Agricultural emissions pricing proposals recommended by the Ministry for the Environment would significantly decrease NZ’s amount of food production, say BusinessNZ and ExportNZ, and bring reductions of 65% for beef, 24% for lamb and 10% for dairy production, while undermining NZ’s competitive advantage in dairy and meat exports. The Govt should instead return to the He Waka Eke Noa emissions pricing system previously recommended by the primary sector, iwi and Govt, BusinessNZ and ExportNZ say.

A Bill has been introduced requiring NZ’s big supermarket chains to provide wholesale supplies to smaller retailers. A Commerce Commission market study this year found smaller retailers couldn’t source wholesale products because of the dominance of the big chains. The Bill also creates a Grocery Supply Code to prevent the chains from forcing smaller retailers to accept unfavourable terms of supply.  Breaches of the proposed rules could bring penalties of up to $10 million.

An IoD survey this week shows company directors are pessimistic about the economy. 68% expect NZ’s economic performance to decline over the next year (although 50% expect their own organisation’s performance to improve over the year). Directors say the things holding back the NZ economy are labour quality and capability (55%), supply chain disruptions (36%), immigration policy (34%), regulatory burden (24%) and productivity (23%). 66% said the biggest single risk  to their company was labour quality and capability.

A recent employee survey indicates NZ employees work 35-36 hours per week. Those in the workplace work longest (36 hours) compared with hybrid workers (35 hours) or those working from home (34 hours). 58% of those working from home say it’s to save on transport or food costs. The survey shows one in five employees have more than a month’s accrued annual leave, not taken because of financial constraints (48%) or because they have too much work (24%). 53% say they are paid fairly for their work. 36% say they have burnout.

This week a Bill was introduced to allow employees in large and small firms to elect safety reps or a health & safety committee. Currently only those in larger firms (over 20 staff) can request safety reps or committees. The Bill would remove employers’ current right to reject such requests if workers already have opportunities to participate in health & safety, in a low-risk industry. The Bill would not make having a safety rep or a committee mandatory and elections will be required only if one or the other is requested.