Best of Business

Air New Zealand says it hopes to avoid a three-day strike by international cabin crew in February. E tū Union and the Flight Attendants Association have issued strike notices for wide-body crews on 787 and 777 Boeing flights. The airline's Chief People Officer, Nikki Dines, says they've covered a lot of ground in 10 months of weekly meetings with the unions. "There's a lot of things that we've agreed on, the last remaining item is just on pay. That's the one item that we are continuing to work with our cabin crew unions on." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Reserve Bank spent most of 2025 lowering the OCR, leaving experts to speculate how these changes impacted the economy. Since then, economic and business confidence has gone up for the start of 2026, but inflation data for the December quarter has raised some concerns Milford Asset Management expert Brendan Larsen explained further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

2026 has been a rough year for New Zealand's construction sector, with multiple businesses going bust in January alone. Reports show there were 22 applications to put building or property related companies into liquidation over the 7 days from January 20 to January 27. NZ Certified Builders CEO Malcolm Fleming says this reflects the tough conditions that have impacted the market over the last two years. "Any liquidation is a bad news story, it's devastating for the builder, the homeowner, the sub-trades and supplier." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Official Cash Rate is expected to rise this year, although forecasters say predicting when is tricky. Inflation was stronger in the December quarter than expected, at 3.1 percent. Infometrics Principal Economist Brad Olsen is picking a hike in November - with an outside possibility of one in May.  He says other signs in the market signal a possible increase.  "Actual bank rates for longer-term mortgages have already started to increase a touch this year." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A possible sign of the economic recovery with Michael Hill's New Zealand operation reporting its first positive result in more than two years.  In the six months to December the jeweller made $62 million worth of sales, increasing by 2.4%.  First Retail Group Managing Director Chris Wilkinson says jewellery's a good sign of discretionary spending and consumer confidence.  He told Mike Hosking there are also positive economic signs elsewhere.  Wilkinson says there's a lot of benefits in areas where these large projects are taking place and provinces are doing well, with agriculture also strong.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Despite Labour raising some concerns with the Government's trade deal with India, the move has been welcomed by rural economists. Trade analyst Stephen Jacobi says the Government timed the deal perfectly - and might have had to wait years if they prolonged the negotiations. The Country's Jamie Mackay explained further.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

NZ Post is being criticised for its radio silence, after announcing it's withdrawing services from inside 142 stores.  Despite the changes, 90 percent of customers will still be within four kilometres of an NZ Post store.  Postal Workers' Union organiser John Maynard says NZ Post hasn't talked about the hubs being set up to provide good services.  He says it shouldn't be on the unions to promote the positives.  "It's one thing for the company to adjust to changing mail volumes and people's communication methods, but it's quite another to consistently act in a manner which undermines people's confidence in the postal service." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's been growing debate over how Auckland's CBD can be revitalised after years of uncertainty and economic decline. The $5.5 billion City Rail Link is due to be built at the second half of the year and it's promised to bring in economic benefits, but it's unclear if it'll get the city in motion.  Kiwi entrepreneur Andrew Barnes says a lot of shops and businesses have been closed, and it's not as attractive to prospective visitors.  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

US President Donald Trump has been upping the pressure on the Federal Reserve to cut rates. The US Federal Reserve is set to convene next week, and it's looking likely that they'll keep rates on hold at this stage. Harbour Asset Management expert Shane Solly unpacked the speculation further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Finance Minister Nicola Willis is hoping inflation can drop back into the Reserve Bank's target band off the back of the latest data. The annual inflation rate for 2025 was 3.1 percent, up from 3 percent for the year to September. Willis says the Government supports the Reserve Bank getting back to their target band of 1 to 3 percent. "It's inflation that's the broadest driver of the cost of living. At the same time, interest rate reductions have been really important to recovering our economy after a very difficult period, but it's always the case that as the economy recovers, you do expect that eventually interest rates do go up." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

More and more job hunters are using AI to craft their CVs, but experts are looking to warn them away from the concept. Recent research shows half of Kiwi jobseekers are using AI tools to try and find work, but the trend is proving inconvenient for recruiters - and could be damaging their chances. GoGetta CEO Colleen Getley says everyone is utilising ChatGPT and similar platforms to create their CVs, resulting in too many job applications looking the same.  "You're minimising your chances of actually getting the role, because you don't look any different from anybody else. That's one point." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Inflation's officially higher than it's supposed to be.  Latest Stats NZ data shows inflation's reached 3.1% – up from 3% at the last update three months ago.  That's above the Reserve Bank's target range of 1 to 3%.  The Herald's Liam Dann told John MacDonald it's also well above the Reserve Bank's forecast of 2.7%.  He says there were hopes inflation was starting to fall again, so to see a rise like this isn't good at face value.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The new year is getting under way, but concerns have been raised over what investors should focus on for 2026. There's risks impacting the tech sector and experts are hoping things will improve going forward. Sam Dickie from Fisher Funds explained further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The latest operating reports by New Zealand's leading power companies indicate things are looking up. Both Contact Energy and Genesis Energy have confirmed hydro storage is up, meaning both companies are in a better position than expected  Genesis Energy CEO Malcolm Johns explains what this development could mean for Kiwis ahead of the winter season. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you don't know him, Jamie Dimon is the boss of JP Morgan and quite a smart guy, obviously. I've mentioned him a few times on this show because he's a good thinker - and says some pretty reasonable and practical things about big issues. He's spoken about AI and reckons we need to slow down. If we don't slow down, society, he reckons, could tear itself apart. And he's not talking about in ten years. He's talking about soon. In the US, there are 2 million truck drivers who could soon be out of a job when driverless trucks hit the road. That's 2 million men and women going from a pay packet of up to $150k a year to unemployed. And the skills are not transferable. His answer is to slow it down. Phase the technology in rather than hit society all at once, and then you'll probably have to get some Government payouts to compensate workers. Otherwise you'll get civil unrest and chaos in the streets. In New Zealand we have Ubers and taxis ripe for an AI takeover. The same goes for public transport. Robots will drive probably buses before long, which will certainly stop the violence they face in the driver's seat from nutty passengers - but it leaves them out of work without a meaningful alternative or transferable skills. Driverless Waymo taxis in the US are taking off and the serious crash rate is 90 percent better than humans. Go figure. The problem with phasing things in slowly and pumping the breaks, is that you miss out on the productivity gains. And just because you pump the breaks, it doesn't mean your competitors, and other countries, will do the same. So nobody's going to get in the way of progress. Which leaves us with the social problem that Jamie Dimon was getting at. How do we make sure the world doesn't go to hell in a hand-basket when the robots come for our jobs and livelihoods? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's signs the brain drain could be slowing, according to new reports. A total of 67,800 citizens left the country in the year to November 2025, many for Australia - for a net loss topping 40,000. In the year to the November before, the net migration loss of Kiwis reached almost 44,000. Infometrics chief executive Brad Olsen says most trends have plateaued. "Instead of seeing huge numbers of Kiwis that have continued to move out - yes, they're still high, but they're not continuing to increase."  LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The European Parliament is planning to suspend approval of the US trade deal that was agreed to last July, according to new reports. Donald Trump has been ramping up his efforts to acquire Greenland, including threatening new tariffs over the issue. UK correspondent Gavin Grey says this could see US-based companies barred from EU contracts. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Experts have indicated the Reserve Bank could be done cutting the OCR for the moment, and there's questions about what this could mean for homeowners. The window of time borrowers had to lock in longer term fixed rates after the OCR cut and before they started rising was narrow, and reports indicate they could have missed their chance. NZ Herald Wellington business editor Jenee Tibshraeny explained further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Accounting software business Xero has started 2026 on a low note, with the share price dropping significantly. This is in line with other challenges in the technology sector, which have seen noticeable drops. Milford Asset Management's Jeremy Hutton explained further. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Three of New Zealand's biggest sporting bodies have seen their leaders depart, and it's prompted concerns about what this could mean for the sector. NZ Rugby head Mark Robinson is set to depart the role, Netball NZ CEO Jennie Wyllie resigned at the end of last year and NZ Cricket CEO Scott Weenink recently resigned following a scandal. Former NZ Cricket CEO Martin Snedden says the leadership role's always come with challenges, but social media backlash makes scandals more noticeable. "These are very difficult jobs. Sport is volatile, stakeholders' expectations, sometimes broad expectations, are disproportionate to what the resources are of an organisation - and burnout is a huge issue." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.