The SME Stream

As business owners, you know how hard it is keeping up with your business, let alone the news. Join Wilhelmina O'Keeffe each week as she gives you a rundown of the biggest stories that could impact your business, so you can make informed decisions with expert advice. 

This week, we put pen to paper on the long-awaited India Free Trade Agreement, additional diesel stocks make their way to our shores as oil prices soar and a rise in job numbers … but will it last?

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Labour Leader Chris Hipkins is standing by the decision to wait until after the Budget to announce the party's election policies.  

The party has come under fire from the Coalition for its lack of policies so far.  

Labour's has revealed plans for a Capital Gains Tax, a Future Fund, and a plan to boost the video game sector rebate from 20% to 25%.  

It's promised three free doctors visits a year, a change to GP funding, as well as a Family Doctor Loan Scheme.  

Hipkins told Kerre Woodham he doesn't want to make promises that can't be kept, and waiting till the Government sets out the finances is the responsible thing to do. 

He’s also signalled he’s open to discussions around potentially means-testing Superannuation.  

The party is calling for the Super age to remain at 65, but at the same time, government briefings suggest keeping it the same would result in more spending.  

Hipkins told Woodham he doesn't back full means-testing, but there are questions about whether someone working full-time on a six-figure salary should get the pension. 

He says a conversation would have to be held in a constructive, bipartisan way. 

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G.J Gardner Managing Director Olly Sundstrum joins the show

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Schneider Electric chief executive Ollie Hill discusses what's holding some businesses back in investing in cleaner energy

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Garth Bray joins the show with the latest in business news

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The world's leading tech giants - Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet and Meta - all recently reported their latest earnings.

All of these companies surpassed investor expectations, but one clearly came out on top.

Fisher Funds expert Sam Dickie explained further.

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In episode 61 of the Leaders Getting Coffee podcast, our guest is Former Blackcap and Broadcaster Mark Richardson.

There are many elements to the Mark Richarson story. The cricketer who bloomed late. The accidental broadcaster who seemed a natural behind the microphone. And now the Investment Advisor, charting a new path in yet another career.

Even as a boy, Mark Richardson dreamed of playing for the Black Caps. His early years saw him on the pitch as a bowler and over time he transformed himself into a batsman, and then again into an opening batsman. The dream didn’t come true until he was 29, but the story of how he got there is a testament to his determination and resilience.

He was honest enough to hang up the cricket bat when he was mentally burned out, despite the fact that he probably could have gone on. But he didn’t sit idle for long.

The opportunity to broadcast the game he loved opened a door to a twenty year broadcasting career that included “The Crowd Goes Wild”, “The Block NZ”, “The Project” and “The AM Show”. He continued to commentate the cricket, not because of the money, but because of his love for the game.

But the changes in the media industry meant the going was too tough and first Mediaworks and then Today FM closed down, leaving Richardson wondering what might come next.

But he’s nothing if not adaptable, and another casual conversation turned opportunity arose, one which sees him today operating as an Investment Advisor with well known financial services group Forsyth Barr, a topic deserving of some air time given the current challenges in the markets.

On the Leaders Getting Coffee Podcast, Mark Richardson speaks with Bruce Cotterill about his passion for cricket, the teammates he loved playing with, the disappointment of being out for 99 and the relief of that first century scoring 115 just a few weeks later. And he’s refreshingly open about the highs and lows of that broadcasting career. 

Behind the blokey persona is a man who takes every step as he did his batting, with careful preparation and just enough nervousness to keep him trying his very hardest to be his very best. It’s a seriousness of intent that he now channels to the task of guiding clients on their investment journey.

Leaders Getting Coffee - Episode 61 with Bruce Cotterill and Mark Richardson, former Blackcap, Broadcaster and Investment Advisor.

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New Zealand is quietly dismantling the productive base that built its prosperity – and we’re doing it without anything resembling a plan.

Over the past decade, the country has shed around 20,000 manufacturing jobs while the sector’s share of GDP has steadily eroded. Factories producing everything from pulp and paper to frozen foods and wood products have scaled back or shut down entirely, including household names such as Wattie’s and McCain. 

For regional centres like Westport and Kaitāia, each closure is an economic shock that ripples through the whole community. The blow would be blunted somewhat if we had a plan B to revive manufacturing and offer employment prospects in the regions. But we don’t.

Some economists and industry leaders now openly talk about the “deindustrialisation” of New Zealand. Manufacturing is responsible for roughly 60% of our exports and employs close to one in ten workers, yet it has slipped down the priority list in Wellington. 

Other countries – Australia, Singapore, the UK and the US among them – have modern industrial strategies and long-term Industry 4.0 programmes. New Zealand, by contrast, shelved its industry transformation plans and has yet to articulate what kind of manufacturing base it wants to have in 10 or 20 years.

Energy costs sit at the heart of the problem. For many manufacturers, electricity and gas now rank among their top 2 - 3 operating costs. The rapid push to electrify process heat, combined with volatile spot prices and an uncertain gas transition, has left some plants badly exposed. At the same time, manufacturers face chronic skills shortages, conservative lenders demanding personal guarantees for capital upgrades, and resource consent processes that add cost and delay to even straightforward investments.

In the latest episode of The Business of Tech podcast, I’m joined by Christchurch-based manufacturing expert Sean Doherty to delve into what’s gone wrong – and what can still be salvaged. 

Beyond plug-in AI fixes

After a 30‑year career that includes a long stint at Rockwell Automation and leading the advanced manufacturing programme at Callaghan Innovation, Doherty has had a front‑row seat to thousands of technology and productivity projects. He’s blunt about the structural issues and the policy vacuum, but he also insists manufacturers are not powerless.

Rather than chasing silver bullets or “plug‑in AI” fixes, Doherty argues for a disciplined focus on small, practical productivity and efficiency initiatives: getting real‑time data off the factory floor, tightening basic management practices, and investing in people alongside machines. 

In a tough, high-cost environment, those incremental gains can spell the difference between slow decline and a credible growth story you can take to the bank – and, collectively, between a country that drifts into deindustrialisation and one that chooses to rebuild its industrial backbone.

Listen to the entire episode of The Business of Tech, streaming on iHeartRadio, Spotify, Apple, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Show notes

Factories in retreat: inside NZ’s deindustrialisation crisis - The Post

Sean Doherty on LinkedIn

Aotearoa’s Industry 4.0 Journey - Callaghan Innovation report

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Legendary finance journalist and author Mary Holm applies her decades of experience to the latest market movements. In the wake of oil shocks and geopolitical conflict, we ask how recent events compare to COVID panic and the generational 1987 crash.

Mary draws on her first-hand knowledge to explain why long-term investing still beats trying to time the market — and why chasing last year's top-performing fund is usually a mistake. We cover the role of bonds, gold, and crypto in diversifying your portfolio, what inflation does to cash returns, and the enduring case for index funds.

Plus, what Mary calls “the most dangerous words in investing”.

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Labour leader Chris Hipkins says Christopher Luxon is running away from scrutiny after he cancelled his regular weekly interview on TVNZ's Breakfast programme.

"The reality is that's part of the job. You're going to be subjected to scrutiny, you're going to be asked tough questions."

Speaking on Canterbury Mornings, Hipkins was asked by John MacDonald whether he held the same view when former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern cancelled her weekly interviews with Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking in 2021.

"I thought she should have continued to do it, but ultimately that was her choice. I made a different choice, and that was to keep doing those interviews."

When Hipkins became Prime Minister in 2023, he reinstated the weekly prime ministerial interview on the Mike Hosking Breakfast.

They also discussed Labour’s support for the India free trade agreement, his views on drinking culture in parliament, and his reaction to a parent being taken to court by the government over their child’s chronic absence from school.

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