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New Zealand

This Month

Buildings damaged after magnitude 7.4 earthquake strikes near Port Vila, Vanuatu.

Cruises diverted as aid is rushed to quake-struck Vanuatu

At least 14 people were killed and hundreds injured in two earthquakes in the South Pacific nation, and Australian rescue crews and medical teams are being urgently deployed.

  • Updated
  • James Hall and Tom McIlroy
Backpackers and New Zealanders are keeping net migration figures high.

Influx of Kiwis, backpackers adds to migration woes

Large numbers of New Zealanders escaping a sluggish economy and backpackers arriving en masse are keeping numbers far higher than government forecasts.

  • Julie Hare
Myer executive chairwoman Olivia Wirth speaking to shareholders at the company’s annual meeting on Tuesday.

Myer says Black Friday sales were ‘encouraging’ despite tough trading

The retailer’s executive chairwoman Olivia Wirth used her first annual meeting in the job to sell plans for a merger with Premier Investments’ fashion brands.

  • Carrie LaFrenz
Amanda Bardwell is the chief executive of Woolworths. The company faces regulatory action in Australia and New Zealand.

Woolworths NZ faces criminal charges for allegedly misleading shoppers

The Commerce Commission was not satisfied that “specials really are special”, leading to legal action against the supermarket and its rival Pak’nSave.

  • Carrie LaFrenz
David Jones said its new app is helping to convert more online sales.

Retailers exhale as Black Friday stokes demand

From sneakers to Frank Green water bottles, shoppers opened their wallets for early Christmas deals.

  • Carrie LaFrenz
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Ben Weiss says he has had to trade peace of mind about his family’s safety to keep doing deals in wartime.

‘Dad has never done a deal like this’: Ben Weiss’ wartime buyout

The son of famed corporate raider Gary Weiss has just pulled off a deal to take an AI company private in Tel Aviv. It nearly didn’t happen.

  • Paul Smith

November

About 94 per cent of businesses continue to accept cash in Australia.

Cash to stay king for essential products

The federal government will also call time on the use of cheques in the Australian economy, limiting their use from 2028.

  • Tom McIlroy
Coles CEO Leah Weckert with chairman James Graham at the AGM on Tuesday.

Coles chairman says cost of living has been ‘politicised’

James Graham told the comapny’s AGM that supermarkets are being targeted unfairly by politicians.

  • Updated
  • Carrie LaFrenz
Phil Thomson, co-founder and CEO of Auror a retail crime platform that watches over retailers like Woolworths and Bunnings.

Woolworths, Westpac funds back controversial $500m anti-crime start-up

Auror’s use of AI technology to help retailers track criminals led to an Information Commissioner investigation, but investors aren’t worried.

  • Paul Smith
The ACCC delayed its decision on Sigma Healthcare’s $8.8 billion merger with Chemist Warehouse several times.

‘Critical milestone’: Chemist Warehouse, Sigma merger clears ACCC hurdle

After several delays, the regulator found the tie-up will not substantially hurt competition, paving the way for the creation of a $28.9 billion sharemarket giant.

  • Updated
  • Carrie LaFrenz
Trump’s success was driven more by economic anxiety than red-hatted MAGA diehards.

Don’t worry: America and Australia will survive this election

Harris was hindered and Trump boosted by the economic issues that have plagued incumbent governments around the world.

  • Michael Green
Anna Torv as Emily Lawson and Philippa Northeast as her daughter, Susie, in Territory.

The Aussie drama taking Netflix by storm

For four days in late October, Territory, which follows the Lawson family and its tenuous hold on Marianne cattle station, topped global Netflix viewing.

  • Sam Buckingham-Jones
Crimson Education co-founders Fangzhou Jiang and Jamie Beaton have built a billion dollar business straight out of school.

NZ firm turns $1b unicorn helping kids get into elite unis

The 11-year-old Crimson Education has cracked the billion-dollar valuation after a small fundraising round led by New Zealand venture capitalists.

  • Paul Smith
Judo Bank’s Warren Hogan is tipping the first RBA rate cut in November 2025.

Economist Warren Hogan abandons RBA rate rise call

Warren Hogan at Judo was the only economist tipping a rate rise. He is now calling for a rate cut, but not until November 2025.

  • Cecile Lefort

October

The All Blacks perform their traditional pre-match haka before a test against the Wallabies last year.

The haka is overused and we shouldn’t just stand for it

It is preposterous that opponents are supposed to be mute and reverential while 15 man mountains threaten to tear them to tiny pieces, writes Oliver Brown.

  • Oliver Brown
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Kyle Faulconer

What this CEO learnt from losing $30m

Kyle Faulconer, the CEO of PepsiCo in ANZ, discovered the value of rapid prototyping and minimum viable products after a failed launch cost his client $30m.

  • Euan Black, Sally Patten and Lap Phan
A conscious decision by Michele Bullock and Andrew Hauser to balance inflation and unemployment.

Why interest rates will not fall soon – or by much when they do

Rising demand for investment capital to fund things like the green revolution will keep the price of money higher than it was.

  • Richard Holden
Mineral Resources chief executive Chris Ellison.

How Chris Ellison’s secrets came to light

Allegations of serial tax evasion have raised questions about how the miner Mineral Resources is being run.

  • Neil Chenoweth
Lime Cordiale perform at Parliament House at an evening paid for by Google to promote its investment in Australia.

Rock stars and Wiggles: Google takes on big tech rules

The search giant is bankrolling parties and events that are an unsubtle reminder to the government of its huge power.

  • Paul Smith and Sam Buckingham-Jones
The ASX involves a different set of rules. from those founders might be used to.

A rare insight into the role of founders in listed companies

There can be a tension between the maverick individualist approach needed to create new businesses from scratch, and the obligations of a public company.

  • The AFR View

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/topic/new-zealand-djw