Summary Auckland and Waikato may step down from strict level three restrictions today as vaccination rates – and social unrest – rise. It is a big day for new home buyers today, withs new loan restrictions coming into force as governments on both sides of the Tasman implement steps to cool the rampant housing market.
Potential loosening Auckland and the Waikato face another restriction milestone today, with a possible step down to enable retailers to open under limited circumstances. The government is caught between rising covid numbers, rising vaccination levels, rising calls to reopen from desperate retailers and rising social unrest that saw about 5,000 protesters gather in Auckland on Saturday, with some disrupting traffic on both days. Also at the weekend, Auckland passed the 80% double-jab mark.
First jab deadline Health and disability workers who failed to get their first jab over the weekend turn up to work today facing the loss of their job, forcing hard calls and potential court action for employers. Hundreds of affected workers are awaiting the outcome of a court case in Wellington taken by four aviation security workers, who have also taken an Employment Relations Authority case. Teachers must have their first vaccination by Nov 15. The new rules follow earlier mandates for workers at managed isolation facilities, ports and airports to be vaccinated.
Healthcare MIQ priority A new MIQ system begins toda,y prioritising health and disability workers who are not Kiwis coming to New Zealand to work. From today, the Ministry of Health has priority access to 300 MIQ rooms a month. The health sector workers will still need proof of a job in NZ and must meet immigration requirements.
Climate meeting starts The COP26 climate meeting begins today without the presence of prime minister Jacinda Ardern, as other leaders from around the world fly to Glasgow to attend. Climate change minister James Shaw is heading to Glasgow later this week after announcing tougher emissions cut aspirations yesterday, pledging to cut NZ’s net greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030 from 2005 levels. While Australian PM Scott Morrison has finally committed to 2050 net zero, he is short on a road map. Prince Charles overnight painted the summit as the world’s last chance to save the planet.
Unlocking Wellington Four options to fix Wellington’s congestion woes are to be unveiled today, with a light rail link to Island Bay surrounded by 21,000 new high intensity homes on the drawing board. Stuff reports three of the options would use a light rail link between Wellington Railway Station to Island Bay, while the fourth proposes a rapid bus link.
Borders relaxed One-way quarantine-free travel from NZ to Australia resumes today, with fully-vaccinated Kiwis the only outsiders allowed in to Australia. About 14 million fully-vaccinated Australians from New South Wales, Victoria and Canberra, however, are allowed to travel internationally for the first time as those states reach more than 80% of people over 16 double-jabbed. Qantas restarts international flights today, flying to London and LA from Sydney. But first, mothballed planes had to be cleared of snakes and scorpions.
Banking buyback Westpac Bank reveals its full-year results today, with expectations the bank will follow its rivals and announce a share buyback. Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank and ANZ have already announced share buybacks. Some analysts suggest Westpac would be better off directing excess capital into digital transformation in order to better compete.
Tighter LVRs Tighter lending restrictions come into force today, in the latest attempt to cool the housing market. From today, banks are restricted in the amount of lending they can do above a loan-to-valuation ratio (LVR) of 80% to 10% of all new loans to owner-occupiers, down from 20% at present. The RBNZ has introduced the high-risk lending restrictions as “house prices remained unsustainable and the risks of a housing market correction had continued to rise, increasing risks to economic and financial stability".
Australian loan restrictions Bank shares in Australia have been dropping ahead of today's deadline for an increased minimum interest-rate buffer on home loan applications to try to cool the housing market there. The changes mean house buyers will not be able to borrow as much.
A2 court case A 2019 court victory involving misleading company statements will be a key precedent for class action specialists Slater and Gordon Lawyers when they take on A2 Milk over the dairy company’s share price slumps between August last year and May. Like A2 Milk, Bellamy’s was operating in China. “In A2’s case, it is much higher profile and the loss is much bigger [share price drop] for investors,” said China infant formula market expert Jane Li. “Bellamy will be used as a precedent and it will be very hard to convince an Australian court that A2 doesn’t understand daigou’s role after Bellamy’s fall,” she said. A2 is also accused of breaching continuous disclosure rules.
Electric takeoff The first electric plane to fly into Wellington was due to touch down this morning. A two-seater light electric aircraft owned by Christchurch-based ElectricAir was due to touch down after flying across Cook Strait in a record world’s longest flight over water for a pure electric plane. Wellington Airport intends to host some of the earliest commercial electric routes in New Zealand when Sounds Air launches its planned all-electric zero emission passenger services in 2026. Steve Sanderson, chief executive of Wellington Airport, said electric aircraft on short-haul regional routes were key to sustainable air travel in future and Air NZ CEO Greg Foran forecast last week that they would be in common use on domestic routes within a decade.
