The SME Stream

Two Kiwi engineers who helped build the future of self‑driving cars in Silicon Valley are now quietly laying the foundations for the next great tech wave: physical AI.  In the latest episode of The Business of Tech, I talk to Harry Mellsop, co‑founder of simulation startup Antioch, and Adrian Macneil, co‑founder and CEO of data platform Foxglove, for a fast‑paced tour of where robotics is really at as Elon Musk talks up his Optimus humanoid robots. Both founders cut their teeth at the pointy end of autonomy. Harry worked on Tesla’s Autopilot, watching first‑hand how much time and money is burned putting robots into the real world safely. Adrian led key parts of Cruise’s self‑driving infrastructure and developer tooling, helping build the internal platforms that let engineers understand what a robot “saw”, “thought” and did on the streets of San Francisco. Big dollars for physical AI startups  That experience has now crystallised into two companies sitting at the infrastructure layer of physical AI – and investors are paying attention. Foxglove has raised US$40 million US in Series B funding, led by Bessemer Venture Partners with Icehouse Ventures on the cap table, to build the data and observability backbone for robotics teams. Antioch has secured US$4.2 million US dollars in pre‑seed funding, with Icehouse Ventures again involved, to bring Tesla‑grade cloud simulation to any robotics startup that wants to test thousands of edge cases virtually before a robot ever leaves the lab. Integration testing for atoms We explore how these platforms turn messy real‑world sensor feeds into structured insights, shorten development cycles from weeks to hours, and dramatically reduce the risks of unleashing autonomous machines into warehouses, construction sites and farms. Harry explains why “integration testing for atoms” is the missing link in robotics, and how simulation can slash the cost of safety validation. Adrian unpacks the idea of a data flywheel for robots – logging everything, surfacing the rare but dangerous failures, and feeding that back into better models and better code. If you want to know where AI goes next, why humanoids are still relatively clunky despite the viral demo videos, and how New Zealand founders are quietly shaping the infrastructure every serious robotics company will rely on, tune into episode 133 of The Business of Tech, streaming on iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks to our sponsor, 2degrees. Show notes Kiwi Harry Mellsop raises $7.3m for his physical-world AI start-up Antioch - NZ Herald Physical infrastructure AI firm Foxglove, headed by Kiwi Adrian Macneil, raises US$40m - NZ Herald  The Missing Infrastructure Holding Robotics Back with Adrian Macneil - The Machine Minds Show Rise of the robots: the promise of physical AI - AFP Physical AI: robotics are poised to revolutionise business - FT Humanoid robots take over CES in Las Vegas as tech industry touts future of AI - CNBSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New Zealand likes to see itself as an agile, innovative tech nation. But when it comes to artificial intelligence, the story is more sobering than triumphant.  A new survey of 4,000 business leaders from around the world by research group IDC has revealed that just 8% of companies in Australia and New Zealand can be classified as “frontier firms” when it comes to their uptake of AI. That compares to the global average of 22%. Around half of our firms are classed as “laggards” and risk falling behind. Are we shrewdly waiting on the sidelines for AI to really prove its worth. Or are we merely dabbling with the tech, ill-equipped to embed it in our businesses? AI can be more than “fancy Google” In the first episode of season 4 of the The Business of Tech, I sit down with Sarah Carney Microsoft’s national chief technology officer, to explore an uncomfortable question: are Kiwi companies quietly locking in a decade of underperformance by moving too slowly on artificial intelligence? Carney has a front‑row seat to how “frontier firms” around the world are using AI to rewire their businesses, not just write better emails. In this episode, Carney, a ten-year veteran of Microsoft, spells out why that matters for jobs, growth and competitiveness. She also challenges some of the myths holding local leaders back. Is AI really a threat to entry‑level roles, or could it create better ones? Is governance a brake on innovation, or actually the catalyst that lets people take bolder bets? And why is our national cynicism becoming a liability in a world where experimentation is the new survival skill? If you’re a founder, executive, policymaker or just trying to work out what AI really means for your job and your business in 2026, this is an episode you do not want to miss. Streaming on iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks to our sponsor 2degrees.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the latest episode of The Business of Tech, we look at the rise and fall of MethaneSAT, the $30 million national space project that was supposed to cement New Zealand as a serious spacefaring nation.  Instead, it became a case study in governance failure, misaligned incentives and lost opportunity.  Launched in March 2024 and lost in June 2025 after persistent spacecraft glitches, MethaneSAT’s methane-sniffing science payload worked but the rest of the system carrying it in space failed. Working in space is risky, and satellites do fail. But as this week’s guest on The Business of Tech, University of Auckland physics professor Richard Easther points out, New Zealand’s involvement in the international MethaneSAT project raised questions from the start.  “What happened… is that we found this opportunity and then we found reasons to do the opportunity,” he told me.  “If someone had come to us in 2018 and said, here’s $30 million, I want you to develop things that will lead to startups, things that will provide the workforce… we could have come up with a plan and it would have been much, much better than MethaneSAT.” Picking winners: "A terrible job" Easther is careful not to scapegoat individual scientists or engineers. His critique is aimed squarely at how New Zealand chooses its science priorities and partners.  “We do a terrible job of choosing science priorities in New Zealand,” Easther said.  “And the people who pushed MethaneSAT were not scientists and do not have visible track records of testing proposals for excellence and competence.”  From governance issues to the gap between what officials were told privately and what the public heard, Easther argues MethaneSAT exposed deep problems in how we govern high‑risk, high‑cost science. But this isn’t just a post‑mortem of a failed satellite. Easther draws a direct line from MethaneSAT to today’s multi‑million‑dollar bets on AI and quantum, warning that without transparent, contestable processes – of the kind used in US “decadal reviews” – New Zealand risks repeating the same mistakes at even larger scale.  The Government yesterday announced another significant science investment, committing $35 million from the Regional Infrastructure Fund to help start-up OpenStar Technologies develop a new, specialised facility for its new fusion machine. Easther says major science investments shouldn’t come at the cost of long‑term, curiosity‑driven funding, pointing to world‑leading local strengths in high‑temperature superconductors and quantum devices that were quietly underwritten by the Marsden Fund decades ago. Tune in to The Business of Tech to hear Professor Richard Easther on what MethaneSAT got wrong, and what we should learn from it. Streaming on iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks to our sponsor 2degrees. Show notes An eye in the sky to detect methane emissions - RNZ Taxpayer-funded climate satellite MethaneSAT finally reveals what's behind delays - RNZ Taxpayer-funded satellite had 'deep-seated problems' from launch - RNZ MethaneSAT Report: Advancing space capability and climate science - MBIE Government pulls back from full membership of Square Kilometre Array - RNZNew Zealand pulls out of the Square Kilometre Array after benefits questioned - Physics TodaySee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“Never a dull moment” is how Wellington-based veteran consumer tech reviewer and commentator Pat Pilcher describes the year in tech after relentless product launches, an “utterly insane” Black Friday sales season and the “enshitification” of the internet, thanks in large part to AI. In our final episode of The Business of Tech for 2025, Pilcher joins the show to break down the biggest trends of 2025 and what’s coming in 2026, from AI agents and smart rings to humanoid robots and the debut of solid‑state batteries.​ Apple, AI and the year of the fold Pilcher starts with the elephant not in the room: Apple’s slow play on generative AI.  “Every tech player and their pet poodle had an AI offering except Apple,” he said. “This is just crazy. This is a company that sets the trends that everyone slavishly follows, and they missed the bus on the biggest AI trend probably of the decade.”  Yet he thinks there is method in the apparent madness, arguing that “stepping back… until they get a mature offering” may prove “quite sensible” in such a fast‑moving space.​ That patience, he predicts, will collide with hardware in 2026. Pilcher is convinced 2026 is going to be the year of the iPhone fold, following in the wake of foldables leader Samsung.     AI slop, deepfakes and the S-curve of tech adoption AI dominated 2025, working its way along the classic S‑curve of technology adoption. While an enthusiastic user of generative AI tools, Pilcher is blunt about the downsides, from “AI slop” filling Facebook, X and LinkedIn to academics “pulling their hair out” as students outsource learning to chatbot tools.​ With hyper‑realistic video models like Sora3and an election year looming, Pilcher says “the general public needs to be a lot more critical, a lot more sceptical – and they’re not”. Pilcher chooses Cory Doctorow’s famous term “enshittification” to sum up a key, regressive trend of 2025. “You subscribe to a service, it sounds fantastic and it’s only $5 a month. Three months later, it’s $25 a month, does less, requires more of your information and they can’t guarantee your privacy and by the way, your password’s been stolen,” he said. Pilcher sees this as evidence that the business model underpinning AI is dubious, with companies investing “billions and billions of dollars in massive data centres” in a period of “geopolitical instabilities and macroeconomic instabilities”. Silicon became “the new global currency” in 2025, from Nvidia’s dominance to Google’s Tensor processing units (TPUs) and China’s push to go beyond 40nm (nanometers) under US export bans.  Smart glasses, smart rings and genuinely smart homes If 2025 was AI’s year, Pilcher also thinks it was when home and wearable tech quietly levelled up. He rates Meta’s new Ray‑Ban smart glasses, which can describe what you’re looking at and translate signs on command. Future prototypes, he notes, combine wristbands that track “tendon movements” for hand‑gesture interfaces with augmented reality (AR) overlays that could do everything from lie detection in negotiations to live 3D navigation in unfamiliar cities.​ Smart rings are another sleeper hit, with Pilcher praising rings for being “unobtrusive” and “tiny” while monitoring health stats well enough to “tell you proactively when you’re coming down with a cold or a flu a week before you start noticing symptoms”. In his own testing, backed by a blood‑pressure cuff and digital thermometer, a smart ring delivered accurate results. On the home front, Pilcher says the long‑promised smart home is finally here, thanks to the Matter standard, which means new gadgets “will basically work regardless if you have an Alexa, Apple, Siri or… Google Home”.  EVs, robots and the 2026 futures Pilcher also covers the post‑rebate slump in EV sales, the rise of value‑packed Chinese brands like BYD, and the misinformation around EV fire risks, pointing out how a petrol vehicle, not a battery, was to blame in a widely shared bus fire incident.  Putting his futurist hat on, Pilcher talks about smart contact lenses with built‑in displays and gesture‑tracking bracelets that could make smartphones “look as quaint as a Model T Ford”, always‑on access to AR shopping lists and navigation, and the first serious wave of humanoid robots.  With cheaper AI silicon and compact models, he “wouldn’t be surprised if in late 2026… humanoid robots become the next must‑have consumer electronics category for the well‑heeled”.  He also expects to see the debut of solid-state batteries as an alternative to Lithium-ion batteries that power everything from laptops to EVs, expecting new breakthrough technologies to offer longer battery life and durability. Tune in to Episode 131 of The Business of Tech, powered by 2degrees Business, for the full conversation with tech guru Pat Pilcher, streaming on iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Drones have gone from hobbyist toys to decisive tools of war and essential infrastructure for industry. Few people have had a better vantage point on that shift than FenixUAS founder Dr Andrew Shelley.  In the latest episode of The Business of Tech podcast, the economist and aviation specialist explains how a decade of incremental innovation has transformed uncrewed aircraft into platforms that can reshape modern warfare, agritech and even search and rescue.​ From DIY quadcopters to smart weapons New Zealand’s first drone rules arrived ten years ago, when the technology was still rudimentary and often home‑built.  “Pretty much every part of drone technology has improved,” Shelley said.  Better batteries and lighter and stronger materials have almost doubled flight time, while mass‑manufactured airframes have brought the price of drones down. and far more capable sensors and onboard software. Other advances, such as sensor technology and onboard software, have flowed into features many consumers now take for granted, such as obstacle avoidance, rock‑solid position hold and follow‑me modes, as well as increasingly autonomous flight profiles.​ The Ukraine war, now approaching four years in duration, has been characterised by the use of drones by both Ukrainian and Russian forces.  The changing face of warfare Shelley recalled watching footage of a small first‑person‑view drone in Ukraine flying straight past a Russian electronic warfare vehicle “festooned with antennas” and striking the armoured vehicle ahead of it. The drone was trailing a hair-thin fibre-optic cable, allowing it to avoid radio jamming systems. “To a certain extent, what we’re seeing in Ukraine is that the old is new again,” said Shelley, pointing out that the current generation of drones echo some of the cruise‑missile tactics from the early 1990s.​ Shelley traces a clear line from ISIS workshops that assembled drones from AliExpress parts, through Turkey’s TB2 Bayraktar successes and Russia’s use of DJI’s Aeroscope detection tools, to today’s battlefields where consumer‑grade quadcopters handle intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and precision strikes.  The West, he argues, has been complacent: “Turkey was leading the way with its Bayraktar TB2, Iran is clearly leading the way with its Shahed series drones and we are playing catch-up,” he said, pointing out that the US is now reverse‑engineering an Iranian drone rather than setting the pace.​ Artificial intelligence is only beginning to make its mark in commercial uses in New Zealand, but Shelley says the leading edge is already visible in applications like Christchurch‑based SPS Automation’s large agricultural drones. These systems can autonomously identify wilding pines and apply “a small amount of chemical herbicide” to individual plants, an approach he argues could transform conservation economics by reaching areas that are “almost impossible on foot” or too expensive to service with crewed aircraft.​ Agritech, data and the search and rescue gap If the military implications dominate headlines, Shelley sees at least as much untapped potential in agritech and emergency response. He cites spray drones that can drop slug bait on vulnerable crops in muddy conditions where tractors would churn up soil and helicopters are cost‑prohibitive, turning marginal blocks into productive land.  Pasture management is another frontier. Instead of consultants walking paddocks with pasture meters or towing instruments behind quad bikes, he expects drones to fly automated grids soon to map grass cover and optimise feed wedges across entire farms, backed by “clever software” to interpret the imagery.​ Search and rescue, he argues, is “one of the things we haven’t done well with”, despite New Zealand’s vast coastline, mountains and national parks. Shelley believes agencies need to change their mindset and accept that in bad weather or hazardous terrain, “we have to move into a mindset where we’re happy to lose the technology,” risking a $100,000 drone instead of a multi‑million‑dollar helicopter and its crew to find people in distress.​ Building a drone industry – and workforce FenixUAS sits at the centre of the fledgling drone ecosystem, training over a thousand civilian and government operators a year, including the New Zealand Defence Force, and certifying many of the country’s advanced drone operators. That gives Shelley what he calls a broader overview of what everyone’s doing with drones than perhaps anyone else in the country, from agritech to infrastructure inspection.  While firms like Tauranga-based Syos, and SPS Automation point to a growing UAV scene, he says the real bottleneck is software talent, with drone companies crying out for mechatronics and software engineers who can turn raw imagery into usable insights.​ Listen to Episode 130 of The Business of Tech podcast featuring Dr Andrew Shelley, streaming on iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts. Your weekly tech reading list The year the tech billionaires won (again) - BusinessDesk Canaries in the code mine: what AI is doing to first jobs for Generation Z - BusinessDesk ChatGPT’s New Internet Browser Can Run 80% of a One-Person Business - Entrepreneur The Data on Self-Driving Cars Is Clear. We Have to Change Course - New York Times AI-Powered Browsers Are Failing Badly - Futurism China set to limit access to Nvidia’s H200 chips despite Trump export approval - FT Australia's ban on social media for users aged under 16 comes into effect; platforms that do not comply risk fines of up to AU$49.5M - The Guardian OpenAI Staffer Quits, Alleging Company’s Economic Research Is Drifting Into AI Advocacy - Wired SpaceX to Pursue 2026 IPO Raising Far Above $30 Billion - Bloomberg From Llamas to Avocados: Meta’s shifting AI strategy is causing internal confusion - CNBC  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the creaky world of financial advising, where compliance paperwork devours hours and clunky software feels like a relic from the dial-up era, a New Zealand startup is deploying AI to free advisers from the drudgery.  Marloo, co-founded by Hardy Michel, who cut his teeth as head of operations at Wellington-based share trading platform Sharesies, isn't building robo-advisers to supplant humans. Instead, he is using artificial intelligence to free up advisors so they can focus on the trust-building conversations that truly matter to their clients. In the latest episode of The Business of Tech podcast, Michel shares how his London-based venture is already winning paying customers across four countries, proving New Zealand fintech can scale globally from day one. Relocating to London in 2022, Michel joined Estonian-founded investing platform Lightyear, helping it launch across 22 European countries amid regulatory mazes far more complex than New Zealand's.  "I felt like I'd really rounded out probably the missing piece of my knowledge and learning, which was kind of how do you build the machine at scale?" Michel told me. Freeing advisors from low-value admin That experience, combined with angel investing via Blackbird Ventures, convinced him to co-found Marloo with fellow Sharesies alum Shakeel Lala. Marloo’s mission? Financial advice is potentially transformational but inaccessible, the founders realised. Advisers spend 70% of their time on low-value admin, from anti-money laundering checks to 50-page suitability reports that gather dust.  Existing tools are clunky, with Michel describing the "Windows 95-esque" systems financial advisors had to choose from before Marloo arrived on the scene. Marloo offers a hyper-specialised AI note-taker for client meetings. Unlike transcription tools, it sifts through hours of chit-chat to extract the 5% that counts – goals, risk tolerance, fees – and structures it for compliance or client follow-ups. From there, the AI evolves into a full operating system, turning advisors into "reviewers, not doers", Michel said. Finish a meeting, and Marloo drafts an annual review letter in two minutes, 95% ready for a quick edit.  "You no longer have to take notes after the meeting, have a second person in the meeting taking notes for them, or rely on anything else other than our product," Michel explained.  The result? Advisors onboard more clients without burnout, firms cut outsourcing costs, and the human element, crucial for navigating life's emotional money milestones like retirement or inheritance, stays front and centre. Giving robo-advice a wide berth This augmentation ethos sets Marloo apart from robo-advice hype. "If robo-advice was kind of as good as it was cracked up to be, we'd all be using it right now. And the reality is we're not," Michel told me.  He predicts regulators will be reluctant to green-light fully AI-driven advice, given the trust factor. Instead, Marloo aims to overhaul unit economics: lower fees, drop minimum balances (now often $500,000+), and make quality guidance available to more than just the wealthy.  "The mission is [to] transform the underlying [profit and loss]  in the unit economics of what it means to deliver advice to a customer so that we can actually reverse that," he said Marloo recently raised NZ$4.6 million in pre-seed funding to accelerate development.  "We're going to raise a little bit of money to answer a true false question in 12 months... that we are confident we can spend the next 10 years working on this and it's going to be a massive business," he recounts of the Blackbird pitch. As AI bubbles inflate, Michel warns against shiny tech without substance.  "It's never been easier to build... [but] also... to deliver a really shitty product experience," he said.  Marloo, he added, prioritises delight – a consumer-grade user experience in a B2B world. For an industry pricing out everyday clients amid rising fees (up 6% in the UK last year), this could be the reset financial advice needs. Tune into episode 129 of The Business of Tech, powered by 2degrees, for the full conversation, where Michel dives deeper into Estonia's entrepreneurial edge, Sharesies' early battles, and why financial advice must stay human-powered. Available now on all major podcast platforms. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, Sienna tells her dad Ben she wants to grow up and start her own beauty brand — just like Rowena Bird from Lush. Rowena’s journey started with literally mixing products by hand and somehow grew into helping build one of the biggest and most loved ethical beauty brands in the world. Sienna and Ben chat with Rowena about: What she was like as a kid and how she got into beauty Starting out as a beauty therapist and working with The Body Shop Selling products from the boot of her car and how the bath bomb was born in a garden shed The good bits, the hard bits, and the “what are we doing?” moments of building Lush from scratch Whether the famous “secret Lush master plan” is actually real 👀 Big mistakes, bouncing back from setbacks, and random career twists like becoming a balloon pilot Skincare and confidence tips for teens How to grow a global brand without losing what matters What advice she’d give young people who want to build something of their own And what she’d tell her younger self It’s a funny, honest chat about doing things differently — and changing the world one glittery bath bomb at a time! Follow The Podcast on Socials: TikTok: Ben | Sienna | The Hits Instagram: Ben | Sienna | The HitsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In Leaders Getting Coffee episode 55, our guest is the former National Party Minister, Speaker of the House and Ambassador to London, Sir Lockwood Smith.  Sir Lockwood Smith is one of those people you feel you know before meeting him. He first stepped into the public gaze as a television presenter of science programmes aimed at school age children. What started as a university holiday job delivered some early name recognition, helping him to win a seat in the old first part the post political system. He grew up on the family farm that he still runs today. He learned the ropes early and developed the skills necessary to run the farm before leaving school. A Bachelors and Masters degree (with honours) in Agricultural Science put the theory alongside the practical skills he’d already developed. At first, he followed what most of us would observe as an academic career, lecturing at Massey University and wining a scholarship to attend the Waite Agricultural Research Institute, at the University of Adelaide, where he studied for his PhD in ruminant metabolism. He tells of studying Opera, as a sideline, while he was there. While in Adelaide he took up rowing, winning five state championships and leading the Adelaide University Boat Club as it’s captain. Back in New Zealand, politics was calling and he was elected to parliament as the MP for Kaipara in 1984. He became one of our longest serving MP’s, staying for 29 years, the last five of which were spent as a most respected “Speaker of the House”. On the Leaders Getting Coffee podcast with Bruce Cotterill, Sir Lockwood speaks of the highs and lows of life in politics. There have been many achievements and the occasional disappointment, and he is refreshingly open in his discussion, including the behind the scenes conflict surrounding leadership appointments. And he reflects on his time as Speaker of the House and his disappointment at today’s parliamentary behaviour. He also covers off his five-year stint as our High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Ghana & Nigeria, and Ambassador to Ireland and the various roles he conducted on behalf of the UK government after his post was completed. Today, he’s back on the farm that he has operated throughout a busy life, breeding Belgian Blue bulls, a breed that he has continued to develop and enhance over his entire life. He’s a happy and contented man with a wonderful story to tell. And he tells it very well.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s in the name. Sam Levi is as luxe as they come when it comes to running a business. Sam started up his first-of-its-kind beauty brand Luxe Sticks in lockdown and has since become a force to be reckoned with in the business world.  On launch day, Luxe sticks sold out within 48-hours on launch day, fast-forward to now, Sam hosts an entrepreneurial TV show: Take Your Shot with Sam Levi.  Find out what it takes to run an internationally recognised business, the inspiration behind the brand and what it was like to be one of the first openly gay men on New Zealand reality television.  The podcasts in the SME Stream contain general information only, not financial or professional advice. Any opinions expressed in the podcasts are not necessarily shared by BNZ, or its related entities. BNZ is not liable for any losses resulting from the content of the podcasts. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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, Unemployment is up but is the picture as bad as it sounds? Insurance premiums are in the spotlight as the government tries to pinpoint what’s driving costs so high … plus how to juggle all the demands on your business without losing focus.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Independent economist Tony Alexander explains why we’re moving away from housing as a primary retirement plan, as a thirty-year era of falling interest rates comes to an end. Get Tony’s take on the dominance of first-home buyers, and whether now’s the time to lock in a long-term mortgage rate.  Why does Tony believe the Reserve Bank will hike rates again before the year is out? What’s behind the widening gap between the Kiwi and Australian economies? Why are we getting mixed signals from central bank forecasting, and what’s behind Tony’s theory that current inflation models might be fundamentally broken?  Plus, why Tony calls your local council a “monopoly”—and why you can't escape it. For more or to watch on YouTube—check out http://linktr.ee/sharedlunchShared Lunch is brought to you by Sharesies Australia Limited (ABN 94 648 811 830; AFSL 529893) in Australia and Sharesies Limited (NZ) in New Zealand. It is not financial advice. Information provided is general only and current at the time it’s provided, and does not take into account your objectives, financial situation and needs. We do not provide recommendations and you should always read the disclosure documents available from the product issuer before making a financial decision. Our disclosure documents and terms and conditions—including a Target Market Determination and IDPS Guide for Sharesies Australian customers—can be found on our relevant Australian or NZ website. Investing involves risk. You might lose the money you start with. If you require financial advice, you should consider speaking with a qualified financial advisor. Past performance is not a guarantee of future performance. Appearance on Shared Lunch is not an endorsement by Sharesies of the views of the presenters, guests, or the entities they represent. Their views are their own.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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New jobs data out today spells worry for New Zealand’s economy.  The unemployment rate was 5.4% in the December 2025 quarter – the highest since September 2015.  Most banks had expected unemployment to hold steady at 5.3%, ASB was a bit more bullish picking 5.2%.  It means 165,000 people were unemployed last quarter – a quarterly increase of 5,000 people...   But, what does it all mean? What sectors are struggling? And can the government keep calling it all the “mess they inherited”?   Today on The Front Page, NZ Herald business editor at large, Liam Dann, is with us to dive into the data.   Follow The Front Page on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. You can read more about this and other stories in the New Zealand Herald, online at nzherald.co.nz, or tune in to news bulletins across the NZME network. Host: Chelsea DanielsEditor/Producer: Richard MartinProducer: Jane YeeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There are hopes things will gradually turn a corner for Canterbury milk processing firm Synlait.  It's revealed it expects to report a $77 to $82 million half-year loss, due to the ongoing impact of previous "manufacturing challenges” at its Dunsandel plant.  Ashburton-based supplier Willy Leferink says suppliers are worried, but they have supply contracts to honour, and what really matters is that they continue to get paid.  He told Mike Hosking the company seems to have a good plan to get things back on track.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New Zealand's economic recovery could be more of a crawl, or a climb, than a bounce.  The job market remains tough, with unemployment now at a ten-year high.  EMA Head of Advocacy Alan McDonald told Ryan Bridge it's going to take a while for improved conditions and Government policy changes to flow through to the job market.  ASB Senior Economist Mark Smith says while jobs are being created, we're still about 30-thousand jobs shy of where we were three years ago.  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government has launched a review into soaring home insurance costs - to take place over a six-month period. This investigation comes as AA Insurance moves to pause new home insurance offers across the South Island. NZ Herald Wellington business editor Jenee Tibshraeny unpacked what we can expect from this deep dive. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Blenheim residents say AA Insurance has stopped offering new home insurance policies in their town, following similar decisions in Westport and parts of greater Christchurch.  The insurer would not confirm that Blenheim and the neighbouring settlements of Renwick and Seddon were subject to its temporary halt. Insurance Council CEO Kris Faafoi says the insurer is still supporting their current customers, and it's important for people to shop around. "They all make their own business decisions about how much exposure they want to have on their books." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Do you feel better off than you did three years ago? With it being election year, that’s the question politicians are going to be asking you. It’s the question I’m asking you too in light of the latest unemployment numbers - which are the highest in more than a decade. That’s the overall number. In Canterbury, things are a little bit better. The unemployment rate here is down and we’ve got 12,000 extra jobs. That was in the three months to December.  Nevertheless, we can’t deny that the better things are everywhere, then the better off we will all be. Not surprisingly, Finance Minister Nicola Willis is saying that employment growth is up. She says people are feeling more confident about the economy. Which is why the data released yesterday showed that, despite the overall unemployment rate increasing, there are more people out there looking for work because they’re confident that there is actually work out there for them. My view on that is that, yes, there is work out there - but you have to do a lot more than just email your CV and a cover letter. In some cases, you have to physically knock on doors - just like the old days. But back to whether or not we actually feel any better off. For me, it’s a mixed bag. But I suspect that’s a stage-of-life thing. The kids have all grown up - so life is naturally less expensive on that front. No school camps and sports trips to pay for. I’m not buying clothes or shoes for kids who keep outgrowing them. So life is cheaper for me on that front. Nevertheless, every time I go through the check-out at the supermarket, I’m still blown away by how much it costs. Not to mention what it’s like if you’ve still got the kids at home and you’re doing the weekly shop to keep them fed and watered. Then, if you’ve got a home loan, there’s the mortgage rates.  They’re still on the up and who knows what further increases might be on the cards with the Reserve Bank still fighting the inflation battle. As one of our listeners, Paul, points out: “Inflation is up, interest rates are up, unemployment is up and redundancies continue. Store closures continue too.” I’m guessing Paul’s answer to my question is that he doesn’t feel any better than he did three years ago. But what about you? LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The chief executive of Open Country Dairy talks about the Gulf Food Trade Show in the Middle East, why Trump is good for business, and the prospects for tonight’s third GDT for 2026.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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