Published: December 4, 2017 2:48PM

New management team at Corson focused on extending its maize-based product mix.

NEW BOSS: Daniel Prenter became Corson chief executive in July, after 19 years in food production and food packaging for the meat, horticulture and dairy sectors. He is originally from Hawke’s Bay. Picture by Liam ClaytonThe continuing trend towards healthy, safe food is helping to propel Gisborne-based food ingredients company Corson into the future.

Armed with a new management team and dedicated product development manager, Corson plans to capitalise on the immense opportunities in new maize-based products and markets, says chief executive Daniel Prenter.

Eastland Community Trust would like to distribute $4.5 million to economic development projects this financial year, effectively doubling the fund it makes available for economic development in the region.

The announcement, made in August, represents a step change for the organisation, which has streamlined its approach to economic development following a review of its funding process and the amalgamation of Activate Tairawhiti. But the trust needs good opportunities to back.

ECT chief executive Gavin Murphy says the trust is entering exciting times.

“There’s a commonly held aspiration for our community – one where business thrives, whanau have access to sustainable and well-paid jobs, and communities prosper. Whether working at a regional, community or hapu level, our region is blessed with a community-held fund that can support real transformation.”

There are two funds that organisations can apply to.

The Economic Investigation and Research Fund is designed for those who have a new or innovative business idea but need to test its viability, feasibility or impact further. It’s a contestable fund with $30,000 per initiative and up to $500,000 available for distribution.

“With this fund, we hope to empower smaller or new business to make outstanding decisions and to support those initiatives that incrementally improve the business environment,” says Mr Murphy.

“We are looking to fund research and reports that enable local businesses to minimise risk, and identify and quantify opportunities for growth and job creation further down the track.”

Meanwhile, the Regional Economic Growth Fund is designed to allow ECT to deliberately intervene by investing in or supporting new and growing businesses — creating jobs and increasing GDP. The trust has made $4 million available in this fund.

In recent times organisations such as Hikurangi Bioactives have benefitted from these funding pools, with ECT supporting early-stage research and clinical trials on the Coast.

“In the long-term, these funds have the potential to ensure our community can take charge of its economic future, particularly when combined with the efforts of organisations like Hikurangi Bioactives and with the support of critical regional partners — Activate Tairawhiti, the council and iwi.”

The trust is actively seeking applications for both funds and is looking for projects with the potential to create sustainable, well-paid jobs, enhance business diversity and increase GDP, and align to the region’s key economic drivers.

Those interested can find more information at: www.ect.org.nz

“Developing new food ingredient products is our real focus.

“This will extend our current product mix supplying into the cereal, snack and bakery categories.”

Corson's a household nameCorson has been a household name since Thomas Corson senior shifted here from Hawke’s Bay in 1902, in the belief Gisborne would develop faster.

The company began as a one-man grain and seed broker and manufacturers’ agent, and developed — after adding a major Queensland maize products company to the mix in 2003 — into reputedly the largest maize miller in Australasia.

Corson remains family-owned and has two family members on the board.

Mr Prenter took up the role as chief executive in July. Originally from Hawke’s Bay, he has 19 years of experience in food production and food packaging for the meat, horticulture and dairy sectors.

He was attracted to the role because of consumer trends towards healthy food choices and healthy products, and the potential maize products have within this wider trend.

“Our relatively new team is fortunate to have inherited a strong business that has been well-managed by Thomas and John Corson over many decades.

“We are extremely appreciative of the support from our loyal grower base from Wairoa and Gisborne to Tolaga Bay, which supplies 100 percent of our New Zealand maize,” Mr Prenter said.

“And we’re fortunate we have an experienced, loyal workforce of 25 in Gisborne.

“That loyalty, and skill base, enables us to consistently produce a quality product. We also enjoy strong customer relationships with New Zealand domestic and multinational markets.

“We are a business-to-business supplier.

“We don’t make consumer products ourselves, but there are some segments we don’t currently participate in. Part of our new product development agenda is identifying and filling the gaps.

“Gaining access into new markets will involve further processing of our current mill range.”

Mr Prenter said new product development manager Nicky Solomon, who has a PhD in food science, will help the company capitalise on recognised new-product opportunities.

“We have to make sure our investment decisions position us well for the evolving market.

“For instance, there is a market trend away from traditional breakfast cereals towards snack-style breakfast eating like Up&Go and snack bars. This is a something we have to move with.

“We need to stay relevant within that breakfast and snack space.”

Popcorn, Mexican food and bakery products were also growth areas, he said.

“Popcorn is a $22 million category in New Zealand. It has come into vogue and is seen now as a healthy snack food because it’s popped dry. Ready-to-eat, popped popcorn is a growth category on supermarket shelves.

“The development of the Mexican category is particularly good for us, with corn chips and tortilla being maize-based. Our grain ingredients go into products like Doritos and GrainWaves.”

Mr Prenter said one of the company’s strengths was that it mills a single variety of grain.

“So we can guarantee we are wheat-free, for instance. All our products are free of allergens, gluten and genetically modified organisms. It is a safe option from that perspective.”

'It's good for us and it's good for Gisborne'The international focus on food safety and place of origin will continue to benefit Corson.

“Food safety is an important part of our ability to build strong relationships, a strong point of difference and definitely a lever for developing opportunities in Asia. Gisborne’s — and New Zealand’s — isolation will play a strong part in the future.

“We’re exporting more from New Zealand and Australia.

“There’s huge growth and excitement for us in the Asian bakery market as people there aspire to a more Western-style diet.

“In Seoul there’s a bakery on every second corner. Five years ago, they did not exist.

“People are eating less rice and more cereals, burgers, and bakery and pastry products.”

Mr Prenter said dietary change and concern for food safety, coupled with an enormous population, equates to huge potential.

“It’s good for us and good for Gisborne.”

| Source: Gisborne Herald   || December 4,  2017   |||

Dec 4,  2017  - Uncertainty over Brexit means New Zealand needs to urgently focus on developing brands and differentiating our agricultural exports.  Senior lecturer in Agribusiness Management, Dr Nic Lees, said New Zealand produces some of the best fruit, wine, meat, seafood and dairy products in the world but around 70 per cent reaches the consumer with no identification that is sourced from here.

“Sudden changes such as Brexit remind us that relying on undifferentiated commodity exports leaves us vulnerable to sudden changes in government policies,” Dr Lees said.

“When consumers demand a branded product, it is difficult for governments to shut it out of the market.”

Forty-four years ago, Britain joined the European Common Market. At the time Britain took approximately 90 per cent of our butter, 75 per cent of our cheese and about 80 per cent of our lamb exports. Britain had to adopt the European “common agricultural policy” which imposed tariffs and quotas on non-European agricultural imports

This meant New Zealand was effectively shut out of our largest agricultural export market. At the time, most of these products were being exported as commodities, frozen lamb carcasses and blocks of cheese. The only branded product was Anchor butter.

For the next thirty years the New Zealand economy suffered as we searched for new markets and attempted to develop alternative industries. China has replaced Britain as our largest market. However, 70-80 per cent of our food exports are still sold as commodity products.

“We need to develop differentiated and branded products that consumers demand,” he said.

“We can learn a lesson from Anchor butter, as it is a brand that is still strong in the British market.”

However, he said, New Zealand has never been good at marketing our food products.

“Despite our reliance on food exports, Lincoln University provides the only specialist food marketing degree in New Zealand. The Bachelor of Agribusiness and Food Marketing was developed due to a call from industry for graduates who understand the specialised nature of producing and marketing our food products.

“It is an integrated degree covering agribusiness management, food science, supply chain management and food marketing. This provides students with a unique set of skills specifically focused on preparing them for marketing the unique features of New Zealand food products.”

He said Zespri kiwifruit and New Zealand wine have led the way in developing strong brands that consumers demand.

“Unfortunately, most other industries still focus primarily on commodity trading.”

The development of synthetic alternatives to meat and milk also calls for stronger branding.

“Developing a culture of marketing and meeting consumer demands for natural health foods provides New Zealand with a way to capture more value from our exports.

“To do this we need graduates going into the industry with an understanding of the whole value chain and who are passionate about positioning New Zealand food as a premium product branded and targeted at specific consumers.,” Dr Lees said.

| A Lincoln University release   ||  December 4, 2017    ||||

Dec 1, 2017  - The tribunal in the arbitration with Danone on claims arising out of Fonterra’s WPC80 precautionary recall in August 2013 has issued its award. The tribunal has determined that Fonterra must pay a total of NZD $183 million (€105 million) in recall costs suffered by Danone. In reacting to the announcement, Fonterra’s CEO, Theo Spierings, said “We are disappointed that the arbitration tribunal did not fully recognise the terms of our supply agreement with Danone, including the agreed limitations of liability, which was the basis on which we had agreed to do business.” Fonterra has assessed the potential financial implications of the decision and made a prudent decision to revise its forecast earnings per share range for the 2017/18 financial year to 35 to 45 cents, down from 45 to 55 cents. The decision has no impact on the forecast Farmgate Milk Price. The arbitration followed events in August 2013 when Fonterra issued a precautionary recall advice to some customers who had been supplied with its WPC80 ingredient and products containing WPC80. It was later confirmed that there had been no food safety risk to the public. Both Fonterra and the New Zealand Government conducted extensive reviews into the events. A follow-up review by the Independent Inquiry commissioned by the Fonterra Board of Directors confirmed that the Co-operative’s management acted in the best interests of its consumers and the Co-operative at all times. “The decision to invoke a precautionary recall was based on technical information obtained from a third party, which later turned out to be incorrect. “While there was never any risk to the public, we have learned from this experience and as a result have made improvements to our escalation, product traceability and recall processes, and incident management systems. “We operate in a fast-changing and complex industry, and will always prioritise Food Safety and Quality in our commitment to be the world’s most trusted source of dairy nutrition. “Fonterra is in a strong financial position and is able to meet the recall costs,” said Mr Spierings. The Co-operative was reviewing the tribunal’s findings closely, but recognised that there was likely to be limited options for challenging the decision of an international arbitration.

| A Fonterra Communications release  ||  December 01, 2017   |||

Dec 1, 2017  -  New Zealand's terms of trade rose 0.7 percent in the September 2017 quarter to reach an all-time high, Stats NZ said today. The latest increase was due to import prices falling more than export prices.  Terms of trade is a measure of the purchasing power of New Zealand’s exports abroad and an indicator of the state of the overall economy. The 0.7 percent rise in the September quarter means New Zealand can buy 0.7 percent more imports for the same amount of exports.

"The terms of trade increased over the last year, driven by high meat and dairy prices, especially butter, to reach the highest level since the series began in March 1957," international statistics senior manager Daria Kwon said. "The previous high for the terms of trade was the June 1973 quarter."

The new high in the terms of trade echoes the impact seen in the early 1970s, when prices also rose for dairy and meat, as well as wool. However, the early 1970s’ boom for export prices was short-lived. New Zealand’s terms of trade fell after key export market Great Britain joined the European Economic Community, and the first big oil crisis pushed up fuel prices sharply in late 1973.

| A StatisticsNZ release  ||  December 1, 2017   |||

Dec 1, 2017  - Thank you to ANZ for the opportunity to speak today.  This morning I want to outline the goals and some of the key policy initiatives in the government’s economic strategy; update you on the steps we will take before Christmas including the release of the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update and Budget Policy Statement, and the implementation of our 100 Day Plan.

It is only just over a month ago that the government was formed, built on a coalition agreement between Labour and New Zealand First, and with the support of our confidence and supply partners, the Green Party. While these are three parties with different traditions and histories, they are bound together by a shared desire to deliver a fairer and better New Zealand.

In both these agreements, there is a common mission statement that reads “Together, we will work to provide New Zealand with a transformational government, committed to resolving the greatest long-term challenges for the country, including sustainable economic development, increased exports and decent jobs paying higher wages, a healthy environment, a fair society and good government. We will reduce inequality and poverty and improve the well-being of all New Zealanders and the environment we live in.”

The parties that make up this government have a shared belief that the status quo and the tired out former government were failing too many New Zealanders.

While the fundamentals of our economy were, and are, strong, the purpose of it had become lost. While some enjoyed the fruits of growth, many did not.

This government will change that and build an economy with the purpose of delivering shared prosperity. We are committed to removing the social and infrastructure deficits that have emerged, and to shifting the focus to improving the wellbeing of all our people.

This will be an economy fit for purpose for the 21st Century. Resilient, Adaptable, Productive and Inclusive.

One of the things that struck me over the last few years as I have moved around the country was that the message I received from workers in smoko rooms was the same one I received from Executives in board rooms – the gaps in our country have grown too large. In this year’s Mood of the Boardroom survey 70% of the CEOs said they were concerned about the widening gap between the rich and the poor. Concerns about child poverty, homelessness, and inequality dominated the election.

It’s not the New Zealand way to see our fellow citizens left out and left behind. The clear message from voters was that we had to do better, to fulfil our country’s egalitarian mission.

And to do better, we have to do things differently. In crafting our plans and agreements we have had this at the forefront of our minds.

On a personal level I have had in my mind a man who last year sent me a copy of a letter he had sent to the then Prime Minister. He and his wife both worked, 60 hours a week in total, but they were not making ends meet. He was struggling to pay the bills and he said his children did not play sport because he could not afford the fees. He ended his letter saying “I am lucky. I have a house to live in and my wife and I both work. But we are poor.”

It is a not a successful economy where people in work feel poor or lucky, simply because they have a roof over their heads. A successful economy must be one where all our people can live a life of dignity, security and hope.

Economic strategy

The goal of our economic strategy is to improve the well-being and living standards of New Zealanders through sustainable and inclusive growth. This means moving beyond narrow economic indicators and measures of success, and instead puts the well-being of our people and the environment at the centre.

Budget Responsibility Rules

Underpinning our strategy are our Budget Responsibility Rules.

We set these out earlier this year to ensure that everyone understood our commitment to responsible fiscal and economic management. In government we will abide by these rules.

To recap, this means that we will deliver a sustainable operating surplus each year unless there is a significant disaster or major economic shock or crisis. We will ensure that government spending as a proportion of the economy won’t rise above the recent historical average of 30% of GDP. We will reduce net core Crown debt to 20% of GDP within five years of taking office.

In order to meet these rules, it will require discipline. We have an ambitious programme and a plan to deliver on. We will grow the economy by making it more productive and we will have greater revenue from rejecting National’s tax cuts and cracking down on multinational tax evasion and speculators in the housing market.

But that will not be enough in itself. We also need to reprioritise and seek out programmes that are good value for money.

I have directed all Ministers to assess their Budgets against the new government’s priorities. If programmes are found that do not match these priorities then Ministers should consider whether this funding can be re-invested in new, higher priority areas which match our strategy. This work is already underway and will contribute to Budget 2018 planning.

The last Labour-led government showed that it is possible to be fiscally disciplined and deliver progressive policies. We will do the same.

I want to mention two other pieces of work that underpin our strategy. We have already begun the work to modernise our monetary policy. While in general our Reserve Bank Act has served New Zealanders well, after 28 years the legislation needs to be updated.

We will continue to ensure that inflation is carefully managed within the target band. But we will expand the objectives of the Reserve Bank Act to provide monetary policy support to our goal of improving the wellbeing of New Zealanders, including focusing on maximising employment. As announced within our first two weeks in office we will review the work of the Bank in two phases, looking at the objectives and decision making first, and then other issues including the macroprudential framework in the second. The independence of the Bank remains paramount.

We have also established the terms of reference for a Tax Working Group to investigate possible changes which would make our tax system fairer and more balanced. At the moment, our system supports the speculative economy over the productive one.

The group, led by Sir Michael Cullen, has a mandate to propose changes that will make our tax system fit for a 21st Century economic plan, including the changing nature of work and commerce, and the enhancement of our environment.

Living Standards Framework

One of the things we will be doing differently is how we decide our priorities and how we measure the success of our economic strategy.

It is true to say that our GDP growth in New Zealand has been relatively impressive on a global scale. But that tells us only a fraction of the story. Firstly, it is a measure of activity, not the quality of that activity. And secondly, on a per capita basis, our performance has been significantly less impressive than many of our OECD counterparts.

Our supply and confidence agreement with the Green Party commits us to working on new sustainable development indicators. Alongside this work I have asked the Treasury to further develop and accelerate the world-leading work they have been doing on the Living Standards Framework. This focuses on measuring our success in developing four capitals – financial, physical, human and social. These give a rounded measure of success and of how government policy is improving our well-being.

This is a far better framework for judging our success. It is easy to say a policy is successful if it grows GDP, but what if that is at the expense of the physical environment? How can we be successful if the skill level of our workforce is not improving at the same time? If we do not have strong communities, any individual success can easily be undermined.

Success for us will mean more than just a strong balance sheet - as important as that is. It will be marked by how we improve the well-being of all our citizens.

This framework is still being developed, but I see this approach of focusing on well-being and lifting living standards as a core element of how we will create our future Budgets and measure the success of our work.

It is too late in the process to make significant changes in this regard for the 2018 Budget, but I will have more to say when I deliver that Budget about how this approach will drive our future work.

We will, however, take the first steps in this direction as part of our 100 Day Plan. We will introduce legislation to set measures of child poverty and a requirement to set reduction targets against them. This will include amending the Public Finance Act to ensure this work is part of our Budget process.

I want to say something about the way we must work if we are to achieve the goal of our economic strategy. This will only be possible when central government partners with local government, businesses, iwi, unions and communities. There are some big challenges in front of us, which I will now turn to, but I want to be clear that we will be coming to you to solve them together.

Delivering the Economic Strategy

To deliver this strategy we will have a number of areas of focus. We will develop detailed plans over the coming months but today I want to highlight several key issues.

Lifting Productivity and Wages

Fundamental to creating a more inclusive and prosperous economy is increasing productivity, so that New Zealanders achieve more with every hour they work and our businesses become more internationally competitive. For the last five years we have had almost no labour productivity growth. Low productivity has been a cloud over the New Zealand economy for decades and previous governments have failed to tackle this issue – this government will not.

Lifting the skills of our people is critical to solving the productivity challenge. We believe that learning for life is core to the further well-being of our people and to promoting our economy. The Future of Work Commission undertaken by the Labour Party in the last two years identified this as one of the most important transitional factors in the changing world of work.

Just as the first Labour Government moved to make a full secondary education the norm for people we need to update that vision for the 21st Century. We are sending a clear signal that post-school education and training will be for all.

Let me be absolutely clear – our first-year fees-free policy will come into force from the 1st of January 2018. This is for all quality post-school training. Only about one-third of school leavers go to University. They will benefit from this policy, but so will the other two thirds - those who will go to Polytechnics, other training programmes, apprenticeships and industry training. This policy is also for those who have not studied or trained before but are in work now.

Also critical for lifting productivity is increased investment in Research, Development and Innovation. The first step in this is the introduction of an R and D Tax Credit. Beyond that we will move to work smarter, adding value to change the mix of our exports and using and creating new technologies.

We also want to see wages rise. The government can and will take action to help this happen, including through lifting the minimum wage, paying core public sector staff the living wage and improving fairness in the workplace. But it is through improving productivity and developing new technologies and approaches to work that we will see long term sustainable improvements.

Just Transition to a Low Carbon Economy

Climate change is the greatest challenge facing the world and has the potential to undermine our primary industries. But our response to it is also an opportunity to develop new high wage jobs. The government’s commitment is to sustainable development that makes the transition to a low carbon economy. Work is already underway, under James Shaw’s leadership as Minister for Climate Change Issues, to develop a Zero Carbon Act and an Independent Climate Commission. Through our $100 million Green Investment Fund we aim to stimulate $1 billion of new investment in low carbon industries by 2020. This will contribute both to New Zealand’s climate targets and to the sustainability of our economy going forward.

Supporting Regions To Thrive

It is essential that the regions of New Zealand thrive again, for the sake of the people who live there and to take the pressure off Auckland. Long-term under-investment and inter-generational poverty are undermining areas of the country that have enormous economic potential.

The cornerstone of this government’s response to this is the $1 billion Regional Development (Provincial Growth) Fund agreed with New Zealand First as part of the coalition agreement.

This fund will (among other things) invest in regional rail, supporting the planting of a billion trees over the next ten years, an investigation of the future of the upper North Island Ports, and investment in other large-scale capital projects.

The criteria for the fund are currently being finalised. But I can say that successful bids will have to have robust business cases that show long-term development potential.

There is also a strong commitment to forestry with the development of a NZ Forest Service to be located in regional New Zealand and the regionalisation of some other government services.

Infrastructure To Support Sustainable Growth

One of the biggest challenges facing the incoming government is the need to update and build the infrastructure for sustainable and inclusive growth.

We will make the necessary investments in our health and education assets to ensure that we do not have hospitals that make people sick, or schools where students cannot learn. This is the core role of any responsible government.

Beyond that, we know that at a local government level, a significant amount of infrastructure is inadequate, aging and vulnerable. Many of our local authorities are either at the limits of what they can borrow, or do not have the revenue to service more debt.

At a central government level, we have an urgent and pressing need to fund the infrastructure that will support the unlocking of growth opportunities.

The fiscal plan that we have used as the starting point for our Budget has room for significantly more capital investment than the previous government. This is as a result of a slightly slower debt repayment track that will allow us to make investments such as the capital injection to kick off KiwiBuild.

But to create the 21st Century infrastructure, New Zealand needs to be innovative. We need to unlock capital and capture the value of investments through the work of urban development agencies and innovative instruments such as infrastructure bonds.

We want to work with those who can be partners in taking forward developments that build and modernise our infrastructure. Ministers have come together to identify and co-ordinate this work.

Growing exports through a Progressive Trade and Investment Agenda

New Zealand will and must remain open to business and the global economy. We welcome foreign investment that adds value to our economy, improves productivity and grows jobs.

This does not mean, however, that anything goes. Where we have drawn the line, is to say that we will not accept that there is value in having offshore speculators buying existing residential property and keeping first home buyers out of the property market. We continue to welcome offshore investment that adds to our housing stock.

We have heard the concerns of New Zealanders that they do not want to be tenants in their own land. To this end, we have already issued a new directive to the Overseas Investment Office and legislative changes will follow, to be introduced as part of the 100 Day Plan. We recognise the importance of an efficient and effective overseas investment regime and will be working to improve the operations of the Office.

When it comes to immigration, we must have people with the right balance of skills coming to New Zealand, with a particular emphasis on closing regional skills gaps. We must ensure that those who come to study are in quality courses and are not exploited or are simply here to gain residence.

Where there are genuine skill gaps that need to be filled to drive sustainable economic growth, we will continue to support entry of the people with those skills.

Labour-led governments have a proud record of delivering high-quality trade agreements that open opportunities for our exporters. The government will build on this record.

We have made progress with the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans Pacific Partnership. This agreement now balances improved market access with preserving our right to regulate in the public interest and also builds a progressive agenda in areas such as sustainable development, labour rights and gender equality.

We will continue to pursue this style of high-quality, progressive free trade agreement, with the European Union, UK and other nations.

Supporting Maori and Pasifika Aspiration

As we move towards the end of the major Treaty settlements it is timely to reset the dial on how the Crown and Maori work together, and how to focus on maximising the strength of Iwi. Through the work of both Minister Kelvin Davis and Nanaia Mahuta the government will support Maori in this process. At the same time, our economic goals will not be met if we do not improve the outcomes of Maori in employment, education and housing where there is still a significant and ingrained disadvantage.

Next Steps: HYEFU/BPS/100 Day Plan

The first steps in delivering on this government’s new economic strategy are included in our 100-Day Plan.

Just last night the first two significant pieces of legislation were passed - twenty six weeks Paid Parental Leave (at a cost of $325m over the forecast period) and the Healthy Homes Guarantee Bill that significantly increases minimum standards for rental housing.

Progress is being made on all the measures in the Plan. These include the introduction of a minimum wage of $16.50 an hour from 1 April 2018, in line with the coalition agreement with New Zealand First to lift that to $20 an hour, with effect in April 2021. Contributions to the New Zealand Super Fund will re-commence within the 100 Days. Student allowances and the living costs component of the student loan scheme will both increase by $50 per week from the 1st of January next year.

I want to highlight one part of the 100 Day Plan that will be one of the most significant policies this government will pass this term. Our Families Package. This is an ambitious programme to give low and middle-income workers a much-needed boost in incomes and address inequality and child poverty.

It is paid for by repealing the previous government’s tax cuts, which gave $400m per annum to the top ten percent of earners. Again, in the election the message on this was clear. New Zealanders knew that now was not the time for tax cuts. And that included more than half the CEOs in the Mood of the Boardroom.

This package will deliver increased targeted assistance to families through Working for Families changes, greater support for children in early years of life through Best Start, support for increased cost of living for our seniors and those on low incomes through a Winter Energy Payment and support to deal with soaring cost of rents through the Accommodation Supplement.

It is a major shift to improve families’ well-being, along with other initiatives such as the minimum wage, reducing cost of doctors’ visits and improving the quality of rental accommodation.

In less than a month of being in office, we have worked to develop the details and assess the costs of the plan. All the fiscal costs of the 100 Day Plan, which are currently being finalised, will be incorporated into the Half Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update. This will be released, along with the Budget Policy Statement, on Thursday December the 14th.

You will see when the Half Yearly Update is released that we are meeting our Budget Responsibility Rules, in particular the commitment to reduce net core crown debt as a percentage of GDP to 20% within five years of taking office.

One of the core elements of the 100 Day Plan is the reversal of National’s tax cuts. This provides $8 billion of fiscal headroom over the forecast period. This will more-than meet the costs of the 100 Day Plan and provide further resources to invest in Budget 2018 and beyond.

The Budget Policy Statement will outline our priorities for Budget 2018 and show the level of operating and capital allowances for the next four Budgets. These allowances provide the expenditure necessary to deliver our policy plans, including the coalition and confidence and supply agreements.

All these commitments – outside the 100 Day Plan, which will already be in HYEFU – are now subject to the normal Budget process to finalise details and costings. We will, however be providing the current estimates of the costs of the policies in the coalition and confidence and supply agreements at the time of the release of the Budget Policy Statement.

The HYEFU on 14 December will also include Treasury’s latest forecasts for the economy.

There have been a range of forecasts for economic growth since the new government was formed. Some are more pessimistic than others, with both the Reserve Bank and the OECD Economic Outlook more optimistic than some of the bank economists.

In general these economists agree that over the next year there will be some softening of growth as the housing market remains flat and as net migration tapers off slightly. Then, there is a consensus of a stronger growth track through 2019 and 2020 which is expected to be supported by government policies such as increasing R&D tax credits, increased wages and export growth.

In other words, we’ll be swapping out population growth and the buying and selling houses to each other as our two main growth drivers for much more sustainable ones. That sounds like a good description of our plan.

If that means slightly lower growth for a year while the transition to a productive economy occurs, then that will be a price worth paying.

As one economist put it, we will be passing on the baton of growth.

While I understand a new government and the change that comes with it will inevitability cause some uncertainty I think there is a clear understanding that the government’s policies will ultimately be good for sustainable growth.

Relatedly it is good to note that in the Reserve Bank’s Financial Stability Report released this week the Government’s Housing Plan was highlighted as a reason the Governor felt confident to ease LVRs.

Conclusion

It is sometimes easy to forget that it is little over a month since the government was sworn in. We are making good progress to building the better and fairer New Zealand we have been charged with doing by the public.

The foundations on which we are building our economic strategy are disciplined and careful fiscal and economic management, and a clear goal to see the well-being of all New Zealanders improve. We are moving at speed to implement a 100 Day Plan that will lift incomes and well-being. We are putting New Zealand back on a course of fairness, compassion and shared prosperity. It is early days, but the journey is an exciting one. I look forward to working with you all over the coming months and years.

| A Beehive release  ||  December 1  2017   |||

UDC once among world’s biggest finance companies

Dec 1, 2017  - The failure of the ANZ to consummate its sale of UDC Finance to China’s HNA Group is further evidence to the effect that it is one thing to sell an asset into this region. It is another thing to actually get paid for it.  There are now strong indications that the UDC sale is now back at the point of its departure, the signing ceremony.

Dec 1, 2017  -  Phillip Goundar, New Zealand Diploma of Engineering (Civil) student, placed in the top three in an Engineering NZ competition, earning return flights to the November ‘Engineer your Career’ forum. The second year Ara Institute of Canterbury student from Fiji believes it was his creative vision, background and experience that impressed the judges. 

In answering why he chose to study engineering Goundar drew upon his own life experiences.  “I originate from a rural village in Fiji called Vatukarasa. Growing up we had a very basic house and no [clean] running water. I had to walk with a two-litre bottle to a family friend’s house as they had a borehole and clean water, so I would fill it up and walk back home. I made several trips every afternoon so we had clean water to drink.”

Experiences such as this make Goundar appreciate the value of engineering. “If I don’t do something correctly there are lives at stake, so that builds pride into what I’m doing. I can see how my work is going to serve the community. I can see the importance of my job, especially after going through all of the Christchurch earthquakes and aftershocks.”

Goundar was one of eight engineering students from Ara who beat out competition from tertiary institutes across the country to attend the Wellington forum. Engineering New Zealand, formerly IPENZ, originally offered fifty forum spots for tertiary students. However, due to the high calibre of entries they decided to offer seventy-two spots.

To earn entry to the forum students had to provide winning answers to two questions: what inspired you to study engineering and what does the future of engineering look like to you?

Twenty-one year old Goundar thinks that in the future the engineering industry will place higher value on safety and innovation. Within his own career, Goundar wants to explore the concept of “designing a material which is lighter than concrete but much superior in strength”.

“The highlight of the whole event for me was to hear that grades are important but it’s a fifty-fifty split between grades and experience. For me personally, I made use of all my opportunities at Ara, not just in class. Ara gave me the platform to speak up and share my ideas. The tutors welcome questions and conversation with the students, and they keep learning engaging. It’s clear that they want you to understand.”

From December, Goundar will start working for BECA as a Civil Engineering Technician. However, since attending the forum he is considering his career pathway and exploring the possibilities of further study.  “I appreciated the networking opportunities at the forum to talk with new engineers in the field and hear about the difficulties they face. I also gained a better understanding of how I could move up in the ranks within the engineering industry.”

“My goal is to study the Ara Bachelor of Engineering Degree part-time, or a Bachelor of Engineering through University. Once I have achieved that and gained work experience I want to go on to do a taught Masters. I don’t know if I’ll want to work within the industry for my entire career. One day I’d like to be a lecturer.”

| An ARA rerlease  ||  December 1, 2017   |||

Dec 1, 2017  -  There are fewer than 20 Australians and New Zealanders working now in the California wine industry, the majority as winemakers. Some others migrated to Washington, Oregon and British Columbia from their home country writes Santa Rosa based-wine and spirit  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for The Press Democrat. 

Most of those interviewed for this article agree that Grant Taylor, a Kiwi winemaker, was the first to come to California in 1979, to work at Pine Ridge in the Napa Valley. Taylor returned to New Zealand in 1993 and is the owner of Valli Vineyards in Central Otago.

The following is a partial list of Aussies and Kiwis, in chronological order by the date they first came to California and their present position in the California wine industry.

Rex Smith (Australia): 1984, winemaker William Knuttel Winery, Sonoma.

Daryl Groom (Australia): 1989, co-owner Colby Red Wine and Groom Wines

Nick Goldschmidt (New Zealand): 1989, Goldschmidt Vineyards and Nick Goldschmidt Consulting

Chris Loxton (Australia): 1991, owner/winemaker Loxton Cellars

Michael Scholz (Australia): 1991, vice president, Winemaking & Vineyards, St. Supery Estate Vineyards & Winery

Mick Schroeter (Australia): 1992, director of winemaking, Sonoma Cutrer

Toni Stockhausen (Australia): 1999, Winemaker, Bennett Valley Cellars

Wayne Donaldson (Australia): 2000, vp production, Deutsch Family Wine & Spirits

Sean McKenzie (New Zealand): 2001, senior winemaker, The Dreaming Tree

Susan Doyle (Australia), 2003: chief winemaker, Spring Mountain Vineyard

Matt Parish (New Zealand), 2003: managing dir., Matt Parish Wines, sold through Nakedwines and International consulting winemaker.

Matt Johnson (Australia), 2008: chief winemaker Americas, Treasury Wine Estates

Andrew Bilenkiji (Australia), 2012: winemaker, Ledson Winery

Sam Glaetzer (Australia), 2016: senior vice president wine & spirits production, Constellation Brands

- Gerald D. Boyd

When people think of winemakers from other parts of the world who’ve influenced Sonoma County winemaking, they likely think of France or Italy. They don’t think of Australia or New Zealand. But they should.

In 1989, Daryl Groom, an Australian winemaker in his 20s, was one of the first Antipodeans to move to California to make wine. At the time, Groom was working for Penfolds, one of Australia’s largest and most respected wineries.

“Lisa and I never sought to move from our home in Tanunda in the Barossa Valley,” Groom said. “We had just built our house. I had the best winemaking job in Australia as senior red winemaker at Penfolds, and we loved our community and friends.”

At the time, Henry Trione, then the owner of Geyser Peak Winery, was in a partnership with Penfolds and the Australian wine company wanted their top winemaker to learn about making wine in California.

“I was asked by Penfolds if I wanted to go to California and make wine,” Groom said. “I was 29, my wife and I had a new baby, but Penfolds sweetened the pot by offering me my job back after two years in California. It promised to be a great adventure.”

A few years later, Penfolds sent Mick Schroeter, one of three winemakers who reported to Groom at Penfolds, to California on an overseas wine educational trip.

“I needed someone at Geyser Peak who knew Aussie winemaking techniques and who I didn’t have to train, so while he was here, I offered Mick the job,” Groom said. Today, Mick Schroeter is director of winemaking at Sonoma Cutrer.

For the Groomses, anticipating a new adventure in another country was mixed with concern. “Our only thought, now naïve, was all of the USA was full of crime and violence. On Aussie news at that time you only heard the ugliness of America, and in particular, New York at its worse. We were a little scared,” Groom said.

Groom said he and Lisa found life in Sonoma County easier than they expected. “People were overly friendly and so helpful in the community and at work,” said Groom.

Nick Goldschmidt’s move to California took a different path from the Grooms. The same year that Groom departed Australia for California, New Zealand winemaker Goldschmidt, restless with wanderlust and knowing his wife’s desire to live in California, applied to a number of North Coast wineries and landed a job at one of Sonoma’s iconic wineries.

“My wife, Yolyn, and I didn’t have kids back then, and we had been traveling for a year already, so we were capable of living elsewhere,” Goldschmidt said. “I applied by letter to three wineries in California and ended up working the harvest at Carneros Creek in 1989.”

A year later, Goldschmidt signed on at Simi to work with Zelma Long and Paul Hobbes. He stayed at Simi until 2003.

Before the move, Goldschmidt was on the winemaking team at such noted New Zealand wineries as Kumeu River, Coopers Creek and Babich. The Goldschmidts manage Goldschmidt Vineyards and Forefather wines from their home office in Healdsburg.

Even though there was some trepidation, the Goldschmidts found Sonoma County not much different from New Zealand.

“ ‘What an opportunity,’ we thought. Kiwis from little New Zealand moving to a big scary country like the USA,” he said. “But we found Northern California very similar to New Zealand, except we couldn’t swim in the ocean. The people were great and the place wasn’t as intimidating as we thought.”

The inviting and open attitude in California was refreshing for the Goldschmidts. “People in America celebrate success,” he said. “In New Zealand they have the Tall Poppy theory, where you are not expected to stand out above your peers.”

Goldschmidt said that although the pace of life is slower in New Zealand, Kiwis are open and opinionated.

“Americans are very sensitive, compared to the frank and opinionated attitudes of most Kiwis,” he said.

He admits the commonly shared language wasn’t a problem as much as different accents: “One of the first things I picked up on was the difference between rubbish and trash and we say mate to everybody.”

On his outlook on winemaking in California, Goldschmidt was direct.

“There is a lack of a specific wine culture in the U.S. wine industry,” he said. “Americans are trying to make wine for everyone with little consideration for such things as terroir.”

Still Goldschmidt is impressed with the growing diversity in the market and sees merlot as an underrated wine.

Groom also remembers the unknown in winemaking that lay ahead of him in California.

“That first year in Sonoma County was a challenge,” he said. “It was the harvest from hell, but we turned the wines upside down at Geyser Peak in two years, with fresh varietal sauvignon blanc and barrel-fermented chardonnay. It was a turning point in my career.”

Viewing California winemaking from an Australian perspective, Groom had this to say: “Australia deals with more infertile soils than California. And Australia works more with grapes on their own roots, rather than the grafted vines in California. That often means higher yields and dropping fruit which you don’t see in Australia.

“And then there was a language barrier,” he added with a laugh. “It’s the nature of people, I reckon, but Californians are more complex, descriptive than Aussies.”

He soon realized that the biggest confusion was different words for the same thing.

“I asked a lady if I could help her by nursing her baby. Nursing in Australia is simply holding a child,” he said. “My wife asked at the supermarket where the pot plants were. We learned she should have asked about potted plants.”

Looking to the future of wine in Sonoma County, both men like what they see in the growth for rosé wines. “Rosé is an important slot to fill in the expanding market,” Goldschmidt said.

Groom is seeing more lower-alcohol wines, with increased fruit expression, especially in Sonoma County.

Planning for the future in winemaking hit a snag recently with the wildfires in the county. Neither Groom nor Goldschmidt suffered personal or work-related fire damage. However, Groom said that because of a power outage for nine days, cabernet sauvignon he already had in the tank started to ferment, and he will have to downgrade the wine and not use it for his Groom label.

After decades in California winemaking, both men are going off in different directions.

Besides running his own brand, Goldschmidt Vineyards, Goldschmidt consults in Chile, Argentina, Australia and New Zealand while devoting 25 percent of his time to Alpine Engineering, a company developing inventions related to wine, along with his wife.

Groom, on the other hand, has stopped traveling, deciding instead to freely mentor young winemakers. Part of his time, though, is spent with Colby Red Wines, a project he runs with his son, Colby, and wife Lisa that raises money for heart disease research.

“Of course, I still make Groom Wines in Australia,” he said.

Now, 30 years after moving to California, the question is: are Goldschmidt and Groom staying put or returning to their native countries?

Goldschmidt didn’t hesitate, saying that he and Yolyn are here permanently. Their five children are grown: a daughter lives and works in Australia, a son is a winemaker in Napa Valley, their twins are in college and the youngest daughter is a sophomore in high school.

The Grooms have also decided to stay in Sonoma County. Groom said their four children are Americanized. Of the three daughters, one lives and works in Los Angeles, one is in pediatric residency in Arizona and one is in the wine industry. Groom’s son is studying political science and traveling the country as a guest speaker on his journey with heart disease.

While the migration of winemakers from Australia and New Zealand has slowed in recent years, the lure of a new adventure and the opportunity to learn something new remains an attraction.

Groom and Goldschmidt are but two winemakers who made their way to California. A list of others now living and working in California is included in box at left.

Source:  Gerald D. Boyd is a Santa Rosa-based wine and spirits writer. Reach him at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..  || December 1, 2017   |||

Nov 30, 2017  -  Would you like to listen to what amount to verbal tweets while you are driving: short 42 second messages from friends, musicians, news reporters, thought leaders, comedians and others?  Well, technology from ASX-listed Israeli company HearMeOut will interest you. The company has developed a platform and smartphone apps to do just that, and has now made its service accessible while driving.

HearMeOut says its platform “enables users to share and listen to 42‐second audio posts through the platform’s native feeder on other social networks, such as Twitter or Facebook,” and that through its app, “people can express their authentic voice and put their unique signature on social media interactions.”

The company has now announced it has developed a working prototype of a device, which it calls Hoop, that will enable drivers to have full access to all the features of the HearMeOut platform direct from the steering wheel of their car, without linking to any other platform.

It says Hoop is compatible with any car steering wheel, and will let drivers safely use the HearMeOut platform with both hands on the wheel. It is being developed in conjunction with DSP Group, a global provider of wireless chipsets for converged communications.

HearMeOut describes Hoop as a natural extension of its existing connected car strategy. It has a distribution agreement with Ford for the implementation of its technology with Ford’s Applink Sync platform in the US, UK and Ireland.

The company has joined Spotify and Waze in a program overseen by the SmartDeviceLink consortium that includes a number of car manufacturers and brands including Toyota, Lexus, Lincoln, Mazda, Subaru, Suzuki, Peugeot, Citroen and Daihatsu.

SmartDeviceLink is a system to standardise the connection between in-vehicle infotainment systems and smartphone applications

While having short messages being whispered into their ear while they drive might not excite many drivers. HearMeOut CTO and co- founder, Lior Menashe, claims the development of Hoop to be “globally significant,” because “for the first time ever a user can seamlessly engage with the HearMeOut platform regardless of the technology in the car.”

Hoop’s development, he says, “positions HearMeOut as a global leader in the ‘connected car’ space.”

HearMeOut has a market valuation of $11.8 million and in Q3 2017 was rated sixth in the social platform category on Apple’s US App Store, below Facebook and WhatsApp.

The company claims its popularity is being driven by the increasing use of voice for interaction with online systems. It cites figures estimating that 20 percent of mobile queries are now voice searches, and says this number is expected to reach 40 percent by 2018. Also, the company says 40 percent of millennials use voice activated intelligent assistants.

On some estimates, quoted by Microsoft at a presentation in Sydney, within a few years people will spend more time talking to machines than talking to their spouse.

Against this background HearMeOut says it has a vision to become the leading social network. The means to achieve this, it says, will be to establish sustainable growth by expanding its assets in three main areas: automotive, entertainment and technology.

In the field of entertainment the company plans to work with media companies, broadcasters and celebrities to gain content and reach. It also plans to recruit influencers from various categories.

On the technology front the company says its application programming interface (API) is in constant development to fit various wearable devices and voice assistance hardware.

It has also foreshadowed Hoop 2 “an upgraded device that features an entire closed ecosystem based on HearMeOut’s services and platform.”

The company is also doing OEM development for car companies to enables one-to-one, one-to-group and one-to-many communication via third parties and social networks.

| An IOTHub release   ||  November 30, 2017   |||

Nov 30, 2017  -  Fuel is flowing to and from Port Taranaki’s refurbished storage and distribution terminal near New Plymouth.   Lessee BP New Zealand has started operation at the former Chevron tank farm on Centennial Drive, with the first diesel passing through the terminal earlier this month. Petrol is expected to be on-stream early in 2018.

Port Taranaki bought the facility in 2015 and entered into an operational agreement with BP New Zealand to enable larger parcels of petrol and diesel to be shipped in, stored and distributed throughout the region, reducing costs and the number of road tankers coming into Taranaki to deliver fuel.

More than 100 million litres of fuel is expected to pass through the terminal annually.

“The facility needed extensive refurbishment ahead of lessee BP taking responsibility for its operation,” Port Taranaki chief executive Guy Roper said.

“This work began in August last year and has included a new truck-loading gantry, a new control system, new tank-gauging systems and the replacement of pumps and valves.”

Port Taranaki has also brought the associated pipeline to the Newton King Tanker Terminal and a loading arm on the terminal back into use to support the project.

Mr Roper said the work had gone well and he was delighted the facility was now operational.

“We saw the purchase and refurbishment of the site as an opportunity to secure an important piece of infrastructure for the region and develop long-term commercial opportunities for our business. It will have the twin benefits of fuelling Taranaki’s businesses, farms and communities, and reducing the number of fuel trucks on our roads, with large amounts of fuel coming into the region by ship rather than by road tanker,” he said.

“A facility of this nature demands high operating standards and the health and safety of staff and contractors is a priority. With new Major Hazard Facility regulations in place following the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, the work required a lot of collaboration from the many parties involved.

“Throughout the process we’ve had a great relationship with BP New Zealand and thank them for their support and knowledge as we have worked to make the terminal operational,” Mr Roper said.

BP general manager marketing supply, Courtney Ireland, echoed Mr Roper’s statements.

“Safety is a No 1 priority for BP, so it was very important to us that the terminal was converted in adherence with the new Major Hazard Facility regulations.

“Terminals are an extremely important part of BP’s strategy, and enable us to effectively support the needs of our customers across the country. BP is pleased and proud to be in a partnership with Port Taranaki that allows us to support ongoing growth in the Taranaki region,” Mr Ireland said.

| A portTaranki release  ||  November 28,  2017   |||