No evidence of Apple rort, Earthquake-prone assessments on shaky ground, Time to retire Super Fund?

In NBR Print today: Claims that Apple pays no tax in New Zealand received wide coverage last weekend, prompting politicians to weigh in. “Stop this tax dodging corporate rort,” thundered Winston Peters. Hunter’s Corner comments: “Complicated? Yes. But rort? No.”

Jenny Ruth writes  that Wellington City Council’s 2010 determination that a building was so structurally unsound that a passing truck would cause it to collapse is being challenged by Evidence-based Seismic Strengthening.  “But the lobby group isn’t just taking aim at the MBIE-endorsed designation of this (still-standing)building – it’s seeking to tear down the entire assessment framework engineers have been using.”

A good corporate reputation can take years to build up – and just minutes to lose.It’s something that’s moulded through consistent performance that leads the public to perceive the company as responsible, fair, successful and trustworthy, Calida Smylie writes. The annual NBR-Colmar Brunton Corporate Reputation Index, out today, reveals which companies have earned Kiwis’ hearts.

Trade in Asia Pacific has a lot of room to expand, and New Zealand plans to be in among it – even if the rest of the West loses enthusiasm, Nathan Smith writes. “But there is also increasing concern in the business world about the possibility of China imploding, thanks to the many, many millions of Chinese citizens living in abject poverty.”

Campbell Gibson says a Waikato pig farm in the gun for animal cruelty is expected to leave creditors $6 million out of pocket. “Meanwhile, a major shareholder and a director previously convicted of fraud are flinging accusations about who’s to blame for the business being stuck in the mud in the first place.”

Controversial economist Michael Reddell argues the NZ Superannuation Fund is really just an aggressive investment management subsidiary of the New Zealand government. “The way its assets are structured amplifies the already substantial exposure taxpayers have to economic cycles – and it hasn’t even contributed to developing NZ capital markets. It simply isn’t a business the government should be in.”

Don’t miss this week’s NBR Special Report – Intelligent SMEs.

All this and more in today's NBR Print edition.