Has Uber snookered itself? Air NZ executives cash in, National’s double-edged sword

In NBR Print today: Uber has gone to great lengths to push its case that its drivers are independent contractors, not employees. But in doing so, the US-based company might have snookered itself, both in the US and New Zealand – inadvertently opening itself to action under competition law. Chris Keall reports.

Air New Zealand [NZX: AIR] executives have sold $5 million of their company shares this year even as analysts look forward to a special dividend from the sale of its Virgin Australia stake. The biggest seller was chief financial officer Rob McDonald, who sold shares and cashed in options to realise $1.8 million. Tim Hunter investigates.

National is at that point in the life cycle of a government when the burden of proof starts to shift against it. It has taken longer than is usual but it is starting to move. In the second part of his two-part series, Rob Hosking looks at National’s position in the political sphere following his feature on Labour last week.

The NZX’s [NZX: NZX] debt market has leapt 70% in capital value in the past 12 months as companies take advantage of cheap debt and investors increasingly look to diversify. Calida Smylie asks the experts what retail investors need to know about the debt markets.

Mark Weldon resigning won’t end MediaWorks' reign of error, writes Nick Grant

A High Court judge has ordered an audit of a 2500ha sheep and beef farm in the Wairarapa after a relationship between the high-profile McVitty family and the farm’s managers “deteriorated.” Hamish McNicol reports.

Investors hate profit downgrades even more than they love profit upgrades and they got one of each on the same day last week. Jenny Ruth follows up on Skellerup’s [NZX: SKL] second profit downgrade and Tourism Holdings’ [NZX: THL] second profit upgrade for the same year.

The Z Energy-Chevron [NZX: ZEL] deal shows us the error of our ways, writes Tim Hunter in Hunters’ Corner. New Zealand’s slack competition law tolerates too much market dominance, he says.

Market forces deliver what you deserve and in the case of journalists, that means low incomes, writes Sir Bob Jones. “Thus they extrapolate their personal situations to the wider public.” Hence their infatuation with Auckland house prices, he says. “They should shut up on this subject, that’s if they don’t want to be murdered.”

All this and more in today’s National Business Review print edition. Out now.

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