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Z Energy. (File image) Photo: RNZ / Richard Tindiller Both sides are claiming legal wins as they move towards a trial in a landmark greenwashing case. Consumer New Zealand teamed up with the Environmental Law Initiative and Lawyers for Climate Action New Zealand Incorporated to file a joint claim against Z Energy in November 2023.. They argued the oil company breached the Fair Trading Act with its claims about saving emissions in its Moving with the Times advertising campaign. The large-scale campaign, run across 2022-23, touted Z Energy as "in the business of getting out of the petrol business", citing reduced emissions and a commitment to bio-fuel fuel production and electric car charging stations. The complainants said the fuel supplier's claims misled the public and its subsequent g...

Holly Bennett, the kaiwhakahaere or managing director of government relations firm Awhi. Photo: Supplied One company director says she knows she is breaking the law when she files her annual return with incorrect address information - but it is important to protect her safety. Proposed company law changes announced on Thursday include introducing the option for company directors not to have their home addresses listed on the Companies Register, and instead use an address such as that of their lawyer and accountant. The requirement to list directors' residential addresses has been contentious for many years. The requirement was driven by a desire to encourage transparency, but there have been numerous attempts to find alternatives due to safety concerns. Holly Bennett, the kaiwhakahaere ...

Port Orly beach on the island of Espiritu Santo in Vanuatu. Photo: 123RF Solomon Airlines is adding a new direct flight from Auckland to the popular Espiritu Santo island in Vanuatu. It comes three months after Air Vanuatu suddenly went into liquidation, leaving hundreds of holidaymakers stranded. Rosalind Cox runs Tamanu on the Beach Resort in Port Vila. She believed the demise of the national carrier gave the island's tourism industry a new lease of life - but it was a long time coming. "We've known over the last two years of so many people that have been impacted by disrupted flights from Vanuatu, that it became a bit of a joke really that whether people were actually going to make the destination. "Not great for how it looks for the country, but it needed to happen." She said touris...

Photo: JOAN CROS / NurPhoto via AFP A former McDonald's worker was shocked to discover that the company had calculated she had been overpaid more than $18,000 in holiday pay. The fast food company is paying out holiday pay to tens of thousands of staff who had their entitlements calculated incorrectly. In November 2019, Unite Union announced it had reached a deal with McDonald's to go back 10 years to reimburse employees over a payroll botch-up. McDonald's is one of hundreds of companies caught up by payroll systems incorrectly calculating holiday pay. Unite Union national secretary John Crocker told RNZ this week that some staff had had their payouts reduced by calculations that they had been overpaid, too. In a statement, Crocker said: "We urge all current and former McDonald's employe...

Photo: RNZ An official cash rate cut might be cause for celebration for under-pressure borrowers - but there is a reminder that it has been prompted by "extraordinary weakness" in the economy that may still be yet to fully hit. Council of Trade Unions chief economist Craig Renney said he felt like he was "taking crazy pills" after the OCR announcement on Wednesday. He said people celebrating the cut were not acknowledging the dire economic conditions that prompted the Reserve Bank to pull it forward by a full year. The bank now expects unemployment to peak at 5.4 percent, representing an extra 10,000 out-of-work compared to its May forecast. It expects the country to have been in recession through the middle two quarters of this year, and for gross domestic product to remain smaller for ...