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Te Kotahitanga o Te Atiawa Trustee and PRIP Director Shelley Kopu leads the procession for the laying of the Mauri stone for the blessing of the site for the New Plymouth Airport Solar Farm. Photo: Supplied / Sandra Henderson A 15-hectare solar farm project designed to make New Plymouth Airport energy self-sufficient is ready for take off. The first phase beginning next week will see 14,400 solar panels installed, generating up to 14,700 megawatt hours - or enough to power 2000 homes for a year. Chief Executive David Scott said as well as making the airport self-sufficient in sustainable energy the solar farm would provide an added income stream via the sale of surplus power. "It will also take more than 1500 tonnes of CO2 out of our atmosphere each year," he said. "The solar farm on fa...

Smith and Caughey's on Queen St, Auckland. Photo: RNZ / Marika Khabazi Iconic Auckland retailer Smith and Caughey's is now considering a plan to downsize significantly, rather than closing the doors for good. The 144-year-old department store announced in May that it would permanently shut in 2025. But in a statement today, chairperson Tony Caughey said another option for the future of the business had been identified, and that was to scale back. He said it would mean closing the Broadway Newmarket store early in 2025 and making the Queen Street store smaller, with a focus on popular goods and online shopping. There would also be job cuts. The company currently employs about 240 staff. The business is consulting further with staff on the second option, with an outcome expected by the en...

Declines in affordable rented properties were consistent with "poor housing policies" says the author of a new report. File photo. Photo: 123RF Affordable rental properties are increasingly scarce, new data shows - and that's prompted calls for New Zealand to reconsider a capital gains tax. Research produced for the Child Poverty Action Group has looked at the affordability of a range of rental housing sizes, for households on middle incomes, low wages and benefits. Rent was considered affordable when households could pay it and still have enough money left to cover their basic livings costs. The report showed that for low-income working families, Northland's share of affordable rental housing dropped 14 percent between 2018 and 2023, Bay of Plenty's 11 percent, Gisborne 14 percent, Man...

The tax cuts coming this week are likely to be absorbed into household budgets, say economists. File photo. Photo: RNZ Tax cuts are coming - but they are unlikely to do much to ease the squeeze on struggling households. From 31 July, new tax thresholds apply, which will reduce most people's income tax bills. Someone who is single and earning $75,000 a year will save about $36.50 a fortnight in tax. A couple, each earning $100,000, with no children, would save about $80 a fortnight between them. Someone on the minimum wage, without a partner or children, working a 40-hour week will save $25 a fortnight. "They're small tax cuts," said Kiwibank chief economist Jarrod Kerr. "They're not life-changing. They'll definitely help some households a little bit. I just don't feel they're going to b...

Photo: 123RF Economist Craig Renney counts himself lucky that he has known what job he wanted to do since he was 12. "I saw my first [government] Budget when I was nine. When I was 12 I knew what I wanted to do for a living, which was to write a Budget. "I've been very lucky and written three … but for a lot of people, they don't know what to do and are attracted by whatever dollars [are] available." Renney said for many young people, that meant choosing whether they would head to university, go into a trade, or straight into work - with relatively little information to guide their decision. The best career path is a perennial point of conversation for New Zealanders - but what does the data tell us about might be the best outcome over a person's working life? Healthcare workers hav...