NZ–India FTA Gains Labour Support Amid Risk Concerns
The Labour Party has announced it will support New Zealand's free trade agreement (FTA) with India.
The Hound was intrigued to read an article recently, on the Newsroom website, that shows that Education Minister Chris ‘Chippy’ Hipkins was pushing strongly behind the scenes for a merger of Lincoln and Canterbury universities.
According to the report, Lincoln was “dragged into merger discussions” by the education minister.
Hipkins told Newsroom he had concerns about Lincoln making little progress on implementing the recommendations of a 2017 advisory board report and faced a range of financial risks.
In the end, Hipkins pulled the plug on the merger plan in July this year, claiming the estimated cost ($124-$160 million) “far outweighed the benefits”.
The minister says disestablishing Lincoln is now off the agenda and a merger will not be needed -- “as long as Lincoln delivers on its potential”.
Watch this space.
Oamaru-based livestock handling specialist Te Pari has bought Combi Clamp, the New Zealand manufacturer of Combi Clamp manual sheep handlers.
Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has admitted that a scheme bringing workers from Pacific nations to work on orchards has become too hard to navigate but says changes are coming.
A new app designed in New Zealand aims to help sheep, beef and deer farmers capture, analyse and use body condition score data more effectively.
Canterbury farmer Andy Macfarlane has been appointed to the board of AgriZeroNZ, the public-private partnership designed to accelerate the development and deployment of emissions reduction tools for New Zealand farmers.
For over 50 years Mel Ewers has been supporting the apple sector navigate through compliance and quality assurance issues.
The apple sector is enjoying a bumper harvest season.