Sign up to get the latest stories and insights delivered to your inbox – free, every day.
South Island electricity lines companies Aurora Energy and Alpine Energy have backed off a proposal to combine their operations.
The companies announced a heads of agreement in December, saying a joint steering group had been established to work on an integration plan. A statement said: “Rather than investing separately in the same new skills, systems, capability and capacity, they are choosing to work together to combine their operations to deliver better outcomes for customers.”
In a statement on Friday they said after assessment work, “both organisations concluded that the model does not deliver sufficiently compelling long-term consumer benefits to justify the cost, complexity, and risk involved”.
Aurora, owned by Dunedin City Council, operates electricity distribution in Dunedin and Central Otago. Alpine – owned by Timaru, Waimate and Mackenzie District Councils, as well as LineTrust South Canterbury – runs the network in South Canterbury between the Rangitata and Waitaki Rivers.
The Government is strengthening plant variety rights (PVR), the plant-world equivalent of a patent. Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Cameron Brewer said 75% of the $3.5 billion of export returns from kiwifruit and about 55% of the $979 million returns from apples came from varieties protected by plant variety rights. “Zespri’s projections show that extending the PVR term by five years for SunGold kiwifruit alone would mean additional revenue of $1.8b over five years from the time of the extension to the kiwifruit industry and Biosciences Science Institute,” Brewer said. Under the Plant Variety Rights Act 2022 plant breeders and importers have exclusive rights over new plant varieties for up to 20 or 25 years. But a change to the law will increase that by five years. Agriculture Minister Todd McClay said by providing greater certainty and support, the Government was helping plant breeders to keep innovating.
The Government will amend 19 pieces of legislation to ensure references to the Treaty of Waitangi are clear and consistent.
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith said legislation made all sorts of references to the Treaty. “Sometimes it’s ‘honour’, or ‘have regard to’, or ‘give effect to’, or ‘take account of’.
“We need to create some consistency here, in the interests of increasing certainty and supporting compliance,” he said.
Goldsmith said the changes were being made as part of National’s coalition agreement with New Zealand First to review all legislation that included “the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi” and replace the references with specific wording or repeal them.
Of the 19 pieces of legislation, the Government has agreed to amend two to be more specific; repeal seven references; and specify that no higher standard than ‘take into account’ should be used in the other 10.
The Government is consulting iwi, and the changes will go through a full select committee process.
Warehouse Group sales for the 13 weeks to May 3 reduced 1.4% to $700.8 million.
The Warehouse and Warehouse Stationery both recorded a decline in sales during the third quarter, while Noel Leeming sales rose 0.7%.
Warehouse Group chief executive Mark Stirton said rising fuel prices led to customers becoming more conscious of travel. While they made fewer shopping trips, they purchased more when they visited.
Group foot traffic declined 1.8% during the quarter.
The retailer reported higher costs, particularly across international and domestic freight, however, a spokesperson for the company declined to provide further detail.
Stirton said: “We’re doing everything we can to balance providing everyday value for customers while managing the impact of higher costs on our business. In this environment, our priority is to stay focused on what we can control.”
Fletcher Building has announced the sale and leaseback of another Australian property, this time Iplex Australia’s industrial site in Elizabeth, South Australia.
The property is being sold for A$20.05 million ($24m) to a property investor, with a 12-month leaseback “to facilitate the removal of its operations”.
Fletcher said the money would be paid in two tranches, the first in June and the second by September, with the deal generating a gain on sale of about A$10m.
The sale follows Fletcher’s announcement on May 8 it had sold Laminex’s property in Melbourne for A$53.8m.
Fletcher also said on Thursday it had sold its remaining 50% stake in its Fiji construction business to joint ventures partners Fijian Holdings and Fiji National Provident Fund. The price was non-material, it said.
