Simplicity chief economist on KiwiSaver changes
As part of the 2025 budget, the government will halve its yearly contributions, while minimum contributions for employers will lift to four percent in 2028. Simplicity Chief Economist Shamubeel Eaqub spoke to Ingrid Hipkiss.
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- RNZ News
Auckland money launderer Ye Hua has prison sentence reduced on appeal
By Ric Stevens, Open Justice reporter of Ye "Cathay" Hua was sent to prison for seven and a half years after a jury found her guilty of 15 money laundering charges. That has now been reduced to six years. Photo: NZ Herald / Jason Oxenham A convicted money launderer repeatedly complained to international drug kingpin Xavier Valent that cash her staff were handling was wet, sticky and covered with white powder. "I am scared of drug money," Ye "Cathay" Hua told Valent in a text message. "Our staff sick of counting wet money ... are you sure not drug money?" asked Hua, who at the time owned a legitimate money-handling business turning over tens of millions of dollars a year. The messages were sent to Valent, the former Auckland Grammar student whose international drugs empire has been described as making him a modern-day Mr Asia. He is now serving a life sentence for the importation and supply of methamphetamine and other Class A and B drugs. Hua warned Valent, also known as Harry Whitehead, she was worried police would search her premises if the money he was sending was linked to drug dealing. She asked the drug smuggler for a $100,000 deposit to offset that risk. He did not meet that request, but Hua went ahead and processed the transaction anyway. Hua was subsequently found guilty after a jury trial of 15 money laundering offences involving $18 million, which she processed on behalf of Valent and three other convicted drug dealers. She was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison in 2023, but took an appeal against both that sentence and her convictions to the Court of Appeal. The appeal court upheld the convictions but, in a decision released on Friday, reduced her sentence to six years in jail. The appeal court judges said her offending was tempered by the fact Hua did not know for sure the cash was drug money, and she had not made unduly large profits by handling it. The court was told that the $18m was laundered within the context of her registered financial services business, Quian Duo Duo (QDD), which turned over $357m between 2017 and 2020. About $70m of those transactions were in cash. "While we agree that the period of the offending and the amount of money laundered are serious aggravating factors, the lack of actual knowledge of the source of the cash and the lack of any unusual profits temper the gravity of the offending," the Court of Appeal decision said. "Another factor tempering the gravity of the offending is the lack of any involvement in the crimes committed by those utilising the appellant's money remittance business." Although QDD was a registered financial services provider, it had a history of non-compliance with anti-money laundering legislation. In addition to the criminal case against Cathay Hua, the Department of Internal Affairs has recently prosecuted the company for failing to report over $19m worth of transactions between New Zealand and China. It is facing a fine of $1.25m. It was fined $356,000 for similar offending in 2018. Although Hua never met Valent face-to-face, communications between the money launderer and the drug-smuggler were cited in evidence that she was "reckless" about where the cash was coming from. At one point, she told him not to send any money on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday the following week, because she was due to have an on-site inspection by the Department of Internal Affairs on those days. On another occasion, vacuum-packed white powder was left at QDD by a person who dropped off the cash. Hua took a photograph of the powder and sent it to Valent, who replied that it was lithium. Hua messaged back to him: "As long as not drug". Valent was found guilty in 2023 of 86 charges including the importation, manufacture, supply and possession for supply of methamphetamine, cocaine, MDMA and ephedrine. He was sentenced to life imprisonment with no parole for 10 years - one of the stiffest sentences for drug trafficking and of a level normally handed down to people convicted of murder. The drugs involved amounted to more than 200kg and Valent ran his operation so tightly that he subjected his syndicate members to lie detector tests if he suspected they were stealing drugs or money. - This story was first published by NZ Herald
RNZ News
an hour ago
- RNZ News
Youth MPs stand by original speeches in wake of 'politically neutral' row
one Youth MP says. Photo: RNZ / Alexander Robertson The government is rejecting accusations it is censoring Youth MPs , however, some of the young people aren't buying its reasoning for making changes to their speeches. The Ministry of Youth Development says the changes focus on clarity, keeping Youth Parliament non-partisan and protecting them from legal risk with the final decisions left to young people. However, the email sent to one Youth MP carries the subject line "changes required", and stated the ministry "have had to make some changes". Labour says the government is undermining the whole point of the Youth Parliament which is only held every three years. Youth MP and Year 12 student Lincoln Jones, of Auckland, said they had received Standing Orders to follow but some Youth MPs were chosen to give speeches during the general debate in the House and these had to be submitted to the ministry. The Youth MPs were then sent speeches edited by the ministry's staff. "Things that were removed were things that criticise or spoke about existing legislation, government policy, government ministers." They were also told topics or questions to Ministers were not to be fact or opinion and had to be "politically neutral", leaving them wondering what they could talk about. "So there was a lot of unexpected rules and things in place that we did not see coming ... lots of the key content in our speeches had been cut because they did not fit I guess what the ministry was looking for." Jones who is due to speak in the House on Wednesday morning, said he will be delivering an unedited version of his speech and knew others intended doing the same. "We'll be speaking as the rangatahi of New Zealand." He said they all understood they had to abide by standing orders, however, all the changes that had been requested were changes that might have criticised the government. One of his friends was pushing for literacy programmes for young people but this had been deemed "anti-rich". Jones said the 123 Youth MPs represented diverse opinions from across the spectrum and did not speak with a single voice. "We thought we would have the freedom to be able to voice our own concerns and opinions and not be censored as such." Youth Minister James Meager said there was no censorship, instead the ministry was trying to ensure the Youth MPs were protected from any future social media abuse or legal problems. Speaking to Morning Report , he referred to two emails that had been sent as guidance to the Youth MPs, including one that had advised them they weren't protected by privilege, unlike current MPs. Asked if he had seen what had been redacted in the speeches, he said he hadn't but the Youth MPs he had heard on Tuesday had been "robust, they were challenging and they were direct and I thought they were all really good". He was worried some of the Youth MPs might say things that ended up online and exposed them to being "trolled online". Meager said the Youth Parliament was a taxpayer-funded initiative and the participants shouldn't be aligned with political parties. "There is no censorship ... ultimately it's up to them as to what they say ... and the ministry will continue to support them if there is any fallout from here." A wide range of views had been expressed by those who gave speeches yesterday and the young people were clear on trying to challenge existing policies, Meager said. Labour Party leader Chris Hipkins says it's against the spirit of Youth Parliament to have young parliamentarians censored. Hipkins accused the government of undermining the Youth Parliament with its instructions that it shouldn't be criticised and Ministers shouldn't be named. "Parliament is political and young people are entitled to be political as well. I think this is censorship and I think young people should be entitled to be free to say what they want within the confines of the law. "Censoring legitimate political debate completely cuts against the point of Youth Parliament." Labour leader Chris Hipkins Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii Teenagers had received emails from the ministry headlined "Changes required" which would sound "very like a direction". Parliament doesn't hear from young people very much and they should be allowed free rein with the opportunity only given to them once every three years.
RNZ News
an hour ago
- RNZ News
Foodstuffs North Island warned over likely breach of grocery competition law
Foodstuffs owns Pak'n Save and New World. Photo: RNZ The Commerce Commission has given Foodstuffs North Island a warning over a likely breach of grocery competition law and asking suppliers to bring forward any complaints about unfair treatment. The Grocery Commissioner Pierre van Heerden said the Grocery Industry Competition Act required retailers to deal with suppliers in good faith at all times. "I'm concerned that this follows a pattern of behaviour that has been present in the industry for decades," he said. "This behaviour has been enabled for so long due to the significant power imbalance between the major supermarkets, who hold the vast majority of the market, and suppliers, who have limited bargaining power in comparison." While the Commerce Commission issued only a warning, van Heerden said further action would be taken if more examples came to light. "Foodstuffs North Island appears to have obstructed and delayed a supplier request by acting in ways that we believe were uncooperative and unreasonable," van Heerden said. "In this instance, based on the evidence we have, we decided a warning was the right response." He said Foodstuffs North Island category manager that acted as the main point of contact for the supplier, was also investigated regarding their role in the matter and given a warning. "Suppliers are reliant on their relationships with the retailers' commercial teams, so the staff in these roles within the supermarkets hold a lot of power. Any behaviour that weaponises this power imbalance is unacceptable," he said. "The major supermarkets have a responsibility to make sure their staff are properly trained. They need to make sure their staff follow the rules and deal with suppliers in good faith." He said further changes were proposed to the Supply Code which would provide more scrutiny and clarity about what was acceptable behaviour. "Our supplier survey showed that 37 percent of suppliers reported their interactions with Foodstuffs North Island as negative or very negative. "This is significantly higher than suppliers' ratings for Woolworths and Foodstuffs South Island, at approximately 20 percent." Van Heerden said the supply code was designed to protect small and medium sized suppliers. "We really appreciate where suppliers have come forward to tell us about issues so we can take action - like in this case where we heard directly from the supplier involved," he said. The warning letter can be found on the Commission's website.
