Every weekday at 5am, the New Zealand Herald presents The Front Page, a daily news podcast covering the biggest stories of the day. Here’s a rundown of key stories that made headlines this week. We look into doctored LIM reports, an architectural disaster, a recap of the second leaders’
The Front Page: The week’s top stories – Dodgy real estate deals, the Chateau Tongariro mess and the Costco effect
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Buying a house remains risky business. Photo / Getty Images
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The one positive is that cases like this do sometimes help to drive change within the industry.
“Back in 2015 when this happened, it was apparently quite normal for agencies to receive documents such as LIM reports directly from their clients, the vendors. However, [Barfoot & Thompson boss] Peter Thompson said that subsequent to this happening for a number of years, agencies now seek those property documents directly from councils to take out the middleman, so to speak.”
But is this enough to give people trust that they’re getting something worthwhile in exchange for their life savings?
The crumbling icon
Chateau Tongariro is a financial mess to which there are no easy answers.
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The nearly 100-year-old building stands vacant in the Tongariro National Park, with an uncertain future.
It faces an enormous repair bill, which will encompass seismic strengthening, renovation, redecoration and broad-sweeping repairs.
NZ Herald senior business journalist Kate MacNamara tells The Front Page these repairs could cost as much as $100 million.
But the big question hanging over all this is “Who will pay?”
The building and the land on which it sits have a complicated ownership structure, which makes it tricky to determine who will cover the costs.
As MacNamara explains, the convoluted property deal could result in the taxpayer having to fork out a massive fee to cover all the costs.
Debate recap
The second leaders’ debate was a more fiery affair, with both Labour’s Chris Hipkins and National’s Christopher Luxon taking a few swings at each other.
NZ Herald editor-at-large Shayne Currie was in the room for both debates and told On the Campaign host Georgina Campbell the vibe was completely different for this debate.
And the outcome was different, with Hipkins emerging as the victor for all the Herald commentators.
“I think he came prepared for a kind of a street fight, in a nice way. He had the lines ready to roll. He was much sharper, he wasn’t waffling,” Currie said.
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“Hipkins got into Luxon straight away from the start, physically faced him, almost at 90 degrees at times, and he was actually funny. He had some great one-liners. And he had kind of a smile on his face as he spoke, whereas I think in the first debate, I kind of felt he was a little glum. The energy levels never really got to a point where he sparked up either himself or the audience - whereas last night, straight from the start, he was out of the box.”
As for Luxon, Currie said the National leader was no “slouch” during the debate, but had the biggest stumble when he was pushed about entering a coalition with NZ First and Winston Peters.
The retail giant
Twelve months ago, Costco opened its doors in West Auckland.
This move attracted huge crowds and promised to change the face of retail in New Zealand.
But how much has changed? And will other big brands follow suit by entering the New Zealand market?
Marketing expert Ben Goodale attended the initial opening and returned recently to see how things were tracking.
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What he found was an organisation that was still heaving with activity as customers filled the aisles.
“If I had a retailer near them, I’d be delighted because they’re a magnet to the [NorthWest] shopping mall,” Goodale said.
“I think the challenge to retailers around there is just to get people to come to them as well on their visits. And that’s a marketing challenge, which I don’t know how many have taken on. The sheer volume of people going there as a destination is an opportunity.”
So what other brands could follow suit? And how likely is it that they’ll be as successful as Costco?
Sordid reality TV drama
It may be called unscripted TV, but there’s a lot of work that goes into filling reality TV with the drama that makes it so bingeable.
Helen Wood, a professor of media and cultural studies at the UK’s University of Aston, has written extensively about reality TV and also served as a parliamentary adviser for an inquiry into what the industry needs to change.
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She told The Front Page podcast that in investigating this sector, she has heard no shortage of shocking stories about what happens outside the gaze of the camera.
“We’ve heard of bullying backstage and shouting,” she said.
“We’ve heard stories of a participant having an episode on set and being sent straight to a mental health facility. We’ve heard stories of alcohol being used to get reactions, and even drugs being supplied. I even heard a story about a water supply being turned off to generate more tension on-set.”
While the industry is in the process of evolving and offering a safer working environment, Wood says there’s still a very long way to go.
Big business has its say
The nation’s top business leaders have had their say on our politicians.
The annual Mood of the Boardroom survey, in its 21st year, has indicated there is a huge appetite for change, with business leaders showing a strong preference for National leader Christopher Luxon to take over.
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Mood of the Boardroom executive editor Fran O’Sullivan told The Front Page that business leaders want to see some “economic rigour” from the next Government.
“They want to see some prudence and financial management, but, at the same time, they want to see more economic policies and vision that the respective parties will lead.”
While National’s Christopher Luxon did come out ahead of Hipkins in the head-to-head scores, there were also serious questions asked of Luxon’s tax plan and whether it will make sense in the current economic climate.
“There are concerns about National’s tax cut package from the point of view of not necessarily showing sufficient detail. But that said, some believe that Christopher Luxon, assuming he is Prime Minister, will do what any CEO would do: he’ll re-forecast, he’ll re-budget and he’ll make his numbers [work].”
