Podcasts about Commerce Commission

The Commerce Commission's latest annual grocery report found there has been little observable change in competition.

The Commerce Commission has found supermarket competition hasn't improved despite years of reforms. Alice Hume, Head of Groceries at the Commerce Commission spoke to Ingrid Hipkiss.

Weekly Political Panel: Louise Upston and Tangi Utikere; Commerce Commission discusses supermarket duopoly; Hato Hone St John CEO speaks to John Campbell; Centrix's Monika Lacey discusses latest credit indicator report; Auckland's iconic Mexican Cafe on the market

The Government says it won't punish genuine mistakes with its planned new crackdown on misleading pricing. A bill's been introduced to Parliament that would increase the maximum penalty for misleading prices from $600 thousand to $5 million. The Commerce Commission estimates such prices are costing New Zealanders tens-of-millions-of-dollars a year. Consumer Affairs Minister Cameron Brewer told Mike Hosking there's always room for error. But he says there's also some businesses who treat the current penalty for misleading pricing as the cost of doing business. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bit of buzz around Kiwibank as it potentially looks to have another crack at getting bigger, and by getting bigger, then becomes better able to take on the so-called "big four". This is business and it's politics. Asset sales are back on the agenda, especially for the National and ACT parties. NZ First, not so much. So it may well be one of those things that gets tossed around as an idea, but in the reality of an MMP environment, it goes nowhere. Making the Kiwibank story slightly unique is its role in the overall banking atmosphere of New Zealand and whether a bigger bank would solve any of the perceived competition problems we have. People we know are prepared to change banks. Last year when there was a free for all on cashbacks for borrowing, people were moving freely like the wind. So the idea that there isn't competition doesn't appear to be true. But I'm in a minority given everyone from the Commerce Commission to the Finance Minister argues otherwise. I also detect more broadly that asset sales are not, as a topic, as edgy as they once were. If you go back to the 80's and Labour under Douglas and Prebble, asset sales were dynamite and not all of them went well, which didn't help the pro-sales argument. But the cold hard-ish reality here, 40 years on, is there isn't a lot left to sell. Some chunks of power companies are worth serious money. We have an airline, a TV network, a radio network, some farms – it's all got a moderately piecemeal vibe to it. Kiwibank should be able to raise the sort of money it needs, and it should be allowed to grow. Is the counter to a partial sale that we like a small, restricted bank that hasn't been allowed to be all it could be just so we can say we are anti-asset sales? In Kiwibank's case you are holding back growth. In TVNZ's case it's about ideology, i.e. should the state run a TV station given the place isn't worth anything to sell? And in say the case of Genesis, it's about serious coin we could badly use elsewhere. If this idea goes anywhere this election year, you would hope we are less hung up on ideology and more attuned to the nuances of the debate than we have been in the past. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Commerce Commission has released its first State of Competition report talking about how competition is working. Businesses are also reporting widespread economic damage caused by the Middle East conflict. Business reporter Nona Pelletier spoke with Lisa Owen.

The Commerce Commission has released its first State of Competition report talking about how competition is working. Businesses are also reporting widespread economic damage caused by the Middle East conflict. Business reporter Nona Pelletier spoke with Lisa Owen.

Competition in New Zealand's economy isn't as strong as it could be. New Commerce Commission analysis of 22 years of Stats NZ data shows average business concentration has dipped slightly. However, smaller businesses are still struggling to gain traction against larger firms. Commission Chair John Small says weak competition in essential sectors is also weakening the rest of economy. He told Mike Hosking that while the size of New Zealand does have an impact on the amount of competition we have capacity for, we can still do a lot better than we are. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Competition in New Zealand's economy isn't as strong as it could be. New Commerce Commission analysis of 22 years of Stats NZ data shows average business concentration has dipped slightly. However, smaller businesses are still struggling to gain traction against larger firms. Commission Chair John Small says weak competition in essential sectors is also weakening the rest of economy. He told Mike Hosking that while the size of New Zealand does have an impact on the amount of competition we have capacity for, we can still do a lot better than we are. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Two major networks serving nearly a million people are likely to seek Commerce Commission approval to hike rates for households and businesses. 

A new national fuel company has been given the go-ahead by the Commerce Commission. The merger of Gull and NPD would combine 240 sites across the country, but they would maintain their brands according to the proposal. The AA said the new entity will have greater buying power, which may ultimately lead to cheaper prices at the pump. AA's fuel spokesperson Terry Collins' spoke to Melissa Chan-Green.

Yesterday New Zealand First announced a campaign policy to break up New Zealand's supermarket duopoly. Woolworths and Foodstuffs currently control over 80 percent of the grocery market. NZ First leader Winston Peters told Mike Hosking he isn't pursuing this now because, "the National Party is not for it, the ACT Party is not for it. I mean, they've got their policies which are to stagger on with the Commerce Commission that's not working." LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

New Zealand First has announced they will be campaigning on a new policy to end the supermarket duopoly. The policy would give the Commerce Commission powers to enforce increased penalties for breaches and reform the role of the Groceries Commissioner, which the party says is currently toothless. LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's costing a typical household $40 more to fill up their car than it did a week ago, according to analysis from Simplicity. Bryan Chapple, Commissioner at the Commerce Commission spoke to Ingrid Hipkiss.

Winston Peters discusses meeting with Marco Rubio; Weekly Political Panel with Nicola Willis and Carmel Sepuloni; An update from the Middle East with : BBC Security Correspondent Frank Gardner; Commerce Commission responds to fuel price increases; DIY road markings appear in Mosgiel

I can help Steve Abel. Steve is the Green's agriculture bloke and he wants an urgent inquiry into the Wattie's and Heinz mess in Hawkes Bay. He is wasting his time. Not because he shouldn't be concerned, because he should. We should all be concerned. But the answers he seeks are already readily available. He asks about four main things: the regulatory environment, energy costs, foreign owner indifference, and anti-competitive behaviour from the supermarkets. The website Newsroom wrote a solid piece about all this several weeks ago in which it was broadly concluded the troubles in Hawke's Bay have been coming for a decade, so some late, breaking alarmism via yet another committee addresses nothing. Costs in this country are too high. I refer you to Paul Conway's speech last week to a bunch of financial operators. We are unproductive and have been for years. Supermarkets have indeed played a part. The home brand scenario damaged the more premium brands and Wattie's etc have suffered because of it. Now, is that anti-competitive? Or offering more competition? Does the punter want choice and price range? I would have thought yes. On the energy costs, Wattie's and Heinz have both spoken to this. Our energy costs are ruinous. Gas, or lack of it, has killed a lot of manufacturing. The Greens might like to ask themselves why they got obsessed with solar panels and banned gas before there were enough solar panels to cover the energy gaps. The old regulatory environment is an interesting one. Labour and Nicola Willis have jawboned rules and regulations and watchdogs and Commerce Commission investigations, but to what avail? Nothing has changed, which either means there is nothing to change, or they are useless. Foreign owner indifference, I would suggest, that sounds a bit xenophobic. Yes, I know what he means – could a massive player in Detroit cut ties without losing sleep in little old New Zealand? Sure. But no one who invests and runs businesses does so with indifference. Between the dumping, the cheap stuff consumers prefer, the size of our market, and the ruinous cost of energy, it's all there as a combustible recipe to blow up a lot of business models. Peas in a bag and peaches in a tin are the victims. The inquiry is not needed. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The financial year is coming to an end. It means we’ll see a whole bunch of policies and adjustments from April 1. Everything from crayfish catch limits and Pharmac funding to changes to the Living and Minimum wages. Super annuitants, working families, students and beneficiaries are among those who will receive additional support. On the law-and-order front, the government’s crackdown on drug drivers is set to ramp up. And power bills are expected to increase, after the Commerce Commission agreed to let local lines companies, and Transport, charge households and businesses more a couple years ago. Today on The Front Page, NZ Herald business editor at large, Liam Dann, is with us to break down what changes are in the works, and what it might mean for you – and our economy. Follow The Front Page on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. You can read more about this and other stories in the New Zealand Herald, online at nzherald.co.nz, or tune in to news bulletins across the NZME network. Host: Chelsea DanielsEditor/Producer: Richard MartinProducer: Jane YeeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Power bills are set to go up from tomorrow, from as high as 5 to 10 percent. Electricity lines charges are set to go up, following an earlier Commerce Commission decision to allow for the charges to go up. Consumer NZ's Paul Fuge explained that these increases will vary across households, with some seeing higher increases and some seeing lower ones. "Because it is so convoluted and so complex and the maths is so hard, we have to run the service we've been running for 25 years now to try and help people make heads or tails of this." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Here we are in the middle of autumn, or is it the start of another winter of discontent? Because April the 1st is the time of scheduled price increases. All sorts of things are going up. The minimum wage goes up today, putting more pressure on small businesses. Thank you very much, at a time of pressure anyway, you're going to have to spend more on your wage bill. Meanwhile, the ACC earners' levy is going up to $1.75 for every $100 you earn from today. That is up from $1.57, up 11%. So you'll be paying 11% more of your wage into ACC than you were before. That is up to a limit of $156,000 or something like that. It's going to hit us all. But the one you're probably going to feel the most and the one that's getting the headlines today is your electricity bill. Electricity bills are rising nationwide. Line charges are increasing again from today. Average households will see a bill increasing by about $5 more every month. There's no single price increase. What households will actually see on their power bill will vary a lot depending on where you live, what plan you're on, and what retailer you're with. Some householders will see a small increase, some will see a large increase. Some are going to be hit by an extra $20 a month. Times that by 12 and see if you can afford that right now. Just a quick reminder, there are about 28 different lines companies in New Zealand. They all have their own lines charges, so this is why the prices change depending on where you are. Why you will pay in some cases $5 extra a month, that's the average, you might pay less than that, but you might pay up to $20 a month more for your line charges. There will be also a 5 to 10% increase in power bills this year anyway because of, you know, power. And that's on top of the 12% we saw last year. So all this you have to say is terrible timing. We're in an energy crisis when it comes to fossil fuels, that's already raging. So this just does not feel fair, does it? However, the Commerce Commission yesterday said the power price increase is justified. They need the money to improve the lines so that you can get the power into your house. So it's one of these scheduled increases that isn't dependent on the overall economy or how New Zealand Inc is doing, it's just things cost more. Terrible, terrible timing. The Commerce Commission yesterday said the power price increase is justified, but the Chair of the Commission said a little bit more. He said he hoped that something like electricity suppliers being split into generators and retailers would happen to create more competition. This is the quote from him: He said it's really important for us with our competition hat on to make sure that something a little bit like this happens, the splitting of the gentailers, so that the generators are not favouring their own retail arm when they're selling electricity, so that they can end out selling electricity at the lowest rate, the most competitive rate. Splitting the gentailers was announced as Winston's election policy this year. Now it's getting support from the Commerce Commission. So my question for you could be, should all political parties now accept that this is probably a good idea and crack on with it, and would you like to see that happen? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Power bills are set to go up from tomorrow, from as high as 5 to 10 percent. Electricity lines charges are set to go up, following an earlier Commerce Commission decision to allow for the charges to go up. Consumer NZ's Paul Fuge explained that these increases will vary across households, with some seeing higher increases and some seeing lower ones. "Because it is so convoluted and so complex and the maths is so hard, we have to run the service we've been running for 25 years now to try and help people make heads or tails of this." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Commerce Commission says electricity prices are set to rise again this year, with some households facing increases of about 5%. Commerce Commission Chair Dr John Small spoke to Melissa Chan-Green.

I note the whinging has started from EV owners as their fixed price deals for recharging their Nissan Leafs at home come to an end. Some claim the new deals will be 50% higher. How can you possibly be surprised? Did you think you would get away with it forever? For a while the more deluded lauded the road tax loophole, until it got closed as well. The power companies see EV owners as a new revenue source. As petrol may or may not become a commodity not worth bothering about, at least for cars, car dealers will be licking their lips that a product three and a half short weeks ago they couldn't shift for love nor money, may have a wait time as the desperados clamber in for something that unshackles them from the tyranny of oil. But equally if it becomes a “thing”, and it's way too early to say whether it is or not, but if it does, power companies will not believe their luck. An almost entirely new revenue stream, not just a whole new series of customers, but old customers paying way more now that they are hooked in. We must remember power prices are rising because of renewable investment and basic line maintenance. The Commerce Commission has allowed big increases for you and me to upgrade infrastructure so maybe the way to see an EV is not about the cost, although it is still cheaper. But it's more about the convenience and despite the doom merchants, we are no longer running out of power. In fact, in one of the countries more upbeat stories is we have seemingly transitioned, or will, pretty well in terms of base load and meeting ongoing, if not growing, demand. It's why Sri Lanka has turned the neon signs off and told office workers to kill the air conditioning – they don't have Clyde or the Taupo geothermal. They need oil. This won't be a moment for public transport. They've blown that. It's too unreliable. The current burst of patronage will vanish as quickly as it arrived. But EVs might be having their moment. Once you are in one you may not go back. That critical tipping point might have been provided by a war. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Telco users are disappointed the Commerce Commission wants to scrap the 2010 regulation that added a third player into the industry. 

Fuel companies have been put on notice by the Commerce Commission, which says it will be quick to call out any unjustified price rises at the pump. Bryan Chapple, commissioner at the Commerce Commission spoke to Corin Dann.

Millions of barrels remain stuck behind the blocked the Strait of Hormuz. The price of crude oil has increased 35% since last week. Generate Investment Specialist Greg Smith told Mike Hosking that only a few ships are being getting through. He says Chinese ships are getting through as Iran still needs them for revenue. The Commerce Commission says international conflicts will affect prices but it expects retailers to keep prices competitive. It says it will call out any behaviour which impacts New Zealanders' ability to get a fair price. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Foodstuffs is again trying to bring its North and South Island operations under one roof, after failing two years ago. The company's heading to the High Court to appeal a 2024 Commerce Commission decision blocking its plan. Grocery Action Group chair, Sue Chetwin, says letting it do so would only strengthen the duopoly. She says upstream, suppliers would have less choice on whom they could sell goods. "So at the moment, they've got the North Island and the South Island Foodstuffs and Woolworths - but if you merged the North and South Island Foodstuffs, you'd be down to two." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's been revealed UK supermarket giant Tesco declined the Finance Minister's invitation for a meeting to discuss the issues in our grocery sector. Nicola Willis announced a request for information last year, aiming to explore what barriers prevented a new competitor from breaking up Woolworths and Foodstuffs duopoly. The supermarket opted not to participate in the process, alongside two other supermarket giants, Aldi and Lidl. Grocery policy expert Ernie Newman says this news is disappointing, but not all that surprising. "I think any international firm would need rocks in its head to come into New Zealand at the present time - the Commerce Commission and some of the experts in the field reckon they would need 120 to 150 new stores almost from day one...that's the wrong way to go." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Despite record hydro inflows, the average Kiwi is unlikely to see any savings on their energy bills. Inflows into the lakes hit 123% of the historical average in December – marking the second highest July-December period on record. Generation volumes are also up 13% on the same time last year, pushing wholesale prices down. Meridian Energy CEO Mike Roan told Mike Hosking the country's energy stores are in better shape than they were in 2024, and compared to that period, we might even have the lowest wholesale electricity prices in the OECD. However, while wholesale customers will see some savings, he says residential customers will see increases in their bills driven by Commerce Commission approved increases to the lines, and distribution and transmission charges that will flow through in the next few years. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A store selling well known brands through infomercials has been found guilty of falsifying customer product reviews; getting staff who had ever used the goods to pen positive write ups. The TV shop has been convicted of 13 charges of breaching the fair trading act over nearly four years. The court found the parent company misled customers about the popularity and quality of its good, effectively using staff posing as real customers. It also erased genuine negative reviews. The Commerce Commission's Deputy Chair Anne Callinan spoke to Lisa Owen.

ACC has backed down and will continue to let staff work from home three days a week. The corporation had proposed cutting that allowance back to two days a week at home - so the public service association then complained to the commerce commission. National Secretary of the PSA Fleur Fitzsimmons told Ryan Bridge that there was no problem before the proposed change, and that the staff's strong response contributed to the company's decision to back down. 'We took legal action, we went to the Commerce Commission. And really all of those things have countered towards ACC's decision today.' LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Public Service Association wants the Commerce Commission to investigate ACC over job ads which said staff could work from home. PSA National Secretary Fleur Fitzsimons spoke to Ingrid Hipkiss.

Credit card reward schemes are predicted to continue to become less generous, as the Commerce Commission clamps down on card fees. Money correspondent Susan Edmunds spoke to Corin Dann.

The Commerce Commission has taken down close to two dozen fake stores scamming online shoppers. The stores advertise online and often carefully cultivate the impression they're real local independent botiques or stores, when really they dont exist in the real world. Often, if the goods ever arrive they're cheap knock offs, worth a fraction of what's been paid. Commerce Comission Principal Compliance Advisor, Grant McIntosh spoke to Lisa Owen.

The High Court has ruled that holiday rental company Bachcare's cancellation terms were unfair. John Small, Commerce Commission chair, spoke to Ingrid Hipkiss.

The Commerce Commission is proposing to let gas distributors moderately lift prices . 

The Government says it will act on all 19 recommendations from Parliament's banking inquiry - and it's committed to increasing scrutiny around the banking sector. This comes as Westpac and ANZ report significant increases in profit, prompting concern from experts. Kent Duston from the Banking Reform Coalition says the proposed changes make good steps forward, but it's unclear how much of a difference they will make. "I think the big issue here is that the banks simply don't care. Whatever Parliament says - we're on the back of an inquiry from the Commerce Commission, another inquiry from Parliament from the select committee...whatever it is Parliament's saying, clearly the banks aren't listening." LISTEN ABOVESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our largest electricity gentailer is welcoming two major announcements for the energy sector. The Government's announced it's widening the scope of its $200 million co-investment fund to support a broader range of projects. And the Commerce Commission has given final approval for the big electricity gentailers to build a coal stockpile at Genesis' Huntly Power Station. Genesis Chief Executive Malcolm Johns told Mike Hosking the generation units at Huntly will no longer be retired. He says they give New Zealand another 10 years to solve the long-term energy security issue. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Publicly-funded infrastructure projects in Auckland have been the target of cartel conduct by two construction companies. The first company involved, Maxbuild Ltd, was sentenced last December and the second company learned its fate in the High Court today - although its identity remains secret. The Commerce Commission calls the prosecution historic and says it shows cartel type behaviour will be investigated and punished. Commerce Commission chairman John Small spoke to Lisa Owen.

Global ticket reseller Viagogo has told the Court of Appeal that it did not mislead consumers. Last year it lost its legal battle with the Commerce Commission after being found to have repeatedly misled customers over its status as an official outlet for tickets. It's appealing parts of that decision. Krystal Gibbens reports.

Technology journalist Bill Bennett joins Kathryn to discuss Commerce Commission research which shows how difficult it is to get good information to help buy a phone plan. 

Allegations of cartel behaviour and bid rigging - a group of South Island brick layers have fallen foul of the Commerce Commission after an investigation into pricing information being shared by competitors. Commerce Commission chairman John Small spoke to Lisa Owen.

Airlines are backing the Commerce Commission's decision to stop short of a formal inquiry into airport regulation. It's instead looking at changing how much information airports should provide airlines about major upgrades. This follows Air New Zealand writing to the regulator, raising that the costs it was facing from airports were growing out of control. Board of Airline Representatives Executive Director Cath O'Brien says a formal inquiry wasn't worth it. She told Mike Hosking the process is complicated, expensive, and not fit for purpose, as if they ran it, they'd have to apply the findings to all airports, not just one. LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jetstar has been fined over $2 million for misleading over compensation entitlements. Jetstar earlier pleaded guilty to more than twenty charges of breaching the FairTrading Act and was sentenced at the Auckland Dstrict Court today. The Commerce Commission, took the airline to court, saying it had wrongly denied customer compensation among other breaches. Commerce Commission General Manager of Competition, Vanessa Horne spoke to Lisa Owen.

The Commerce Commission has spelt out its priorities for enforcing compeittion and fair trading laws.

The Commerce Commission has spelt out its priorities for enforcing compeittion and fair trading laws.

Stewart Hamilton is 12 months into his role as CEO of Mercury NZ—and despite a record-dry year and a dip in earnings, he's forecasting a billion-dollar 2026. In this episode, he lays out what’s next for Mercury and its investors. How are Mercury and other big players teaming up to secure NZ’s troubled power supply—and are they forming an energy "cartel" in the eyes of the Commerce Commission? Would breaking up the big energy gentailers help make electricity affordable, or is the current model more efficient? Does the Government’s stake in Mercury create a conflict of interest? Hear about the "renaissance" of geothermal energy, Mercury’s focus on new generation projects, and the role New Zealand could play in training AI. For more or to watch on YouTube—check out http://linktr.ee/sharedlunch Shared Lunch is brought to you by Sharesies Australia Limited (ABN 94 648 811 830; AFSL 529893) in Australia and Sharesies Limited (NZ) in New Zealand. It is not financial advice. Information provided is general only and current at the time it’s provided, and does not take into account your objectives, financial situation and needs. We do not provide recommendations and you should always read the disclosure documents available from the product issuer before making a financial decision. Our disclosure documents and terms and conditions—including a Target Market Determination and IDPS Guide for Sharesies Australian customers—can be found on our relevant Australian or NZ website. Investing involves risk. You might lose the money you start with. If you require financial advice, you should consider speaking with a qualified financial advisor. Past performance is not a guarantee of future performance. Appearance on Shared Lunch is not an endorsement by Sharesies of the views of the presenters, guests, or the entities they represent. Their views are their own.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Budget airline Jetstar has apologised for letting down its New Zealand customers as it faces a potentially hefty fine after pleading guilty to misleding flyers about their rights. The Commerce Commission took the airline to court claining it discouraged people from seeking compensation for delayed or cancelled flights. Jetstar representatives have been in the Auckland district court for a sentencing hearing. In a statement it said it takes full responsiblity for the mistakes and has been contacting customers to ensure they get what they are entitled to. Felix Walton was in court and spoke to Lisa Owen.

A new wave of power demand is here. Is the grid ready? And can States keep up?Doug Scott, now in his second term as Chairman of the Illinois Commerce Commission, joins Nico to share how Illinois is navigating the accelerating pace of the energy transition. From integrating energy storage to regulating gigawatt-scale data centers, the ICC isn't moving at glacial speed anymore—it's sprinting.Does Illinois provide a glimpse into the agency that individual States have in managing their way through this energy transition? Doug reveals the behind-the-scenes challenges of regulating clean energy deployment while keeping costs in check and reliability rock-solid. In this conversation, we unpack how Illinois plans to balance electrification, equity, and economic growth—all while trying to avoid ratepayer whiplash. Plus, we dig into the legislation that almost passed and what's still on the table for 2025. Expect to learn:

Tapping or swiping your bank cards is about to get cheaper for shoppers, as the government announced it is set to ban surchages for paywave by 2026. The Commerce Commission estimates Kiwis pay about $150 million in card surcharges each year, including up to $65 million in excessive charges. Commerce & Consumer Affairs Minister, Scott Simpson spoke to Lisa Owen.

Getting food delivered to the door has become a huge business, and in one New Zealand town the competition between two operators has led to complaints to the Commerce Commission. Nelson's Yummi food delivery business launched a decade ago but in recent years it has struggled. Two years ago another Kiwi-owned nationwide company, DeliverEasy, Yummi began losing clients. Yummi founder George Evans spoke to Melissa Chan-Green.