Cheap Chinese peaches on Govt's menu once again
Goods are dumped if they are exported for less than their normal value in their home country, typically done to gain market share.
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NZ Herald
11 hours ago
- NZ Herald
ProLink liquidation: 60 workers gain new visas, jobs amid $3.8m deficit
Patel said he had secured another accredited employer to take on almost all the employees contracted to work for companies via ProLink after the liquidation was announced. ProLink was a labour recruitment business where staff were hired to work at other companies. Photo / Supplied 'I'm a migrant from Fiji. At all times, the welfare of these ProLink employees was paramount to me. You've got to have a heart.' Of the 60 employees, about 45 had new visas and new jobs, while a further 15 would soon go to a new accredited employer, he said. He hopes to be able to distribute holiday pay to all 190 laid-off workers, plus the further 60. Those 60 were contracted to Gilmours Manukau and North Shore, All Office Furniture, Moana Fisheries, Westpac Mussels, FT Logistics, Trugene Laboratories, Forty Thieves/Nut Butter Company and Paramount Merchandise, according to the latest report. Patel hired a Mandarin-speaking lawyer to assist him with the liquidation. ProLink NZ was at 349 Dominion Rd, Mt Eden. Westpac Mussels Distributors has taken on some of the workers. Photo / Alan Gibson It was established in 2018 and specialised in hiring Asian immigrants, saying it worked with Immigration New Zealand. Patel was appointed by shareholder Haiyan (Shirley) Luo of Three Kings. In December, Patel said he was particularly concerned about the workers, given the timing. He sent them letters with advice about where to turn for help. 'I've arranged a Chinese-speaking lawyer to assist them with their visas and immigration. I've also contacted Rotary at Botany Downs to organise food parcels. This is so sad, just before Christmas,' Patel said last year. In 2017, the Herald reported ProLink director Luo was sentenced to three years and nine months in prison after pleading guilty to multiple charges brought under the Immigration Act and Tax Administration Act. She used fake birth documents to bring a child here from China and three companies evaded $423,000 in taxes. A spokeswoman for Immigration New Zealand said the agency had received complaints about Prolink NZ. The latest six-monthly ProLink statement of affairs projects a $3.8 million deficit. Inland Revenue is owed approximately $2.4m alone but a full tax audit is still pending. Wages and holiday pay of $83,000 is a liability along with $1.5m owed to unsecured creditors. Patel said he was satisfied he could help so many of the employees who might have otherwise had to leave New Zealand. Anne Gibson has been the Herald's property editor for 25 years, written books and covered property extensively here and overseas.
Scoop
12 hours ago
- Scoop
Councils Call For Review Of Local Government Structure
New Zealand's councils are calling for a review of the current functions and governance arrangements of local government. This comes after a remit from Tauranga City Council was passed this morning at Local Government New Zealand's (LGNZ) annual general meeting. LGNZ Chief Executive, Susan Freeman-Greene, says that local government needs to be proactive and lead the changes required. 'The current sector arrangements are a legacy, and do not always reflect how communities have expanded and how modern services are delivered. With key Government legislation changes now underway it'll require an agile and well-planned response by the sector,' says Susan Freeman-Greene. 'It's also important we retain local decision-making in the work we do and the decisions we make, particularly when it comes to the delivery of infrastructure and services for the community.' Bay of Plenty Regional Council Chair, Doug Leeder says councils needs to be prepared to question their structure and functions. "The structure of local government hasn't meaningfully changed since 1989. In that time, our communities, demographics, and challenges have changed dramatically. 'We need to be brave enough to question how we deliver services and what functions sit best at which level—national, regional, or local,' says Doug Leeder. Three other remits were also passed at LGNZ's AGM, including a call for legislative changes to make the Joint Management Agreement (JMA) mechanism more accessible for councils to use with iwi/hapū under the current and future resource management systems. Another remit put forward calls for Government to update the Sale and Supply of Alcohol (Fees) Regulations 2013 to account for inflation and include a mechanism for automatic annual inflation adjustments. And a fourth remit calls for the reform of school bus services to provide an improved service for families and to better integrate the services with council provided public transport services.
NZ Herald
12 hours ago
- NZ Herald
ANZ dismisses $300m legal settlement offer as a ‘cynical' attempt to influence law reform
'This is a very new development and we're not in a position to comment at this stage,' it said. ASB has already paid 73,000 customers $8m to rectify the disclosure mistakes it made. The $600m offer comes as the Government proposes a law change that could make it harder for the customers (and the funders of the class action) to receive very large amounts in redress. The Government wants to change the law to give the courts discretion to issue lenders fair penalties if they fail to give customers the correct information about their loans. Under the existing law, lenders that made errors between 2015 and 2019 may have to refund customers all the interest and other fees they paid for the duration of the breach, regardless of how severe it was. The proposed change is controversial because it applies to the past. The Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Amendment Bill attempts to ensure the law pre-2019 aligns with the law post-2019. Another contentious element of the bill, introduced by Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Scott Simpson, is that it specifically says it will apply to the ANZ/ASB case. NZ First and Act have their reservations While New Zealand First and Act supported the bill through its first reading in Parliament on May 20, neither party is particularly hot on it. NZ First deputy leader Shane Jones said his party would take advice before deciding whether to support the bill being passed into law in its current state. 'I wouldn't want to jump to any conclusion, but it's a very, very bad constitutional practice to summarily change people's rights unless there is a compelling case,' Jones said. Act leader David Seymour said his party supported the bill because it is a part of the Coalition Government. However, he wrote to Simpson (after Act supported the bill through its first reading) to raise his concerns over it applying retrospectively and targeting a matter before the courts. 'Who knows, maybe Scott [Simpson] will change his mind in response to this,' Seymour said. Parliament's Finance and Expenditure committee is considering public submissions on the bill. The bill will then need to pass its second and third readings before being enacted. Jenée Tibshraeny is the Herald's Wellington business editor, based in the parliamentary press gallery. She specialises in government and Reserve Bank policymaking, economics and banking.
