Auckland Mayor Phil Goff’s bed tax sounds all too good to be true – sadly it is.

Mr Goff says it’s visitors who will pay the levy, not accommodation providers.

Read more ($): https://www.nbr.co.nz/opinion/hidesight-lessons-dog-tax-rebellion

No wonder former prime minister John Key quit, albeit the Key era in New Zealand politics has yet to end with the current parliamentary term.

He must have foreseen that in the final year of his administration National would sup deeply from the poisoned chalice of his toxic political bargain with the Maori Party.

Read more ($): https://www.nbr.co.nz/opinion/money-national-caves-iwi-power-share

New Zealand needs to grasp the full magnitude of what Nicky Hager and Jon Stephenson are alleging.

According to Messrs Hager and Stephenson, New Zealand SAS soldiers and other military personnel approached them two years ago and confessed they or their comrades had committed war crimes in Afghanistan back in 2010.

Read more ($): https://www.nbr.co.nz/opinion/do-hager%E2%80%99s-sas-sources-actually-exist

BMW intends to launch more than 40 new and revised models from its three premium brands in just the next two years, Harald Krüger, chairman of the board of management of BMW AG, announced at the manufacturer’s annual report press conference last week.

Read more ($): https://www.nbr.co.nz/opinion/motoring-bmw-ag-announces-future-model-onslaught

It has been an article of faith, certainly during the run-up to the 2014 general election – and, in some quarters, beyond – that there were a "missing million" voters that New Zealand's left-wing parties could access.

Read more ($): https://www.nbr.co.nz/opinion/order-paper-missing-million-missing-billions-labour-green-fiscal-framework

The markets have already priced in the Brexit trigger this week but more downside risk is ahead, says an ASB currency trader. The kiwi dollar was just over 56.51 pence as of midday, up from 56.44 pence yesterday but ASB head of institutional forex sales Tim Kelleher says predicted risks could effect the markets as the actual parting of Britain from the US occurs.

Read more ($): https://www.nbr.co.nz/article/kiwi-stable-despite-brexit-trigger-jw-p-201342

Tower chairman Michael Stiassny says a successful takeover bidder will need to pay at least $1.40 a share. The insurer is the target of competing bids from Canada’s Fairfax Financial and Australia-based Suncorp, with the latter’s conditional proposal of $1.30 clouded by its purchase of stock on market for $1.40.

Read more ($): https://www.nbr.co.nz/article/tower-bidder-must-pay-least-140-share-chairman-says-th-p-201349

Hallenstein Glasson Holdings faces a challenge to keep its recent momentum going, an analyst says. The clothing retailer posted a 35% profit increase in the six months to February to $9.2 million while sales gained 9.4% to $122.9 million. Selling, distribution and administration expenses rose 7.6% to $59 million.

Read more ($): https://www.nbr.co.nz/article/can-hallenstein-glasson-keep-ball-rolling-cs-p-201354

USTR nominee Robert Lighthizer still needs a waiver before he can be confirmed. Hoping to get the confirmation process moving, finance committee chairman Orrin Hatch could organise a committee-level vote before scheduling a vote on the waiver. Senator John Thune says the vote could "possibly" come without Mr Lighthizer having secured a waiver which some Democrats have requested be tied to a coal miners' benefits bill.

Read more ($): https://www.nbr.co.nz/article/trumps-beltway-tax-returns-whats-next-obamacare-and-ustr-vote-ns-p-201347

The so-called “godfather of advertising effectiveness” visited New Zealand last week to save advertisers from themselves. The mission of Englishman Peter Field (in the country as a guest of CAANZ and TVNZ) was to spread the word about what he sees as businesses’ harmful obsession with short-term marketing – especially via digital channels.

Read more ($): https://www.nbr.co.nz/article/video-broad-reach-long-term-brand-building-success-ng-p-201346