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Photo: 123RF Correction: An earlier version of this story reported mayors had met with the government. It has been amended to clarify there was no formal meeting. Several mayors and local iwi are hoping to find a way to keep mills threatened with closure in operation. Soaring electricity prices means Tangiwai Sawmill and Karioi Pulpmill face being shuttered. The mayors from Ruapehu, Kawerau and Taupō said they were "cautiously optimistic" after approaching Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Regional Development Minister Shane Jones at a conference this week. The mayors all expressed concerns for the central North Island economy and their communities following the proposed closure announcement by Winstone Pulp International. They warned the impending shutdown is only the tip of the iceb...

Photo: RNZ Home loan borrowers are facing a "massive" opportunity to save money - if they can afford to. Interest rates are starting to fall for the first time since 2020, and people who do not lower their repayments when it comes time to refix on to a lower rate can save a lot of money. Broker Glen McLeod of Edge Mortgages said people could find "massive savings". A $500,000 mortgage over a 30-year term at 6.85 percent might cost $754.41 a week, he calculated. If the rate dropped to 6.35 percent but repayments stayed the same, the extra $37.90 a week that would go on to reducing the loan's principal if you kept your weekly payment at $754.41 would save $96,506.26 if that continued over the term of the mortgage, and could mean the loan was paid off four years early. If the rate dropped t...

Rises in the Global Dairy Trade Auction have led dairy giant Fonterra to lift its farm gate milk price. Photo: Susan Murray/RNZ Recent lifts at the Global Dairy Trade Auction have led dairy giant Fonterra to lift its farm gate milk price forecast for the current season. It's up 50 cents to $8.50 per kilogram of milk solids. However, Fonterra said it was still early in the new season, and it was maintaining a broad forecast range of $7-75 to $9-25 per kilo. The average price at GDT lifted 5.5 percent on Wednesday to US$3920/tonne, (NZ$6495/tonne) while the whole milk powder price which strongly influences the payout for local farmers rose 7.2 percent to US$3482/tonne. Alongside the lift in milk price forecast, Fonterra lifted its advance rate schedule and advised its FY24 earnings were f...

Taupō mayor David Trewavas Photo: RNZ / Dom Thomas Two central North Island mayors are pleading with the government to bail out a pulpmill which is planning to close due to skyrocketing electricity prices. Winstone Pulp falls within Ruapehu Mayor Weston Kirton's jurisdiction. He wants "a lifeline" similar to what had been seen in other cases, he said pointing to Tiwai Point. "Some sort of subsidy, a lifeline just over this period. There's obviously lake levels and low production but just over the next few months there is going to have to be some sort of rebate to actually accommodate this situation." Kirton said there was no way the company could have predicted power prices rising as quickly and as high as they had. Neighbouring Taupō Mayor David Trewavas said he felt for Kirton, and ...

Kaitorete Spit, south of Christchurch, is the jewel in the crown of launch sites. Photo: Supplied / Tāwhaki National Aerospace Centre Work on setting up an international spaceport at New Zealand's best site for launching rockets is in strife. The government is pulling back at Kaitorete Spit, south of Christchurch, without signing up a single international customer and despite its high aerospace ambitions. Facing east in largely empty skies, Kaitorete is the jewel in the crown of launch sites, even by world standards. But the fledgling national aerospace centre Tāwhaki has failed in early efforts to attract international investors, has underspent its $4 million a year budget and is not making enough return on investment. Space Minister Judith Collins has now rejected its request for more...