2019 is seeing major changes being proposed by the Government that will affect the six most commonly utilised work visa categories. This will place obligations on all employers wishing to recruit foreign workers to become accredited under one of three new categories. There will also be four new More »

Almost a year ago, the Government introduced a new Bill to Parliament to replace the existing Privacy Act with one more suited to our digital world. Having considered submissions on the Bill, the Justice Select Committee has now released its report, recommending that the Bill be passed. Information More »

The Government is proposing to amend the Commerce Act to make illegal a lot more of the actions of a firm that has substantial power in a market. The changes will involve applying an effects test instead of the existing test, which focuses on taking advantage of market power. The proposals are up More »

When Kodak famously outsourced its entire IT function to IBM it marked both the dawn of IT outsourcing as a business strategy and, arguably, the beginning of Kodak’s end. Since then, the breadth and prevalence of IT outsourcing has grown. It is common now to have third parties providing IT More »

Looking ahead, there are a number of proposed changes to legislation, which will progress in 2019. The Select Committee has this week released its report on the Employment Relations (Triangular Employment) Amendment Bill. This Bill proposes to provide increased statutory support and legal rights More »

The Government has passed the Employment Relations Amendment Act 2018, which received Royal Assent on 11 December 2018. Parts of the Act came into effect the following day, on 12 December 2018, and further significant changes will come into effect from 6 May 2019. Changes immediately in force Union More »

Recap: Forestry planted after 1 January 1990 on land that was previously not in forest is eligible to be registered as post-1989 forest and to receive carbon credits (New Zealand Units or NZUs) for each year of growth and the carbon stored. It potentially offers a financial incentive to More »

The High Court is set to rule soon on whether to confirm that land on floodplains and other areas covered by big floods (which only occur once every 20-50 years) is within the “bed” of the “river” for the purposes of the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA). If it does, it More »

In May 2018 the government announced its plan to work to eradicate Mycoplasma bovis ( M. bovis ) over the next ten years. The spring bulk milk surveillance programme is a critical part of that eradication programme, allowing the Ministry for Primary Industries ( MPI ) to identify any areas where More »