a target zone as perhaps some of the other areas.”

New Zealand’s advice to citizens remained to shelter in place but Rush said they would strongly consider leaving if the advice was upgraded.

“It would probably have to get a lot worse, I think, before we’d feel like we desperately wanted to get out,” she said.

The only real option was to drive to Saudi Arabia.

“I feel safer on the ground at the moment than I would in the air.”

Rush was sleeping fully clothed in case she had to quickly move in the night.

She and her neighbours regularly check on each other, but she said it felt like there was not much to check during the ongoing waiting for whatever happened next.

“It feels a bit probably like a Covid lockdown, except for the sound of the occasional loud boom.

“The car is full of petrol and packed with effectively camping gear and the usual kind of go back scenarios like water and that kind of thing, sunscreen, so you know we are prepared – if we have to go we have to go – but where that would be going is a little uncertain.”

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

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Name suppression continues for man accused of trying to solicit sexual favours from teens

Source: Radio New Zealand

RNZ / Nate McKinnon

The identity of a Christchurch man accused of trying to solicit sexual favours from three teenage girls will remain secret for now.

The man, aged in his 50s, has interim name suppression that prevents RNZ detailing much of the case.

Judge David Robinson extended the interim suppression order when the man appeared via audio-visual link in the Christchurch District Court on Wednesday.

The man is yet to enter a plea and name suppression will remain in place until at least his next appearance in May.

He was charged last October with five counts of exposing girls under the age of 16 to indecent communication.

Court documents show he is accused of propositioning the first girl after sexually taunting her and asking for her phone number in March last year.

Just over a week later, he verbally taunted the girl again.

He was accused of telling a second teenage girl “you’re gorgeous, you can earn some money if you give me five minutes of your time” in June.

He was also accused of saying “you’re pretty” to a third girl before offering her $100 to perform a sex act on him in early August.

Police were notified in the days following the approaches and the man was arrested a few weeks later.

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Dave Rennie named as new All Blacks coach

Source: Radio New Zealand

PHOTOSPORT

Dave Rennie has been named the new All Blacks coach, seeing off Jamie Joseph in the two-man race to replace Scott Robertson.

The 62-year-old former Chiefs coach and coach of the Wallabies was unveiled as the national coach in a New Zealand Rugby social media post just before midday.

He replaces Robertson, who was sensationally axed as All Blacks coach in January.

Rennie, who is of Cook Islands descent through his mother (Titikaveka, Rarotonga), becomes the first All Blacks Head Coach with Pasifika heritage.

Rennie said it was a privilege to be appointed Head Coach of the All Blacks.

“Coaching the All Blacks is an incredible honour. I’m extremely proud to have been entrusted with this role and understand the expectations that come with it,” he said.

“I’m really clear on the way I want the All Blacks to play and I look forward to working with the players, management team, and the rugby community. We have a lot of talent here and we will be working extremely hard to make the country proud.”

More to come…

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War can be good for your KiwiSaver, but are you ok with that?

Source: Radio New Zealand

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike on the southern suburbs of Beirut on March 3, 2026. AFP

KiwiSaver funds with exposure to oil and defence stocks might benefit from conflict in the Middle East in the short term, but providers are divided on whether to invest in them.

Oil prices have increased and stocks in companies that make weapons have also lifted.

Follow updates with RNZ’s blog

Over the past year, the share price of Lockheed Martin has lifted almost 50 percent.

It could mean investors and funds with exposure to those sectors record better returns in the short term than those who have taken an ethical stance against fossil fuels, or against investments in weapons.

“Defence stocks will outperform,” Koura founder Rupert Carlyon said.

“Not just because of this, we’ve got to think about the significant increase in defence spending across the globe over the last 12 or 24 months and what’s expected to continue. Particularly with Europe slowly increasing their defence spending towards 5 percent of GDP.”

He said he was not opposed to invest in companies that made weapons.

“The question we need to ask ourselves is why is it wrong to invest in defence stocks? The world is a pretty ugly place…. there are a lot of bad actors out there, right?

“Whether you’re concerned about Russia, China, North Korea, Iran… at the end of the day we need weapons. There’s no hiding the fact a world without weapons made in the West is a world controlled by people that we do not want controlling the world.

“We need to think really hard around our weapons exemptions – I understand we might not like cluster bombs, and other things that are deemed illegal. But the truth is we need defence contractors. We need weapons.”

But Berry said it was a decision that needed to be made by investors according to their own ethical viewpoint.

“It’s a very personal question. And for me personally, I don’t want my KiwiSaver – to the extent absolutely possible – I don’t want my KiwiSaver invested in profiting from war.”

He said investors in weapons companies could not discern whether they were supporting weapons used offensively or defensively.

“The question is, do you want a connection with conflict in your KiwiSaver?”

Companies like Lockheed Martin, General Dynamic, Northrop Grumman and RTX had generated strong returns in the last one, three and five years.

But investors should remember they were only 2 percent or 3 percent of the S&P500 index. Carlyon said the average KiwiSaver probably only had about 0.1 percent added to their return in the last year from defence stocks.

US sailors at work as they taxi aircraft to a staging point on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in support of Operation Epic Fury, at an undisclosed location on February 28, 2026. AFP/Handout

Oil versus lower carbon economy

Oil also posed questions investors had to grapple with.

“The question with oil is from an ethical perspective, it is problematic because we’re in a world that needs to transition to a lower carbon economy,” Berry said.

“If you look at oil companies, they have had strong performance for the last year. And while, although oil itself, West Texas Intermediate was up 5 percent overnight, but it’s actually slightly lower than it was three years ago.

“But oil companies have done well. Again …oil is about 3.5 percent of the S&P index. And so you compare that to technology at 33 percent, financials and banks at 13 percent, and healthcare at 10 percent.”

He said KiwiSaver was designed to be a long-term investment and in the past 10 years, oil and defence stocks had returned slightly less than the US market average. Technology stocks have been much stronger – recording such an increase that there have been fears of an AI bubble forming.

Marika Khabazi

The founder of Mindful Money, Barry Coates said investors might react by thinking they should invest more in fossil fuels to make higher returns from supply disruptions.

“This temptation to go for short-term returns may override their ethical position to use their investment to support the energy transition. Others may choose to maintain their ethical principles, and recognise that oil price instability is more likely to result in a more rapid transition to renewable energy.”

He said it could be argued that the oil supply disruption and likely increase in the price of oil had already been taken into account in the forward prices of oil and share prices of some oil companies had already risen.

“Financial analysts in the US have been far closer to the politics of launching bombing on Iran than NZ commentators or members of the public.

“Oil price rises are often temporary. For example, the price increases after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine had a short blip on oil prices and oil and gas company share prices. Both measures soon resumed their pattern over the past decade, which has been to significantly under-perform the S&P500.

“The impacts may vary between individual companies in unpredictable ways. For example, with supply disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz. These disruptions might affect different companies in different ways.”

Gold has also been pushed up by the uncertainty, which Berry said was a rational move to safe assets.

Overall, equity markets have largely taken the turmoil in their stride so far.

The Vix index, which measures volatility, was on Tuesday morning at about half the level it was when President Donald Trump announced tariffs in April last year.

Berry said what happened from here would depend on how long the war continued and whether there was a regime change in Iran.

“What happens in terms of disruption globally? How is oil and shipping distribution impacted globally and for how long? And you really need to answer those questions to know what the long-term impact is.”

He said KiwiSaver members should remember they were diversified across asset classes and countries and that would reduce risk.

“Get your risk profile right, focus on the long term, and think about values you want to take into account in your investing, particularly around weapons and whether you want to be profiting from war.”

Carlyon agreed the market response had so far been much more muted than had been feared.

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Liam Lawson ‘still learning’ as F1 opener looms in Melbourne

Source: Radio New Zealand

Liam Lawson. AFP

New Zealand driver Liam Lawson says he’s still coming to grips with a “sensitive” car in Melbourne as he targets a strong start to his second full season in Formula One.

This weekend’s opening Australian Grand Prix provides uncertainty and apprehension for pundits, team management and drivers alike because of major changes to car specifications.

Several top drivers emerged unimpressed with the alterations, which include smaller, lighter chassis and new power units which comprise a 50-50 split between combustion and beefed-up batteries. There is also the introduction of 100 percent sustainable fuels.

Four-time world champion Max Verstappen was disparaging, the Dutch Red Bull great describing the changes as “anti-racing” and as like “Formula E on steroids” during pre-season testing.

Liam Lawson AFP

Lawson was less outspoken but admitted battery management in particular was playing on his mind after some mixed testing results for Racing Bulls.

“It’s very different from last year, much more sensitive, particularly when it comes to preparing the battery for a qualifying lap and managing over a longer stint,” he said.

“On top of that, the cars have significantly less aero, which makes them more difficult to drive and less forgiving overall.

“We became aware of the new regulations early last year and began preparing straight away. So by the time I first drove the new car, I had a solid understanding of what to expect and the key differences between the 2025 and 2026 cars.

“Some weren’t a surprise, but when you get in the car, you are definitely still learning how to optimise.”

Racing Bulls chose to retain Lawson’s services after last year’s roller-coaster campaign in which he racked up seven top-10 finishes from 24 races – the first two rounds having been behind the wheel for Red Bull before he was unceremoniously demoted to the sister team.

Liam Lawson of Red Bull Racing. 2025. PHOTOSPORT

The 24-year-old finished 14th overall, with a best placing of fifth coming in Azerbaijan.

Lawson has been paired with 18-year-old British rookie Arvin Lindblad at Racing Bulls, making theirs the least experienced driver lineup on the 11-team grid.

The Kiwi said it was hard to set goals for the season, given the uncertainty around car performance.

“It’s still difficult to say where we stand, as we don’t yet have a clear picture of our true pace,” he said.

“Of course, the objective is to score points, but on a personal level, my focus is on extracting the maximum from myself and delivering the best possible performance every time I’m in the car.”

There are two practice sessions on Friday, followed by a third on Saturday and qualifying.

Sunday’s race is scheduled to start at 5pm NZT.

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How do airlines judge when and where it’s safe to fly near a conflict zone?

Source: Radio New Zealand

PUNIT PARANJPE / AFP

The conflict in the Middle East is continuing to disrupt global air traffic with nearly 4000 flights a day being cancelled across the region.

Limited flights out of Dubai and Doha were announced after airspace partially reopened on Wednesday morning.

However, hundreds of thousands of passengers were still being impacted, with major airport hubs remain largely out of action.

But how do airlines and other authorities decide when and where it’s safe to fly near a conflict zone?

UK-based aviation expert John Strickland told Nine to Nine it was very much dependant on the government and safety agencies.

“They could be global, such as United Nations, there’s an aviation body, ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organisation), which is affiliated with the UN.

“Of course, national security bodies, including representation of embassies and consulates and so on, military intelligence agencies.

“All of that has to be put together. Certainly, it is guided through a body like ICAO with the aim of sharing that information transparently as widely as possible and airlines take those briefings. They don’t make a judgement of their own.”

‘No airline would endeavour to make a commercial risk’

Strickland said airlines had reasonable intelligence by virtue of their size and resources it can tap into.

Others may be fully dependent on external safety agencies, he said.

Emirates cancelled flights through Doha and Dubai. Thierry Monasse

“But certainly, one thing I would say is no airline would endeavour to make a commercial risk, a punt if you like, to fly just because they had passengers to move,” he said.

“Nobody will do anything until they are given the maximum possible assurance that safety and security can be guaranteed for obviously the passengers and their crews as well.”

Strickland said questions over GPS interference and other navigation challenges in or near conflict zones were also considered.

“It has to be factored in as part of the audit, part of the safety checklist as to whether a flight operation can be undertaken safely or not,” he said.

“Indeed, whether it might be possible to operate, but a different route would have to be followed if those risks are known about in certain areas.”

Strickland said repositioning an aircraft and its crews to mitigate the challenges in the Middle East were complex and expensive.

“The complexity of getting aircraft and crews back to the right place is enormous … the first thing is once an aircraft is lost somewhere else, they’ve landed, even if it’s in a planned airport, once that crew has completed their flight, they are out of duty hours based on whatever national regulatory body they come under.

“Certainly, whether it’s New Zealand or Europe, for example, there are clear regulations in place about rest requirements … crews have to have rest. It means with many crews are not where they should be. They’re not available to start afresh from home at the home base to take up new operations.

“The aircraft have to be recovered back to base and undoubtedly cleaned and checked out before they can go back into service.”

Airlines count the cost

He said it took a number of days, and in such a military-induced challenged, it would take even longer, and be more expensive.

Strickland said airlines were also trying to provide accommodation to stranded passengers, which was a positive sign.

He said there were only a handful of flights currently operating, but remained a small fraction of their usual operations.

Strickland said while the level of disruption couldn’t compare to the Covid-19 pandemic – as it affected everyone globally – it was comparable to the 9/11 attacks.

“The hub airports in the Gulf, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha, and the airlines operating out of those at Emirates, Qatar Airways and Etihad have now become such a key part of the global aviation landscape that they are major gateways,” he said.

“They account for about half a million passengers in and out of those three airports every day or last year, 180 million people in a year.

“A large number of those are people transiting … there are people going to and from those airports, but a large number of people, not least to and from New Zealand, transiting in those airports.

“When this happened and flying ceased, there’ll be probably a couple of hundred thousand people may be stuck in Dubai airport, Abu Dhabi, Doha Airport, who were not even due to be there for more than a few hours and suddenly found themselves in this limbo.”

That’s the headache that airlines have got to slowly extricate themselves from as they can do so safely, he said.

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New Zealand faces shortage of ultra-luxury housing

Source: Radio New Zealand

A luxury house in Arrowtown. Supplied

Latest house sales data indicates there is a shortage of ultra-luxury housing to meet the requirements of high-net-worth immigrants.

Changes to the Active Investor Plus visa, which take effect next week, limit house-buying immigrants to homes priced over $5 million.

Data collected by sales portal realestate.co.nz indicates the tightest house supply constraints were emerging well above that level, with only 142 properties listed above $10m available nationwide.

International premium-grade homes priced more than $20m were scarce.

A luxury house in Remuera, Auckland. Supplied

Realestate.co.nz chief executive Sarah Wood said the top end of New Zealand’s residential property market was relatively immature by global standards.

“The AIP visa programme effectively introduces a positive demand shock into this segment of the market overnight, however, the supply has not had a chance to grow organically over time. The result is significant pressure on the supply of houses valued in the tens of millions.”

Realestate.co.nz chief executive Sarah Wood. Supplied

Data supplied by Immigration NZ indicates nearly 590 people from 33 countries have so far applied for residency under the AIP visa programme.

Agents reported a growing segment of applicants who were only interested in property priced more than $20m, with demand outstripping supply by about five times.

Portal data indicated there had been 36,000 overseas-based searches for homes price over $5m over the past year, with North America and UK making up over a third (34 percent).

“The United States accounts for around a fifth (19 percent) of international $5 million-plus searches, followed by the United Kingdom at 9 percent and Canada at 4 percent. That profile reflects demand from established wealth markets rather than speculative traffic.”

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Global dairy prices continue to rise in wake of Middle East conflict

Source: Radio New Zealand

123RF

Supply pressure and buying interest saw dairy prices continue their climb at the latest Global Dairy Trade auction overnight.

The average price rose 5.7 percent overnight to US$4301 (NZ$7299) a tonne.

It was the fifth consecutive auction where prices have risen since the start of the year and followed a 3.6 percent rise at the previous one.

The New Zealand exchange’s head of dairy insights Cristina Alvarado said even though milk production has been high in the key global regions the volume on offer at the event was down.

She said Fonterra was the company with one of the biggest offerings, but New Zealand was now heading toward the end of its milking season.

“New Zealand’s milk production curve is now firmly in seasonal decline, and forward offer volumes through March to May indicate further easing,” she said.

“At the same time, growing domestic protein demand in the United States and new cheese capacity not yet operating at full utilisation are absorbing milk locally.”

She said with the tightness of product in the US demand was higher for certain products, particularly skim milk and butter.

“We’ve seen a pattern in this last year of more buying what you need rather than building large stocks.”

The important whole-milk powder price, which influences farmer payouts, rose 4.5 percent to US$3863 a tonne.

There were price gains across the board too with skim milk powder up 9.1 percent, along with butter up 6.1 percent, mozzarella 7.9 percent and cheddar 4.3 percent.

The regions which bought most of the product were North and South Asia, however, Alvarado said in terms of percentage buying there was an increase from those in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

“With ongoing geopolitical tensions affecting Middle Eastern logistics and trade lanes, and in the absence of recent Algerian tenders in the region, it is notable that EMEA [Europe, the Middle East and Africa] participation strengthened rather than retreated.”

Alvarado said the Middle East was a “significant” and “growing” market for New Zealand – among our top three buyers.

“It’s definitely a key region and we would hope that despite everything going on and as we saw at the auction today they’re still buying product, even more so.”

While the conflict had brought “some logistics challenges”, she said it presented a competitive advantage for New Zealand in getting supply to its key buyers in Asia over other competitors in Europe.

Alvarado expected prices to remain steady with continued prices increases, though possibly at lesser rates.

“I don’t really see them dropping as there is a need for product and from our end we are heading towards the end of our season.”

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Light fitting sparks fire at Auckland Hospital

Source: Radio New Zealand

A fire in a building at Auckland Hospital has been extinguished on Wednesday morning.

Fire and Emergency said a light fitting on level six of a nine-storey building had caught fire, and was reported around 8.30am.

The fire was extinguished shortly before 9am and the floor was ventilated.

FENZ said there was no injuries.

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Government pushes back deadline for agencies’ project funding bids

Source: Radio New Zealand

It showed agencies such as in health, justice and education had faced a December deadline to make the case for their bids for this year’s Budget, but that had to be pushed back. RNZ

The government has been facing too much demand to fund infrastructure projects from agencies left with too little time to plan them, forcing it to push back a Budget 2026 deadline.

A newly-released Treasury report said significant trade-offs were still required.

It showed agencies such as in health, justice and education had faced a December deadline to make the case for their bids for this year’s Budget, but the deadline had to be pushed back.

“With agency capacity constraints being signalled in the QIR (quarterly investment report) for Budget 2026 we have extended this timeline to April 2026.”

The report on central government investments for the three months to September 2025 – the latest QIR available – said demand “significantly” exceeded available Budget allowances, though it blanked out the figure

That was also the case for the next four Budgets.

But because agencies had also spent only half what they expected in the quarter – $2.3 billion versus $4.7b forecast – the report held out hope that better planning could result in more investments that were “right-sized and deliverable”, reducing Budget bids.

A debate in Parliament on infrastructure was set for Wednesday.

This follows release of the country’s first National Infrastructure Plan last month that sparked a debate about building roads versus hospitals.

The QIR said there were “large differences between forecast and actual spend and reported delays once entering delivery”.

It also said agencies were continuing to signal funding requirements for Budget 2026 that “significantly exceed available allowances, with $38.2 billion capital signalled over the next five Budgets.

“Significant trade-offs are still required”.

It did not go into details of any possible trade-offs.

Treasury is developing advice on the medium-term capital pipeline due this month.

The QIR said agencies had been expected to have a full-fledged business case or a fast-track single-stage business case done “before submitting a Budget bid in December to ensure robust value for money advice from the Treasury”.

It was pushed back to April to ensure the builds would proceed quickly after the Budget. Last year there was still a backlog of 15 becalmed projects funded in Budget 2024; however, that number had been cut to just three in this QIR.

“The September 2025 QIR tells us that agency projections for timely conversion are looking better than previous quarters.”

This “Budget conversion” – converting from funding, to building – is a marker of momentum.

“We also need to keep momentum and scrutinise whether agencies have done enough planning to ensure that what gets funded in Budget 2026 is investment-ready and starts delivery within the 2026-27 financial year.”

To do that, Treasury was working with bosses of capital-intensive agencies – such as Defence, Health NZ, NZTA – “to improve system approaches, including approaches for more timely conversion post-Budget.”

Part of the problem was underspending.

“Crown capital expenditure underspend of $2.4 billion tells us that agencies may be forecasting too optimistically, such that it does not match their capacity to deliver on everything that has been funded.”

Sometimes the reason was a policy shift, such as that cut Kainga Ora spending, or timing as at NZTA.

But underspending was a big enough worry that bosses of the big-spending agencies had met “to address significant discrepancies between forecasted and actual capital investment spend”, followed up by the Secretary to the Treasury writing to them to improve forecasting, and to their ministers.

Ten projects entered the ‘pipeline’ for planning in the quarter, including private provision of hospital carparking.

The QIR showed some projects as of last September were hitting ructions and delays:

Three had not yet signed contracts though they were funded a long time ago:

  • Waikeria prison expansion phase 2, expected to sign a contract in quarter to March 2026
  • Specialised Rehabilitation Centre at Manukau Health Park, funded in Budget 2022, expected to sign in June 2026.
  • A third project was blanked out.

Fifty-three investments were reporting delays last September, five of them with over a $50m budget that were more than a year delayed.

Delays included:

  • Kainga Ora’s Northcote project
  • Manukau health park, delayed two years
  • Christchurch Hospital Tower 3 delayed by nearly two years, due October 2026
  • Nelson Hospital inpatient block delayed 18 months
  • Wairarapa rail Upgrades, delayed by 15 months, due for completion March 2027.

Three projects racked up red warning alerts in their first ‘Gateway’ reviews that are meant to keep them on track, signalling “major risks and issues” and triggering Treasury and ministerial intervention:

  • Police’s Arms Transformation Programme for implementing legislative changes and improvements to the administration of the Arms Regulatory system
  • MSD’s Disability Support Services – High and Complex Framework
  • Nelson Hospital Redevelopment.

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One decision that could cost women $200,000

Source: Radio New Zealand

The KiwiSaver gender gap narrowed from 17 percent in 2020 to 14 percent in 2025. File photo. RNZ / Hingyi Khong

Women are being told to take more risk with their KiwiSaver to help close the gap between their average balance and those of men.

Westpac said while the gender gap had narrowed from 17 percent in 2020 to 14 percent in 2025, men were contributing and saving more even though women live longer on average.

In the Westpac KiwiSaver funds, men had higher average balances in all age groups once people were over 18. The biggest gap was in the 30 to 39-year-old age group, where men had an average balance of $28,992 compared to $21,740 for women.

Westpac general manager of product, sustainability and marketing Sarah Hearn said part of the different was the gender pay gap and time out of the workforce. But women were also more likely to be in less risky funds.

Men had 37 percent of their total balances invested in growth and high-growth funds, compared to 32 percent for women, who hold more of their KiwiSaver in moderate or conservative funds.

Higher-risk funds should deliver higher returns over time.

Morningstar data shows that aggressive funds have returned an average 9.5 percent a year over 10 years compared to 4.2 percent for conservative.

Hearn said women taking a more defensive strategy early in life could miss out on tens of thousands of dollars over the decades.

Earlier, Westpac estimated that the gap in outcomes between someone in a conservative fund and someone in a growth fund over 30 years could be more than $225,000 for a median earner on a total 6 percent contribution.

“Historically women have made more conservative fund choices, but if they’re saving for the long term – at least 13 years – and are comfortable seeing larger up-and-down movements in their balance over time, I’d encourage them to consider what type of fund they’re in,” Hearn said.

She urged women to talk about their financial decisions. “We know men are really much more comfortable taking about numbers and money than women are… I think there’s a great opportunity where we could be talking more about our KiwiSaver balances, our returns, the types of funds we’re in and just having more conversations about money.”

She said people should check the type of KiwiSaver fund they were in and make sure it was right for them.

“Make sure it’s in line with your risk appetite and also the timeframe. I think that’s the most important thing. we know that balances can go up and down over time. There can be volatility, but this is the long haul. We’re all looking forward to retirement one day but in most cases it’s a couple of decades a way. It’s definitely the right time to take on a little bit more risk so that we can have our money working harder for us.”

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Person seriously hurt after being trapped between truck and skip in Wellington

Source: Radio New Zealand

RNZ / Marika Khabazi

A person has been seriously injured after getting trapped between a rubbish truck and what RNZ understands to be a skip bin in Wellington.

Emergency services were called to Maning Lane in the central city at 4.55am.

FENZ shift manager Jill Webley said crews extracted a trapped person and they were taken to hospital.

A police spokesperson said investigators would be in the area today working to determine what happened.

They said Worksafe had been advised.

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LiveNews: https://nz.mil-osi.com/2026/03/04/person-seriously-hurt-after-being-trapped-between-truck-and-skip-in-wellington/

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Samoan teenager adopted in ‘coerced’ migration, tribunal told

Source: Radio New Zealand

ASamoan teenager was adopted by a New Zealand resident in a ‘coerced relocation’. Unsplash / RNZ composite

A tribunal has been told a Samoan teenager was adopted by a New Zealand resident in a ‘coerced relocation’ which led to violence and her baby being taken into care.

Immigration New Zealand (INZ) was trying to have her deported for not revealing she was in a relationship when she arrived in 2022.

Allegations of child abuse, a lack of welfare safeguards and unsafe adoptions from countries which are not signatories to Hague Convention protocols prompted a partial ban on international adoptions last September.

The immigration and protection tribunal had two cases involving adopted Samoans last year.

In the latest, the immigration and protection tribunal overturned the woman’s deportation, saying she was blameless as a then 18-year-old schoolgirl for the circumstances of her adoption and failing to tell INZ about her relationship.

“The tribunal notes that no allegations of trafficking have been made in this case, but that there have been cases where young people from Samoa have been adopted at a similar age to the appellant and trafficked to New Zealand using the Family (Dependent Child) residence category as a vehicle.

“The tribunal has heard evidence in a number of cases from these young people about the exploitation they have experienced at the hands of their “adoptive parents” in New Zealand, including being subjected to forced labour.”

The associate justice minister Nicole McKee announced in September a temporary ban on international adoptions from certain countries, and said she would introduce a bill this year to create a longterm solution.

The tribunal said that move meant the woman’s situation would not happen again.

“[She] did not know she was being adopted,” it said in its hearing notes. “To any reasonable observer, the appellant was not [her adoptive mother’s] “dependent child”. [She] was a stranger with no relationship to the appellant and her brothers.

“It is unfortunate that immigration policy at the time allowed for the appellant’s “adoption” and her coerced relocation to New Zealand. There were clearly welfare concerns in the setting she was placed, given the later involvement of Oranga Tamariki.”

The woman was six months pregnant when she arrived and had a caesarean birth, but fled the house when she was subject to violence, leaving her baby behind. Her brother had also been assaulted and she showed a phone video she had filmed of the attack to a social worker.

Oranga Tamariki took him into care and sometime later the woman’s daughter was put into foster care for about five months. Mother and child have since been reunited.

In an earlier tribunal decision from March last year, a man who was adopted as a teen described being ‘exploited and frightened by his adoptive parents who treated him like a slave’.

His aunt and uncle adopted him and forced him to work long hours in their factory. “His uncle beat him severely, on one occasion, breaking his arm. He did not receive wages for his

work and was only given $20 a week. He was not allowed a phone and could not maintain contact with his parents in Samoa.”

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Government ‘talking to everybody’ over Kiwis caught up in Middle East war – Peters

Source: Radio New Zealand

Foriegn Affairs Minister Winston Peters RNZ / Mark Papalii

Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters says there are thousands of New Zealanders whose plans have been disrupted by the current war between the US and Israel and Iran.

All sorts of contingencies to help them were being looked at but it was a complex situation, he told Morning Report.

SafeTravel said on Wednesday United Arab Emirates had partially reopened its air space.

There were limited flights operating from Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

Follow updates with RNZ’s blog

It said there had so far been no official announcement on flights to Australia or New Zealand, but the NZ government were in contact with airline representatives to get urgent confirmation on the status of flights.

Spain and the United Kingdom have announced they are organising evacuation flights for their citizens while Australia has opened an emergency portal for its citizens.

Asked on Morning Report about possible evacuation flights for Kiwis Peters said the situation was “difficult”.

“We’re saying to people if you can get out, and if you are concerned, get out. If you can’t, then try and stay safe or stay inside where you are or make sure you have places that are safe most of the time.”

There were thousands of Kiwis in the region with not a great number registered on SafeTravel, he said.

Last time there was conflict in the Middle East a plane was sent, and within an hour of it landing “peace broke out” and noone got on the flight, Peters said.

“We’ve got all sorts of contingencies ready now – all aspects have been looked at. Obviously I’ve got to be confidential but Foreign Affairs is doing a superb job to do the maximum they can to help New Zealanders there.”

Peters said New Zealand was “talking to everybody” regarding Kiwis stranded by the conflict.

Regarding the negotiations that had been going on in Switzerland just before the weekend attacks, Peters said they had been “protracted” and that was why countries such as New Zealand could see the possibility of conflict and advised citizens to leave.

“We were saying that a long time before this war broke out.”

Not concerned about upsetting US

In an earlier statement, the government said New Zealand had consistently condemned Iran’s nuclear programme and its “destabilising activities” in the region and “acknowledged” the strikes.

Peters said he wasn’t worried about blowback from the United States if New Zealand expressed any criticism over the joint attacks with Israel on Iran.

Critics were commenting as if the current war was from a 1980s or 1990s setting.

“Everything’s changed dramatically. …It’s the most uncertain world since the Second World War.”

Legal experts would decide but in some situations such as the US-Israel attacks it became “a reprisal or retaliation” and the genesis to the current conflict was the earlier actions of Iran.

People had to understand countries were dealing with a group of “religious fanatics” in Iran. Their Arabic neighbours didn’t support Iran because it had been supporting various forms of terrorism for decades.

Critics had “rushed to judgement” over the legality of the US-Israel attacks, however, they had no answers to the way Iran was acting.

While critics referred to rules-based order, Iran had not been observing this and it had been exporting “continual chaos overseas”.

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Ardern on list as Ockham Book Awards finalists revealed

Source: Radio New Zealand

Former New Zealand Prime Minister Dame Jacinda Ardern’s book, A Different Kind of Power, has made the shortlist of the 2026 Ockham New Zealand Book Awards.

Ardern’s memoir is one of four finalists announced on Wednesday in the awards’ general non-fiction category.

The Ockham Awards shortlist includes writers across fiction, poetry, history, botany, art and te ao Māori.

Natural history writer Naomi Arnold is a finalist for her book, Northbound: Four Seasons of Solitude on Te Araroa.

Naomi Arnold

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Dozens of Auckland homes compulsorily bought by council for flood relief plan

Source: Radio New Zealand

Close to 50 homes in an Auckland suburb are being compulsorily bought to make way for new flood plains and uncover a buried stream.

This is in Rānui, where some homeowners are relieved to get out, while others wish they could stay.

It’s just the start of Auckland Council’s plan to reduce the risk in flood-prone areas of the region and it says there are more property acquisitions ahead.

Emily Stewart is one of those affected. RNZ / Marika Khabazi

Emily Stewart, her husband and two children moved out of their house in Rānui’s Clover Drive a few weeks ago.

It’s been bought under the Public Works Act because a piped stream is being uncovered.

“The stream is going to come through approximately through here…right through our house.”

On Sunday, the home was relocated to Waikato.

default RNZ / Marika Khabazi

Stewart said they planned to sell the house three years ago before the storms hit – some of her neighbours had to kayak from their houses.

The Stewarts weren’t eligible for a risky-home buyout, so had repairs done, then learned their house would be acquired to daylight a stream and create a flood plain.

The family has bought and moved to another part of the city.

“It’s bittersweet because for three years we were just stuck in this limbo. Back in October all of the houses in this cresent were still standing in various states of decay,” Stewart said.

Close to 50 homes in an Auckland suburb are being compulsorily bought to make way for new flood plains and uncover a buried stream. RNZ / Marika Khabazi

‘We need this land’ – council

Auckland Council’s head of sustainable partnerships Tom Mansell said of the almost 50 homes required for flood plains in Rānui, half were state owned.

“Some of these properties, most of them have been flooded, some of them have been partially flooded, some of them haven’t been flooded but we need this land to save other surrounding properties from flooding.”

He said it would save 100 properties and also enable future development.

The Rānui Making Space for Water project is costing $85 million, of which most – close to $50m – is for buying properties.

“It’s digging up the pipe, creating the flood plain, creating the stream, upgrading Don Buck Road bridge,” Mansell said.

“It’s transforming communities, it is disruptive, it is costly but moving forward with climate change and increased rainfall it is a new era in managing stormwater.”

RNZ / Marika Khabazi

Mansell said negotiating with homeowners was a sensitive process.

“Some homeowners are relieved it is a way out, a fresh start for them and some not so much, it’s really quite hard hitting. Some of them have been there 30 to 40 years and it’s their home, there’s a reluctance to leave.”

He said there will be more homes acquired to make way for flood plains in coming years as the council confirms other projects.

“Overall, it creates more greenspace, creates resilient communities and it’s the way of the future for managing stormwater.”

Clover Drive in Henderson in Auckland. RNZ / Marika Khabazi

Reluctant to leave

Another Clover Drive homeowner, Wayne Macdonald, didn’t want to leave but accepted a Public Works Act buyout.

“I was hoping to stay,” he said.

“I was disappointed, I like my house. I like its location, I like how it’s close to everything and I didn’t really look forward to looking for a new house and I’m struggling to find something.”

He was aware the acquisition was compulsory and said the financial incentives for accepting a buyout within certain timeframes made it more attractive.

The Momutu Stream. RNZ / Marika Khabazi

Macdonald said the plans to create a bigger stream and flood plain included walking paths and reserve areas.

“What they’re doing is actually really nice and for a lot of neighbourhoods around, it’s going to give them options. They’re going to be able to walk away from the streets and pollution of the cars, kids are going to have areas to go play.”

Further along the road, Donna Mather’s home is not in a flood zone.

There are already many vacant plots from houses that were too risky to live in and she said having more homes go with compulsory acquisitions will change the neighbourhood.

“A lady friend up on Universal Drive, she will be moving because she was bought out. Apparently her place is going to be a pond.”

Donna Mather RNZ / Marika Khabazi

Under the Public Works Act, councils or agencies buying properties can only inform property owners – not tenants.

Stewart said this created problems on her street, because some neighbours were only recently informed by their landlords who have to give 90 days notice to end a tenancy.

“They were completely rug-pulled, like what’s going on, what’s happening I’m getting conflicting information.”

She said that needed to change.

“What I’m seeing is that we are prioritising homeowners over people who are renting and that’s not how this society should be supporting each other,” Stewart said.

“The fact that I’ve been told that they are having to look at work-arounds means there’s something wrong with the law. There is an oversight with the laws that they are bound by,” she said.

“The way we can make change for the better for people is to say ‘this isn’t working’.”

RNZ / Marika Khabazi

Mansell said the council strongly encouraged landlords to inform tenants if their house was being bought out – and tenants have access to financial support during the process.

“We encourage them strongly to talk to their tenants and we have a community advisory group which meets every two weeks…so we try and keep as much information about what we’re doing, the overall layout of the project is out in the community,” Mansell said.

“That’s one way the information gets out but unfortunately we cannot contact the tenants directly, we have to go through the landlord.”

The compulsory buyouts come as the region is under pressure to intensify housing and build more homes and the council was preparing plans to accommodate up to 2 million homes in coming decades.

However last month, Cabinet agreed to lower the maximum number of houses in Auckland from 2 million to at least 1.6 million.

Mansell said houses needed to be built in safe areas.

“The last thing we want to do is more development with houses in the wrong place in a danger zone so we are watching and working with this plan change. We don’t want to create more issues moving forward.”

RNZ / Marika Khabazi

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