Dene Mackenzie

New Zealand's increasingly friendly relations with China received a boost yesterday with the blessing of the $7 million Dunedin Chinese garden.

Prime Minister Helen Clark today attended the blessing of the $7 million Dunedin Chinese Garden and paid tribute to the work that had been carried out to bring the project to fruition.

Residential construction fell 10% in the year ended March, a figure Bank of New Zealand economist Mark Walton described yesterday as "seriously weak".

Act New Zealand leader Rodney Hide continues to reinvent himself as the party struggles in the opinion polls, writes Dene Mackenzie.

Attempts to heal some deep rifts in the Labour Party's Dunedin South organisation are expected to be made during the visit to Dunedin by Prime Minister Helen Clark today and tomorrow.

The Dunedin City Council this week held its annual wellbeing forums. Business Editor Dene Mackenzie was invited to the economic forum to help measure the progress being made to becoming a wealthy community and an accessible city.

The Reserve Bank caught financial markets on the hop yesterday by issuing a monetary policy statement with a "blatantly dovish tone", Westpac chief economist Brendan O'Donovan said.

Some Dunedin sports clubs will face financial ruin if the Dunedin City Council adopts proposed trade waste bylaws, Sporting Clubs Association of New Zealand chief executive Bob Clark has predicted.

The Reserve Bank is expected to adopt a softer tone in its monetary policy statement on Thursday in recognition the economic outlook has deteriorated sharply.

High oil prices have left airlines in the Asia-Pacific region scrambling to cut flights and increase surcharges in a bid to stem their bleeding cash flows. Business Editor Dene Mackenzie reports.

Deputy Prime Minister Michael Cullen successfully deflected in Parliament yesterday questions about the future plans of Dunedin South MP David Benson-Pope.

Queenstown businessman Eion Edgar could be excused if he felt in two minds about a takeover offer for Mr Chips, a listed company with which he has been associated for more than 25 years.

Dunedin South MP David Benson-Pope may stand at this year's general election as an Independent Labour candidate, urging voters to give him the electorate vote and to tick Labour for the party vote.

Default rates on hire purchase agreements and debts for things such as car repairs were set to rise in the remainder of the year, New Zealand Credit and Finance Institute president David Young said yesterday.

Sales by Motor Trade Finance car dealer shareholders had held up through what was expected to have been a difficult period, chief executive Angus Bradshaw said yesterday.

Continued Government spending and relief for families and some drought-affected regional economies will be included in next week's budget - but long-awaited tax cuts will not be huge.

The collapse this week of another finance company has again illustrated the fragility of what has become an essential part of the New Zealand economy. Business Editor Dene Mackenzie reports.

Finance Minister Michael Cullen yesterday delivered a package of tax cuts he says helps the battlers in society deal with the ill-winds blowing offshore.