Tariffs and Kiwisaver
RNZ / REECE BAKER
New Zealanders have withdrawn more than $1.3 billion from KiwiSaver for hardship in the past five years. The growing withdrawals could result in over $5b missing from retirement funds by 2045.
New Zealand is being hit with 15% tariffs, and Stats NZ is set to release unemployment rates next week.
New Zealand Herald business editor-at-large Liam Dann is here to break it all down.
Liam Dann
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Eleanor Dann
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Luxon welcomed to Papua New Guinea for celebration of diplomatic ties
Christopher Luxon was welcomed to Papua New Guinea with a 19-gun salute before being treated to a lavish state banquet. Photo: RNZ / Russell Palmer Papua New Guinea's prime minister James Marape has warmly welcomed his New Zealand counterpart Christopher Luxon , on a visit to celebrate 50 years of diplomatic ties. It comes more than a month ahead of Papua New Guinea marking 50 years of independence on 16 September. Luxon was greeted at the airport on Monday evening with a 19-gun salute, before being treated to a lavish state banquet. Marape thanked New Zealand for its support, as one of the eight countries to diplomatically support Papua New Guinea - a former Australian territory - before it declared independence. Luxon in turn talked of Papua New Guinea's great potential for growth, saying while Australia and New Zealand would both continue to support that growth it would be driven by businesses and community leveraging "great cultural and resource wealth". Papua New Guinea's economy is forecast to grow 4.7 percent in 2025, and trade with New Zealand has grown to more than $70 million by value in the March quarter, with aluminium the top export to the country. The prime minister has a busy schedule planned for his trip, meeting with the Governor-General before addressing Papua New Guinea's Parliament, then a gift exchange with Prime Minister James Marape before viewing a joint defence force training exercise. Christopher Luxon is visiting Papua New Guinea to celebrate 50 years of diplomatic ties. Photo: RNZ / Russell Palmer In the afternoon, he will tour the Fred Hollows eye health centre - which New Zealand provided $18.9 million for - before meeting with Marape behind closed doors. After a group photo on Wednesday, he will return to New Zealand. Luxon's visit to Port Moresby this week coincides with the 60th anniversary of the Cook Islands' constitution. Rarotonga has been flooded with high-profile visitors for the occasion, including the Pacific Islands Forum secretary-general Baron Waqa and leaders from French Polynesia, Niue, Tonga, and Tuvalu. But not Luxon, nor Foreign Minister Winston Peters. The Governor-General Dame Cindy Kiro is representing New Zealand there instead. Peters marked the occasion from Auckland on Monday with a speech that emphasised the Cooks' "right to choose". He specifically noted that "nothing in the 'Free Association' model would prevent the Cook Islands from unilaterally seeking full independence should they wish to". The speech was delivered while the prime minister was flying to Port Moresby. Relations with the Cook Islands have been strained since its Prime Minister Mark Brown signed several deals with China without consulting New Zealand.
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RNZ News
44 minutes ago
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Police deal with surge in theft reports as tech company upskills stores
Police were alerted in March to the "shift" in "behaviour" by Auckland firm Auror. File photo. Photo: RNZ / Richard Tindiller Thousands more theft reports are being loaded every month into police investigation systems that are already under stress. The surge in reports comes as a high-tech company - which partners with police and retailers to identify vehicle number plates - started upskilling shops on grabbing officers' attention. Internal documents show police were alerted in March to the "shift" in "behaviour" by Auckland firm Auror. "Auror has developed a better understanding of our case management process", teaching retailers to provide sharper CCTV footage of offenders, copies of receipts, even "names, dates of birth, and ages" where they could, according to a police report in March, newly released to RNZ. Auror, which last month won kudos from the UK government, said it was a good thing. "Police being able to solve more crime through high quality crime reports, which they are doing, is a good thing for all Kiwis," the firm told RNZ. But a subsequent police audit of 380 Auror theft cases in March showed a large number were eventually not investigated, the report said - cautioning though that this was just a single audit. "Exacerbating this issue is the surge in Auror reporting," it said. Auror theft reports had doubled from 4000 a month in 2022 to 8000 in 2025. Overall Auror crime reports in the same period doubled to 12,000 a month, and 11,000 in 2025, police said. Police are also expecting a 60 percent jump in shoplifting case numbers due to their new move to dump cash thresholds, as RNZ has revealed . Police told RNZ they were moving to introduce a new initial assessment and victim support team, and new ways to assess cases early on. Thousands of retailers nationwide connect their CCTV cameras to Auror's automated number plate recognition (ANPR) system. The system works two ways, sending crime reports to police, and handling police inquiries, such as where a vehicle has been spotted over the past 60 days. Police use of this and a second ANPR system has quadrupled since 2020 to 700,000 times a year. It is increasingly used in evidence in court -legal challenges over privacy were dismissed last year by two courts. Law enforcement's embrace of new technology has created opportunities, pressure and controversy worldwide. The rising theft reports show New Zealand is not immune. Earlier this year, police realised far fewer theft reports were ending up in their too-hard basket, called "early case closure" (ECC). "A critical analysis... reveals that Auror theft files are driving demand," Superintendent Blair Macdonald said in the March report. "With better information provided upfront and more lines of inquiry identified, a significantly higher percentage of files are meeting the IFA (Initial File Assessment) solvability threshold." About 97 percent were getting over the threshold, compared to the 69 percent before. A dismissal rate of 31 percent had dropped to just three percent. From the police figures, RNZ has estimated the number tripled from about 2800 to about 7700, a month that other officers then had to look into. The extra files that scored over seven for "solvability" were then sent on to the front line file managment team (FFMT). This team has been under pressure - its case-closed system of reports that needed filing was backlogged with 66,000 cases in January, the internal report said. Various OIAs have shown the "solvability threshold" dates back years but had varied widely between districts. Some dropped thefts under $100, when for others the threshold was $500; some would only look at repeat offenders; while Auckland city police required Auror involvement if they were to investigate shoplifting, a document said. Police began moving in 2024 to standardise the thresholds nationwide. But instead, after [ RNZ's revelations of the dollar-value thresholds in May, police have dumped that threshold. This will increase the number of cases going to the FFMT. Auror told RNZ it had not changed its software "in any way that would encourage more or less reporting to police". "Police is world-leading in its use of many types of technology and it determines how best to accept and handle reports of crime. "Retailers determine what to report, not Auror," said Auror senior director trust and safety Nick McDonnell, in a statement. But Auror's marketing regularly tells retailers it has new crime-fighting processes. In February it introduced 'Collaborate', stating that this would help retailers jointly target the same "person of interest" in a way "which helps strengthen the case for prosecution and preventing reoffending". Police said in the March report that Auror confirmed to them that "ongoing customer engagement, upskilling, and training are integral to their routine practice with retailers". The UK government last month told businesses to use Auror more to catch thieves and stem anti-social behaviour. This is part of moves to also spread facial recognition technology more widely. Auror says it does not use facial recognition. The New Zealand government recently said a centralised system of retailer facial recognition should be looked at . The rising case pressure centres on high-volume crimes of theft, shoplifting, petrol drive-offs and fraud. RNZ asked police if the audit of 380 Auror cases suggested new inefficiencies had been created. Their March report had stated: "192 (50.5 percent) do not meet the District rules for further investigation." Another 29, or 7.6 percent, were "inactivated". Only 159 - 42 percent of the 380 - were forwarded on to districts. Police did not address this in their statement on Friday. However, they had been forced to anaylse the Auror theft surge more. "Further analysis is currently underway to gain a deeper understanding of this complex and nuanced data," Macdonald told bosses in March. On Friday, police told RNZ their retail crime units or operations that were now in most districts were "having an impact on retail theft, but we know there is still more to be done". A new "initial file investigation" team to manage increased retail theft and petrol drive-offs would be trialed in Counties Manukau; they were also developing a standardised inquiry file template and enhanced case management reporting tools. RNZ has sought an update on the police analysis since March of ANPR theft reports. Police also use a second ANPR system, run by the company SaferCities, where usage has skyrocketed . The SaferCities ANPR is now also part of a NZTA trial using cameras in billboards to combat fraudulently issued warrants of fitness, as RNZ revealed last week. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
