This edition of NewsRoom_Digest contains 4 media release snippets and 5 links for the day of Tuesday 30th June.
Top stories in the current news cycle, aside from the backdrop of a possible Greek tragedy, include a small raft of Government policy changes that come into effect tomorrow (children under 13 to benefit from a free GP/pharmacy scheme, drivers pay less to licence their vehicles, and funding boosts for palliative care and paid parental leave), an Otago University study has come out identifying a relatively high but preventable incidence of rickets in some parts of New Zealand, and the issue of state house sales continues to generate heated debate. SNIPPETS OF THE DAY
* Politics
Suspected Supermarket Duopoly: New Zealand First is calling for an inquiry into the true state of supermarket competition in New Zealand as the high price of milk hurts families and households.
* Business
NZ Dollar Makes Recovery: The New Zealand dollar advanced overnight following a knee-jerk decline yesterday after no agreement was reached between Greece and its creditors at the weekend.
Revised Fees Sustainable For Airport: Wellington International Airport’s revised landing fees mean the gateway’s returns fall within an acceptable range, the Commerce Commission has confirmed.
* Primary Industries
Productivity Growth Must Be “Unlocked”: Declining growth in public R&D spending, an ‘enabling’ policy environment and access to technology are three of the critical factors which must be addressed in order to ‘unlock’ future productivity growth in the New Zealand food and agribusiness sector, according to a newly-released report.
LINKS OF THE DAY
ONLINE TOOL TO MONITOR HUMAN RIGHTS IN NZ LAUNCHED: The Human Rights Commission launched an online tool to monitor the Government’s human rights record today, the first of its kind in the world. Explore the NPA online tool: http://npa.hrc.co.nz/#/
AUDITOR-GENERAL’S PLAN: The Auditor-General’s office plays an important part in strengthening accountability, integrity, and transparency in the public sector. Read more about the 2015/2016 Annual Plan here:http://www.oag.govt.nz/2015/annual-plan LABOUR PRODUCTIVITY: Labour productivity increased 1.4 percent in the year ended March 2014, Statistics New Zealand said today. For more information about these statistics:http://www.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/economic_indicators/productivity/ProductivityStatistics_HOTP78-14.aspx
DWELLING CONSENTS DECREASE IN CANTERBURY: Building consents for new dwellings in Canterbury have decrease. “Canterbury dwelling consents more than tripled between 2011 and 2014, but have been decreasing since then,” Statistics NZ business indicators manager Neil Kelly said. Click here to view the statistics:http://www.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/industry_sectors/Construction/BuildingConsentsIssue_HOTPMay15.aspx
OLDER DEMOGRAPHIC ON THE RISE: The 65+ age group nearly doubled in number between 1981 and 2013 – from 309,795 to 607,032 people – according to 2013 Census results released by Statistics New Zealand today. The 65+ age group increased from 9.9 percent to 14.3 percent of the population in that period, and is projected to grow to 23.8 percent in another 30 years. Click here to view statistics: http://www.stats.govt.nz/Census/2013-census/profile-and-summary-reports/quickstats-65-plus.aspx
And that’s our sampling of the day that was on Tuesday 30th June 2015.
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